Page 61 of Vale of Dreams

My fingers tighten. “Absolutely not. As soon as Auberon and Talan are dead, I’m out of there. I really hope this is important. Can you get to the point?”

“I seem to remember that you wanted to bring your lover home to Avalon Tower.”

Hope sparks in my chest. “Yes. He’s not my lover anymore, but yes. Do you have any ideas about how to get him across the border?”

The wind whips at his dark cloak. “I have a way.”

My heart skips a beat. “How?”

“Apparently, your new lover, the Dream Stalker, has a key to one of those gateways that Auberon’s soldiers keep using. It can be used to transfer a few people from Brocéliande to Prydyn. Scotland, I suppose, as you know it these days. Auberon gave the key to him because he wanted the Dream Stalker to join his war against the humans. But Talan, being the conniving cunt that he is, avoided that.”

I think it over. “So, how do I get the key from Talan?”

“It’s in his room, in the top drawer of his desk.”

“How do I know the key still works? I spent days on a mission in Bristol for one that was useless by the time we got our hands on it.”

“It still works. Trust me.”

Fatigue is making it hard for me to concentrate, but I try to sharpen my thoughts. “I can probably get into his room, but not without him knowing. And once he finds that the portal key is gone, he’s going to know it was me.”

“That’s why I made this for you.” Mordred pulls a silver bracelet from his pocket—one that looks very similar to the key we took from the officer in Bristol. “This is an exact replica. It won’t work, of course, but unless Prince Talan decides to go to Scotland after all, he’ll never find out.” He hands it to me.

I shove it into the pocket of my cloak. “What do you gain from this?”

“What I get from it is fulfilling the agreement I made. I help you get Raphael out, and you help me destroy Avalon Tower. Have you forgotten how bargains work? You’re going to need to trust me.”

I’d rather trust a scorpion. “Fine. I’ll let you know if I manage to get the real key.”

He smiles. “No need. I’ll be watching.”

“Okay. Is that everything?”

“No. I have a warning for you also. You met a viperous woman called Arwenna.”

“I’m aware.”

“She’s going to try to kill you. She recently procured a deadly poison intended for your gullet.”

My throat goes dry. “Ah. Maybe I went a bit too far with insulting her.”

“See? I have done nothing but in care of thee.” A smile flits over his lips. “And no, I don’t think it has anything to do with your insults. She wants you dead because she wants to be Talan’s wife. It’s as simple as that.”

“Any suggestions on how to avoid the poison?”

“So far, she is hesitant. She’s worried that the poison will be traced back to her and she will lose her chance at marrying him. She needs to find someone in the kitchen she can bribe. I’ll let you know when that happens.”

Damn it. This is going to make it very hard to enjoy any food. “Thanks.”

He glances up at the moon, and it gleams in his pale blue eyes. “Don’t you ever wonder how this all came to be, Nia?”

“Why don’t you just tell me things straight out?”

He meets my gaze. “Because manipulation is what being Fey is all about. If you’d been raised by me, you’d know that by now.”

I narrow my eyes. “But it’s more than that, isn’t it? You want me to stay here as long as you can because you’ve been trapped here alone for fifteen centuries, planning a banquet that never happened, and you’re desperate for company. All the Fey are gone from your court, and now you can only see the world pass by through your little spy moths. Now you must know how the Lady of Shalott felt, I suppose.”

Starlight glints in his pale eyes as he stares down at me. “No, I do not, because she betrayed the Fey like Merlin did, and it’s my job to avenge the dead. We are nothing alike. And that is why you need to know how this all came to be.”

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