Page 89 of Swords and Curses

"Every minute he's there, she will torture him, and you just want to sit here and do nothing!" she had shouted.

"Balthasar is more equipped to deal with the likes of the Aos Si than any of us. I know you don't want to hear this, Rosa, but this is what Balthasar used to live for. He used to love being a double agent and would frequently get himself caught by an enemy, allow them to interrogate, torture, and turn him, and then when they became complacent, he would slaughter them all," Eli replied. "This is an old game to him, so calm yourself and let me organize this, so we all don't end up on the queen's execution stage."

Rosa rolled over and cuddled Balthasar's pillow closer to her. She could smell his aftershave, but the warmth had gone. He had gone through this hell only months ago when she was taken, and she kept telling herself she could endure it. She kept dreaming of the look on his face as he realized the queen had him. It was fear, but not for himself. He knew what she was about to go through. When she wasn't dreaming of Balthasar, she was dreaming of Arthur's tomb with its ghostly trees.

There was a rattle at her door, and a tall figure stepped through it. Rosa wasn't afraid. She was ready to fight something.

"Get your ass out of that bed, Rhosyn," Merlin commanded. "Dress warm. We have things to do tonight."

"We are going to get them?" she asked, climbing out of bed, and dug in her wardrobe.

"Yes, we will leave here tomorrow with Eli and Eirianwen," he said, turning his back as she stripped out of her pajamas. "There's something I need to do before we can go, and I can't do it alone."

Rosa didn't question him as she pulled on her Doc Martens and winter leather jacket.

Outside her room, two Gam soldiers were slumped against the wall. Merlin gave her an innocent smile.

"I take it Eli isn't sanctioning this little expedition?" Rosa questioned as they ducked into the servant's passages.

"Eli has been guarding you like an aggressive wolf mother, and it's not what you need right now. It's not what I need either. I can't control what's going to happen in the Aos Si, but I'm going to be prepared the only way I know how."

They avoided the Gwaed Gam with alarming ease, and Rosa realized Merlin was making them drop minutes before they arrived. As they neared the lake, Rosa felt panic threaten to overwhelm her.

Merlin took her hand. "I know, Rosa, I know." She felt his pain echoing hers and kept walking.

"I wish I could keep my composure as well as you."

"Composure! Hardly. I can't be manic right now because it won't help them or us. I've had many lifetimes to get used to the pain of loss. We will get them back, Rosa, but we must be smart. It's not only their lives that are at stake."

Power spiked the night air as Merlin opened the back door and they stepped through into a still Glastonbury.

"We are going drinking?" Rosa looked about confused.

"I wish. We aren't even going into town. Step back please, Rosa." She backed away as he knelt in the laneway and placed his hand on the grass.

"Mae'n ddrwg 'da fi," he apologized, and the ground shuddered in protest. "Please, I will return it, but I need it back, only for a short time."

Rosa gripped her knees as nausea threatened to knock her down. She could feel energy running through the earth under her feet, pulling towards Merlin as if he was a magnet. He groaned in pain when it reached him, breaking through the ground with a blinding haze of light. Rosa crumpled to the ground, holding her streaming eyes until the light faded and there was only them and the cold, wet night.

"Merlin?" she whimpered as she scrambled over the ground to where he lay. "Merlin! Wake up! Answer me, you sonnova bitch, or I'm going to smack you so hard…"

"Please don't hit me," he groaned, and his hawk eyes opened. They were glowing brightly, and as Merlin shuddered, the magic settled, and he was himself again.

"What the hell just happened? Are you okay?" Rosa hugged him, just to be sure. He felt…different.Whole.

"I took my magic back. I can't go into the Aos Si without being fully prepared," he replied, and they got back to their feet. He laughed bright and bitter. "Lord above, I forgot what this even felt like."

A low hum was coming off him as he straightened, flicking his hands irritably. Rosa had thought he was powerful before, enough that could match even Eli when tested, but now he was something else entirely. She felt as if she were looking at a stranger.

"Close your mouth before something flies into it, Wylt," he said, and she grinned. He was still a dick, which meant he was still her cousin.

"Are you sure we can't get a drink before we head back?" she asked. Merlin took her hand once more.

"This is not our final destination," he said and pulled her through the doorway once more.

They arrivedin a thunderstorm on a rocky shoreline. Rosa gripped Merlin's hand, afraid that in the force of the wind and rain she'd lose him. He walked to the cliff face and rested a hand on it.

A seam of light danced along the dark stone and with a shuddering, cracking sound, it moved away to reveal a cave mouth. He pulled her inside even though every fiber of her being was screaming that it was a bad idea. The door shut behind them, sealing them in darkness.

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