Page 58 of Swords and Curses

Liar. He sensed her hesitation, but she took it anyway. Another small step back to trust. As her warm hand curled in his, he could feel the heat and magic inside of her.

"Now when I start to walk…walk," he instructed. He opened the back door, and they stepped from the cold, windy night into one still and clear.

Nimue's hand let go of his as she stared about the laneway. "What is this place? It feels..." She crouched down beside a stretch of grass and dug her fingers into the dirt. "I can feel you all through this place, but the Ancient Magic…it's gone." Her face was pale as she stood up and rushed him, grabbing the lapels of his leather jacket. "What did youdo?" She was so appalled, she was almost vibrating.

"Come on, let's get a drink," Eldon sighed.

"I don't need a drink…"

"ButIdo. If you want to know what happened, you'll come with me."

Nimue was close enough that he could feel her breath on his lips. It would be nothing to close the space between them. She let him go quickly and stepped back, realizing it for herself.

If Nimue was awed by her surroundings, she didn't show it as Eldon led her through the stone streets and intoThe Lancelot. He pointed Nimue to a booth and headed to the bar.

"Jesus, Blaise, where have you been hiding her?" asked Lewis, one of the regular bartenders.

"She's an old friend of mine," he said with a wink.

"Who knew you could punch so far above your weight?" Lewis laughed and handed over the two pints of stout.

"Smartass. Keep these coming tonight."

"Nervous, are you? Christ alive, I don't blame you." Lewis let out a low whistle. "Look at all that glorious hair." Eldon fought the urge to growl at him as he picked up the drinks.

Growling! You're spending far too much time amongst the Unseelie.

Nimue took the glass from him and sipped the thick black liquid. A small smile spread across her lips.

"I like this drink. Rosa told me this place is connected to the stories the humans tell about you," she said.

"Some of them," he admitted, wondering what else Rosa had filled her in on.

"They portray me as a villain, no?" Nimue arched a golden eyebrow.

"I wouldn't worry. They portray me as an old man who is rather perverted."

"Good to know they've got some details right." Nimue looked at him over the rim of her glass, a gleam in her blue eyes that used to drive him crazy. She was baiting him, but he wouldn't fall for it.

"You wouldn't know what I'm like anymore."

"Why don't you tell me then?"

Eldon took a long drink. "Get comfortable because I'm going to tell you a story I haven't spoken aloud in over five hundred years. Consider yourself warned. You won't look at me the same way by the end."

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

You can never truly hate someone unless you love them first.

Many hundreds of years ago, in this exact point in the Otherworld, a battle was fought between a woman called Morgan and me. It won't surprise you to learn that my greatest folly and aggressive nemesis ended up being a beautiful and powerful woman. The stepsister of a promised savior of Britain is not an easy position to be in, and Arthur's shadow was long.

I first met Morgan as a bright-eyed lass in Uther's court. The daughter of his first wife was already a fiercely intelligent lady of the house. She was a headstrong child, but a lovely one, and while I stayed there, Uther insisted I try to instill some education into the girl. She had priests tutoring her, but Uther wanted her to know practical things and be educated in the old ways. We took long walks where I taught her the names of plants and their properties, how to track animals of the forest and where to find water when needed. I told her the stories of our ancient heroes and gods.

"Father says you can do magic, Merlin," she said one day. "Will you teach me that too?"

I tried my best to deny Uther's claim, but she kept asking.

"Why do you want to know magic, little raven?" I asked her one day, pulling on the end of her black braided hair.

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