Page 87 of Swords and Curses

"He's obedient and comes willingly. As you should have done," the queen snarled. "This will pacify me for a time, but never rest easy for I will come for my revenge."

"Merlin, stop! It isn't worth it!" Rosa shouted as Balthasar held her.

"Some things are," Merlin said, and the queen's golden power pooled around them. She began to fade, but Merlin stayed as the power of the portal was unable to touch him.

"What trickery is this?" the queen demanded, holding her hand out to Merlin. He took it, and she tried again, but he remained rooted to the spot.

"No," he cursed and looked at the Heavens. "Let me do this! Let me go."

"You try to trick me with your lies," the queen hissed. "The Wylts have less honor than the Seren Du, and now I shall take what you love most."

She clapped her hands and Balthasar and Nimue appeared at her side. Rosa cried out and ran to Balthasar as the golden light swirled.

By the time Bleddyn and Merlin reached them, there was only a patch of bare ice and soldiers with spears.

Rosa looked at the empty spot as if she couldn't believe her eyes. Then with trembling hands, she reached for the necklace around her neck that dampened her powers.

"Rosa, don't…" was all Merlin could say as she snapped the chain and unleashed her fury.

All was light, blood, and screaming around her. Rosa barely felt the weight of her sword in her arm as she flew at the goldensoldiers, mowing them down with long bolts of magic that whipped out around her. Those that managed to avoid them met the edge of her blade as it carved its way through their armor.

She could feel the members of her family through their magic, like pinpricks of light in the corner of her eye. She didn't turn to see how they fared. The only thought that raced through her was that her enemy had Balthasar. She would kill every last Seelie, drain every last one to cross to the Aos Si. Then she would set the dead autumn world on fire.

Merlin appeared beside her. "Rosa, you need to get back!"

"You need to get out of my way," she snarled.

"You stubborn fucking child, get back so we can end this." He pulled her behind him as his eyes glowed gold, and the ice underneath their feet shuddered. "Move."

Rosa turned back to the Gwaed Gam army and fought her way back to the lines. Within the ranks of the golden army, small pockets of warriors had begun to attack each other.

The Unseelie. They must've listened to Bleddyn after all.She could feel the spark of their magic as it exploded against the Seelie.

"We have to get them out before Merlin brings this whole lake down," Rosa called out to Bleddyn. He nodded, and his magic called out to them.

The Gwaed Gam closed in around the Unseelie, and they vanished amongst the black soldiers that swarmed over the queen's men. Rosa almost felt sorry for them. Their leader had left them to die in a strange world. Bleddyn took her by the hand, and they retreated onto solid land.

Merlin stood, angry and bloody, on the ice looking at the Seelie soldiers racing to meet his blade. A roar unlike anything she'd ever heard before broke free as he exploded in white light. The ice reached out and wrapped frozen hands aroundthe screaming soldiers. They threw whatever magic they had at them, but nothing worked as they were dragged into the lake.

Rosa collapsed on the bank, trembling from the magic drain and the loss of Balthasar. Her body screamed at the deep cuts that scored her flesh, her armor cut from Seelie blows that she hadn't felt. She felt a cry build inside of her, and as it broke free, Merlin was there lifting her out of the freezing mud.

"I've got you, Rhosyn. I've got you."

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Eli sat beside Rosa's bed, watching over her as she slept. It had taken him most of the night to stitch her wounds and clean them from the poisons the Seelie delighted in using. They had barely reached the house before she had started hallucinating and screaming for Balthasar.

Merlin had left her in Eli's care and had gone to see to the other wounded. Eli could feel the ragged pain coming from him, and being around Rosa, who had no way of controlling her grief, only made it harder.

Eli was also using Rosa's current fragile state to avoid his own personal drama. When Eirianwen had been shoved through the crowd, he'd known her from her walk and the shape of her body even before the queen had pulled off the hood.Alive. It took every ounce of his self-control to lock down his power. He wanted to rush to hold her, to rip the queen apart limb from limb. He had seen her fall and die the day the queen had captured him.

Where had she been all this time?She had even refused to look at him. Zalan had managed to get her back to the mansion and into a private room.

Eli knew he couldn't avoid her, but his mind wouldn't stop racing. They had won the battle but not the war, and now he had lost Balthasar and Nimue.

When she woke, Rosa was going to be furious. He stroked her forehead and let his magic draw her into a deep rest before getting to his feet. He set a guard outside her door and headed back to his chambers. He stank of Seelie blood, sweat, and the ozone of burned magic.

Merlin intercepted him outside his chamber. "How is she?"

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