Page 2 of Kings and Monsters

Merlin grinned and opened his other eye. "Did you sleep at all?" he asked.

"Unlike some, I don't rest easy in a land where a psychotic queen is after me, and magical trees could eat me. Besides, your snoring makes sleeping impossible. You could wake giants."

"Remind me to take you on more adventures in the Otherworld when this is over. You have to learn to travel roughly if you want to be my apprentice."

"If we survive this, cousin, I'll go wherever you want to take me," Rosa said and stretched. "You think there would be magic to make the ground softer."

"You don't use magic for stupid things like that," Merlin grumbled as he sat up. "Father would never let anything happen to you while you were sleeping, not even in enemy territory. You'll get used to the ground." He picked up one of his mud-splattered Doc Martens and tossed it over her. Arthur woke with a shout as it hit his chest, Excalibur drawn and ready to fight off his enemies.

"You're a right bastard, Merlin," Arthur growled, skewering the leather boot through with his sword and flung it back to him.

"I wasn't sure you were going to wake up. I was worried we were going to have to carry your lifeless corpse around for another thousand years," Merlin said innocently, catching the boot before repairing the hole in the leather with his magic and pulling it onto his foot. Clearly, magic couldn't be used forsoftening the ground, but it was perfectly okay to be used for stupid things like fixing boots.

"You put me in a cave, you prick, and you didn't carry me anywhere. I never have a problem waking up if your shoddy magic isn't involved," Arthur quipped and pulled on his shirt.

It was something else Rosa liked about Arthur. He absolutely refused to sleep in a shirt. The scars on his back and chest were the survival marks of a warrior and were a fine thing to see every morning.

Rosa re-braided her hair and walked through a line of trees to a deep pool. Another thing Rosa hated about adventures was that she was never alone. Considering the state of her thoughts, her not being left with them was probably a blessing. Torn between worry and fury, she didn't know whether to scream or cry.

Out of the sight of the camp, Rosa took a deep, shaky breath and let down the face she was carefully holding together in front of Eli and Merlin. Waking up every morning alone, knowing that Balthasar was still in the hands of that red-haired witch was like getting sucker punched to the chest. Rosa let the still closeness of the pond and the shedding trees around her calm the burning ache under her skin.

"I'm coming, Bal. I'll bring an army to her door and tear her court apart to find you. Don't doubt it," she whispered to the sky.

The water was black and still as Rosa crouched down on the rocky bank and washed her face of the tears that had managed to escape.

"You shouldn't wander off, princess," a cool voice said behind her. Eirianwen was watching her carefully, her hands resting on the hilts of the long daggers strapped to her belt. She was every inch the vision of a fantasy fae warrior from her complexly braided hair to her leather clad thighs and boots. A scar curved down her white neck to her collarbone that looked like shealmost had her throat cut. Rosa did everything she could not to appear intimidated by her.

"I didn't wander off, and I'm no princess," Rosa answered, standing up warily.

"You are Bleddyn's daughter. You are a princess," Eirianwen said. The way she saiddaughtermade it sound distasteful.

"Did he send you after me?" Rosa asked, ignoring the tone.

Eirianwen's lip curled. "Bleddyn can't command me to do anything. I followed you because the selkies have been unusually active in the past few months. They are sensing the coming winter and are hungry."

"If you're trying to scare me, it's not going to work."

"If I wanted to scare you, I wouldn't use selkies," Eirianwen promised.

Rosa wiped her wet hands on her pants in frustration. "Are you always like this? Or are you just pissed off because Eli didn't marry you and you are taking it out on me?"

"Eliisn't what you think he is. You need to stop using his human name while we are in the Aos Si. Despite his absence, the name Bleddyn Seren Du means something here." Eirianwen took a step towards her, and Rosa's hand instinctively reached for her sword, only to realize she had left it next to her bedroll.Some warrior you are.

"If you must know, I'm pissed off at him because he allowed himself to become a lesser being, not because of our history. If we are going to defeat the queen and get your lover back, he needs to start thinking like one of the Seren Du bloodline and not this father figure he's been masquerading as." The contempt in her voice seemed to spread from her lips to her eyes.

Oh, yeah, you are totally pissed he had his babies with someone else. You just can't admit it to yourself, Rosa thought.

"Eli isn't the king of the Unseelie anymore," she said and shrugged.

"In the Aos Si, you don't stop being what you are that easy, as much as I would like it to be so. He doesn't deserve to be our king."

"Aren't you their leader now anyway? You don't have to feel threatened. He doesn't want another throne."

"You think you are in his confidence enough to know that?" Eirianwen argued.

"He doesn't want to be the king of the kingdom he's already got, let alone one here. You can relax. He's not here to take your place or to stay," Rosa replied defensively.

But what if he wants to?an annoying voice of doubt asked. She shoved it away.

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