Page 64 of Kings and Monsters

Fintan, Daesyn, and Arthur attacked as Merlin moved through them, his power throwing them backward. A part of himsaid that he should be fighting with them, that they may need him, but he was in no mood to listen to reason, even his own. He walked into the next set of rooms where he felt the weak signature of a familiar power. There was nothing in the room but a wooden post next to a metal trap door.

Rage flowed out of him, and he slammed his fist down hard on the slate ground. The earth opened, peeling in half like an oyster shell to reveal the pearl within. A figure on the ground beneath him slowly stood up, her long golden red hair still shining under the grime of her imprisonment.

Merlin walked down the ruined rock and dirt to her. Nimue didn't look at the wreckage around her, only at him with a smile like daylight. When he reached her, he pulled her ragged body to him and kissed her. Magic rushed out of him and into her, replenishing all that had been drained out during her imprisonment and making her glow with light. When they broke free, she punched him in the shoulder.

"That's for making me wait so long," Nimue said sharply before kissing him hard again. "That's because you came."

"I love you, and I'm sorry I made you wait," Merlin replied. He unbuckled his belt that held two long daggers and handed it to her. "Let's go kill some Seelie."

Nimue rolled her shoulders,her body struggling to contain all the magic Merlin had filled her with. Her ruined clothes changed to battle leathers, her hair rearranging itself into a braid to keep out of her face, and she strapped the daggers around her waist. Merlin watched her every moment, as if unable to look anywhere else.

"You went and took your magic back," she commented, looking him over. "I don't know how I feel about you dressing as Unseelie gentry though. You look too fae. I can feel…"

"You can help me out of the offending clothes and feel me as much as you like when the night is over, but we need to get going," he said and grinned. He took her face in his hands and kissed her again before taking her hand. "Don't leave my side again, do you hear?"

"Don't tell me what to do," Nimue replied, even as her hand tightened around his. When they reached the top of the pit, they found three men waiting for them.

"Nimue, this is Arthur Pendragon and Daesyn Seren Du," Merlin introduced.

"You got Arthur as well as all your magic back? My, you must have been worried," Nimue teased, and Merlin only smiled at her.

"Lady Nimue," Arthur bowed low. "It's an honor finally to meet you. You are everything I imagined you would be."

"Imagine about someone else's woman, Pendragon," Merlin said.

"It is a pleasure," Nimue told Arthur and smiled at Daesyn. "Another Seren Du. Bleddyn will be thrilled."

"My lady," Daesyn murmured with a bow.

"He's a Seren Du even if he's not as good looking as me," Merlin said.

Nimue rolled her eyes and turned to a blood-splattered Fintan.

"You were right, my lady," the knight said, looking at Merlin. "I definitely knew it was him."

"Was it the big mouth?" she asked.

Fintan had a mixture of awe and horror on his face, which told Nimue that he was frightened of Merlin. She knew thefeeling. Merlin was radiating magic and malice, his golden eyes glowing like a hunting wolf. Gods, she loved him.

"Okay, pretty boy, lead on. I have a hankering to kill some guards and burn some courts," Merlin interrupted, drawing his sword.

"There was no one left in the Seelie dungeons," Fintan said when they reached the next level of the Court. "The queen has been feeding them all to her creature."

"Good," Merlin said, his skin glowed as he gestured behind him. Nimue shuddered at the release of magic as it began to collapse all the levels beneath them one at a time, burying all trace of them.

"Where has she taken Balthasar?" Nimue demanded.

"The beast will be caged in the arena," Fintan said. "We'll go through the main courts on our way there."

A high-pitched wailing of an alarm echoed through the hallways around them. Merlin pointed his sword at Fintan.

"What is that, knight?"

"It is a summoning alarm. It means all the guards will be rallying to the queen, outside of the Court," he replied as they ran. "Your Unseelie army must have scared her enough to want more than the golden knights."

"The Hunt," Arthur whispered. "Gwyn has arrived."

"Gwyn ap Nudd?" Nimue gasped. "Oh, Merlin, what the fuck have you done?"

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