Page 37 of Queen Takes Camelot: Gwen
Maybe even the same material of Merlin’s dark fae form.
“The butterflies turned into a crown when you passed through the veil.” Lance tucked my hand beneath his arm, gently turning me to face our enemies. He raised his voice to a rolling boom that echoed across the land. “The Once and Future Queen of Camelot has returned!”
We’d agreed that Lance would do everything in his power to stir Arthur’s anger. I just hadn’t expected him to start out quite so directly.
The dragon belched flames across the sky, singing two ancient yew trees that stood as sentinels on either side of the cobbled path to the well. He raked the ground with both front feet, tearing massive grooves and ruts into the beautiful garden. His tail crashed through an ivy-covered bower with a swing tucked inside.
A woman stood off to our right, well away from his wings and swiping tail. Elaine’s pale face flickered through the darkness like a ghost. It was no surprise to any of us that she stared at Lancelot, wholly focused on him.
His fingers tightened on mine, but he didn’t otherwise react at her nearness.
A dark shape lay on the ground at her feet. :Mordred? I’m here. Hang on.:
He didn’t answer, but I could still feel his bond, so I wasn’t too late. I didn’t dare draw my blood yet so I could heal him, but hopefully he could hold on a bit longer.
I waited a moment for Arthur’s dragon to cease bellowing so he could hear me. “It always surprises me to see a grown man throw such a temper tantrum.”
“You always did have a pretty mouth,” he growled out, still fuming arid smoke. “Too bad you never learned to shut it.”
An ugly memory flickered up through the generations that Guinevere had endured this curse. Squeezing her throat, he glared down at her, forcing her to her knees.“Show your king how sorry you are for disrespecting me before our knights. Open that pretty mouth and put it to better use.”
Shuddering, I pushed that image away. He wanted to remind me of our past. To put me in my place. Drunk on power from the dark ring, he was so used to controlling and shaming Guinevere that he had nothing to fear.
He didn’t fear retaliation from me, even with four of my Blood bonds strengthening my power. Even with Shara and her sibling bonds at my disposal. He hadn’t learned a thing from our demonstration when we’d forced him out of the Isador blood circle.
That was how arrogant he was. How stupid. How blindly confident that the ring on his finger would be enough to suppress anything I managed to throw at him.
So… I played along. I needed to get close, and I wouldn’t give him a reason to suspect a thing. Until it was too late.
“I’ve been told that I’m merely a shadow of the queen that Guinevere used to be. I don’t have anywhere near her power.”
I couldn’t see Merlin any longer—he’d disappeared into the shadows beneath the trees. But I felt the cut of my words in his bond like jagged shards of broken glass.:Forgive me, my queen.:
:You’re right, so there’s nothing to forgive.:
The dragon let out a chuckling hiss. “That sounds like something Merlin would say. I see she finally let you out of Avalon. How’d the demon enjoy the land of paradise?”
“Very well indeed.” Merlin’s voice crackled like shattered glass beneath heavy boots. His voice was already well ahead of us, close enough to Elaine that she shrank back against one of the mighty trees, though she couldn’t tear her gaze from Lance.
Interesting. I didn’t know why she was afraid of Merlin.
:We have a very long history, my queen. She’s as dark as I am, though her glamor fades. It’ll be a pleasure to finally reveal her true form.:
“You made an offer to me in the Isador Tower,” I said calmly. “I would like to discuss your compromise further. That’s why I come here willingly. None of us have attacked you or tried to defend ourselves. I want to parley.”
Lance stiffened and jerked his head around to glare at me, but he didn’t say a word.
I definitely had the dragon’s interest too. He gave me a sly look that made chills slither down my spine. “I’m listening.”
“You wanted us to be Arthur and Guinevere again. I’d hoped that by calling my Blood that I’d regain some of her former glory, but I’m barely a shell of the queen she used to be. I don’t want to lose my Blood again. I don’t want to watch you kill them. I don’t want to die in misery and be reborn even weaker.”
The dragon sat up on his haunches and gave me a bored, heavy-lidded look as if he’d suddenly gotten very sleepy. He lifted his massive paw and licked his foot-long claws one by one. “What do you propose?”
I swallowed hard, letting my reluctance show on my face. My dread would only excite him. My fear would arouse him.
He wanted me to come crying and begging to plead for my Bloods’ lives.
So I had better make this a damned good show.
