Page 14 of To Charm a Dark Prince

“It is not your fault. Believe me. It is not by your hand that Avalon has been cut off from the worlds around us.” Grigory’s expression grew grim as he stared into the fire. “Avalon is unwell. We suffer a blight set upon us by the Prince in Iron. We languish like this, broken and devoid of the magic that should sustain us.”

She didn’t know what to say to that. So she fidgeted with the glass. “That…sounds terrible.”

“It is. He was not without his reasons, I suppose. But at what cost?” Grigory tapped his black, pointed fingernails on the wood trim of his chair. “He has captured all the magic—stripping it from those of us who could tap into the wellspring of our gifts. And those who were too tightly wound to the essence of our world suffered a worse fate.”

“Death?”

He huffed. “They likely wish for such mercy. No. They are imprisoned. And have been for three hundred years.”

Cringing, she stared down into her wine. “That’s just awful.”

“No one has come or gone from Avalon in all those years. The way was closed. That is why poor Valessa was so frightened when you said you came from Earth.” He curled the fingers of his other hand beneath his chin and watched her curiously over the rim of his circular glasses. “Tell me, how did this all come to pass?”

She had another choice in front of her. Tell Grigory the whole story, or…leave out some parts. Namely, the thing with Merlin. She could almost hear the cat reaming her a new one for having gotten into this much trouble already.

Gwen wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice in less than twenty minutes. “My house caught fire. I ran upstairs, and there was just a…portal thingy. I could either go through the hole, or burn to death, so I jumped through the hole. I was falling. I woke up in a crater.”

“Youwere the meteor.” His eyes went a little wide for a moment. “By the Ancients. Continue, please.”

She sipped the wine. It was helping her relax. At least there were some small favors. “I woke up and…I was naked, and I just found a path and started walking. I wound up at Valessa’s house, and you know what happens from there.”

“That’s all?” He pondered her curiously for a moment, as if trying to find her lie.

She nodded and hoped her ears weren’t turning red. “Oh. My hair wasn’t always this color.” She picked up the end of one of her long wavy curls. She could see the crimson color in more detail now, even in the faded light of the fire.

“Was there fire in the crater when you landed?” He arched a thin eyebrow.

“Yeah.”

“It did not burn you, did it?” He sipped his own glass of wine. “You can tell me the truth.”

Frowning, she let out a sigh. He already guessed it anyway, so there was no point in hiding it. “No. The fire didn’t burn me.”

“Can you do me a favor? Reach your hand into the flame, if you would. I wish to see this for myself, if you do not mind.” He gestured to the fireplace.

“I—um—”

“Withdraw the instant you feel any discomfort or pain, of course.”

Taking in a deep breath, she held it, and let it all out in a rush. “Okay, sure. Whatever.” Standing, she walked to the fireplace and, crouching down, reached her hand out toward the fire.

It felt warm, but not uncomfortably so. As she moved her fingers closer, she waited for the burning to start. But it never did. She placed her hand atop one of the logs. It felt like the temperature of a hot bath. Kind of pleasant, actually.

Grigory muttered something that wasn’t English. Welsh, maybe? Did Avalon have its own languages? Now she wanted to know. But she couldn’t spare the time to ask, as whatever Grigory said didn’t sound happy either. In fact, he soundedextremelyupset. Straightening up, she brushed her hands off together and saw him staring at her with a mixture of awe and maybe just a bit of fear.

“I’m sorry. I don’t…I don’t know why, or how, or what this means.”

“It means you should sit, my dear girl. We have much to discuss.”

She saw no harm in that, she supposed. Picking up her glass, she sat back down and took another drink of it. “I really am sorry. Is this fixable? Whatever ‘this’ is?”

“I am not an expert in such things. We may need to take you to someone who is. Would you be willing to do that?” Grigory placed his empty wine glass down on the table in front of him. “It would be a hard journey.”

“Great. A quest.” She snickered. “I’m going on aquest.”She loved those kinds of video games. Hey, hadn’t she just been wishing her life was more interesting? Here she was. She finished her glass of wine, and refused a second as she put the glass down in front of her. “Thank you for helping me.”

His expression turned sad and regretful. “You seem like a kind soul. I am sorry for all that has transpired until now. And I am even more sorry for all that will follow after this.”

She shrugged. “It’s not your fault.” No, it wasn’thisfault. It was her stupid asshole cat’s fault. The cat that wasn’t a cat, whose name wasn’t even Merlin. She wondered what his real name was, actually. She hadn’t had the chance to ask him. And she also had no clue where the hell he had gotten off to.

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