Page 54 of To Charm a Dark Prince

Two points to Team Destroy the Crystal. One point to Team Leave It Alone. Gwen sighed. The round wasn’t over yet—and it was still anybody’s game. She needed to dig deeper and brace herself for the real possibility of having to try to take a stand against Mordred and betray him.

But damn if it didn’t feelwrong.

SIXTEEN

Mordred found himself restlessly pacing. It was not uncommon for him—he seemed to vacillate between staring into the middle distance for hours and his current action. When someone knocked on the door to his study, he found the distraction shockingly welcome. “Come in.”

He was surprised to see Percival, as the Knight in Copper stepped into the room. “To what do I owe the pleasure, knight?” Mordred arched an eyebrow at the other man.

“I wish to speak to you of our new…guest.” Percival was not usually one to speak with subtle choices of words.

It made Mordred instantly suspicious. He clasped his metal-clad hands behind his back, and waited. Percival had come to see him; Percival could lead the charge.

The Knight in Copper stared out the window for a moment. “Your actions regarding her are confounding. I came to seek clarification on your motivation.”

That caught Mordred again by surprise. “And since when do I owe you an explanation for my actions?”

“You do not.” Percival’s fingers twitched at his side. “But I do not understand why you let her remain loose from the Crystal. You have been unflinching in your quest to ensure all rogue magic is contained. But you let her stay free? Why?”

“Someone is pulling her strings, Percival. I wish to know who it is so that I may stop them.”

“But they need her to succeed at their goals. If she is imprisoned, they are blocked from progressing. You needn’t identify them if you can stop them.”

Mordred walked to the long table by the wall to pour himself and Percival a glass of wine. “And that gives them a path to try again. It may take them days, it may take them a thousand years—but if I foil their attempts now, they will seek another way.” He handed Percival the glass and sipped his own.

“So you are…using her as bait?” Percival seemed unconvinced. “And you have no other motive in leaving her free?”

“I never said that I did not.” Mordred shrugged. “She is harmless. A distraction from the mundanity.”

“Lancelot seems to agree with you.”

It took everything within Mordred to keep his expression still. “Yes. It seems so.”

“You know he despises you.”

“He makes it very clear.”

“And now he is off riding with the girl who youknowis plotting against you.” Percival shook his head. “Unless you believe Lancelot is to blame for her arrival, I do not know what you are trying to do by allowing a malcontent to scheme with a conspirator.”

“Lancelot does not have the power to grant someone the gift of flame.” Mordred turned his back to Percival to stand by the window. He was waiting for the two horses to reappear from the woods with the riders in question. “While I have no doubt he is encouraging her actions against me as we speak, I am unthreatened by Lancelot. He may run his mouth as much as he wishes, but that is all he is capable of. You are well aware of that.”

“Words can inspire. Words can cause harm.”

“And so do actions, Percival. Until his words inspire action against me, I shall do nothing to stop him. I wish for Gwendolyn to see in me someone worthy of her trust. The path of least resistance forward from this nonsense is if she willingly surrenders to me the truth of her arrival.”

“Is that all you wish for her to see in you?”

“Watch your tongue, knight.” Mordred glared at the other man briefly. “Lest I remove it for you.”

“It simply strikes me as odd that you would, after all these years, allow a threat to your reign to stay as your guest, when—”

“And what if your insinuations were true, Percival?” He turned to the other man, his anger boiling up. “What then?” He loomed over the Knight in Copper, using his height to intimidate the other man. It had always worked in the past, and today was no different. “She is my prisoner of war. It is my right to do with her as I wish. I will let her acclimatize to this world, to decide for herself what her fate might be. You want to fault me for this?”

“It is…simply out of character for you.” Percival took a step back, dropping his gaze to the floor. “That is all.”

“Ah! I see. Out ofcharacter.And what would be more so?” He sneered. “What would be more appropriate for your vision of me? Perhaps if I flayed her alive? Strung her up and ripped her skin from her bones? Tortured her until she told me all she knows?”

“N—no, I—”

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