Page 6 of To Charm a Dark Prince

Screaming, however, seemed to help the situation.

As she plummeted toward the ground, Gwen blacked out.

TWO

“My liege?”

Mordred had not been paying attention. He had not been sleeping well of late—though that was not uncommon. He was tempted to use the sleeping powder that the cook made for him, but the concoction often left him drowsy and clouded the following day. He had placed his head back against his throne and shut his eyes, and had apparently lost track of time.

Turning his focus back to the knight in front of him, he arched an eyebrow. “Yes?”

The man in question sighed. He was older by appearance than Mordred, though looks were always deceiving in this world. The knight stood head and shoulders over the rest of Mordred’s servants, looking almost frail due to his proportions. Which was, once more, deceiving. The Knight in Gold was one of the fiercest fighters that Avalon could boast. More than once, Mordred had found himself counting his blessings that Galahad was onhisside.

Even if Galahad had no choice in the matter.

“There has been…an incident.” Galahad frowned, his expression hidden mostly under his gray mustache. The creases at his eyes were pronounced as a result of his obvious concern.

Rolling his eyes, Mordred braced himself for whatever the so-called incident was. “What village has decided to wage a rebellion this time?” He rubbed his fingers along his temple, already feeling a headache beginning to take up residence. He disliked it when he had to raze a town, but it had to be done now and then in the name of keeping the peace.

“No, prince.” Galahad’s fingers flexed and clenched at his side, the gold detailing of his armor reflecting the candlelight. “It is more serious than that, I fear.”

Mordred blinked. “Well, out with it.”

The Knight in Gold pondered his words for a moment before resigning himself to whatever chaos was about to follow. “A fiery meteor fell from the sky and struck Ellainwood.”

Grimacing, Mordred stood from his throne. Summoning his armor in mid-stride, it spread over him, welcome and familiar. The iron formed the jagged points and elaborate, tangled patterns that he favored. Beautiful but frightening. And it was by design. Let all others fear him—he had long since given up earning their love.

Clenching his clawed gauntlets into fists, he headed for the door. There was no time to waste. Galahad would have known to already fit up their drakes for the ride. Ellainwood was several hours away, even by flight.

He could only hope that they would not arrive too late.

Too late for what, he did not know.

But it would spell disaster if they did not. Of that, he was certain.

* * *

Gwen groaned. Her head hurt. A lot. Screw that, everything hurt a lot. Pressing a hand to her head, she was at least mildly impressed that she was alive. She could feel her legs, for better or worse, and could wiggle her toes.

She hadn’t broken her neck, which was good. Or snapped her spine in half. But how? She remembered falling, seeing the ground hundreds upon hundreds of feet below her. There had been fire—wait, wasn’t thatbeforeshe had jumped through a portal and fallen through the air?

What the hell was happening to her?

Sitting up, she rubbed her hands over her face and struggled to see straight. She felt dizzy at best, and nauseous at worst.

And entirely naked.

“What thefuck?”

But that was, somehow, not the most alarming thing she saw. Not only was she entirely naked, she was sitting at the bottom of a flaming crater. Shooting up to her feet, she stumbled and fell again, squeaking in surprise as her hand landed in the flames. Scrambling back, she waved the hand to try to stop it from burning, but it was all around her and suddenly she—

She realized it didn’t hurt.

Okay, fine, she hurt, but not from the fire. She was sitting on her butt in the middle of a flaming crater, surrounded by crackling logs and debris, and…she wasn’t burning. Reaching out, she tentatively stuck her fingers into a particularly large flame next to her.

The fire curled around her hand as if it wasn’t there. She felt nothing. Her skin didn’t blacken or char. “How…?”

“Can we get a move on, or do you plan on sitting there like an idiot all night?”

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