Air: Merlin's Chalice (The Children of Avalon Book 1) (13 page)

“Thomas?”

Bridget nodded. “My oldest brother.”

“Yes, I’d like to speak with him. When do you think I can do so?”

“It will have to be tomorrow. He and the others are extremely busy today. They’re finally fixing the roof of the house we rent to the blacksmith and his family. It caught fire last week and the poor things have been living with only half a roof ever since.”

“If your parents took this baby to Wales…” I mused, halfway to myself, but my voice petered out when faced with the overwhelming possibility.

“Excellent chance that they’re your family, wot?” Sir Dagonet finished for me, saying just what was on all our minds.

Bridget took my hands in her own and looked straight into my eyes. A small smile played around her lips. “You
are
my sister. I can feel it. And that’s where I’ve seen your face before—on my brothers.”

Chapter Seventeen

T
he three young men—hardly more than boys—hesitantly entered the private drawing room. Their heads were bowed and their hands visibly shaking, despite being clasped together in front of them.

Nimuë just shook her head sadly. “Do I frighten you so much?” she asked.

“N–n–no, ma’am,” one brave boy spoke up when the others didn’t say anything.

“Good. I certainly do not intend to frighten you.”

“No, ma’am.”

“Are you all enjoying your new positions in the royal household?” she asked, to calm them a little—before she terrified them once again by telling them why she had called them to her.

The tallest of the three let out a breath, while the third said with great enthusiasm, “Yes, ma’am. Thank you, ma’am.”

Nimuë smiled. “I am so glad to hear that, truly, I am.”

“It was very good of you to get us our positions, ma’am,” the first one added.

“Well, you did what I asked of you and for that you received what I had promised.” She paused, before continuing. “Now, I am afraid, I have another little job for you. It is something along the lines of the first.”

“But we already have our positions,” the third young man said.

“Yes, and you would like to keep them, would you not?”

His gaze dropped to the floor. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good.”

“But ma’am…”

“Yes?” Nimuë asked. They were determined to test her patience.

“The first time you… well, we had… well, it was…”

“What is it? Just spit it out, boy.” She was
really
beginning to lose her patience.

“It’s just…”

“We felt urges,” the tall one whispered.

That stopped her. “Urges?” How delicious! And unexpected. “What sort of urges?”

“To…to kill,” the first one said, clearly disturbed.

The tall boy dropped his head into his hands in shame. Worry lines creased the forehead of the third.

Nimuë caught and stopped herself from laughing. “Oh, yes. That is not entirely surprising.” She paced in front of them. “I am sorry to tell you that, once again, you will not be able to act on those urges. I need the girl. The girl you watched for me last time. She is in Gloucester, and I need her brought to me.”

“How?” the third one interrupted.

Nimuë frowned at him, but continued, “You will go in the same form as last time. Attack her. Hurt her. But do not kill her. Do you understand? If you do, there will be dire consequences for you.” She paused to let that thought sink in. “I will be waiting for her outside of the Northern Gate to the city. Drive her there.”

The first and third nodded, their faces solemn. The second still had not taken his face from his hands and his shoulders were now shaking as if he were weeping. Just so long as he did what she told him.

She positioned herself in front of them and began to concentrate on turning these young men into ravens.

Chapter Eighteen

F
ive enormous, monstrous giants came thumping toward me. Evil smiles revealed sharp, white fangs they gnashed with obvious intent. Their hands opened and closed into fists the size of boulders.

I turned to run, but there was nowhere to run to. I was surrounded by a thick forest with trees so dense I could barely wind my way through them, let alone run. The ground shook with the oncoming approach of the giants as I bounced from tree to tree, trying to escape.

“But, Scai, we’re your brothers,” one of them said from behind me. In a sweet, alluring singsong voice, he called out again, “We’re your family, we just want to taste you.”

“Be with you,” another one corrected.

“Er, yes, be with you,” the first one said. “Dear sister, don’t run away. Come back! Come back to us.”

I moved as quickly as I could through the overcrowded trees. Somehow, although I had difficulty squeezing in between the trunks, my brothers had no problem moving forward. They were gaining on me and still the trees crowded me in, making escape impossible. I whimpered in fright when I turned and saw how close they were. I had to get away!

Breaking out from the forest, I sprinted away, running as fast as I could. Looking back over my shoulder, I didn’t see the line of men approaching me from the other direction until I had nearly run straight into one of them. A man reached out and grabbed me by my shoulders just before I barreled into him.

“Who are you?” he asked, holding me at arm’s length.

“Don’t you remember, brother?” said the man next to him. “Bridget said she might be our long lost sister.”

I looked from one to the other of the five men. Each one was strong and handsome, with blond hair like mine and harsh blue eyes.

The first looked down at me as if he had put something awful into his mouth, and then he pushed me away. “Go back to where you came from, girl. We don’t want you.”

“But…” I began to protest.

“We thought that we’d gotten rid of you for good. We don’t want you. Go away.” He turned his back on me and walked away. The other men did the same, the last one spitting at me as he did so.

“But wait! I’ve come all the way from Wales just to meet you,” I cried.

“We don’t want to meet you. Go back to Wales.” The voice that drifted back to me sounded awfully familiar.

I started to run, following the men. Somehow they had gotten very far away very fast. I hoisted my long skirts and ran as hard as I could to catch up to them, calling out to them, “But you’re my brothers, my family.” But I didn’t seem to be getting any closer. I ran harder and faster as the men sauntered carelessly away.

I wouldn’t give up. I couldn’t! Not after all that I’d been through. I had traveled so far to meet them, they couldn’t just turn their backs on me.

“Go back to Wales,” the voice called back again, and this time I knew whose it was for sure.

“Dylan!”

I sat up with a gasp, staring directly into Dylan’s green eyes.

“How dare you,” I breathed. “You entered my dream. You toyed with my mind while I slept!”

“You can’t go to meet your family,” he said, not looking away.

“How did you do that?” Fear, true blood–chilling fear, crawled me down to my very bones like the North wind in the dead of winter.

“It doesn’t matter. You cannot meet your family.”

“Why not? Why are you trying to scare me away from them?”

“They don’t want you, Scai. Why can’t you get that into your head?”

“Because it’s not true,” I insisted. It’s not true, I said again silently, convincing myself as much as I was trying to convince him. No, I
was
convinced! I was. I knew that what I was doing was right.

“How do you know that? They left you, a helpless babe, on the steps of a church in a town they didn’t know. Isn’t that enough for you? Why do you insist on returning to them?”

“I have to. I have to find out why my parents gave me away.”

“But
why
?”

That stopped me. “Why? Because they just left me there. Who does that to their daughter? And why would they travel all the way to Tallent, so far from Gloucester, to give me away?” I unclenched my hands only to wring them together. They were hot and sweaty despite the cold that had invaded me.

“You’re right. No one does that unless they are strongly compelled to do so. Think about it, Scai.” Dylan leaned forward to make his point even stronger. “They didn’t want you and they went to a lot of trouble to get rid of you. Don’t you think you should honor their decision? Don’t you think there was a very good reason why they went to all of that trouble?” He paused and then added quietly, “Don’t do this. Show some respect for your parents and their decision. You know it had to be made for a good reason. Honor that.”

“What do you know about this? Do you know my family? Do you know why they gave me away?”

Dylan shook his head. “I know families. I’ve had two: my real family and my foster family. Believe me when I tell you that you are doing the wrong thing,” he said. His voice had softened, filled with concern. “I just don’t want to see you hurt when you’re not greeted the way you expect to be. I guarantee you, they’re not going to kill the fatted calf and welcome you home. You didn’t leave—they got rid of you.”

Pain slashed through me as I sat at the edge of my bed. He was right. I hated it, but he was right. They had given me away—left me miles away to ensure I didn’t come back. Maybe I
should
respect their decision, I thought, blinking away the tears that had begun to sting my eyes.

Clearly my parents had not done this lightly, or easily. But they
had
done it. I took a deep breath, trying to dispel the heaviness that had descended on my chest. I felt for a moment as if I was suffocating. I needed air.

I got up and pushed open the window shutters. I could hear Sir Dagonet snoring in the next room, sleeping soundly. Finally, thanks to Bridget, he was recovering from that awful illness.

Watching the sun as it peeked up over the horizon of the neighboring houses, I thought about my parents. Yes, they had given me away. Yes, they had done so for a reason. But I had to know what that was. I
had
to know why they had gone to so much trouble to get rid of me.

I opened my hands to the cool of the morning. “No. I have to know. I have to find out. I
will
go and meet my family today,” I said, as I turned around to face Dylan.

He dropped his head in defeat for just a moment. Sorrow pooled in his eyes as he looked directly into mine once more. “You will not go to see your family. You will return to Wales, today.”

His voice was deep and resonant. I could feel the magic in his words. It swirled around me, trying to enter into my mind. Even before the words were out of his mouth, I was concentrating on blocking them out. His words would not flood my mind. They would not!

I took a few steps back, away from Dylan and his mental assault. Although I glared at him, I couldn’t stop the smile of triumph that rose to my lips.

I had done it! I had blocked his magic.

Dylan realized this in an instant and came toward me.

I bolted. I didn’t know what he was thinking of doing, but I didn’t wait a moment to find out. Every instinct told me to run—and so I did.

I ran out of the door of my room and turned down the hallway.

No! I had turned the wrong way! Ahead was the dead end. The stairs were in the other direction and Dylan was practically on my heels.

I noticed light coming from an open door at the end of the hallway. The last room was open, unoccupied.

I scooted into the room and was about to turn and close the door, but Dylan was too fast. He was right there, behind me.

“How did you do that?” he demanded. “How did you block my suggestion?”

“I don’t know, but it worked. I told you once before, Dylan, you
may not
put your commands into my mind. I will not stand for it.”

Dylan stopped as well. A small smile grew on his face. He knew as well as I did that I was trapped. I didn’t like the look in his eyes. He looked…half–crazed and angry. “Go back to Wales.” He began advancing.

“No.” I backed away from him.

Making a lunge for me, Dylan sprang forward. I dodged around him and started to run back out the door, but before I could even get through it, he grabbed hold of my hair.

A scream of pain escaped from me as he pulled me to a sudden halt. “No!”

I rounded on him, my fist smashing into his ear. Immediately, he let go of me, recoiling in pain.

I was out of the door and running back down the hall as fast as I could go. My only hope was that Sir Dagonet would stop Dylan. I ran at full speed into his room. “Sir Dagonet!” I screamed as I threw open the door.

“Eh, wot, wot?” the old man sat up in his bed.

But a glance behind me showed Dylan right on my heels.

There was nothing else for it. I didn’t even pause. I kept running straight past Sir Dagonet’s bed and threw myself out of the second story window, praying as I did so.

Chapter Nineteen

W
ith two strong flaps of my wings, I shot up into the early morning sky. Circling around to take a look behind me. Dylan was glaring at me out of the window, his hands gripping the window ledge.

“You shall never get it, Scai. Merlin’s chalice is mine! It was meant for me, and I shall be the one who finds it. I, alone, shall be the one who wields it.”
The words poured into my mind like acid—hot, burning, and angry.

I didn’t know what he meant, but I didn’t have time to figure it out. From above me there came terrifying screeches, and they were coming closer, fast.

The ravens looked identical to the ones I had seen just before leaving Tallent, but I didn’t have time to look closely before they started attacking me.

Two of the birds came at me fast. I tried to fly away, but a third was coming at me from the other direction.