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“You tortured me,” I said coldly.
Daegen clapped his hands together. “Ah, she does remember.” He leaned forward in his saddle. “Your mother’s not here to protect you now.” He gestured to the markings on my arms that peeked out from beneath the Flamebloom armor I wore. “And those won’t save you. Not now that you’ve left your pretty nest, little bird.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I said, feeling a cold chill come over me.
“You could only hide behind those marks for so long, Morgan. And behind the island. You’ve left it far behind now.”
“The island?” My heart sped up a little. “What island?”
“Avalon, of course,” my brother said disdainfully. “Why else would your mother have chosen a mortal to warm her bed? Disgusting woman to sink so low after the honor our father bestowed upon her, choosing her to be his queen.”
My mind was racing too fast to pay much note to his insults.
“You know, you did well for such an ignorant girl,” Daegen commented derisively. “To hide from our father as long as you did. But I suppose you had no idea how you were even doing it. The markings, the island. And then you were too stupid to stay where you were shielded.” He leaned forward again, his smile turning secretive and seductive. “Tell me, Sister, what blade is that you carry?”
I touched a hand to the sword strapped to my back. Excalibur. I had brought it with me, not truly expecting to need it. But like it or not, it was the best weapon I’d ever had.
“Tsk tsk,” Daegen said, wagging a long, slender finger. “You should have left it where you found it. It wasn’t yours to take.”
In horror, I realized I had opened myself. Alerted my father to my presence here somehow. By drawing on my magic—fueled by the markings. By leaving the safety of Camelot and its proximity to Avalon. And lastly, by carrying Excalibur with me into battle. Was the blade truly still so attuned to him that he had sensed its presence with me?
Or had he merely known the lure of Tintagel at war would be enough to draw me here?
I felt open and exposed, naked and vulnerable.
“Taking things that don’t belong to you seems to be a habit, Sister,” Daegen observed. “Like that mount.” But instead of gesturing to Sunstrike, he pointed to where Draven hovered on Nightclaw a little ways away, listening and staying close.
“Our father’s,” I said, with a dawning realization.
“Yes, of course. Who do you think trained him in such tactics? When he escaped, it was a loss. An insult.”
“Nightclaw didn’t want to be our father’s mount any longer,” I said angrily. “And it sounds as if our father should really be used to such losses by now.”
His battlecat. His wife. His daughter.
“As if a dumb animal really had a choice in such a matter,” Daegen sneered.
Nightclaw roared, and for the first time, I realized what Daegen was holding in his hand. A whip. To control his own battlecat.
I curled my lip in disgust. “They’re intelligent creatures. And yet you whip them? Is that my father’s way?”
“Our father’s way is one of might and power. And conquest. You would do well to remember that. When I return you to him, he will reward me, and you will see the true magnanimity of a fae high king—all that and more.” He smiled a secretive smile.
“Good luck with that. I have no plans to return with you, Brother. You would do well to leave here now, while you still have the chance,” I said as boldly as I could.
Daegen tipped his head back and laughed. It was a cruel and familiar sound. A prickle crossed my skin as I wondered if I sounded anything like that when I laughed. He was family, after all.
“You and the object you carry can come with me now,” my brother said. “Come easily, and I’ll spare these mortals down below. There’s no reason they must be drawn into our family squabbles.”
I knew he was lying. After all, my father’s forces had attacked Tintagel first.
“And if I don’t?”
He shrugged. “Then all below you will die in agony.” He glanced over at Draven for the first time with a glimmer of interest. “And this man. The Siabra. He is your mate, I take it? Coupling with your enemy. How very much like your mother.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Draven growled. “If you think you’re taking my wife anywhere, you’re as mindless as you look.”
“So the pleasantries are over then?” Daegen said with a smile. “I’ll take my sister and I’ll take the beast you ride. You and the other one are swill.”
