AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Wade cleared his throat. "Go ahead," he said. "I'm drawing a blank.">The woman smiled then, faint but with a twinkle in her eye. "You may call me Morgaine. I'm a Daughter of the Moon, like your sister here."
Morgaine? My jaw went slack and I hastily backed up a step. "Not the Morgaine?"
She let out a low chuckle. "The one and only."
One of the greatest sorceresses to ever live, Morgaine was half-human, half-Fae like we were, although it seemed she'd managed to avoid the short circuits in her wiring that afflicted most half-breeds. Morgaine had chosen to stay behind during the Great Divide and it was thought she'd faded into history. From her appearance, it was obvious that the rumor mill had been working overtime. She was as alive as any of us. Well, as alive as Camille and Delilah.
I glanced at the men. "Then these must be…"
"Mordred, my nephew, though many make the mistake of thinking he's my son. And this," she motioned to the older man, "is Arturo, my mate from the Golden Wood."
Her eyes flashed with the same violet as Camille's. Maybe a connection because of the moon magic, maybe something else. I glanced at Arturo. He looked FBH, but there was something about him that didn't quite track. Mordred, on the other hand, was obviously part Fae.
Camille gazed at Morgaine, totally playing the fan girl. "My teacher taught us about you. You were the greatest sorceress that ever lived. We are honored by your presence."
Morgaine reached up to caress Camille's face, lingering on her cheek gently. "So you have returned to our world. Why, might I ask?"
Her question seemed innocent but something tripped an alarm. "We have our reasons," I said before Camille or anyone else could respond. "We're here to find out about our mother's heritage. We wanted to know more about her." A blatant lie, but I had an uneasy feeling that wouldn't leave me alone. "So what brings you to our meeting tonight?"
Mordred stared at me, impassive, but I had the feeling he didn't buy my story. "It's time to wake the great powers. Time to reclaim what is ours."
Wake the great powers… reclaim what is ours… That didn't sound friendly. I turned to Morgaine. "And by great powers, you mean… ?"
Camille gasped. "The Merlin? Are you searching for the Merlin? Is he even alive?"
Morgaine shrugged, and her glamour fell away. She suddenly looked tired and wrung out. "Yes, we're looking for the Merlin. We hoped you might have heard something about him. I don't know if he still lives or not, but Mordred, Arturo, and I are doing our best to find him. If the crystal caverns still exist, then we'll do whatever it takes to wake him up. And the Lady of the Lake, too."
"You are attempting to bring Avalon back from the mists and shadows?" I wondered, Just how powerful were these three? Or how powerful did they think they were?
"No." Morgaine shook her head with a wry grin. "Avalon is long drifted from this realm. And Arthur, my darling Arthur, if he woke, he wouldn't be able to adapt to the modern age. But we can still reach through the veil and call our allies from ages past."
"Don't count on Titania. We've met her," Camille grumbled.
Morgaine raised her head. "Don't be so quick to judge. It's not easy to be overthrown and cast out of queenship." She glanced around. So far it seemed that nobody else had noticed her and I began to see that she'd woven a glamour around her that she'd only lowered for a few of us to see.
I shrugged. "What's your purpose? You say you want to reclaim what's rightfully yours, but what are you talking about?"
Camille gave me a nasty look. I knew I was bordering on outright rude, but I didn't care. I didn't like glib platitudes from humans, and I didn't like it when the Fae offered them either.
The sorceress tapped her nose. "You'll know in good time. Meanwhile, if you hear word of the Merlin, let us know."
"And how are we supposed to do that? You settling in around here?" I asked, wary now. If they were going to become permanent fixtures in the area, we'd have to keep an eye on them.
"I apologize for my sister," Camille broke in, her voice edging on pissed. "You'll have to excuse her; she's forgotten a lot of her manners since she died."
"No matter," Morgaine said. "We'll be in touch. Trust me." She glanced around. "Your meeting's about to start, so we'll be off. You may not hear from me for some time. Don't bother hunting us out. Look to ravens and crows for word from me." She paused, then patted Camille's cheek again.
"Don't let anyone," she added, glancing at me with a baleful stare, "make you jump to conclusions."
Then, with a brief nod and before Camille or I could say another word, they turned as one and swept out the door.
I cleared my throat when they vanished up the stairs. "What do you make of that?"
Camille snorted. "I don't know, but you sure were Miss Pissy. Although, I have to say, they really didn't tell us much, did they? I wonder where she's been keeping herself all these years. She certainly seems in better shape than Titania, I'll give her that much."
"Something about the encounter doesn't ring square to me. Are you sure she's actually who she says she is? That she's on the up and up?"
Camille let out a long, shuddering sigh. "As starstruck as I am, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure. Let's ask Grandmother Coyote," she added, and before I could protest, grabbed me by the arm and dragged me across the room.
