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Mordred had to be a cruel tyrant, keeping everyone and everything a prisoner or under his iron thumb. Without Merlin, Gwen would have no power. She’d be just another stupid human lost in a world of magic that was going to kill her someday sooner rather than later.
She had gone from a cast-iron frying pan into the elemental fire. It was becoming more and more clear that she probably had no business being in Avalon. Which sucked. She had wanted an adventure. And for a few moments now and then, as she was riding along in the woods watching magical critters scurry through the underbrush, it felt…nice.
And then she remembered the asshole not-cat walking next to her. She wanted to go home. She wanted to stay. She missed Mordredimmensely.But she knew there wouldn’t be a fairytale ending for them.
She figured there were a few ways this could play out. The first thing they had to discover was what happened when Merlin managed to pry them apart. There was no question that she didn’t want to spend the rest of eternity dealing with the grumpy jerk.
If this wizard that Merlin thought was so great could separate their life forces, Gwen would have a choice to make. The first option would be to have Merlin send her home. In which case, she’d go back to Earth, and all this would be no more real than last night’s strange dream. She’d have to live the rest of her life questioning her sanity and wondering what had become of Mordred, Galahad, Lancelot, and all the others when war inevitably broke out. Would they go back to being trapped in the Crystal? Or would Mordred lose, and die?
She would never know.
If she stayed in Avalon, she would be a mortal. Weak and easily murdered. Assuming she lived any sort of length of time…she’d, what? Try to make amends with Mordred? That wasn’t likely. He probably despised her now.
No, all it would do was give her a front-row seat for the mayhem and the war between the elementals. As a squishy human prone to easily dying.
Either way?
Everybody probably died. Or were worse off for her having come to Avalon.
Her mood failed, and she stopped singing.
“Thankfuck, as you like to say.” Merlin shuddered dramatically. “I thought perhaps you were trying to drive me insane.”
She pulled on the reins of the horse, stopping the mare. “I don’t think I want to split our life forces, Merlin.”
“What?” He stopped and turned to her. “Are you insane?”
“No. Avalon is fucked and I’m the reason for a massive war. If I give you your power back, I won’t be able to help.”
“You have already done enough. Because of you, the Iron Crystal is broken. You’ve already started a massive war.” He sneered. “It’s too late to save your conscience.”
“No, it isn’t. I can talk to Mordred. I can talk to the elementals. Maybe—”
“Maybewhat,you idiot child?” He laughed. “You can talk somesenseinto them? Please! Don’t be a fool. Elementals cannot agree on anything. Ever. They are a danger to everyone and everything around them. Do you think they’ll just forgive him and move on?” He snorted. “Come on. Let’s go.”
“No.” She squared her shoulders.
Merlin put his hand over his face. “Listen to me very carefully, child.” He took a step toward her. Sunshine began to step side to side nervously, not liking his nearness. “I am going to separate our life forces. One way or another. I willnotsuffer through an eternity tethered to you. If I have to drag you there, kicking and screaming, I will,’ he snarled.
Eod began to bark at him, getting in between them to protect her.
Merlin reared back his hand as if to strike the dog.
“Don’t youdare!”Gwen hopped off the mare and stormed up to him. Grabbing him by his beard, she yanked his head down roughly. “You touch that dog and I swear to fuck I will rip your limbs off!”
Merlin blinked his one good eye, shocked, and took a step back.
“You leave the animalsoutof this, do you understand?” She kept screaming at him, her hands balled into fists. Oh. Hey. She was on fire again. Apparently, she burst into flames when scared or angry. Fun.
Well, she burst into flames for now anyway. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to breathe and put out her fire. Walking over to Eod, she crouched and petted the dog, trying to calm him down. He was still growling at Merlin, his tail tucked between his legs and his fur standing up on his back.
“Good boy, Eod. You’re good. You did it.” She chuckled. “You did a mighty protect.”
The praise seemed to do the trick. Eod almost instantly simmered down and began to lick her cheek.
“I will not hurt the dog,” Merlin said after a pause. “But you are coming with me to see the wizard. I will have us split apart, regardless of your petty qualms.”
“And if I refuse? Would you really drag me there?”
