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“Then stay your blade. I shall do you no harm.” The Gossamer Lady finally turned to look at him, her eyes a brilliant magenta that shimmered and changed colors as he watched to a pale blue that matched her dress. “How fares my love?”
“He is well. He misses you deeply.” It was against his better instinct to remove his hand from his hilt, but he did so anyway.
“Why is it that he is not the one who has come to visit?”
“Because I have not allowed it.”
She sighed. “You still hold him prisoner.”
“Yes.” This was not going well. “I have come to request your aid, Gossamer Lady.”
That made her laugh. Not cruelly, perhaps—but not precisely jovially either. “Oh? When last we met, you were dragging me to that terrible prison of your making.”
“When last we met, the demon had been captured, and the others attempted to murder me. Including you.” He kept his expression calm, and his voice flat. He had not come here to argue. “Out of pity for your connection to Galahad, I imprisoned you last.”
“Yes! Such pity, suchkindness,’ she scoffed. “To see all my brethren, my friends, my world—fade away and be trapped, piece by piece. To see the beauty of Avalon drained away by a cruel prince fueled by revenge.”
He shook his head. “I have not come here to reminisce, Zoe.”
“Then, allow me to guess at your reason.” She stood from the stone, her wings unfurling as she flitted from the rock to the shore. She was short and small of frame—he towered over her. But it did not trouble her. “You seek the demon once more.”
“He will destroy this world if left to his own devices. He will turn Avalon into a ring of hell if we allow him. No matter what you think of me and mykindness,surely you do not wish to see this world put to the torch.” He watched her carefully, attempting to keep the resentment out of his voice. He failed. Rather miserably, he might add.
“And what do you wish for me to do? Find him for you?” She floated from the ground, hovering in mid-air effortlessly, her wings gently swaying as she did. It at least put them at equal height.
“Yes. You have a connection to this land that is stronger than any other. If he has returned, if he is setting the world ablaze, certainly you must know.”
“And why would I help you? Why would I aid you, dark prince?” She chuckled, floating away from him a few feet.
“To protect Avalon.”
“You say that as if your method is the only one worth pursuing. Have you not considered another way forward that does not involve iron blades and iron cages?”
“I am allowing you all to remain free for—”
“Allowing!” Her expression turned cold. “Mordred, Prince in Iron? You have been alone in this world for too long. You have forgotten your place in all this, usurper. You stole our lives away to reign supreme.”
“I imprisoned you all to save this world.”
“And it is for that reason that I know it was not out of the kindness of your heart that youallowedus our freedom. No. Your heart has not changed.”
It has. More than you know.But he did not say the words. They were not for her. “Will you aid me in locating the demon?”
“No.”
“You will choose to let the world burn?”
“No.” She flitted closer to him. “There is another way.”
“Do tell.”
She chuckled. “Oh, prince. I have tried to sway you before. I shall not waste my breath again.”
His jaw ticked. “Zoe—”
Her eyes flashed to black from lid to lid, as a terrible darkness came over her. The pond and all the life around it was no longer a serene oasis, but a rancid swamp. “Begone.” She blinked. And like that, the darkness was gone, and the world returned to the way it was before.
She was Avalon, through and through.
