Wolfe spared him a quick glance.
What was it about the foreigner? There was something different about him. Wolfe had always sensed it. There was something different about all three of the travelers, Rui, Ere and Sorin. They weren’t simply foreign.
They wereother.
But he didn’t have time to dwell on this realization. For, the witch went on.
“When the Roman Emperor called his troops back, as there were other wars to wage, other lands to settle, the dragon didn’t want to go with them. He fell in love with the untamed beauty of these isles. He thought to make his home here. Amongst both man and beast. And the magical creatures that inhabited these lands.”
“Monsters,” Wolfe grunted.
“Only to some,” Morgan retorted. “They are living beings who feel just like the rest of us. They are merely different. Misunderstood.”
“Perhaps the misunderstanding arises from their pillaging of villages and devouring of children,” Wolfe spat back.
Morgan grimaced.
“Those were maddened by enchantment. Most of the creatures, if not all of them, are not born to violence. They are not evil. They were incited by—”
“I care not,” Wolfe broke in. “You digress, witch.”
Morgan pressed her lips together in a disapproving line and glared at him.
“Wolfe,” Rui said softly beside him. “Please listen to what she has to say.”
“I am listening,” he bit out. “Get to the point. Do it fast.”
Still frowning, Morgan continued.
“For a time, everyone existed in harmony. The beasts kept to their hiding places, away from men. The men raised farms, sheep and cattle. And Merlin slept in his mountain cave, collecting treasures as dragons are wont to do.”
At this, Wolfe could feel Rui’s crystalline gaze burning the side of his face as she stared at him.
She was trying to communicate something wordlessly. She wanted him to understand.
He looked at her then, holding her gaze.
He didn’t understand. Why wouldn’t she tell him directly?
Disappointed, she looked back at Morgan.
“Until one day, foreign invaders came. The Saxons, Angles, and other tribes. There was internal turmoil as well, with the rise of the tyrant Vortigern. Some say that he invited the Anglo-Saxons to these lands to help combat the Picts and Scots. But in so doing, he unleashed a greater threat. To the point that they could no longer be controlled, upsetting the peace that had long been established.”
Morgan stepped closer at that, within arm’s length of Wolfe.
He itched to step back from the witch, not the least because she had a tendency to do him bodily injury. She made him uneasy.
But he was not craven. He would not back down. So, with every muscle tensed for action, he held his ground and listened.
“Vortigern gained his rule by murderous means. He had the young king Constans assassinated to seize power. But Constans had two brothers, Aurelius and Uther, who were rightful heirs to the throne of Briton. They both rose up when they were old enough, to take back the crown. But with little success. There was a prophesy, you see.”
God damned prophesies, Wolfe thought.
“Whoever settled on the hill ofDinas Ffaraon Danddewould rule all of Briton. Vortigern could never build his fortress for the quakes that shook the hill.”
“Dragons,” Ere whispered, his eyes bright.
Morgan nodded.