“She used to do small things to make me laugh as a child. Like pulling stools out from underneath people when they tried to sit down, or making wine dance in their cups. Mayhap her magic was what attracted Merlin to her in the first place. I myself do not have much power. At least, not that I am aware of. But I can sense magic in others. And I can do small spells, such as binding spells. It is what I did for Guinevere with the Eye. I do not know why she couldn’t do it herself. As to what kind of sorcery she possesses, I cannot say. Perhaps it is similar to mine.”
Morgan wrapped her arms around herself protectively.
“Just much more powerful,” she whispered. “At least, it feels that way. I am afraid of her.”
Ere patted her arm in commiseration.
“Aren’t we all,” he said. “It’s only prudent to fear a psychopathic power-monger with unnatural Gifts at her disposal.”
“Let’s not dilly dally,” he continued briskly, taking a fortifying breath. “We have a dragon to free.”
“Or kill,” Wolfe rasped, a muscle ticking in his jaw.
“Wolfe, no,” Rui whispered, reaching a hand toward him.
He avoided her touch, stepping away. Making her face fall with sadness along with her outstretched hand.
“At least hear what Merlin has to say,” Morgan put in.
“Only you can reveal the truth, warrior. As his blooded son, only you have the power to break the spell.”
~ * ~* ~ *~ * ~* ~ *~ * ~
It was too much to absorb.
Wolfe didn’t know what to think. Thus, he tried to shut down his madly churning thoughts. But he couldn’t shut out the hurt in his heart.
Rui was keeping secrets from him.
He already sensed it earlier, before the others arrived to turn his world and everything he thought he knew upside down.
Then, she interjected the name Gorlois. The soldier. The disguise thered dragontook to seduce Wolfe’s mother.
How could Rui possibly have known? And why wasn’t she as shocked as Wolfe was by all of the revelations this night?
When it was revealed that hecould be(he refused to take it as the truth until proven) the spawn of a dragon, she didn’t even blink. The look on her face as she watched him seemed more about assessing how he would react to something she already knew.
None of them seemed surprised, in fact. Only Wolfe.
That the dragon was named Merlin seemed new to Ere. But not the fact that there was a dragon in the first place, and that the king of Briton and Wolfe might be related to it.
Did they have dragons and other monsters in the Far East whence Rui hailed? What of Ere and Sorin? They looked nothing like Rui. Each of the three appeared as if they originated from different cultures and civilizations.
Yet, something indefinable tied them together.
They were unique unto each other, but they also shared a common link. Wolfe just couldn’t fathom what it was.
He knew he hurt Rui when he rejected her touch earlier. But only because she rejected him first.
It sounded childish in his mind when he thought about it, but he felt rejected many times over by her. He couldn’t afford to give more of himself. Trust in her when she clearly didn’t trust in him.
And when this was over,ifthey survived, she still planned to take the Eye and leave him, that much was certain.
If she was to be believed, that she was doing it to protect her realm, then Wolfe felt proud of her dedication. He would never ask her to forsake her homeland and duty for a bastard like him who had so little to offer.
But…
It hurt that she didn’t even care enough to think of him. That she would use and discard him as if there was nothing between them. She didn’t even trust him with the truth.