“You love him.”
“Yes, but therein lies the problem.”
“How so?”
Emrys hesitated, glancing toward Trystan. “He cannot know.”
“What can you tell me?”
“I have waited centuries for him, Marc, and I am meant to wait centuries more.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Trystan’s spirit transcends time, and each time he is reborn, he will take the same form. Before he was born to Arthur and Guinevere, I had known him in my dreams, and that is where I fell in love with him. That is when I learned he was real and would be truly mine one day.”
Emrys let out a breath, having felt some relief having told Marc.
“When you say centuries…”
“More than three thousand years.” Emrys pulled a long, slow breath into his lungs and exhaled quietly. He rubbed his fingertips over his forehead and blinked. “When the Oracle told me of the prophecy, she also told me something else I’d needed to hear. She knew I loved Trystan and that I’d been waiting for him. She told me Trystan’s heart would belong to another in his first life and promised it would be mine in his second.”
“But you want him now, in this life.”
“No.” Emrys shook his head then sighed. “And yes.”
Marc furrowed his brow.
“Love is a difficult emotion to control, especially for a guardian, but I had kept my true affections carefully concealed with little effort until shortly after his father Owaine died. I could not risk Trystan loving me the way he was meant to love you.”
“He loves you already. I’ve seen it.”
“I know, but he shouldn’t, and my emotions have reached the edges of my ability to control them. Any affection he shows me pushes me beyond that, which is why I must avoid it. Trystan, I sense, is fighting conflicting emotions as well. I see it in his eyes. It is as if fate is changing the path, and I am doing everything in my power to keep us on the one that ends with him defeating Morgaine.”
“Trystan said the path keeps changing. Could there be a correlation?”
“A possibility, but I’m certain if Trystan chooses me, he will die. The Oracle would not have cautioned me so if otherwise, and if he dies by Morgaine’s hand, this may be his only life.” Emrys paused, his eyes searching Marc’s. “I will do whatever it takes to keep him safe. To keep him alive. And I need your help to do so.”
Marc cocked his head a little and twisted his lips. “So, you are not attempting to take Trystan from me?”
“No. Not intentionally, though I apologize if it seems that way at times.”
Marc smirked. “I do not envy you, or any other guardian for that matter.”
“Most guardians will never know love. Sometimes I envy them, but having felt what it is to love, I would endure an endless immortality alone for a single human lifetime with him.”
“I’m sorry I doubted your intentions.” Marc clamped his hand on Emrys’ shoulder. “Trystan is fortunate to have you, and do not worry. I will not speak a word of this to anyone.”
Emrys nodded. “I suggest we check to see if Trystan has come to a decision.”
Both men made their way back toward Trystan.
“Do you have any sense of what is beyond those stones?” Marc asked as they walked.
“No,” Emrys responded, “but perchance it would be prudent to ask ourselves what we know of this ancient place.”
“It’s a trap,” Trystan said, turning to face them as they drew closer. “A numinous labyrinth built by primordial gods to contain evil, luring in those with the promise of the one thing they want most. It’s said only those with a true heart will find their way out, but even they will face temptation.”
“Where did you learn of that?” Emrys asked.
