“My dagger, girl. Return it, and I’ll let you keep your pretty head.”
“Don’t threaten her,” Nash snaps.
Arthur points his butter knife at him. How sad that’s the only blade he’s worthy of. “Don’t think I am stupid enough to believe she did this on her own and for herself. You boys aren’t worthy, so you had to get a pathetic girl to steal it for you.”
My hand tightens around my goblet of juice. “Did you think me pathetic when you lay bleeding on your bed from a wound I inflicted?”
He laughs, the empty sound bouncing off the stone walls. “You have more balls than my sons. I will give you that. But the sword is not yours. You are interfering in a sacred storyline. Don’t anger the Idols, Daphne, you won’t like the consequences.”
I tilt my chin up and stare at the wannabe king, more and more sure of what I need to do. “No.”
He roars, and the knights jump to their feet, ready to defend me, but they came unarmed. Apparently, Arthur doesn’t allow weapons at the breakfast table. The king lurches over the table, sending plates of food spinning to the floor. That is the biggest tragedy at this moment—the wasted sausage.
The guards move fast, coming at the knights and distracting them from their father as he lifts his hand, preparing to stab me in the eye, if I’m predicting correctly from his trajectory. I don’t move. But I watch the scene unfold in slow motion. The color drains from Hart’s face as he realizes they have left me alone. Silly knight. Alone doesn’t mean defenseless.
My chest thrums with power, and Excalibur materializes in front of me, glowing like the sun. Arthur’s butter knife hits the blade and turns to smoke before our eyes. His mouth drops, and he flinches back.
“You,” he whispers, his face paling.
“Me,” I confirm. The sword vibrates with joy at my claiming.I know, I did good. No need for theatrics.
He snaps his gaze to his sons, landing on Hart. “What are you waiting for? Your destiny is right in front of you. Take the sword, and claim your birthright.”
The guards freeze as the knights stop struggling and everyone holds their breath as Arthur goads Hart into taking the sword and dooming me.
Hart shrugs the two guards off him and folds his arms, leveling a look of complete hatred at the man who raised him.
“You take it from her,” Hart taunts. “You are worthy. I am not ready for the throne. It should be you who claims the sword from the Lady of the Lake. You’ve done it before, of course, so now shouldn’t be an issue.”
“I’ve done my time. I have ruled fair and true. Take the damn sword and claim what is rightfully yours,” Arthur stammers. His face gets redder by the second. Will it continue until he’s purple, then perhaps blue, encompassing all the pretty colors of a rainbow?
“Not happening,” Hart sneers.
Arthur looks around at the rest of the knights. “If Hart will not do it, one of you must.”
The knights shake their heads, and the confused guards release them, sensing the danger, at least physical, has passed, leaving them to ponder the actions of their king. Whatever happens here will be whispered about throughout the kingdom. This is the beginning of the end for Arthur. He cannot command the sword in my hands, and the rumor mill will spread like wildfire that he is a pretender to the throne.
My lips kick up at the side. “Claim your sword, king.”
Nash moves closer and tilts his head at the pathetic king. “Let’s start again, shall we? With who you are and where our real father is.”
Arthur slides back into his chair and casts a look around the room. “Leave us,” he snaps to the guards. They take off running, hopefully to spread the word of what transpired this morning.
“I am your uncle.” Arthur sighs, defeat written in every line of his slumped body.
“And our father?” Malachi demands.
Arthur’s gaze lifts to him, sadness warring with anger, and I know everything is about to change. “Dead.
Chapter
Nineteen
The universe tilts on its axis and gets stuck. Shock paints each of the knights’ faces. I can feel their sadness lapping at my soul. I wish I could take it away for them, but sometimes we have to live through the pain to understand it.
“How?” Nash whispers.
“Easy. I held him in the dungeon below the castle and selected women for their beauty. I enchanted them to forget the encounter in the darkness that impregnated them. Once they had birthed a son, I got rid of them for the next.”
