“That’s horrible!”
He nodded. “Compassion isn’t one of Morgen’s virtues.”
“And Maddor’s mother? Who was she?” She hoped it wasn’t Morgen.
When he spoke, she learned she was right. But the truth was even worse.
“Morgen’s mother.”
Medea felt sick at that news. “Morgen le Fey is the half sister of your son?”
A tic began working in his jaw. “Indeed.”
“Morgen knows this?”
“I’m sure she does. Not like Igraine or her sisters ever hid it.”
And still Morgen had enslaved her own brother.…
Then again, why was she surprised?
If the legends were true, Morgen had done much worse than that to her family. Especially her brother Arthur. So why she’d expect her to have any compassion for Maddor, she didn’t know.
This was why Medea had no regard for humanity. Why she viewed them as parasites. Their cruelty was truly spectacular and surpassed only by the gods themselves.
Wishing for a better world for all of them, Medea paused in the middle of the woods as she realized everything here looked the same. A person could easily get lost and never find a way out of the forest. Get turned around and walk in circles without ever knowing.
Yet Falcyn navigated the landscape as if he knew exactly where he was headed. “Where are we?”
He gave her a droll smirk. “A dark and enchanted forest.”
She rolled her eyes at his sarcasm. “Uncalled for. Where are we headed?”
“Merlin’s palace. Since it was the last place we discussed, I figure it’s where we’re most likely to find the others.”
“And you know the way… how?”
“While my powers aren’t up to par, I can still feel the heart, as it were, of this place. Can’t you?”
“I thought it was indigestion.”
He snorted. “Yeah, sure you did.”
But he was right. She could feel those sharp, emanating powers. Had he not been with her, she would have avoided them. Not out of fear. Out of respect. One didn’t walk into the den of a sorcerer without knowing what you were getting into.
With no better solution on how to get out of this place, she followed after him again. “So how did you get hooked up with Igraine, of all people?”
“Dragonvane.”
That didn’t make sense to her. “I thought that repelled you guys.”
“Notbane. Vane. It’s a special scent that mixes amber and musk with myrrh. Sadly, we find it as irresistible as a cat with catnip.”
Ah, that explained it. “You were drugged.”
“I promise you, I wouldn’t have slept with her otherwise. While Igraine was highly attractive, I was well aware of how she’d brutally killed her second husband in order to seduce and then marry Arthur’s father. Given her track record of murdering husbands and lovers, I would have never taken a dip into her pool, had I been in my right mind. No woman isthatattractive.” He let out a tired sigh. “Makes me wonder what spell she used on Uther Pendragon. I find it hard to believe he’d have succumbed any quicker than I did.”
“At least you’re in good company.”
