“What is it?” I pleaded. “What is the lesson I am to learn?”
She stepped back, eyes glowing. “Each curse I cast was tied to a choice only ye could make. Yers breaks when ye give up everything and believe with yer whole heart that the man ye love will still want ye.”
My heart twisted in agony. “But I do nae love any man!” I blurted, breath hot with dread.
A harsh snort escaped her lips. She shook her head once more, eyes glittering like twin moons. “Fool! Ye do nae ken yerown heart. But that’s nae the point. Listen: Love is both a blade and a blessing. It demands risk, hope, and trust. And sometimes it gives back shattering grief, yet the ecstasy is worth every scar. Ye’re on the right path, lass. Ye’re learning to believe in yer own worth. Now ye must dare to stake it all.”
She began to turn away, but I clutched her arm. She pivoted, her eyes snapping back to me, electric and alive. “Aye?”
“I already risked it all for a man named James!” My words tumbled out, raw and urgent.
Morgana’s lips curled in derision. She stepped close and pressed her palm to my trembling heart. The magic swirling beneath her skin thrummed against me, a living weight. “Ye can nae wager true love when ye hide yer soul. Ye’ve nae shown James the full truth of ye, nor the chains that bind ye. Ye still bind love to worth and station. Untangle that knot within, relinquish yer need to control, or ye’ll remain a prisoner of yer own fear.”
Before I could reply, she vanished as if swallowed by mist, leaving only the fading echo of her presence. The world went hollow without her, and panic blossomed anew in me. “What do ye mean?!” I screamed into the emptiness. My voice cracked and splintered as I called her name again and again until my throat burned and tears blurred the forest around me.
A sudden snap of wood behind me made me tense. James. He had come at my screams, no doubt. But before I could face him, a hand clamped over my mouth, hot and merciless. A powerful arm wrapped around my waist, yanking me back until my chest was crushed against a broad, unfamiliar form. New terror flooded me. This was no rescue.
“Time to present my prize to the king, healer,” growled a gravelly voice in my ear.
Chapter Twenty – James
I woke half-lying against a log, my face pressed into cold mud, my cheek freezing where it touched the earth, and a thunderclap of pain radiating from the back of my skull. The world spun wildly when I tried to lift my head, so I stayed where I was, blinking at the wet darkness beneath me. Each breath I released stirred small ripples in a puddle just beyond my nose. Something warm and thick was crusted in my hair above my right ear.Blood.A memory crashed in. I’d taken a blow to the head from Conn.
My ribs screamed as I shifted my weight to push myself up, one palm sinking deep into the mud as I forced my body upright. I pressed my free hand against my side, grimacing at the sharp pain that shot through me with each breath. From how I’d woken up, I surmised I’d fallen on my injury.
The world tilted nauseatingly before steadying. I shook my head once to clear the fog from my thoughts, and immediately regretted it. Pain lanced from temple to temple, and for a moment the path beneath rose and fell like a birlinn caught in a storm. I braced my hand against the ground and drew a breath, fighting the dizziness back.
“Conn,” I said, his name coming out flat and hard, not a question but an accusation.
The path around me was empty. The ancient oaks loomed overhead. Water dripped steadily from the leaves, each drop striking the mud with a tiny splash that seemed unnaturally loud in the silence. I swept my gaze around, looking for Katreine, but she was nowhere to be found. By the darkness that had descended, I knew I’d been out for a long time and that she should have returned by now. Had Conn found her, or was shestill with the witch? I suspected Conn had taken her, but I would make my way to the witch’s cave to ensure she wasn’t there before giving chase.
I pieced it together slowly, the fragments of memory slotting into place with each throb of pain in my skull. I’d been waiting at the edge of the path where Katreine had told me to stay, watching for any sign of her return, when footfalls had resounded behind me and a hard blow had struck my head. As I’d fallen, I’d heard Conn’s voice just before I lost consciousness.
“Sorry about this, James,” he’d said. “But only one of us can win.”
I shook my head, acknowledging he’d gotten the better of me. I’d known he was a cheat, and I’d failed to stay vigilant. How long had he been tracking us, waiting for us to be separated, waiting for the chance to strike? There was no way to know, so I forced myself to my feet, one hand braced against the rough bark of an oak until the dizziness passed. My hand went automatically to where my sword should be sheathed, and I let out a relieved breath when I found it there. Conn was a cheat, but at least he was a nice cheat. He’d left me my weapon to defend myself.
I looked down the path to where mine and Katreine’s destriers were tethered, then toward the trail to the cave. Without hesitation, I started running, though my head and my wound protested. But thoughts of Katreine drove me forward. I needed to ensure she was safe. It was a pressing need, like breathing to survive. The thought caught me like a blow and almost made me stumble. By the time I reached the cave, my wound pulsed, and the pounding in my head had grown to epic proportions. I stood at the entrance of the cave, and disappointment crashed over me. It was empty.
“Katreine!” I called, but the only answer was my voice echoing back to me. I called again and again, then I tried the witch. “Morgana! Morgana! Morgana, do ye have Katreine?”
“Nay,” came a sharp retort that seemed to come from above me. I glanced up, feeling foolish, expecting to see the witch floating there, but there was nothing above me.
“Do ye ken where she is?” I called out, turning in circles now, looking for the witch.
“Mayhap,” came another sharp reply.
“Will ye tell me?”
“If ye can answer my riddle.”
I nodded.
“Ancient is she, yet her skin is unlined. She cares for many, but she is nae a mother. She’s bound by invisible strings that she tied around her heart. What is she?”
I frowned. “I do nae ken. Some sort of god?”
The witch snorted. “Men are so blind,” she said. “Go away. Ye had yer chance.”
