[Embyr/Kay]
My girl is going crazy. Not that I can blame her. It’s been quite a ride, and I know the queen has not been kind, partly because I was forced to play a part in it, serving as a double agent while I waited for Merlin to rise.
I didn’t want to leave Arthur here either. This place is a horror house.
“Not without Arthur,” Faye objects. “Never without Arthur.”
“No,” Devona confirms. “It’s all of us or none of us.”
“It’s a good thing then,” I hold up a ring of keys, jingling it f
[Faye] Queenie doesn’t have a chance to blow that whistle. Devona, even weighted down with holding onto me, was far too quick. Blinking, she appeared right behind Queenie. At first, I thought she might snap her neck, but Devona settled for slapping that bitch as hard as she could, right into the doorway, where she crumpled to the ground, her elegant red and gold velvet dress surrounding her like a pool of blood, completely unconscious. My choice would have been to push her down the stairs, but that probably wouldn’t solve anything. It would, however, have made me feel a little bit safer. As we cross the threshold of the room, Devona sets me down careful
[Devona] Faye releases our hands and takes a step back, allowing Arthur, Embyr, and myself to battle while she continues to struggle with the shadows. Our bond is still intact, still strong, connecting the three of us with the force of our love and commitment to one another. It is likely because I watched her step away from us that I even noticed at all, a small tug along our bond. Also seeing her hand guarding her midsection as she backed away clued me in. Once I realized what that meant, I began searching along our connection to confirm my suspicion. Allowing myself to focus on just that one thing, I can sense a tiny throbbing, the smallest little heartbeat. A heartbeat and a spark of light.
[Arthur] My love. Her body is barely more than bones as I lift her into my arms. Large burn marks mar the wrists and ankles of what had been her perfect skin. Her breathing is shallow, each breath shuddering through her body, shaking her chest with an ominous rattling. “What happened to her,” I turned to Merlin and the knights. “How did she get so weak? The last time I saw her she was very different?” “My King,” Embyr bows, which is weird to see, just as weird as the armor she now wears. “You have been unconscious for weeks. She has seen terrible things and had very terrible things forced upon her.
[Faye] Warm, I wake up to the sound of breathing. I am lying down in a bed smelling faintly of dust and lavender, heavy drapes blocking out the sun. Reaching out in the darkness, a soft hand finds mine, our fingers intertwining. Recognizing the shape of her body, I move closer, my chin resting against her neck as I nuzzle her ear. Her natural smell overwhelms me: sweat and sun mixed with heather. No matter where we might be, I know that in her arms I am home. Smiling, my other arm finds a path to wrap around her, tightening our embrace as I find a breast, caressing it gently. “Good morning,” a breathy, feminine voice moans. “I see someone is awake.”
[Faye] “What do I need to do?” I ask, making contact with Devona, ignoring Arthur’s glare. “And how will it help us?” “The beacon,” Sir Percival explains from behind us. “Is a way for all the knights of the Round Table to be called into service. It is a summons. It cannot be ignored or denied and must be followed, no matter how far away we are. There is a chance that it might free the other knights from the spell placed on them by Mab.” “A small chance,” Arthur interrupts. “It is also very possible that they will either not feel it, in which case your efforts would be wasted, or that they will feel it and come, but the effects
[Devona] Arthur, Faye, and I took our meal outside, deciding that a picnic with the three of us would be more pleasant, and more private, than eating amongst the men. We have a lot to talk about. Including a very important, very special change to all of our lives. Faye has given us such an amazing gift. To know her body, her spirit, is hard at work growing our child feels miraculous. A miracle I don’t deserve. To be a family in this way again, after centuries of just wanting to have these two back, to reclaim her from darkness and save her from a cursed fate, to find her and to have her love, the love of both of them--it is more than I could have ever hoped to have again. We sit together for several minutes, silent, watching the waves of the Eastern Sea against the shores of C
[Faye] Devona leads us around the castle perimeter to a large tower that stands separate from the main keep. As she pulls open a stiff wooden door, the afternoon light streaming in behind us casts shadows, our silhouettes darkening the floor covered in bird droppings and feathers of all shapes and sizes, colored from cream through russet to tan and blueish black. Overhead, several rows of wooden beams and shelving which house several small wooden boxes where feathered heads peer down at us, eyes following our movements in a very unnatural way. These birds are not ordinary birds, their gazes expressing deep emotion and intelligence. Even with the door open and small windows at the very top, there isn’t enough light to see everything clearly. Devona brings a bit of h
[Faye] Devona won’t look me in the eye since I asked her to keep the secret of our child from Arthur. She’s still angry, but she also cannot argue with my logic. Our argument, held away from everyone, was loud and involved a lot of tears, but in the end she came to understand something very important. That one, even two lives, are not worth more than an entire kingdom. Even if those lives are precious to you. We also agreed that with all the loss we have experienced, telling Arthur about this child and then losing us both would be something he might never recover from. I would have spared Devona the pain as well, but she discovered the truth only shortly after I discovered it myself, an