“Crone! You don’t know anything.” He turned quickly and made for the door. “I must contact Morgause. I have a hope that she may raise this child and teach him well.”
“You don’t trust Uther to raise his own son?” There was mocking pleasure in Vivian’s words. “And you think Morgause will love a bastard brother? Did you listen to what I just said? She will not love this child. One day, Merlin, I will discover what you know that other Avalonians don’t. Why do you keep meddling in the human affairs every time this child is born?”
He turned and met her eyes.
She went on. “If you insist on interfering, I’ll take it from you and put us in our rightful place. And if you try to stop me or hinder my discovery in any way, I will torture you until you beg for sweet death.” She swallowed, afraid of her own words. “Don’t. Do this. Again.”
He hadn’t expected such words from Vivian, the placid Lady of the Lake, and the surprise angered him. His heart tripped in a momentary fear that he quickly took under control. He wanted to reply, something smiting and clever, but remarks failed him. Instead, he left faster, the future king of Camelot in his arms.
20
The Damned Queen
With Uther planning an attack and defense from Hengist, Merlin didn’t worry about walking straight into Uther’s residence with the living bundle in his arms. Some of the guards looked twice at him and one even asked him what he had in his arms, but he didn’t stop. The only way he’d be able to contact Morgause safely was through Igrain’s channel. He hoped she would want to speak to her mother and allow a communication from Camelot through.
“This is Merlin of Camelot,” he told the security guard on the moon who blocked his communication. “Tell Morgause I have news of her mother… and brother.”
A moment later, the channel transferred to Morgause’s face. She sat holding something in her arms as well.
“Merlin,” she hissed. When she did, a horrible sight stepped out from behind her throne-like seat. Mab, all garbed in blacks and purples, all but the maniacal laughter she suppressed oozed from her leer. “What do you want?”
Holding up the baby in hope, he said, “This is your brother, Morgause. He has Avalonian genes like you.” He couldn’t care that Mab was there. He had only a second to convince Morgause to take her brother before she shut him off.
To his horror, Morgause shook her head and sighed. “He’s not, though. Not really. He’s far more manufactured than I am. My mother was too busy to have me grow in her womb so why should I accept this thing that she harvested on her own? With your help, I might add.”
“How do you know?” His heart sunk.
Morgause snickered and shook her head, petting her own baby. “This is Gawain. He’s mine and Lot’s child.”
Mab waited a beat, letting Merlin’s fear grow, enjoying the frightened look on his normally blank features. She said, “Do you know how the nobles became lords of lands on Earth Two? They killed the ones already there and took it. Uther is setting up a nice kingdom, ripe for revolution. Gawain will be their king. Morgause is the daughter of the queen, and as far as the people know, the only heir, even if it is by marriage. We are civilized—the people will not argue. I don’t know what that thing you are holding is at all. But if we must, we will make sure he is never introduced to the people.”
Morgause’s face showed no concern as she reached forward to the controls in her own room.
“Morgause, wait, please!”
But she had already shut him off.
***
Morgause gazed at the screen where Merlin’s face, full of hope, had just been. “Why did you close the connection?” she shot to Mab.
“You don’t need to pay any attention to Merlin, Uther, or Camelot right now, Morgause.” She moved around to face her, standing tall and powerful before the girl and her child. “You are too young to face all of that now.”
She was tired. She had done nothing but fight for a life ever since they had landed on this planet. But Mab was right; she was young. The horrors the Avalonian genes inside her wreaked on her body could not be stopped, however.
“I’ve forgotten my age,” she whispered. “I’ve lost it in all that time we spent on the ship sleeping. My father said I was too young to be with Lot.” She fell into deep thought, trying to remember. “I think he was ten years older than I was. Yes, he was a junior to my father and Uther in the academy. I’m not yet twenty at all.” She shot her eyes up to Mab. “But I also do not have the time Uther does.”
Pulling her long, dark hair over her shoulder and stroking it, Mab said, “But you are part of Avalon like I am. You could have our powers. You could even take Camelot for your own, for example.”
The little baby Gawain cooed in her arms, contributing his innocence to the conversation. Morgause petted his smooth, blazing red hair. It was some kind of defective gene, she decided. No one had red hair, but it set him apart. He was precious and she loved him. He deserved the world and she didn’t have much time to give it to him.
“Uther wants his son to be like a king after him,” she reminded Mab. “He has the people in the palm of his hand. They will do as he says and when his son is old enough, they will pledge him to the throne and bend their knee to a prince once again. Like savages.”
Outside, the skies were growing a strange green color. It
