Gawain let out a gasping cry then, his red hair like a bloody sun in the dim light.
“You are already damned.”
Mab expected to hear girlish sobs, but she was pleasantly surprised. A strangled, guttural laugh emitted from Morgause instead. The insane laughter rose and broke into a long, strong guffaw. She lifted her hand away, a little in astonishment, as hysterics took over Morgause. The baby screamed at the sound as though begging to be released from the stranger he now found himself in the arms of.
“Mab, you speak such wicked truths!” she chortled. “Uther killed my mother and father and I am a damned woman. I am not even fully human because my mother could not be bothered to carry me and so had me made up in a lab with elements not of humans to have me grow faster and wiser than most.” She spread her arms, her veins glowing like Mab, and smiled. “I have been awake sixteen years and look as though it’s thirty. But a lifetime of death follows me from life before the sleep. It won’t stop! I don’t have time, Mab.” Another fit of laughter took her. “Damn it all, I’m a monster! A dying, desperate monster!”
Because of the ruckus, a guard outside came in and switched on the lights. Concern marked his face as he quickly caught the falling baby that tumbled out of Morgause’s manic arms.
“Ma’am, are you alright?” he asked.
Morgause’s eyes were by far no longer sane. Her face was wild.
“I’m fine!” she cheered. “Mab has just given me a splendid idea. Bring me some liqueur. No, never mind, I’ll use Lot’s.”
Composing herself dramatically, she walked like a queen across the room and took up a crystal bottle filled with a glowing blue liquid. She raised it up.
“To thrones, planets, wars, blood, and above all: to damnation and fornication!”
Mab winced as she watched the woman drink. “You consider my plan?”
Morgause sighed, pouring a second shot. “No, you slag. I’m a killer. I will kill this child. No one stands between me and my revenge. Death, death, more death. I’m a killer.”
21
The Second War
Merlin stood still as stone before his new king. Uther outfitted himself in glittering red armor after the likeness of a dragon. It was formed of refrectium from the new mines of Camelot. It reflected most laser attacks and could stop anything but a straight shot from an armor piercing bullet made of the same material. His air-locked helmet doubled as a space suit should he need it to. Simply for decoration and status, he had a red cape with his crest blazing in a rare golden thread on his back. He had at last proclaimed himself king. Merlin had been gone for it, burying Igrain far away near a D.R.U.I.D refuge.
“You are telling me this now?” Uther demanded. “I am on the brink of war with another planet.”
“Uther, I thought you’d want to know.” Merlin couldn’t keep the shock out of his voice at the fact that Uther didn’t seem to care. His heart went stone cold against any threats that may come. “I’ve brought your son as well.”
“Son?” Uther spun around, a new look in his eye. He averted his gaze quickly. His head hung low. “I cannot take him, Merlin. I am not fit to be a father.”
He had not expected this. “But, Uther, he is your son. If you intend to keep the peace of Camelot, you must have an heir. He is a blessing in this time.” The plans were not unfolding how he had expected them to. “The people love you, Uther. You have given them everything they could want. You truly have.”
He meant it. Before, he may have just spoken the words to calm Uther, but now they were true. Uther had taken a terrified people and had led them through a rough beginning with grace and leadership.
“You really are their king now. Show them how strong you are.”
Uther swallowed and walked away to a large window that overlooked his new military base. They were in what would shortly be the throne room for Uther and his court. After this war, Uther had great plans for Camelot, but now those plans were seeming more like a burden.
He breathed slowly. “This war will be too dangerous. The boy cannot stay here. I don’t want him put in harm’s way. Perhaps he and Igrain can leave this planet. Just for a time.”
Merlin’s eyes shot up at that. He had been hanging his head out of respect for Uther and in shame. A new surprise had taken him now.
“I am sorry, Uther,” he began. “But Igrain, your wife, is dead. You are all the boy has now. I thought you would have known.”
The king walked to the open window and waved his arm helplessly. “Look out there, Merlin. Battalions of men. Armies of Avamecha. An enemy I don’t even know at my gates. How could I have known?” His voice had changed. Merlin had expected it to be strong and forceful, but something in him had broken.
“All of this has distracted me from that which I had.” He shook his head, his eyes turned yellow from the odd setting sun. The weather had been changing strangely over the last few hours. “I was distracted from that which I stole. I know what I did was wrong. I knew it even when I did it, but my greed would not let me stop. It was as though all my hate for Galois had come out in a moment of malice. Years of jealousy from our academy days. It’s not even right that I should still carry that burden. Those days were literally hundreds of years ago now. But for us, the sleeping ones, it was only days it seems.
“And here I am, creating another academy. Setting up a monarchy. All the things I
