world as well.'
'But... what about this, as another alternative,' said Tommy, leaning eagerly forward across the table. 'Remember the knights in armour we saw in Old Father Time's Waiting Room? The ones from a future where Camelot and its dream still held sway? What if we are here ... to bring about that future? We have a chance to change everything. Camelot doesn't have to fall, here and now. If Merlin never lost his heart, and most of his power... maybe we could bring him back to sanity and pride. Give him a reason to live again. We could tell him what's coming, warn him of the Dark Ages that will last for almost a thousand years, if he doesn't act to prevent it. Advised by us, he could rise to power and influence again, and backed by him, Camelot could rebuild itself. King Arthur's legacy could continue!'
'Advised by us,' I said. 'Don't you mean, advised by you, Tommy? You're the one who's always been fascinated by Arthur, and this time.'
'All right, why not?' Tommy said defiantly. 'I've always loved the legends of Camelot. It was a better world under Arthur, and a brighter world, than we have ever known before or since! Think of what fifteen centuries of progress under Arthur's legacy could bring about... Maybe we wouldn't even need a Nightside any more.'
'You're reaching now,' I said. 'We have to stick with what we know. We know Lilith is planning to destroy the Nightside, and most likely the rest of the world with it. I've seen that future, Tommy, and I'm ready to do anything at all to prevent it. That world is every nightmare you've ever had, Tommy. If you'd seen it...'
'But I haven't,' said Tommy. 'No-one has, but you. And we only have your word.'
'Don't go there, Tommy,' said Suzie, her voice cold and hard.
'Lilith's plans threaten all the Nightsides,' I said. 'Remember what Old Father Time said, about all the possible futures narrowing down, till we end up with the one, inevitable future? That's why we have to do this, Tommy. And I can't do it without your help. Merlin's bound to have set up incredibly powerful defenses, to protect him while he's drunk or otherwise incapable. I can use my gift to find them, but I don't have anywhere near enough power to push them aside or shut them off. But you ... can use your gift to confuse the defenses long enough for us to slip past them and do what we have to do.'
Tommy stared at me for a long time, and I couldn't read his face at all. He'd stopped using his effete voice. 'I never knew you to be this ... brutal,' he said finally.
'Only because I have to be,' I said. 'The future depends on me; and needs must when the devil drives.'
'Or the Devil's son,' he said, and I had to wonder whether he meant Merlin or me. He slowly sat back in his chair again. 'What are we going to do with the heart, afterwards?'
'Well, we can't just hand it back,' I said. 'Merlin would find some way to kill us all, no matter what we'd agreed. No, I think we hide it somewhere safe, then tell Nimue where we put it, after we've safely disappeared into the Past.'
'We're bringing the witch into this?' said Suzie. 'That simpering little airhead?'
'We need her,' I said. 'There's no way Merlin will ever relax while we're around, but he'll never see it coming from Nimue.'
'Why should she help us?' said Tommy, frowning.
I smiled. 'The day I can't outmaneuver a gold-digger like her is the day I'll retire. You aren't the only one who can talk people into things, Tommy.'
'True,' said Suzie. 'You may be existential, Tommy, but Taylor is a crafty bastard.'
'Thank you, Suzie,' I said. 'I think. All we have to do is convince the witch to slip a little something into Merlin's drink so he passes out sooner rather than later. That sound like a plan to everyone?'
'Sounds like a sneaky and underhanded plan to me,' said Suzie. 'I'm in. After we've taken his heart out... can I try shooting him, just to see what happens?'
'No,' I said.
'You're no fun any more, Taylor.'
I looked at Tommy. 'Are you in, or not?'
'Reluctantly,' he said at last. 'And with grave reservations. But yes, I'm in. It seems dreams have no place in the real world.'
'Stick to being existential,' I said kindly. 'You're much better off, not being sure about things.'
So we sat, and watched Merlin drink. Hours passed, and he was still putting it away, with Nimue's enthusiastic help and bubbly company. But finally the sorcerer reached a point where he stopped raising his goblet to his lips and simply sat staring at nothing. Even Nimue couldn't get a response out of him. Interestingly enough, once she was sure he was out of it, she turned off the charm and leaned back in her chair, kicking her heels sulkily; and then she jumped up out of her chair and flounced off to the bar for a refill. Where I happened to be waiting, ready to buy her a drink of something expensive. I smiled at her and complimented her, and she giggled like a teenager on a first date. After a while, I invited her to join our table, and after a quick glance at Merlin to make sure he was still nodding, she trotted over to join us. Her face was flushed from so much drinking, and her hair was a mess, but her speech was still clear. She was enchanted to meet Tommy, but pretty much ignored Suzie. I got a few more drinks into her, then laid out our plan. Nimue didn't take much convincing. She had the morals of a cat and the brains of a puppy.
'We need Merlin's help,' I said, putting it as simply as I could. 'But he's too wrapped up in his own problems to listen. But if we take his heart, he'll have to listen. And when we have the heart outside his body, and therefore outside his defences, you'll be able to put a spell on it, so he'll forget all his worries and care about nothing but you. When you're finished, you can put the heart back, and everyone will get what they want. What could be simpler, or fairer?'
Nimue frowned over her drink, trying to concentrate. 'The heart could make me powerful... with real magic ... But really, I only want my old bear back the way he used to be. You should have seen him in his prime, at Camelot. At the King's side, where he belonged. They all bowed to him, then. I was never there myself, of course. I was just another dumb little priestess, back then, gathering mistletoe and worshipping the Hecate, the three in one ... But I was always good at Seeing from Afar, and Camelot fascinated me. Merlin fascinated me. I watched him at Court, and even then I knew he needed looking after. Needed someone who cared about him. Everyone else put up with him, so they could call on his magic to bail them out when they messed up. When muscular clods in armour weren't enough to save the day.'
Her voice was getting blurred as she got more emotional. 'Even the King, bless him... even he never really cared about Merlin. Not like I do. Silly little priestess, silly little hedge witch, that's what they say ... but I'm the only one who can reach his heart now... And when I'm powerful, I'll make them all pay ...'
Her lower lip was trembling by then, and big fat tears ran down her cheeks. I didn't look round at the others. I already felt guilty enough about taking advantage of an oversized child like Nimue. But it had to be done ...
'So you will help us?' I said. 'It's for the best. Really.'
'If you say so,' said Nimue. 'I've always needed other people to tell me what's for the best.'
Something in her voice told me that would always be the case. Tommy heard it, too, and glared at me, but I concentrated on the witch.
'Have you got something you could slip into his drink, Nimue? Something to make him sleep?'
'Oh sure,' Nimue said off-handedly. 'Druids know everything there is to know about potions. I often drug his drink. It's the only way he can sleep these days. Poor sweetie.'
And that was it. We waited till the customers had thinned out, and then I bribed Hebe to shut down the bar for a while. It took most of the coins in my purse, particularly when Hebe realised we wanted her to go home early as well, but money talks in the Nightside, as it always had. A few customers didn't want to go, but Suzie obliged them with a short but instructive example of how a shotgun works, and they couldn't get out of the bar fast enough. The two smoke ghosts looked at me reproachfully, then faded slowly away, still dancing. The bar seemed so much larger with everyone else gone, and the quiet was actually eerie. Merlin sat slumped and finally sleeping in his chair, while Nimue sat cross-legged in a hastily chalked circle, working a glamour so that no-one outside would be able to tell there was anything unusual going on in the bar. There were an awful lot of people, and others, who would jump at the chance to kill Merlin if they even suspected his defences were down. Suzie guarded the door anyway, while Tommy and I considered the unconscious sorcerer.
'So,' said Tommy. 'How do we do it?'
