Chapter 37
THIRTY-SEVEN
KINGSTON
“Well.”
When Emrys does speak, his voice is hoarse.
“Well, well, well.”
We’ve been sitting in his office a long while.
Just him and me.
No other knights. They’re at the house.
No Gwenna. She’s…
She’s…
I don’t know.
Emrys takes a deep inhale. Steeples his fingers in front of his face.
“Well?”
It’s all I can do not to snap it at him. But he looks…tired, for once. As old as he certainly must be.
“Well,” he agrees. “‘All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.’ Julian of Norwich. Mystic, 14th century. A seeker like yourself. And the first woman ever to write a book in English.”
I have no time for this.
“What do we do now?” I say.
“Do?” He says. “Now?”
“Now that it’s all gone,” I say, gritting my teeth.
Emrys sighs. “Have you not seen it yet, Kingston?”
“Seen what? ”
I’m sure I haven’t.
Because I haven’t seen anything but Gwenna’s face.
Awake, asleep.
For days.
Ever since she disappeared.
“The puzzles,” he says. “The little word games. The assignments I put to you and your…friend.”
The slight pause hits me right in the chest.
Friend.
If we were ever even that.
I’m losing patience.
“May I be honest, Dr. Emrys?” I ask. “Those assignments didn’t need to be done.”
“Maybe not,” he says. “But you needed to do them.” He pauses. “Both of you.”
I don’t follow. “What are you talking about?”
“You think I simply paired you two up by coincidence?”
“No. We—she?—”
“Yes, yes, the little contest. She’s brilliant, that girl. But you think that was coincidence?”
I frown.
“You needed to see what was plainly before you, and yet hidden. What is at once both above and below. Two-sided and yet the same.”
“What,” I grind out, “are you talking about?”
Emrys exhales hard.
“If things were less dire, I’d leave you to work it out. But I’m afraid we don’t have the luxury of time.” He fixes me with a stare. “The grail isn’t a what , Mr. Pendragon. It’s a who. ” He smiles. “And you’ve had her right at your side this whole time.”