Chapter 45
It felt like a victory—until they got out of the Magesary and into the quiet of Vera’s chamber at the inn where she, Arthur, Lancelot, and Merlin convened. Merlin’s tight expression betrayed the anger simmering under the surface of his calm.
“Why didn’t you tell me this was your plan?” he said through gritted teeth.
“Because I knew you’d stop me,” Gawain said.
Merlin huffed. “Of course I would have. Even if you’re correct, this was an ambush. It was not the way. You’re going to be expelled from the Magesary at the least.”
“I know,” Gawain said. “But you know as well as I that if it hadn’t been an ambush—if the king hadn’t been sitting in that room, they would not even have entertained it.”
Merlin’s face filled with sorrow as he looked at Gawain. It frightened Vera.
“And Ratamun’s suspicion about your instrument?” Merlin said.
Gawain nodded. “He knows how it might be used.”
“How might it be used?” Arthur asked. He held the instrument cupped in his lap where he sat.
“Ratamun correctly guessed that this tool is the foundation to sense what gifts someone has and how many,” Gawain said. “I knew that was a risk in revealing it.”
“Not a risk,” Merlin corrected. “An inevitability.” He directed the next at Arthur.
“Ratamun is one among us who believes in the great gifts. Immortality and invincibility are the two most sought-after. He, and others for that matter, would want nothing more than the ability to sense and track those gifts. And take them, no matter the cost: enemy, friend, family …”
Vera could imagine the danger of such a power, but not in Gawain’s hands. He would never use the gift that way.
“Why is that a problem?” she said, eager to pull them all away from fear and back into the hope they’d felt mere minutes ago. “The device is made with your magic, Gawain. They can’t use it without you. Isn’t it your living magic that powers it?”
Merlin’s frown deepened.
Lancelot sat with knees spread wide and elbows on his thighs, leaning forward to listen. It wasn’t a strange posture for him, and he looked at ease, except for his hands, clasped tightly. “That puts you at risk, doesn’t it? They’d need the device, and they’d need you to be able to use it.”
Gawain’s eyes were full of a thousand words he didn’t say as he met Lancelot’s gaze.
“Or they’d want him dead,” Merlin said, dropping into the seat next to Vera.
“All of this is precisely why no one can know the truth about you, Guinevere. The draw of the power I used—time travel, restarting a human life—is irresistible. Some would stop at nothing for it, and if they couldn’t have it, they’d want to be sure no one did. ”
Vera blinked. She turned to Gawain, who smiled sadly at her.
“Goddammit, Gawain,” Lancelot mumbled at the floor. “You altruistic son of a—”
“Look!” Arthur cut him off, his voice hushed with awe. He held the instrument up for them to see. A paper-thin swirl of silvery liquid covered the base of the glass bulb. It hadn’t been there before.
Gawain nearly knocked over his chair, scrambling to Arthur to take the instrument. His mouth went slack, and his eyes glimmered as he stared at the tiny pool with reverence.
“A child was just born,” he said, hardly more than a whisper, “and one of my gifts is now theirs.”