Once & Future (Once & Future #1)(97)

“Arthur spent years looking for it,” Merlin said in a whisper, looking up at Morgana. “The loss of that chalice felt like the beginning of his end. He did not have it when Mordred came of age… when he began to rage against his father…” Merlin’s eyes drifted to Gwen’s stomach, and Ari stood up, crossing between them as she paced.

“A cup that makes people believe the truth? If we had that—” She flew back toward Merlin, taking his shoulders. “If we had that, we could make this Terra see the horrors of her ways. We could change the Mercer Company from the inside.”

Merlin stood, pushing her away. “And how would we get it by tomorrow, Ari? I couldn’t find it when Arthur’s kingdom was in the balance. What makes you believe we’ll just pluck it out of the air before Mercer comes back?”

“Because we aren’t going to pluck it out of the air,” Ari said, eyes and heart on fire. “We’re going to steal it from the past.”





Merlin stood at the edge of the red desert, just after sunset. He found himself breathing the dry air deeply, savoring the rampant colors of this place. Particularly the siren birds whose screams underscored this terrible—and by that he meant absolutely horrible—idea to return to Camelot.

But Merlin had not been able to reject it because of the baby. The child could not be ripped away from Ari and Gwen as payment to Mercer. It would not become another Mordred, not while he stood by and watched. He hadn’t broken away from Nin, and possibly incurred her wrath, just to let that happen. King Arthur had picked this moment so there was no way Merlin could refuse.

“You chivalrous ass,” Merlin muttered.

Morgana appeared so suddenly and so close to Merlin that he screamed.

“Why must you do that?” he said, dusting himself off as if the shock of seeing her was clingy as sand.

“You do see the poetry in this, don’t you?” Morgana said with a slick smile. “You couldn’t find Arthur’s chalice all those years ago to save his kingdom because future you stole it right from his table.”

“We don’t know that that will come to pass. Or did come to pass. We don’t know anything apart from my solid gut reaction that this is a terrible idea.”

“Easy for you to say,” she said, more than a touch of sadness in her voice, reminding Merlin of what was about to happen. “You will have to be the one to do it. Ari is too fond of me, despite our arguments. The act will harm her.”

Merlin’s face mussed up, a combination of being annoyed that Morgana was right and a little heartbroken about how casually the enchantress spoke. “How will we make sure we find the right time and place?” he asked. “Camelot was a mere blip of a moment. We could easily end up on Old Earth now, England sunk in the Atlantic, or Britain during the time of the Spice Girls, for heaven’s sake.” He couldn’t help himself; “Wannabe” started to hum through his lips.

Morgana held a wispy finger to his mouth. “If you get one of your damn pop songs stuck in my head, I’ll come back to haunt you.”

Merlin tried to smile. “That would be reason enough, old enemy.”

Morgana gazed at the same last streak of desert sunset that Merlin had just been admiring. “We have to use Nin’s magic, Merlin. That’s how we find the right time and place. You know what that means.”

The sight of Excalibur flashed in Merlin’s mind. “I do. Ari will be heartbroken.”

“Such sacrifices,” Morgana whispered. “Is all existence riddled with such sacrifice?”

Merlin sighed. “It certainly seems that way.”

Ari’s knights appeared, tramping away from Omaira, leaving the lights of the city behind. Together the small, quiet band followed a stone road to the spot where the desert opened up like a dark-red sea. Merlin had spent the afternoon inspecting their outfits and dressing them in the remnants of Lionelian fashion on Error. He’d been so successful that they now appeared as if they’d fallen out of a distant time, even if his fashion demands had turned slightly… ominous. Particularly when he apologized profusely and put Lamarack in men’s clothes to match their leather armor—and made them scrub off their makeup.

“Did you say good-bye to your mothers, Ari?” Merlin asked.

“I did,” she said grimly. “I told them they couldn’t ask where we were going, in case Mercer tries to get it out of them.”

“Not that anyone would believe them,” Gwen added.

“Or be able to follow us,” Ari said, holding tightly to Gwen’s hand.

“They can’t chase us to the past, but they can certainly wreak havoc while we’re gone,” Merlin said, thinking of the Lionelians they’d fought so hard to save. Big Mama, sitting on her eggs at this very moment.

“I don’t trust the rest of the representatives to hold out against Mercer for long, especially if we’re missing,” Ari said. “How long will we be gone?”

Merlin didn’t have an answer to Ari’s question. They would find Arthur’s chalice as quickly as they could, but it wouldn’t be an easy task. For a flicker of a moment, he didn’t believe that it could be done. As they marched, that flicker grew into a burning, blazing fear. “If we get lucky, we could be back tonight, so to speak. We can return to any time we want to. The trick is figuring out how to get back.”