Beyond the Crimson (The Crimson Cycle) (31 page)

             
Her face twisted into an ugly snare, and she lurched forward slapping me across the face. It felt like a million bees stinging me at the same time; the pain made my eyes water.

             
“Merlin tricked me,” she hissed pointing a delicate hand to his direction without looking at him. “He took my son so that he could deceive him to think he was nothing more than some pathetic henchmen for my brother’s
bastard
! A child conceived by lust for another man’s wife is not fit to be the High King!” she screeched.

             
“They were married!” Merlin shouted back.

“What Uther has done is an embarrassment to my father’s name!” 

              Morgaina stepped in, putting a hand on Ravenna’s shoulder in mock kindness. “Uther was a murderer, trickster, and seducer; he deserved to die.” Her expression matched Ravenna’s, two beautiful women, both twisted into ugliness by their abhorrence and vengeance with only their hate as an alliance. “And you Merlin… you deserve to die too.”

             
“And you will,” Ravenna added, wrathfully.

             
Merlin’s mouth hung open as he shook his head slowly. “Ravenna, please tell me you had nothing to do with Uther’s death.”

             
Her eyes tightened; she looked repulsed at the accusation, but she denied nothing. “
I
had the heir,” she breathed, “and you…” her face contorted demonically as she pointed at him then shook her head turning away. “Now you will you see your precious Arthur fall at the sword of his
servant.
” 

             
“He is not a servant!” Merlin yelled. “He is a knight! He took an oath on his own accord. He followed his heart, something you will never understand. You only care of beauty and power, things which you will never be able to hold on to! Love is what carries on, yet you betray it!”

“Love only
makes you weak!” she screeched. “I sacrificed everything for him to take the throne. I am the sister of Aurelious and Uther Pendragon.
I
should be queen mother and
my
son should be in his rightful place!”

             
“He
is
in his rightful place,” Merlin spat. “You are a murderous pathetic excuse for a being. You sacrifice the welfare of Britain for your own ambitions!”

             
Morgaina nudged Ravenna, nodding towards the thick trees that hid the small valley of flat land from view of the steep hills that surrounded it, and I soon understood why. Black guards stomped into sight from the west, surrounding the tall raven-haired knight. They ushered him down; his hands were behind his back, scowl on his face. Ravenna slunk into the shadows, unseen. He glanced at me and Merlin with wide eyes then he clenched his jaw, as the guards shoved him to his knees.

             
“Do not listen to them, Brendelon!” Merlin shouted.

             
He ignored Merlin and instead turned to Morgaina with a wicked half-grin. “I have been searching for you,” he taunted.

             
She smiled. “Were you? Bolvyn was going to be so kind to escort you to me but unfortunately you decided to
murder
him and his men, but I will pay no mind to that.” She waved her nonchalantly, as she strut closer to him. “Now that you have found me, shall we finish our arrangement?” she said in a sickly sweet voice. 

He scowled at her but remained quiet.

She cackled. “Clever Vivian,” she said, clucking her tongue against the back of her front teeth as she shook her head. “Meant to keep you from returning… although, she could not quite make you forget the sword now, could she?” She smiled at him. “But that is not surprising as you
are
bound to it.”

He lowered an eyebrow questioningly but didn’t seem at all surprised.

“And
you could have had it,” she continued, voice growing, “but your inability to follow orders and greedy coveting ruined everything.” Her eyes flashed.

“Alth
ough it is not quite your fault,” spoke the soft voice, as she slithered out of the shadows. “After all, how could you understand your true place when Merlin deceived you into thinking you were nothing more than some pathetic protector,” she drawled out, wrinkling her flawless nose in disgust.

His whole expression changed, I saw the look of a small child yearning for his mother, to the face of a damaged adolescent, to one of a murderous revenge-seeking adult. It happened so suddenly it would have been easy to miss if one had blinked. The adult face stayed and the muscles i
n his jaw began to move quickly. I could see his lungs rise in quick short breaths, trying to fight for control.

She moved closer to him putting a hand to his face, gently cupping under hi
s chin. “
Beautiful
Bran, your face really is your only triumph.”

He pulled away from her,
looking disgusted by her touch. His eyes tightened and turned dark, but the hurt was illuminated; there was no hiding it, and she knew how to use it. “Get back from me you devious snake!” he roared at her. “You were more than happy to let Merlin take me. He did not deceive me into anything; my father is the one who told me the importance of being a protector!”

             
She laughed mockingly, as she gracefully folded her arms across her chest. “Oh darling, you did not really believe his story about the warriors in the sky, did you? Only
kings
belong in the stars, not spoiled little princes.” 

“Stop toying with his head Ravenna! It was never his place to rule, it was always Arthur and he knows that all too well!” Merlin interjected.

              Brendelon flinched at the words.

             
Ravenna laughed at his expression. “Not
all too well
, Merlin. You only manipulated him into thinking that.”

Brendelon’s face changed rapidly, taking it all in. “No
, he did not,” he said quietly, looking down. “Arthur and my comrades stand by me.” He looked up at Ravenna determined. “And you
never
have,” he growled with dark eyes, clenching his jaw. “
Merlin
saved me from
you
!”

Her eyes went as dark as his
, and her face twisted up into a familiar malicious scowl. “Is that what you think?” she hissed. “He only took you so he could keep you close to make sure you would not cross Arthur because deep down he knew it really should have always been you; a beautiful star in the sky, the most powerful king to rule. My. Own. Son.” She pointed at herself with every syllable, saying each word more fierce than the one before.

“No,” he said slowly, “I never did belong in
the stars.” His eyes went hard. “And I will
never
cross Arthur.”

Ravenna began to take deep breaths, trying to control her wild temper but it was to no avail. She grasped a chunk of his h
air in her slender hands and yanked his head upward. “You wretched waste! You failure!” she screeched in his face. “Why do you never do as you are told?”

“Don’t touch him!” I screamed at her, as fury filled my every vein.

Before either could respond, a loud pounding of horse hooves sounded. Every head turned to the western curtain of foliage, and in between the dark shadows of the trees, the sun broke through the barrier illuminating a bright gleam of gold followed by an army of knights donned in tunics that matched their leader’s face.

“Mordegrant,” Merlin whispered.

“He came!” I practically shouted. “The knights warned him!”

He pulled up on his horses’ reigns, stopping his men with a hand, many of them still hidden behind the bright green drapes. “Halt!” he called officiously, staring at the two women and the
Black Army that surrounded them. The golden mask flickered down to the knight on his knees then he dismounted his horse and withdrew his weapon.

“In troub
le again, Brendelon?”

Brendelon
clenched his jaw. “Do not speak to me of trouble. You have Saxons rallying to your shores from the west, this demon army on your east, and your ally Cadvic, betraying you from the south.”

“And yet
, here I am cleaning up your messes,” he hissed through the mask. “Always acting before you think; you truly are a lost cause.” He paced to his right, “Fortunately for us, Arthur has already been warned of Cadvic’s army and is set to destroy them. As for the Saxons… well, I can assure you they are not amongst the seas.” He laughed condescendingly.

“What means you
?” Brendelon boomed.

He walked around, seeming far too calm for being in the presence of a powerful Black Army and their wicked sorceress leader. Ravenna’s face gave away a wicked gleam of joy, and unless she had the same love for near death experiences as her son, something was clearly out of place. The strange behaviors didn’t go unnoticed by Merlin, either. “What have you done?” he whispered to Mordegrant.

“I saw a moment of opportunity and I took it,” Mordegrant replied joyfully.

“You have sided with Cadvic against us?” Brendelon roared as he shot forward, face contorted into a snarl but the guards caught him and with his hands bound behind his back, it was difficult to throw them off. They kicked him in the back of the legs forcing him down to the ground on his knees again.

Mordegrant laughed. “Not entirely. Although, unknowingly to him, he
will
be helping us,” he snickered as Morgaina grinned.

“You set him up to look like a traitor,” Merlin said, understanding the ploy. “What o
f the attacks on your own people?”

He sighed as though he were bored.

Morgaina stepped forward. “Anyone can be swayed by power. Theol was thrilled at the chance to take his brother from the throne. You were the fools to perceive it as Cadvic’s betrayal, and ignorant enough to believe Mordegrant’s shores were about to succumb to a Saxon invasion.”

“The attacks were simply a sacrifice to rally my men to support my plan,” Mordegrant added.

“You traitorous bastard!” Brendelon hissed.

Mordegrant walked slowly over to Brendelon; tilting his golden face to stare at him for a moment. Then he reached his right arm across his body, bringing the back of his hand down hard across Brendelon’s face, jolting his head to the side. He turned his h
ead back, eyes black and deadly, cheek bright red. “Unbind his hands,” Mordegrant commanded.

Brendelon’s wicked lop-sided smile
made its appearance. “You are a fool to do such.”

The guards kept firm hands on his shoulders to keep him from leaping forward, as Mordegrant squatted down to be at eye level with Brendelon, resting his elbows on his knees. He was smart to keep his distance.

“Has anyone ever told you to story of the Oracle?” he spoke as if Brendelon were a child.

Brendelon glared at him,
clearly taken off guard.

“You see, one who practices black magic can call upon the Oracle to see into the future. The problem with the future is that it is always changing. People make differen
t decisions… meet new people…” He turned his mask towards me, and although I couldn’t see his face, I felt myself shrink under the eerie glare of it. “All of these things change what was once put into place.”

He stood and began pacing with h
is hands folded behind his back. “When Uther died, the Oracle revealed that a Pendragon heir would rise to be High King. Naturally, it was not spoken of for the safety of the child. Of course at that time the only
known
heir was the son of Uther’s sister.” He pointed to Ravenna, without looking at her. “Merlin did a wonderful job at hiding Uther’s bastard,” he added contemptuously. 

A low growl came from deep in Brendelon’s throat. Mordegrant stopped pacing, keeping his mask focused in Brendelon’s direction.

“You do not like when others insult Arthur.” It wasn’t a question; he was simply observing Brendelon’s behavior. “And yet the Oracle reveals that it will be
you
who kills him.” He laughed under his breath. “Imagine that.”

Brendelon jolted forward, but the four gu
ards held him down on his knees. “You are a liar Mordegrant and a traitor to all of Britain!” he roared.

“Oh…I am
much
more than that,” he said slowly. He lifted his hands to the mask and pulled it from his face… his
flawless
face.

Brendelon stumbled backwards into the guards as sheer terror ran across his features, and for a moment it was the expression of a young child.

I glanced back at Mordegrant, unsure of what had caused so much fright in a knight who feared nothing. He was tall, big in stature but we already knew that. I could now see he was in his late forties maybe early fifties with light brown hair, silver streaks at the sides and in his beard. His face was fairly handsome, wrinkled from age, but free of any of the scars that were rumored to be the reason for the mask. He kept his icy gray eyes on Brendelon and slowly the right side of his mouth crept up into a crooked sinister grin. A smile I knew all too well…