Sword of Darkness

Chapter 14



Kerrigan heard Seren gasp beside him as he summonedthe Celtic god to them with his powers. He only hoped that Brea was listening. But then given how much the Tuatha Dé Danann wanted the sword back, it was a good wager that Brea would show.

So much for being a bad ass. He was about to become a first-rate chump. And for what?

A cheap piece of peasant…

Kerrigan clamped down on that thought in anger. That wasn't Seren and he knew it. She was so much more. And he hated that he knew the truth of her. Because in the end that was his downfall. The moment he'd looked into her eyes and seen something more than a disposable pawn to be used, looked into her heart and seen the innocent compassion, he'd set his own course for destruction.

Damn, he was a fool. And he was becoming an even bigger one by the minute.

Blaise pulled to the side of the deserted road as Brea flashed into the seat in front of Kerrigan and Seren. Dressed in a pair of jeans and a turtleneck, Brea looked completely at home in this time period. The god's dark eyes were full of suspicion as he stared at them.

"Why have you summoned me?"

Kerrigan paused as he considered his many reasons, none of which made a bit of sense. He really didn't know why he was doing this other than the one basic fact that it was the right thing to do.



You've never done the right thing before…

It was true. He hadn't, and yet he couldn't seem to keep himself from doing this.That's what you get from trading blood with the innocent. It's her purity that's corrupting you.

Then again, her innocence had corrupted him the instant she put her tiny hand into his and allowed him to pull her across his horse.

He'd been wrong when he thought she had destroyed her future by that one foolish act of trust. It was his future that had been destroyed by one act of selfishness.

Nay, it wasn't selfishness that was his undoing. It was something else entirely. Something he'd never felt before.

Compassion. Warmth. And another emotion he didn't dare name because it wasn't meant for something like him. It was a noble emotion for those who were worthy of it.

It was an emotion for someone like Seren.

He met Brea's gaze levelly. "I want you to take Seren to Avalon."

Kerrigan wasn't sure whose face appeared most stunned by those words, but he had to admit that Brea's expression was most comical. Too bad he didn't feel like laughing.

Seren's face paled as she wrapped one hand around his biceps. "I won't go without you," she said, her voice breaking.

Those words spoke to a part of him that he'd never met before. A part of him he'd thought was completely defective.

His heart.

And it was breaking now. But this had to be done. There was no choice. Not if he wanted to keep her safe.

He placed his hand over hers and gave a gentle squeeze of reassurance. "I'll join you there."

Brea narrowed his eyes on him. The god knew he was lying and by the look on Blaise's face, he did, too.

Seren's eyes were filled with pain as she looked up at him. She trusted him, and he hated that he was breaking that trust. "Why won'tyou take me?"

He savored the softness of her hand under his. It was such a tiny hand, and yet it had the strength to shake him to his foundations. To make him do things he'd never done before. To make him care for someone when he knew what he really should do was walk away.

Taking a deep breath, he did what he did best. He lied. "I can't, Seren. You'll need an escort through the veil, and I gave my key to the gargoyles."

Her green eyes sparked at that. "I have a key."

He was stunned when she pulled a matching medallion from beneath the red tunic and handed it to him. He clamped his jaw shut to keep from gaping. "Where did you get this?"

"My mother gave it to me in a dream."

Now that was interesting, and if they had more time, he'd question her further about it. But her possession of an amulet changed nothing. If anything, it only strengthened his resolve.

"You'll still need Brea to make the introductions for you at Avalon and to make sure that nothing happens to you."

"But why aren't you coming?"

"I have to go and get your loom before Morgen finds it…if she hasn't already. You go ahead with Brea, and I'll join you in Avalon as soon as I can."

Kerrigan got up as Blaise moved toward the back where they were seated. "Watch her," he said sternly to the mandrake. "I need to have a word with Brea outside. Alone."

Blaise nodded at the same time Seren protested. She was getting up to follow after him.

"I'll be right back," Kerrigan promised as he gently pushed her toward her seat.

She narrowed those green eyes on him threateningly. "You'd best be, my lord."

Cupping her supple cheek in his palm, he inclined his head to her before he took Brea outside so that Seren wouldn't be able to overhear them. They were parked beside a small pasture where he could see a few small calves and cows grazing. Luckily there were no other cars about to notice his peculiar clothes or to ask if they'd broken down.

But that wouldn't last. They needed to get out of here before someone stopped and questioned them. Or worse, before Morgen found them again.

"You said something about the sword?" Brea prompted as soon as he left the RV.

Kerrigan nodded as he closed the door to make sure that Seren couldn't overhear them. "You promise me that you'll personally protect her and I'll give you the sword in trade."

Brea still looked less than convinced of his sincerity. "There's a ‘but' in there, I sense it."

The god was astute, which given his status and birth wasn't all that surprising. "I want your word that when my child is old enough, the sword will be released to him or her."

"That's it?"

Kerrigan nodded.

Disbelief darkened Brea's brow as if he were still having trouble believing that his hearing wasn't defective. "You would trust my word?"

Kerrigan found that hard to believe, too. But he had no choice in this. It was the best he could offer for Seren and their child. "If you swear by the goddess Danu, aye. I know you'll have no choice except to stand by it."

Brea scowled at him. He moved closer as if he sensed something out of the ordinary. "What has changed about you?"

Kerrigan stepped away from him, uncomfortable with the intensity of the god's attention. "What are you talking about?"

The god cocked his head as if he were studying an unknown object. "You are not what you were when I first tried to take Caliburn from you in Joyous Gard."

Those words set fire to his temper. He didn't like knowing that his emotions were so obvious to another. He didn't want anyone else to know of his weakness for a small slip of a woman who should mean nothing to him.

And yet she meant everything.

"Don't be a fool. Nothing about me has changed. I am as I was."

Brea's frown only increased. To his surprise, the god hesitated at his offer. "If I take Caliburn, you realize you will be mortal again. You will bleed."

"I know."

"Morgen will kill you for the battles you two have fought."

Kerrigan clenched his teeth. There the god was wrong. Morgen was far too vindictive for that. She wouldn't kill him. She would do her damnedest to make him wish and beg for death.

That was one satisfaction he would never give her.

But he didn't say that to Brea. Instead, he faced the god man to man. "Give us your word that you'll take her to Avalon and make sure that none there harm her or the baby."

For once, Brea didn't argue. "You have my word."

"On the blood of Danu."

"On the blood of Danu." Brea held his hand out. "Now give me the sword."

Kerrigan shook his head. He couldn't do that. Not yet. "If I do, Seren will know something is amiss the instant she sees me without the sword on. Take her, and I will give it to you once she's safely hidden within the walls of Avalon."

Brea scoffed. "Do you think for one minute that I trust you, demon? Especially after all you have done in the past?"

"I give you my word."

Brea curled his lip. "That's as worthless as your life."

He couldn't fault the god for those words. Brea was right. "Seren won't go with you if she suspects anything."

Brea stepped back, then held his palm up toward the sky. A light flashed an instant before another sword appeared in his hand. It was made of brightly polished steel with a leather-wrapped handle and a dragon's-eye stone set in the hilt.

Kerrigan scowled at it. If he didn't know better, he'd swear it was Caliburn.

"It has no powers," Brea said as he held the sword out toward him. "But she won't know that unless she touches it."

It was a good plan, and for once he had nothing more to add to it.

Sighing, Kerrigan inclined his head before he unbuckled Caliburn. He could hear the sword screaming in his head. Hear it begging him not to let it go.I am yours…We belong to each other.

For centuries the two of them had been together…

It was all he'd ever had to call his own. All that had ever really mattered to him. The power. The strength. This sword had made him king. It had turned a boy into a man.

In all his life, this sword was the only thing that had ever taken care of him.

Kerrigan held Caliburn tight in his fist as the power of it consumed him. So long as he held this sword, no one could touch him. No one could harm him.

He was letting go of everything.

Don't be stupid…

He looked at the tinted windows, knowing that Seren couldn't see him. But she was in there, and he was the only one who could protect her from Morgen.

The sword or his mouse…

Cursing, he handed the sword to Brea even though it burned his hand to do so.

The look of shock on the god's face was truly priceless. He stared at the sword in his hand as if he half expected it to vanish. "You really let go of it."

Kerrigan didn't say anything as he snatched the fake sword from Brea's other hand and fastened it around his hips. "She's not to know of this. Ever."

Brea didn't respond. He merely continued to stare at Caliburn as if it were an apparition.

If only it were. The absence Kerrigan felt inside him at the loss of Caliburn was a pain more profound than any he'd ever felt before. It was as if a vital part of himself had been lost. And it took all his will not to take it back.

But he couldn't, and he knew it.

Without looking at Brea, Kerrigan brushed past the god and headed back into the RV.

He entered it at the same time one of the Adoni manifested by the driver's seat. Anger tore through him as he unsheathed his fake sword. The male Adoni lunged at him. Kerrigan hissed as the Adoni caught him a blow to the lips that cut them. For the first time in centuries he felt the sting of the blow, tasted the salt of his own blood.

His eyes flaming, he drove his sword through the Adoni's body, then pulled it free.

"We haven't much time," he said to Seren and Blaise as he approached them. "If we're not moving, they can find us."

He noted the way Blaise stared in disbelief at his cut lip, but luckily Seren didn't understand that part of the sword's power.

Wiping the blood away, Kerrigan pulled Seren to her feet. "You have to go with Brea now." He met Blaise's frown. "I need you to go with her as well and protect her."

"Nay," Seren said quickly as she stopped in the middle of the RV and refused to go farther. "I'll go with Brea, but I'd rather Blaise go with you to get the loom in case something happens and you need him."

Kerrigan started to argue, but knew better. They didn't have time to waste. Besides, Blaise would make this easier. He'd be able to send the necklace and loom back with the mandrake to Avalon.

Nodding, he ushered Seren down the narrow aisle to the door and out to the side of the road where Brea was waiting. Luckily the god had the sword hidden from their sight.

Kerrigan let out a relieved breath as he moved her to stand before Brea.

Seren felt her heart sink as Kerrigan released her hand. There was something not right in this. Something she couldn't name. It was as if an air of hopelessness engulfed him.

What was he planning?

"You will be careful?" she asked, cupping his face in her hands so that she could feel the prickle of his whiskers against her palms. Even so, he avoided looking straight at her.

"Aye. I will be careful."

"Promise?"

That succeeded in making him look at her. "I promise."

She took a moment to study the dark red embers of his eyes, the bit of shadow on his cheeks. Her knight was the most handsome man to ever live.

"I shall be counting the minutes until your return."

The dark sadness returned to his eyes. "As will I."

She pulled him into her arms. He held her in a gentle embrace that warmed her through and through.

Then he tightened his arms and pulled away. "You must go now, Seren."

But she didn't want to. She never wanted to let go of this man. Reluctantly, she started to pull away, only to have Kerrigan capture her lips in a stinging kiss. She moaned at the taste of him, at the way he held on to her as if he never wanted to release her.

Groaning, he pulled away again, then wrapped her in his arms and leaned his cheek against her head. His arms tightened an instant before he stepped away. "I shall see you anon." Even as he spoke the words, he held her hand tightly in his.

Her heart pounded at the thought of being without him for even a moment. She handed him her necklace so that he would be able to join her in Avalon with the loom. "Anon. Quickly."

He nodded, and as he released her hand, a horrible premonition went through her. She opened her mouth to speak of it when two more Adoni appeared.

"Take care of her," Kerrigan snarled to Brea as he turned to fight them.

"Wait," Seren said, but it was too late. The god had already touched her arm.

Her last sight of Kerrigan was of him engaging the two Adoni warriors.

The next thing she knew, she was on a peaceful beach with a bright sun above her. Seren squinted against the glare as she looked out over the clearest, bluest ocean she'd ever seen. Gulls cawed over her head while the water lapped gently against snow white sand. Land jutted out to her right, forming a sheer cliff that rose up high toward the sun.

On top of the cliff was a golden castle glinting in the daylight. It was beautiful. Mesmerizing. There was a lush, green forest that separated her stretch of beach from the castle on the cliff.

"This is Avalon?" she asked Brea.

"Aye."

"It looks like heaven." Her voice was scant more than a whisper. How she wished Kerrigan were here to see it. It was so much prettier than Camelot.

This looked like the place where King Arthur would have held his court.

Brea smiled at her. "Not entirely. Nothing is ever perfect. But this is close and you will be very happy here." He held his hand out to her. "Come, child."

She followed him up the beach toward the castle. As they drew near the forest, an incredibly striking blond woman appeared before them. The woman wore a white gown that was trimmed with gold. The weave of the fabric was flawless. It reminded Seren of a perfect field of snow.

There was an air of unmistakable kindness to this newcomer. It bled from every part of her. Just being in her presence filled Seren with warmth.

"Brea," she said in greeting. "I see you found our wayward steward."

"Not exactly. Rather she found me." He paused. "Aquila Penmerlin, meet Seren."

The woman smiled sweetly. "Call me Merlin, Seren. Most people do."

Before Seren could respond, the smile faded, to be replaced by a peculiar frown as Merlin looked back at Brea. She rubbed her arms as if something chilled her. "You have Caliburn?"

Seren's heart stopped at her words. "Nay. Caliburn is with Kerrigan. Isn't it?"

Brea looked a bit sheepish before he shook his head. The air around him glowed an instant before Kerrigan's sword appeared in his hand.

Seren's jaw went slack as she recognized the weapon.

The god handed it not to Merlin, but to Seren. "I have a feeling you'll need this one day."

She refused to take it. "How did you come by this?"

"Kerrigan gave it to me in exchange for my bringing you here. He wanted me to make sure that the sword went to your child."

Pain tore through her as her premonition now made sense. "He's not coming back."

There was no sympathy in Brea's eyes. "He would have had to come here in order to bring the loom to you, but I'm thinking it's why he allowed Blaise to go with him. Instead of Kerrigan bringing you the loom, Blaise will."

Seren grabbed his arm as her rage mounted at her own foolishness. Damn Kerrigan for this! "Take me to him. Now!"

Brea pried her hand from his arm. "I can't. I promised Kerrigan that I would bring you here, and I have to stand by my word."

She turned toward Merlin. "Can you send me to him?"

Unlike Brea, Merlin's blue eyes were dark with sympathy. It was obvious the woman felt compassion for her. "I'm afraid I can't, Seren. I'm sorry. I don't know where he is. Kerrigan is too powerful for me to track."

Seren closed her eyes as a wave of hopeless despair claimed her. And in that moment, she hated Kerrigan. How could he just abandon her like this? Abandon their child?

He hadn't even tried to join her. He'd merely handed her off to the Celtic god and left her to her own end.

Stung by his actions, she took the sword in both of her hands. She could feel the hum of its power. Feel it cooing to her. But for once she was in control of it.

Because I have Kerrigan's blood…

It had to be. There was no other reason that the sword was so calm to her now.

"I can't believe he relinquished it," Merlin said in a low, reverent tone to Brea.

"I can." Seren knew a part of Kerrigan that no one else did. It was a part he never showed to the world.

It was the part of him that she loved. Nay, that wasn't true. She loved all of him. Even that nasty, grousing part that growled.

And somehow, she was going to find him again…and then she was going to kill him.

Kerrigan drew a deep breath as they finished off the Adoni and dissolved the RV from the side of the road.

"The traveling had been a good thought," Blaise said as he folded his arms over his chest.

Kerrigan felt his jaw tic from his anger. "While it lasted. Damn Morgen and her persistence." That bitch would never leave him in peace. Not while Seren held so much power within her.

"So how are you going to get Seren back?"

Kerrigan didn't answer.

Blaise narrowed his violet eyes on him. "You are going to get her back…Right?"

He made sure to keep his features blank. "She's better off in Avalon."

"Yeah, but what about gaining control of the Table? You can't do that without her."

"What do I need with a table? I can't even eat."

Blaise looked even more confused. "What? Did the Adoni knock something loose in your head when they hit you? You know? World domination. Power. Wealth. Hello? Who are you and what have you done with my master?"

Before Kerrigan could answer, four more Adoni came through the portal.

"Oh, lay off, you bitch," Kerrigan snarled as he caught the first Adoni with an elbow to his nose. He was getting really tired of this fight.

Another caught him about the stomach and threw him to the ground. Kerrigan grunted in pain as the weight of the beast damned near crushed him. He could feel his ribs starting to break. Bending his leg, he kicked the Adoni off and let out a relieved bellow once the weight was free of him.

Blaise was fighting another.

Kerrigan unsheathed his sword and engaged the Adoni. He caught one through the shoulder, but as he was pulling back, the other sliced his arm.

He turned with a hiss to drive his sword through his attacker, before he spun about to finish off the other.

Seeing the blood that coated him, the last two Adoni vanished instantly.

Blaise cocked his head. "Why did they…" His voice trailed off as he saw the bleeding wound on his arm. "I wasn't imagining that earlier, was I? Youare bleeding."

Kerrigan let out a long, tired breath. There was no need to corroborate the obvious. "We need to get out of here before they return with more. I'm sure they're reporting to Morgen even now that I was wounded."

Blaise stared at him in disbelief. "Are you insane? Do you know what would happen to you if Morgen caught you now?"

"Believe me, I know." It was the stuff of nightmares and children's stories.

Blaise held his arm out to him. "We need to go get that loom before they find it."

Nodding, Kerrigan did something he'd never done before. He reached out and took Blaise's outstretched arm so that he could use his magic and return them to Seren's time.

They flashed into an empty alleyway behind her weaver's shop. Kerrigan took a moment to return his armor to a fashion more suited to this time period so as not to raise any suspicions. Likewise Blaise adjusted his clothing to a pair of brown breeches and a dark blue surcoat.

They didn't speak as they made their way around to the front of the store. Kerrigan paused as he saw a young boy rush past him, into the building to squeal at the women who were working, before he bounded up a wooden staircase to disappear.

Robert. He remembered Seren telling him about the boy who belonged to the store's owners. And she had liked the lad a great deal.

Strange emotions curled through him as he opened the door and entered with Blaise one step behind him.

The store was rather small. There were four women off to his left who were working quietly on their looms. Even from this distance, he would see how worn their hands were…just like Seren's. His gaze lingered beside an attractive brunette where there was an obvious vacant loom before the window.

Seren's place. That was where she'd spent so many years, working for the owners of this shop. That was the window where she would watch people drift by outside as her entire life was spent slaving away for others.

But for Damé Fortune, she'd still be here now, just like her friends. There was even the half-finished cloth she must have been working on before he'd taken her.

"May I help you, my lord?"

He turned at the sound of an older woman's voice to find the shopkeeper's wife. "Mistress Maude?"

She looked surprised that he knew her name. "Aye, my lord? Do I know you?"

"Nay, goodwife. I've come here to collect an old loom that belongs to Seren of York."

The old woman's eyes flared angrily at the name. "There's nothing here that belonged to that bit of rub—"

Her words were choked off as Kerrigan took her by the throat and squeezed tight. His rage took hold, but he made sure to keep his eyes dark and not let them flicker red. "Careful who you insult, old woman. Her name is Seren and you will not defame that name. Understand me?"

Gasping for air, she nodded her head.

Kerrigan released her.

"So much for my thinking you'd changed," Blaise said under his breath in twentieth-century English so that the woman couldn't understand him.

Kerrigan didn't respond to Blaise while he glared at the woman who was rubbing her bruised throat. "I want Seren's possessions and I want them now."

Still coughing, the woman stumbled against the apprentice who was closest to her. When she spoke, her voice was thick and deep. "Get up, you lazy cur, and get His Lordship whatever he wants."

The girl nodded before she quickly got up to do her mistress's bidding.

Kerrigan followed up the stairs after her. She led him to an attic room that was at the far end of the shop.

He hesitated as he saw the meager furnishings that made up their dormitory. Each girl had been relegated to a small pallet with a thin, paltry mattress that sat on the floor. Each bed had one small, flat pillow and one threadbare blanket. To the right of each pallet was a plain trunk. There was nothing warm here. Nothing welcoming. It was no better than the bleak atmosphere of Camelot.

Yet this was where his little mouse had dreamed of her modest merchant who would one day claim her…

Anger welled up inside him.

"Who are you, girl?"

She paused before one of the pallets to look up, then she caught herself before she met his gaze. Her eyes fell back to the floor. "Wendlyn, my lord."

"Wendlyn," he said, softening his voice as he recalled her from Seren's memories. "You two are friends."

She nodded as she opened the lid to the ark that was nearest the window. "All of Seren's belongings are in here, my lord."

Kerrigan had to duck to enter the room. He didn't speak as he approached the trunk that held almost nothing. There was a modest cloak for the colder weather. A pair of patched hose, an old kirtle, and a ragged white chemise. He moved them aside to find a single pair of leather shoes that had a hole in the bottom of each sole.

Pain hit him hard as he realized that this was all his little mouse had in the world. And she'd been so proud of it. After all, she'd had potential…

His heart heavy, he gathered up each item until he found her small loom resting in the bottom, wrapped in a piece of brown cloth. It looked as worthless as the rest of her belongings. Yet it was priceless to him. If not for this loom, he would never have known that Seren existed.

As he pulled it out, a small pendant fell free from the brown cloth it was wrapped in. Kerrigan frowned at the sight. He reached into the chest to find the heraldic dragon of Avalon. The symbol of Arthur. He knew instantly that it must have belonged to her mother.

"Why is this in here?"

The girl glanced at the pendant, then looked away. "We are peasants, my lord. The necklace belonged to Seren's mother. Had Mistress Maude known about it, she would have taken it from her and sold it for her upkeep, so Seren kept it hidden. She would take it out sometimes at night and pray for her mother, then she would hide it away again."

He could just imagine her doing that. His hand shaking from his raw emotions, he ran his fingers over the trunk's lid and imagined Seren opening it up every day and carefully closing it. He felt connected to her.

But she was his past now…

Taking a deep breath, he gathered up everything and rose. As he started away, the girl's voice stopped him.

"My lord?"

"Aye?" He looked back to find her staring at the floor, her brow knitted by worry.

"Might I ask after Seren? Is she…is she well?"

Her concern for his mouse warmed him. "Aye, Wendlyn. She's hale and healthy, and in a much better place than this one."

He saw the relief on her face. "Would you please tell her that I asked after her, my lord? And let her know that I wish her well?"

"I will indeed."

"Thank you."

He inclined his head before he left the room and found Blaise waiting for him on the stairs.

"Are you all right?"

Kerrigan glared at him. "Do I not look all right?"

"Nay. You look strange."

He grimaced as he brushed past the mandrake. It wasn't until after they had left the building that Kerrigan stopped. He lifted the sleeve of her kirtle to his face so that he could inhale the scent of Seren mixed with the cedar of the box.

He missed her already.

Oh how he wished that things were different. That he was different. But wishing was good for naught. This was the way of it.

His resolve set, he handed the bundle off to Blaise. As he did so a small copper thimble fell free of the cloth. Kerrigan bent down to retrieve it.

How paltry it was. How worthless.

But it was Seren's.

"You're not planning to go to Avalon, are you?" Blaise asked.

"Nay," he said as he clutched the tiny thimble in his hand. "We both know that the Lords of Avalon would never allow me to their shores. Not that I blame them. We've been at war far too long for them to welcome or tolerate me. I made my choice centuries ago. I'm man enough to live with it."

Blaise arched a brow. "Honestly, I don't want to go there, either. You know how I feel about good guys. They're boring."

Kerrigan gave a short laugh at his words. "Morgen will kill you if you stay with me. Besides, Seren will be lonely and afraid at Avalon. She needs a friend."

"She would rather have you."

Kerrigan handed both of Seren's necklaces to the mandrake. As he started to hand over the thimble, he paused.

It was a part of her he couldn't let go. Closing his fist over it, he lowered his hand.

Blaise gave him a hard stare. "Do you have anything you wish me to tell her for you?"

"Just convey Wendlyn's words to her."

"But none from you?"

Kerrigan shook his head. "Words are ever deceitful. There's nothing more to be said between us."

By the expression on Blaise's face, he could tell the mandrake wanted to argue, but he didn't. "You know that when I leave here, you're stranded in this time."

"Nay, I still havemy Merlin's magic to sustain me." With that he could still evade them.

"But nothing else."

Not true. He had a copper thimble and the memory of a fair-haired lady who'd given him the only sense of peace he'd ever known.

It was more than he'd ever had before.

"I shall battle onward. 'Tis what I excel at."

Blaise let out a long, weary breath. "It's been an honor to be with you all these centuries, Kerrigan. I've always considered you a friend."

"I know. It's why I never killed you for your insubordination."

Blaise laughed.

"But," Kerrigan said, interrupting his amusement. "I would ask one thing of you."

"And that is?"

"Find someone to marry Seren before she shows her pregnancy. Her worst fear is to have the baby bastard born."

"If she's unwilling?"

"She won't be. She knows that the child needs a father to claim it." But inside he was aching at the thought of that father being someone other than he.

She was his…

He clenched his teeth as the pain of it overwhelmed him. Damn it, no wonder he'd always profaned altruism. What good was it? All it did was hurt.

Yet for her, he was willing to suffer, and that was the most amazing part of all.

"I'll find her a husband."

"Thank you."

Blaise inclined his head to him. "God speed you, Kerrigan."

He snorted at that. "God speed you, my friend. He was never with the likes of me."

And then he watched as the mandrake faded out of this existence, to manifest himself on the shores of Avalon.

Kerrigan tightened his grip around the thimble as he imagined the look of hurt on Seren's precious face when Blaise appeared without him.

But what was done, was done. It was for the best.

Shaking his head, he listened to his internal voice scream at him that he was an idiot. He had traded his kingship so that Seren could live as a queen. And for what?

"For the woman I love," he whispered. The truth seared him. He wasn't sure how she'd managed to wiggle into his diseased heart, but she had.

He had given her his worst and she had brought out a best in him that he'd never even known he possessed.

Now it was time to finish this. Even without the sword or Seren's necklace, his magic was enough that he could still time-travel to escape Morgen's army, but to what purpose?

He'd never once in his life been craven and he wasn't about to start now. There was only one way to make sure that none of his kind ever hunted Seren again.

"Morgen!" he shouted in the alleyway. "If you want me, I'm here."

Within a few seconds, four Adoni appeared. They flashed into the alley, then looked about nervously as if expecting a trap.

Kerrigan sneered at them and their fear. "Oh, what's this, Morgen? When have you ever been a coward? Face me."

Morgen appeared between the Adoni. Her arms folded, she narrowed her gaze on him. "Where is she?"

He kept his face completely blank. "She's gone."

"Gone where?"

"Avalon."

She gaped before her face was contorted by her anger. "Have you gone mad? Why would you let her go?"

He shrugged with a nonchalance he didn't feel. "It's where she belongs."

Morgen shrieked in outrage. "Have you completely lost all reason? Why would you do such a thing?"

He offered her a taunting grin. "I did it just to piss you off. Your face always turns such a becoming shade of red whenever you lose your temper."

Hissing, she closed the distance between them. And as she drew nearer, he could see the moment she realized that he no longer had Caliburn.

The rage melted under a wave of disbelief. She raised her hand up as if she were sensing the air around him.

A slow, evil smile curled her lips. "I may have lost my temper and my pawn, but you, dear boy…you're going to lose more than that. Alot more."