Excalibur's Seven - Chapter 39: Chapter 39

CHALICE WISHED THEY BROUGHT a better coat. At Giselle's insistence, they were all wrapped in furs and leather in addition to their armor, but Chalice still felt like they were freezing. Visiting the North was bad enough, but they weren't even in the thick of the Winter Kingdom yet and their fingers were already numb. They could see the red of their nose without looking down.
Since the incident at the castle, they hadn't been able to see like they used to, but it didn't bother them until now, when they finally stepped through the thick trees and into darkness they could've seen through before. Now, it was just black before them, save for the last bit of sun creeping through the entrance.
"Gods, I can't see a thing," Kit shivered. His golden cheeks were bright pink now, and his breath was fogging up when he spoke.
Chalice took a deep breath to prepare, then pulled their glove from their lithe fingers. They didn't get the chance to produce any light, though, because at that moment, Giselle lit up a bright torch, illuminating the woods before them. The sun would still be up for another hour, but in these trees, it was long gone.
"Keep yourself warm, Chalice, it's okay," Giselle assured, light hitting her face as she smiled at them.
"Thank you." Their teeth were chattering. Everyone else was cold, too, but no one was to the point of shivering.
"Good grief, someone give that druid a bloody coat," Morgana finally said, taking everyone by surprise.
"No, it's fine, I'm not the only one who's cold--"
Morgana shoved the guards back, carefully lifting his hands to undo the clasp of his cloak and offering it to Chalice.
"What do you want in return?" they asked with a suspicious raise of their brow.
"I want to not have to listen to your teeth chattering, that is the deal. Now take my cloak," he said.
The druid accepted his offer, but not without a scrutinizing glare. They had to admit, the cloak helped a lot. Perhaps there was a bit of magic involved--after all, their deal was to get them to stop chattering their teeth.
For the next several minutes, all that could be heard was the crunching of snow beneath their feet. Chalice was holding Lionel's hand again, they didn't know when they started holding it, but they didn't protest. Kit was paranoid enough, being worried about his kid on top of that was a bit too much. It was a good idea to keep him where they could see him.
The journey through the dark reminded them of their dream, which still confused them even now. They swam deeper, deeper into the dark. They could see a dim light at the bottom, but their limbs got tired before they could reach it.
It plagued them with questions, but they didn't bother to think about them much right away. They had nothing else to think about now, though.
The light held a vague shape, but Chalice couldn't quite make it out. And the voice was no longer all around them, it started coming from a single source. They assumed it came from the light, but they didn't know how or why or what it wanted. It didn't feel like a message from the Gods, either, it felt like something more personal. It wasn't like anything they were used to.
A dim glow stretched out before them now, but unlike their dream, they reached it, stepping past the heavy trees. It was an empty field covered in snow, reflecting the moonlight and shedding light on their path.
The snow reached Chalice's knees, and they were taller than most of the others. This would be a very long, very cold trip at this rate.
"Let me go first," Morgana insisted.
"Absolutely not," Kit chimed. "How do we know--"
He didn't even get to finish, because Morgana's hand was already stretched out, pushing the snow apart into two jagged rows of ice and clearing a path before them.
"Like I said," Morgana murmured.
Kit released a breath and waved at the guards, telling them it was okay. Morgana took the lead, rapidly creating a path before them. It was so effective, the dirt beneath their feet was dry as they walked through it.
Chalice kept a wary eye on the Unseelie, but he didn't look to be doing anything more than clearing the way. Kit wasn't so convinced.
"Why are you being helpful? I don't claim to owe you anything after this."
"Gods, Kit, will you chill out?" Morgana spat, and the guards tightened their grips on his chains. He wasn't amused. "I agreed to take you to the Kingdom, this is part of the process. I need to walk through the snow same as everyone else, get over yourself."
Chalice could feel Kit's frustration from several feet away, heating up their chest and forcing their jaw to tighten. There was only so much of the boys' fighting they could stand to be in the middle of.
From beside them, they heard Lionel taking deep breaths. They tossed him a glance to find that he was looking back at them, taking deep, intentional breaths.
"Right, thank you, Lionel," they said, and took deep breaths with him. The feeling of frustration eased as they breathed it back out.
Fortunately, Kit and Morgana kept their bickering to a minimum while they walked through the snowy fields, which seemed to stretch on for miles. Their feet got tired quicker than they were used to, but to their luck, they were nearing a small wood by the mountainside. There would be shelter and a place for a fire here.
Everyone else got the idea, it seemed, and they stepped through into the woods, which were significantly less dense than the wall of trees they had to weave their way through at the start. Morgana cleared the snow from a large clearing, exposing a dry ground to rest on.
Borr pulled a small tree from the ground and snapped it apart with his bare hands, creating a small pile in the center of the clearing to start a fire. Giselle used her torch to light it, and soon there was a steady source of warmth and light.
Kit joined Chalice in front of the fire while the others settled in, preparing to rest once again.
"Do you need me to watch Morgana again?" they asked.
"You read my mind," he chuckled. "But I want you to wake me up the moment anything seems suspicious."
"Of course, you'll be the first one I go to," they assured him. "In the meantime, please get some rest. Your stress is making you more tired than you need to be."
They could feel it radiating from his skin, the anxiety that never ceased. He would do good to have a few hours of fun, but that opportunity wouldn't come for a good long while yet. At the very least, he had a cheerful conversation with Eurion earlier that day. It was the best they could get right now.
After delivering a friendly pat to Chalice's back, Kit left to his own corner of the clearing to rest. Soon, they were the only one up, save for Morgana, who was tied to a tree a few feet away from everyone else.
Chalice went there, sitting even further from the group but close enough to keep an eye on him.
"He asked you to babysit me this time," Morgana said.
"Only because I didn't get the chance to offer."
"You don't have to puppy guard me, there's no way I'm getting out of these chains," he said.
Chalice said nothing.
He didn't seem that adamant on bugging them this time, at least. They didn't remember him being this annoying, they missed when he was just quiet and grumpy and a bit ill-mannered. He was acting more like a faery now, and Chalice had to admit, it wasn't as fun as the stories made it sound.
They sat down on the ground and positioned their hands, closing their eyes and taking a deep breath. They didn't try to receive anything this time, but it had become second nature at this point. They were in the middle of a conversation with the goddess of flora when they were interrupted by Kit's urgent voice.
"Chalice," he hissed, tapping their shoulder and pulling them from their meditation.
They whipped their head around to meet his frantic eyes, and their stomach dropped when they realized what was wrong. They didn't have to look to notice that Morgana was gone.
"He got out, I don't know how. The guards aren't here either."
Everyone else was asleep. "We should wake up the others," they suggested.
"No, I can't worry them, come on," he urged, pulling them to their feet. They rose, following him away from the clearing. They barely had time to pick up the iron chains from the ground.
"Where are we going?"
Kit pointed forward. Sure enough, there were three sets of footprints in the snow. His eyes were frantic, but Chalice still hesitated to follow the footprints.
They reached the fields again, and the footsteps still carried on, far into the distance.
"Kit, if they're this far already, we should probably wake up the others--"
"Chalice!" called another voice from the distance. No, it was the same voice. It was... Kit. But Kit was right there.
The other Kit emerged from the woods and froze in his tracks, eyes wide. The first Kit matched the expression. They were both so realistic, they could hardly tell who was the real one.
"How the hell-"
"What is-"
Chalice felt like they were standing in the middle of a very strange dream. Were they still having a vision?
"That's Morgana," said the second Kit. "I don't--I can't explain it."
"Are you joking? Morgana went that way with Rowynn and Borr," said the first. "Unless you're Morgana."
Chalice shot their arms out, stopping whatever bizarre fight was about to break out. They took out the chains, looking between the two of them.
Their eyes settled on the second Kit, who looked increasingly more terrified as they pulled on the chains, almost like the last thing he wanted was to get anywhere near the iron...
The chain swung back, curling around the first Kit's fists. His cries quickly became Morgana's cries as the iron hit his skin, and the second Kit, the real Kit, let out a breath of relief.
Chalice turned to Morgana, yanking him up to his knees. His eyes were flowing with tears of pain, but they didn't feel like relieving him of the agony.
"How did you know?" he shuddered, trying not to scream.
"Your accent," Chalice replied. It wasn't the whole truth, but they didn't need him to know that they could feel the difference between Kit and Morgana the moment they were next to each other. He'd find a way around that one day, they were sure. "It's cleaner, not quite as rough as Kit's. You should work on that."
"Oi!" Kit exclaimed.
"It's not an insult, you sound more like me than anything," Chalice told him. Morgana had a tall, proper accent, but their own was lilted and sounded like a dance. Kit's sat somewhere in between, and Morgana couldn't quite get the rs right.
Morgana was weeping now, and Chalice gave in, reciting a spell and returning the enchanted iron to its dormant state.
He let out a breath of relief.
"How did you get out?" they asked.
"And how the hell did you steal my likeness?" Kit chimed.
"One at a time," Chalice insisted, tugging on the chains again. "Morgana, how did you get out?"
Morgana huffed. "Rowynn owed me. Really hurt my ego a long time ago. Or something."
Kit rolled his eyes. "Should've guessed. Now answer my question."
"You don't know?" he mused. "You gave me your name back."
The prince stopped. "Don't."
"Remember? When I was busy dying like an insect in the dungeon, you cried your idiot heart out and gave me your name." He laughed. "You just handed it over and you didn't even think about how stupid that was."
Kit was the one with red eyes now. There was a turmoil like none Chalice had ever felt from him stirring in his chest, and it made them feel strange.
"I thought it didn't work," he whispered. "I didn't feel it, I know how it feels when you have my name."
"You've been feeling too much to know it wasn't there," Morgana told him. "And you don't just give faeries gifts, you know that. I couldn't really have your name until I gave you something in return unless I wanted to be annoyed for an undecided duration. Then I could have it. So now I can take your likeness because I'm stronger in my own kingdom."
Kit looked like he wanted to throw up, or kill something, or maybe break down in tears. Chalice felt like they were witnessing a very private conversation, but they didn't dare leave the two alone to kill each other.
"Kit, you should get to sleep," they said.
"If you go to sleep, how do you know I won't just get out again?" Morgana asked him. He wasn't so good at being smug now, something else was seeping through.
Chalice nudged the faery back. "I won't take my eyes off of you again, I swear it. Kit, you can sleep. I promise he'll stay put."
They didn't have to look at the prince to know he hesitated before doing as he was told, disappearing back into the woods.
Chalice and Morgana were alone now.
"You got away with it once," they hissed. "But you will not do it again, do you understand? I was raised by the most powerful people in the world, and they taught me to become one of them. I swear to every God in the pantheon that you will not get out so long as you are in my sight, and my sight goes beyond my vision."
Morgana shrunk beneath their icy gaze. He wasn't used to such fire coming from them, neither were they. But they couldn't proudly come from Fells and be a pushover, that wasn't how it worked.
Without another word, they dragged Morgana back to the clearing, gripping his chains. They kept their word and didn't take their eye off of him all night.