Excalibur's Seven - Chapter 40: Chapter 40

THE NEXT MORNING WAS full of tension. Rowynn and Borr were gone, but Morgana didn't have it any easier than before. He could see the anger in everyone's eyes, but it was Giselle and Chalice that unsettled him the most.
He didn't think it would bother him so much. He didn't do any of this for anyone's approval, but something about the two of them looking at him with nothing but pure, unbridled hatred struck him where he didn't know it would hurt.
Giselle was his best friend, and he just wanted her to be safe. Her distrust was a pain he wasn't ready for. He supposed he had it coming.
The only one left that hadn't hated him for good was Chalice. But last night, they more than proved how much they despised him. He thought maybe he could have one last person he didn't totally ruin it with, but he earned this when he tried to fool them into leaving everyone else alone and vulnerable.
Giselle knew his tricks and Selene could take out an army with her bare hands, but Chalice was powerful beyond anything Morgana could imagine. It was a long shot, but if they were gone, he had a chance to get away. He failed the moment he got the idea.
He didn't think he cared, but he was alone now. He was entirely alone. For a moment, he wondered if maybe, just maybe, he was wrong after all. But every time he doubted, his mind was flooded with the screams of his people, and he knew he couldn't take the chance.
It hurt, more than he wished it would.
He denied food again. They knew what he was doing, and he knew it would only be to his detriment. But he would put up whatever form of protest he could. He would be safe as long as he was in the Winter Kingdom.
Chalice kept his chains extra tight. There was one around his throat, threatening to slide over his high collar the moment he tried to fight it, and he had no doubt in his mind that it would burn him if he tried to fight and no one would care to stop it.
Their camp was lively as they prepared for their day and packed up again. When it was time to leave, Selene and Chalice took Rowynn and Borr's place at his side, holding his prisoner's chains.
He was glad that the others filled the distance between himself and Kit, who once again watched their backs like the paranoid ass he was, because he was certain the prince would find ways to piss him off the whole way if he was any closer.
The forest ended, giving way to the deep snow once again, and Morgana drove to a halt.
After several moments of Selene spoke. "Are you going to move the snow or what?"
"I took you to the Unseelie Kingdom. Deal's done, I don't have to do anything."
Chalice tugged at the chains, which pressed against his freshly burned wrists, and he let out a whimper at the pain. "Your deal was to get us in with the Queens."
He wouldn't be disobeying the druid today.
"Fine," he growled. He did as he was told, clearing up a path through the snow. He amused himself by putting it back in front of Kit before he could get through.
"You awful bastard," the prince growled. Morgana laughed at his expense, but Chalice tugged the chains again.
"Good Lord, I'm just having a bit of fun. I'm not hurting him," he hissed. To his luck, Chalice didn't make him stop, and Kit was forced to walk faster or trudge through the knee-high snow for as long as Morgana cared to put in the effort.
He didn't stop until Kit and Eurion traded places. He wasn't happy about it, but it got Morgana to stop messing with him. The faery could've found a way to keep doing it, surely, but he couldn't be bothered, not when they were getting so close to the Winter Court.
Queen Mab was several days away, but the Winter Queen wasn't far. They only had to stop one more time, another night of being watched like a hawk while he tried to sleep, another day of denying food, before they arrived at the castle when the sun was high in the sky.
Clouds were sparse, but a cool breeze still brushed across Morgana's face. It made everyone else miserable, but it filled him with power. He hadn't been home in so long, he forgot how wonderful it felt. Where others felt cold, he felt refreshed. If he wanted to make his escape, here would be the place to do it.
The Winter Palace was magnificent. If the Vernal Palace was a sight to behold, this one took the breath from his lungs. High on the mountaintops, the castle stretched up to the sky, as white as snow and covered in spires. The only way up was a snowy path with no railings, cutting across an endless chasm.
Morgana's stomach dropped. A normal faery like Giselle would be unfazed by the height, because though wings couldn't make them fly half the time, they eased their landings. But Morgana's ripped before he ever knew how to use them, and he was terrified.
Evidently, he wasn't the only one. Kit gripped Lionel's hand so tight his arm shook.
"Don't let go of me," he whispered to the boy, who nodded his agreement.
The path was wide enough that chances of slipping were low, but it was just a bridge. The rock holding them above the chasm could crack and they'd have no way to stop their fall.
Chalice and Selene gripped Morgana's chains tighter, and Eurion gripped Giselle's arm but tried not to look as scared as they all were.
"Alright, then," Kit said. "No one scream, no one stomp, and let's stay spaced out. We can make it if we're careful."
Morgana swallowed. He was first.
They stepped onto the bridge, and Morgana stretched out his wings on instinct. At the very least, they'd keep him balanced.
Only a few feet in, Morgana wanted so badly to turn around. But he couldn't. He could hear a low groan beneath his feet and he tried to stay looking up, but Kit and Lionel were behind them now, several feet away, and his stomach was in his throat.
His wings fluttered, and they got tired fast, but he tried. It didn't make him much lighter on his feet, but he kept it up anyways. He could hear Giselle's wings going from a long way behind him, and he knew she was doing the same thing. Hers probably actually carried her, though. All Morgana got were small spurts of being an inch from the ground before his feet landed again.
It felt like an eternity before they reached the other side, but Giselle was still in the middle of the bridge with Eurion. They had several minutes to go.
A rock detached itself from the bridge and fell down into the cavern. It took all of twenty-seven seconds before he heard a faint crash down below.
He gulped.
Kit and Lionel reached the other side before anything else happened, but Giselle was still on the bridge, afloat but holding onto Eurion. Another boulder broke away, and then one more.
"Come on," he breathed, focusing on Giselle's feet.
Another rock broke away. They were getting close. He wanted to call out, but he couldn't.
The middle of the bridge started to crumble, but Giselle and Eurion were going faster now. The center of the bridge gave way, and the rock started to fall after them.
He couldn't help himself. "Giselle, hurry!"
Giselle flew upwards, bringing Eurion with her and then tossing her to the ground, letting her slide to safety across the ice. Morgana stared in horror as the bridge fell, but Giselle was safe on the ground again.
The only problem? They had no way back now.
"Well done," said a voice from behind them. It was deep and full but unmistakeably feminine. "You passed my first test."
They whirled around, meeting a tall woman with hair as blue as the sea and skin as white as snow. Her eyes were gray and cold, and they only saw Morgana there.
"Welcome, child of the snow," she told him, taking a step forward to look at him. She placed an icy finger beneath his chin and examined his face.
"You're ill," she noted. "And you're a prisoner. Why are you here? They are human, and one Seelie. Why are you a prisoner in your own home?"
The chains turned to ice, and they shattered fell away from his wrists, landing to the ground with a soft chime.
"I'll be honest, I kind of deserved those chains," he told her.
"You're doing what you think is right, unless you planned to get there by means of murder, I don't think that's true," she insisted, cold eyes looking into his. He said nothing, just stared back. "I see. Very well, then."
She turned around, motioning for them to follow. Behind him, he heard a commotion and tossed a glance over his shoulder to look. Boulder by boulder, the bridge was reforming. He wasn't the only one with a look of surprise.
The Queen paid it no mind. "Whether you had ill intentions or not, you will not be a prisoner to your guests here. If anything, you should be in charge."
"What the hell?" Kit exclaimed. Morgana turned to find chains forming around everyone else's wrists, as tight as his own had been.
"That's not necessary, Your Majesty," he told her. He would've thought it funny if he wasn't so afraid.
"Isn't it?"
The chains stayed, and she led them through the drawbridge and up to the magnificent castle before them.
Morgana froze. "No," he said. "No, no, no, you're not fooling me."
The Queen turned and gave him a curious look. "How so?"
"I'm not just going to walk in there, it could be a trap," he insisted.
Her face didn't so much as touch any emotions. "You wanted to be here, and I'm letting you."
"We've got one too many idiots when it comes to blindly trusting faeries, I won't be the second."
"You don't trust me."
Morgana clenched his jaw. "No one with a brain trusts a faery."
Finally, her lips curled in amusement, and around them the scenery shifted. They were standing in the center of her throne room, and she was lounging on a throne of ice. "Perfect answer," she said. "You came to make a deal. What do you want?"
Kit stepped forward. "I--"
"Shut it," the Queen snapped. Kit's jaw swung shut, and judging by his panic, he was unable open it again.
Morgana tried not to laugh.
"Do you find this amusing, Morgana?" she said, scaring him into silence before he could make a sound. "Hmm. Now. What did you come here for?"
"They... they need an army."
"These humans would be wise not to make a deal with me," she said. "What do you want, child?"
Morgana swallowed. "I want them to be able to make their deal."
The Queen curled her fingers. "Very well. I want your dreams tonight."
"What?"
"Your dreams tonight. I'll let them make a deal if you give them to me," she insisted.
Morgana swallowed. This could be a dangerous deal, one he would hardly benefit from. But he had to play his cards right.
"Deal," he whispered.
"You," the Queen said, pointing a long finger at Giselle. "I will speak to you only."
The princess was just as nervous. She stepped forward.
"What do you want?"
"We need an army," she said. "One large enough to defeat King Wylan of Avalon. But the thing is... he's got Titania on his side--"
"DON'T!" the Queen shouted, slamming her fists against the arm of the chair. "Don't ever speak that name again in my kingdom again, do you hear me?"
Giselle lowered her head. "Understood, Your Majesty."
The Queen let out a sigh. "I want all your dreams tonight. I'll give you an army if I can take your dreams. Do we have a deal?"
Giselle's eyes scanned the others. They all nodded, and she looked back up at the Queen. Her next words could doom them for eternity, but it was a chance they were willing to take, and Morgana wished they would just turn back now, leave and never return and let this all blow over.
But they weren't the type to run away, even if they were about to get themselves killed.
"It's a deal," said Giselle.
And thus, their fates were sealed.