Excalibur's Seven - Chapter 41: Chapter 41

WITH EVERY DAY THAT passed, it got harder to keep up the act. Lord Herwerde didn't dare put Kit or the others in direct danger, and they needed a man on the inside if they had any hope of winning.
In order to do that, he had to lie. He had to betray them, small little pieces of information, because he knew the moment the King suspected a thing from him, their man on the inside would be just as out of the loop as they were.
But today, he was given an order he wished more than anything he could disobey.
"It is not the duty of a Knight to conduct executions of average civilians because they were too poor to pay their taxes," he told the Prince sternly. "You will have to find someone else for the job."
Connor's hand curled around his second-rate Excalibur like a threat. "We need the money, Herwerde, it's for their own good. They won't realize that it's life or death if they aren't made to believe that it's life or death."
Herwerde swallowed. "Is there not someone more suitable for the job? Like Sir Conan?"
Connor opened and closed his mouth, trying to figure out how to say his next words. "Lord Herwarde," he began. "We've heard rumors of magic in this village, and we don't believe Conan to be capable of dealing with such things yet. We are asking you as our most skilled guard."
"I--"
"And if you tell me no, then I will take my rightful place as the head of the Table, are we clear?"
Herwerde swallowed. "We're clear. I'll get my things and my men and we will be off by morning."
Connor patted his chest. "Very good, my Lord."
He did not feel very good.
Much to Kit's surprise, the Queen didn't send them to cold icebox rooms for them to shiver in all night. She let them sleep somewhere warm, insisting that dreams would not come if they couldn't even sleep. He was curious what taking their dreams meant, but he couldn't imagine it would be a good thing in the long run.
The warm, furnished rooms were the least of the surprises today, though. The biggest was Morgana, standing in the doorway of his room, fidgeting with his horrifyingly realistic wooden hand.
"I'm sleeping here tonight," he told him.
"I'll leave then," Kit replied, marching for the door. Morgana placed a hand on his chest and pushed him back.
"I meant with you."
Kit froze and looked down at Morgana with a creased brow. His heart was drumming loudly and he wished it wasn't. "Did she not have another room for you?"
"She did, that's the problem." Morgana stepped through the door and wandered to the second bed, propping himself down on the mattress. Kit closed the door and listened as he continued. "She said she had a special place for me tonight, but I don't trust her any more than you trust me. I figured I'd say with the most paranoid one among us, at least then I'd know she won't take me in my sleep."
Kit felt an odd sense of pride in that, but he shoved it down. "Who's to say if she comes in here I won't throw you at her first?"
"If she comes, we both die. But I know that at least I'd be awake before I do so I can go down fighting," he said.
He supposed it was sound reasoning, as sound as reasoning could get on this bizarre quest, but he was still suspicious. Morgana was unchained, free to do as he pleased here. Kit didn't like that. If he hadn't made a deal with the Queen, he would've insisted on staying up all night. But he didn't dare resist the her will.
Kit sat down on his own bed, glaring at Morgana from across the room. He unsheathed his blade, twisting it around against the tip of his finger.
"There's no need to threaten me, Kit, I have no plans to hurt you in your sleep. After all, we made the same deal. I will be just as asleep as you and I do not dare to kill you before the Queen can get what she wants," Morgana insisted. Then, to Kit's surprise, he stretched out his normal hand.
Kit just stared. "So what you're saying is you'll try to kill me in the morning."
"I'm saying I won't try to kill you tonight. I'm proposing a truce for twelve hours and then we can go back to plotting each other's demise."
The prince was wary. "I'm not shaking hands with you."
"I promise you, I will not kill you so long as you agree to the same. If you agree to this, neither of us can break it," Morgana said firmly. "Just shake my bloody hand, I've got no ulterior motives. I just want to sleep tonight without worrying whether or not you're going to choke me out with iron before my time."
"I wouldn't dare kill you like that in the Queen's presence."
"Then it won't hurt for you to shake my hand."
Kit looked at it for a moment, still outstretched and waiting. Finally, he took it, but he didn't shake it yet. "If this is some sort of creative scheme, I might have to choke you out with iron after all before you get the chance to do anything, understood?"
Morgana rolled his eyes. "Yes, fine, whatever." He yanked his hand away and shook it in the air, like he was disgusted to have even touched Kit in the first place. Just to get back at him, Kit did the same, even went as far as wiping it on his pantleg.
"Goodnight, Morgana," he said, though his tone was far from kind. He hoped Morgana would have a terrible night, and he knew the Unseelie wished the same of him.
The lights were out but neither of them slept for at least an hour. Kit couldn't bring himself to close his eyes, and he could feel Morgana's searing into him through the dark.
"Turn around," Kit ordered.
"I'm not turning my back to you."
"And I'm not turning mine, either. At the very least stop staring at me."
"I'm not staring."
"Oh, please," Kit snapped. "I can feel your cold, creepy eyes from here. Turn your head and go to sleep."
"I'm not sleeping until you do."
"Neither am I."
"Fine, we'll turn our backs in the count of three and fall asleep at the same time."
Kit huffed. "Fine. One, two, three."
No one moved.
"You're really bad at this," Kit told him.
"You didn't move, either."
"Well I knew you wouldn't and I didn't want to be the only idiot doing it."
"I thought the same thing."
It was silent again for several moments.
Morgana spoke again. "I promise I'll turn if you promise also."
"Fine."
"Fine."
"Fine."
"Stop saying fine and count to three already."
Kit counted, and this time, he turned.
"Did you do it?" he asked Morgana.
"Did you?"
Kit huffed. "Yes, I bloody did it, and if I find out you didn't--"
"Good Lord, Kristofer, yes, I turned. Now go to sleep."
After several minutes of awkward silence, Kit finally slept. He had no way of knowing whether Morgana did, too, at least not until he woke up and found the faerie still sound asleep.
There were no windows in the room, so he took out his pocket watch to check the time. It was morning now.
He had no memory of a dream, as usual, but this time he didn't feel as though there was anything to remember. It was gone, and he supposed he knew why.
Morgana woke up when Kit was putting on his armor again, but he didn't sit up right away.
"Did you plant a death trap while you've been awake?" he asked, still as a stone.
"No, why the hell would I plant a death trap?"
"Because you would."
"I thought the deal was that we wouldn't try to kill each other until we were both awake," Kit said as he slid on his boot. "Now that we're both awake, I would assume we can worry about death traps again, but I didn't plant any."
Morgana sat up, though not without thoroughly checking his surroundings as he did so. Kit was plenty paranoid, but he supposed he wasn't the only one.
"You don't really think I--"
"Shut up, Kit, I'm making sure the Queen didn't place any death traps, either," Morgana grumbled, pushing himself to his feet. "You're not the only one I don't trust with my life."
Kit scoffed and stood as well, placing his hand on the doorknob. "Good."
He stepped out into the foyer, where a large breakfast banquet was laid out before them. Kit was hungry enough to want it, but he didn't dare touch it.
"Wise boy," crowed the Queen as she sashayed into the room. "Did you sleep well?"
"I slept," was all Kit said, tossing Morgana a look.
"Trouble in paradise?" she wondered.
Morgana cut in before Kit got the chance. "There's no 'paradise.' What do you want for the food?"
"Oh, the food is compensation," she asked. "I already took what I wanted, which was a little more than your dreams."
"Don't lie," Morgana said.
"I'm not like the Seelie Queen, I can't lie," she said, etching confusion onto Kit's face.
"The Queen of Lies," Morgana told him, noticing his look. "She's the only faerie that's ever learned how to do it. She doesn't have to skirt around the truth, she can just lie without a thought."
Kit gulped. He really was the biggest idiot alive for believing her.
"So you will not take anything else if we eat?" Kit asked.
"I swear it," she said, holding out her pinky to make a promise. Kit didn't touch her, he just grabbed a plate from the pile and took what he wanted from the table.
"He has no manners, I apologize, Your Majesty," Morgana said, taking her little finger with his own wooden one and effectively filling Kit with surprise.
The others woke up soon after, flooding into the foyer as they did. Selene and Giselle were oddly touchy and for once Selene let her hair stay down. Kit tried not to look at them, because the looks they kept sharing felt far too private for his eyes.
He was glad they found each other. Conan made Selene so miserable that for awhile, her hatred for him was the only thing she ever talked about. She found a way to weave it into every conversation, but it never made Kit feel annoyed. It made him angry, the man was horrible to her.
She was relaxed now. She was more confident, less aggressive. Giselle brought out the best in her, and Kit had nothing but gratitude to her for that. It didn't make him want to tell them to get a room any less, though.
They all ate in silence, then returned to their rooms to gather their things.
"We'll need your army in No Man's Land soon. We'll meet them there before we go to fight the King," Giselle told the Queen.
"Where are you going now?" the Queen asked, eyes scanning the group.
Morgana spoke next. "The Unseelie Queen. We have the same request of her."
The Queen laughed. "Then you are all fools. But I will not stop you. Death will come to those who seek it, I suppose."
Kit prayed that wasn't a curse and simply advice from a woman who knew they were crazy, perhaps more than they did. They knew this mission was deadly, but she was the only one who might have a clue about Mab's true power.
"Thank you for your visit," she said as the world became dizzying blur. Kit blinked and they were back outside the Queen's castle, standing in the cold on the other side of the bridge. "Come again, I don't often get visitors."
Kit blinked once more and she was gone, but the cold feeling of dread that filled his gut never left. It only got worse when he realized where they had to go next.
This would perhaps be their most dangerous journey they've had to make so far. It was sheer luck they weren't tortured for eternity in the Winter Queen's castle, at least not yet. But they would not be so lucky with the Unseelie Queen, and they all knew that.
And so did the banshee, whose cries filled their heads once again.