Excalibur's Seven - Chapter 50: Chapter 50

WHEN KIT OPENED HIS eyes, he felt a sense of déjà vu. He was surrounded by strangers tending to his wounds, but this time they weren't Seelies. They were druids, saying chants and dousing him with oils and leaves, doing their best to heal him.
His head hurt, but he forced himself into a sitting position anyways.
"Kristofer, be careful." It was the man from before, Chalice's friend Cian. He realized with a start that he hadn't seen the druid back at the castle with Titania, and his eyes widened.
"Chalice," he croaked. "Chalice, where are they? Are they okay?"
The room went quiet, and all the druids stilled, avoiding his eyes. His heart beat faster, and a lump formed in his throat.
"No," he whimpered. "No, not them, too, I can't. I can't."
Cian placed his hand over Kit's. "We're sorry, Kristofer."
The tears didn't stop once they came. He didn't know what he'd do without Chalice. They were too good to die, too special, he considered them his best friend. Losing them felt like his heart got ripped out again.
He swallowed. "Morgana," he breathed. "He didn't make it either."
Cian's eyes brightened. "No," he said. "He's still with us."
Kit froze. "What?"
"He's barely hanging on, but there is still life in him," Cian told him. "We're doing our best to bring him back, Giselle is helping."
He rose to his feet despite the druids warning him not to, and the pain in his side that slowed him down. He ignored it, bursting through the door and out the small stone building.
It wasn't hard to find it, Selene and Eurion were sitting outside another small house playing a game of cards. They stood up as soon as they saw him.
"Kit, you shouldn't be on your feet," Selene said, reaching for his arm.
He shoved her away and threw open the door.
It wasn't any easier to look at Morgana. He was there in a bed, as lifeless as he was last time Kit saw him. The faery was shirtless, revealing a pale, scarred chest covered in cracks, and the burns at his throat from iron chains. It also uncovered the nasty scar at the center of his sternum where Excalibur cut through him, saving Kit from a fate he already accepted.
"Morgana," he breathed.
Giselle was at his side, holding his hand and looking at him with sad, blue eyes. She only noticed Kit then, and she stood from her chair to pull him into an embrace.
Kit wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her lavender hair and holding her for what felt like an eternity. He cared deeply for Morgana, so deeply it hurt, but he could only imagine how Giselle must've been feeling. She was Morgana's best friend, his sister, almost. He didn't know much of their history, but he knew it was long and deep and this hurt her the worst.
"Do you think he'll be okay?" she asked when she pulled away. She gripped his hand and didn't let go.
"I don't know," Kit replied, swallowing back the tears that threatened to fall. "But he fucking better. I refuse to lose two."
She looked back up at Kit. "Chalice..."
The name was all it took to provoke more tears.
"Was it even worth it?" he asked. "The King is gone but was it worth the cost? We don't even have Excalibur."
"Actually..."
Kit blinked. "Huh?"
Giselle didn't let go of his hand, pulling him along to Morgana's bedside. Propped up against a nightstand was Excalibur, wrapped in cloth as a makeshift sheath.
"How?"
"I grabbed it," she said. She was holding him so tight, he felt his fingers going numb. But he wouldn't pull his hand away for the world. "Right before Mab sent us here, I took it."
"That was Mab?" He didn't have the mind to wonder how they somehow ended up in Fells when they were just in the castle, he was too busy falling unconscious, but it made perfect sense.
Giselle smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "She even remembered Morgana. I bet she knew he wasn't dead yet, but he would be if she left him there."
Kit sighed with relief. For a moment he was convinced Mab wouldn't come. But she did, and she saved the kingdom because of it. At least, she stalled everything that could've happened.
He didn't know what Titania would've done with Excalibur, but he knew it wasn't good. She was working with Connor and Wylan, but he didn't know why. All he knew was that the Seelie Queen was a dangerous enemy, and Mab was their only hope.
Kit let himself look at Morgana again. He was so conflicted when he saw him. Was it all a setup? Was that his plan to get Wylan killed? He was so passionate about keeping Kit from getting Excalibur, he was so fixed on being his enemy. He had no idea if that was his plan all along, or if it was a last minute choice to give his life for Kit.
So did that mean he cared?
At the time, he was sure that kiss was fake. It was a trap, Morgana didn't really mean it like Kit did. But after he jumped in front of the blade, he didn't know what to think.
It was too much. He wouldn't have any idea what went on in Morgana's head until he woke up. He didn't know if he could trust him still.
"He needs to be locked up," Kit said. "Once he's better."
Giselle sounded hurt. "What?"
"I don't know what to think of him," he said. "I don't know what he'll be like when he wakes up. He needs to be locked up."
"Kit, he gave his life for you, he's on our side."
"How do we know he did it for me?" Kit asked, turning to face her. "How do I know this isn't just another trick?"
She dropped his hand. "Why would this be another trick, Kit?"
"I don't know but I don't think I'm willing to take the chance." He stepped closer to Morgana, lifting up his cold hand and pressing his palm to his lips. "At the very least keep him cuffed."
He and Giselle shared a pained look. She knew he was right, but neither of them liked it.
He sat there for a moment, holding Morgana's hand before he turned and left, joining the others outside.
Selene was still there, sitting on the ground, but Eurion was gone.
"Why aren't you with Giselle?" he asked.
Selene flipped the card through her hands. "She needs a minute with Morgana. She asked me to stay out here." She squinted against the bright sun when she looked up at him. "You should be resting, you know."
He smiled a little. "You know I don't know how to do that."
She laughed. "I can't argue with that."
Kit glanced around the village. Someone was cooking in the center, but the people weren't as cheerful as they were last time. Chalice meant a lot to the people here, he could tell. Losing them left a hole in the village.
"Hey, where's Eurion?"
Selene pointed to the lake. "She's over by the water. Said she needed to breathe for a bit."
Kit followed her finger, and made his way over to the shore. Sure enough, Eurion was there on the sand, knees curled to her chest.
"Mind if I join you?" he asked.
She patted the ground beside her and he sat, looking out at the lake.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"For what?"
He chewed at his lip, contemplating what to say next. "For all of this. For getting you into this mess."
"Kit, don't do that," she said. Her voice was sharp, but he couldn't blame her. "You really, really like to blame yourself for everything. Most of this was inevitable and you're killing yourself trying to be responsible for it all."
He swallowed. "I know. I just... I'm accountable for some of this. I brought you into this in the first place, and that wasn't fair."
"You didn't know this was going to happen. And besides, you'd be nowhere without me." If it were anyone else, he'd be surprised by the smile that cracked over her face.
Kit couldn't help but smile, too. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
"I know I am." She picked up a rock, running her thumb over the flat surface, then skipped it into the lake. "For the record, I'm glad I'm here."
He gave her a look.
"I meant what I said. I'm not lonely anymore." She skipped another rock. "You guys gave me a family. And you gave me Chalice."
It stung again. If Chalice was his best friend, they were Eurion's soulmate. There was nothing romantic about it, but they fit together like glue. The two of them never fought, and he felt at ease with the two of them them. They were peas in a pod, and he knew Eurion wouldn't be the same again.
"I'm sorry for your loss," he said, unable to think of anything better to say.
"It's your loss, too," she said. This time she handed him a rock. "You two were close, I know."
Kit skipped the rock as another tear trickled down his cheek.
"Yeah. We were. They were honest with me, brutally, but somehow it never hurt," he said. "They taught me so much."
Eurion nudged him with her knee. "Me, too. I'm gonna miss 'em."
Kit studied the lake again, the deep, green water that glistened in the sunlight. And then the endless rolling hills and gray rock beyond it. "They're still here," he said, pulling her attention. "In Fells. I can feel it."
Eurion laid her head against his shoulder. "You're right. They're too powerful to go too far."
They sat like that for a long time, next to each other on the shore, looking out over the lake. He had no idea what would happen now, and whether they would even be able to go on without the druid. But they had Excalibur, and they had each other, and Kit just had to hope that it would be enough.
A commotion in the village pulled the two from their moment, and Kit stood up, looking over the hill to see what the fuss was. He couldn't see, so he made his way back, Eurion not far behind.
"What's going on?" he asked Selene when he saw her again.
She pointed towards the dirt path that led into Fells. A woman was there, making her way towards them. She looked exhausted. As she got closer, Kit noticed thin, transparent wings sprouting from her back. A faery.
Kit approached her, hand on his blade, but she didn't seem to be a threat. As far as he knew, there weren't any entrances to Faerie for miles, so she must've traveled the whole way just to meet them.
Her hair was long and brown, a few gray strands growing from the sides, and her skin was a cool olive shade. She looked older for a faery, like Mab, and the browns and reds she wore suggested she might be an Autumn Sídhe. She had spectacles and a satchel over her shoulder, and a small brown pouch in her hand.
"I'm sorry for intruding," she said. Her accent was strong, but he could understand her. "My son is here, I felt him. I have urgent news."
Kit's heart sped up. "Morgana?" he asked.
The woman's eyes lit up. "Yes, that's him. That's my boy. Is he alright?"
Kit chewed his lip. "Well, he's hanging on."
Her face fell. "Oh, dear, is he ill again? He knows to come home when he gets like that, I--"
"No, ma'am," Kit said, placing a hand on her arm. "Not like that. He... he's injured. I don't know how he's alive but the druids are doing what they can to help him."
She looked to the building Morgana was in and shoved past Kit, scrambling into the room.
Giselle stood from her seat to look at her. "Astyr?" she said.
"Zella," the woman greeted. She turned her dark eyes to her son. "How is he?"
"He's not well, I don't know if he'll be alright. How did you find us?"
Astyr ignorede question and set her bag on the bed by Morgana's feet, rustling through the contents of it until she found what she needed. She wasted no time in tending to his wound.
In his distraction, Kit forgot what she said when she arrived.
"Astyr," he said. She turned to him briefly but didn't stop what she was doing. "You said you had urgent news. What is it?"
She froze. "Right. Is everyone here?"
Selene and Eurion were there in the cramped room, and Lionel had returned from wherever he was as well.
"Yes," Kit answered. "Everyone that needs to know, at least."
"Good." She finished up what she was doing long enough to turn to them with a dreadful look in her eye. "Something is happening in Faerie, something deadly."
She traced the cracks on Morgana's chest, then stroked his cheek, then brushed his hair back from his face.
"A disease," she told them, eyes still set on her son. "And I've seen it before."