Powerful Magic (40 page)

          
Panic flooded through her.
 
Somehow she would have to find a way to tell him.
 
And make him believe it.

           
She had to tell him the truth
.
 
Now.
  
But how to say it?
 
Should she just blurt it out, as in
Hey Kenric, guess what?
 
I'm from the future?
 
As she ran the words through her mind, she knew one thing.
 
If he didn't immediately question her sanity, he would be furious when he puzzled through to her lie.
 
She knew how important the land was to him; knew too it was only the promise of this land that had kept him traipsing all over the countryside with her.
 

          
She had promised him his heart's desire and now would yank it away
.
 
A low ache settled in her breastbone, near her heart.
 
Though she hadn't known Kenric then, dangling such a carrot in front of a man like him now was inexcusable.
 
But what else could she have done?
 
She thought back to her abject terror, waking in the freezing cave with a huge barbarian warrior towering over her.
 
She'd said anything she could think of, anything that would keep him from harming her.
 

          
Then, once she'd realized he would not hurt her, she'd said anything to keep him by her side.
 
She hadn’t realized she’d actually hurt him, hadn’t even conceived of such a possibility until it was far too late.

          
Now it was time to pay the piper.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

          
"Kenric," she began, heart pounding so loudly it was a wonder he didn’t hear it.
  
"There is something I--"

          
As if in answer to a prayer, or maybe only bidden by her turmoiled thoughts, Rhiannon appeared on the road ahead, shimmering in the muted sunlight.
 

          
Megan's heart skipped a beat.
 
Rhiannon knew the truth.
 
Maybe she could help convince her brother.

          
With a muttered oath, Kenric reined Lancelot to a halt.
 

          
The Faerie queen inclined her head.
 
"Greetings my brother, Megan."
 

          
There was no warmth in his reply.
 
"What is it now, Rhiannon?"
 

          
"I must speak with you."
 
Her silver eyes traveled to Megan, doubt and worry clouding them, "Both of you.
 
It is a matter of great urgency."

          
He snorted.
 
"Everything is a matter of great urgency where you are concerned."

          
She held up one pale hand.
 
"This is truly serious."

          
Megan frowned.
 
Was it only her imagination, or did Rhiannon's normal shimmering aura seem dimmed?
 
She also noticed the barely veiled panic in the Faerie woman's voice.
 
She would have to convince Kenric to listen to his sister.

          
"Kenric--"

          
His voice hard, he cut her off.
 
"We go to London.
 
It has become imperative that I find this Lord Roger who is betrothed to Megan."

          
Despite her best efforts, Megan felt herself color.
 
Especially when Rhiannon's piercing gaze found her.
 

          
"You have not told him?"

          
Slowly, Megan shook her head.
 
“I was about to, but-.”

          
In front of her, he went still.
 
"Told me what?"
 
Though he did not turn his shaggy head, his icy tone left no doubt what his reception to the truth would be.
 

          
A feeling of dread coiling inside of her, Megan opened her mouth to respond.
 
"I--"
 

          
Rhiannon forestalled her.
 
"Let me help.
 
Kenric, you will not find Roger in London."

          
"What?" Kenric sounded puzzled.
 
This time he turned, impaling Megan with a furious glare.
 
"Is this true?"

          
Shaken, she nodded.

          
"When did you think to inform me of this?"

          
She swallowed.
 
"I was going to, once we stopped for the night."
 
Best not to tell him she'd spent the day trying to work up the courage and find the right words.
 
Remarkably her voice came out steady, totally unlike the jittering mess of nerves that she felt inside.

          
"Kenric, Megan."
 
Something in Rhiannon's soft tones silenced them both.
 
"The hour grows late. It is long past time we had a talk, all three of us.
 
What say you to making camp for the night here?"

          
"I think it's a great idea."
 
Megan said.
 
Without waiting to hear Kenric's answer, she pushed away from him, sliding down from Lancelot's broad back unaided.
 

          
Afraid to look at him, afraid something in her expression might give her away, she stumbled into the woods.
 
With luck they would think she needed to relieve herself and would give her a few moments of privacy. Which was good, since she didn't want to disgrace herself.
 
Any minute now, the meager contents of her stomach were going to come up her throat.
 

          
Once she'd gained the shelter of the trees, she sat down on a log and tried to think.
 
She didn't know if having Rhiannon there would be a hindrance or a help.
 
Kenric seemed to regard his sister with, if not outright hostility, blatant suspicion.
 
Surely finding out that Rhiannon was privy to Megan's secret while he was not was bound to infuriate him even more.

          
Without even trying, she’d somehow made things worse.
 
Straightening her shoulders, she took a deep breath. She might as well get this over with.

          
When she made her way back to the clearing, she found Rhiannon seated on a folded blanket, by a small campfire, while Kenric took care of Lancelot.

          
"Come."
 
Rhiannon greeted her with a broad smile, "Sit with me."

          
Reluctantly, Megan sat.
 
She cast a glance at Kenric, who continued to pretend they didn't exist.
 
One look at his stiff and rigid profile told her he was furious.
 

          
Rhiannon seemed blithely unaware of this.
 
"Kenric," she called, "will you join us?"

          
His answer was a indecipherable snarl.
 
But at last, he put away the brush, patted Lancelot's shining coat, and headed towards them.

          
When he lowered himself to the ground, it was on the opposite side of the fire.
 
He kept his face averted from both of them, choosing instead to stare into the depths of the crackling flames.
 

          
At once Rhiannon's expression went from solicitous to serious.
 
"It is past time we had this talk."

          
"If it is another plea from you to try and make me feel guilty and return to Rune, you are wasting your breath," Kenric said.
 
The icy crispness of his tone came from the hardened warrior rather than a brother.

          
"Listen to me."
 
Rhiannon sounded every inch the Faerie queen, regal and commanding.
 
"Tis the truth I must tell you now, both of you. Whether you want to hear my words or not, matters little to me.
 
The hour grows late, later than either of you realize.
 
And you both must know of the pivotal role you play in the events that will happen.
 
These events will shape our future."

          
Already enthralled, Megan leaned forward.
 
Glancing at Kenric, she saw Rhiannon had captured his reluctant interest as well, though his expression was still hard and unyielding.

          
"It has been prophesied since ancient times of the coming of one who is of both worlds, Faerie and mortal, and of the power developed from his joining with his soul mate."

          
Megan exchanged a long look with Kenric.
 
For a moment, warmth leapt in his gray eyes, before he narrowed them and looked away.

          
“Do you contest my words, brother?” Rhiannon issued a challenge.
 

          
Slowly, he shook his head.
 
“I do not.
 
Megan is very important to me.”

          
“Of course she is.
 
I have searched far and long to find her.”

          
Megan started.
 
“You?”

          
Ignoring her, the fae woman continued, watching only Kenric.
 
"I have brought your soul mate from another place and time, knowing only you and she could come together to help us in this dire time of great need.”

          
“You brought her?”
 
Instead of sounding confused, Kenric appeared accepting.
 
“I suspected as much.”

          
Allowing herself a small, satisfied smile, Rhiannon continued.
 
"Like you, Kenric, Myrddin is half human, half fairy.
 
Unlike you, he has taught himself to use magic.
 
Though, where our magic is good, pulled from the healthy elements that rule our lives, Myrddin has gone to the darkness for his source.
 
His soul is as black as his powers, and he believes the prophecy is about him.
 
He thinks I am his soulhalf - and he means to rule the world."

           
Kenric could hardly take it all in.
 
Though every instinct he possessed screamed out at him in disbelief, he knew deep within himself that his sister spoke the truth.
 
Even though Faeries were incapable of falsehood, he had known her to stretch facts a little whenever it suited her.
 

          
But this, this was serious.
 
A battle to save a race?
  
Though he wanted no part of Rune, he could not in good conscience step back and let Myrddin and his evil magic destroy the faeries and their way of life.
  
An entire people, destroyed at the whim of one madman?