Susan Squires - [Da Vinci Time Travel] (34 page)

“By killing this young woman’s own father?”

“Yes,” Diana said. Her voice was steady. Gawain was proud of her. “We must. And it’s not as though I have known him as a father. Gawain can do it. He’s strong, and he has magic powers. If you stop helping Mordred, Gawain will find a way to kill him once we’re free.”

“Magic powers?” His father’s head turned toward Gawain. “Tell me.”

Gawain didn’t miss the fact that his father wasn’t making any commitments. He colored. His paltry powers were nothing beside those of his father. He cleared his throat. “They’re nothing.”

“They are so
not
nothing,” Diana protested. “He can
turn into a mist and get through any door or lock or crevice. He can enter people’s dreams. And he uses his gifts only for good. You should be proud of him.”

To Gawain’s surprise, his father softened. “And did you have these powers even when you were ten and you just didn’t tell me?”

Gawain shook his head. “They came on at puberty. I didn’t tell you then, either,” he added contentiously. Telling half the truth was a sin of omission. It was time to stop that. “They were little enough. You would have been disappointed.”
As you must be now
. He couldn’t read his father’s expression.

“Your wrists must be giving you pain,” Merlin said. He held out a hand, and the ropes dropped to the ground.

Blood rushed into Gawain’s hands. Pain stabbed through them. His wrists were raw and bleeding from the coarse hemp rope. “Thank you,” he said stiffly.

“How is it you and the girl are from the future if you were born in this time, my son?”

“You sent us forward. Well, you sent Diana, and me with her to protect her. She’s the important one.”

“I did? How interesting. I wonder how I do it?” He considered Diana. “Hmmmm. She
is
important. I feel it. And yet
how
? That I do not see.”

“Don’t you know how?” Diana almost wailed. “We don’t. And
why
?”

“Didn’t I tell you when I sent you forward? Or give you instructions on what to do?”

Gawain shook his head. He should be disgusted with his father but felt only his own inadequacy, as always. It seemed his fault he didn’t know. “You said I’d know what to do when the time came.” He brushed over his failings. He had to get his father to help them. “But however she is important, the fact is, you said she was. You used all your power to send us forward. You can’t let Mordred kill her now.”

“I doubt he’d kill her,” Merlin mused.

“He’d do worse than that.” Diana spoke up. “Well, maybe it’s not worse than killing, but he’s . . . he’s sort of indicated that he’d like to . . . bed me.”

Merlin rolled that over in his mind. Gawain saw Diana’s eyes open wide at the fact that his father didn’t appear to be disgusted by that fact. Disgust sure washed over Gawain. How could his father even . . . ?

“No. No, on the whole I don’t think that would do. Mordred’s powers are considerable, true. Would inbreeding do the trick? Hmmmm. Do you have any powers yourself, my dear?”

“She does,” Gawain interjected over Diana’s self-deprecating protest. “But you’re not going to breed her back to Mordred for the sake of the magic.” Like he could stop whatever his father wanted to do.

“What are her powers?”

“She finds lost things, and knows what people will say before they say them.”

“Except you,” Diana corrected. “Actually except both of you and Mordred.”

“That might change things.” Merlin got a faraway look in his constantly changing eyes.

“Look, Father, Diana is not going to bed Mordred. Mordred needs to be dead for us to put history right again. You have to help us.”

“That’s where it gets difficult,” Merlin said, coming back from wherever his gaze had gone. “I can’t.”

“Won’t,” Gawain said through gritted teeth. “I saw what he’s doing to the people. He’s broken their spirits. Even Lamorak bends to his will. You can’t tell me Mordred isn’t evil.”

“He is evil,” Merlin sighed. “So evil he’s taken what’s most dear to me and hidden it where I can’t find it. He’ll destroy it if I don’t keep him in power.”

“Your scrying bowl?” What was so precious that Merlin would sacrifice his honor?

Merlin looked up and the clouds racing across his eyes went still. “You, boy. He’s got you. A younger you, of course.”

Gawain stopped breathing for a moment. “Me?” he finally asked, sucking in a huge breath.

“What else would be as dear to me as the only son I ever allowed myself to love? He’s got you in a cave somewhere—you know I can’t see into caves—with his men guarding you. He’ll put you to death if I don’t do his bidding. So I can’t help you without killing the younger you. The older you would just disappear in a puff of smoke or something if the boy of ten died.”

Gawain’s mind danced.
He
was his father’s most prized possession? Even though he was a constant disappointment? Was his father lying? Not about some things. It was true Merlin couldn’t see into caves. “But the nearest caves . . .”

“Are miles from here,” Merlin agreed. “By the time I found you Mordred would have sent word and you’d be dead.”

“Well, if you don’t help us get out of here,” Diana interrupted, “Gawain will be dead anyway, just a little later in his life. And my mother will die before she can even give birth.”

Beth’s breathing was torturous. Her eyelids fluttered. She was sweating and gray.

“She’s bleeding internally,” Merlin announced. “So let’s see. We have to get a live birth here, find my son and free him, and kill Mordred? Even I have my limits. We can’t do all three. Perhaps we can ensure that you are born alive, my dear. That must be enough for now.”

“She can’t be here when the baby is born. Two versions
of a person can’t be in the same place at the same time,” Gawain said. “It’s a trick of time.”

“And we have to do all three things sometime, even if we can’t kill Mordred today,” Diana said. “Because we need all three to make history right. I . . . I can find lost things. I’ll find the young Gawain if you can just get us out of here.”

“I’ll go with you, and do the rescuing part.” Gawain was sure at least he could do that.

“You can’t be in the same place as the young you, either.” Diana looked so frustrated.

“Get her out of this cell and go with her, Father, to protect her and rescue the young me.”

“Can you see the babe safely born?” Merlin mused. “Might be cesarean. If the babe dies . . .”

“I’ll have to, and hope the babe comes before Mordred calls for me. When they come to get us, I must go. It’s my opportunity to kill Mordred.” And he was honor bound to do it.

“I won’t see you march bravely to your death,” Diana protested. “I won’t! We’ll find another way to kill Mordred, another time. Merlin can help us, if we free your younger self.”

But they lost the power to choose. The sound of guards coming across the courtyard was unmistakable. Merlin took a breath and said, “I’m sorry.” He faded from view.

Gawain turned to the door. The heavy bar was lifted with a great
chunking
sound. Diana stared in horror at him from her place beside Beth. There was but one choice. They must all go up to the hall. Maybe the women at the hall would take pity on Beth and care for her. Maybe Diana could separate herself from Beth before she gave birth. Maybe he could find a way to kill Mordred before Mordred did whatever he was likely to do to him. Maybe.

The door swung open on a forest of pikes, lit by the torches the guard carried. Was one of the guards Lamorak? But no, Mordred was too smart for that. The flickering torchlight revealed the smirking faces of Gareth and Agravain.

“Come out and bring the girl. The king would see you now.” They knew very well that Gawain was unlikely to survive the interview. Diana would survive to be delivered to Mordred’s bed.

Gawain stepped out into the circle of pikes. “The pregnant woman is in labor. We must bring her to the women up at the hall. She requires their attendance.”

“The king gave no instructions for her. She stays here.”

“Oh, ho . . . you’ve managed to shed your bonds.” Agravain snapped his fingers and one of the guards produced some iron shackles. He made his way through the forest of pikes and locked Gawain’s hands into the shackles behind his back. At least they didn’t cut off circulation. He could fight. And he would have to fight. He was going to have Diana with him. He tried not to think about Beth’s chances of producing a live baby on her own.

“Get out here, woman,” Gareth barked.

Diana came out into the torchlight behind him, looking small and vulnerable. One of the guards gripped her by the arm and the whole party started toward the lit hall.

He must protect Diana. Somehow he must stay alive long enough to kill Mordred. Then if he died, it was his lot to do so. He only hoped his errant father would take care of Diana once he was dead, if only so she could find his younger self and ensure he lived to fulfill his purpose. He glanced back to the dark maw of the cell where Diana’s mother lay, feeling helpless.
Deliver her alive,
he prayed. That seemed unlikely.

The hall was bright with torches after the dark of the courtyard. A feast was in full swing, the smell of food and drink permeating the air. Diana would have bruises on her arm tomorrow, the guard was gripping her arm so tightly. If she lived until tomorrow. Or if she lived, she might just wish herself dead, if Gawain was dead and her father had raped her.

Mordred sat sprawled on an ornately carved chair at the top of the long table. A throne. At the foot of the table an open space had been left in front of the great fireplace. Into this open space the squadron of guards marched their prisoners. Gawain, ahead of her, looked so defiant, so brave. She was incredibly proud of him. And incredibly afraid for him. Women’s eyes from around the hall turned toward him.

Speaking of which, where was Guinevere? Surely this feast was in her honor. Maybe she hadn’t fallen in with Mordred’s plans and he’d imprisoned her. Maybe she just didn’t like the dinner show, since it was likely to be bloody. Lamorak and his men were also nowhere in sight.

“Well, well, the traitors!” Mordred called as he took a casual swig of wine. “Shall we start with the girl? An appetizer, so to speak, to whet our appetites for the main
course. You may all have a bite, so to speak.” Diana tried to keep her face from showing her fear. Rape. A lot of it. Could she bear it? The guard who held her arm took her tunic and ripped it at the neck. He tossed it away. She was left in her thin linen shift. Gawain growled and strained against his shackles. The pikes poked at his bare torso and several bright drops of blood bloomed at their points.

“She’s your own daughter, you tyrant,” Gawain bellowed.

“My daughter? Yes, I thought so this afternoon when I saw her likeness to the whore.”

“Would you see your own kin raped?” Gawain asked from between gritted teeth.

“There are many like her. What is she to me, except the one who exiled me back to this godforsaken hellhole?” His expression darkened as he talked. “She has betrayed me on so many levels the least she can do is provide some recreation for me and my men.”

Diana began to pant. Her own father was going to rape her. Gareth came up and lifted Diana’s chin. “You are good and great, my king.” She reached up to hold his wrist and bit his finger as hard as she could. Gareth’s shout of pain turned into a hiss. He backhanded her across the cheek. She fell to the floor. How many times had she written someone getting hit, then just shaking off the effects? Not true. Not true. Diana couldn’t breathe. Her whole face stung. Her jaw felt like it had been dislocated. Tears coursed down her cheeks.

“Bastard!” Gawain shouted. They were pulling him away. He struggled.

Laughter rang around the hall. Serving wenches scurried out the back door, so as not to catch any leftover lust. It seemed to hang in the air. When she could get her breath, she looked to Gawain for strength. He had gone absolutely still.

“Take me,” he said. The laughter subsided. “I will serve you and your men in her place.”

Diana turned shocked eyes around the hall. Didn’t Gawain know what they had in mind? You couldn’t just substitute a man for a woman. But she saw the speculation in Gareth’s eyes. She glanced around the room and saw it echoed in at least some others. They were willing to rape Gawain. How could that be? She’d seen these lusty men pinching women and nuzzling their breasts. But rape was a matter of dominance and cruelty, not sex. She’d read that many times. They wanted to hurt and humiliate Gawain. Rape was sure one way to do that.

“You can’t,” she cried.

Mordred raised his brows and shrugged. “Interesting. Do you realize what you offer? Very well. I accept. When you lose the fight, as lose you will, my men will have a go at you. Let’s see what we’re getting. Strip him.”

“I’ll take care of that,” Gawain said. His face was closed and cold. “You let the girl go.”

Mordred gestured with one finger. “Unlock his chains.” Agravain stepped forward to do his lord’s bidding with a smirk.

Gawain began pulling off his boots. “Send the girl to Merlin.”

“Merlin?” Mordred turned his head. Merlin was suddenly standing by his king’s shoulder. Diana hadn’t seen him come in. Apparently no one had. There were several gasps.

“I’ll take her, Your Majesty,” Merlin said calmly. But his words had strange force.

“You can’t rape him,” she cried as her guard dragged her up and hustled her over to Merlin. “And
you
can’t stand by and see your own son . . .”

“Quiet, girl,” Merlin said softly.

Diana opened her mouth to finish her sentence, but no
sound came out. She tried to shout. Nothing. Laughter rang around the hall from some knights. Others looked repelled. “One of your more useful tricks, Merlin,” Mordred observed. “You must teach me how to do that sometime.”

“Your wish is my command, liege.” Merlin bowed slightly and gestured at Diana’s guard to let her go. He gathered her into his side.

“Do you have an interest here?” Mordred’s eyes were hooded. If Merlin chose to free his son, Mordred couldn’t stop him, and Mordred must know that.