Legendary Page 24

  They all went easy on her at first—all of them except Wade, who knew what she could do better than the others. Percy got quite a surprise the first time he worked with Aliana and treated her like a child rather than a female who could fight. But he found out that she was better than he’d assumed after she knocked him flat on his chauvinistic butt. The guys were patient with her, encouraging her when she did well and gently correcting her when she got something wrong. It was bone-wrenching work, at times, but the guys were starting to see she wasn’t a damsel-in-distress who couldn’t be counted on to free them. It wasn’t just the knights who were growing closer—they were all growing together as a family. She now had more “big brothers” than any girl should ever have to deal with.

  The bulk of her days were spent with Merlin and Dagg—building her shields, discovering new ways to use her magic, and learning how to locate portals. Galahad was always present to spend time with Aliana during her breaks, and occasionally they hung out, just the two of them, in the evenings. They listened to music, she taught him about photography, and he told her stories from Camelot. Every few days, he’d even join her magic lessons. One of her favorite moments was during a spur of the moment sparring match between them. She came close to beating him, but he eventually won, pinning her to the soft grass. They were pressed so close and she thought for sure he was going to kiss her again, but he pulled back just before Flora came to get them for lunch. Someone was always interrupting them, and it was both frustrating and disheartening.

  The knights, Aliana, and Dagg ate all their meals together as a group, and each one was a production of “family” bonding and outrageous jokes at each other’s expense. Everyone was falling into a comfortable rhythm, their friendships growing. At night they often watched movies together or planned different strategies for finding and facing Mordrid and Morgana.

  Every few nights, Aliana and Arthur met in the room with the mirrored wall. When they were together, Aliana could relax and not worry about whether or not she was good enough. She felt safe with him, like she could trust him with anything. They both opened up, sharing stories about their past—good and bad. She continued to teach him dances and sometimes told him stories and fairy tales she’d learned growing up.

  Everyone deemed to notice the growing closeness of the two, and one night, Lancelot cornered Aliana in Merlin’s Beauty-and-the-Beast-worthy library to confront her about it. “You need to stop whatever is going on between you, Galahad, and the king.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, confused. She was growing emotionally closer to Galahad, and Arthur and she were becoming good friends, but she didn’t understand why that would upset Lancelot.

  “You are a distraction for them. You need to back off so they can focus on completing this quest.”

  “You don’t know anything about me, Lancelot. Arthur and I are friends. And Galahad and I…” She hesitated, not sure what they were. “He’s also my friend. All of you are. What’s happened to make you such a judgmental, cold-hearted jerk?”

  “I’ve seen what happens when a man lets his infatuation with a girl cloud his judgment. I’ve seen the deadly consequences of it. You need to step back and let Galahad and Arthur focus on the quest. You are the Destined One—a path you chose—so you need to start acting like it instead of like a love sick teenager.”

  Aliana’s temper flared, and she took a step closer to the arrogant knight. “You’re a great teacher, Lancelot, and I even consider you a friend on most occasions, but you’re out of line! I care about Galahad and Arthur, and I won’t stop hanging around with my friends. Whatever it is that’s destroyed the Lancelot of legend, you need to deal with it and stop projecting it onto me.”

  She stormed out of the library to the backyard, trying to cool her temper. Lancelot made no sense! She tried to forget the argument, but a few days later, Wade found her after her magic lesson and asked what was going on between her and the king. Sighing, she explained that they were just friends and she didn’t understand why certain people seemed to have a problem with that. Wade let the subject drop.

  Aliana’s fiery nightmares had relented since that first night back in London. They’d been replaced by dreams about Leyon. She and the lost knight never talked, and it seemed like he couldn’t see her, but she knew he was trying to find them, and it gave her hope.

  Aliana followed Merlin into the candle-filled training room. She was still sore from the beating she’d taken at Lancelot’s hands earlier that day. He was a hard instructor, but she couldn’t deny the progress he’d brought about in her skills.

  “We’ll pick up where we left off yesterday,” Merlin droned. The last few days had been spent on her external shields, learning to deflect magical attacks. The magic felt different depending on what she was doing with it. When she was defending herself, it felt fizzy, like soda pop. Her shield magic had a spongy feel to it, not heavy or taxing but just bubbling around her. When she tried to attack, the magic sizzled and pulsed in her muscles, like a crazy, out of control adrenaline rush.

  Developing connections with the elements was a part of her training she liked. Already she had tried water and earth, but only the latter had responded to her. For all their practicing, they had yet to figure out Aliana’s strange connection to her magic. She was frustrated with both Dagg and Merlin because they refused to share any of their speculations. It may have been petty, but she had decided to keep her own ideas about it to herself too. Not that it mattered—surely Merlin and Dagg would have already thought of anything she noticed. What she had realized days earlier was that it was easier to do large spells when Dagg was close by or touching her.

  “Focus your mind,” Merlin said.

  The blinds snapped shut as the lights went out. He placed a small, lit candle in front of her, and she zeroed in on the flame until she saw nothing else. Her eyes closed, but the image of the single flame remained in the emptiness. She felt the gentle heat swirling around her, growing. Faster and faster the flame grew, multiplying, each new flame brighter and hotter.

  Her nightmare resurfaced. The roaring fire greedily consumed everything, exploding outward and trying to claim her—the prize it had been denied years ago.

  Her control snapped and the fires raged. She couldn’t breathe. Like a shadow monster, the smoke tried to choke her as she desperately searched for an escape. She couldn’t do this! The flames were too strong.

  “Aliana,” they called to her.

  “No!” With everything she had, she pushed against the fire, clinging to the darkness until it consumed the flames. Gasping for breath, her eyes snapped open. She trembled, reeling from the flames that haunted her.

  “What happened?” Merlin kneeled down, his eyes level with hers. “You were fighting the connection.”

  “Aliana?” Dagg asked, curling in her lap. She felt him pushing against the barriers she had erected around her mind. Thank God she’d been able to create them, but she had to be on constant guard to keep them up. She felt Dagg push again.

  “Stop, Dagg!” she ordered. The Dragon backed away.

  “Why did you fight the connection?” Merlin asked, his voice strained like it always was when he was trying to control his temper with her.

  “The fire wasn’t trying to connect!” she hissed, getting to her feet.

  “We could see your magic blending with the fire. Like it or not, you have a connection to it.” Merlin stood, raking a hand through his perfectly combed locks.

  “I can’t, Merlin!” Maybe she did have a connection, but whatever that connection might be, it was nothing good. “I need to take a break.” Without waiting for permission, she fled the room, seeking out the knights.

  She found them sparring in the muddy clearing. Galahad and Percy stood on the sideline, watching Lancelot go against Arthur while Owen battled Wade.

  Galahad’s eyes found her immediately. “Bad morning?” He frowned, looking past her to what was no doubt a scowling Merlin. That expression had be
come the Druid’s trademark when it came to her and her magic.

  “You could say that.” She sighed, trying to dispel the last of the fire from her mind. She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Merlin, who watched the sparring matches, but she could almost hear his disapproval of her choice to go running to Galahad. They both knew her knight would defend her no matter what. Her anger started to deflate.

  Guilt crept into her mind. It was childish of her to keep running to Galahad every time she got stressed out with Merlin.

  “Aliana, we should return to your lessons,” Merlin said, sounding like a bored, annoyed schoolteacher.

  She saw Galahad about to protest, so she cut him off. “I know, I just wanted some air for a moment.” She glanced sideways at the Druid and added, “Sorry.”

  The back of Galahad’s hand brushed hers, his eyes asking if she was sure. She took his hand, squeezing it gently. The familiar sparks shot up her arm, and she couldn’t help smiling. They heard a heavy thud as Lancelot knocked Arthur’s sword to the ground.

  “I guess that’s my cue to go.” Aliana waved at the guys as she followed Merlin back inside.

  “I think it would be best if we focused on your defensive magic for now.” The Druid leveled her with a hard gaze. “But after lunch we will go back to establishing your elemental connections.”

  Aliana gulped but nodded. There was no point in arguing. Merlin set his magical barrier around her. He launched different spells into the sphere, and she tried to defeat them. Focusing, she called forth her magic, creating a barrier shield on her arm much like a physical shield the knights would have used. Merlin and Dagg’s magic hit her barrier, and most spells bounced off, fizzling out. But a few seemed to absorb into her shield, their magic becoming hers, making her strong enough to launch a bit of her own magic at the attacks. Aliana deflected one of Merlin’s attacks just as Galahad and Arthur opened the door.

  “Are the three of you about done? Sabine has lunch waiting,” Arthur said, looking her over as the magic faded from around her.

  “Please, I’m starving,” she said, walking between the two new arrivals and toward the kitchen. They all stopped at the kitchen door, hearing angry voices. Lancelot and Wade stood toe to toe, bodies tight, ready to start throwing punches.

  “Shut the hell up, Lancelot! You don’t know anything about it! It’s none of your business!” Wade ordered, his tan skin flushed with anger.

  “It’s all of our business if it’s going to affect us when we face Mordrid and Morgana!” Lancelot raged in a quiet, menacing voice.

  “What’s going on?” Arthur demanded, separating the two warriors.

  Lancelot’s eyes cut to Aliana. They were hard and bitter, telling her all she needed to know. They were fighting about her.

  “One of you will answer me, now!” Arthur’s voice was hard and commanding.

  “It was just a misunderstanding,” Wade said, flicking his gaze to her before dropping it to the floor.

  “Not good enough.” Arthur fixed his I’m-the-king-and-you’ll-answer-me-now look on both of them.

  “It was nothing. Just a difference of opinion, Sire,” Lancelot insisted, his voice cold.

  “Why don’t we have some lunch?” Aliana said, attempting to break the tension. “We’re all hungry. Tempers will cool after everyone’s eaten.”

  Arthur reluctantly backed down, but his glare promised to get answers soon.

  Suddenly not hungry, Aliana grabbed a few pieces of fruit. She managed to choke down a couple of bites before her stomach started to protest. Why was she screwing everything up?

  Everyone ate quietly. They’d all been getting short-tempered lately. They needed a break, but when she’d suggested that to Merlin a few days earlier, he’d shot her down.

  After finishing, they returned to training. Merlin’s damned candles had already filled the room by the time Aliana reentered the room.

  “We’ll try again. This time keep focused.” His order was short and sharp.

  She sat down again, and this time Merlin left the candle in front of her unlit. She called on her magic, lighting the small wick, but none of the other flames responded when she tried to spread out her magic.

  “Give it another try, Aliana,” Dagg said supportively. She tried and tried but kept failing.

  She couldn’t focus, wondering why Lancelot and Wade had been arguing about her. Was it about her hiding behind Galahad and Arthur when she got upset with Merlin? Or maybe they were angry she had yet to bring Leyon to them—her recent dreams told her he was close, but he seemed to be unable to find them. Either way, it hit home again how much was riding on her being the Destined One.

  “I can’t do this, Merlin. It’s not going to work. Can’t we just try air or energy?”

  “You react to the fire, Aliana. You have a connection,” he insisted.

  “But I can connect to more than one element, right? Let’s just try another.” She couldn’t face the fire again.

  Merlin shook his head. “The power is inside. You have to control it and make the connection bend to your will.”

  Aliana sighed, dropping her head in her hands. “Merlin, maybe I’m not as powerful as y’all seem to think I should be. These abilities you say I have aren’t normal, even by your standards!”

  “Aliana, you have a great capacity for magic. I can feel it even thirty feet away. You were born to do this. It’s your destiny, your purpose in life.”

  Her only purpose in life?

  She felt her heart crack and tried to take a deep breath, but all she could manage was little gasps. Mortified that she was hyperventilating in front of Merlin, she tried to calm down but nothing helped.

  He’s wrong! I am more than this stupid prophecy.

  Suddenly, the despair vanished and she could breathe again. She looked down at the Dragon in her lap. He was the one cooling the emotional storm inside her.

  “I told you to stop that, Dagg!” She pushed the Dragon from her lap and scrambled to her feet. “I told you to stop manipulating my feelings!”

  The candles flashed to life all around the room. Stunned, she looked down. Tiny bits of pink fell from her hand. Her jaw dropped, eyes zooming back and forth between the candles and her hands.

  “Well done, Aliana! You’re starting to tap into the connection,” Merlin praised.

  Merlin’s right. This is all you’re meant for, her mind whispered. How could she have been stupid enough to start feeling like she was one of them, like more than their key? Biting back a whimper, she forced down the lump in her throat. Merlin said something, but she hadn’t been paying attention.

  “I’m sorry, what?” she asked, her voice barely there.

  “I understand this is all hard for you.” He tried to place a hand on her shoulder, but she flinched back. She was afraid her magic would spring to life again or worse, that he would try to read her. “It’s hard on all of us at first, but this is good progress. Fire is a powerful element to have at your command. Do you want to try it again?”

  “No.” She rubbed her temples, trying to buy some time to get her voice even again.

  “Are you all right, Aliana?” Merlin asked, stepping closer.

  “I’m a bit light-headed.” Not a total lie, but she would use anything she could to make an escape. “I think I just need to go lie down.” Hoping he wouldn’t follow, Aliana escaped the room, heading straight for her own room before her powder keg of emotions exploded.

  “Aliana?” She wheeled around on the bottom stair as Arthur called her name. “You’re upset.” His brow furrowed as he stepped out from the library.

  “I’m fine, Arthur.”

  His full lips thinned. He knew she was lying. Son of a biscuit! Damn him for reading her so well.

  “Okay, I’m not fine, but I’m just tired,” she said, knowing he wouldn’t give up until he was satisfied. “This magic stuff is just…taking more out of me than I thought it would.”

  “Merlin’s pushing you too hard. I’ll speak to him.�
�

  “No!” she said quickly. “You don’t need to do that. I just really need a nap. Please don’t make a fuss about this.” That was the last thing she wanted. But then, if her only purpose in life was to fulfill this prophecy, did what she want really matter?

  “Can you tell the others I went to bed early, please?” she asked, taking a few steps up.

  “What about dinner?”

  “I honestly don’t think I could eat anything. I’ll come down later if I get hungry,” she promised, knowing she probably wouldn’t.

  Arthur grabbed her hand before she could climb any more steps. She gulped, frozen in place as his thumb gently brushed against the inside of her wrist. “Only if you are sure you’re all right.” His golden eyes refused to let her eyes leave his.

  She nodded slightly. “I will be.” Without giving him a chance to say more, she rushed the rest of the way to her room and had barely turned on her music before the first body-shaking sob broke free. Still in her jeans and She-Ra T-shirt, she collapsed onto the bed, burying her face in her pillow to muffle her crying.

  How could everything in her life not mean anything? If the only reason she’d been born was to fulfill this stupid prophecy, what was the point of the life she’d lived—her friends, her family, and her art?

  And what about her feelings for Galahad? Maybe she’d been right from the start. All she was to him was a way to stop Mordrid and get their lives back. That was all she was good for, and she was even screwing that up. She sobbed harder. Her heart cracked again as she lay there, crying out all her frustration and heartache.

  Aliana ignored the repeated knocks on her door and Owen’s offer to bring her dinner. As far as they needed to know, she was asleep. Right now, she needed to get all her inner turmoil out so she could put on her happy face in the morning. The guys had enough to deal with and didn’t need to be bothered with her problems. The only thing they needed from her was their freedom.

  Freeing the knights, saving the realms, and stopping Mordrid were the only things that mattered. The sooner she could accept that hard truth, the sooner she could pretend to the world that that knowledge didn’t threaten to break her completely.