Chapter 13

The scene at the observatory upon the return of the motorcade was ordered chaos. Brun and her ladies were calmly tending to the wounded. Now and then a siren would scream by on the street, but they never intruded on the relative calm of the observatory itself. The talking heads of the local news were probably going nuts about all this talk of a major gang war. If they only knew! If people thought the WTO was a war, well, they had better take cover when this hit the fan!

Megan stood mutely by as wounded fighters were carried inside to be cared for, or to be eased over into peace. Watching the light flicker out of the eyes of a fairy was something that could not be summed up in words. Megan felt each passing physically, most likely because of her ties to Richard. Tears streaked her cheeks, and a fierce determination burned within her as well.

On the edge of her consciousness, Arthur and Emory argued, but she ignored them. Instead, she replayed the last time she had seen Erin over and over in her mind. God, Erin had looked so scared! Those bastards had taken her in broad daylight! What the hell was going on, she wondered. This is getting totally out of control!

Megan was jolted out of here reverie as their voices finally got loud enough to be heard. “Look, Emory,” said Arthur, “This was not your fault! I made the decision to move her. I alone bear the responsibility for this. We will win her back, I promise you that!”

“Wart, lad, I know you want to make this ‘right’, but there is little you can do with what you have left of a fighting force. You have, what, ten knights able to ride and a handful of men-at arms? Face it, Arthur, an attack on the Unseelie court would be little more than suicide.” Emory choked back whatever else he was going to say when Arthur suddenly whirled on him.

“Merlin, that doesn’t matter. Nothing matters but making this right! What kind of king would I be if I could not protect a single woman from that scum!” The muscles on Arthur’s neck stood starkly out as rage coursed through the King’s body. “Merlin, I promise you, I will bring her back. And if that ... that ... thing has so much as harmed a single hair on her head, there won’t be enough of him left for Hades to toy with. I, Arthur Pen Dragon, give my bond and oath as king on that!”

As if that settled things between them, Emory nodded and then slowly turned toward the street entrance to the observatory. Another siren wailed past. Emory stared out at the world beyond as he spoke.

“Wart, make no mistake, this is war most terrible. The very thing we left our homes to come to the new world to escape. We must win her back before Mordrant can use her for his own purposes. But you need to understand what you face. He will do anything to keep her, including destroying her rather than give her back. Mordrant is desperate. He has to be to try this stunt!” Emory looked at the slowly darkening skies and then sighed. “This is as much my fault as yours, lad.”

“Wait one God-damned minute!” said Megan striding up beside Emory, “What do you mean ‘use’ her or ‘destroy’ her? This is my friend we’re talking about here! What the hell is going on? And no more bullshit! I want a straight answer.”

Emory slowly turned toward Megan, and for just a moment, the weight of the world was graven on his face.” You recall Mordrant from the parking garage, remember?” said Emory, and Megan nodded. “You also saw the rabble that he calls his ‘court’, the dregs of both our societies. Well, he needs our Erin for her power. She is the daughter of one fairy king, and the great-granddaughter of another. With her at his side, willingly or not, he can call the ‘Hunt’ again, and he can try to unite all the other evil folk like himself into a force the likes of which have never been seen in this, or any world.” Emory looked as if he wanted to spit, but must have thought better of it.

“You see,” said Arthur, “Mordrant is a very wicked man, and he only has evil goals. He intends to force Erin to ‘marry’ and become his queen. She has the power of the old country in her veins, and in his hands it will become a force for evil that will make your Hitler or Stalin pale like paper cutouts”!

“Aye, and he’ll loose that evil on the world as soon as possible.” said Emory, You recall what making love with Richard did to his arm?”

Megan flinched. How did Emory know about that, or that she and Richard were lovers?

“Don’t fear, sweet Megan, your secret is safe.” Emory assured her with a twinkle. “But think on it: Erin has one hundred-fold the power you have because of your love for Richard. Imagine her power put too good. Now imagine it put to evil ends by Mordrant.”

Megan shivered and hugged her arms to herself. “Arthur, Emory, you have to get her back!” Megan implored. “My god, she has to be scared stupid by all this. You have to get her back!”