"As for Merlin... he is said to have gained those abilities from her. Morgaine was his mother, if you didn't know."
"His mother? I thought he was in love with her?! Morgaine is said to be Merlin's great love, isn't she?" Rhea asked.
Pritkin made a harsh sound and quickly drank some coffee.
"That was his father, actually. They looked alike - at least if you didn't know them personally -," I added quickly. "He named him after himself and it confused the hell out of the historians."
"You mean, his father's name was Merlin, too?" Sienna asked, her voice a mix of awe and curiosity. "That's weird!"
"It was Myrddin, essentially, but yes."
"Murdhin?" Tami repeated frowning.
"Myrd-din," I corrected automatically. Pritkin's eyes widened and his emerald green gaze held mine. I'd probably triggered a memory by mentioning his name - or more precisely - his former name. He nodded a little weirdly into his mug, I figured to give me the permission to continue and I did.
"It wasn't exactly common knowledge in her time. On the contrary, she had reasons to...well, to abandon her son, if you like." My gaze didn't leave Pritkin's face, mainly to give him a chance to interrupt, if he'd like to stop or take a break or whatever. His eyes locked with mine again and his expression was pretty serious. He didn't say anything, so I went on.
"At first she hadn't really cared for anything but a chance to get accepted by the fey of her family who...ignored her. They merely respected pure blooded and powerful fey." I fought to keep the sadness out of my voice, but I didn't manage completely, when I continued.
"Morgaine was only a quarter fey and therefore lived on earth, which was pretty poor compared to the wonderful world in fearie. She thought, that if she found a way to improve her power, they would have to accept her." Pritkin slightly shook his head. Knowing the fey way better than I did, he knew better. If ever someone managed to show bitterness, without moving much more than his shoulders, it was him. Or maybe my brain just came up with it, because I knew he had to experience a lot of that special sort of racism concerning himself.
"One day Morgaine met a powerful incubus and found out, that he might be able to help her. He teached her magic and hoped that she would... help him to...uhm… father a child, but they didn't tell eachother. I know, it sounds ridiculous, but it happened anyway." I shrugged. "She gained a lot of her power and magic through... uhm," I searched for the right word to use in front of the kids and settled for "through her partner."
Pritkin blinked and took a deep breath. Mentioning Rosier still didn't go down well, but I guessed after all those years of pure hatred, he would need some time to come around with the concept of Rosier being not-so-bad-as-he'd-thought, eventually. The vein on his neck didn't visibly pulse yet, which I took as a good sign.
"Before she knew that she was pregnant Morgaine and her partner had already chosen different paths in their lives. Morgaine found out, that her fellow fey still didn't accept her. It had even become worse, because they clearly disdained her for her...partnership with one of the demonic kind. It surely made her sad, I guess. I'm not sure, but I think it's safe to say that she was more than disappointed. Morgaine decided, that her son would be better off without her and her so called 'family' and kept her pregnancy a secret. She was sure that the fey would come to kill her son, if they ever found out about his existence. Which was why she gave her son to his father."
I shuddered mentally at the thought and paused, giving Pritkin some time to process that. To distract myself, I drank some of my coke. I wondered not for the first time, if I could have done that. Could I have given baby-Pritkin away, even if it was to save his life?
I never stopped watching him and there was a faint hint of surprise in his face now. He definitely hadn't known that.