Chapter 12

The restaurant was quaint, very English garden. It was Keira's choice. The light fare suited Gwen. The idea of eating something heavy and dealing with Keira made her stomach turn before her first bite.

"This place is a well-kept secret. Even Arthur doesn't know about it." Keira said with a mischievous smile. It seemed to always please her to one up her brother. Gwen played into it and returned a playful smile of her own.

"I won't tell," Gwen said. She doubted Arthur would care about the salmon dish she was eating.

Keira took a sip of her iced tea before sitting back and giving Gwen a long, scrutinizing look. Gwen didn't know what to make of the look, but held her smile anyway. In time, Keira would tell her. She couldn't help herself. In that way, she was not like her brother. Arthur could hold his feeling better than Fort Knox.

"I'm surprised at this invitation," she said coyly. "Considering the last time, we spoke."

Gwen nodded. She straightened her shoulders and faced her troublesome sister-in-law.

"After the meeting, I felt bad about how we left thing." Gwen took a deep breath. "I talked to Arthur about it and how I felt. We had a good talk."

Keira laughed. "I hate to think, I'm what you speak about a night."

Gwen widened her forced smile and shook her head.

"No, but it bothered me so much, Arthur noticed. He gave be a better perspective about our relationship, I hadn't considered."

This seemed to surprise Keira, and her brow perked. Gwen took a deep breath and cleared her head. She had to make Keira believe her, act contrite if she had to. Keira couldn't see her as a threat.

"He said we started out as friends. And from what he saw, close friends. Then when you did what you did, I felt you betrayed that friendship and it hurt me more than I realized. We never really talked about it. Since Arthur forgave you and you are getting along well, I just dropped it." Gwen said tentatively.

Keira said nothing at first, but shifted in her seat.

"You brought me to Penn and I'm grateful for that. What I was most grateful for was that we were close and… at least I thought, wanting the same things. What you did surprise me. I didn't see it coming."

Gwen couldn't look at Keira for a moment. Her words were truthful. Keira's act of betrayal hurt her. When she went after Arthur, it destroyed what was left of their friendship. It made her question if there were friends at all.

"I'm sorry," Keira said softly.

For a moment, Gwen saw the sincerity in her eyes. Her look of hurt was real. Did she miss their friendship as well?

"Arthur thinks we should try to reconnect." Gwen offered. "Build trust between us. Moving passed it to start again. I want to do that."

Keira's head bowed slightly. Gwen could tell she was thinking and weighing her words.

"I brought you to Penn because I thought we were both under appreciated. My father and Arthur never saw my talents. Most days, I got a pat on the head and told to play with my dolls. I know I didn't have a right to be angry with him, but Arthur had it easy with my father."

Gwen's teeth clenched at that. Being under his father's critical eye cost Arthur in ways Keira never understood. The senior Penn saw himself reimagined in his son, an extension of himself. He could never admit Arthur was his mother's child; kindhearted, loving, and loyal to a fault.

"Not really. He ignored who Arthur truly was. The same thing he did with you. The difference being, Arthur complied with his father's demands. You didn't."

"Father always liked a little blood with his obedience." Keira gave an off handed twitch of her lips.

Gwen couldn't disagree with that.

"Arthur's is happy. He loves you, and he sees you, unlike your father. He believes in you and I have to believe he knows you better than I. So, I'm sorry for not letting what happen go."

Keira gave a quick, enormous smile. "See, Arthur thought we would throw dishes at each other."

Gwen laughed and lifted her wineglass. Keira did the same.

"To new beginnings?" Gwen asked.

"I never stopped being your friend." Keira confessed.

For the rest of their lunch, they eat in companionable quiet, reminiscing now and then about the past. Though she was earnest in her words, Gwen didn't believe that Keira would ever change. Her desire for Penn, out weighted everything else. In that way, she was just like her father.

"So, she didn't poison you?" Merlyn teased.

They stood in front of Cassandra's tea shop in downtown Manhattan. Gareth had come for extra support. Or maybe he was curious to see Cassandra again. Gwen couldn't tell. But what she believed was that Gareth had a soul altering experience in the quaint little shop. He had the look of a man who wanted more.

"No, we had a pleasant talk. I've forgiven her for trying to remover Arthur from the company and destroying our friendships because she had daddy issues." Gwen said coolly. Like Merlyn and Gareth, she stared at the front entrance to the tea shop.

Merlyn laughed. "That's sounds like two modern women."

"Are we going to do this, or stand here for another fifteen minutes?" Gareth asked.

Gwen and Gareth both stared at an anxious-looking Merlyn. His body shudder as he glared at the shop's door.

"Why do I have to do this again?" he asked.

"You can ask Cassandra if you go inside." Gwen insisted. "But she says you need this for clarity."

Merlyn's face went a little pale. Gareth held back a smile. Before Merlyn answered, the door of the shop opened. In the doorway, Cassandra stood looking pleased with herself. Her long tiny dreads piled high on her head looked like a crown. Small decorative beads accented the style and reflected in the evening light. She wore a long red silken dress that shimmered when she moved. From the street lamps, it looked like little flames erupting everywhere.

"Merlyn, as always, you're late." She said with a smile.

Merlyn's eyes widened. Gwen almost laughed at the look of trepidation on his face. She slipped her hand in his and pulled him toward the entrance. A foot away from the door, Merlyn stopped. His lips a thin, tight line. He turned to Gwen.

"If she if I go blind, I will move in with you in Arthur for the rest of your life," he threatened. Gwen laughed and pulled him in the rest of the way.

Inside was quiet. The usual splatter of customers was not to be found. Lit only with candles, the light made of dance of moving shadows. There was a hint of something in the air, cinnamon, vanilla, and something else as it burned in a small copper dish.

"Didn't expect to see you here again." Cassandra ran a finger along Gareth's strong cheek. Gwen caught a hint of a smile.

"For support only," he reassured.

Cassandra laughed. "Merlyn has become such a baby."

They all followed her to the back room. The sounds of the city faded away as the incense and the darkness seemed to over take Gwen. She fell into a soft cushion chair next to a tufted chaise lounge. Gareth rubbed at his eyes and seemed unfocused. Cassandra guided him to a straight-back chair in the room's corner. Gwen watched as Cassandra guided an unsteady Merlyn to the chaise and helped him stretch out.

"This is the closest I've come, Merlyn, to the end of all things," Cassandra said softly and she stroked Merlyn's temple.

"The end?" A groggy Merlyn replied.

"Yes, the end. The wheel of time spins only so many times before it stops. I fear this may be my last chance." Cassandra added something to the copper dish and brought it closer to Merlyn.

"Why…. me?" Merlyn struggled to say.

Cassandra laughed softly. "You're the center, we spin ourselves on, Merlyn, with a 'y'."

"Spin… spin… spin." Merlyn's words drifted.

From nowhere, Cassandra pulled out a simple ceramic cup and held it to Merlyn's lips. To Gwen's surprise, he gulped it. Her head felt cloudy, as if someone stuffed it with cotton. Her senses seemed scrambled and couldn't make sense of anything. A small thread of dread danced through her when she realized she couldn't move.

Her panic grew when she saw Cassandra pull out a long, thin knife. Unable to do anything to warn Merlyn or call out to Gareth. Had she made a mistake? Was Arthur right about Cassandra. Gareth was no help. He sat in the chair ramrod straight. His eyes fixed to a point on the wall. When Cassandra drew a cut down on Merlyn's hand, she could do nothing. Her vision faded in and out as she struggled to stay awake. She listened as Cassandra spoke words that sounded like Gaelic or Old English.

Merlyn lay on his back, unmoving and barely breathing. Then his body twisted and arched several times. He moaned and called out her name. As if rehearsed, he began saying the same words as Cassandra. Gwen fell into a deep sleep to those words and Merlyn's screams of pain.

The smell of fresh air and the hint of orange woke her. Unsure of how long she'd been asleep. The sound of Gareth's voice pulled her from the rest of her fitful dream. Her eyes gave her hazy view of him talking to Cassandra. He drank from a bottled water as he listened casually. She realized how parched she was. An odd sound came from her throat as she tried to clear it. This got Cassandra's attention, and suddenly, she and Gareth were by her side.

"There you are," Cassandra said cheerily.

Gareth put a bottle of water in her hands, and she drank greedily. She almost finished the bottle before she came up for breath. It was then she realized she was no longer in the back room, but in the shop's front. The candles were gone and the warm glow of a lamp filled the room. Where was Merlyn? She sat up bolt right in panic.

"Merlyn!" she cried out.

"He's fine. Cassandra said he'll come out of it soon." Gareth explained.

Gwen held her head and shook it. A moment ago, she was watching Cassandra use a knife on Merlyn. Her cloudy head cleared with anger.

"You cut Merlyn," Gwen said. Her ire directed at Cassandra.

Cassandra waved her off. "Just a scar. A marvelous story to tell the girls."

Gwen was having no of it. She struggled to get up, but Gareth held her down.

"You're unsteady." He said.

"What are you up to, Cassandra? God damn it. This is getting out of hand. Maybe Arthur was right." When Gareth tried to stop her from getting up, she pushed his hand aside. She struggled to get up, but she made it. On unsteady legs, she headed for the back room. At first, Gareth when to stop her, but Cassandra held up a hand. It took some effort, but she made it and pushed open the closed door.

Inside the room, she saw Merlyn standing and gazing at the knife that had cut his hands. He only noticed her presence when she took a step closer to him. She wanted to apologize for Cassandra and pushing him into it. For believing too much in the tea shop owner. She stopped when he looked up to face her. Gone was the scared look she had seen before they stepped into the shop. His uncertainty a memory now. His eyes clear and focused on her.

He smiled.

"Merlyn?" she said cautiously.

"In every manifestation you are beautiful," he said wistfully. Without warning, he came to hug her. He held tight to their embrace for a long time.

"Merlyn." Gwen stood frozen, unsure of what to do. This didn't sound like her Merlyn.

When he pulled back and held her at arm's length, he stared at her for a long time. Then he ran his hand down to her left hand. He held it up, stared at her wedding ring, and groaned.

"And again, you married the prat."