Last update of 2024! Happy New Year to you all.
As they resumed their hunt for the Fisher King's trident – all ten of them sticking together after Kenzi vehemently rejected Gwaine's suggestion of splitting up in order to search the place more efficiently, saying that splitting up in a creepy old castle was a recipe for disaster and bemoaning the fact that no one ever learned anything from horror movies – Bo and her companions tried to distract Arthur from his displeasure over their decision to let Morgause go (even if he was forced to agree that trying to restrain her long enough to transport her to a place where she could be detained long-term was hardly feasible) by filling him in on what they'd been up to since leaving Camelot.
Naturally, he was stunned to learn of Morgana's fae heritage – "But that doesn't matter to us, does it? After all, it doesn't change who she is. She's the same person she's always been," Gwen asserted with that fierce look she sometimes wore when she felt strongly about something, usually when she was standing up for one of her friends, and Arthur, not wanting to find himself on the wrong side of her moral certitude, hastily agreed – as well as Bo's royal lineage, though for a different reason.
"An entire kingdom of fae?" he repeated, his eyes widening. "I had no idea such a place existed – nor do most people in Albion, I'm sure. Most humans, I mean."
"I've gotten the feeling it's a little more under wraps than it used to be," Bo replied with a shrug, "especially since… Well, since your dad's been doing what he's doing."
"Yeah, I guess hearing about the Purge wouldn't exactly inspire a lot of fae to roll out the welcome mat for humans," Kenzi surmised.
"Understandable, but are your grandfather and his nobles content to simply withdraw from human society, or do they intend to launch a more direct response?" Arthur asked with a slight edge in his voice.
"Direct how?"
"He wants to know if Trick plans to invade Camelot," Merlin explained to Bo before telling Arthur, "and as far as I can tell, the answer seems to be no. Trick lets the druids travel freely through his lands and gives sanctuary to any creature of magic who wants it, but I think most of the fae are happy to stay out of human affairs. Even if he wanted to do something about Uther, I doubt the nobles would support a campaign against a kingdom that's practically on the other side of Albion."
He looked to Dyson for confirmation as he spoke, and the wolf nodded, but it was Vex who provided a verbal reply. "Of course they wouldn't; why bother when he'll be gone in another twenty-odd years anyway? Whatever mischief he's up to, it'll be over soon enough."
None of the humans quite knew what to say to that, because even though Arthur was obviously relieved to hear that there was no invasion on the horizon – dealing with individual sorcerers who felt driven to take revenge on his father and didn't care if innocent bystanders became collateral damage was hard enough; he didn't even want to think about a large-scale military campaign involving an entire army of fae led by a man who could literally rewrite reality at will – there was something very sobering in the knowledge that the fae considered Uther's atrocities a mere temporary annoyance, the damage he had done in his (from their perspective) insignificantly short life too trivial to be worth troubling themselves to stop him.
Luckily, they were saved from having to come up with a response when the next door they tried opened on the Fisher King's throne room and a hush fell over the entire group – the same solemn silence they would adopt if they were entering a tomb, because the ancient sorcerer was there, sitting on his elaborately carved throne with his trident in hand. It, like his once-splendid robes and furs, was shrouded in a thick layer of cobwebs, yet there was still something regal and majestic about the old man's frail figure – a figure which, considering the amount of time that had elapsed since the Fisher King succumbed to his wound, didn't look at all like what they would have expected if they hadn't been trying very hard not to think about what they might be faced with if they actually found his remains.
"Not to sound morbid here," Kenzi whispered, "but if it's been hundreds of years since this guy's heyday, should he still be this…fresh? I mean, shouldn't we be looking at a moldy old skeleton by now?"
"Gaius did say he was a powerful sorcerer in his time," Lancelot whispered back. "Perhaps enough of his magic still lingers to have preserved his body from the ravages of decay." He glanced inquiringly at Merlin as he spoke as if hoping for the most magically knowledgeable person he knew to confirm or deny whether such a thing was possible, but Merlin had other things on his mind.
"There's the trident right in his hand," he told Arthur. "Are you going to take it or not?" The sooner they concluded this quest for the trident, the sooner they could get back to their other quest to save Bo from devolving.
Arthur swallowed hard; while he wasn't fearful or squeamish about dead bodies, he wished the trident had been somewhere else, or that time had reduced the Fisher King's remains to the pile of crumbling bones Kenzi thought he should be, because there was something about taking his prize from the hand of someone who looked as though he might merely be sleeping that made him singularly uncomfortable. Somehow, it made him feel like a thief – or worse, a graverobber. Still, he'd come all this way, nearly lost his life, and pulled Bo away from a task with even higher stakes than his; he couldn't let it all be for nothing.
Steeling himself, he marched up to the cobweb-draped throne and stretched out his hand…only to freeze just before his fingers closed around the trident's golden shaft when the Fisher King's eyes shot open and his bowed head rose from where it had rested on his chest. Kenzi shrieked, prompting Lancelot to step in front of her protectively, Gwen gasped, Vex cursed, Dyson and Gwaine reached for their weapons, Merlin and Morgana readied their magic in case it was needed, and Bo moved to stand beside Arthur, staring down at the apparently not quite dead sorcerer through narrowed eyes.
"Arthur Pendragon," he rasped in a voice that sounded as ancient and dusty as his body, "and Princess Isabeau of the fae, at last. You cannot imagine how long I have waited for this day."
"About that…how the hell are you still alive?" Bo demanded. "I heard you had a wound that went septic before my grandfather was even born, and he's been around a while. You're not fae, are you?"
"No, but humans who wield sufficiently powerful magic can prolong their lives, though it was always said there would only be one who might achieve true immortality, the one called Emrys." His eyes, still keen and piercing despite his great age and deteriorated condition, turned to Merlin. "You are the greatest of us – the one born to guide the Once and Future King and the fae queen who will at long last unite all the races of Albion, magical and non-magical alike."
Merlin and Arthur received this pronouncement with shock and perhaps a touch (or more) of awe, and their friends looked impressed, but Bo just scoffed. "Boy, are you barking up the wrong tree. I haven't even made the whole princess deal official, and I'm definitely not going to be queen as long as Trick's around, which he will be for at least a thousand more years…right? You're not hinting that something's going to happen to him, are you?"
She took a step closer, looking ready to pry answers out of him with her bare hands, but the Fisher King was totally unperturbed by her show of aggression. "I foresee that your grandfather's reign will continue for a long time to come, yet there are queens without crowns, and you are a true queen. Do not deny what is within you. You must cast aside doubt and embrace greatness – you all must," he added, his sharp gaze sweeping over Arthur and Merlin as well. "Before the year is out, you all will be tested in ways you can scarcely envisage now, and you must find it in yourselves to rise to those challenges."
He sat back in his throne, a tired sigh escaping him as his shoulders slumped a little, as if the weight of all the centuries he had spent trapped in his ailing body had crashed down on him all at once. "I have waited many lifetimes to speak these words, and now I wish to rest. The same magic that bound me to this land and brought my kingdom to ruin as infection spread through my blood has denied me the release of death; if you would claim my trident as your trophy, you must set me free."
"I'm sorry," Gwen blurted out. "Arthur had an eye of the phoenix that might have been able to help you, but I took it off him and threw it away and I…I couldn't find it again."
"No matter," the Fisher King sighed, his gaze briefly resting on her before seeking Bo once more. "You have the ability to do what must be done. Release me."
"When you say 'release', you mean…" Bo gulped. "You want me to drain you?"
"You can't ask her to do that!" Kenzi objected furiously, stepping out from behind Lancelot in order to glare at the old king. "Bo's not a killer! As much as it messed her up to have accidentally offed her meals before she knew how to stop, you can't ask her to do it on purpose!"
Bo smiled gratefully at Kenzi, but her eyes were soon drawn back to the Fisher King, whose face was filled with a depth of anguish she could only barely begin to fathom. "Please… Young as you are, you cannot possibly comprehend how much I have suffered, for how long. It would not be murder in my case, but an act of mercy."
As she stared into those timeless, infinitely sad eyes, she felt her head nod almost of its own accord. "Yeah," she said slowly. "I could do that…if you're absolutely sure it's what you want."
"There is no other remedy for me now," the Fisher King insisted. "Give me peace."
Bo shuffled forward as if she had iron weights strapped to her feet, determined to give him as much time to change his mind as she possibly could yet inexorably drawn in by the agony and pleading in his eyes, which were the only place he allowed it to fully show through. Then she was standing directly in front of him, and he hadn't said or done anything to indicate that he was having even a hint of second thoughts; in fact, his expression as she bent down, bringing her face within inches of his, was one of profound relief and gratitude. When she drained the last dregs of his chi, his lips formed the same smile that marked every victim of a succubus' fatal feeding, yet somehow it looked different on him – not the unnatural, exaggerated rictus of unbearable ecstasy she was used to seeing when she killed, but a look of peaceful repose, of an incomprehensibly weary soul that was finally at rest.
The trident fell from his limp fingers, and Bo instinctively caught it even as her eyes remained fixed on the Fisher King's still features, now frozen forever in their lifeless serenity – though she couldn't quite explain how, she had sensed as she consumed his life force that he had been a great man who had seen and done great things, and she didn't want the solemnity of his passing to be broken by the clatter of his trident hitting the floor – and wordlessly held it out to Arthur. The Fisher King had offered it in exchange for his death, after all.
He mutely accepted it, seemingly just as affected by what he had just witnessed as she was, as they all were – for once, even Kenzi was speechless – then turned and walked away. Everyone followed him, silent as a funeral procession, leaving the once-great sorcerer king to his eternal rest.
###
No one spoke until they walked out of the castle to find their various forms of transportation waiting for them – horses for the Camelot crew and Kilgharrah for the fae, though the horses kept eyeing the enormous gold dragon nervously and probably wouldn't have stayed so close to him at all if Merlin hadn't enclosed them in a magical barrier that made them feel somewhat safe while preventing them from fleeing. Faced with the means of their imminent departure – starkly contrasting means which served as a glaring visual reminder that they were two separate groups now – the recently reunited friends reluctantly acknowledged that their time together had come to an end.
"I guess this is goodbye, then. You can't come back to Camelot, can you?" Gwen asked forlornly.
"I'm sorry, Gwen," Morgana said with genuine regret, "but even if Bo didn't need to complete her Dawning, I'm afraid I can never call Camelot home again…at least not while Uther lives." She shot an apologetic look at Arthur as she spoke those last words, hoping she hadn't offended him, but he just nodded with stoic resignation.
"It's probably safer that way, for all of you." Then the corners of his mouth curled upward in a slight grin as he glanced at Merlin. "Besides, I can't pretend it doesn't make a nice change, having a servant who actually knows what he's doing after three years of putting up with Merlin's bumbling and insolence."
"Don't get too used to it," Merlin retorted, grinning mischievously back at him. "I don't know how or when, but I know we'll return to Camelot one day…somehow."
"Don't expect to have a job when you do," Arthur shot back.
As he and Merlin continued their contentious banter, a more serious conversation was playing out between another set of best friends. "I'm sorry, Kenzi; I feel like we've barely had five minutes to catch up, and now I have to leave again-"
"At least you're conscious this time," Kenzi interrupted. "Seriously, don't apologize, Bo. You've gotta do what you gotta do so you don't turn into a pumpkin when the clock strikes midnight on this whole Dawning thing, and I totally get why you don't want to go back to Uther's stomping grounds. I mean, Uther versus Trick – not much of a choice there even if Trickster hadn't turned out to be your grandfather, but since he is, I know that's gotta be majorly important to you. You've spent your whole life looking for your family-"
"You're my family too. Don't ever forget that. You know, you could come with me. Fae land isn't as human-friendly as we'd like, but we could…"
Bo's voice dwindled away into silence as Kenzi began shaking her head. "Thanks, Bobo. I want to – you wouldn't believe how damn much I've missed you since you left – but somebody's gotta keep Arthur out of trouble. Lance and Gwen and G-man do their best, but let's face it, they'd be lost without me. Besides, life in Camelot does have certain perks that balance out all the Uther-ness I have to put up with."
Her eyes darted off to one side, and Bo followed her gaze to where Lancelot was saying his goodbyes to Merlin and Dyson, then smiled knowingly. "Worth putting up with Uther, huh? You really do love him, don't you? Good for you, Kenzi; I'm glad you found yourself a keeper." As she wrapped her favorite human in a fierce hug, she added in a determined voice, "And you know this isn't really goodbye, don't you? Like Merlin said, one day we'll all be together again."
"I know," Kenzi assured her even as her voice became rather choked and her arms tightened around Bo until the succubus' ribs creaked in protest. "Until then, just knowing you're okay – that's everything, so make sure you are okay, you hear me? Kick the crap out of this Dawning shit."
Bo promised she would, and they reluctantly let go of each other. Kenzi quickly turned away so Bo wouldn't see her wiping her eyes, and as she did, her watery gaze fell on the one person who didn't seem to be included in the promises of a future reunion, who was standing off to the side, watching the farewell embraces with a slightly wistful expression. "What about you?" she asked Gwaine. "What's next on your itinerary?"
He shrugged. "I don't know yet. Hopefully someplace with a lot more taverns."
Bo glanced back and forth between them, her mind moving even faster than her eyes; she could tell Kenzi cared about this guy, and even though the things she'd heard about him painted him as a drifter and maybe something of a troublemaker, she could tell that deep down he was one of the good ones – he had ventured into the Perilous Lands to help save Arthur and braved the dangers they encountered there along with the rest of them, after all. Now he was trying to act like he didn't care that he was the only one who didn't have a home to return to, but something in his eyes made her think it bothered him more than he wanted to let on.
"You could come with us," she offered, hoping to please Kenzi. "I sort of gave Dyson and Vex jobs as my security detail, and I could probably use another one, especially someone who's as good in a fight as you. I don't know about the tavern situation, though, since Trick's castle is basically in the middle of a big mountain lake."
Kenzi thought that was a great idea, but Gwaine had some reservations. "I don't know; you seem nice enough for a noble, but I don't exactly have the best history with royalty."
"Don't worry about that. You'll soon find that Bo isn't like any other royal you've met," Dyson assured him in such a dryly ironic tone that Bo felt the need to sock him in the arm.
"I'm going to take that as a compliment, because I know that's how you meant it, right, Dyson?" she demanded, narrowing her eyes dangerously.
"Absolutely," he replied with one of his wolfish grins, totally unperturbed by her light punch and the ominous look she was giving him.
"Yeah, she's totally cool," Kenzi added with much more enthusiasm, for once leaving no doubt as to whether she was being sarcastic or sincere. "You don't think I'd be besties with her if she wasn't, do you?"
"Fair point," Gwaine acknowledged, his hesitant attitude taking a more thoughtful turn. Kenzi's endorsement carried a lot of weight with him, and besides, he hadn't met many nobles who tolerated teasing from their subordinates; even Arthur was rather uptight about it. "If nothing else, living among fae would definitely be an adventure. Besides, I may have sworn off kings, but maybe I'll have better luck with a princess."
"Don't push your luck too far," Vex warned him, noting the speculative (and rather appreciative) way he was eyeing Bo. "Our princess is spoken for." He hadn't forgotten that her paramours were the ones who'd defended him when even Bo had doubts, the ones who had ultimately persuaded her to give him a chance, and he didn't think they should have to deal with competition from some flirtatious outsider.
"Is she?" Gwaine's eyes automatically darted to Merlin and Morgana, both of whom seemed to share a connection with the princess that went even deeper than her camaraderie with her retainers, and his suspicions were proven right when Bo smiled at the pair and happily confirmed that she was indeed in a committed relationship.
Of course, Gwaine knew he shouldn't be surprised that a princess was able to have not one but two incredibly attractive lovers – in his experience, there was never a shortage of people willing to warm the beds of anyone with wealth and power – but judging by the way the trio looked at each other, their arrangement seemed to be different, not like a typical noble taking advantage of those they saw as beneath them or social climbers trying to sleep their way to a higher place in some decadent court, but… If he let go of his usual cynicism when it came to the upper classes, he would call what he saw between them love. And if Princess Bo was open-minded enough to enter into such an unconventional relationship and her grandfather hadn't seen fit to put a stop to it, maybe their kingdom was exactly the kind of place he'd been looking for.
###
After a hurried return journey (during which Kilgharrah frequently complained about being required to carry an additional passenger after Gwaine decided to join them), Bo and her ever-expanding entourage were relieved when their surly steed announced at last that they were making their final descent – only for their relief to turn to confusion and alarm when, upon breaking through a thick cloud bank that had obscured the ground below all day, they realized that the dragon had set a different course from the one they'd instructed him to take.
"What are you doing, bringing us back to Trick's castle?" Merlin shouted at him. "We still have to find the missing pieces of the artifact Bo needs to reassemble, and we're running out of time!"
"Calm yourself, young warlock. I have taken you precisely where you need to be," Kilgharrah replied in a completely unruffled tone as he glided down as serenely as a leaf dancing on a wind current.
By the time they touched down on one of the grassy areas outside the castle, Trick, Elaine, and most of the courtiers had gathered to greet them, and Bo had a pretty good idea of what was going on. The instant her boots hit the ground, she marched up to her spiritual guide and ground out, "This was another trick test like the one with Vex, wasn't it? How'd you psych me out this time?"
Instead of being offended or daunted by her accusatory tone, Elaine actually allowed herself a small smile, like she was proud of Bo for catching on so quickly. "You were given a nigh impossible timeframe to complete your task, yet you chose to save a friend in need even though you believed doing so might spell your doom. Your choice showed true courage, loyalty, and selflessness, and so you have passed your second test."
The nobles applauded while Trick, Merlin, and Morgana took turns giving her congratulatory hugs and Dyson, Gwaine, and Vex thumped each other's backs in celebration, but Bo was still disgruntled over how she'd been played. "So this stupid stick never had anything to do with it," she grumbled, yanking the so-called magical artifact out of her boot, where she'd stuck it for safekeeping in place of the extra dagger she usually stowed there (said dagger was currently in her other boot) and drawing back her arm to throw it away. Wood was biodegradable, after all, so it didn't count as littering.
Elaine seemed to feel differently, however, since she took hold of Bo's wrist before she could complete her throw. "Keep it. You may yet have need of it…but I'll say no more until tomorrow. The rest of this day is yours, and I suggest you use it for relaxation and recuperation. You've earned it."
Bo appreciated the sentiment, but her leisure time took a decidedly non-relaxing turn when Evony showed up just as she was about to climb into her bathtub for a long, hot soak and demanded a full recounting of her adventure in the Perilous Lands. Apparently, the Fisher King was a well-known figure in fae folklore, so naturally, the rumors that Bo had actually entered his domain had piqued everyone's curiosity, and Evony was determined to get dibs on the latest juicy gossip.
"Why don't you go ask somebody who doesn't live in my room?" Bo protested, pulling the robe she'd been about to discard tightly around herself. "Dyson, Gwaine, and Vex were there too."
"I tried, but Vex made me turn around and leave before I got two words in. Now I'm starting to understand why mesmers are so disliked."
"And you don't think Merlin or I could do the same with our magic?" Morgana asked with an imperiously arched eyebrow.
"Not him – he's too nice," Evony replied with a dismissive glance at Merlin, who actually looked apologetic at the mere suggestion that he might use his formidable power to forcibly remove a lady from the room. "And I don't think you will either, because you know what the women of any royal court are like; information is power, and if you know something everyone else wants to know, they'll keep hounding you until they get what they want. It would be easier to just tell me what happened, and then I can keep them away from you."
And make yourself the center of attention, since you'll be the sole source of this coveted tale, Morgana thought wryly. Still, she knew Evony had a point, and the last thing Bo needed right now was to be pestered by a bevy of nosy noblewomen. "Very well, Merlin and I will tell you everything. Bo, why don't you go on to your bath before it gets cold?"
Bo knew perfectly well that the two powerful sorcerers she lived with were more than capable of reheating her bathwater, but she gratefully took the offered excuse to slip off into her washroom, closing the door behind her and leaving them to regale Evony with their story.
Evony expressed some doubt over Morgana's foolishly sentimental (in her opinion) decision to let Morgause go, but the part of the tale that the tellers found most concerning, where a group of strangers had appeared out of nowhere to attack them, only earned a nonchalant shrug from her. "Honestly, I'm more surprised it hasn't happened sooner."
Seeing the looks Merlin and Morgana gave her, which clearly showed that they didn't appreciate her cavalier attitude toward the potential threat to Bo's life, she sighed and said slowly, as if explaining a very simple concept to two dimwitted children, "She's the Blood King's heir. There hasn't been a legitimate claimant to the throne since his daughter went mad and got herself disowned, or executed, or whatever happened to her – I was just a baby when Princess Aife disappeared, and my father says people hardly ever talk about her now. A man as powerful as the Blood King couldn't be without an heir forever, though, and since there was no one else of his bloodline, some of the greatest houses were trying to push him into choosing a new heir based on other qualifications – the size of their holdings, service to the throne, political power – things that would put them at the top of the list, naturally. Father thought the king might have been close to giving in, to avoid civil war if something happened to him…until Bo showed up."
Evony paused for a moment to let that sink in, then went on. "I know she's being ridiculously stubborn about not accepting her crown," she said with a roll of her eyes, "but she's already disrupted the status quo just by being here, not to mention the things she's done. Refusing to align herself with either the Light or the Dark, bringing her human lovers into the palace and insisting that you be treated like her consorts instead of pets, assembling a personal fighting force consisting of a Light fae, a Dark fae – who also happens to be the last mesmer – and now a stray human… Is it any wonder that there are those who feel threatened by her? Who worry about what more she might do if she ever decides to actually use the power she already has at her fingertips? My guess is that the only reason there haven't been attempts on her life before now is that the nobles have been biding their time, waiting to see how great a threat she really is before they made up their minds whether it was worth the risk to try and get rid of her…not to mention that there aren't many who'd be bold enough to attempt an assassination right under the Blood King's nose. I suppose they saw an opportunity when she left the palace with only you two and a pair of guards for protection."
Merlin and Morgana exchanged troubled looks. Well, Trick warned us this might happen, he said silently. I guess we should be grateful it took them this long to act.
Indeed. Out loud, Morgana asked Evony, "Do you have any idea as to who might have been behind the attack?"
The leanan sidhe shrugged again. "I have a pretty good idea of who wants Bo gone, who has the resources to orchestrate the kind of assault you described and the nerve to go through with it, but without more information I can't narrow the list of suspects down to fewer than a dozen."
The sorcerer and seer received this news with deep dismay. As much as they wanted to protect Bo from every potential threat, they didn't have time to investigate a dozen fae nobles and help her successfully complete her Dawning at the same time. They would just have to focus on the more immediate problem, and hope whoever was responsible for the assassination attempt would wait until the Dawning was over to strike again.
###
Bo had given her guards the day off to rest and recover as she herself planned to do, but any hopes Dyson might have had for some relaxing downtime were dashed when he entered his room to find Esperanza waiting for him. Usually her presence would have been a good sign, but if that were the case she would've been wearing one of the filmy, revealing shifts she favored, or nothing at all. Today she wore her castle guard's uniform and a sour expression that gave him a sinking feeling in his stomach. Nevertheless, he greeted her cordially, hoping to avoid a confrontation by keeping things calm. "It's good to see you again. How are you?"
She gave him a slightly incredulous look but responded in kind, though there was definitely an underlying tension in the way she held her shoulders. "It's good to see you too…finally. You were gone for days, Dyson, to the Perilous Lands of all places! I didn't know if you would ever come back – most people who venture into that accursed place are never heard from again – and you didn't even tell me you were leaving!"
"I'm sorry," he said at once, meaning it. "I didn't intend to leave like that, but when Bo decided to slip away in the early hours of the morning-"
"You just had to run after her, didn't you?"
"I did, as a matter of fact, as did Vex. We swore to serve and protect her," Dyson said slowly, wondering what had her so upset. "I'm sorry there wasn't time to tell you where we were going, but you wouldn't have me shirk my duty, would you?"
Esperanza stared hard at him, as if trying to pierce the depths of his soul through the sheer force of her gaze, before abruptly asking, "Is that really all it is to you? A duty?"
"No, I also consider Bo, Merlin, and Morgana my friends, and although Vex has been hardened by the life he's endured, I do think there's a good man in there…somewhere." It was the best he could do at the moment; he couldn't honestly say he liked the mesmer yet, what with his aloof and jaded attitude, though at least he seemed determined to make the most of the fresh start Bo had given him. Seeing Esperanza's frown, Dyson asked, "What? You disapprove of my counting human sorcerers and a Dark fae as friends?" Now he was frowning too; he knew such prejudices were common in their world, but he hadn't thought it mattered to her.
"Not really – I don't understand how you can stomach working so closely with one of the Dark, let alone a mesmer, although the humans are nice enough – but they're not the problem. It's the princess."
"Bo?" Dyson repeated in utter disbelief. Try as he might, he couldn't imagine what anyone could possibly find objectionable about Bo. "You don't like her?"
"Sure I do – what's not to like? She's charming and charismatic and, oh yes, incomparably beautiful. I'm certain half the people in this castle are in love with her."
She said it as if hoping to startle an unguarded reaction out of him, and at last he understood what she was getting at. "Maybe, but I'm not one of them."
His blunt denial took her aback, and she looked like she wanted very badly to believe it, but some part of her was afraid to. Seeing that she needed further convincing, Dyson went on. "Look, when I met Bo…I was lost. Everyone who'd ever mattered to me, everything I believed in – all of it was gone. She was the one who helped me find a new purpose, showed me that there were still good people in the world, still things worth believing in and fighting for. Everything good that I have in my life is because of her, so of course I'm grateful. I guess you could even say I love her in a way, but I'm not in love with her. Believe me, I've never even thought of being with her in that way."
As she stared into his eyes, Esperanza found that she did believe him, because the look in their green depths wasn't one of romantic love but…something else. She wasn't sure exactly what to call it, but the level of devotion she saw there definitely went beyond simple friendship. If pressed, she supposed she would say that Dyson's feelings toward Bo almost seemed to border on reverence, and while that certainly wasn't as bad as if he had been in love with her, something about it still made the fox-shifter very uneasy.
###
Bo, Merlin, and Morgana spent their time off relaxing in their private chambers, catching up on some much-needed rest (and certain other activities they hadn't been able to partake in during their travels which also required the use of Bo's oversized bed). When Elaine appeared along with their midday meal the following day, however, they knew that their short respite from reality was about to end.
"Time to get back to work, huh? Any chance you're actually going to tell me what my last pre-Dawning test is, or do I just get jerked around some more?" Bo asked sourly.
Unfazed by her resentful attitude, Elaine said serenely, "No, your final task is much more straightforward, though your character and capabilities will still be tested."
"Great," Bo sighed. "Okay, let's hear it."
"For the final test, in order to prove yourself worthy to enter the Temple, you must right a great injustice perpetrated by one of your bloodline-"
"Wait just a minute. I have to make up for what someone else did? How is that fair, even if they're my family?"
"Bo can't be held responsible for her madwoman of a mother's misdeeds," Morgana said indignantly, while Merlin nodded in agreement.
"Aife's misguided actions are not the issue; rather, I speak of a rash action taken by Fitzpatrick in the heat of anger, driven by the pain of betrayal, one he has sorely regretted in the years since." Elaine turned her unsettlingly pale blue eyes on Bo, who felt a stirring of unease in her gut.
As long as Trick had lived, she suspected he had plenty of regrets, but aside from Aife, she could only think of one that haunted him enough for him to have told her about it. But the test can't be what I'm thinking, because there's no way I can fix that, and they wouldn't ask me to do something impossible, right? No way…
Then Elaine spoke again, and her next words confirmed Bo's fears. "You must recover the race of dragons from the brink of extinction to which your grandfather's curse has driven them."
Looks like Bo just got handed her toughest test yet. Thanks to all of you who stuck with me through the first full year of this fic, and I look forward to seeing you again in 2025.