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That Myrddin was a prophet and bard who’d gone htered his lord, along with e, Myrddin tore off his clothes and ran screa into the woods, where he lived like a wild ani, drowning, and ierous as a hungry predator And my host had picked him as a role model

"I’m not in any mood for riddles, ‘Myrddin’ So why don’t you just tell me what you want?"

Another face appeared over aunt, with bruise-dark circles under his eyes "Where’s Juliet?"

"If I kneouldn’t tell you"

He slapped me, hard I couldn’t turn my head to dissipate the force of the blow My cheek burned and throbbed

"Peace, Piotr, peace" Myrddin placed a calh Pryce will give you whatever information you require from this one"

"Pryce is here?" Juliet had said the Old Ones called him "the sleeper" This "Myrddin" must be the wizard they’d allied themselves with

"Here, here--is Pryce here? In a h I’d hardly say that half-corpse of a man is ‘here’ Poor lad can’t even open his eyes and say, ‘Welcome back, Papa’ "

Pryce’s father There was a fa as Myrddin kept his mouth shut to hide his bad teeth

I searched my memory Some stories claimed Merlin was the child of a demon father and a human mother A demi-demon

"Pryce doesn’t like to admit it," Myrddin went on, "but there’s a touch of the Cerddorion in him, as well Of course, there’ll be led again The sound, plus the stench of his breath, washed overto help wakeyour life force to hier to see which parts of you will manifest in Pryce He’ll know the contents of your , thick fingernail "There h I’ much He’s already a better swords to offer hi that could be quite useful to a de, you know"

He turned to the IV bag "I need a littleIt’s a h to shapeshift But doubtless you’ve already discovered that"

His words extinguished any last glimmer of hope I held He must have seen the despair in my face, because he smiled

"Victory An odd name for one so co you for years, you know, even though I couldn’t coht you were fated to bear his sons No, no, no" He wagged a scolding finger "You’ll join with him in a different way In just a few hours, I’ll transfer your life force to my son You’ll be nuain, and Victory shall be no le ricocheted around the roo you can do about it"

12

I WASN’T USED TO FEELING AFRAID UNCERTAINTY, WORRY, anxiety--those were eled under h ht! Flee! Whatever you do, don’t just lie there!

I willedI would not lie in this roo in fear If Myrddin’s sedative prevented , I’d make it work for me instead I’d rest I’d sleep, even And I’d use the dream phone to contact Aunt Mab

The Cerddorion can coh the mental pathways that open in sleep A dream phone call would require some concentration, but not nearly as much as a shift

I didn’t knohat tih to detect a dream-phone call even while awake I needed to talk to her I had no hope Mab could do anything to help uest clue about the location of this dark, locked rooood-bye

The sedative stroked at the edges ofthe shore I relaxed into the sensation, let myself sink into sleep In my dreae of the lake, picturingbeside still water The day was sunny, the sand arrant with scents of grass and pine I leaned over and drew h the water It arm, like bathwater, and I made patterns with the ripples Tiny, rainbow-colored fish, attracted by the movement, followed my hand

When my dreamscape felt real, I was ready to make the call I pictured Mab in various contexts, as if I were paging through an old photograph albu swordplay on the back lawn at Maenllyd Mab at the kitchen table, pouring a cup of tea Mab reaching for a book froe that always arose when I thought ofby the fireplace in her library, a book open on her lap I recalled lightly--no anxiety, no straining--that Mab’s personal colors were blue and silver And I let those colors tinge e, rising up in billows of blue and silver that swirled acrosschair, a fire crackling beside her, just as I’d ier in the book to hold her place as she closed it Her gaze was alert as she waited for me to speak