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Chapters (76)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. THE ORDER OF THE ROUND TABLE
  5. PROLOGUE
  6. PART ONE STRENGTH
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. 9
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. PART TWO POWER
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. 25
  33. 26
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. PART THREE CONTROL
  38. 30
  39. 31
  40. 32
  41. 33
  42. 34
  43. 35
  44. 36
  45. 37
  46. 38
  47. 39
  48. 40
  49. 41
  50. 42
  51. 43
  52. 44
  53. 45
  54. PART FOUR VOLITION
  55. 46
  56. 47
  57. 48
  58. 49
  59. 50
  60. 51
  61. 52
  62. 53
  63. ONLY A KING
  64. 54
  65. 55
  66. 56
  67. 57
  68. 58
  69. 59
  70. 60
  71. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  72. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  73. More from this Series
  74. More from the Author
  75. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  76. Also by Tracy Deonn

‘I will not die…,’ his voice rumbles, a storm closing in, ‘but call on blood to live.’

Let me go!

‘No, my bri. Not now. Not ever.’

He lied. And I believed him.

The cord between my spirit and my body snaps… and I fall away from myself.

ONLY A KING

54

THE WORLD IS brighter this way.

Warmer.

Louder.

Alive.

Around me, the destruction Briana and I had wrought together. The Mageguard, broken and scattered. Some appear more dead than even I am, but I don’t bother to check. Their general, the Seneschal, is felled where we left him.

Briana’s friend—the girl with the Merlin-incapacitating noisemaker—lies still and pale, mouth slack. The golden barrier nearby is open, the Scion of Gawain running through it, too late to save her.

Briana would be devastated.

“Nnnghhhh…” A groan to my left. The Merlin boy, Selwyn, awakening. He is groggy, disoriented. His cambion eyes are unfocused as he surveys the chaos that remains. His gaze fixes on Briana, and focuses at once. “What happened…?” He rises to standing and reaches toward me. Toward Briana. “Are you all right?”

Quaint.

I let him pull Briana’s body close. He wants to hold her. He dips his nose into her neck—inhaling, then freezing. “Bree, you smell… different…?” He inhales deep against her skin a second time.

I stop him with a hand around his jaw, I dig Briana’s nails into his skin—and squeeze. He jerks back, yellow eyes gleaming. “What the hell—?”

My laugh in her chest is a slow, delicious thing. I like the sound of it. The Merlin boy does not. His face and eyes remind me of his ancestor. If only Merlin could see his children now.

“Bree?” asks the boy.

I pull her full lips back into a smile. “Dydi Briana ddim yma.”

Briana is not here.

Blood drains from his cheeks. He takes Briana’s appearance in just as Erebus did. The gray hair. The flash of silver-blue in her eyes. The smile. All the little places where bits of me are mingled with bits of her. Have been mingling, in fact. One memory at a time.

The Merlin hisses, fangs just bared, palms opening to the sky. “You’re Arthur.”

“Yes.” I search for the words in modern English. They will hurt more that way, said in her voice and in her language. “I am Arthur Pendragon, and I own this body now.”

A growl rolls up through his chest, out through clenched teeth. “No, you do not.”

He launches himself at me and I laugh, dodging him easily. Briana is much faster than she thinks she is. He stumbles in the dirt, shock gripping his features.

He has never seen her move this way.