“Do you know how risky it was for me to go to the ball tonight? Dressed like this?” Emry accused. “I’m terrified every day that the wrong person will discover I’m Merlin’s daughter, and not his son. That I’ll find myself dragged before the king as a traitor for what I’ve done. I didn’t sign up for this! It was only supposed to be for a week!”

“Then why did you stay?” Arthur asked.

“For the same reason I let you stab me with a sword. Because I thought you were someone you’re not. And I thought we were something we’re not. Now get out.”

“Emry—”

“Get out!”

Arthur’s mouth pressed into a thin line. And then he left, slamming the door behind him.

Morgana watched as her husband paced the length of their ship’s cabin, his face blotched with anger. He had been seething ever since King Uther’s accusation at the ball earlier that evening.

“You said no one would notice the scabbard,” Yurien growled.

“No one was supposed to. I didn’t account for their apprentice court wizard.”

She’d felt as though she had seen a ghost, watching Merlin’s boy burst into the royal box. Especially when Excalibur had leapt into his hand as if summoned by mere thought. And as it did, she’d recognized the silver mark upon his palm.

He had opened a door to the Otherworld. Somehow, for him, it had worked. No wonder the prince had Anwen’s scabbard, if their apprentice wizard was capable of such rare and impossible magic.

“The apprentice wizard?” Yurien sounded incredulous. “You’re talking about that scrawny teenage boy?”

“He is a Merlin,” Morgana hissed. “Perhaps even more powerful than his father.”

She ripped the dark veil from her hair, tossing it to the floor. Even if it had been amusing to wear such an outlandish costume, her disguise had proven wholly unnecessary. She had thought the king might recognize her, with how strongly she resembled her mother, but he hadn’t thrown her a second glance. No one had.

“And the prince is no fool,” Morgana went on. “You forget that he recovered both the sword in the stone and Excalibur.”

“I forget nothing,” said Yurien, coldly furious. “And it would serve you well to remember that I covered for you. You neglected to consult me before you took that enchantment.”

Morgana shot her husband a look. If only he knew all the things she neglected to consult him before doing. “There wasn’t time,” she said impatiently. “You don’t know how many years I’ve been after a piece of Anwen’s magic.”

“And now we have one.” Yurien admired the emerald ring on his forefinger, the stone glinting in the candlelight. “It worked well enough earlier. I gave it to the boatswain before I slit his throat. He’s already back to his duties.”