My Merlin Awakening by Priya Ardis Page A

He has the ability and the motive. If he wants to, he could actually succeed at taking the sword from you.”
    “How?” I said.
    He inclined his head. “I don’t know for certain, but if you get killed… who knows? Or maybe just defeat you, even with Excalibur in your hands.”
    “You and Matt can defeat me.”
    Vane’s lips curved up. “We can’t take the sword, remember? We were disqualified a long time ago.”
    “Why am I seventy-five percent?”
    “The possibility would be much slimmer if you were truly bonded with the sword. You’re not. You’re resisting it. You barely even want to touch it. It’s not going to be good enough. We do not yet know why the sword has returned, but it was for a reason and if you don’t accept that you could doom us all.”
    Words. They could hurt. Even though I knew he spoke nothing but the truth. Even though I had figured it out myself. Hearing it somehow made it sting more. I glanced around at the pictures. Each one mocked me.
    I wasn’t a person. I was the Candidate . The dummy who’d won the prize.
    Vane’s dark hair spiked up at odd angles. It emphasized his bold cheekbones. My eyes traveled over his bare chest, the hard lines of six-pack abs. His smooth skin, its perfection broken only by a puckered scar just above his heart, invited my touch.
    Exactly what prize had I won? Being so close together should have thrilled me, yet I couldn’t get past the hollow nothingness I sensed widening inside. Did he want to be near me or want to be near the sword? Matt had made his preference clear tonight. Vane… I didn’t know, but I had hoped. Foolish hope.
    I turned and started to walk out of the bedroom.
    “Ryan,” he said softly, at my back.
    I stopped at the door.
    “Why did you come in here?”
    “It doesn’t matter.” I stepped past the threshold into the living room.
    ***
    The Wizard’s Council gathered in a small room just beyond the Great Hall in Camelot. As First Member, I should have been sitting at its head. Instead I’d experienced a frightful vision the night before and had to know if it were true. I dreaded it was. The great and powerful Merlin wasn’t supposed to dread anything, but I tried not to lie to myself. Only one person could evoke such panic.
    I hurried through the main keep of the castle. Servants in grey uniforms with small sashes of colorful red went back and forth between the bedrooms. Mid-morning sunlight streamed in with cheerful vibrancy through small square openings in the walls.
    King Arthur was sequestered at the Round Table through the night. The knights readied to defend the kingdom against an invading army from the east. It was said an immortal king led the aggressors, and every knight had been called to arms.
    Half the city would be empty by the afternoon. The Council was to elect how many wizards would be sent with the knights. They would make up part of the front lines. Two knights who guarded Arthur’s chambers saluted me as I walked past. I gave them a small nod. My heart hammered with fear. I could only hold onto the false hope that what I’d seen wasn’t true.
    I rounded the corner. A passageway led to a dead end that held only a decorative tapestry from floor to ceiling at its middle. I stood there for a few minutes. Hoping against hope to be wrong.
    My heart sank when the tapestry moved. A figure pushed the heavy fabric aside and walked out of a hidden door. The stone door shut behind him. He stopped when he saw me. The tapestry fell back into place.
    “Merlin,” he sneered. “Skulking about the castle again?”
    “Vane,” I said evenly. Sweat covered him in a fine film. A hint of lavender wafted from a crumpled shirt. I pointed out. “Your trews are loose.”
    Vane looked down at his navel and smiled arrogantly. He took his time tying them. It was a wonder they hadn’t fallen to his knees already. He read my thoughts easily.
    “Would be a good show,” he grinned.
    “What are you thinking? You’re a knight!”