Merlin's Creed (Evans Witches), page 1
Copyright © Reut Barak
Reut Barak has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This novel is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cover Design by Domanza
Development Editing by Dr. Liron Gibbs Bar
Line Editing by Graeme Smith
Copyediting by Faith Williams
Interior Formatting by Dallas Hodge
ISBN: 9798746806338
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher once it is officially being published, and made available for purchase.
To my husband and boy, and to my best friend,
who all believed in me.
About the Author
Reut Barak is an author based in Edinburgh, Scotland. She started her career as a singer and learned about European history and myths. Inspired by Arthurian legends, she started creating a magical world of wizards and witches, which links to the rich folklore of Scotland and to modern love stories. She is also an online chef and founder of RawMunchies, a creative venture for healthy vegan recipes. She’s a freelance journalist, previously published in National Geographic online, and has worked and traveled internationally. She has an MBA from the University of Oxford and...
Well, no, not really... The true story is:
Reut was born in Camelot in the year 1201, following the famous explosion of the northern dragon tower.
She has a degree in fantasy and science fiction from the University of Atlantis and this record can be found in the central library, now twenty thousand leagues under the sea.
She likes phoenix riding, dragon fighting, and painting the roses red. And Grimm’s Fairy Tales, too.
Prologue
Scotland, Present Day
Jane sat on the chair opposite mine with a half-empty glass of wine in her hand. Her second. I hoped that it would be enough.
How do you tell your best friend that you’re not who they thought you were – not even close?
“Kim, I don’t think you can surprise me. It’s not like you’re about to tell me that there are fairies, witches, and magical creatures in this world and that Morganstein’s research of Camelot literature is historically accurate.”
I froze, my eyes wide open. No way! Did she already suspect it?
She stopped, seeing my reaction. Then, slowly, she put her glass down and leaned forward.
We sat there, watching each other in silence.
She took a deep breath. “How much of it?”
“All of it.”
Chapter One
England, AD 500
The dream came every night. So vivid, it almost felt real. But Kim knew she was asleep and these were the visions of her prophecy.
It always started with a woman called Igraine. She had long, curly, red hair, a sign of northern ancestry. She was the most important lady in the land because she would be the mother of King Arthur.
Then, she saw Merlin in his tower at Camelot. He had the other half of the prophecy: he knew who Arthur’s father was.
It was crucial to help Arthur’s parents meet and protect them, and then do everything possible to keep Arthur’s birth a secret. Because the magical world wanted him dead. An older prophecy said that his rule would diminish their influence—slowly, magic would disappear from the world. Their very existence would become myth.
But something went wrong. That part always came next: The fires of battle. She’d see them spread as their heat rose above a town, and mages on both sides cast weather and battle spells to desperately try to affect the outcome. Loud cries from the soldiers would mix with the trebuchets as their rocks hit the castle that lay under siege.
Then, the prophetic visions would be replaced with hazy images of a world far in the future, where men put down their weapons and gave up their rough ways. There were buildings taller than any castle and windows framed in metal. People fought for sport with swords that bent and didn’t draw blood, wearing white attires and strange basket-looking masks—you could watch them without being there in person, on small rectangular screens.
She liked to look at one of these sportsmen in particular. He was the exception—the one thing she saw clearly. He was tall, with bright-brown hair and eyes as grey as a cloud-covered ocean. His presence brought warm feelings, and a perpetual longing to be with him, always. His strong, masculine voice would whisper in the night, in a strange language that she understood perfectly. And he’d call to her, “Kim…Kim.”
Kim opened her eyes. For a moment, the images of her dream were still there. Then, they vanished and the world around came into focus.
She was out in the woods, where she’d chosen to cast a protective sphere called the tent spell. It prevented anyone from seeing or hearing her. Or sensing her magic. The starry night shone between the treetops.
“Kim.”
She turned. “Seth.”
He was the same man from that future world. Here with her now. She reached for him under her conjured blanket, but his side of the bed was empty. He sat on the edge. In the light of the stars, she saw that he was already fully dressed and armed—ready to protect her if there was a need.
Sweet. But she was the one who was supposed to protect him.
“Here.” He leaned and handed her her clothes, placing a delicate kiss on her lips.
She closed her eyes to savor the sensation. “Mmm. What time is it?”
“By the moon, about five or six in the morning. I let you sleep in.”
She laughed and picked up the long, warm socks. They were rough on the skin, but their sturdy fabric was essential during the journey.
“Did you have the dream?”
“Every night. The only part that changes is the bit from us in the future. I see different things each time. Tonight, I saw you fencing, but I wasn’t there. I watched you inside something that looked like a frame.”
He knit his eyebrows. “I fenced in a frame?”
“Yes. Sort of. Or maybe it was some shiny screen.” That was the closest way she could describe it. Sometimes it was hard to tell whether the things in those visions were real or part of dreams. And now some things happened inside these strange screens, just to add to the confusion.
“How far in the future do you think this is?”
“I don’t know.” She rose to put on the warm travel dress. It closed at the front, and Seth came to help her tighten the top.
His fingers trembled on the knots, sending heat through her body and tingles on her skin.
“You could have woken me up earlier...”
“Yes. I could have. But I’d rather save something for tonight.”
“Seth!”
“Don’t complain. I can tell you like it.”
She laughed. He always made her laugh. In that future of theirs, most of the memories were light. Sometimes she giggled in her sleep.
“Come, saucy lady. Let’s get food, before I give in to temptation and we’ll start the day too late.”
She bit her lip, and fastened the peplos under her shoulders. Then, she conjured food. It was a transmutation spell: the ground under the mattress transformed itself, as it did to sustain the plants and life of this earth. It was the only form of conjuring that was permanent.
It was a breakfast almost worthy of her father’s castle.
She used to be a princess. The fresh scent of the bread reminded her of the court life that she had left behind. She closed her eyes. She could almost imagine the taste of the morning stew that had brewed all night, and the sweet baked goods. It was one of the best kitchens in the land. Even Seth said so. He had visited many courts when he was the first knight of King Fergus Mór; dined with noblemen and kings, including her father. Or rather, her adoptive father. The father she had in this world.
Over two years had passed, since...since they went back in time and ended up here, forgetting everything they knew. She recalled how hard it was to deal with such a loss of memory. They also got separated for almost two years. They met again only a few weeks ago, and then the memories came. Before that, she just knew herself as King Áedán’s daughter.
She had made a brave and dangerous choice to leave it all behind and try to find Merlin.
She looked at the plates in front of her. At court, they had a prayer of grace before eating. She had a different prayer now: that the Order of the First Shrine wouldn’t find her.
Seth watched the way Kim picked up a bread roll. Delicately and slowly. He chuckled, recalling her perfect, almost mechanic manners, when they first met, back at her father’s castle. And the intense hostility between them then.
“What?”
“Nothing. Well, you.”
She smiled at him. Her eyes shimmered. Soft. Loving. She ate the bread and beamed in satisfaction.
“You should try the salad. There’s magic in the sauce.”
He expected a laugh, but she stared. “I think...you’ve said that to me before.”
He had! That was right. He remembered now. It was long ago, in another time. She sat beside him, her blonde hair loose and her clothe
He smiled. “Well, this time it’s certain. Magic in the sauce.”
Whatever spell brought them to this time had taken her away from him, but he found her again and the intense love between them grew every day.
She looked down at her plate. “I think I’m done.” It was still mostly full.
“What? But you’ve just started. You need to eat. It’s the final day of our journey. After that, we’ll have time to rest and take things slow.”
“All right.” She sighed and put her hand on his. “We’ve been lucky so far.”
Lucky was an understatement. It was a miracle they were still alive.
The Order of the First Shrine wanted Kim because of her prophetic visions. And they were the most powerful order of mages in the land: they shared their combined magic through a hundred Blue Diamond rings, so a chance meeting with one of them was fatal.
For over a hundred years, the magical world waited for those visions she had—so they could kill the child king, or better yet, kill one of his parents before he was born. A powerful curse, Avalon’s Curse, had caused them to become servants to mankind, and this boy’s rule was destined to seal their fate.
Instead, she wanted to go to Merlin and save Arthur—who she saw as the king’s protector in the future—because she loved Seth. Avalon’s Curse had made witches Guardians to humans. She was his, born to fall for him. Mages lived for hundreds of years—this was the only way that they could spend their long life together.
She did have another option. He’d told her that over a month ago, when they started on this dangerous journey.
“You can go to the Order. You won’t have to run away. They’d take you in with open arms, just to prevent this child from being born. You could restore the power of mages and possibly even reignite the fire of Avalon to reverse the Curse.” It was the one thing many mages wanted.
“But I would be reversing us. There would be no more Guardians.”
“So, you chose me.” There was no way to describe how much her words had meant to him.
For the last few weeks, they had to look over their shoulders constantly. They even used new names, Adelis and Caradoc, a lady and her bodyguard—not even a couple—to draw less attention. They slept in the woods and stayed away from towns as far as possible.
So far, they only got attacked twice by bounty hunters and both times she managed to avoid any spells requiring a lot of power—mages could sense those, and if someone recognized her trace of magic…
But it was almost over. One last stretch, and they would reach Camelot, where Kim saw Merlin. Seth knew that village. A famous mage, Ivan of Camelot, once lived there. But that was long ago. Ivan was dead and the place was destroyed by a fire. He’d told Kim this, but she said that in her visions it had been rebuilt into a town with a royal court.
In truth, he couldn’t wait to finally get there. It had been nonstop since they left. No real rest. Draining.
But there was no time to think of this. Not today. They finished eating and set off. At least the roads were quiet and easy to navigate. Though Kim lagged behind.
“Enjoying the ride?” He turned and teased.
“Oh, please!”
“You know, people pay for this kind of luxury.”
“They do? Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Her expression changed. “Hmm…Let’s find out!” And with that, she suddenly quickened her horse’s pace and overtook him.
He hastened to match her speed. This was the side of her he loved the most. The side that craved adventure. Here was the brave woman who, in one day, left the comforts of royalty and embraced life as a mage.
How she had managed to endure the restrictions of court for so long was still a mystery, knowing what she was like. Seven months, and before that she lived with a fairy tribe for about a year and a half, where she was coached and groomed to be the perfect princess. Hard to tell which one was worse! The night he took her from the palace, she showed him how naturally she took to life on the road.
Her joyous laughter filled the path up front. “Right or left?” she shouted.
“Which do you think, Highness?”
She picked right. It was wrong and led them to a dead end at a small clearing.
“Oops.”
“Oops?”
She smiled. “It’s a good thing I’ve got the best knight in the world to protect me.”
“Who says I’m going to?”
She giggled.
“Hungry?” They always had packed snacks with them. Kim never dared to conjure outside that protective spell.
“Not really. But, I’ll have a bite.”
He split the food and handed her half.
“Thanks.” She chewed fast. Tense. Something bothered her.
He waited. She’d talk. She always did in the end.
She finished the food and looked at him. Her expression betrayed doubt. Perhaps even fear. “What if Merlin’s like the others? What if he doesn’t want to protect Arthur? What if he’s a threat to us too?”
It had occurred to him, but it seemed unlikely. “In your visions, he does. And either way, if he’s smart, he won’t challenge you. He’ll hear you out to find out all he needs to know. That would give us time. And, don’t worry. He’s not our only hope. We’ll find someone else if we need to. There are plenty of strong mages, and some of them are bound to be like you—prefer to keep things as they are.”
She sighed. Her face calmed.
How was it that with all her tremendous powers, she still looked to him for strength?
They almost reached Camelot. Almost. Damn the rain!
They were only an hour away when it got heavy and they had to stop at a tavern, in a small town called Benwick.
Kim waited impatiently by the window. So close!
The roads from here were rough and hard to navigate. It was better to wait for the storm to pass.
The place was packed. She watched Seth negotiate with the tavern owner for a table. They had said that they were full, but he walked back to her with a look of victory.
He approached her, taller than most men there. Glorious. So radiant in the way he walked, and…a memory: their first kiss! They stood in front of each other, somewhere outside in the dark. She surprised him and took a step forward, stopping with her body inches from his. Her hands moved toward his wide chest. With a mesmerized look on his face, he leaned down toward her.
Now, intensity rushed through her, as if she were reliving it, seeing him amid the blur that clouded the world around the memory.
How could she have forgotten this?
Seth thought they shouldn’t dwell on their past too much and they were lucky to be together, no matter where or when. And that whatever took them away from their old lives must have happened for a reason. But she disagreed. She hated not remembering.
“You all right?”
She nodded. “Never better.”
He laughed and looked out the window. “Don’t worry. The rain can’t last forever.”
“Well, no. Not unless I do something,” she teased. Weather spells were out of the question in a crowded area.
He winked. He took her hand in his, and they went to the place that was set for them. At the other side of their table, three men sat with many empty tankards of beer.
Seth helped her to her seat.
“Thank you. Always the gentleman.”
“Doing my best.” He sat beside her, and the innkeeper brought them a tray of freshly baked bread and jam.
One of the drunk men pounded his fist hard on the table. She looked up from her plate. The man laughed at the other two. “And then he says to me, ‘You fool. You’re better off staying at home. If you go there, you’d be baked alive.’ I tell him his mother was a fool and I bet she never knew who his father was. But I do as he says. He says, ‘Don’t go on that ship.’ So, I don’t go. And guess what? The next day I hear that it burned.”
“It’s a coincidence.”
“It’s not a coincidence. I’m telling you. Sure as I can see you now, that man can see the future.”
