"Down, boys." Verte grumbled something about needing a spray bottle or a rolled up scroll.

"Later." I waved away both their questions.

"a.s.suming there is a later," Mic grumbled.

"So Blanc is still..." I trailed off as Verte tossed me the charred book we'd seen on the eyepod. The t.i.tle had changed to read The Lost City of Atlantis. Blanc's sigil, the lotus rose-water lily, whatever-was engraved on the front. An entire story vanished in the s.p.a.ce of an hour. The book now only had one picture: Blanc sitting upon the throne among the ruins. A crown of black pearls rested on her white hair, gold circlets on her wrists and neck. She was clothed in a gown of shimmery seafoam and holding the copper trident like a scepter. An empress of an empty city.

"And what of the grail?" Mordred asked, setting me down gently.

Mic snorted. "It was all the mutt and I could do to rescue the crown princess. Between the White One's army of sea creatures and her control of the waters, she's built herself a fortress. There's no way we can penetrate it."

I turned toward the water. "I'll do it."

Kato cantered over, towering above me. "Whatever you are scheming, the answer is no."

"You really are bossy." I flicked his muzzle. "I know where the grail is. I'm going to go bring it back here."

"We're going to bring it back here," Mordred corrected.

"Over my dead body," Kato growled.

Mordred put his hand on the ax at his side. "Easily arranged. Your head would be a prize for any hunter's wall."

"Did you miss the part where, in my magnificence, I a.s.serted that the defenses were impenetrable?" Mic called over the posturing.

"All of you shut up!" I said. "Tell me if I'm missing something. Blanc is gonna get her binds off any minute, Dorthea's the only who can stop her, but if we don't cure the madness of the curse, then we have to worry about both the flood and the fire."

"I can keep her in check," Kato muttered, but I don't think even he believed the words as he said them.

Verte repeated the prophecy everyone knew by heart now. "Girl of Emerald, no man can tame. Burn down the world, consumed by flames."

The sh.o.r.es of Camelot were eerily quiet.

"Let us go," Mordred said, walking toward the water.

I grabbed the back of his shirt. "I have to go alone."

That didn't sit well with anyone. Mic, Verte, Kato, and Mordred all yelled their arguments at once, making it impossible to hear any of them. Safe to say it was all a resounding no.

"Look, I'm not trying to be a hero. And I'm not trying to cheat or betray anyone. Mic said it: none of you can get past the lake's defenses or know the way to Avalon."

Then came the dreaded question I could only avoid for so long...

"And you think you can?"

I didn't look at any of them as I said, "I know I can."

The ground shook. My head snapped up as a green elephonkey charged toward us, spraying me down with water. With a puff it was gone and Oz stood there, holding my hand and The Lost City of Atlantis.

"What are you up to now, meddler?" Verte asked, wringing the drops of water off her mole.

"Wait for it," I said quietly as the water soaked into my skin, making the inked flower underneath it shimmer. The Lady of the Lake's mark. The empress's mark.

"I knew I'd remember where I'd seen that flower." Oz shrugged. "That is all." Without another word, he walked back to Dorthea and left me to sort out the mess.

Kato said only one word. "Why?" The light leaving his eyes said so much more.

"The why doesn't matter, fool." Mic grabbed my wrist and inspected it. "This is the blessing of the empress's champion. The bearer is immune to any water attacks, can breathe underwater, summon and go through the whirlpool. How she got the mark doesn't matter. Just be grateful that she does because it increases the odds of survival from zero."

"He's right," Verte said. "Ten percent now, at least."

"Great." I rolled my eyes.

I reached up to ruffle Kato's mane, but he stepped back with a wince. I understood how he felt and didn't hold it against him. Thanks to my Dorthea-bond vision, I got to see a repeat of when I handed Griz the star, except from both Dorthea's and my standpoint. I got to feel her heartbreak. Even though I was barefoot now, I understood the adage "the shoe is on the other foot." I saw both sides, hero and villain.

Let me tell you, the view sucked.

I stepped backward, keeping both Kato and Mordred in sight. "Trust me." Then I turned around before I could see if they believed me.

My shadow stretched out before me, bending away from the water, about as eager to touch it as I was.

"While I was away, you have turned into quite the little hero after all. Whoever would have guessed?"

No. I was definitely not a hero. It's not like I wanted to save the day. In fact, I would have much preferred someone else have the job. No one else could though, and I would do whatever I needed to, to save my family.

But if you asked me, a ten percent chance of survival was optimistic.

"Obsession is the hunger than gnaws your insides. And when it destroys you from the inside out, you still beg for more."

-Evil Queen, Shattered Reflections.

34.

Hate Is Blind.

I'd never tried to get to Avalon before. I'd always either been dragged there or... Nope, only been dragged. Mic said I could summon the whirlpool. So I dove into the lake and swam down, willing the water to spin like the cyclone Dorthea and I rode out of Emerald. I imagined the whirlpool sucking me into the swirling vortex and spitting me out into the caves of Avalon. The mark on my wrist tingled and glowed, and the water obeyed.

Being in charge of the whirlpool made it a much smoother ride. I popped my head out of the water, just enough to see. It was exactly as I hoped. No one was home. Pulling myself up, I slipped out of the water and onto the rock as quietly as I could. This would be an in-and-out job. I scampered silently over to the oyster desk, then remembered what happened anytime I thought a heist would be easy in and out. Something always went wrong. In this case, the inkwell wasn't there.

No! I pushed aside scallops, and shrimps scattered, but the inkwell was nowhere to be found.

The sound of water circling made me freeze. Unsure of who it was, I ducked behind a rock formation and held my breath. The moments ticked by. Finally, there came another sound-a slurping noise.

"I know you're there."

Blanc.

She was fishing, waiting to see if I would give up my position. Well, I wasn't that- "You're behind the limestone peak. You left inky footprints of that reaper's filth. You may as well come out."

I looked down at my feet, and the Lady of the Lake was right. No doubt Morte was upping his stain on me, trying to hasten my demise. Without the boots, this death would be my last. And the Grimm Reaper seemed to be waiting impatiently.

I stepped out from behind the rocks to see the Lady of the Lake, composed half of squid and a dozen or so snapping turtles this time.

"I thought we were friends. So why do you hide from me?" she asked.

I thought about every con that might make a convincing story, but tact had never been my strong suit. "Let's just be straight and get it over with. You're Blanc, and I'm breaking in to steal from you. Now what?"

I don't know what I expected, but trills of laughter weren't it. "Very well," she said, and the turtles and squid dropped to the ground, slipping into the nearest pool. The White Empress rose smoothly from the waters. "It takes a surprising amount of effort to control those creatures, but I couldn't very well just show my true form from the beginning. You'd already made your mind up about me without hearing my side."

"Your lies you mean."

"No. Think back. I haven't told you one false statement." She gestured to the last turtle crawling away. "I apologize for the puppetry, but the rest is who I truly am. I am not like that charlatan Mimikos, pretending to be someone else. Long before I was called Blanc the White Empress, I was simply the Lady of the Lake. Some men of this land worshipped me as a G.o.ddess; others feared me as a demon siren. The rest of my family and I, all elementals, were blamed every time there was a flood, a drought, an earthquake, or a lightning strike."

She'd hit a sore spot. "Or, I don't know, steal someone's life force and hit them with stormbolts."

Blanc shrugged serenely. "And I should be judged for my sister Grizelda's actions? From the moment I entered into the world, I have been saddled with the blame for others' choices. Blamed for the stupidity of men who sacrificed their virgin daughters on my sh.o.r.es. Some to appease the wicked demon and protect the village. Some to garner favor and harness my powers for their own benefits."

Blanc hit the bull's-eye again, and emotional wounds Robin inflicted on me hurt anew.

"I never asked for that," Blanc said, holding her hands to her chest. "I wanted to live in a world where people were free to decide their own fates, in spite of their births. So I gave a peasant boy a sword and made him a king, not the knight who was supposed to have it. I changed the story. I thought I controlled my own destiny. I was wrong. And I paid the price."

Listening to her, it really was hard to remember that she was the enemy. She was a victim. She'd lost the one she loved and had to watch him die. Blanc had had everything taken from her.

"I can tell what you're thinking," she said. "I already told you that we are much too alike for my own good. Which is why you wear my blessing and why I'm not going to kill you for trying to steal the grail."

"You're not?" I coughed. "I mean, grail? What grail? I was just gonna steal the trident since Excalibur was a bust."

"Now who's lying?" She motioned with her hand, her fingers making the water dance, parting it until I could see the grail. "This is what you're after so you can save that destroyer."

I snorted. "Hypocrite much? You took out an entire story just a minute ago."

"They're casualties of war. Sacrifices have to be made if we are going to fix the system." She walked toward me with her arms open. "I can't do it alone. Help me create a new world where there are no more children abandoned in trees. No more needless suffering just to make sure some insipid princess gets her happy ever after."

The pa.s.sion in her eyes and the empathy in her voice cooled some of the anger in my soul. Whatever Oz said, I didn't believe that Blanc was down-to-the-bone evil. She wasn't mean, nasty, and cruel simply to get power and make herself happy. And the Storymaker system sucked. G.o.ds creating characters to amuse them and dance to their tunes. But that didn't mean what Blanc was doing was right.

Oh, and she was absolutely nuts.

There was no universe where it made sense to sacrifice thousands, to cause pain in order to spare people from pain. In trying to give characters a choice and a chance at controlling their own fates, Blanc had taken away their futures. Trying to make sense of it all made my head hurt.

And that whole ten percent survival was getting slimmer by the second. I had one chance. I was going to have to be fast. There were really good odds I wasn't going to survive it in the end.

I let Blanc embrace me, and behind her back, I waved at DumBeau. Help me, I mouthed. He nodded, not nearly as dumb as all of us thought him to be. I pointed to the grail on the ground and hoped he understood.

Not wanting to seem off, I pulled back. "I wish I could help you. I do. But as you can see, Morte is going to claim me as soon as Dorthea loses it again."

Blanc traced a line down my face, looking into my eyes. "I can protect you from both, but I need these binds off first." She held out her wrists. "If you free me, I will free you."

DumBeau was moving behind her, and she would notice as he got close. I would have to play along, just long enough. The timing would have to be perfect.

"Tell me what to do."

She narrowed her eyes but nodded. "The trident. Someone else has to willingly hold it and choose to release my binds." Holding on to the tip of the trident with one hand, she pressed under the bracelet with the other. "Grab on to the end and say Liberation."

I nodded. Hurry up, I pleaded to DumBeau.

"Well, go on."

Forgive me, I thought, then said, "Liberation." The left bracelet crumbled to dust. Miniwaves rose out of the pools. A new rush of heat filled my wrist, and the lotus rose sigil glowed anew.

Blanc's smile was brilliant as she closed her eyes and said, "Yessss."

She let go of the trident, so I could shift it to the other wrist.

"Liber... Now!" I yelled at DumBeau. He tossed the grail to me and wrapped his arms around Blanc, holding her tight.

He smiled. "Good-bye, Rex."

Grail in one hand, trident in the other, I jumped into the pool and willed myself to Camelot. I waited for the whirlpool to choke me, pull me back, but it spit me out on the sh.o.r.e.

"Thank you," I whispered to the only person who had never once asked anything from me. I hoped DumBeau would be okay but knew he wouldn't be able to hold her long.

Kato held vigil near the sh.o.r.e, at the edge of the circle of dead gra.s.s. It had grown larger, and unconscious Dorthea was still being held by Oz's and Verte's magic. Hydra was back, without the nose clamp and accompanied by an army of fiery, pink and purple unicorns. So, not Hydra. Gwenevere.

Mordred ran toward me. "Do you have it?"

"Run!" was all I had time to say before the lake exploded behind me.

"Too late." Blanc grabbed my ankle and started dragging me back. "Kill them all," she commanded an army of hammerheads, crocodiles, and other water creatures that had risen from the depths at Blanc's command.

Kato soared over and ripped me out of her grasp. He deposited me in Mordred's arms. "Get her out of here."

Mordred nodded and ran away from the chaos.

"Hey, put me down. We have to help." I kicked and fought. "Coward."

"You may pay for that name-calling later, but for now you have to get out of the way and let them fight without worrying about your safety."

As he ran, I could see the battle over his shoulder. Verte and Oz put up a shield around Dorthea. Kato and Mic used their might as chimeras to pick off every creature that came for them. I expected Blanc to charge toward me, but something caught her attention. Something she wanted even more than the grail, me, or Dorthea. She spotted Gwen.

Blanc raised her hand and brought a ma.s.sive tsunami up from the lake and down on the sh.o.r.e. Dorthea was protected in her force field, but the rest of us got drenched. Including the night mares. Fires out, the unicorns abandoned their mistress.

Blanc hadn't taken a step out of the water before Gwen was on the hill. I knew what the water witch had planned when I saw her pull out the spark of gold.

"Gwen's going to die and Hydra with her," I said with absolute certainty. After grabbing Mordred's hand, I shoved the inkwell in it. "Keep your promise."