Guinevere's Grail | ✓ [BOOK 2]

~ 43 ~

"You're insane," he breathed.

Her voice came out in a chilling cry, hurting his ears with it's volume. "Of course I fucking am! I've been alive since the first setting of the sun. It hurts, Morgana, it's agony. We weren't meant to be alive this long. I envy you."

There were real tears now, burning hot lines into her cheeks.

"There is nothing to envy about me," Morgana growled back.

She let out a heavy sound, something between a sob and a laugh and a scream. "There is so much," she wept. "I wish I was as fragile as you. I wish I could rest."

Realization dawned over his face. Maybe it wasn't such a crazy thought, after all. Mab said that, should Titania ever fall, she would take her kingdom with her, because she couldn't bear the thought of someone else standing where she once stood for so long. She sent out a plague, not to weaken Mab. Mab was not her greatest enemy.

She sent out the plague to take down her people. She wanted to die, because she was her own worst enemy.

"Bloody hell, Mab, you were right," he muttered to himself, then looked up at Titania again. "There are better ways to go about this. Write a suicide note and find a brutal friend. You don't have to take an entire people with you."

"You wouldn't understand," she hissed. "This place is mine. These people are mine. I will never part from them, and if that means I take them with me, then so be it."

Morgana shoved her back. He was surprised she hadn't tried to cut him open yet. "I'd be more than happy to kill you," he said. "But I won't let you kill anyone else in the process."

"They're tied to me," said Titania. "They need me to live. They'll die anyways."

"Then why make them suffer?" he asked, drawing a sword. "Why not let nature take its course?"

She said nothing, and it occurred to him that she had no idea if it was true. She had no idea if it really would kill them all if she died. It was a cruel obsession, and Morgana lost any pity he would've had for her because of it.

He didn't know when she started to attack, but she was fast, and she was ruthless. Blow after blow sent him against the wall and sliding to the ground, and he'd somehow lost his sword somewhere along the way. There was nothing left in him to fight, all the strength Kit gave him was gone, and the determination that would've kept him going was overpowered by his pain. His gut was blossoming with red, all the cracks reopened in his skin. It was so much blood, he could see the bright red in the dark black of his clothes.

Morgana'a will to live had gone. His mind wandered to Giselle, to how sad she'd be when he left. But she had Selene, she had her mother and all her new, wonderful friends. They had each other. What would there be to miss?

Titania came to deliver the final blow, and Morgana let it come. And yet, it never did. Instead, he felt a spray of hot liquid splash across his face, and he opened his eyes to find a blade wedged through her abdomen. It pulled out with a thickening squelch, and she whirled around.

It felt like someone had reached into his chest and gripped Morgana's heart, squeezing it until it burst in his ribcage. Kit looked at him like his own had been ripped from its place and thrown into a fire. He stood still, long enough for Titania to lunge at him. All the strength Morgana had left in him to keep his eyes open he sent Titania's way. Whatever it was that moved Morgana in front of the blade of Excalibur heading straight for Kit's heart sent the Queen away from him. The sound of Kit hitting the ground rang out through the halls and his quick, heavy breaths brought him a small sliver of comfort. He was alive. That was all he needed.