Excalibur's Seven | ✓ [LGBT]

~ 39 ~

THE NEXT MORNING WAS full of tension. Rowynn and Borr were gone, but Morgana didn't have it any easier than before. He could see the anger in everyone's eyes, but it was Giselle and Chalice that unsettled him the most.

He didn't think it would bother him so much. He didn't do any of this for anyone's approval, but something about the two of them looking at him with nothing but pure, unbridled hatred struck him where he didn't know it would hurt.

Giselle was his best friend, and he just wanted her to be safe. Her distrust was a pain he wasn't ready for. He supposed he had it coming.

The only one left that hadn't hated him for good was Chalice. But last night, they more than proved how much they despised him. He thought maybe he could have one last person he didn't totally ruin it with, but he earned this when he tried to fool them into leaving everyone else alone and vulnerable.

Giselle knew his tricks and Selene could take out an army with her bare hands, but Chalice was powerful beyond anything Morgana could imagine. It was a long shot, but if they were gone, he had a chance to get away. He failed the moment he got the idea.

He didn't think he cared, but he was alone now. He was entirely alone. For a moment, he wondered if maybe, just maybe, he was wrong after all. But every time he doubted, his mind was flooded with the screams of his people, and he knew he couldn't take the chance.

It hurt, more than he wished it would.

He denied food again. They knew what he was doing, and he knew it would only be to his detriment. But he would put up whatever form of protest he could. He would be safe as long as he was in the Winter Kingdom.

Chalice kept his chains extra tight. There was one around his throat, threatening to slide over his high collar the moment he tried to fight it, and he had no doubt in his mind that it would burn him if he tried to fight and no one would care to stop it.

Their camp was lively as they prepared for their day and packed up again. When it was time to leave, Selene and Chalice took Rowynn and Borr's place at his side, holding his prisoner's chains.

He was glad that the others filled the distance between himself and Kit, who once again watched their backs like the paranoid ass he was, because he was certain the prince would find ways to piss him off the whole way if he was any closer.

The forest ended, giving way to the deep snow once again, and Morgana drove to a halt.

After several moments of Selene spoke. "Are you going to move the snow or what?"

"I took you to the Unseelie Kingdom. Deal's done, I don't have to do anything."

Chalice tugged at the chains, which pressed against his freshly burned wrists, and he let out a whimper at the pain. "Your deal was to get us in with the Queens."

He wouldn't be disobeying the druid today.

"Fine," he growled. He did as he was told, clearing up a path through the snow. He amused himself by putting it back in front of Kit before he could get through.

"You awful bastard," the prince growled. Morgana laughed at his expense, but Chalice tugged the chains again.

"Good Lord, I'm just having a bit of fun. I'm not hurting him," he hissed. To his luck, Chalice didn't make him stop, and Kit was forced to walk faster or trudge through the knee-high snow for as long as Morgana cared to put in the effort.

He didn't stop until Kit and Eurion traded places. He wasn't happy about it, but it got Morgana to stop messing with him. The faery could've found a way to keep doing it, surely, but he couldn't be bothered, not when they were getting so close to the Winter Court.