A thought drifted through him. Cortana. Where had he heard that name? Oh, yes, the nickel had mentioned it. Cortana was a sword. It had been full of magic, but now lay buried away from sight of man. Once I held Cortana when brands were flashing on a stricken field.
He walked around a clump of trees. Morgan le Fay stood waiting.
At first he couldn’t move. His heart hammered; a curious darkness passed over him, and the darkness was beautiful. She came forward, tinged by the gold light that filtered down through green leaves. Her dress was like snow, her lips a coral curve, her hair shining as a starlit deep lake. All he could see to begin with were the colors. Her tone flowed into him.
“Greeting, Holger. How long it has been!”
He fought for calmness, and lost. Morgan took his hands. She was tall, her smile didn’t have far to go before it rocked him. “And how lonely I have been for you,” she murmured.
“For me?” His voice broke in an idiotic squeak.
“Aye, who else? Have you forgotten that too?” She called him “thou,” making the word a caress. “Indeed a night was laid on you. You have been long away, Holger.”
“Bu-bu-bu-but—”
She laughed, not as ordinary humans do but as if laughter itself laughed most softly. “Ah, your poor face! Few men could have stood up to the firedrake as you did. Let me heal those burns.” Her fingers touched them. He felt pain and blisters vanish. “There, now, are you more comfortable?”
As a matter of fact, he wasn’t. He was perspiring, and the cloak seemed too tight around his neck. Enough wit had returned for him to notice details, but they weren’t the sort to calm a man: pale perfect features, feline grace of movement, a body with more curves than a scenic highway.
“You’ve gotten some uncouth habits in the other world. “She took the pipe from his slack mouth, shook it out, and stuck it into the pouch at his belt. On the way back her hand slipped along his side and came to rest on his upper arm. “Naughty boy!”
That gave him back a measure of self-possession. Big women had no business acting kittenish. Nor was that any way to treat a pipe. “Look here,” he croaked. “You were with Alfric, and he’s been doing his best to kill me. What do you want with me?”
“What does any woman want, who longs for a man?” She sidled closer. Holger backed up till a tree stopped him.
“In truth,” said Morgan, “I knew not who you were, and aided Alfric unwittingly. The instant I learned of his deception, I hastened to find you.”
He wiped the sweat off his brow. “That’s a lie,” he said harshly.
“Well, we of the gentler sex must be permitted a little fancifulness, must we not, my sweet?” She patted his cheek. “It’s God’s truth that I have come to win you back.”
“Win me back to Chaos!” he blustered.
“And why not? What is there about dull Law that drives you to defend it? See, I am honest with you; now do you be honest with yourself. Why, Holger, my darling bear, you’re but bulwarking loutish peasants and fat-gutted burghers, when the mirth and thunder and blazing stars of Chaos could be yours. When were you ever one for a safe and narrow life, locked in its own smugness, roofed with a sour gray sky, stinking of smoke and dung—you who drove armies from the field? You could hurl suns and shape worlds if you chose!”
Her head lay on his breast and her arms about his waist. “N-n-no!” he stuttered. “I don’t trust—”
“Ah, lackaday! Is this the man who dwelt so long with me in Avalon? Have you forgotten what centuries I gave you of youth, and lordship, and love?” She looked up at him again with huge dark eyes. He told himself how corny her act was, but didn’t believe his own claim. “If you will not join with us, then at least do not fight against us. Return to Avalon, Holger. Come back with me to Avalon the fair.”
Somewhere in his buckling mind he knew that for a change she was sincere. She wanted him out from underfoot in the coming battle, but she also wanted him, period. And why not? his thought lurched. What did he owe to either side, in this universe that was not his? When Morgan le Fay embraced him—
“Such long years,” she whispered, “and when we meet you have not even kissed me.”
“That,” he choked, “c-c-could be remedied.”
It was rather like being in a soft cyclone. He couldn’t concentrate on anything else. Not that he wanted to.
“Ah-h-h,” she breathed at last, her eyes still closed, “my lord, my lord, kiss me again. Kiss me forever.”
He collected her. A flicker of white caught the corner of his eye. He raised his head and saw Alianora on the unicorn. She was just rounding the nearby thicket. “Holger,” she called, “Holger; dear, where be ye—oh!”
The unicorn reared and threw her to the grass. With a thunderous indignant snort, the animal fled. Alianora sprang up and glared at Holger and Morgan, “Now see wha’ ye ha’ done!” she wailed irrationally. “He’ll ne’er comeback!”
Holger disentangled himself. Alianora burst into tears.
“Get that peasant wench out of here! “ cried Morgan in a fury.
Alianora flared up. “Get away yourself!” she screeched. “Foul witch that ye be, get away from him!”
The queen’s teeth gleamed forth. “Holger, if that beanpole betake herself not hence this very minute—”
“Beanpole!” yelled Alianora. “Why, ye overstuffed flesh-pot. I’ll claw your popeyes out!”
“Little girls shouldn’t cry,” snarled Morgan. “They’ll grow up even homelier than they are.”
Alianora clenched her fists and stalked closer. “Better a wee bit young than ha’ my skin sag wi’ eld.”
“You have such pretty skin,” hissed Morgan. “How did you ever achieve that peeling-sunburn effect?”
“Not in the shop where ye bought your complexion,” said Alianora.
Holger crept aside, wondering how to get out of this alive. “I see you’re a swan-may,” said Morgan. “Have you laid any good eggs lately?”
“Nay. I canna cackle so shrill as some old hens.”
Morgan flushed and raised her hands in a violent pass. “See how you like being a hen yourself!”
“Hey!” Holger leaped forward. He didn’t intend to strike her, but one arm encountered Morgan and the queen went rolling over in the grass.
“None of that,” he gasped.
She got slowly to her feet. Color and expression had alike departed her countenance. “So that is how it stands,” she said.
“I guess it is,” said Holger, and wondered if he meant it.
“Well, have your way, then. We’ll meet again, my friend.” Morgan laughed, an ugly sound this time, and waved. Suddenly she was gone. There was a bang as air rushed in where she had stood.
Alianora began to cry in earnest. She leaned against a tree bole and buried her face in one arm. When Holger went to lay a hand on her shoulder, she shook him off. “Go away,” she mumbled. “G-g-g-o off wi’ your witch, sith she p-p-please ye so well. Uh-h-h—”
“It wasn’t my fault,” said Holger helplessly. “I didn’t ask her to come.”
“I willna hearken, I tell ye. Go away.”
Holger decided he had troubles enough without a hysterical female on his hands. He pulled her around, shook her, and said between his teeth, “I have nothing to do with this. Hear? Now will you come along like a grown human being, or must I drag you?”
Alianora gulped, stared at him with wide wet eyes, and dropped her lashes. He noticed how long they were. “I’ll come wi’ ye,” she said meekly.
Holger got his pipe going again and fumed most of the way back. Damn, damn, damn, and damn! Almost, there with Morgan le Fay, he had remembered that other life. Almost, and now the knowledge was gone again.