Knight of the Goddess (Blood of a Fae, #4)

by Briar Boleyn

“And that’s saying something. I know. But she’s not. Coming with me, I mean.” I hesitated. “Neither are you.” Lancelet was back on her feet in an instant. “Like hell I’m not.”

So….Was Lancelet thinking that Guinevere was going to turn back and walk down the mountain all by herself back to Camelot in her weakened state? Makes sense. 🙄🙄 Author really keeps losing te plot in these conversations…

I sighed. “Look, I’m not fighting about this. But you will stay behind. If you want to protect Guinevere, you’ll have to.” Lancelet looked at me for a long moment then sank back down onto the rock. “Fuck. Well, fuck.”

Well, that kinda should have been obvious but the author likes to put useless pointless arguments in whenever she has the chance. I believe she has anger issues, always making arguments out of nothing.

“By the Three, Morgan,” Lancelet exploded. “Why bring any of us in that case?”

Says the girl that demanded, along with the others, to go…

I nodded. “But now...” It seemed the time had come. I told her what Amara had told me about Guinevere. About what the shielding was doing to her. When I was through, Lancelet looked shaken. “Now you understand,” I said softly.

You’re just now telling her, a week or so later, that he girlfriend is dying because you’re draining her so that you can get some sleep each night and you think she understands something. I’m pretty sure what you think she “understands” is something completely different to what someone would logically understand when you tell them that you are directly causing their significant others death and knew it for quite some time yet continue to do so without telling anyone or warning them… author constantly missing the plot…

“Besides, do you think Guinevere would really survive out here on her own?” I said brutally. “Alone? You think she’s capable of that?” “She’d have Hawl,” Lancelet said. But she looked uncertain.

So Lance would ditch her girlfriend to follow Morgan but Morgan would ditch Lance to go with her boyfriend, Vesper…

Unable to stop herself, she was up to her knees with momentum just as I swept a wave of icy water towards her with a huge sweep of my arm, drenching her from head to toe.

Oh yes! Let’s add pneumonia to our list of troubles! It’s already freezing cold in the mountains…

I was no hero.

That’s so true… I’d rather see what’s happening with Medra this past week…

Jagged rocks protruded from the ground, slowing our progress and wounding one of our pack horses so badly that we’d had to leave it behind.

And you don’t think this is a good time to release your crew?

“This is it then,” Lancelet said, breaking the silence. “We go up those stairs.”

Shouldn’t this be where she lets them go back? Any closer and they will be in court!

Lancelet’s horse moved skittishly. “And if the entrance is at the top? Then what? We leave the horses down here alone?”

Did she forget all about the fact that Guinevere is dying and needs to turn back? What kind of lover is she? She’s not even concerned about that!

I said nothing. I simply looked at the winding stone stairs carved into the cliffside. At the silver reflective surface of the lake.

Didn’t even tell them to turn back now… wow. And Draven clearly doesn’t even know the plan!

“Where’s the door? Is there supposed to be one?” Lancelet demanded. She and Draven were already sliding their hands over the cliffside, searching for crevices. “How do we get inside?”

Am I the only one that finds it strange that Lancelet is looking for a door to the inside of Gorlois La Fay’s Black Mountain when Morgan, who’s standing right beside her, just told her a week ago that neither Lancelet, Guinevere or Hawl were going to be permitted to go all the way to the fight with her father? Why are they still there, author?

Guinevere could provide the other—if I let her. But last night, I’d woken from three bare hours of sleep to hear her crying and moaning. From within my tent, I could hear Lancelet speaking to her softly, trying to calm her. I could picture her holding the former high priestess in her arms, her face full of worry.

Yet… now that they are damn near at the Valtain Court’s doorstep, Lancelet seems to have forgotten all about what Guinevere must go through for Morgan. These characters are horrible horrible people! If anyone, Lancelet should have been urging for them to stop and turn back after witnessing Guinevere like that last night once they reached the base of the mountain and if not the base of that then at least the base of the stairs which imply that they have reached their destination of sorts. This is such horrible writing.

This cruel symbiosis that Guinevere and I had been forced into had to end. And soon.

Soon? How about NOW. You are going back on what you said before.

As night fell, we made our way back down the narrow stairs and set up camp at the edge of the lake. After watering and tending to the horses, I leaned back against a stuffed pack and watched Draven build a fire as Hawl prepared our evening meal.

So they are on a mountain that seems to have been created by Gorlois himself and they just gone chill by his lake as if he’s unaware they are there? As if people have been freely coming and going up his mountain for years?

I drew a breath of relief. This was it. It was now or never. A strong hand gripped my wrist and yanked me backwards into the tent. “What the hell do you think you’re up to?” Draven sounded furious. There was no point in denying anything. “I’m leaving.”

Are you freaking serious? This dumb ass, argh! I hate her!

“You can come with me. I didn’t say I was going alone. But if you try to stop me...” I looked at him. Even in the dark, I could imagine those green eyes blazing back at me.

If he could come with you, why on earth were you trying to sneak out without him in the first place.

“I... drugged them,” I admitted. The sleeping draught I had pilfered from Amara’s tent had come in handy.

Great. Let me drug my friends while we are on a mountain that is likely crawling with enemy fae and have them be defenseless sitting ducks while I run off and I attempt to save the world alone… she’s uber intelligent.

“Yes, well, I didn’t give her the chance.” I explained what I had done and watched her expression turn troubled. “You need to stand watch until the sleeping draught wears off. Just in case.”

Yes, perfect. She’s 1 fighter that will have to protect two sleeping people if attacked… such an awesome idea.

“Morgan!” Draven was calling from outside the tent. We scrambled out. His back was to us, his sword drawn. “I heard something.”

See? This is the reason that this was yet another dumb idea from Morgan.

Undulating with sinuous grace, it slid towards the sleeping Bearkin.

So… why was Hawl already moaning and groaning if it wasn’t even touching them yet?

Immediately, he extended his hands, weaving blades of shadows towards the serpentine form.

Why not towards Hawl and pulling them closer to the camp making it easier to defend everyone together?

I stared as if in a trance, frozen and indecisive.

That’s your usual M.O. We’re all used to it…

The moon had retreated once more behind a cloud.

But you have fire hands… 🙄🙄

The snake attacking her pulled her across the camp, raking her over the rocks and down towards the edge of the lake.

So, none of this would have happened if you’d just told them to turn around well before entering your father’s domain. You could have done this little draught trick earlier, at a safer distance from your father’s realm. But no, you had to continue to be an idiot and allow them to come into his backyard, then DRUG them for good measure, to ensure they would be sitting ducks and have no means of escape. This author… sigh….

In the newfound light, I could see two serpents had coiled around Lancelet’s legs and were dragging her down to the water.

And how many can you see in the tent with Guinevere… 🙄🙄

More ripples were forming on the surface of the water. I counted to five, then ten, then began to lose track. “No, no,” Lancelet moaned. “This is not good. This is not good timing, Morgan. We could really use Hawl right about now.”

Just make a fire circle around your camp. 🤷🏽‍♀️

I gritted my teeth but said nothing, already feeling as if I were suffocating with self-blame. How could I have been so stupid?

Because you don’t know any other way to be, darling…

“You have to go,” she said slowly.

Go? And what, leave you to die while trying to protect two sleeping people alone. Why does the author have them say such dumb things…

A scream cut across the air. We whirled towards the cluster of horses tethered further down the beach near the water’s edge.

The horses screamed? Or neighed? Or whinnied?

it. Could we afford to wait another night?

I told you this dummy was going to get all her friends killed when she didn’t turn them back earlier…

We couldn’t leave. Not now. I had made a horrible mess of things. We couldn’t leave, and we couldn’t stay.

Yes, yes you did…

Sand churned and rocks heaved as the exmoors attacked the serpents with ferocity, claws finding purchase on the snakes’ invisible forms wherever they could catch one.

This scene makes me think of a cat chasing a laser light beam…

Now, his amber eyes were filled with reproach, as if he were asking why I had not called for him as soon as we had been attacked. I cast my eyes away, tears unexpectedly pricking at the corners. “I will not use you,” I said aloud. “I will not be like him.”

Finally she tells him…

The tears pricked more painfully.

Tears hurt?

“Besides, you have your mate to think of. I know what she’s been hiding.”

Oh snap. They’ve been doing the nasty! Nightclaw’s gonna be a pappi!

Draven had come up behind me. Now I sensed him freeze. “She’s carrying your cubs,” I said aloud, not caring who heard anymore.

Well, you know the only person that it would matter to already heard it so… 🙄🙄

looked over at Lancelet. Her face was grim. “Things didn’t go according to plan. I’m so sorry.”

Because you should never be allowed to make the plans because they suck…

“You knew it was here,” Draven said from behind me as I stood before the door, looking at the intricate tracework. “You knew when we were all trying to figure it out. Yet you said nothing.”

Yep, seemed like that. Maybe she did retain something from digging in her father’s head… or maybe she just remembers from before. What happened to her unlocking those locked memories anyway?

I closed my eyes, feeling a needlelike pressure in my palms.

Her blood opens the door…

They were raw and stained with blood. “What did it do to you?”

Wasn’t it obvious?

“Morgan, stop! I need to speak with you first! I need to tell you...”

You should have freaking been told her! Thiago was so stupid!

I forced myself to shut out the sound of Guinevere’s pleading. I told myself there was nothing I could do now.

What does that have to do with her having to tell you something? I swear this child is dumber than a bag of rocks…

“Even in the pitch black of this mountain, I want you here, now,” he said against my lips. “Is there a wall, do you think?” He shifted.

Smdh…

“What’s stopping us?” I undid the piece of leather holding my hair back in its long braid and shook out the strands. “By us, you mean me.” “Of course. I get you to do all the hard work.” Draven grinned.

Draven has her fire too though so why are we making Morgan the center of this conversation again?

“Yet here we are on a quest to destroy it. What a delightful challenge that will be.”

Yes, that’s true. The plot s once again lost… why exactly did they need to go into Gorlois’ domain to destroy the objects in the first place?

“There is a difference, Morgan. A difference in you. You’re...” He shook his head. “You’re hiding things.”

She has been hiding things since you first met her… there is not difference at all. You’ve only been blinded by love and devotion to the complete idiot that you only saw what you wanted to see and that was her loving you back when she was merely just sexing you this entire time… that is the extent of her “love”.

“I’m not. What things? I told you about the door. The grail... that was just a guess. I didn’t know for sure.”

All after the fact… 🙄🙄 Does she have no moral compass? Can she not tell when she’s lying? Obviously not, lol at the whole Guinevere situation.

“Fine. It’s not that I’m upset. I’m not angry with you. If you want to keep things from me, that’s your right.” “I don’t,” I protested. Was I lying even to myself now?

Yes, yes you are.

He tugged at the opening of his tunic, and my heart hammered a little at the glimpse of bronzed skin it revealed.

Oh course it did… I guess it’s time to skip…