The Indigo King - James A. Owen [108]
“You’ll have time to do it again, I think,” said Arthur. He rubbed his cheek where he’d been gashed earlier, then touched a blooded finger to Merlin’s forehead and began to speak:
Myrddyn, son of Odysseus
By right and rule
For need of might
I thus bind thee
I thus bind thee
By blood bound
By honor given
I thus bind thee
I thus bind thee
For strength and speed and heaven’s power
I call on thee in this dark hour
I thus bind thee
I thus bind thee.
“You are thus Bound, Myrddyn,” pronounced Arthur, “by the Old Magic, and by blood. And thusly Bound, I command thee to seek out Solitude and to remain there, until released by blood, or by my command.”
Merlin looked at him with less sadness than resignation and nodded. “As you command, Arthur.”
Arthur took off his torn and bloody cloak and handed it to Merlin. And then, almost as an afterthought, he handed him the scabbard of Caliburn. “Here,” he said. “Perhaps one day you will find a use for this. Or choose to use it in the way it was meant to be used, when you are ready.”
Merlin stepped into the water and stopped. “How am I to … ?” he began.
“My king,” said Ordo Maas. “If you’ll permit me?”
Arthur nodded, and Ordo Maas raised his staff. A moment later, sailing smoothly along the river, the Scarlet Dragon appeared.
“Our boat?” Jack exclaimed. “My boat?”
“Chin up, Jack,” said John. “It’s not as if we planned to use her again.”
Ordo Maas stepped into the water and stroked the Scarlet Dragon’s head as he whispered to it. He reared back as if listening, then smiled and patted the boat on the head.
“She will take him,” Ordo Maas said to Arthur, “to Solitude. You will learn of it yourself from a teacher other than myself, but for now, there is a place he can go where he can think and dedicate himself to his work.”
“Thank you,” said Arthur. He gestured at the boat, and Merlin stepped aboard with his few meager belongings. Merlin stood, facing away from the others, and spoke.
“Why?” he asked. “Why wouldn’t you allow him to kill me, Arthur?”
Arthur took a deep breath. “You betrayed your brother,” he said evenly, “and my mother. And as a child, you even betrayed me, staying only long enough to give me a name. And when I grew older, all that you had feared in me are those things that came from you.
“You have been afraid your whole life. And I cannot bring myself to kill—or allow to be killed—someone who had made the mistakes you’ve made, just because you are afraid.”
The Scarlet Dragon took that as a tacit approval to leave, and she pulled away from the shore.
“Thank you, Thorn,” Merlin said without turning around.
“You’re welcome,” Arthur answered. “Farewell … Father.”
The companions all watched from the shore until the Scarlet Dragon vanished from sight.
It took only a short while to arrive at, and cross, the Frontier. So simple a thing, Merlin thought to himself. So simple, when done the right way. It was all I wanted for so long, and now, to have it given to me so easily …
But no—the thoughts themselves caused the blood on his forehead to burn.
He had been marked.
He had been Bound.
And he had returned to the Archipelago.
The Scarlet Dragon sailed for days, perhaps longer, before finally approaching their destination.
In the distance, shrouded by mist, the passenger of the small boat could make out the island, and on it a tower that had no end.
And suddenly, with a mixture of shame and surprise, he realized where he was going.
In a short while he would be there, and he would climb the stairs until he found what he had been commanded to seek. Somewhere, there in the Keep of Time, he would at last find Solitude.
Arthur said his farewells to the companions, then stepped onto the Red Dragon with Ordo Maas, and the second Dragonship of the evening pulled away from the shores and set course for the Archipelago. The companions watched as the ship sailed away, and then made their way back to the stone passageway.
“One final matter remains,” said Hugo. “What is to become of young Rose?”
“We’re taking Rose with us,” John and Jack said together. It seemed