The Dragon King Read Free

heard that they’d made it to Avalon. Qwon, more baffled than elated, held Artie hard by the arm and asked, “ Where are we now?” Sami and Erik were both pretty casual about the whole thing, although Erik asked, “If this is Avalon where’s the castle? There is a castle here, right?” Thumb and Numinae assured him there was. Shallot le Fey was the outlier. She wasn’t happy or nonchalant.
    She was sad.
    After coming around she stayed seated in the sand, The Anguish laying across her legs. Artie sat next to her and asked if she was okay. Her answer was one small word: “Bors.”
    Artie squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. “I’m sorry.”
    Shallot shook her head, trying to rid her mind of the image of Bors’s death. He had been whisked into the air by Morgaine’s magic and torn in two, his body turning to golden dust and blowing over the Fenlandian beach. Shallot steeled herself and said, “I’m sorry also. But I am glad we made it.”
    “Me too, Shallot. And thank you for bringing Qwon to me.”
    Shallot forced a smile. Her sharpened teeth glowed in the dull light. Forgetting about Qwon, she said, “I will avenge his death.”
    Artie clasped a hand over hers. “No. We will.”
    They joined the others, who talked excitedly about Avalon. Numinae, however, was quiet and frowning. “We’re missing—”
    “Dred!” Qwon blurted. She sounded a little too desperate to Artie’s ear, but his jealousy took an automatic backseat to his relief. He was, above everything, just happy that Qwon was back and safe.
    “Over here, lads,” Thumb called. The group rushed over and Artie plopped next to Dred, who was lying in a little depression and still unconscious. Artie touched Dred’s arm and said, “Hey, wake up. It’s Artie. Your . . . brother.”
    My brother, Artie thought. He could still hardly believe it.
    Dred’s lips moved and he slowly opened his eyes. “I’m here,” he said hoarsely.
    But before Artie could respond, Qwon dropped between them. “Are you okay?” she asked, taking Dred’s hand.
    Dred stared at Qwon and smiled. Artie watched them, his heart beating hard. Somehow, in spite of all they’d been through, Qwon’s straight black hair was perfect. The skin of her rounded features was marred here and there with dirt, but she looked really, well, cute.
    Artie turned his gaze to Dred. His brother had the same ruddy hair (though a little longer than Artie’s), the same hazel eyes, the same straight nose, the same thin lips.
    “I-I’m so sorry, Artie,” Dred muttered.
    “About what?” Kay asked. “You returned Excalibur to Artie! If you hadn’t we’d all be toast.”
    “True. But my mother . . . Morgaine.” His eyes darted around the beach. “I’m sorry she kidnapped you, Qwon. And that she imprisoned you, Shallot.”
    “You should be sorry for that, Fenlandian,” Shallot snapped. But then she smiled a little and said, “Though for my part, I’m sorry I wanted to kill you when we began our escape from Castel Deorc Wæters.”
    Dred chuckled. “Looking back, I wouldn’t blame you if you had.”
    Shallot pointed her chin at Qwon. “She stopped me. She and Bors . . . ,” Shallot said, trailing off.
    “I’m sorry we lost him,” Dred said. “If I could have, I’d—”
    Shallot tried to put on a brave face. “It will be all right. He died for a reason.”
    “And we lived for one,” Numinae said in his deep voice.
    Artie stuck out a hand, and with Qwon’s help they pulled Dred to his feet. “That’s right, everybody. We did live for a reason. Right now that reason is to get Lance into a bed, find this King’s Gate thing, and then start on our next quest—for the Holy Grail.”
    “Darn right,” Kay said weakly. She took a half step back and brought her hand to her forehead. Something felt different to Kay. Something felt off.
    Artie leaned close to her. “You all right?”
    “It’s our link, Artie,” Kay said just loudly enough that he could hear. “All of a sudden I