Share

Nevermore

last update Last Updated: 2024-02-09 20:51:32

[Arthur]

My love. 

Her body is barely more than bones as I lift her into my arms. Large burn marks mar the wrists and ankles of what had been her perfect skin. Her breathing is shallow, each breath shuddering through her body, shaking her chest with an ominous rattling. 

“What happened to her,” I turned to Merlin and the knights. “How did she get so weak? The last time I saw her she was very different?”

“My King,” Embyr bows, which is weird to see, just as weird as the armor she now wears. “You have been unconscious for weeks. She has seen terrible things and had very terrible things forced upon her.

Locked Chapter
Continue to read this book on the APP

Related chapters

  • Once Upon a Tryst   Upon Waking

    [Faye] Warm, I wake up to the sound of breathing. I am lying down in a bed smelling faintly of dust and lavender, heavy drapes blocking out the sun. Reaching out in the darkness, a soft hand finds mine, our fingers intertwining. Recognizing the shape of her body, I move closer, my chin resting against her neck as I nuzzle her ear. Her natural smell overwhelms me: sweat and sun mixed with heather. No matter where we might be, I know that in her arms I am home. Smiling, my other arm finds a path to wrap around her, tightening our embrace as I find a breast, caressing it gently. “Good morning,” a breathy, feminine voice moans. “I see someone is awake.”

    Last Updated : 2024-02-10
  • Once Upon a Tryst   Beacon

    [Faye] “What do I need to do?” I ask, making contact with Devona, ignoring Arthur’s glare. “And how will it help us?” “The beacon,” Sir Percival explains from behind us. “Is a way for all the knights of the Round Table to be called into service. It is a summons. It cannot be ignored or denied and must be followed, no matter how far away we are. There is a chance that it might free the other knights from the spell placed on them by Mab.” “A small chance,” Arthur interrupts. “It is also very possible that they will either not feel it, in which case your efforts would be wasted, or that they will feel it and come, but the effects

    Last Updated : 2024-02-10
  • Once Upon a Tryst   A Moment to Mourn

    [Devona] Arthur, Faye, and I took our meal outside, deciding that a picnic with the three of us would be more pleasant, and more private, than eating amongst the men. We have a lot to talk about. Including a very important, very special change to all of our lives. Faye has given us such an amazing gift. To know her body, her spirit, is hard at work growing our child feels miraculous. A miracle I don’t deserve. To be a family in this way again, after centuries of just wanting to have these two back, to reclaim her from darkness and save her from a cursed fate, to find her and to have her love, the love of both of them--it is more than I could have ever hoped to have again. We sit together for several minutes, silent, watching the waves of the Eastern Sea against the shores of C

    Last Updated : 2024-02-11
  • Once Upon a Tryst   The Rookery

    [Faye] Devona leads us around the castle perimeter to a large tower that stands separate from the main keep. As she pulls open a stiff wooden door, the afternoon light streaming in behind us casts shadows, our silhouettes darkening the floor covered in bird droppings and feathers of all shapes and sizes, colored from cream through russet to tan and blueish black. Overhead, several rows of wooden beams and shelving which house several small wooden boxes where feathered heads peer down at us, eyes following our movements in a very unnatural way. These birds are not ordinary birds, their gazes expressing deep emotion and intelligence. Even with the door open and small windows at the very top, there isn’t enough light to see everything clearly. Devona brings a bit of h

    Last Updated : 2024-02-11
  • Once Upon a Tryst   Snakes in the Grass

    [Faye] Devona won’t look me in the eye since I asked her to keep the secret of our child from Arthur. She’s still angry, but she also cannot argue with my logic. Our argument, held away from everyone, was loud and involved a lot of tears, but in the end she came to understand something very important. That one, even two lives, are not worth more than an entire kingdom. Even if those lives are precious to you. We also agreed that with all the loss we have experienced, telling Arthur about this child and then losing us both would be something he might never recover from. I would have spared Devona the pain as well, but she discovered the truth only shortly after I discovered it myself, an

    Last Updated : 2024-02-12
  • Once Upon a Tryst   Unseen Danger

    [Devona] It took most of the evening, but the tower is finally ready for us to perform the ritual that will send out the beacon, the call to arms, to all of the Round Table knights wherever they might be. It is a simple enough casting, but the details must be precise, the energy needs to be focused in the right way, and the power needed for this spell is immense. But in truth, I have no intention of activating this spell. Everything is in place to make it work, and if we wanted, it would only take a drop of blood and a well-chosen word to invoke. The goal, however, is to not let it get far enough to risk. We have no idea if Queen Mab is looking through the eyes of those she has infected, or if she is simply speaking into their ears. Either way, it would be easy for her to see that s

    Last Updated : 2024-02-12
  • Once Upon a Tryst   Answering the Call

    WARNING: Brief descriptions of rape (not graphic) and abuse. Read at your discretion. [Lance] I am sitting at a cafe admiring the fading sunlight as the lamps along the Champs Elysee begin to come to life with a warm electric glow. I am sitting alone, watching as lovers pass by, trying hard to move past my pain and heartbreak. Lisa, my latest girlfriend, left me this afternoon. It was a passionate affair that had lasted 6 weeks, only to peter out when I didn't give her the attention she was craving. As she ran off this morning, her clothing in a suitcase and toothbrush behind her ear, she threw one of my shoes at my head screaming, "No wonder your ex left you! You are a pathetic, sad,

    Last Updated : 2024-02-13
  • Once Upon a Tryst   Bells

    [Arthur] Her blood covers my shirt, my pants, and my hands because even though I am not the one carrying her, Faye has lost so much blood it is unavoidable. How could we use her as bait? Why did we think this was the best plan, the only plan to find the traitor in our number? And how could we be so stupid as to underestimate the power and reach of a fae queen determined to keep her throne? But Faye did it, damn it, even if she hadn't meant to, even if the blood that invoked the spell had been stolen by knife point rather than offered freely. That spell, her beacon, worked a miracle. In the minutes since it ended, the cacophony of bird song has filled the night air as birds previously trapped have begun to come back to Camelot. Others, who were already h

    Last Updated : 2024-02-13

Latest chapter

  • Once Upon a Tryst   NOVELLA Side Quest 004: Peace, Balance, Tranquility, Grace

    [Kaydence]I place a hand on her wrist. "Stop."She blinks up at me. In my mind I trace the rune for "peace" and watch in amazement as her body begins to relax, the flames melting away as her breathing stilled.Queenie's first reaction is relief. Her face goes still, every crease leaving her features. But then just as suddenly her relief turns to anger."How dare you!" she screams pushing over the table and running for the back door. The other players stand in a rush as drinks, cards, and chips go flying. Shouts chase her retreating form as she dashes between players."Balance," I call out, tracing the rune with my hand and watch in amazement as Queenie falls backward, her arms pinwheeling."Tranquility," the room goes still, everything stopping as if time itself couldn't be rushed. The people who were once angry and pushing their way towards us stopped moving. Soon Queenie and I are the only ones moving."Grace," I finish the incantation, moving with the speed and agility of a dancer,

  • Once Upon a Tryst   NOVELLA Side Quest 003: Queen of Hearts

    [Queenie]We are getting low on supplies. It takes quite a bit of baneberry juice to make the sleep potion. Because we need to keep him perpetually asleep, I need a constant supply. In Torq, baneberries are not very common and the cost of exporting them is stretching our finances thin, even with Mab’s hidden stash of gold.“This is why we should have stayed in Delas,”Mab argues.“We didn’t need to buy anything when we were still there and…”“It was teeming with knights. I had to stay indoors the entire time,” I argue. “Torq is better. I can actually go outside and talk to people here.“You

  • Once Upon a Tryst   NOVELLA Side Quest 002: The Search

    [Kaydence]The morning is bright. Too bright. My eyes hurt from too much mead and not enough sleep and I find myself for not the last time wondering why I let Devona trick me into this quest.I must have been getting on her nerves. Either that or she just needed me to find something to do so that she could focus all of her attention on the queen. It doesn’t matter.“Are you still with us, Sir Kay?” Gawain is annoyingly chipper. He’s a morning person. He also has this annoying habit of deadnaming me that is getting under my skin.“It’s Kaydence, you dumb ass,” I grumble, blinking at him while I shield my eyes, my other hand firmly placed on the pommel of my saddle.He

  • Once Upon a Tryst   NOVELLA Side Quest 001: The Mission

    [Kaydence]It's been two months since we lost Arthur in the battle for Avalon.Two agonizing months since my best friend fell into an enchanted sleep. I watch my mentor, Merlin Devona, cry over her every night. She tries to hide it from everyone else, but I know. How could I not? We spend most mornings together working on my skills as a paladin. I'm getting stronger, and more skilled, but not nearly as strong or as skilled as I was in my past life as Sir Kay. Kay had a lifetime to learn. I've only been at it a couple of months, and I know this, but it still doesn't keep the whole situation from feeling pointless and frustrating."Tell me why I have to do this?" I whine as Devona grinds some herbs in her pestle. "This has nothing to do with fighting.""All g

  • Once Upon a Tryst    EPILOGUE

    “Good night, my love,” I kiss her brow before sitting by her side in an old wooden chair, its velvet cushion long shredded with time. Faye does not respond, her eyes closed tight, her breath shallow. She has been like this since the night of the battle, unresponsive and unmoving, preserved by her own magic, for the last three months. Technically we won; Mab is dead, her forces are scattered, and I am serving as regent, bringing the powers of Avalon back together once more as we work together to reconstruct our world. But we also lost. Arthur is gone, missing. I cannot feel him through the bond, not since I saw Mab pierce him through the heart with her bone blade. Nobody is sure why his body was taken. Some suspect that Mab had one final plan in place and that somehow he plays a part in it. We are searching for him, following every lead throughout this world and the next, but each time we th

  • Once Upon a Tryst   Falling (part 2)

    [Faye]I can't breathe. Something is in my throat. Choking, I sit up. Monitors in the room begin to ding erratically as I continue to gag, my heart beating fast."Hold on, Mrs. Drake" an agitated voice advises. "We just need to remove your breathing tube."Breathing tube?"Heart rate is elevated," a nurse records. "All other vitals seem to be within normal ranges."The long tube is removed from my lungs and I almost vomit at the pulling sensation. Like a fish caught on land, I begin to gasp."Breathe, Mrs. Drake, breathe," a calm hand rubs my back. “You’ve been incapacitated for a few days. We had to put you on a ventilator when you stopped breat

  • Once Upon a Tryst   Falling (part 1)

    [Queen Mab] The moon is rising full and bright over the fields of Camelot. My head is light, heady with the power of nearly a thousand souls, freshly harvested. The blade I carry was crafted from the very bones of my enemy, Morgana, whose rotted corpse lay buried beneath the tower itself, along with her granddaughters, the famous oracles who predicted my doom. There is something satisfying about destroying their legacy with their own bodies that provides me with a sense of peace. Stretching my limbs, I feel invincible, unstoppable, as I prepare to move through the battle. My agents have served me well. Guinevere, ever the loyal servant, was more than eager to take her position mixed amongst Arthur's trusted advisors, staying invisible, passing the corruption of my curse onto those two gullible knights as she waited for my signal to attack. She knew that she’d

  • Once Upon a Tryst   Old Friends

    [Arthur]A page helps me into form-fitting leather armor I’ve never worn in this lifetime as I suit up and prepare for war. It doesn’t matter that I am only 19 years old. I am the king, whether I want to be or not. I was born to this, it is my destiny. It doesn’t matter that I have no memory of living this life. As soon as I pulled Excalibur through time to my hand I became the leader of these troops in the fight that has been building for centuries. No, millenia. Now the enemy is sitting just beyond the gates, setting up camp, watching and waiting for the right opportunity to strike.It is my duty to lead these soldiers, these knights into battle. But what do I actually know of war? I have tried to access the memories of my previous life, but unlike Faye and Kaydence, I do not have a deep connection to the King Arthur I was. I have flas

  • Once Upon a Tryst   Missed Connections

    [Lance]Holding my head, I scream, falling to my knees.“Camelot…Camelot…Camelot…Camelot…Camelot…Camelot”“Monsieur,” a hand shakes my shoulder, “Est-ce que ça va monsieur?”“Non,” I shake my head, “non…non…non…non…”The earth starts to shake. Glasses on tables begin to rattle, some falling to the stone floor of the cafe. People sitting at tables continue their conversations, laughing as if they do not see or hear everything else happening around them. Even my screams, echoing through this restaurant, are something they are trying to ignore.On the edge

DMCA.com Protection Status