The End of Magic Read Online Free Page A

Religion. Drench the land in blood until all that was left was a void and the howling
     of old night and chaos come again. He would smash and destroy until there was no one anywhere who had anything that he didn’t
     have: not love, not light, not family, not hope.
    When Mordred was finished, there would be nothing left.
    He smiled and sat back, humming a tuneless little song under his breath.
    The future was bright.
    It has been seven years since they came here.
Nimue gazed at the empty altar before her.
Where have they gone?
    She knew she should be keeping vigil, clearing her mind of earthly distractions in preparation for the great blessing she
     was about to receive. After so many years, she was about to enter her novitiate, taking one more step away from the world
     and one step closer to God. Nimue had longed for this day down through all the years when she had wondered if she was worthy
     of it.
    Seven, and seven, and seven again. My life runs on sevens.
    The beads of her amber rosary were cool against her fingers. Instead of praying, Nimue used them to count the years.
    Seven years from the day she first met Merlin to the day she saw him being carried unconscious into Vortigern’s dungeons.
     Seven weeks of joy to spend with him under the shadow of the old tyrant, until Mab’s plotting sent them both to the maw of
     the Great Dragon. Then Merlin had brought her back here to Avalon, the place where she had grown up sheltered from Vortigern’s
     evil, and she had never been able to bring herself to leave again.
    Seven days passed from the day she entered these gates until Vortigern faced Uther upon the field of battle and died so that
     Uther could regain his throne. Seven days more, and Uther was crowned.
    And seven months after that, all Britain knew their King for a mad and venal man. By autumn of that year Cornwall was dead,
     and Igraine disgraced. Nine months later Arthur was born—spoiling her count a little—then seven, and seven, and seven again
     while Merlin raised him in secret on Sir Hector’s estate in the Forest Sauvage.
    Those had been the best years of all, Nimue reflected, for in them she and Merlin had often written back and forth to share
     their joys and cares, hoping for the day when Arthur would take the throne and the two of them could be together once more,
     because Mab’s ambitions would be defeated and Britain would no longer have any need of a wizard.
    Then Uther died, and Merlin made Arthur King. And in the aftermath of Arthur’s great battle with Lord Lot, Merlin had come
     at last to Avalon to take her away with him, and Nimue had wept for joy that the two of them could finally be together.
    Only it was not to be. Mab’s treachery had intervened once more, and Merlin had left in the night. After that there were no
     more letters, only silence. Weeks later, Nimue had learned the news through the gossip of nuns and messengers, of Arthur’s
     wedding, his vow.… If Arthur was going away, then Merlin was not free. He would have to stay at Camelot to protect Britain
     while Arthur was gone.
    And then one day she had seen Arthur himself.
    He had come riding into Avalon at the head of a band of knights, and asked for the Father Abbot. Gossip ran swiftly through
     the little community, and soon everyone in Avalon knew that Arthur had come to Avalon to pray for a blessing on his quest
     to seek the Grail. He had knelt in the Grail Chapel just where she was kneeling now, surrounded by his knights. The chapel
     had been filled with candles and incense, and Arthur had seemed as if he were formed of gold to Nimue’s dazzled eyes.
    But only her eyes were dazzled. Her heart told her that the young king’s quest meant disaster for Britain, no matter how much
     joy the religious at Avalon greeted it with. Nimue had spent enough years at Vortigern’s court to know that a King must be
     on his throne, ruling his land, not gallivanting where he pleased in search of a dream, no matter how