The Pendragon's Challenge (The Last Pendragon Saga Book 7) by Sarah Woodbury Read Free Book Online Page A

being. He knew it was still there, even after all these years. All he had to do to awaken it was open the box where he’d hidden it.
    Except it wasn’t quite that easy. Even as he moved towards it in his mind and felt a flicker of power, he shied away—not so much at the light or heat, but at the uncomfortable feeling it gave him, like ants running up and down his arms. He recoiled and opened his eyes.
    “It’s still there,” Catrin said, in what he sensed was meant to be a reassuring manner. “You just need practice.”
    Mabon guffawed. “I could have told you that.”
    Goronwy reached for Catrin’s hand and spoke in an undertone meant only for Catrin’s ears. “But would he have?”
    Her mouth twitched, which was what he’d hoped for.
    “You’re not forgiven,” she said.
    “I should hope not.” Goronwy smiled to himself. Amusement was better than fear or anger, and if any of them were going to survive the next few days, they would need to keep their wits about them. “You are not wrong. I shouldn’t have let my gift go unused all these years.”
    She canted her head. “Then again, perhaps you didn’t. Aren’t your abilities on the battlefield in part because you can sense a warrior’s movements before he makes them?”
    It was what Goronwy himself had thought. He cleared his throat, realizing as he did so that he should never disparage his gifts again in front of her. He wondered if Cade knew too and decided immediately that if he hadn’t fooled Taliesin, he hadn’t fooled Cade either. Then Catrin squeezed his hand to show that maybe she really had forgiven him. The sight of her upturned nose and the splash of freckles across her cheeks left him momentarily nonplussed.
    To mask his confusion, he took a few quick steps to move slightly in front of her so she couldn’t see his face—though he continued holding her hand. Silently, Goronwy and Catrin followed Taliesin, filing past Mabon who stood in the middle of the road, not moving. For all that he had wanted to carry on earlier, now he was unhappy. Perhaps Goronwy’s jibes had gotten to him after all. Goronwy didn’t look back, but after they’d gone a dozen yards he wasn’t surprised to hear Mabon’s crunching footsteps on the road behind them. Then Mabon came abreast, swinging his arms, the supercilious expression returned to his face. “I don’t need looking after.”
    “Good,” Goronwy said. “Because I have no intention of looking after you.”
    Mabon quickened his pace in order to pass Goronwy and Catrin and catch up with Taliesin. “I could go my own way, and you would have to come with me.”
    “I would have to do no such thing.” Taliesin’s legs were long, and Mabon skipped once to stay on pace.
    “Where are we going? You must tell me.”
    Taliesin continued walking, making Mabon wait for an answer or, more likely, lost in his own thoughts and only remembering after some time had passed that Mabon had wanted something more from him. “We are going to the abbey.”
    That they finally had a destination was welcome news to Goronwy, but Mabon recoiled. “Which—which abbey?”
    Taliesin gestured ahead. They had come the last few paces down the mountain. “Valle Crucis Abbey, which lies along this path northwest of the castle.”
    “Why would you go there?” Mabon said.
    “To find answers.”
    “What answers?” Mabon said.
    “If we knew the answers, we would hardly need to go there to find them, would we?” Goronwy said.
    Mabon swung around to glare at Goronwy. “I have a right to know—”
     Goronwy overrode him. “When you are ready to tell us what you’re really doing here, we will let you in on what we’re doing here. Until then, you can cease to speak.”
    Likely, nobody had ever spoken to Mabon this way in the eternity of his existence. The sidhe clenched his hands into fists and stepped in front of Goronwy. “How dare you—” But instead of finishing his sentence, he swung with his right fist at Goronwy