With My Last Breath

Some were chained in corners, some were hanging in chains from the ceiling and one, a particularly dangerous looking man, was standing frozen with his fingers wrapped around his cell bars. His legs were manacled and bleeding onto the floor. His icy blue eyes stared sightlessly at me and I unconsciously moved away.

"He’s here!" Ares called from the front. I hurried to catch up.

Breaking through the cell doors, Ares rushed inside. I gasped as I turned the corner to follow him. My beloved was dangling in mid-air, his wrists bleeding as the manacles cut into his skin. His face was bruised and blood dripped down his bare toes onto the stone bricks.

Tears welled up as I rushed to him, my eyes stinging. Ares was already lowering him from the ceiling onto the floor.

"Wake him," he implored to Hecate. "Wake him and leave here. Don’t awaken anyone else until you have passed the palace gates."

She nodded. "That’s the plan, war god. I can only keep time still for so long, but a few more minutes shouldn’t be a problem."

I knelt next to my husband, stroking his battered face.

"Why did they do this?" I whispered. "Why did they beat him? He’s a valued knight. Arthur loves him."

"Arthur loved him," Guinevere corrected. "He doesn’t love anything anymore.

Everything has changed, daughter."

Cold fingers curled around my belly. "I can’t leave you here, then," I murmured to her while I stroked Lucan’s bloody hand. "What will he do to you?"

"Nothing," she replied, meeting my gaze calmly. "He will do nothing to me. You were the one who healed the boy. He has no reason to suspect that I am anything other than his wife."

"But you said that he doesn’t love anything now. What about you? He loved you more than life."

She shook her head sadly. "He’s empty, dear one. He loves nothing. He has been hardened to the world. But he won’t harm me- I’ve given him no reason. Just find the sword and return so that we can fix this atrocity. No one here deserves this."

I nodded, listening to Hecate mumbling her incantations as she hovered over my husband.

"There is one detail," Hecate muttered, looking up at me, "That I haven’t told you."

"And that is?"

Courtney Cole 90

With My Last Breath, Book Three

"He cannot remember you. If I bring him back just as he is, he would never leave here. He would stay to try and clear his name. I will take his memories and return them to him later."

Dejection filled the pit of my stomach, heavy and cold. I was sick of being in positions where my husband didn’t remember me. He was mine and he should know that he was mine. But I understood the need for it now and nodded silently. Hecate returned her attention to Lucan.

"Awake," she whispered finally. "Awake, awake, awake."

His eyes opened, his beautiful warm, dark eyes. He focused on me since I was directly in front of him. There was not an ounce of recognition in his gaze and I steeled myself, feeling overwhelmed by déjà vu. I had been in this situation once before in Eris’

house in the Spiritlands.

He stared at all of us in turn, remaining still and silent on the cold, stone floor as he studied his surroundings. Finally, he spoke.

"What are we doing here?"

Hecate answered him calmly with a question. "Do you know who you are?"

He shook his head. "And I do not know you, either. Should I?"

She smiled gently, patting his hand. "Not right now, but you will later. For now, we need to move. Can you walk?"

He gingerly stretched his injured limbs, flinching just a little from the pain before he quickly masked it. His warrior’s heart had not changed. He was not going to allow us to see how much he hurt. I wanted to smile, but didn’t. Nothing about this situation was funny. My soul mate had been beaten within an inch of his life and he didn’t remember me. It wasn’t funny at all.

I rushed forward to offer my assistance while he stood, but he shrugged me off. I should have expected that- he would never lean on a woman, even when he didn’t remember who he was. He picked himself off of the floor and stood quietly, assessing each of us with clear eyes.

"Let us go," Hecate suggested. "We need to hurry."

Lucan didn’t ask any questions, he simply accompanied us up and out of the dungeon and through the palace until we stood outside in the darkened courtyard. As we passed a commons area, we found soldiers frozen in mid-movement- armor dangling in midair, horses halted mid-step. Lucan turned to us in amazement and confusion.

"What is going on here? What is this?" he asked, gesturing with his arm. "What trickery is this?"

"It’s no trickery," I replied quietly. "But there is no time to explain. We’ll explain it from the safety of the road."

He studied me for a moment before offering me a curt nod.

Courtney Cole 91

With My Last Breath, Book Three

"Very well."

We hurried into the stables and saddled three horses. Aphrodite and Ares lingered inside the stable doors, watching us prepare. Reagan was frozen mid-stroke as he wiped down a damp horse. Beads of sweat ran down its great head and dripped onto the floor, several drops frozen in the air.

As we mounted, Ares spoke.

"Hurry, daughter. Return as soon as you can."

I gave him a droll look. "Obviously."

As we passed my parents, my mother grabbed Celine’s bridle and leaned up toward me. "Be careful, sweetling," she murmured. "Hurry back."

I nodded, bending to brush a kiss across her cheek.

Hecate looked back at me.

"Are you ready? We must hurry. I cannot hold it back any longer."

"Yes. Let us ride."

We nudged our horses into a run and we galloped through the commons and out the palace doors. I felt Celine’s strength welling in her thick muscles beneath me as she surged forward, her ears flicking from time to time. Even the horses sensed that something was amiss.

When we were halfway down the mountain, I heard the castle above us erupt into noise. The spell had been broken- time was unfrozen and everyone was awake. It was a jarring comparison, showing just how quiet it really had been while everyone was silent.

Lucan glanced sideways at me, giving me a long look as we rode hard to escape the palace.

"Can you explain now, my lady?" he called.

"Yes," I called back. "Just as soon as I think of something to say."