THE CURSE OF EXCALIBUR: a gripping Arthurian fantasy (THE MORGAN TRILOGY Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

little baby, whose small pink fist grasped one of his father’s fingers. His look was one of gentleness that I had not seen before, but he sat up and back a little in his chair as he took in how I was dressed, how I had come not to hold our child in my arms, but as his Queen.
    “Morgan,” he began tentatively, “I am glad to see you up and well.”
    I nodded, hanging back in the doorway. I did not want him to hand me the child. I didn’t want to look down at my son and feel how much I lacked, how the comfort I had hoped for left me cold.
    “What news from the battlefield?” I asked coldly. The baby gurgled in his arms, and he bounced him a little. He shrugged.
    “It’s over. Well, not over, but the end is decided. On midsummer’s day, Arthur and his knights met with Lot’s forces. Pellinore killed Lot, and his army scattered, but not before Arthur and his knights had cut most of them down. And those that ran, we met them as they tried to cross through the mountains on our borders, and we cut them down. Lothian had many knights, but most of them were mercenaries, and when word spread that their king was dead, they scattered. Lot’s son, Gawain, pledged himself to Arthur.”
    “ Gawain pledged to Arthur?” I asked in disbelief. I could have imagined Aggravain would have done it, but not Gawain. I would have thought Gawain would have rather faced death.
    Uriens gave a grim nod. “He was impressed, I think, by Arthur’s strength on the battlefield. And besides, after his father’s death news managed to reach him that Arthur was not just the father of his youngest brother, but also his mother’s brother. With his father dead, the clever young prince of Lothian decided that his blood ran as thick on his mother’s as his father’s side, and pledged to Arthur. The other brother will pledge his faith, too, when the two remaining kings fall. That will not be long. Between Lothian and Logrys, they will be easily crushed, and Arthur will be King of all Britain.”
    I nodded, trying to take it all in. This was what I wanted. Morgawse was safe. War would come to an end. I could not stop thinking about the Breton woman, executed in the courtyard. That was what war made men into. Arthur should have stopped it. I felt my head spinning, and leaned against the doorway. In the corner of my vision, I saw Uriens stand, as though he would come over to help me, but I held up a hand, gesturing him away. I was fine. But I had to decide what my next move was going to be. My next move would have to ensure that I kept Excalibur.
    “Morgan,” he said quietly. I looked up. He had come closer than I had thought. He still held the child, cradled close to his chest with one strong arm, and he leaned back against the wall beside the door, regarding me with a strange detachment. “You dislike me, but your womb likes me well enough, and we should have another child. You cannot – you should not – keep me from your bed forever.”
    I shook my head, stepping back, but I was still dizzy and I had to rest back against the other side of the doorway. I had not thought he would come back. I had not prepared any more of the potion I had given him before. I was weak from bearing the child; I could not hold him off me. The only weapon I had left was fear. I was not even sure that I could hold him back with Excalibur.
    “Don’t you want another child?” he demanded.
    I shook my head. I felt nauseous, and faint. I could feel my stomach turn within me, my vision blur. I thought I had survived having the child, but I must have lost a lot of blood. I knew the signs from the books I had read. I needed to make the medicine for the blood from the book. I went slowly, leaning against the wall, from the room, following the way I knew down to the herb stores. I was pleased that Uriens did not follow me. I heard him call for Elaine. I wondered what he thought she could possibly do to aid the situation.
    When I stumbled out into the courtyard, I saw Accolon