Excalibur's Seven | ✓ [LGBT]

~ 49 ~

WHEN KIT OPENED HIS eyes, he felt a sense of déjà vu. He was surrounded by strangers tending to his wounds, but this time they weren't Seelies. They were druids, saying chants and dousing him with oils and leaves, doing their best to heal him.

His head hurt, but he forced himself into a sitting position anyways.

"Kristofer, be careful." It was the man from before, Chalice's friend Cian. He realized with a start that he hadn't seen the druid back at the castle with Titania, and his eyes widened.

"Chalice," he croaked. "Chalice, where are they? Are they okay?"

The room went quiet, and all the druids stilled, avoiding his eyes. His heart beat faster, and a lump formed in his throat.

"No," he whimpered. "No, not them, too, I can't. I can't."

Cian placed his hand over Kit's. "We're sorry, Kristofer."

The tears didn't stop once they came. He didn't know what he'd do without Chalice. They were too good to die, too special, he considered them his best friend. Losing them felt like his heart got ripped out again.

He swallowed. "Morgana," he breathed. "He didn't make it either."

Cian's eyes brightened. "No," he said. "He's still with us."

Kit froze. "What?"

"He's barely hanging on, but there is still life in him," Cian told him. "We're doing our best to bring him back, Giselle is helping."

He rose to his feet despite the druids warning him not to, and the pain in his side that slowed him down. He ignored it, bursting through the door and out the small stone building.

It wasn't hard to find it, Selene and Eurion were sitting outside another small house playing a game of cards. They stood up as soon as they saw him.

"Kit, you shouldn't be on your feet," Selene said, reaching for his arm.

He shoved her away and threw open the door.

It wasn't any easier to look at Morgana. He was there in a bed, as lifeless as he was last time Kit saw him. The faery was shirtless, revealing a pale, scarred chest covered in cracks, and the burns at his throat from iron chains. It also uncovered the nasty scar at the center of his sternum where Excalibur cut through him, saving Kit from a fate he already accepted.

"Morgana," he breathed.

Giselle was at his side, holding his hand and looking at him with sad, blue eyes. She only noticed Kit then, and she stood from her chair to pull him into an embrace.

Kit wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her lavender hair and holding her for what felt like an eternity. He cared deeply for Morgana, so deeply it hurt, but he could only imagine how Giselle must've been feeling. She was Morgana's best friend, his sister, almost. He didn't know much of their history, but he knew it was long and deep and this hurt her the worst.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" she asked when she pulled away. She gripped his hand and didn't let go.

"I don't know," Kit replied, swallowing back the tears that threatened to fall. "But he fucking better. I refuse to lose two."

She looked back up at Kit. "Chalice..."

The name was all it took to provoke more tears.

"Was it even worth it?" he asked. "The King is gone but was it worth the cost? We don't even have Excalibur."

"Actually..."

Kit blinked. "Huh?"

Giselle didn't let go of his hand, pulling him along to Morgana's bedside. Propped up against a nightstand was Excalibur, wrapped in cloth as a makeshift sheath.