The Quest (The Sons of Camelot Book 2) by Kim Dragoner Page B

been following before pursuing the imp.
    John and the others followed along behind Merlin until they reached the road. Silent confusion registered on all of their faces. It wasn’t until they were a mile or so north of the wall that Merlin began to bring relief to their confusion.
    “Sir Jofrit, I’m afraid to tell you,” Merlin began, “has been frozen in a block of ice by a very powerful sorceress by the name of Nimueh. However, our imp had no idea of the exact place that he is being held, though we can be assured that it is to the north in the Cairngorms.”
    “Please excuse my contradiction, Merlin,” John replied. “But how were you able to deduce that from the conversation that we just witnessed? For instance, didn’t he say that he knew exactly where my father was being held?”
    “He’s an imp, my dear Sir John,” Merlin chuckled. “He must always lie.”
    “So, how can you believe anything that he said?” John asked.
    “You can believe him by asking questions in a certain way that will make him give you the answers in reverse,” Merlin grinned. “If the imp lies honestly, then you can count on anything that he says being the opposite of what really is.”
    John had no response. He tried to sort through the conversation once more inside his mind. All it did was confuse him.
    “That was a wicked joke that you played on him, Lady Alpina,” Merlin laughed.
    “Do you think that he believed me?” Alpina laughed.
    “I don’t know, but he sure kept a close eye on you.” Merlin continued laughing and then tried to explain to his confused companions what Alpina had done.
    Finally catching on to the joke, John turned to look back at Alpina. “Would you actually eat such a creature?”
    “Of course I would,” she burst out. “They are delicious. Consider chicken in a rich pear sauce.”
    “Only twice as sweet,” Merlin added with a chuckle.
    If the others had been paying the magician’s expression any attention, they would have seen the wide grin of mirth on his face slowly melt away into a look of dread. Shivers had gone down his spine at the mention of Nimueh’s name.
    How was this even possible? Mab had banished her for what she had done to Merlin many years before, so how was it that she was back on Earth? As he rode along with a myriad of thoughts clouding his mind, Merlin couldn’t help but remember everything that had happened between Nimueh and him.
     
    ***
     
    After the war, Morgana le Fae, Queen Mab and Merlin the sorcerer had warned Arthur, his men and their Sons of the Round Table that there was still too much unfettered magic loose in the kingdom. Many of the skirmishes had seen deserters and after the Battle of Camlann, there had been wounded soldiers, both human and elven, who had taken refuge in the dark places and forests of Cumbria.
    Eventually, with persistent patrols, these threats had been eradicated but what none of them had anticipated was that several magical entities who had been banished at one time or another to the realm of Arcadia had found the breach Oberon had created and slipped through to Earth. The majority of these refugees had returned by choice to Arcadia, being unfamiliar with Earth and having no desire to stay. However, some had been exiled to Arcadia from Earth and took the opportunity to sneak back home, escaping their prison sentence.
    One such prisoner was Nimueh. A long time ago, she had been a revered and beloved being in the realm. That was before Arthur had become king and united the fractured clans and people to form one country, under one king; the Kingdom of Britain. Before Lancelot had become one of the Knight of Arthur’s Round Table, he had been orphaned and it was Nimueh who has fostered him and raised him into adulthood. She had served as protector to many magical objects under the guidance of the Glastenning Sisterhood and for Queen Mab, she had been a source of justice to wrongdoers.
    It had been Nimueh who had presented Arthur with the