Minerva Gold and the Wand of Silver Pt. 19

"I would like to apologize," he said, quietly.

Minerva arched an eyebrow. "Apologize?"

"Yes," Merlin said. He turned back to face her, his face serious. "I was a coward. And a fool."

Minerva leaned back in her seat, her hands sliding along the armrests of her chair. She waited, watching him. Letting him continue. The silence hung for a moment as the wind blew through the leaves and the branches.

Merlin bowed to her, his eyes closed. He waved his hand and a chair of his very own emerged from the ground - unfolding itself from moss and leaves, twining together to create something soft and light and airy. He settled into it.

"I...was alive to see the Romans land here," he said, quietly. "Hell, I was here to see the last time that particular entity that you ran into was invoked - too much the same cause and effect." His lips pursed. "I lived through the War of the Roses, the British Civil War, Napoleon, the Roman collapse, the Fall of Camelot, on and on and on. I know how...very fragile it is. The world. The peace, the security, the stability I..." He looked as if he was struggling to find the words. "Do you know what it was like to have lived from 1820 to 1920? To see a century of peace and splendor and wealth and watch it...become...that." His fingers tightened, then opened again.

Minerva listened to him, but didn't respond yet.

"So, yes, I saw Ars Magica. I heard all the risks. But still, I...hoped..." He trailed off.

"You hoped you could keep the Empire on your side," Minerva said, quietly.

Merlin remained quiet. His tail lashed from side to side. Minerva learned forward, feeling her spine twinge as the real and unreal parts ground against one another. She winced, gritted her teeth, ignored it.

"It was very comfortable for you," she said, her voice soft. "For you."

Merlin was silent for a time longer.

"I suppose you have a point there." He stood, then frowned. "Hexgramatica will be getting a new headmaster, I am thinking. Professor Melissa Stevenson may be a good choice - she has shown herself quite talented at outside of the box thinking. Now, ramming a woman through the throats of the Board and the Ministry will be a touch difficult, but..." His lips skinned back, showing off his fangs. "I rather relish a challenge, I think."

"What will you do?" Minerva asked, her eyes widening.

"I think I need to see how life is for those who aren't so comfortable," Merlin said.

He turned, and he started to walk away.

"Sir," Minerva said, surprising herself.

"Yes?" Merlin turned back, looking at her.

"...what was..." she paused. "What was King Arthur like?"

"Oh, he was a war wizard of a pseudo-Roman warlord - Ambrosious Aurelianus, I believe. Arthur Pendragon slew nine hundred and ninety men by himself in a battle near some hill, all Mundanes. He had an enchanted sword, and I asked him to show it to me, and he demonstrated by slashing an entire stone in half." His lips quivered slightly in what might have been amusement. "I have to admit, the way legends have gotten that mixed up is amusing as hell to me."

"And you helped him unify Briton?" Minerva asked.

"Of course!" Merlin said. "Not against the Saxons, mind, they were nearly indistinguishable from the Britons to the wizards. No, no, it was the Necromancer Queen that we had to worry about." He grinned at her. "A story for another day, I think."

Minerva watched him go, shaking her head.

A coward, maybe. But at the end of the day, a legend.

"I should have let Kat shoot him," she said, musingly, to herself. "Maybe in the knee."

***

Gina seemed to be far less settled to her current condition than Minerva.

"This is all a load of...of...of..." Gina spluttered.

"Not going to swear?" Minerva asked as she rolled herself from the doorway of Gina's room to the best spot beside her bed. Gina scowled.

"No, I can't decide on which curse word fits best." She frowned. "Buggery. Fuck. Shit. Bullshit!" She slapped her good hand - her left hand - down onto the bed with a meaty whump that sent the skirts ballooning and sweeping outwards as the impact transmitted through it like the subduction wave of an earthquake.

Blanketquake, Minerva thought, amused. Sheetquake!

"I mean, at least football uses your legs, right?" Minerva asked. "And your head."

"And arms!" Gina said, laying back in her pillows, glowering up at the ceiling. She slowly tore her eyes away from the dappled sunlight that shone along the wooden tiles, then held up her right arm. The movement was eerily smooth - it was like the muscles she was using were more perfect than human. Too perfect. Her fingers wriggled and the shimmering unreality of them set Minerva's teeth on edge. The smoked glass view through her palm distorted the painting of hunting hounds on the far wall. She wiggled her fingers more, then dropped it back to her lap. "I'm so sorry, I've been such a beast, complaining about myself, when..." She looked down at Minerva.

Minerva smiled. "It's all right. You know, I've actually been reading a touch about what happened to the two of us."

"Oh, I know what got me," Gina said, frowning. "A little old Cidak bullshit attack spell. Hit my arm, turned it to ash. Now because it's in the astral, I can't get it back." She looked down at her hand again. "Happened to plenty of old boys back in the war. All those astral trench raids and such. It happened to Mr. Vilamont too. And at least I earned it properly." She flashed a smile, her eyes sparkling slightly. "Besides, I have a plan!"

"No, I was thinking of the-" Minerva stopped. "A plan?"

Gina picked up a small silver bell, chiming it.

Titania entered the bedroom, smiling.

"Yes, Mistress Blythe?" she asked, quietly.

"Get Mienrva the thing!" Gina said, excitedly.

Minerva frowned as Titania walked over, picked up a large tome, then stepped over. She handed it to Minerva and Minerva found that there was a small red string that marked the place in Tome of the Impossible by Salvizar Salient-Stiltonwood. She opened it and pursed her lips as she read the spidery script as quickly as she could - her fingers drawing across the shape of articulated metal and gleaming gearwork, drawn in the finest hand that she had ever seen. Her lips moved and she read aloud:

"The gauntlet of Daedalus, crafted by..." She looked up. "You want a magical replacement arm?"

"Keep reading!" Gina said, brightly. "Oh, it's famous."

Minerva looked back down. "What the bloody hell is a moon-scythe?"

"It turns moonlight into solid weapons!" Gina said, bubbling over with excitement. "And tools!"

"Gina, if you just want a prosthetic arm, I think we can find a specialist who can make one," Minerva said, amused. "Hell, I bet I could do it, surely there's books on the subject."

"But this one-"

"Is, according to this footnote, buried at Atlantis," Minerva said, tapping her finger down on the paper. "I think the people who live in Atlantis might have rights to it first!"

Gina scoffed. "Atlantis is just a parable."

"Then how are you going to loot them?" Minerva asked.

Gina scowled. "I just want a fancy arm."

"And what makes it less fancy if I make it for you?" Minerva asked.

Gina opened her mouth. Then she closed it, frowning to herself. "Hum." She brightened. "Can you put a gun into it?"

"I'll see what I can do," Minerva said, smiling wryly.

Gina brightened even more. "Oh, can it maybe have a wand hidden inside as well? So I can cast wandless without being wandless?"

"Should I add a grappling hook, so you can pretend to be Black Beard or Long John Silver?" Minerva asked, her voice dry.

"Who?" Gina asked.

"Oh good heavens," Minerva muttered. She wheeled herself over to the shelf, slotting the book back into place. When she turned around, Gina was looking thoughtful.

"Would I have to...throw it?" She asked.

"The hook?" Minerva frowned at her, considering. "Well, it'd have a rope attached, and you can take it out and, you know, toss it up."

"What if it was in a gun," Gina said, slowly.

"A gun?" Minerva asked. "Whyever for?"

"To shoot it at people! And at the top of buildings!" Gina's eyes gleamed excitedly. "Then you can have a winch in there powered by a...a gremlin or something. I could just whisk myself to the roof in a flash." She nodded. "Do that."

Minerva laughed. "I will see what I can do."

Gina's smile was bright enough to light the whole room. Then...it faded. She looked away and Minerva waited, patiently, to see what her friend had to say.

"There's something else I've been thinking about," she said, nodding as she did so. "Do you think Ars Magica are going to just let this go?"

"No," Minerva admitted. "They may be on the back foot, but I don't doubt that we've gotten into a very exclusive list." She frowned. "I don't think they'll try and kill me while I'm living at your home. But how long until your father comes here to toss me out on my ear?"

Gina nodded. "I mean, I'm safe. Melissa is safe - she's going to become a Headmaster at Hexgramatica, right? It's just Kat, Petunia, you. Harry's safe too!" She grinned. "Well, so long as he doesn't become Raven again. What a silly thing for a boy to do. Wasting a perfectly good..." She made a gesture with her left hand that could only be interpreted in one direction. Minerva grinned at her.

"I don't think it's a waste," she said, demurely.

"Well, I- hey!" Gina exclaimed. Minerva laughed. "Still!" She frowned. "Oh! And Mister Gregory! He's in terrible danger, doubly so I should think!"

Minerva nodded. "I've been considering how to handle that."

"It might be best to get well clear, both of you," Gina said, shrugging her shoulders. "He'd be safer back in America, and I imagine he'll want to take Petunia, so why not you and Kat too? Wait until things die down."

Minerva opened her mouth, about to object. Then she paused, considering. The President himself had been announcing the next step of their New Deal. There were news stories being released by the White House, news stories that had filtered into England as sidebars in the foreign news. Stories about wizards working to reverse the damage caused by the Dust Bowl, to push back the expanding deserts, to return life to lifeless soil. Minerva felt the soil beneath her fingers, achingly real, and for a moment, her mind got tangled up in the possibilities and the difficulties of doing that kind of work. Vast. Complex. And it would be bringing life to something. She closed her eyes, considering more.

"That could work," she said, wonderingly.

"Well, of course it could!" Gina huffed. "I'm very smart, after all."

Minerva snorted loudly.

"And you can make my arm there," Gina said, nodding sagely. She snapped the fingers on her left hand - well, she tried at least. She had to try three more times before they finally made the meaty clack that she wanted. "And then you can mail it here, and I can show those Ars Magica fellows what's what. And you can write to me too. Tell me all about the pretty Yankee girls that Kat is seducing. I bet you, I bet you that they're all giants! I hear Yanks are tall, and they love our accents, that's what I hear."

"They'll luv yor accent, Gina," Minerva corrected, exaggerating her own for effect. "But I'll bring it up with Kat."

Gina beamed. "Once again, Gina solves everything."

***

"I can't go."

"What? Why?" Minerva asked.

Kat chuckled. She leaned forward, kissing her forehead. "But you must," she whispered.

"No," Minerva said, shaking her head.

"The Amis are particular," Kat said. Her hands - her strong, loving hands - slid down to cup her cheek. She leaned forward, kissing Minerva gently on the lips. Her tongue darted between Minerva's lips, then drew back. "They have laws, you know, their Lycanthrope Exclusion Act of 1876. Too many of us from the Old Country, so they send us back." Her eyes were sad, warm. "But you? You must go."

"No," Minerva said, again, firmly.

They were alone in her bedroom, her wheelchair parked by the bed. Kat clicked her tongue, shaking her head ever so gently. "Minerva, my dearest, things are going to become very dangerous here in Britain. You've seen what the fascist do, when they get desperate. America is a safe place for you. You can find a fine job with their Department of Arcana, you can earn a great deal of money, and you can send it to me. "

"We can sneak you in!" Minerva said, her voice growing heated.

Kat swept her arms under her. There was a twinge of pain, but only a small one. When she was laid down, she felt the comforting weight of the bed settling around her. Kat crawled atop, her hands planted to either side. Her eyes were gold in the gathering twilight.

"And let me miss all that is going on here?" she asked, huskily. "There's going to be a war, Minerva. A war against the evil here. We've fought the first battle. But there will be more. Many more." She leaned forward. Her forehead pressed to Minerva's. Her eyes were closed. Her ears pinned back. Her tail stilled. "Do you want me to sit this out? To leave Gina and Harry on their own? To not watch their backs?"

Minerva felt her stomach knot. Her eyes brimmed with tears. "But I don't want to lose you, Kat." Her hand reached up. Blond hair slipped through her fingers, silky and wonderful. Kat laughed.

"I am not so easily lost, my Minnie..." Kat drew back, looking once more into her eyes. "I will crawl out of Hell for you, Minerva. I think we can spend a year apart. And you can regale me with every pretty Yankee you've been seduced by, yes?"

Minerva's cheeks heated and she snorted, a snotty, snotty snort. "Oh you beast," she whispered, closing her eyes, turning her head aside. "Don't make me laugh, not now."

"Laughter is for when things are darkest." Kat's voice came from the shadows. The sun had dipped behind the horizon - and everything had gone quite dark, with the shocking speed of light at this hour. Her lips, warm exclamation points, pressed to Minerva's neck, finding her thundering pulse and nibbling there, threatening.

The lights are going out all over Europe, Minerva thought. The quote came to her mind - echoing from some...book she had read, some autobiography or journal or something. She wasn't sure where. And they will not light again in my lifetime.

Her arms reached up. She wanted, badly, to spread her thighs. She whispered, softly. "Kat...are you sure? I can wheedle you, if you're not sure. I can whine and beg and prostrate myself, just...complete debase my very soul, just to bring you with me. If you're not sure." She chuckled, nervously. Her hand twirled through Kat's blond locks, tugging them gently. Kat laughed quietly.

"That's why I think I do love you, Minnie." She leaned forward. She smothered Minerva with the warmth of her kiss. Minerva felt squished under her, trapped in a way she hadn't felt before. She liked it, even as it made her afraid. But right now, she didn't want to be afraid. She didn't want to be pressed down or pinned. She wanted...she wanted to be free, to feel every part of Kat. She wanted it all. She put her hands against Kat's chest, pushing her gently back. Kat drew away, her eyes glittering with concern in the shadowy darkness overhead.

"On my side," Minerva whispered. "I think...yes..." She put her hands to the bed, rolling herself. Kat's hand on her hip got her the rest of the way. SHe laid with her hand on the pillow and her voice, desperate in the darkness, crooned. "Lift me. Kat, lift my leg..." She felt the silky smoothness of a padded paw - and heard the creak of the bed as it took more weight as Kat shifted with her eagerness. Minerva cocked her head around and watched as the gauzy, transparent limb of her left leg rose into the air, catching a silvery beam of moonlight and seeming to glow. She felt so exposed. So needy.

Kat kissed her neck, licking with a thick, broad tongue. She chuckled. "Hows this? Comfortable?"

"Oh yes..." Minerva whispered. The strength of Kat's palm, the bulk of her body, the heft of her breasts against her back. She was still clothed, but her skin felt so sensitive that every point of contact blazed. Kat used her other hand, plucking at buttons with the casual disregard to fashion that all wizards showed - when it took but a flick of a wand and a muttered spell to sew buttons back on, who cared if they pinged and rolled away. Her paw cupped Minerva's breast and she found her nipple, tugging gently. Minerva pushed with her hands and ground her sex against Kat's bulge.

"Can you feel that?" Kat rumbled, her breath hot against Minerva's neck.

"Mmm, tug harder...I'm not made of glass, love," Minerva whispered.

"Could have fooled me." Kat chuckled, her hand squeezing Minerva's leg. Despite that, she tugged. Hard. Minerva bit her lip, then gasped out a desperate, needy moan as Kat's blunt-tipped, lupine fingers added at twist, sending delicious pain and pleasure through her spine. Her sex felt so wet. She risked a glance down and saw that her ghostly legs had another curious effect - her juices glowed. Kat noticed as well.

"Well, that makes targeting easy for night attack, eh?" Kat chuckled.

"Oh you-" Minerva gasped out again as Kat shifted behind her, squirmed, wriggled, and somehow managed to get her pants off her digitigrade legs with just a few kicks and bucks. Her girlcock, knotted and eager, slid between Minerva's thighs and against her sex. Kat rocked her hips slowly, panting as she did so.

"So wet," she murmured. "Even being impaled through the chest by...by...whatever that was can't slow you down."

"Mmm, it was an Avatar, actually," Minerva mumbled. "Some...poor bugger that the thing grabbed onto centuries ago and twisted int-"

Kat bucked her hips. The tip of her wolfish cock speared into Minerva and Minerva found it quite hard to speak at all. Her eyes closed and she ducked her head forward, gasping. "Oh Kat!"

Kat laughed, then thrust harder, her hips bucking. Her member spread deeper into Minerva, stretching her. The pleasure was not muted - not in the slightest. Minerva bit her lip hard to keep from crying out even louder as the knot began to slap against her sex. Kat used one hand to hold her thigh up, the other reaching around. Two blunt fingers rubbed her clit as Kat relaxed into a casual, lazy fuck. A rhythm that felt like the powerful woman could carry until the end of the world. Pleasure crested inside of Minerva as she felt the warm, loving breath of her Kat against the nape of her neck - as she heard the rhythmic slap of not just furred thighs and furred balls, but of a furred tail, wagging against the bed.

Minerva released her lip and laughed. "Ah. Fuck me. Kat. Oh Kat!" She gasped. "Fuck me! And you better tell me of every conquest you claim!" She laughed.

Kat let out a very wolfish laugh. She leaned over, her nose bumping against her ear. Her voice was a quiet growl.

"The first's gonna be Gina."

"Oh god, you monster!" Minerva laughed. "I called...ah...oh Kat!"

She arched her back and felt her sex tightening. Her legs remained still - but the pleasure still rocked her. Kat nuzzled her neck, fucking faster now. Her knot pushed into her, trying them together as Kat panted, growled, then threw her head back. She howled, careless of the noise, careless of who might hear, careless of the world. In the darkness, light - the blazing white heat of pleasure and love and longing. Minerva quivered and rolled her head back against Kat, laying into her as she felt warm seed spilling into her, straining against the knot tying her shut. She panted and Kat panted and, together, they wallowed.