Bek was incensed. “You don’t have to prove anything!”
“Don’t I, Bek?”
He was silent, aware of how untenable his argument was and how implacable his sister’s thinking. She might not have anything to prove to him, but she did to a lot of others. Most important of all, she had something to prove to herself.
“I won’t be whole again until I settle this,” she said. “It won’t stop if we escape. I know the Morgawr. He will keep coming until he finds a way to destroy me. If I want this matter ended, I have to end it here.”
Bek shook his head in disgust. “What are we supposed to do while you go out there and sacrifice yourself? Hope for the best?”
“Take advantage of the confusion. Even if I am killed, the Morgawr will not emerge unscathed. He will be weakened and his followers will be in disarray. You can choose to face them or escape while they lick their wounds. Either is fine. Talk about it with the others and decide among you.”
She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “You have done everything you could for me, Bek. You have no reason to feel regret. I am doing this because I must.”
She turned to Rue Meridian. “I like it that you are not afraid of anyone, even me. I like it that you love my brother so much.”
“Don’t do this,” Bek pleaded.
“Take care of him,” his sister said to Rue, and without another word or even a single glance back she walked away.
Ordering the rest of the fleet to remain anchored offshore, safely away from any attempts at sabotage, the Morgawr flew Black Moclips over the silver-tipped surface of the Blue Divide to the grassy flats of Mephitic. He landed his vessel and tied her off, leaving Aden Kett and his walking dead on board with a handful of guards to watch over them. Then, tossing a rope ladder over the railing of the starboard pontoon, he took Cree Bega and a dozen of his Mwellrets down off the ship and toward the castle.
They crossed the grasslands openly and deliberately, making no effort to hide their approach. If the survivors of the Jerle Shannara were hiding within the walls of the ruins, the Morgawr wanted them to see him coming. He wanted them to have time to think about it before he reached them, to let their anticipation build, and with it their fear. The Ilse Witch might not be frightened, but her companions would be. They would know by now how he feasted on the souls of the living. They would know how the Federation crew he had captured aboard Black Moclips had reacted while it was happening and what they looked like afterwards. At least one of them was likely to break down and reveal the presence of the others. That would save him time and effort. It would allow him to conserve his energy for dealing with the witch.
He told Cree Bega what he wanted. The Mwellrets were to follow his lead. They were not to talk. When they found their quarry, they were to leave the Ilse Witch to him. The others were theirs to do with as they wished. It would be best if they could kill them swiftly or render them unconscious so that they could be carried outside and disposed of.
Above all, they were to remember that there was something else living in the ruins, a spirit creature possessed of magic and capable of generating tremendous power. If it was aroused or attacked, it could prove extremely dangerous. Nothing was to be tampered with once they were inside, because the creature considered the castle its own and would fight to protect it. It cared nothing for the Jerle Shannara and her crew, however. They were not a part of its realm, and it would not protect them.
He said all this without being entirely sure it was true. It was possible that he was wrong and that the castle’s inhabitant would attack for reasons the Morgawr could not even guess at. But no good purpose was served in telling that to the Mwellrets. All of them were expendable, even Cree Bega. What mattered was that he himself survive, and he had no reason to think that he wouldn’t. His magic could protect him from anything. It always had.