by LH Nicole
“I can understand. Though the Sidhe kept me trapped for many years, I spent much time in the mortal realm before that. Mortals have lost their belief in magic and what they can’t see. But you’ll get used to it.”
Grateful for his attempt at comfort, Aliana scooped up the Dragon and scratched him under his chin, causing him to growl in pleasure. She laughed as she got to her feet. “Thanks for taking care of my bag. You’re my perfect pack mule.” She grabbed her bag and headed out of the tent, giggling at Dagg’s sour expression.
She met Galahad and Arthur’s confused gazes as she approached. “Thank you for your help, Deidre. I don’t think I would have gotten as far as I did without that map.”
Deidre giggled her bell laugh. “I could have done no less, my lady.” She curtseyed. “But before you go, I have something for King Arthur.” The Nymph turned away and walked into the shallow water. Arthur and Galahad shared a raised eyebrow of amusement, and Galahad shrugged his broad shoulders.
The water around Deidre’s feet bubbled, and tiny drops of water floated up, carrying with them a long, curved sword sheathed in a black leather case. Amazed and thrilled, Aliana stepped between the two men, a delighted smile on her face as Deidre took the sword and turned back to them.
“J’alel brought this to me earlier. He said the fire Elves forged it especially for King Arthur to use until he can once again reclaim Excalibur.” Deidre held the sword in her hands, presenting it to the king.
Walking into the water, Arthur kneeled before her, taking the sword from her hands. Aliana smiled brightly, watching another classic piece of legend happen before her eyes. She looked up at Galahad, so excited she wanted to start jumping up and down like a child. She blushed as she realized he’d been watching her instead of Arthur. She glanced away, embarrassed.
Why does that keep happening?
“Thank you, my lady. I humbly accept such a rare and precious gift.” Arthur rose to stand in front of Deidre. “But I thought you would have Excalibur.”
“Alas, great king, I do not. And to defeat Mordrid, you will have to search it out and claim it once more.”
“Do you know where it rests?” Arthur asked.
Deidre shook her head. “The prophecy speaks of the Destined One helping you in your search to reclaim what is yours.”
“Unearth and reclaim their lost relics,” Aliana quoted, remembering the daunting words.
Arthur frowned, coming out of the water to stand by her. “I have yet to hear any of this,” he said, fastening the new sword about his waist.
Deidre nodded reassuringly, and Aliana explained, “Just before my final test, Queen Titania told me the prophecy, but a lot of it doesn’t make sense:
“Before the darkest hour strikes, the Destined One shall come forth.
Avalon’s lost daughter must thrice and alone prove her worth,
Then can she fully possess the power to awaken the king.
It shall become her destiny to reunite the Round Table,
Unearth and reclaim their lost relics,
Become the key to undoing the evil Mordrid has wrought.
Only with her can the once and future king prevail.”
She surprised herself by being able to recall Titania’s ominous words so well.
Arthur crossed his arms over his chest, one finger thoughtfully tapping his chin.
Galahad’s deep voice rumbled. “We know Lady Aliana is the Destined One and the ‘thrice and alone prove her worth’ refers to the tests she had to undergo today.”
“Courage, wits, and faith,” Aliana murmured, suppressing a shiver. She wouldn’t want to go through those tests again.
“Most of it makes sense if you think it through,” Arthur said. “Our next task is to find the knights, then go after Excalibur and the Grail of Power. Lady Aliana is the key, as the queen said.”
Aliana let out a breath. Apparently she had more to do than she first thought. “So where do we start searching for Lancelot and Merlin and the other knights?”
“The mortal realm,” Galahad said, his voice heavy. “That is where Lancelot and Merlin went.”
“But they went there hundreds of years ago. There’s no way they would still be al—” Dagg’s clawed paw tightened on Aliana’s shoulder cutting her off.
“We will return to the mortal realm,” King Arthur decided.
Deidre nodded, approval written across her beautiful face. “Good luck to you, Destined One,” she said to Aliana, then turned her flirty blue gaze to Arthur. “And to you, great king.” She ran a finger down Arthur’s strong arm.
Aliana glanced away to see Galahad with a knowing smirk on his lips. She nudged him, her eyes asking what was so funny. The knight shook his head, still smirking.
“Thank you, my lady,” Arthur said as he and Galahad both bowed to the Water Nymph. Deidre curtseyed again but peered at Aliana and winked one beautiful, ice blue eye as she began to sink back below the water.
“Thanks again, Deidre. I hope we get to see you sometime soon!” Aliana called out right before the Nymph fully submerged. As she fished her journal and GPS out of her bag, it hit her that she was really going home. Finally. She’d been gone way too long.
Not even bothering to ask, Galahad took Aliana’s pack for her. She wanted to protest, but his light blue eyes met hers with a raised eyebrow, daring her to argue.
It’s not worth it, girl, she told herself. With Dagg perched on her shoulder, she led them through the soft grass and lovely flowers toward the cave opening. Stepping into the total darkness, Aliana swallowed her fear and grabbed her cell phone. Before she could turn on the flashlight, Dagg jumped from her shoulder, hovering in front of them.
“Allow me.” The silver Dragon’s purple eyes glowed as he summoned a small iridescent ball of light to illuminate the cave. Grateful and more relieved than she wanted to admit, Aliana patted the Dragon’s head when he reclaimed his position on her shoulder.
“How long until we reach the other side, my lady?” Arthur asked as they made their way through the twisting tunnel.
“Um, maybe fifteen, twenty minutes.” She turned to face her companions. “And, though I appreciate it, please don’t call me my lady. I’m just plain old Aliana, and I am certainly no lady.” She looked both men in the eyes, hoping they would understand.
“We will call you whatever you wish my…Aliana,” Arthur replied for both of them.
Still facing them, she walked backward. “I don’t want to seem too eager, but I’ve been dying to ask you guys some questions.”
Neither man told her to turn around, but they both moved in closer and Arthur’s eyes flicked anxiously from her to the space behind her when he said, “You have but to ask.”
“Well, I guess my first question has to be—when did all of this happen? What year was it when you ruled Camelot?”
“My father was crowned king in the year of our lord five hundred and sixty-five. Our family was one of the last of the Roman lineage to have ruled the lands. Our realm was split into six separate kingdoms. Camelot was the largest and strongest of them all.”
“Wow! Okay, that fits with the lesser known stories of Camelot. Now for the next million questions.” She hadn’t told them about her dream or what Titania had told her before Arthur awoke. She wanted to hear their side of the story first. There was more to it than what she’d been told; she just knew it.
“What happened to the Knights of the Round Table, and what were their names?”
Galahad’s lips drew tight, his square jaw becoming even more defined in his angry silence.
“There were eight of us,” Arthur said, his brown eyes shining as he remembered his loyal friends. “Galahad and myself, Gawain, Percival, Owaine, Leyon, Lancelot, and Merlin.” Arthur’s brow furrowed. “But as to what happened to them, I am not sure. My memories of that day are still unclear.”
“Percival, Owaine, Leyon, and Gawain all fell fighting the black knights, while the rest of us fought Mordrid and his guards,” Galaha
d answered solemnly.
Just like it had been in her dream and Titania’s story.
“Wait, Merlin was a knight? I thought he was your advisor.” Aliana’s brow scrunched.
“No, Merlin sat at the Round Table as a knight. His skills with a sword were not the strongest, but his magic made him more dangerous than most in the five other kingdoms,” Arthur said with a slight smile.
Just another piece of the legends that was wrong. God, this was so confusing. Everything Aliana thought she knew about Arthur and his men was probably going to change. But would it be for the better?
“I know that Mordrid mortally wounded you, Arthur, and that after trapping him, Merlin brought you and the others to Avalon.” She cast a worried glance at Galahad. She didn’t want to upset him, but she had to know. “What happened after you made the deal with Queen Titania? Where are Lancelot and Merlin?”
Arthur looked to Galahad with sad brown eyes.
Has Galahad already told Arthur what happened? Aliana felt hurt for a moment but then reality struck her. Of course he would tell Arthur. He couldn’t keep something like that from his king. Just people he doesn’t trust.
Galahad opened his mouth to answer, but froze as he stared past Aliana in awe. They had already reached the cave entrance to the mortal world. Her rope still held the vines to the side, allowing the early evening glow to spill into the cave as it lit the clear lake just outside. Aliana sighed softly, seeing the rainbow created by the fall’s mist.
“We’re home,” she said, momentarily putting her curiosity aside.
Dagg jumped from her shoulder, soaring in the air, diving through the waterfall. Aliana giggled as she walked out of the cave, grateful to smell the clean, crisp lake air. She turned with a large smile on her face, expecting the guys to be right behind her, but they’d stayed just inside the entrance, caught up in the scenery before them. Their eyes were a little wider, their jaws slightly slack.
“You two all right?” she asked as she walked back over to them.
Galahad was the first to snap out of his stupor. “Yes, my la…Aliana.” His voice was soft. “Returning to our world was something I was not sure would ever happen.” He smiled softly.
Aliana could only imagine what that must feel like. He and Arthur had had their home ripped from them and were thrown into a strange, new land. Squaring her shoulders, She took the king’s and the knight’s hands in hers, slowly pulling them from the cave and back to into their world, their home. Familiar sparks rolled up her arm from Galahad’s touch.
Arthur smiled, studying the area in silence. Galahad inhaled the fresh air. “Avalon is a wondrous place, but nothing can best the smell of the forest,” he said as he lifted and kissed Aliana’s hand. “I never thanked you for freeing me and now you have brought us home. Thank you.” He stepped closer, gently squeezing her hand.
Aliana beamed, returning his smile, and looked to Arthur. When he raised her hand to his own lips, she realized neither of them had yet released her. Her heart skipped a few beats as butterflies danced in her stomach.
“I too owe you a great many thanks, Aliana. You have done so much for us already, and I know there is so much more that is still to come.” Arthur’s thumb traced over the knuckles where his soft lips had just been.
Galahad’s blue eyes darkened when they landed on her and Arthur’s joined hands. Clearing her throat, Aliana stepped back, pulling away from both men. I am in so much trouble! “Don’t thank me yet. Wait till we get into the city. You might not be so grateful when you see how much things have changed in fifteen hundred years.”
Identical worried frowns and furrowed brows appeared on their faces.
10
I nearly ran off the road when the block in my mind shattered. I knew as soon as I woke that everything was going to change. The Destined One is finally here! King Arthur will be restored, my brothers returned to me. But how am I going to face them after abandoning the king? My beautiful Guinevere’s worried eyes still haunt me every day. I will find her again. Surely the Destined One will see her returned to me. She must.
~Lancelot
SNORTING A LAUGH, Aliana turned on her GPS. “No way!”
“What’s wrong?” Dagg asked, landing on her shoulder and gazing at the small device.
“This says I’ve only been in Avalon for seven hours.” She looked at Galahad, dumbfounded. “The moon was just starting to set when we were with Deidre!”
“Time passes differently in Avalon. Sometimes it is faster than the mortal world, other times it is slower,” Dagg explained.
She checked her cell phone and confirmed that her GPS was right. “That’s trippy. At least Owen won’t be going too crazy, yet.”
“Who is Owen?” Galahad and Arthur demanded.
“Owen is the whole reason I’m still in England.”
Shadows stole across their faces, and Galahad said, “You said you were not married.”
Aliana shook her head. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, what’s wrong with you two? Owen’s my cousin.”
Neither man’s expression changed, and then it hit her. “Oh, gross! That’s so last century—we don’t marry our cousins anymore!” Arthur and Galahad reddened slightly with embarrassment, but the shadows lifted from their expressions. Arching an eyebrow, Aliana turned to Dagg, who was grinning like a fool. “Let’s go, guys.”
Arthur and Galahad flanked Aliana as she led them through the trees, away from Avalon.
“If you don’t mind, Galahad, I’d like it if you could finish telling us what happened.” She half expected him to refuse or to change the subject, but he surprised her.
“After Titania sealed the bargain, Merlin laid magical barriers and traps while Lancelot and I set physical traps and made friends with the Elves and other races who lived in the forest. Years passed as we guarded the hollow and the Grail. Merlin was the first to notice that we had stopped aging. He believed that was because the oath bound our lives to Arthur’s, and that so as long as his enemy Mordrid was alive and our quest incomplete, we would not age.”
Aliana’s gaze snapped up from her map. “How old were all of you when you made the oath?”
“I had just celebrated my twenty-first anniversary before Mordrid’s attack,” Arthur answered. “Galahad is only a year behind me.”
“You…you can’t…you’ve got to be kidding me!” Aliana sputtered. She’d noted their youthful appearance but hadn’t realized they were only slightly older than her.
Arthur and Galahad both looked at her, confused, and she started to think their faces were going to get permanently stuck that way. Hers probably would too if they threw any more curve balls at her.
“What do you mean by ‘kidding you’?” Galahad asked.
“Pulling my chain, joshing me, joking.”
“No, Aliana, we are serious. How old are you?” Arthur asked.
“I just turned eighteen.” Sighing, she pushed her shock aside. “Okay, so now that I am sufficiently surprised, hit me with the rest of your story.”
“We would not hit you, Aliana,” Galahad said, looking appalled.
“Oh my stars, this is going to be harder than I thought,” she muttered. “It’s an expression. It means ‘please continue with your story.’”
Arthur nodded to Galahad, who said, “Several years after arriving, the Fae brought us news about Camelot. Our home was being divided amongst the other kingdoms. Everything we’d fought so hard to protect was gone, but we took what comfort we could in the knowledge that it wasn’t at Mordrid’s and Morgana’s hands. We carried on for years until S’han came to us one day with news that Morgana was alive and had been seen in one of the Druid villages. He said she had as much power as ever.”
“You didn’t tell me that, Galahad.” Arthur scowled.
“Forgive me, sire.” Galahad frowned, his eyes growing darker as he explained to Aliana, “Merlin killed Morgana before our final battle. We all watched him pull his sword from her dead body.”
“He
did?” Aliana gasped in horror and disbelief, stumbling over her own feet, but Galahad’s hand steadied her. “Most of the legends say Morgana and three other priestesses took Arthur to Avalon to be healed. In others, she just kind of fades away. But all of the stories say she reconciled with Arthur before the end.”
For the first time, Arthur’s calm façade broke. Fierce anger swept across his strong face. “She betrayed us to Mordrid. She murdered hundreds of innocents, destroyed villages, and wreaked havoc on peoples’ lives.” Rage colored his words. “There was nothing she could have done to ever make me forgive her.”
Galahad’s fists balled tightly at his side, like he wanted to strike something or someone. “According to Merlin, a person’s magic dies when they do and she should not have been alive. We never thought we would hear of her again, so after we got the news, Merlin left Avalon to search her out. If she had as much power as we believed she did, she could have freed Mordrid from his prison.”
Aliana nodded. She understood why Merlin had left, but something didn’t feel quite right. “Wasn’t his leaving considered a betrayal by Titania?” she asked. “Why would he have risked it?”
“Merlin believed that since Morgana threatened Arthur’s return, his actions would not betray the oath. Several years later, when Merlin still hadn’t returned, Lancelot left. He said he wanted to search Merlin out, to make sure Morgana had not killed him.”
Aliana bit the inside of her cheek and they walked in silence for a few minutes as she struggled with the story. Something was missing. Titania had given a different reason for Lancelot’s departure from Avalon—Guinevere!
“Look, I’m trying to be sensitive here, but…what about Guinevere?” Her worried eyes studied Arthur. “In all the stories, she was married to you, Arthur, but had a secret love affair with Lancelot. In some of the stories that betrayal even leads to your downfall.” She braced for the anger that was sure to follow.
All three of her companions chuckled. “Guinevere was betrothed to me when we were very young,” Arthur explained. “But she had fallen in love with Lancelot and I agreed to break the betrothal so they could wed.”