Guinevere's Grail | ✓ [BOOK 2]

~ 38 ~

IT FELT WRONG TO hold a funeral like this, when they were all bloody and dressed in rags, but there was no time to do anything else. Atla deserved better than this, despite all her flaws, but if draping her in Mab's nicest sheets and sending her off into the Neversea was the best they could do, then Giselle would not dwell upon the thought any longer. She would send her best wishes and hope that they could avenge her, but things were not looking up.

As soon as they paid their respects to the late Winter Queen, Mab led them away to her hidden base. It was a well-concealed system of caves and tunnels carved into a mountainside, dark and damp and empty and so, so lonely. Giselle had hardly any room to pace beside Morgana's bed or in her room as he got much-needed rest and healing. He'd hit his head harder than she thought he did, and she didn't think he'd wake up for another long night.

What's worse, she couldn't even say goodbye.

"We really can't tell them?" Selene asked, only because she was worried about Giselle. "I'm sure Morgana could keep a secret."

"It's not about that," she sniffled, checking the doorway of their small room again. Morgana was nearby at her insistence, so she spoke softly despite the thick stone walls. "He can't lie. I don't want any of them to have to lie. If they don't know, they can only tell the truth."

This was exactly what she'd feared the day she met Morgana and realized she'd never be able to stay away from him. She hoped they wouldn't live to see the War of the Courts together, she hoped one of them would be dead by the time it happened, but they would not be afforded such luck. This was where they would part, and it was killing her. Even Selene and all the love she had in her heart for the Lady Knight could not heal the screaming cut this would leave.

Giselle was loyal to the Seelie Court. She could choose to strip herself of her title, of her power, of her gifts, and fight uselessly alongside her people's enemies, or she could go back home and figure out a way to fix this. Even though she had no intentions of helping Titania, it still felt like betrayal, leaving them alone like this and taking their strongest knight with her.

"You're doing the right thing, Giselle," Selene assured, taking her hand and pressing her lips to her knuckles. "You'll be more helpful there and I'll be more helpful wherever you are, okay? Don't worry."

As much as she wished those words helped at all, the princess still felt empty. "I need to say goodbye to him first."

It was a terrible idea to see him right now, it only made her want to stay more. The longer she looked at him, the deeper the cut went, and she thought she might bleed out there on the floor. But she didn't, and with Selene's help, she managed to pry herself away from Morgana's side. She watched him until she was around the corner and tucked between the dark walls of the tunnel, nothing but a dim lantern in Selene's hand to light the way.

There were methods of getting home without having to travel for days, but they couldn't risk exposing the others' locations, so they returned to what remained of the palace, now a pile of rubble and memories that hurt her soul to look at.

"Hey," Selene whispered, turning the princess to face her. "They'll be okay. You're helping them, remember?"

Giselle's lip quivered. "What if he never wakes up?"

"He will," she insisted, wiping her tears with the pads of her thumbs. "He always does. And Giselle, my love, he had Titania frightened earlier. You heard what Mab said, he's stronger than we think he is. Trust him, and trust your friends, okay?"

She was right. Through all his troubles, Morgana got back up every time. He would not stay down for long, Giselle knew that better than anyone. Today, she had to put all her faith in him and trust that he'd come back as strong as he always did.