There and back again, a journey to love.

Chapter 13 - The Choices taken.

She stopped and sat under a tree, held her head in her hands, and thought upon the events of the past week, wondering at how far she had allowed herself to be distracted from her original path.

    "What of Quests now" she thought, "I am so far immersed into this time and the love of this man, I can see naught else! How can I decide? Can I be so heartless as to knowingly take him into such danger? What if I forsake all and gain nothing! To have come this far and be trapped by human emotion, when all the magical knowledge there has ever been could be mine. How can I ignore my own destiny?"

    She sat there, deep in thought but came to no satisfactory conclusion. There were two paths from which to choose. She could either leave, and travel to another town, there to seek out the man she needed, or reveal all to Sir Guy.

    She lay in bed that night listening to his gentle snoring from the other room, but with turmoil in her heart, for surely such a choice had never been made. She remembered her mother's words, "We do not choose our own fate, it is chosen for us," and she felt the heavy responsibility that she owed to those folk of magic who had gone before. The Artifact, if it was still safe in its hiding place, and she could safely retrieve it, could change her life, and if she could bear a child who could unlock it, it's contents could be hers, enabling her to sustain and reunite her people. Soon she would have to choose.

    She closed her eyes, thinking that she would lie wakeful until the dawn, but sleep claimed her and quietened her thoughts. An hour or so later, she awoke with a start, and upon hearing Guy's loud cries, she rose swiftly and ran into the sickroom. There she found him, sitting rigidly upright in the bed, shaking violently, his eyes wide open, but she knew he was still asleep, and in the grip of a great nightmare.

    "Blood, my God, there is so much blood! The stench of it so great and the bodies piled so high", he cried, "my sword is broken and there are no men to rally, for God's sake will no one bring me a horse!"

    Moving to him and sitting by him on the bed, she tried to embrace him but he was a well muscled man and her reach was insufficient. She held his face in her hands, felt the warmth of his tears, and her heart ached for him. "Hush my love, you are safe" she said with tears in her own eyes at the tragedy of his remembrance, "I will allow no one to harm you, open your eyes and see me, I am here, I will always be here".

    There was a moment when she thought he had not heard, but then he let out a great breath, opening his eyes and seeing her there. He pulled her into his arms, still trembling violently and holding her so tightly that for a moment she lost her own breath, and she could feel the tears dropping from his face onto her shift. "I could hear you my lady, amid the blood and the stink, I heard your voice, and you called out to me, you said," my love."

    "For so you are my lord," she answered, looking deep into his blue eyes and wiping away his tears with her sleeve, "you have entered my heart and made your home there. Kiss me gently, but then you must sleep. Rest now, I will not leave you, and climbing into the bed she lay down beside him and held him in her arms until they both slept.

    He woke first and lay with his head on his arm, looking down at her, and he knew that he would never tire of looking at her. Her hair had strayed across her face as she slumbered, and he drew it gently back, the better to see her. Could it be that she truly loved him, would God grant him this great blessing of which he felt so unworthy? To wake up each morning with her beside him was beyond anything he could hope for.

    She stirred and he watched as she opened her eyes, stretching her body as she smiled up at him. "Good morning my lord," she said, flushing slightly as she remembered where she was.

    Then putting on his sternest face in jest, he said, "You need to leave my bed at once lady, for even in my weakened state, I would keep you here, and yet I find I could not take advantage of you, much as the prospect excites me."

    He put his hand to the side of her face and caressed her cheek gently, but then he released her, laughing as she left his bed. "Get thee hence strumpet, before I change my mind," he said, hearing the joy of her unrestrained laughter as she hastened away to get dressed, before Allan arrived from the inn to tend to his master.

The days passed, the sun shone, and love was in the air, but Auriel knew that time was running out. The Sheriff was fretting at Guy's continued convalescence and anxious to reclaim his henchman. No further work had been done on the "Milliners shop" and some of the villagers now regarded her as "Gisborne's woman", and regarded her with some suspicion.

As a result of this she felt isolated, and she had few allies, for though he now had the respect of some, others could not forget the ruthless acts that he had carried out in his role as the Sheriffs lackey. But putting all that aside, Guy would soon have to be told all, though she feared his response. He was a man of logic, would he even believe the fantastic tale she had to tell, of Camelot, witches, spells and travels through time? Would he shrink from her, withdrawing his love, his fear of the unknown so great, that reason would leave him, and he would become again the tortured man he had once been?