She Who is King

15 | sweet as victory

England

IT TURNED OUT the hoof beats I had been hearing weren't a stranger's.

It was Merlin, riding in front of a grinning Arthur. Both men wore the otherworldly glow they got after performing magic, and I rushed to Arthur's side.

"Are you hurt?" I asked, searching his face as I did so. When I hadn't found a single scratch, I relaxed and looked to Merlin.

"Nasty fighters, the Saxons," he said. "Luckily, I'm nastier."

Merlin grinned and jumped off the horse, allowing Arthur to slide into the front of the saddle.

"His mount was struck," Merlin explained, sadly looking back the way they had come, as though the lost horse had been a dear friend.

For all I knew, Merlin could talk to horses, and I was completely missing the point here.

"We need to ride back to the palace," Arthur said, looking into the woods. "I don't want to stay near an active battle longer than necessary with the king."

"I know you two are in a courtship, boy! No need to act like you don't worship the ground she stands on just because I am also in your company," Merlin scolded Arthur, walking away to mumble something about "courtships these days."

Arthur smiled apologetically at me before dismounting the horse and encompassing me in a warm hug. His smell was a mix of the copper of blood and the saltiness of sweat. But his smile was all sugar; warm biscuits on a cold day. I don't know how I had ever doubted his loyalty to me.

"Are you hurt?" Arthur questioned, looking into my eyes. His eyes were large pools of deep blue; the kind I wanted to drown in.

It took me a moment to register the question, but when I did, I flushed red. Of course he wasn't staring into my eyes meaninglessly.

"I wasn't hurt," I said. "No one even noticed it was me when I was running through the field. I suppose the heat of the battle distracted them."

Arthur gave a tiny half smile before pulling away, and I felt a sudden chill at the lack of his closeness.

Arthur and I both remounted, but Merlin opted to float along with us, ever the exhibitionist.

The horses trekked through the thick green foliage, never slowing or seeming to tire. Every time a branch broke underneath one of their hooves, I cringed internally, knowing that any sound we made could give away our position.

When the day broke into dusk, Merlin stopped in a small clearing, just north of the palace. Before we returned, we needed to formulate a new plan to present to Alfred, and any of the knights that had arrived to become a member of my personal advisors.

People who I could trust not to betray me.

Now that Camille had proven herself to be evil, I had no idea who would fill the eighth position. On one hand, Arthur seemed like the perfect person for the job, but I didn't know if I should allow a wizard in training into my inner circle.

Something might explode, literally and figuratively.

Hopefully it would be acceptable to sort through my options and make a good decision after the coronation.

Hopefully, once we returned to the palace, I survived not only this war with Camille, but my crowning.

There was a lot to get done.

"So first we meet anyone who has arrived at the palace. We want them to know that you are a polite person who goes out of her way to greet her guests before resting from a half-a-day ride across her country. Then, you may rest, but I want you up bright and early to begin your first meeting. I'm thinking about calling your little group the Knights of the Round Table, because you're supposed to be equals and all that. I hope you're ready, Lyra, because you're about to be thrust head first into life as a king." Merlin delivered this life changing news in one breath with a completely calm look on his face.