Guinevere (Book 1)

Chapter 11

The morning has dawned and breakfast had been eaten. My heavy feet lead me towards the Great Hall to meet King Arthur. Although I have slept, my body feels like it has had no rest at all. Every limb feels weighed down and slow as if I am in a suit of armour. After all that had happened yesterday, I feel conflicted but I am duty-bound to at least honour the King's invitation. I turn the last corner, I see Arthur waiting by the doors to the Hall, just like he said he would be. As he sees me and his faces lights up with joy, his shoulders drop a little; I think he must be as nervous as I am, although certainly for different reasons. 

As I reach him, he bows low and kisses my hand softly. His fair hair shines gold as he passes through the morning light streaming through the nearby window. He is wearing more simple garb than he has previously in my presence, but his wears his over-cloak of regal red and embroidered with the golden lion of Camelot. It suits him well.

"Thank you for coming, Princess," he says with a look of relief on his face.

I bit my bottom lip nervously; "Thank you for inviting me, Your Grace. You look a little relieved to see me, did you think I would show?"

Looking at the floor, Arthur replies sheepishly; "I did fear that yes, but it is no reflection upon you; I thought I may have been a little too forward in my request... I just want to get to know you a little better."

"I have been looking forward to getting to know you better too," I say, feeling a little more at ease seeing that he is nervous as well.

"May I take your arm?"

"It would be my pleasure."

With that, I put my arm through his and we begin to walk through the Keep towards the gardens.

Fortunately, the storm had died in the night, now this morning this is bright sunshine with hardly a cloud in the blue sky. As we exit the Keep we see the plants and flowers are still dowsed in raindrops, which are glistening like diamonds in the morning light. The air is warmer than yesterday too, which I am glad of; I detest cold weather and long for the spring and the warmth of summer.

I decide to start the conversation; "It is a beautiful day, is it not?"

"Yes indeed, Princess. I feared that storm would never end last night."

"It was the worst one I've seen for many years, Your Grace. But I do like how the water from last night's rain now glitters on everything in the sun."

After looking at the scene, Arthur looks to me with playfulness; "It makes everything look almost as pretty as you, my Lady."

I blush; "You flatter me, Your Grace."

He puts a hand on the one I rest on his arm; "I only speak of what I see to be true."

His hand is gentle and warm and it encompasses mine almost completely. Just as I become accustomed to its touch, he takes it away and the cool air envelops my skin once more. I don't know how I should respond, so I say nothing; I hope he will take this as a sign of modesty rather than me being at a loss at this sign of affection.

We soon find ourselves at a familiar part of the gardens, at least to me. It is the site of my mother's grave. It is a great mound of earth and grass with a huge stone embedded into it, which looks much like a huge door. All around the grave and the grassy space in front of the 'door' are dense rose bushes. I notice that they are already starting to form buds and smile at the fact that in a month or so, these will form a sea of pink roses. I wonder if she is looking down on me from some heavenly plane. I also wonder what she would make of her only daughter now that I am grown; would she be proud of me? Am I everything she imagined I might be when I was born? Now that I visit her with the great King Arthur on my arm, I wonder what she would make of it. I would give anything to know the answers to all of these questions or to hear her speak some words of encouragement or advice.