Out of Time

Chapter 10

Merlin patted his horse as he closed up the stall. The stable master had left for the evening repast, along with every other occupant of Camelot, it would seem, so he was left to fend for himself at caring for his horse. Smiling at his horse, he picked up a handful of straw from the ground, flicked his hand, transfiguring the substance into a carrot.

"Enjoy," he said as he held out the treat to his horse, who sucked the vegetable back with a single draw of his powerful lungs. He laughed. "Now, I must see to my own needs." He patted the horse one more time, and made his way to the Great hall.

As he opened the doors, the meal was winding down, people talking more than eating as they finished the final morsels. He spotted Danielle Carpenter immediately, and made a bee line for her, sitting down next to her unceremoniously.

"So, you're Merlin?" She didn't look up from her meal, but simply brought another piece to her mouth.

"Yes."

She nodded. "Don't trust the Lady of the Lake," she said before popping the last bit of food in her mouth, standing up, and walking away.

Merlin's jaw sagged at her parting comment.

She had no power, so how did she know?

#

The next morning, Dani slipped down to breakfast as early as possible, hoping to avoid the all-knowing Merlin. As she waited for food to be brought out to her, she tugged at her sleeve, trying to yank the under tunic into place. It had got snagged mid-forearm and wouldn't come down. Mid-tug, the word "Guinevere" drifted to her ears, and she froze, forgetting her problem of the moment. She sat up straighter, bending her ear to the near impossible task of first trying to figure out who had spoken the word, then eavesdrop on the conversation.

She smiled when she recognized the excited girl's voice as the conversation continued to the left of her. Dani closed her eyes in the hopes of being able to focus more on the exuberant maid's voice and that of her compatriot. She focused with all her might, but grimaced as she still only managed to catch certain key words: visit, Camelot, father, weeks, and marriage.

Dread ate at her stomach as she feared they were talking about Lady Guinevere coming in a few short weeks to marry King Arthur. Time dragged on as she listened further, trying to prove or negate her suspicions. She prayed for the later.

Then the Old English word for contract hit her ears. Marriage contract. Her eyes widened when she caught the word for negotiate, and she sighed a breath of relief. There was still time.

The food arrived then, but her thoughts ground the eating process to a halt. She sporadically popped bits of food into her mouth, but the process warranted almost none of her focus. In a few short weeks, Lady Guinevere and her father would be arriving to negotiate the marriage contract between her and King Arthur, signaling the beginning of the end for Camelot. At least, it did for some of the legends. She wasn't sure if it was true of all of them.

Well, at least she now knew where she was in the story... and she was early in it too. If she wasn't mistaken, this was one of the better portions of the legend. Arthur had started to build his dream, things were looking good for the future. She had time till all hell broke loose.

With a jerk, she realized her daydreaming had taken far too much time. She popped the a few last morsels into her mouth, grabbed a couple more in her hand, and dashed for the bailey, grateful she hadn't encountered Merlin.

Dani slowed as her feet hit the packed earth of the bailey, her mind again filling of the terrible fate that awaited this place. She wandered blindly to the archery range, visions of death, treachery, and unfulfilled dreams swamping her head. The bow landed in her hands without her knowledge, and she continued the futile effort as her mind spun on, taunting her with inevitability.

"Don't you worry, young sir. You'll get the hang of it in no time," a young male voice said from her left.

Startled, she reflexively let go of the string. It burned her fingers and forearm as it went, twanging cruelly in the morning air, as if teasing her for her ineptitude. She turned to the fence as she waved her hand, trying to get the stinging out of her fingers, then rubbed her arm, knowing it would bruise from where the string came across her arm. She pulled the sleeve up. Yes, there would definitely be a bruise. As it was, a long, raised, angry, red area had risen across her forearm. Looking up at the speaker, she continued to rub her arm absently.

A boy leaned against the fencing, one leg hitched on a horizontal beam, a sword leaning against the fence to his right. A wince of sympathy detracted from the otherwise boyish good looks. Big, but clearly still young, she doubted he was any older than eighteen. "I didn't mean to startle you. I just thought I would give some encouragement, and I can't deny that the unique way you draw the bow intrigued me. I am sorry."

She shook her head. "It's alright." She looked down at the angry mark on her arm. "It wouldn't be the first time."

He smiled, and the innocent expression lit up his entire face. "Aye. I can't count the amount of times I've blundered my way into a bruise while training. When I was seven, and first started training, I nearly maimed myself with a staff. Swung entirely too hard, missed, and smashed it right into my leg. Oh, how I cried. I wasn't used to being away from home and half expected my mother to come around the corner to kiss it better.

"Gods, was I in for a surprise when the castle's healer came along. Nasty fright of a woman. Rough, mean as a snake and ugly as a troll. I half thought the leg was broken but the nasty troll took one look at it, gripped it hard, causing me to yowl and shrink away, then declared me fit to return to training."

"I bet, after that, you waited until something was in danger of falling off before seeking healing."

He laughed, the sound almost musical and hardly befitting a warrior in this time period. "That I did."

"I'm Dani Carpenter, by the way."

He stood up from his slouch against the fence, andbowed to her. "Lancelot du Lac."    

Author's Note: Well, enjoy!  I'm off to Panera to try to edit Mila's Shift and get over my issues because the editing of that book has been on hold for at least a year now.  I swear, if I didn't have issues when it came to editing, I'd have a half a dozen books professionally published by now...