Out of Time

Chapter 30

"Hello, Danielle," Merlin said, smiling at her from where she stood practicing her archery.

She still held the string to her mouth. "Don't you know better than to disturb someone about to release an arrow. Someone could get hurt."

Merlin laughed. "Somehow, I doubt we have anything to worry about. In the short time you've been here, you've become one of the best archers in the kingdom. Have you doubled your distance from the target?"

"Yes." She released the arrow. It hit just right of center. "I'm having a little trouble at this distance. I think I might need a stronger bow."

Merlin laughed again. "You are a wonder, Danielle."

"Did you want something, or are you just here to disrupt my practice?"

It only took Merlin a moment now that he was paying attention to sense the new life growing inside Danielle. "You're pregnant."

She flinched, her face turning beet-red with embarrassment, then turned to him, dropping the bow to her side. "You sound certain."

"I am."

She nodded, but didn't say anything. Any other woman he'd met might have reached to touch her stomach, maybe in shock or awe at the news, but not Danielle. She stood there unmoving, unable or unwilling to process the information, as the blood slowly drained from her face.

Then, with almost no warning at all, she collapsed, fainting dead away. Merlin managed to catch her halfway to the ground, then lifted her up into her arms fully to carry her indoors. Why couldn't he seem to get anything right with her these days?

Arthur had said he suspected she was uncomfortable with the subject, but it had never occurred to him that such a strong woman would faint. He supposed she had a reason. He just wished he'd been smart enough to anticipate it.

#

When Dani awoke, it was to Guin hovering over her like a hummingbird, vibrating with energy.

"Oh, thank the gods," she said. "You gave me a fright."

Dani groaned, realizing she'd fainted. She'd never fainted a day in her life. Sure, she'd had a few times where she hit her head so hard she fell on the ground, or another few times where she stood up too fast and her vision went black, but faint? Nope. Not likely.

Dani sat up out of bed, maneuvering around the flailing and squawking Guinevere. "I'm fine."

"You should be more careful."

"I am careful. Merlin just took me by surprise is all." Desperately wanting to change the subject, she said, "Have you talked with Lancelot lately, or have you just been hanging around the training grounds like some lovesick ghost?"

"Dani!"

Dani laughed.

"I talked to him," Guin mumbled. "I talk to him every day at meals."

She sat back on the edge of the bed. "You must get over your shyness, Guin. He seems to like you, but you must make things happen if you want them."

"I don't have your bravery."

"Of course you do, you're just letting youth and insecurity weigh you down."

"I supposed," she said with a sigh, dropping on the bed beside Dani dramatically. "What do I do?"

"Talk to him."

#

Queen Danielle, and the little impish Lady Guinevere had ignored Morgan nearly from the moment she arrived, not that she minded. Trying to be sweet and friendly to the queen about made her gag, and it was a lot easier to be sneaky and underhanded when no one was paying attention.

And the way Guinevere seemed to have been honeying up to her Lance just made her furious. In fact, it made her want to whip up yet another curse. Or maybe simply some herbs. No need to get too dramatic. She could simply dose her with something to make her violently ill. She smirked at the idea, but her face fell when her mind turned to all the failed advances on Lance.

She'd never had so much difficulty seducing a man in her life. Morgan had been there for weeks, and had made no progress. Of, he'd shown interest from time to time, and she knew she could arouse him. She'd felt him hard and wanting in her hand more than once, but so far she'd never been able to translate that to getting him in her bed, or finding her way to his bed.

Though, maybe she was simply being too circumspect. Maybe it wasn't her seductions that were failing but her choices of where to seduce him. She thought about it some more and realized that was probably it. There was no urgency to the advances because they were never anywhere he probably felt comfortable indulging. She would just have to catch him somewhere he would feel comfortable indulging.

Yes, that would work quite well.

But Lance's rejections and Guinevere's advances weren't the only things plaguing Morgan's mind of late. She had grown suspicious the last week as Guinevere's bubbly and energetic behavior reached all time highs, and Arthur seemed to be walking on a cloud. But no announcements had been made, so she at first assumed Guinevere was simply happy to be at Camelot and Arthur was enjoying his marital situation a bit too much. For all she knew, the bastard had already gone and fallen in love with his bride.

But when news reached her that Danielle had fainted in the bailey, all the pieces fell into place, and she reached down to touch the amulet that still rested on her chest. "Impossible." She curse should be been quite powerful, more than capable of preventing her from conceiving. Yet it had been barely over a month, and she suspected very well that her curse had failed.

Now what?

#

Guin took up her regular place against the fence. Dani asked very little of her as a lady in waiting, which really meant she had a lot of time for doing just that... waiting. It was as close to a life of leisure that one could get. Though, she imagined, if anyone had a life of leisure, it was Lady Morgan. Since the queen didn't like to be even in the same room with her, she asked nothing of her. So Morgan had no responsibilities. She could do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, without almost no one to gainsay her.

She shivered at the idea. There was a certain appeal in the freedom, but she'd always dreamed of a life with purpose. Guin had never quite figured out what that purpose would be. As a little girl, she'd imagined running her own household, raising her children. When it had looked like she would marry Arthur, she'd imagined helping him to run his kingdom, receiving guidance from him on what she needed to do.

Even now, she had a sort of purpose, one that the queen had pushed on her quite forcefully—to get to know Lancelot. Though, to be honest, it was no hardship. She would gladly spend all of her days getting to know him. Guin sighed against the fence as the man in question blocked a powerful overhead swing with his opponent's sword. He hadn't noticed her yet. If he had, she knew full well he would have done something inordinately stupid by now. He always did.

The first day she'd come out here, he'd seen her and simply stopped, staring slack jawed as she smiled at him. At least, for a few moments, then the smile turned to horror as he was tackled to the ground, sending up a large cloud of dirt around them.

The next time, he had been better prepared for her arrival, but he was just as easily distracted, instead posing for her in something she supposed must be very masculine to his mind... and got a nasty hit in the head for his trouble. She gasped, and almost jumped the fence when he didn't immediately get up from the ground. But after a few moments, he groaned, and within a minute, he'd returned to his feet and gave her a really ridiculous grin that made him look like a fool. She returned it easily.

By the third day, he started coming to the fence after "showing off" for a bit. He greeted her, they talked, and eventually someone would yell at him to get back to training and he could give her a sheepish grin before skipping back to where everyone else swung their weapons around in an amalgam of chaotic flashes.

Each day, she couldn't wait to see what he would do next, or what he would say. She really needed to thank the queen for giving her the courage. She couldn't be happier.