Lady Knight Missione (Merlin fanfic)

PART THREE - Chapter Twenty

"Yes Sir Elyan?" I ask.

"You are to accompany me, some of the other knights, and the Queen to our father's grave site." He answers.

"Why me?"

I can't help the question from leaving my lips, and as soon as it is out I want to take it back. I shouldn't question his orders, nor if it has to do with the King or Queen, but I do. Learning to keep quiet is something I have been working on and almost mastering but I never could ignore the curiosity that builds within me like a dam ready to explode.

"The Queen requested it."

I watch Elyan leave toward the other Knights as I turn from the training field to get Nadine. It does make sense in a way for the Queen to want to meet the first and only Lady Knight of Camelot personally and not at some public gathering. I am curious to meet her too. In the books she cheated with Sir Lancelot and that was ultimately the downfall of King Arthur. I guess it was natural for me to hate her for that and the possibility of it but I still feel a little guilty for hating her. Even though I only met her once or twice, she is very pretty and nice and genuine, I like her. Maybe we can be friends in another life, but she's a Queen and I'm the first Knight to be a woman. We are too different, both in goals and station.

I lead Nadine to the front of the castle where Percival, Gwaine, Leon, and Elyan are waiting. I wait alongside them for only a few minutes until Queen Guinevere walks out. She is as stunning as ever with a kind smile and shining eyes lighting her face. I can't help but smile too as she walks over to her white horse. I watch as Elyan says something to her that I can't hear, her laughing and then she looks my way. I look down as I hear her shoes come closer and closer to me. I don't look up.

"Hello there. I'm Guinevere but most people call me Gwen. We never officially have been introduced to each other. I'm Arthur's wife." She says as I slowly look up and meet her eyes.

"I'm Missione but you can call me Missy, your majesty." I say nervously as I bite my lip.

"Please call me Gwen. I'm glad you could join us. I look forward to your company and getting to know you. In truth it will certainly give us a break from Gwaine's constant chatter."

She is joking of course and everyone laughs at her comment. We then begin to mount our horses and form in a sort of protective circle around her. Elyan and Gwaine are closest to her, then Leon and Percival next to them. I stay in the back as we travel to the grave site and then on our way back.

"So where are you from Missy?" Asks the Que- Gwen as she turns her head back towards me.

"I grew up in a cottage in the forest near a small village, Alina." I say to her. "I learned all I know about the art of swordsmanship there and many more things."

"That sounds like a good life. I and Elyan's mother was a maid in Sir Leon's household, and our father a blacksmith in Camelot."

"You're parents weren't Royalty nor noble blood?"

"No." She answers.

"Yet you're Queen." I say still confused.

"Yes she is and you will show her the respect she deserves." Says Elyan.

I lower my head more as Gwen scolds him and then says to me, "I fell in love with Arthur and him me."

I smile at that. Love. I know certain kinds of love but I've never experienced falling in love. I've heard its quiet magical. I hope to experience it one day for myself, maybe even get married and start a new life in peace when King Arthur is sure to live, and Mordred is safe doing no harm. I'm looking forward to that day.

We ride along only one more mere moment when the horses get spooked and begin thrashing and neighing around. Sir Leon falls off of his, the others are close to following his lead. Looking closer I see what it is and it is unnatural. They are snakes but not any ordinary snakes that I've ever seen. Luckily I and Gwen are more towards the back so our horses don't get as scared and we are both able to hold on.

"They're after the Queen!" Yells Elyan. "Get through the trees! Go!"

I look over at Gwen as she gallops and then back at the Knights. I make a quick decision and follow the Queen. The words that Arthur yelled at me a few months ago comes to mind as I follow after Gwen but I ignore them. He can't be mad at me for trying to protect the Queen, can he?

I am so lost in my thoughts I don't even realize she has stopped. I follow her lead and stop as well as she turns around and rides away. I on the other hand am frozen in place, in fear as I see a woman standing a little ways away. She has long black hair, very pretty, and wears all black. She looks like something else though, something I can't quite put my finger on.

I hear a thud behind me and without even looking I know that the Queen isn't on her horse anymore. It isn't much of a noise but it is enough to snap me out of my frozen state and do something. So I do. I jump off of Nadine so fast it feels like time stands still. As I am jumping off I unsheathe my sword and hold it up in a defensive stance as I stand protectively in front of where the Queen is. I don't move an inch as the woman quietly and very slowly walks towards me and the unconsciousness Queen. She stops walking and stands still, not two meters away from us.

Very quickly without me fully realizing what she is doing she nods her head up and her eyes shine gold. Out of reflex I move my sword up and use it to try and shield myself, waiting for blackness. Instead all I feels is a small force push on my sword. I am surprised to say the least. I'm not the only one that is surprised by it. I look up and the woman looks completely shocked.

What do I do? I can't fight her. She has power that I cannot possibly take on. What do heroes do in this situation? What do they do in all those books I read? When they are backed into a corner? Talk. They talk and talk, distracting their foes, and then they strike. I suppose that is what I should do. What else is there? I bite on my bottom lip, bite back against the nervous bile ready to come up, and try to put my thoughts into words.

"Lady." At the mention of my voice she looks up, still with shock written on her face. "It doesn't end here. Let us go our separate ways. The battle is yet to be."

Then her shock is gone and replacing it is a very evil grin.

"That rings truth. It's too bad I couldn't find you when I had the chance or things would have been very different. I won't even waste my breath with you anymore. Arthur will die but don't worry Alexandra." At the mention of my old name, my heart drops. How does she know my old name? "Don't worry at all. I will make sure you aren't there too see it."

Her eyes flash gold and without warning I am thrown back at something hard. The last thing I see is that woman stroking the Queen's face with a grin. This is not how heroes do it. But I suppose I'm not really one anyway. Then it's black and there's no more.

....

"Wake up." Says a voice, startling me to my senses.

I open my eyes and sit up looking around frantically until my eyes land on the Queen and the woman from before. Gwen is unconscious but the woman is smiling down at me as I stand up unbound. There is man not too far away, he's dead. There is a large wound in his stomach that no mortal could survive from. I force my eyes from the poor man as more bile threatens to implode from my stomach to look around and see that we're on the edge of a lake. I look out into the lake and see an island a ways away with old stone buildings. Where am I?

Without warning an invisible force picks me up and throws me into the ice cold water. Before I touch it I hear a high-pitched scream, I hear the Queen's scream. I wouldn't have guessed it but the water is deep, too deep. My eyes burn only a little when I open them under the water but it's still blurry. The only thing I can make out as I try desperately to get back up above surface is a bright blue and purple misty substance slowly surrounding me. It gets closer and closer until I can't hold my breathe any longer and suck in a large mouth full of the color that is everywhere. When I swallow it into my lungs and stomach, it isn't like water, it's like wet sand but with no taste. The last thing I see before nothing is a figure flying towards me, and then my last thought being, I should have learned how to swim.