The old wizard left Ginny's chamber quickly once he reminded her that they would leave the next day, right after breakfast.
He rushed to his own room, hoping to find a fire burning on the hearth, his hand already fisted around dried herbs reduced to powder filling the pouch hanging from his belt-- herbs which all the seers used to strengthen their Sight, letting their fumes cloud their minds and open their inner eyes as they burned.
Once he was gone, the princess wrapped the Sword in the blanket again and hid it in her bed before Arwen returned.
After the nurse lit the candles placed around the chamber, Ginny asked her to help her repack her luggage-- not allowing her to touch Sir Lancelot's saddle bags-- explaining to the woman that Lord Myrddin would be taking her to Aunt Ealasaid's in the morning.
Ginny started filling her luggage with clean clothes, then paused momentarily, observing her knight's bags. She thought that maybe she should ask Myrddin to carry them to Lancelot-- he might well need his things in the army camp-- then decided against it. Such a request would probably take too much explaining why she had them in the first place... On hearing muffled sniffles coming from the place where Arwen stood bent over a wooden chest, she pushed the thoughts away and raised her head. Looking at the old nurse, she found her weeping.
"What's wrong, Arwen?" Ginny asked, reaching her and pulling her in an embrace.
"You are leaving again, my lady... I wish you were married already, that would put a stop to all these trips and you would stay at home, behaving finally like a lady, having children to look after..."
Ginny laughed, wiping the woman's tears glittering in the candlelight, with her sleeve. "I'm seventeen, Arwen, I do not plan to have children for a long time yet, and definitely not with Prince Arthur. You can all forget about the wedding, it won't happen!"
"Child, child, what are you talking about?!" The nurse protested, all strict seriousness again. Pressing her hand to the princess's forehead as if doubting that she was feeling well, she continued, "You'll have to marry the prince because that's what your father wants. You better get used to the idea, so you'll suffer less when the wedding day comes... It's just a question of time before you'll learn to love each other well, just like your parents."
The princess shook her head. Her parents barely tolerated each other, judging by the little that she remembered from their life together, and her father did not love the two women he married after her mother's death any better...
"Go to bed, Arwen," she said. "See if Lord Myrddin needs anything before you lie down, and wake me up at sunrise, please."
"Very well, my lady. Can you undress alone?"
"Of course," Ginny said, remembering the past week when she did perfectly well without a maid, blushing at the thought of Sir Lancelot's deft fingers helping her in and out of her clothes occasionally.
Arwen put her cool hand to the girl's flushed cheek, looking at her as if she was sure her princess was falling ill, then, shaking her head, collected her used dishes. Promising that she would send someone for her luggage first thing in the morning, the old nurse left the chamber.
Ginny walked to the window and observed the darkened sky thoughtfully. It was later than she had thought. And now, looking into the blackness covering the world, she felt infinitely tired. How would her knight feel? She mused, trying to stifle a sob. She could sleep and rest in her own bed tonight, but he was taken straight into a battle... She dragged herself to her bed and cried herself to sleep, forgetting to get undressed and brush her hair, the Sword filling the void in her arms where he used to rest...
Ginny fell into an exhausted, dreamless sleep, and the morning came too fast, making her feel as if she had not slept at all. A valet followed Arwen into her chamber even as the first streaks of daylight fought their way within through the window panes to carry her bags to the horses. Hardly awake, trying to suppress a yawn, she insisted on him taking her knight's bags too, making Arwen frown at her.
The woman's frown deepened when she pulled her covers away and found her fully dressed, the Sword partly unravelled from the blue blanket held tightly in her arms.
"I really wish you were married." Arwen picked up her last night's sermon again. "Sleeping fully dressed, with a sword... Surely a husband would change this man-like behaviour of yours..."
"At least I don't have to get dressed now." Ginny giggled at seeing her nurse's appalled expression, finally sitting up and allowing her to adjust her hair, pushing the wilted rose into her chignon the moment her nurse turned around.
"Do you want to travel to Warwick in this gown, my lady? It's not really suitable for riding." Arwen's frown deepened again as she pulled at the cloud-like layers of silk enveloping Ginny's slight figure, all bright blue and silvery.
"Why not?" Ginny shrugged. "It's only a short ride."
It definitely felt like it-- the few hours' ride that once used to look long and tiresome was nothing compared to the many miles on horseback she had travelled in a week.
"As you wish. You packed enough clothes to get changed later."
"Could you do one more thing for me, Arwen? I need you to get me a scabbard for this sword. Take it to my father's knights and let them find one that fits. Once it's done, let them bring it back to me and this blanket, too. But hurry, I'm leaving straight after breakfast."
Arwen agreed, taking the Sword from her.
The princess only half-listened to her nurse's subsequent prattle, which continued even once she deemed Ginny ready and accompanied her into the kitchens where Myrddin was already waiting for her.
The old wizard lifted his eyes filled with worries from his cup of warm ale when Ginny entered the room. He had not spent an easy night after what he had seen in the flames of his fireplace. King Gwynedd was on his way-- not to attack the kingdom as he had suspected, but to carry Guinevere off to marry her, whether she agreed or not.
The news about her having the Excalibur had spread across the isles like wildfire. Apparently, Myrddin wasn't the only king's seer keeping a close watch on Prince Arthur, Princess Guinevere, and the Excalibur. Not only Gwynedd, but many other kings would try to gain her favour and marry her now.
The old wizard sighed deeply; he should have paid more attention to the kids. He had been too sure that if someone was destined to pull the Excalibur from the stone, it would have been the young Arthur Pendragon. But the Sword had chosen Guinevere, and he still had no idea what she was supposed to do with it exactly. As if the Saxons were not causing enough trouble up north, another conflict might easily arise right here, the war for the hand of this fair Sword wielder...
Two of King Leodegrance's counsellors, whom Myrddin had summoned, entered the room even as Guinevere sat down. He needed to give them instructions, leave the castle in their hands, and take the girl to safety, fast.
The old wizard did not breathe freely until he and Princess Guinevere were out of the castle, their horses' hooves rustling in the fallen leaves carpeting the path leading toward Warwick Castle, the world around them erased by the milky white mist.
Ginny's hand lay firmly on the Excalibur's hilt, its new silvery scabbard attached safely to the belt of her dress, half hidden in the folds of her grey travelling cloak, as she followed the wizard through the churning, cloud-like fog.
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