The Second (The Immortal Prophecies: Book I)

XV. Guenevere

Blood rushed to my head the longer I remained hanging upside down like an ape. But I told myself that it could perhaps help me with everything that was going on, and finally make a choice. And I needed all the help I could find. Gripping the tree's branch, my legs fell away from where they wrapped around, and my body twisted as I let go, landing like a frog on the ground.

I sat down and leaned against the birch, feeling its bark blindly like the pet I never had.

All right, so if King Arthur and his bride hadn't chosen themselves to be a part of it, why would they choose me--not that I was beginning to believe this--when I didn't have my own line in this to begin with?

And of all people to pair me with, why Lincoln? Something wasn't quite right, and I needed assurance. I pondered this for a moment, thinking how I was going to get it. I had to get answers, no matter how.

Even if it meant breaking my own rules.

***

Being a weekend, Bonnie and I decided to walk around the building, mostly to resemble some normalized activity away from the Wonderland we were stuck in, but our conversation wasn't helping.

"He's smarter than we thought--giving you time like that," she said. Or perhaps the fact that people are knowing about me beforehand that's itching at him. And the prophecy--it didn't seem as if he's seen them before.

"Yes, but I can't take advantage enough. I have to make some sort of choice soon." Especially when I felt like time was fixing to end for us.

"And what options do you have?"

"An array; There's one where I decide to hand a piece of my fate to Dimitri and continue my distorted place as the Hawk without much questioning. Then there's the decision of deciphering the blasted thing with Lincoln that a part of me wants and doesn't simultaneously. Or I could ignore it." By this point, we were outside walking around the perimeter with watchful eyes on us.

We sat down on the grass, facing away from them. "Anything else?"

I plucked a few blades, sending them away. "Or I could always forget this ever happened."

She clicked her tongue. "As if you would, Gwen. I know another option that's killing you inside just thinking about it. Go on, say it."

"No, there is no other option," I told her defiantly.

But she fixed me a look that knew otherwise, rolling her eyes and trying again. "There's no shame in wanting to," she comforted.

"Frankly, I don't want to do anything, Bonnie. So stop it." I stroked the grass with a bit more aggressiveness, not looking at her. That was a very difficult thing to do when it came to telling her things no one would dare so.

"I have a secret from the Chamber of Sense, do I have to beg the word for a pence?" She began a song we came up with long ago, "A pretty rose from the garden will hide it tight, with the stars in the blue sky using all their might..." She continued, knowing how meaningful it was to us. Amateur songs, yes, but the message was anything but.

"We will dance and sing until we cry no more. And like nightingales with freedom, we will soar."

"So lock the chamber once I've told you and keep the key."

"For I will be with you, and you will be with me," I finished, my voice a mere whisper. She wrapped her arms around me, content to have brought my shields down, and I did the same, resting my head on hers. I wasn't sure who took care of who more in our years together, but the thing I knew most was that regardless of any trouble or distance or circumstance, we were flower and soil--not one stronger without the other.