Spring Maiden (New Book)

Love Like This

The banquet hall was ablaze with candles, and the crystal goblets which caught their flare.

Guinevere arrived with her other maidens, and everybody stood as they entered. She smiled with a rare confidence, knowing how charming she looked in her new red ribbons.

She spotted Arthur at his usual north-facing spot, and she began to skirt the round mahogany table towards him. She did not dare let her eyes roam the table to see who else sat around it. But she knew already that he was there; just as a deer knows when a brook is near, so she sensed his presence, and so she felt his eyes upon her.

She took her seat next to Arthur and turned to her maids. "Go and be gay," she told her maidens. It was not often they got to enjoy nighttime, after all. Some of the knights' lads might require a little company. Well, why not, they would all inevitably be married to one another one day. They might as well get to know one another now, see who takes who's fancy. If she, Arthur and his knights had done so before they wedded and bedded, well... things might be very different now.

"I'd like to invite my cousin Elayne of Astolot to court, Arthur," said Guinevere turning to him. "Just for the day."

His fair skin was flushed and he looked happy and relaxed, as though he had had at least another four goblets since they had met earlier that eve.

"Certainly, Guin!" said Arthur, sitting up in his chair. "That is a fine idea... a very fine idea indeed."

Guinevere nodded slowly. There was something a little too upbeat about Arthur's response. Has he met Elayne before? Might he fancy her for himself?

She felt a swell of resentment but swallowed it. Would that be such a horrible thing given what my recent thoughts?

Finally, she allowed her eyes to trail around the table. There are Gawaine and Geraint. They were mirror images of one another, with those shoulder length tufts of auburn hair, now streaked with grey.  They too were once pagan boys whom had come to see the way of the new world early on in their youth. Long before the white crept into their beards they swore their oaths to the cross with little protest. Guinevere liked them both very much and was pleased to see they had returned safely from settling a small dispute with the Northmen. Well, one could never be certain what might happen when it came to those devils. Oh and Cai ... well, he was never far from Court.

Suddenly, her heart took flight and with such rapture, she thought it might come cart-wheeling out of her mouth. Oh, there he is! Sat just to the right of Cai, chattering with him, smiling as they shared a joke.

His long blonde hair was tied back revealing his wonderful face ... and he still wore a thin vest of chain-mail. He mustn't have been back from his ventures long enough to change. He had probably been drinking with Arthur.

She wanted to rush over to him now, to cover him with her kisses. It had only been a week since she saw him last, but so much had happened since then. At least emotionally.

She smiled at the servant boy as he placed a plate of meat before her and removed her eyes from Lancelot. She'd best not leer before the whole kingdom.

The ambience was warm, and the chatter reduced to a murmur as they feasted. It was the most tender venison, no doubt hunted and cured that very afternoon.

She ate and let her eyes flicker over to Lancelot every now and then, feeling a pinch of unease. It seemed he was not really watching her this eve. Is it that we are simply not glancing at one another at the same intervals? No, they had been sat in this hall for over a decade now. It was impossible not to notice usually, their eyes were like magnetite to one another.

She frowned and looked away. Maybe Cai is saying something truly fascinating. Doubtful though, as Cai spends most of his days hunting and sleeping!

Cai, once an impressive knight, had taken a plummet from his mare during a jousting contest two summers past. Ever since his injury Arthur had reduced his daily tasks to a minimum and he was looking all the more obese for it.

Guinevere forced herself to look away from the two men and instead, tried to focus on what Arthur was speaking of.

"We cannot abolish Beltane completely," he said to the priest sat at his left. "It is too dear to the tribes."

Guin rolled her eyes and threw her wine down her neck. She certainly didn't want to listen to this either.

She scowled at her venison for a while and when she looked up she realized he was now looking at her.

For a moment their gazes locked, and she stared into his pale blue eyes longingly. This happened so many times over the years, and oh, once it happened it was near impossible to break.

But then it did break.

She watched on in despair as he leaned back in his chair and threw his arm around Cai, leaning towards his ear and engrossing him again in conversation.

Heavens, what has happened?