Page 18 of The White Knight

“Yes, the vows of marriage are binding and only broken when a spouse has passed,” Arthur explains.

“Does that make your marriage to the queen invalid, my king?” Bedivere’s face holds a look of concern as he asks this question.

“That is the one question I do not know the answer to. I will need to speak to the archbishop about the matter.” Arthur quickly glances at Guin, uncomfortable with the tension surrounding us all.

“Is Queen Guinevere still queen, then?” Gawain asks.

“It is a sticky situation we are in, no doubt. The archbishop and Merlin will help us find an answer to this. Until then, I want you all to continue treating Guinevere as queen.”

As the knights confirm their agreement loudly, Elaine’s delicate voice speaks up from the masculine cheers. “Will Sir Lancelot and…Queen Guinevere resume their marital…relationship?”

“That is a very personal question, Elaine. One you are not entitled to know.” Arthur’s voice is commanding.

“Do the people not have a right to know which man their queen spends her nights with?”

“Elaine! That is none of your concern,” Gawain shouts, enraged at her rudeness. I look to Guin, wanting to hold her andrid her of the pain I know she is feeling inside. She turns to me, tears shimmering in her eyes as she holds them back.

“Though he is my husband,” Guin says, holding herself with grace and confidence. “I will not be sharing a bed with Lancelot until we have consulted the matter with the archbishop. Until we have reached a decision on how to proceed. I will also not share a bed with the king if you are wondering, Elaine.” As her eyes land on Elaine’s, I see fire and fury.

I stand up to offer my own thoughts on the matter and make it known that I will support Arthur in every way possible, as I did before. “Guinevere and I are married. You all witnessed that glorious day of our union. I will cherish the time I had with my wife and can only hope that we can come to a resolution. Most importantly, we need to continue to show our support for Arthur. He is our king, our leader, our champion. If the people lose faith in him, he will be in danger. The kingdom will be in danger. Galahad will be in danger.”

The knights of the round table, as Guin likes to refer to my friends, whole-heartedly agree with my statement. It is as if I have never left. They all welcome me with joy in their hearts. We are brothers once again. Happiness creeps back into my soul. All I need now is for Guin to be mine and I will be whole again.

Chapter 12

Guinevere

When Galahad and Icame to live permanently at Camelot and I became queen, Elaine’s friendship was everything I needed. I was so nervous on the day of my coronation. Arthur and I had a small, intimate wedding at Joyous Gard a couple of weeks prior to the coronation, so we needed to provide an epic celebration. As Elaine helped me into my coronation gown, I was shaking. The bright white dress was gorgeous, embroidered with intricate designs of crowns and flowers. Flashbacks of the first time I walked through the throne room towards Arthur, while wearing a white gown, threatened to consume me with anxiety.

Elaine’s soft, soothing voice brought me back out of my head. “You have nothing to be nervous about, my lady. You look stunning. As you are every time I see you.”

“Are you charming me, Elaine?” I didn’t take her for an ass kisser, but her sweet compliments lifted my spirit. “It’s just…it feels like that day when I wore my white gown and presented Arthur with Excalibur. Only everything went to shit.”

Elaine’s laughter filled the air, shaking the nervous tension from my core. It was a sound I never thought I’d hear fromsuch a gentle, soft-spoken woman. “In comparison, today will be nothing. When you reach King Arthur this time, all you need to do is stand there with a crown on your head and listen to the archbishop drawl on in Latin. It will be rather boring.”

“You are teasing me now. But go on, almost all the butterflies are out of my stomach.”

She smiled at me. “You know, I used to be so frightened of you. The White Enchantress. You spoke of the future, bewitched every man who looked upon you, and took Excalibur’s power into your body.”

“Yeah, well, I was terrified of that last part. Bewitching every man…I don’t know about that.”

“Well, you certainly bewitched Sir Lancelot. I have never seen him like that, so obviously in love.” She looked away from me then, ashamed of her jealousy, but no longer afraid of me.

Years later, with our friendship to soften the early blows of our acquaintance, we can now speak freely about Lance. She would tell me stories of his youth, his ambition to become a knight. I would even tell her stories of our time together as man and wife. Not the juicy details of our sex life, but just him. She would listen to me talk about him on the days I missed him most, like some goddamn therapist. Those talks saved my sanity and helped me keep my memories alive.

We talk about him so openly, but since Lance came back from the dead, we’ve strictly avoided that topic. I miss our time together. And I want to make sure our friendship is still intact. As Elaine brushes my waist-length hair, I open my mouth to begin some frivolous conversation about Gaheris’ obvious crush on one of my lady’s, Lynette, but she speaks first.

“Was Sir Lancelot ever…violent with you?”

“Violent? No.” A wave of nausea hits me. Elaine is my friend, I remind myself. Though I can’t help but dread the next words that will come out of her mouth. She’s been in love with Lancesince before I first arrived at Camelot. Though I believe she would never betray me, it wouldn’t surprise me if her feelings for Lance compelled her to.

“Oh,” Elaine whispers shyly. It’s as if something inside of her deflated.

“Why did you ask me this?” I command. My queenly voice taking over, camouflaging my anger.

“Well, it is only that he was perhaps overenthusiastic when I offered myself to him.”

“You what?” I stand up so quickly that the chair I was sitting on falls to the ground.

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