Page 66 of The White Enchantress

“I would have felt him leave this plane. The gods would have given me a sign. My Lancelot cannot be dead. This is false news from a false man of honor,” Vivienne spits out at Arthur.

“Arthur?” My voice shakes.

He is in shock, at a loss for words though his face doesn’t appear to show guilt. The words coming from Vivienne frighten him just as much as they do to me.

“Arthur!? Is there any truth to what Vivienne says?” I shout, bringing him out of his stupor.

“Of course not. Though, there were no…there was no b–”

“See! Caught in this own lie!” Vivienne is out of control with her grief. Something I could definitely relate with.

I have to be the one with reason to spare though. “Please, calm down, Vivienne. Arthur is not a liar. You know this. You know he is a good man. He loved Lancelot.”

“But he also wanted to marry you! You have even said that you were meant to be wed to Arthur. He wanted you for himself!”

“Now, Vivienne, you need to take a step back and think about what you are saying.” Morgana finally steps in to help cool things down before someone gets hurt, emotionally or physically.

“What does that mean?” Arthur asks, looking at me.

“Another time, Arthur.” I look at him sharply before turning back to Vivienne. Taking her hands in mine, I ask her to search for Lancelot. If she can still feel him, if he is still alive, maybe we can find him through her. I am not sure if I believe in either scenario, but we have to try.

Morgana takes her hands from mine, repeating my ask. “I will give you my strength to search for him. Guinevere, can you escort Arthur outside? We will come to fetch you after we are done. This could take some time.”

I nod. Standing up, I wait for Arthur to follow my movement. We walk out into the main courtyard where the priestesses tend to the garden. It is at this moment I decide to tell him everything. “Come with me.”

As we walk toward the lake, a wave of fear and anxiety sweeps through me. When I climb on top of my rock, the place I sat when I first met Lancelot, I begin to explain where I had come from.

“This is where I came through.”

“Came through?” Arthur approaches the lake with caution.

“Yes. This lake. It doesn’t exist in the time I am from.”

“I see. You are from the future then.”

“How did you–”

“Merlin knows things too, Guinevere. As I am sure Vivienne knew where you had come from, so did Merlin.”

“Oh, then why didn’t you say anything to me about it? Or Merlin?”

“He was not certain you were the same person he had visions about. They were conflicting visions.”

“How so?”

“One about a woman who would bring forth the sword of power and choose the leader to rule all of Britain, choose me. Another who would wield the power of prophecy and bring down all that I have worked hard to build. Merlin believed this prophetess would come from another time. A time where our history is known.”

“Both are true of me. However, I do not mean to tear your kingdom to pieces. I came here by accident. I had gotten lost in a marsh-turned-forest-turned lake. Excalibur saved my life.”

“Hmm.”

“And yes, I do know what happens to you, Arthur. It’s not a history though. The stories are more of a legend. All of them do not end happily. For Arthur, for Lancelot, nor for Guinevere.”

“What? You, yourself, are in the histories?”

“Legends. But yes. When I realized who I could be, I freaked out. Though I wasn’t so sure if I was actuallytheGuinevere until I met Lancelot. We were destined to love each other, but we were never meant to be together it seems. I tried to change it. We both did. I think I only made things worse.”

“What do you mean?”

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