Thank you, Mother, for everything.
The perfect white water lily slowly opened, and fresh tears streamed down his face for no reason he could find, even as the sight of the ring in the middle of the lily made his heart ache.Hope and dread twisted together in his stomach, as sharp as the stench of fresh-spilled blood lingering in the air.
A choice must be made.
The ring was the choice.He had won his battle, met the challenge sent to test him, and now he had only to claim his boon.
A soft chime in his ear signaled his computer was listening to him again.He could leave right now, forget this whole strange night.Go back to normal.
Only you can wake the rest of us.
Heart pounding in his ears, Lance plucked the ring from the water lily.Jolts like electricity shot through him, like they were racing through every one of his veins.He gasped, fist tightening around the ring, its sharp edges digging into his skin.
He uncurled his fingers slowly and stared at the ring.Gleaming gold, but harder than steel, set with a pearl that had not been made in this realm, gifted to him by his mother, Queen of the Waters, known to humans as the Lady of the Lake.
He slid the ring onto the middle finger of his right hand—
—and suddenly Lancelot was back in his apartment.In Lance's apartment.Inhis, fuck, there was too much going on in his head.Lance Waters.Lancelot of the Lake, the White Knight, greatest of Arthur's knights, beloved of—
No, he couldn't think about that yet.He'd lose whatever mind he still had left.
Something clattered to the floor as he sat up, and Lancelot stared at the sheathed sword lying on the cheap tile floor.He climbed out of his gaming chair and crouched to retrieve it, running his thumb over the hilt before drawing the sword partly from the sheath.
It gleamed in the various lights of his chair, splashes of green and blue and yellow making rainbows of the ripples etched into the blade.Arondight, another gift from his mother and her ladies in waiting, sister sword to Excalibur.
Sheathing it again, Lancelot heaved a sigh."Why is it still a fucking katana!"
The Madman
Silence fell, and all the knights he'd been instructing were now staring at something behind him.Lancelot turned sharply and frowned in confusion.Though his eyes stung from the sweat dripping in them, making his vision murky, it wasn't hard to mark the identity of their unexpected guest.Only so many people in the Distant Isles were that big.But the knowledge did not lessen his confusion.Why in the Waters was Prince Galehaut standing there, escorted by an entirely too amused Tristan."What is the meaning of this?"
Prince Galehaut bowed his head and replied, "I wanted to meet you, noble knight, and learn who you are while we have the luxury of peace."
Around Lancelot, the other knights laughed before Percival said, "Surely Your Highness would recognize him by crest if naught else.This is Sir Lancelot du Lac."
"Oh!"Prince Galehaut laughed in a charmingly self-deprecating manner."My apologies.All I've heard is that you are the greatest of King Arthur's knights.No other information has ever been relayed.I've never seen such skill and beauty on the field of battle."He smiled faintly."I wanted to come express my admiration before that became impossible."His mouth twisted sourly, an echo of Lancelot's feelings on this entire matter.
Beauty?He was wearing armor, including his helm, and filthy from hours of training and days in camp besides.What beauty could this man possibly speak of?Why was he really here, on the wrong side of the battlefield, interrupting a training session while they all waited to see if there would be a battle or not.Arthur would prefer to avoid battle entirely, as would Lancelot and the others, but this was a powerful territory held by a dangerous, violent man who Arthur could not afford to ignore.
So a battle it would be.Lancelot and the greater measure of Arthur's forces against this enormous, towering man rumored to be the son of a giantess and a man, a king, rotten to his core.Looking him over, Lancelot believed the giantess rumor.Hardly small himself, he felt nearly a delicate miss next to Prince Galehaut.
The son of evil, though… Well, if he was, he'd escaped turning out like his father—a rare achievement indeed.
Lancelot handed off his spear and then removed his helmet, grateful for the cool air that washed over him.His page came up to take it and give him a damp rag.Lancelot thanked him with an affectionate tousling of his hair and sent him away again.He wiped his face clean and pushed back his mussed hair before finally turning his eyes back to Prince Galehaut.
And completely forgot what he'd been about to say.Free of the helmet, able to see properly, Lancelot found it suddenly hard to breathe.Nobody had told him Prince Galehaut was so impossibly beautiful.Why he would extend such a compliment to Lancelot when he looked like that, Lancelot could not fathom.Prince Galehaut had warm, light brown skin, the kind seen most often in people from the middle east, spice mongers and silk merchants who made fortunes selling to the inhabitants of the royal court, or brilliant scholars who came to teach and further their own knowledge.His hair was short, black as coal, with lovely curls going in every direction, and close-cropped facial hair.Dressed in rich, dark green and gold, he looked every stitch the Prince of the Distant Isles.
What had he been going to say?Lancelot couldn't remember.Mentally giving himself a firm shake, he finally managed, "Is something wrong, Your Highness?"He shot warning looks at his knights for their badly muffled snickering.
"Wrong?Not at all.Far from it.You're even more beautiful than your movements, Sir du Lac."
He wanted to hear Galehaut use his name, and what a fool that made him."Was there something you needed, that you would come practically alone into such dangerous territory?"He could not believe anyone would take such a dangerous, foolish risk simply to meet one knight.Nor had he reason to spy.The Knights of the Round Table were not to be trifled with, but they would likely lose to Prince Galehaut's forces.Lancelot dreaded how many knights would die in the next few days if matters could not be settled peacefully.
"The honor of King Arthur's knights has never been questioned, save by those who have rightfully earned his displeasure, and I put little credence in such complaints.I saw you fighting and was compelled to come meet you.That is my only purpose, I vow it."
"Not the words I typically hear from my opponents on the field.I am most honored, Your Highness."Should he offer repast?To speak elsewhere?This was not a protocol he had been taught.If they killed Galehaut now and delivered his head to his vicious father, it would give them either immediate victory from a broken man who just lost his only son or drag them into a war of blood-soaked vengeance.
Merely the thought of acting in so vile a manner turned his stomach.Lancelot was many things, most of them bad, but he had never been accused of dishonorable behavior.
