“We will need at least a year to plan everything.”
“Nim,” Camelee pleaded. “Really, we just want to—”
“Of course, anything you both want!”
But she didn’t sound convincing. Her happy grin remained as if she were telling them what they wanted to hear, but her plans continued.
“I must go and tell my sisters!”
“I want to tell my father first.”
“Of course—”
“Nimue!” Camelee stopped pleading and said in a much firmer voice. “I mean it!”
Nim bowed and nodded, appearing more somber, then disappeared.
“She’s not going to wait.” Michael pointed out, then pointed down the long hall, now paneled in polished red mahogany walls. “I just came from talking to him—okay,” he held up his hands and gave her an incredulous look. “King Arthur is our father…”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Wolf and Cameleewaited for the king in his private solar. They had arrived after being directed by one of the women who lived here. They had just missed him. He had gone to get his wife and bring her here so that she could be with him. It was perfect. They would both be here when he asked them for their daughter.
He had not been fidgety or dry-mouthed until now. Who was he that he should think the king would even consider him for the beloved daughter with whom he had just been reunited?
Now, he felt sick to his stomach. So what if he, theViking, loved her? It was not enough to keep her alive the instant she left Avalon. What would he say to the king? What was he doing here?
The dark wood door opened. It was a pretty young woman with long dark hair, and a flower wreath around her brow. “Excuse me, Your Highness, the king and queen have returned. They have been told of your presence.”
“Thank you,” Camelee said and turned to Wolf as if she knew what he was thinking. That he wanted to run away. Get out of here while there was still time. But what did something done in fear ever accomplish?
He stayed in his chair, reining in his fears. Her only threat was Morgan. Once he killed her, that threat would end. He would kill Leofric and the threat to his own life would end.
They could go home to Denmark, at least for a while until they traveled again. He wanted a life on the farm and on the water. And he wanted it with her.
“Are you nervous?” she asked him.
“Nervous?”
“You know, anxious about talking to him. I don’t think you should be. He seems very nice.”
Her voice was like music playing in his head, soothing him, calming him. He remembered why he was here. To have her in his bed, in his life forever.
They couldn’t hear any footsteps since, in Camelee’s palace, which he chose to see with her, the floors were covered in something she calledcarpet. It kept the halls warm in the winter years. Yes, years. Winter came every four years and stayed for three, here in Avalon.
The palace and the rooms within were lit by candles on walls in metal sconces and on long candlestands in the rooms, as well as grand fireplaces. It gave the place a comfortable, inviting feeling. His longhouse in Denmark wasn’t as big as Avalon, but if she liked glowing candlelight and wood walls, she would like his house.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked him across the small space that separated his chair from hers.
Looking into her worried eyes, he knew with certainty that this was exactly what he wanted to do. “I am sure. I belong to you, Camelee. It is not the other way around. In case you have not noticed, I do everything you ask.” His smile grew wider when she realized he spoke true, and she pouted.
“No. Do not lose your good mood,” he said gently as the door opened again.
Wolf stood to his feet as the king and his queen entered the solar. Genevra smiled at him.
He bowed to them both and remained quiet until he was permitted to speak. They didn’t make him wait long but opened their arms to their daughter and to him and invited him to speak. Before he knew it, they had spent the afternoon with the royal couple, one of whom was his servant not so long ago.
“My wife has reminded me,” King Arthur announced, “that she is acquainted with the Chief of the North. Your men killed her lord?”
