The moment I understood what serving under a king such as Arthur was like, I swore that nothing would stand in the way of my loyalty to him—and that I would never take a wife. The gods were now asking me to do both and I was reticent to even consider such things.
A pack was preposterous. A pack wouldn’t save Logres from the Saxons, only Arthur could and would. No matter what sorts of magic the gods put into the world to make everyone believe that Guinevere had always been here.
“Do you not believe so?” Vivienne asked, her pale brows rising with surprise. “You kept staring at her earlier when she appeared in the king’s arms after all.”
I opened my mouth to deny her claims but our relative peace was suddenly disturbed by the crunching sound of footsteps.
Looking over my shoulder I grimaced at the figure that was approaching and gave Vivienne a gentle shove so that she would not be caught sitting on the rock in such an unladylike manner.
“Lancelot, Vivienne,” the gruff sound of King Ban of Benoic had both of us stiffening as I slid off of the rock after her and swept into a bow.
“My king, I hope you have been well,” I bit out, meaning not a word of it.
“I have been looking for you since the announcement,” Ban barked as he straightened the heavy-looking purple cloak that seemed to weigh the round man down.
Once, I was sure that we would have resembled each other with our dark coloring and sharp eyes, but now the man in front of me looked as much like me as the rock I had just been sitting on.
“Father,” Vivienne hurried to say as she dipped into a practiced curtsey. “I was just getting Lancelot for you as I knew you were looking for him.”
Ban surveyed the scene in front of him imperiously before huffing. “Go to your mother, she has been looking for you. Make sure you speak with King Arthur before going to bed.”
Vivienne winced at the word ‘mother’ as the girl who our father had married was barely six years older than she was, but she still nodded and shot me an encouraging smile before scurrying off to do as Ban bid.
“Why are you still wanting her to speak with him?” I asked once she was out of earshot. “King Arthur has made his preference clear.”
He had not—not really—but there was an unspoken agreement between him and me to protect Vivienne before she was mature and ready enough for a husband. She was too young for any alpha let alone my king.
“Nothing is set in stone until the marriage vows are uttered, boy,” Ban snapped. “And your task was to make sure your sister married that dratted king of yours. How could you fail so marvelously?”
I was torn between my desire to ignore his words and the urge to take my fist to his face.
But I held myself back from both. Any action I took could reflect badly on Arthur and that was the very last thing the king needed at the moment.
“Have you ever considered Lambor for a groom?” I asked hesitantly, speaking of King Pellinore’s sons. Sir Lamorak, his oldest, was still older than Vivienne but at twenty and two years he was a far more suitable option for my sister than Arthur. He had also left a lasting impression on me during the last jousting tournament by treating all of those around him with a lasting kindness that I felt would suit my gentle sister.
Ban’s fat lips pulled down into a frown. “You know that Camelot is the true prize. Vivienne’s entire existence is to be Arthur’s queen. That is the only reason I have tolerated a daughter all these years.”
A chilling sensation roved over my skin and I had to fight not to snap at him. It was his desire to‘create’a wife for the young Arthur all of those years ago that had forced my mother to bear another child, damaging her body in the process.
But Ban continued, oblivious to my obvious displeasure, “You will talk to your king? Have him reconsider this alliance with Leodegrance?”
I would do no such thing, but I found myself nodding along regardless of my true feelings.
If I wanted to secure Vivienne’s safe future, I would have to play along with my father’s game of thrones that only he was playing at the moment.
Ban straightened, pleased by my agreement. “Good. Now do not tarry here for long. Your mother would like to introduce you to some eligible brides as well, it is long past time for you to marry.”
I gritted my teeth so tightly as I watched him hobble away that I felt my jaw pop.
With a clipped step, I headed in the direction of the sounds of celebration, my thoughts even more conflicted than they had been when I came upon the creek and the faint taste of sweet honeysuckle still lingering in my nose.
Chapter Six
Silence had finally fallen on the castle of King Leodegrance late into night—or I guessed it was morning by now as I trailed through the castle in an embroidered nightgown and the duvet cover that had been on the bed in the room I’d been led into draped over my shoulders.
Before, back in my own time, I used to giggle with my mother at period dramas where everyone would be scandalized if a woman was seen in her nightgown. It had seemed ridiculous at the time, but even standing in the low candlelight of the room had shown me that this thing was far more see-through than whatever they were using on TV.
Hence the duvet cover for modesty.
