GUINEVERE EVERMORE
The Guinevere Trilogy (Book 3)
Author: Sharan Newman
2014 Reissue Edition
5.5"x 8.5" Trade Paperback
Retail: $14.95US; 276pp
ISBN 978-1-62268-064-1 print
ISBN 978-1-62268-065-8 ebook
LCCN 2014935715

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GUINEVERE EVERMORE
The Guinevere Trilogy (Book 3)
Author: Sharan Newman

Chapter One

Lancelot of the Lake, son of Ban of Banoit, and most illustrious knight of the Round Table, squatted by the campfire, polishing his armor with casual grace. He had been aware for a while that someone was watching him from the woods; someone who could hide as cleverly as a wild animal. But Lancelot knew it was human, or close to it, and he waited for whoever it was to make his move. He hoped it would be soon, as he was tired and there was still a long journey to Camelot tomorrow. He was sorry now that Gareth had left that afternoon, to spend some days at Tintagel with his mother, Morgan le Fay. It would have been easier if one man could have slept and the other watched.
    He laid the armor on a blanket and picked up his sword, running the cloth up and down the steel blade with a kind of caress. He kept his right hand on the hilt as he spoke.
    "You have been sitting there for nearly three hours. Wouldn't you rather come out and share the fire?"
    There was a rustling in the bushes for a moment, and then a boy crawled out. He stayed on his hands and knees until he reached the circle of light from the campfire. Then he lifted his hands, arms stretched, palms up in the Christian attitude of prayer.
    "Please forgive me, my Lord," he bleated. "I was overcome by your glory. I saw you and the other angel pass by this afternoon, and I followed you. Never in my life have I seen anything so radiant!"
    Lancelot set down his sword. He shifted uncomfortably. He had been called many embarrassing things in his life, but "angel" had to be the worst.
    "Look, boy," he replied with some sharpness. "I am a man, just like yourself." May I be forgiven for that! "My friend and I are not angels, we are knights."
    "I never heard of knights. My mother never mentioned them. Are they a kind of priest? Mother doesn't want me to be a priest, but she thinks they are good men."
    "Where have you lived, child, that you have never heard of King Arthur or his knights?" Lancelot was affronted by such ignorance. By now everyone knew of Arthur. "He rules almost all of Britain and we are his lieutenants. We see that his laws are enforced and that evildoers are punished."
    "And what do you do with that long metal stick?" The boy pointed to the sword.
    Lancelot could not cope with such stupidity. He turned his back on the boy, wrapped his armor against the night air, rolled up in his cloak, and went to sleep. When he awoke, the boy was gone. He felt a little guilty for his impatience.
    "He was probably some poor farmer's son, never more than a mile from his own pigsty. I should have been kinder to him."
    He had loaded his horse, Clades, when he became aware that the boy was back. His face was dirtier than before and his nose was running, as if he had been trying not to cry. He carried a leather bag over his right shoulder and from his left hung a scabbard and sword. The work on the metal was delicate as lace.
    "I'm ready," he announced. "I told Mother about meeting you and that I wanted to be a knight too. At first she cried and said she would never let me leave her. But I said I had to go and that was that, and so she gave me this thing. She said it was my father's and love of it killed him. She told me to find a wise man to learn from and to be dutiful, obedient, and honorable to women. Then she cried some more and hung on me and made me promise to come home if I didn't become a knight. So here I am."
    Lancelot felt his sympathy for the boy disappear.
    "You left you mother in tears to come after me? Who said you could become a knight? You don't have any idea of what a knight is. You can't just appear and say that you're joining us and be accepted. It's an honor that must be earned."
    The boy's jaw set. "I want to be a knight. I'll do anything you say."
    "Very well." Lancelot mounted his horse. "You may come with me, if you can keep up. I see you brought nothing to ride on. How fast can you run?"
    The boy smiled. "I can outrun the deer!" he boasted.
    "Then we'll see if you can outrun Clades."
    He set off down the road at a gallop. With barely a hesitation, the boy started after him.
    An hour later, Lancelot looked back. Even though he had kept Clades to a trot, that idiot child was still following. He was falling behind now. Sometimes, when the road bent, it was a full five minutes before he came in sight again. But he hadn't lied. He could run. Even with the sword slapping his side at every step, he kept up the pace. He would have some colorful bruises tomorrow.
    With a sigh, Lancelot reined in and waited. When the boy drew even with him, he leaned over.
    "Clades cannot carry two and our gear, but I will take your baggage on behind me. You needn't fear. If you should change your mind and decide to return to your home, I will return it to you gladly."
    He tied the bag and the sword on with his own equipment and set off again. The boy took a deep breath and started running.

* * *

It was high summer at Camelot. The air was warm and a soft wind teased its way among the buildings and over the practice field where the clash of sword and shield was accompanied by cries of laughter and good-natured joking. Laundry hung drying between the Great Hall and the women's quarters. The flapping of the linen and the clank of the metal blended with a hundred chattering voices as the inhabitants of Camelot went about their work.
    The smell of roasting meat wafted across the courtyard and filtered down to the practice field, where the men began wiping their blades and removing the padded mail they wore. Soon, they joined the rest of Camelot at the midday meal.
The dining hall was crowded and the doors and windows had all been thrown open to let in the light and let out the odors. The food had been set on the tables, but no one took any. They stood waiting. King Arthur tapped his knife handle against the back of his chair as he chatted with his seneschal, Cei.
    Queen Guinevere rushed in, a little breathless. "I'm so sorry I'm late." She smiled at everyone in the certainty that she would be forgiven without explanation and hurried to her seat.
    As soon as she sat down there was a great clatter as everyone reached simultaneously for the meat and bread and pitchers of ale. Arthur's favorite hunting dog, Cabal, curled himself around the table legs, his eyes following every flick of the knife, prepared to catch his share of the meat before it hit the floor.
    It was not a particularly elegant group. Most of the people were going back to work after eating. Their clothes were not their finest and their faces and hands not all that clean. The unmarried knights all sat in one corner, laughing at ribald jokes and poking each other for emphasis. Fosterlings hovered around them, serving the meat, refilling the pitchers and dreaming of the day when they would be knighted, too. The ladies sat in their own section, some balancing babies in their laps as they daintily carved their meat into tiny pieces and soaked bits of the bread in gravy to stuff into the children's mouths at frequent intervals.
    There was a sudden commotion at the doorway. Everyone turned to look. Arthur craned his neck to see what it was.
    "Good Lord!" He stood up in his chair, knocking over the water pitcher. "Lancelot! What are you doing riding your horse in here, and who is that with you?"
    The room had suddenly become more crowded as Sir Lancelot, silver armor shining and white plumes waving, pulled his panting horse up in front of the dais. Hanging onto his ankle, nearly in a state of collapse, was a young man. He was wrapped in a rough woolen tunic and his shoes were coming apart. As he stood gasping for air, he raised his shaggy head and looked around. He breathed more deeply and a slow grin of delight appeared. Lancelot dismounted. He climbed up to the table, bowed to the King and Queen, looked back at his companion, and shrugged.
    "Arthur, this is Percival. He followed me home. May I keep him?"

* * *

Percival couldn't believe the place he had come to. His mother had not given him any clues about the outside world. She had hated any mention of what might be beyond their gates. Now there was so much to learn that the days weren't long enough for him to ask all he wanted to. At first, he spent his time trailing behind Lancelot.
    "Why is the road up here so twisty?" he asked.
    "To keep out invaders," Lancelot told him. "Not that we have any trouble now. Arthur has put the Saxons in their place and the Irish raiders, too."
    "Then why must we practice fighting?"
    "In case they forget or some new foe attacks us."
    "I want to help. When can I learn to use my father's sword?"
    "When you stop tripping over it."
    Percival thought it was time to change the subject. "Who is the little boy who is always with the Queen? He looks like her; is he her son?"
    "No, he is my son, Galahad. Guinevere has taken him to foster. "
    "Your son? I thought you weren't married. Are you married? Where is his mother?"
    "I'm not married. His mother is dead. I think you've asked enough questions for now."
    The look on Lancelot's face told Percival that he had. "Poor Sir Lancelot," he thought. "He must miss his dead wife very much."
    He wandered around, bemused by the wonder of it all, his eyes everywhere but where he was going. There was a chapel decorated with paintings in bright new colors. Brilliant pennants flew from all the towers, and roses and ivy climbed the walls. Even more awesome and unnerving was the small building behind the Great Hall. In it were great stone basins, sunk into the earth and filled with hot and cold water. He was expected to remove all his clothes and wash there, even if other men were present. It took both coaxing and threats to get him in there the first time, and he never was able to feel at ease among the splashing bodies. He usually huddled in a darkish corner away from the others so that he wouldn't be noticed.
    Still, it was a good place to find things out. He found he could ask more there, before he was told to go away. One day he caught Gareth, one of Arthur's nephews. Gareth had only recently become a knight and seemed willing to talk. Percival didn't know that Lancelot had told his friend especially to be kind to the feckless newcomer.
    "The King and Lancelot must be very good friends," Percival opened.
    "Of course. After all, Lancelot is the greatest knight at Camelot; the strongest, the bravest, the most religious. Arthur depends on him. And they also go hunting together and play chess and that sort of thing."
    "I thought Sir Gawain was the strongest knight," Percival ventured.
    Gareth frowned. "Only in the daytime. Old Gawain can't stay awake past sunset and even before then, he's almost too weak to crawl to bed."
    "What happened to him?"
    "Nothing. He's always been like that. We used to play some great tricks on him when we were boys, but he was a rotten sport."
    "Did you grow up with him?"
    "For a while, until Mother sent him away to Cador. He's really nothing special; just one of my brothers. Are you going to wash or just sit there, Percival?"

* * *

But Gawain fascinated Percival. He was so energetic. And he had the courage to walk right up to Queen Guinevere and pick her up and swing her around, or pull her braids loose, or steal a comb so that she had to chase him all over the gardens to get it back. They were just like children together and nobody seemed to mind. Gareth said it was because Guinevere had been fostered with Gawain, so that they felt more like brother and sister. But Percival still couldn't understand it. He was in awe of both of them, but especially Queen Guinevere. She glistened in the sunlight as she walked, her silk skirts shimmering about her. He doubted that he would ever have the courage to speak to her. He noticed that even Lancelot was different around her. Once Percival came upon them as they stood watching Galahad at play. Her hand was on his arm. She spoke and Lancelot looked down at her. Something in the stillness or something in their faces made Percival shrink back against the wall, hoping he hadn't been seen. He wondered about it for a long time.
    Autumn was early that year and the roads had iced over before everyone was safely transported to the winter quarters in Caerleon. There were more people than ever, and the old Roman fort, though large, was hard put to hold all those who had now become indispensable to the running of Britain. Arthur had started to consider creating several mini-capitals in which he could leave regional administrators all year round. There were men holding such positions now, unofficially. The trouble was that the very men strong enough to be left to do a job on their own were also the ones who might decide it was unnecessary to answer to a High King. And the good men he trusted were too useful to have them gone nine months of the year. Still, the congestion was breeding petty animosities that got on everyone's nerves. Every day, it seemed, there was some sort of argument brought into the hall at dinner. The seating arrangements had been changed so many times to accommodate the feuding that Arthur wasn't sure anymore where he sat, himself.
    Percival didn't notice any of the bickering. Caerleon was even more fascinating to him than Camelot. It was so old and the stones of the walls were so large. Giants must have lived in Britain to make such a fort. There was more work to do here, too. He had to clear out after the animals and spread hay and rushes on all the floors. He helped in the kitchens and carried hot ale to the shivering guards. One day he was sent to curry the horses. But after a few minutes he threw down the brush and swung around, aching to punch something.
    "And what war are you in, boy?" The harsh voice stopped him cold. Percival looked up. Caet, the horsemaster, was staring at him with disdain. Slowly, he opened his fists. But his anger wasn't stilled.
    "I came here to be a knight and they have me doing slave work. Lancelot said he'd teach me, but all he does is stare at the Queen," the boy muttered.
    Caet was a small man, but he caught Percival up in hands of iron and shook him until his ears rang.
    "No man here is a slave! But my horses have better sense than the likes of you. Get out of here and don't ever let me see you around them again. And watch your tongue, young gossip, or you'll never be a knight. What do you know about the Queen? She's far above anything you've ever seen. Now, get out!"
    Stunned by the force of the man's anger, Percival scurried out and hid for the rest of the day behind the storage bins. He was found there by one of the serving girls.
    "What's the matter with you? Seen a ghost? They say the old soldiers still march up and down the watch by night." She laughed at his face. "Well, you can't stay here anyway. Come on, what's wrong?"
    She smiled encouragingly. Shyly, Percival smiled back. Stumbling a little over the words, he told her what he had said to anger Caet.
    She shook her head at his ignorance. "Now look, just so you don't make any more mistakes like that, I'll tell you what I know." She became abruptly serious. "It goes back to before I came here. But they say that Lancelot and Queen Guinevere have always been, well, very fond of each other, but she's the King's wife, you see, and we all love Arthur. I mean, he's not to be hurt. Do you understand? We don't talk about it much, even among ourselves. I don't think even Guinevere and Lancelot want to hurt him. It's more like they just can't help themselves. You can't hate them for it, really. It just seems so tragic."
    She sighed at the romance of it all.
    Percival shook his head. "I thought Lancelot was still grieving for his wife."
    The girl's eyes widened and she looked carefully around, to be sure no one else was near. Her voice dropped.
    "I know about that; I come from Cornwall. Lancelot never had a wife. He was tricked by Morgan le Fay and her sister, Morgause, into sleeping with poor Galahad's mother, Elaine. There's some that say he thought she was Guinevere. Anyway, he accepted the son, but cast the mother out, sent her back to Morgause." Now she was whispering hoarsely. "She killed herself, because of him, they say. But Lancelot didn't care. He only loves the Queen."
    She stopped. She looked at Percival, waiting to see what he thought of such a story.
    "It doesn't make sense to me," he said finally. "You must not have it right. I'll ask Lancelot."
    The girl grabbed him with razor-sharp nails. "Are you mad? Don't ever breathe a word of this to anyone. I'll be sent home to my father if you do. You must promise me." The nails dug harder. "Swear!"
    Percival nodded as he tried to pry her fingers from his arm.
    She relaxed a little, then smiled. "If you truly promise, then you must seal it with a kiss."
    He leaned away from her. "I never kissed anyone but Mother. Is that the custom here?"
    "It certainly is, and, if you like, I can teach you some of our other customs."
    Percival thought. His mother had said to be dutiful to women. It occurred to him that this one was very pretty. He nodded and smiled. She smiled back.

* * *

For Arthur, the winter was a time to go over plans and study the problems for the next year. He tried to get men from all over Britain to come and tell him about the concerns in their lands. The north worried him. There were too many independent kings there whose tribes had never really been under Roman control. They needed careful treatment before they would agree to submit to Arthur. But who to send to them and what should they promise? He studied a list Gareth had compiled during his last journey north. But his train of thought was broken by the abrupt arrival of his seneschal, Cei, with his wife, Lydia, at his heels.
    "Arthur, you've got to do something about that Percival!" Cei bellowed. "He just tried to attack Lydia!"
    "What? Lydia, dear, are you all right?" Arthur looked from one to the other. Cei was red with fury but there was a look of exasperation about him. Lydia was clearly not damaged and seemed more as though she were about to burst out laughing.
    "I'm fine," she assured him. "Although Percival may be a bit sore for a few days. My husband saved me with more energy than was really necessary. But Arthur, dear, we really have to do something with the boy. He doesn't know the first thing about how to behave around other people."
    "All right, tell me what happened."
    Cei began sputtering, but Lydia intervened.
    "It was nothing, really," she insisted. "I was trying to show Percival how to mend that tunic of his. I can't imagine what his mother was thinking of, to send him away with such ragged clothes. He had just managed a rather crooked seam and I praised him; he seems so eager for approval. Arthur, I swear, I just gave him a sisterly hug and a pat on the back when, all at once, he was all over me. He grabbed me and started kissing my hands and arms and on up to my face. He seemed to think it was the custom here. I tried to push him off and explain that it just wasn't done, but then my gallant husband showed up. Poor Percival, I don't think he knows yet what hit him!"
    "Poor Percival!" Cei exploded. "Arthur, he was slobbering all over Lydia, ripped her dress and everything."
    "It was just a tear in the sleeve," Lydia added. "I'm sorry, darling. If it had been anyone else, I would have been more than grateful for your magnificent defense, but Percival . . . he's no more danger than an overgrown puppy. He is as much nuisance, however. Someone really must take him in hand. Isn't he supposed to belong to Lancelot?"
    Arthur nodded. "Do you really want Lancelot to teach Percival how to behave?"
    Cei and Lydia squirmed. They had grown to love Lancelot dearly, but there was no denying that he was still inclined toward some strange viewpoints and actions. Bringing Percival home with him, for example.
    "There must be someone who can do it?" Cei broke the awkward silence. "What about Bedivere?"
    "He's a good man, but he hasn't the patience," Arthur answered. "Never understood that; he's wonderfully tactful in negotiations but absolutely unforgiving of ignorance. What about one of the women?"
    "We've done more than our share already," Lydia insisted. "It was bad enough that he suddenly decided he was in love with me. But when Risa helped him get settled in the boys' quarters and made sure he didn't get into any fights about precedence, do you know what he said to her? That idiot child told her she was almost as pretty as his mother. His mother! You can imagine what Risa thought about that."
    In spite of himself, Arthur chuckled. "Especially when her eldest isn't much younger than Percival. Well, we have any number of people here who are free for the winter. Suppose I ask for volunteers?"
    "Do you really think anyone would take him on?" Cei was more than doubtful. "We need someone with considerable patience as well as manners. I can't think of anyone here with both."
    "You know," Lydia said thoughtfully. "Palomides could do it. He has exquisite manners. He's traveled all over the old empire, and he doesn't have any specific job to do this winter. He could civilize the boy to the point where the rest of us could take over and teach him about what we do in Britain."
    "I don't know." Arthur would never admit it, but he was somewhat in awe of Palomides, who had come from Constantinople via Africa, Greece, and (it took his breath away even to think it) Rome. The fact that the man had made his way to Britain specifically to put his mind and his sword at Arthur's service abashed him still more. He was so damned elegant. It had been a long time since anyone could make Arthur feel like a country lout, but watching Palomides at dinner made him aware that his hands and face were greasy and his clothes were rumpled. Arthur wasn't sure he could stand it if Percival became like that, too. One could tolerate it in a foreigner, but not in a raw recruit. Still . . . "He could probably teach the boy well. Do you think he would?"
    "I'll ask him." Lydia was glad that the matter was settled. "He's really very kind about doing favors. Now, don't worry any more, darling. You have enough to do around here."
    "That's true enough," Cei grunted. "But if that snot-face bothers you again, he'll be breathing out of the back of his head."
    "Don't be crude, dear." Lydia kissed his cheek lightly. "If that's taken care of, I must be going. Cole found mildew in the vegetables this morning and it will take all afternoon to empty the bins, clean them, and refill them with the sound food that is left."
    "That won't affect the food supply this winter, will it?" Arthur asked.
    "No, we caught it early enough. And we always have an abundance of turnips. There will be plenty left as long as your men make sure there is fresh meat all winter."
    "That we can do. It's the best way I've found to get the men out and keep them active in the cold weather."
    "Then don't worry. You certainly have better things to do than fret about mildew."
    Arthur nodded and she left. Cei remained to go over reports from the east and south, where Britons were living in uneasy proximity to the Saxons. Although there was a truce of sorts between the old people and the new, it took constant and delicate diplomacy to keep it going. Messengers crisscrossed the kingdom in every weather to keep the High King informed. Even in winter, Arthur felt submerged in the paperwork. But, in a way, that was what he had been working for. People knew now that they had someone to turn to. They no longer needed to fight their battles alone or suffer unjustly from their neighbors. Even the priests were coming around. Oddly enough, it had been Guinevere who had remembered the line about rendering unto Caesar. But then, she was much more well read than he was. He let his mind drift to his wife again, a ridiculous thing to do, considering they had been married nearly thirteen years. She still enchanted him with her elegance and mysterious, distant allure. She was like a spirit who had kindly consented to remain for a bit in human form, something never touched by mundane worries or needs.
    As Arthur tried to focus his thoughts on the paper before him, the door was blown open by a small gold and green whirlwind, shrieking at the top of its lungs.
    "King Arthur! Sir Cei! Save me! She's going to catch me!" It dove under the table, scattering loose rolls as Guinevere entered the room. She was panting hard from running, and her face was red. Her hair had caught several cobwebs in it when she had crawled through a storage room seeking her prey. Now, with a whoop of delight, she pounced on the little foot sticking out from beneath the table.
    "I've got you fairly now, Galahad. You're going right down to the baths. You're going to be cleaned from head to toe whether the other boys laugh or not. And, when you've done that, you can consider yourself promoted to dinner at the high table with me, your father, and Arthur. But only for tonight!"
    She pulled him by the ankles out from under the table. As soon as she let go, he threw himself on her in a bear hug.
    "At the high table! I'll even wash between my toes for that!"
    "Cheldric will be there to see that you do. I'll race you there."
    With a wave to her husband, the spirit wiped her face with her sleeve and ran.

copyright ©2014 Sharan Newman

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