Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley [245]
Griflet put his hand on his sword and said, “I was given the task of escorting my queen, fellow, and I’ll do the task Arthur’s given me to do. Get out of my path or I’ll force you to!”
“You with who else?” sneered Meleagrant, bracing himself with an ugly sneer.
“I, for one,” said Gaheris, standing quickly at Griflet’s side. Like Gawaine, he was a big, sturdy man who would have made two of the slender Griflet.
“And I,” said Lancelet from the darkness beyond them, striding quickly toward Gwenhwyfar’s horse, and she could have wept with relief. Never had he looked more handsome to her than now; and though he was slender and slightly built, something in his presence made Meleagrant draw back. “Is this man annoying you, lady Gwenhwyfar?”
She swallowed and nodded, and found to her dismay that she had no voice to speak. Meleagrant blustered, “Who may you be, fellow?”
“Take care,” said Gaheris, “don’t you know the lord Lancelet?”
“I am Arthur’s captain of horse,” said Lancelet, in his lazy amused voice, “and the Queen’s champion. Have you anything to say to me?”
“My business is with my sister,” said Meleagrant, but Gwenhwyfar said, high and shrill, “I am no sister of his! This man claims to be my father’s son because his mother was for a time one of the king’s women! He is no son of my father’s, but a baseborn clown who belongs in a farmyard, though my father has been kind enough to give him a place in his household!”
“You had best get out of our way,” said Lancelet, surveying Meleagrant with contempt, and it was easy enough to see that Meleagrant knew who Lancelet was and had no desire to try conclusions with him.
He edged backward, saying in a surly voice, “You will be sorry for this some day, Gwenhwyfar,” but he gave ground, glowering, and let them pass.
Lancelet was dressed with his usual fastidious taste, in crimson tunic and cloak; his hair was carefully trimmed and combed, his face clean-shaven. His hands looked smooth and white as Gwenhwyfar’s own, although she knew that they were hard and steel-strong. He was handsomer than ever. And he had come just in time to save her from an ugly encounter with Meleagrant. She smiled—she could not help herself; it was as if something turned over, deep inside her.
No, I must not look at him this way now, I am to be the mother of Arthur’s son. . . .
Lancelet said, “You do not want to pass through the great hall, lady, in your draggled riding clothes. . . . Has it been raining most of your journey? Let me take you and your servant to the side door, and you can go directly to your chamber and refresh yourself, then greet my lord Arthur in the hall when you are freshly dressed and warm and dry—you are shivering! Is the wind cold on you, Gwenhwyfar?”
He long had the privilege of calling her by her name, without the formal “my queen” or “lady,” but never had it sounded so sweet on his lips. “You are, as ever, thoughtful of me,” she said, and let him lead her horse.
Lancelet said, “Griflet, go now and tell our king that the lady is safe in her chambers. And you too, Gaheris, you are longing to be back among the Companions. I will see my lady safe.”
At the door he helped her to dismount, and she was only aware of the touch of his hands. She lowered her eyes and would not look at him.
“The great hall is filled with Arthur’s Companions,” he said, “and all is confusion—the Round Table has gone but three days ago, on three carts to Camelot, and Cai with it to set it in its place in the new hall. Now a rider has gone out in haste to summon Cai back, and such men as can ride from the Summer Country—”
She looked up at him, frightened. “Gawaine told us of the Saxon landing—is this truly the war Arthur feared?”
“It is what we have all known for years must come, Gwen,” he said quietly. “For this Arthur has been training his legions, and I working with his horse troops. When this is over, perhaps, we shall have the peace we have longed for, all my life and all Uther’s.”
Suddenly she flung her arms around him. “You could be killed,” she whispered. It was the first time