Page 44 of To Charm a Dark Prince

The man in bronze was probably shorter than the rest, but looked twice as wide. He instantly kind of reminded her of a fantasy dwarf, if a dwarf shaved. He had a rigid, blocky chin and bold features. His expression was more wary than the others’. His hair was the color of polished copper.

“Um. Hi, guys.” Gwen smiled nervously.

Upon seeing her, the man in silver shot up to his feet, almost tripping over himself to bow. “My lady, welcome. Forgive my rudeness.”

She chuckled. “I’m not a lady. Trust me. But thanks.” She walked up to him and held out her hand to shake his. “And thank you for the cloak the other night.”

He took her hand but bent to kiss her knuckles. Right. That’s what they did here. “It was my pleasure.” He smiled at her, his cheeks dimpling like a cherub as he did. “I am Sir Lancelot, the Knight in Silver.”

“Gwen.” She smiled, trying not to feel like she was meeting a celebrity. “The idiot on fire.”

Mordred snorted at that.

Lancelot chuckled and gestured at the other two men at the table. “This is Sir Percival, the Knight in Copper. I believe you have already met our dear Galahad.”

“Hard to miss Lurch from the Addams Family over there.” At Lancelot’s confused stare, she sighed. “Sorry. I keep making references nobody is going to get. I just meant he, uh, stands out.”

“That he does.” Lancelot smiled. “Like a signpost in a marsh. Will you join us?”

Gwen looked to Mordred. He finally lifted his gaze from his goblet and gestured a clawed hand at the seat next to him. They had left her a spot between him and Lancelot. A second later, he grasped his goblet and downed the contents before pouring himself another glass of wine.

What’s gotten into him?She furrowed her brow.

“Forgive him his moods,” Lancelot murmured to her, barely audibly. “If you can.”

“I heard you, knight.” Now Mordred was glaring a dagger at the other man.

“I am hardly to blame for your poor company this evening.” Lancelot shrugged and led Gwen to the chair. He pulled it out for her, and as she sat, he pushed it in. “Nor should she suffer for it.”

She was fairly convinced that she was to blame, however. She just wasn’t sure what she’d done to set him off. “It’s all right. He’s allowed.”

“Do not give him excuses,” Lancelot said with a small smile. “Though he never needs any.”

“Enough.” Mordred’s gauntleted hand tightened to a fist on the table.

“Tell us of Earth, Lady Gwen.” Percival interrupted the awkward exchange. He had a deep, gruff, but not unpleasant voice. “It has been many ages since we have seen it.”

“I. Well.” Now she really wished she had paid more attention in history class. “A lot has changed, but I guess a lot has stayed the same too. People are still people. But we have all sorts of technology now. Like planes. We can fly anywhere in the world.”

“Fly?” Lancelot blinked. “Truly?”

“Yeah. In, like, large metal vehicles with big engines strapped to the side of them, and—none of that is making any sense, is it?” She laughed. Galahad, Lancelot, and Percival were all staring at her with wide eyes. Mordred was still busy glaring into his goblet.

And Eod was now lying on her feet under the table.

Avalon was weird. Not really that unpleasant, all things considered—but weird.

“Okay, so—” She picked up a fork, then put her knife perpendicularly across it like a pair of wings. “Picture a big metal bird. But the wings don’t move. Instead, you have big…spinning blades that create enough force that it can go forward. God, I suck at this. I’m sorry.”

“No, please go on.” Lancelot was leaning on the table, hanging on her every word. “The spinning blades push it forward like wings?”

“Right. It pushes it along, and the curve of the wings means that once it gets up to speed, it can take off and fly.” She mimed the action with her weird fork-knife plane. “And it can carry hundreds of people and cargo across the world. We can go from America to England in, like…five hours? Six?”

That wound up with her launching into a long conversation with the knights about Earth and what had changed. They knew about America—it had just been settled when Avalon had shut its gates—but they were fascinated by things like the internet, modern politics and warfare, travel, cars, and the rest. When she was done with her lecture, Gwen reached out and took a roll from the tray in front of her. Tearing off a bit of it, she slipped it under the table to Eod who happily gobbled it up from her fingers.

“You’ll spoil him, you know.” Galahad smiled at her warmly. It was clear he didn’t really mind.

“That’s what pets are for. To be spoiled rotten.” She smiled back at him. “Although, I should watch my mouth. I’m about half a step from being the new resident pet here.” She snickered and gestured at the iron necklace that kept her from bursting into flames. “Being a prisoner, and all.”

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