Page 47 of To Charm a Dark Prince

He stood, brushing some dust from his knees, and nudged at one of the logs with a poker. It was already crackling. “I must apologize for Mordred’s behavior. He is prone to fits of deep despair and violent anger. It has always been his way.”

“I guess I’ll take the despair over the anger, although neither are really that fun.” She smiled at him. “Thanks for the warmth.”

“Of course. May I join you?”

“Sure.”

He sat in a chair opposite her and studied her for a minute. “I am sorry to see you trapped in this place with him. With all of us. We are no more cheerful than he is, I fear.”

“You seem to hate him.”

“I despise him.”

“Then…why do you serve him?”

“I must.” He grimaced in disgust. “I have no choice, my lady. And for more reasons than knightly honor.”

“Like…what?”

He sighed. “The walls have armored ears. I will tell you the whole tale tomorrow. While Mordred knows the truth of it, same as I, he might take offense at my choice of words.”

That sounded like a giant can of worms. Great. More drama. “Is he really as bad as everybody makes him out to be?”

“He does what he does in the belief he serves a noble cause. For that, I cannot fully condemn his terrible deeds. But each time I see a beautiful flower trodden beneath his boot in the name of this malignant peace of his, I weep for it.” Lancelot stared into the fire, his expression tight.

She was glad he wasn’t looking at her. She’d hate to see her blush at being called beautiful. Or at least, she assumed he was talking about her. “I just want to go home. I don’t think I belong here.”

“No one belongs here. Not anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

He sighed. “Avalon is meant to be a wilderness—a chaotic tangle of magic and mystery. So,whatif we were always gripped with shifting factions and war? We were alive. We had beauty and danger—love and loss. Now we merely stagnate in this…non-existence.” Lancelot shut his silver eyes and bowed his head. “Forgive me. I should not be troubling you with all this.”

“No, every bit helps. I still don’t know which end is up. I’m just a pawn in somebody else’s game, so…it’s nice to meet the other pieces on the board.” Gwen smiled gently to reassure the knight that he was actually helping her. It wasn’t a total lie. Her smile faded quickly, however. “I’m trying to figure out what I’m supposed to do—or even better, what Iwantto do. I need to understand everything before I figure out whether or not I should go home.”

“Sadly, elementals like you are doomed to stay in Avalon, lest you fade and die. I fear you are trapped here.”

“I guess.” Well, that was if she were a real elemental. And not simply borrowing Merlin’s powers because of their weird life-joining-thingy. Hopefully, the cat wasn’t lying to her and it was reversible. Hopefully. But she didn’t trust that cat as far as she could throw him. Although, honestly, it would be pretty easy to pick that scrawny creature and chuck him off a balcony. Now that she knew he wasn’t even really a cat, she probably wouldn’t feel too bad about it either.

But it meant she had no one to trust. She wished she had someone to rely on. Well, someone that wasn’t Eod the dog, anyway. Her thoughts trailed back to Mordred.

And it went from Mordred on to everything the Prince in Iron had done. To both the islandandhis knights. She sighed. “I’m sorry you’re trapped here too.”

“Weep not for me, my lady. I wrote my own fate long ago.” He leaned back in his chair and cast her a weary smile. “Though if it still allows me to spend time with you, I suppose it cannot be all for naught.”

She chuckled and glanced away. She didn’t know how to handle being flirted with on a good day, let alone this kind of situation. “Oh, come on. I’m sure there’s a lovely suit of armor around here for you to romance.”

He joined her in her laugh. “I fear my tastes run differently. Call me predictable, if you will.”

“You men are all the same. Wanting a lady who has, y’know, flesh.” She was enjoying teasing him, even if it was inching into dangerous territory. But who said she couldn’t flirt with the handsome knight if she wanted to?

“I know. What rogues we are.” He was grinning at her playfully. “Veritable demons.” He leaned his elbows on his knees. The firelight made his silver eyes glint in a fascinating way. “I look forward to our ride tomorrow.”

“I’d love to see more of Avalon.”

“Sadly, there is not much to see these days. Not since the Crystal was made.” He stood. Taking her hand, he bowed and kissed her knuckles. “I will take my leave. Sleep well, my lady. And if your room is cold when you go to bed…try lighting the fire.”

Laughing, she rolled her eyes. “Yeah,yeah…”

---