While the rest of the mansion was at least somewhat tasteful, the bedroom was a monument to excess. Panelled wooden walls with gold leaf to highlight the details, a riot of upholstery covered every inch of furniture, with no two patterns alike. The jewel of this extravagant crown was two tapestries that loomed over the bed. At first glance, the scenes could be mistaken for wrestlers, but a closer look revealed that fighting was the last thing on their minds. They hung beside the double-sized four-poster bed, large enough to sleep five.

  The whole space was lit by some glazed windows, which must have cost more than anything else in the room—apart from maybe the tapestries. I had no idea what lewd weavers might charge. I opened one of the windows, as the room reeked of stale sweat, poorly hidden by cheap incense.

  I was stalling. I knew it. Sephy had dragged me up here, using the excuse of us ‘investigating’ Spendlove, but from the look on her face, this was anything but work. She had just finished setting her privacy array. She turned to me, our eyes meeting. Despite my trepidation at what was to come, I couldn’t help but admire her.

  The Sephy of the past had been the pinnacle of elegance, with her dark crimson hair decorated and a full dress that accentuated her decidedly feminine curves while leaving no doubt of the muscles beneath. Now, as she stood wearing britches that clung to the muscles of her legs and a tightly fitted tunic that left her arms bare, it was like looking at scintillating flames—so beautiful that you were tricked into forgetting the threat they posed.

  “So, we are to part ways briefly.” She broke the silence between us.

  “We are.”

  “The last time we parted, a great deal was left unsaid. I refuse to let that happen again. Knowing your luck, the Lady will turn up while we’re away and drag you off on some unseelie adventure, and you’ll turn up with a different face.”

  “Hey, the face changing was a one-time thing. I like this face.” I tried to lighten the mood, but her face remained serious.

  “Don’t try and charm your way out of this, you handsome bastard. I’m not used to asking people for their innermost thoughts. Half the fun is in extracting them with trickery and witty banter. So bear with me if this goes poorly.” Sephy took a deep breath. “What is the problem?”

  “Pardon?”

  “You know as well as I do that you’ve been avoiding me!”

  “I—” I felt my instinctive refusal cut off. My tongue twisted into a knot.

  “And now you speak to Arthur first! I've been waiting for you to explain yourself, or at least give me a proper chance to wheedle it out of you. But no, you have to go talk to him first!”

  “I was coming to see you when he ambushed me! You were my first priority, I swear.” I shouted and immediately cringed. But at least that was the right thing to say. Sephy settled back. She still looked hurt, but the anger had faded.

  “That’s good to know. Look, I’m not going to apologise for things outside of my control! I couldn’t have told you about this quest, but know that I wanted to. Are you feeling slighted by me? Or insulted that I chose the honour of my family over you?” Sephy stalked around the room.

  “What? No! Not at all!”

  “Then what? You know me. You understand me better than anyone, and yet here I am trying to get a grip on you only to find smoke! Do you know how irritating that is for someone of my training? Do you know how painful that is for the person who is supposed to be your partner?” She stalked right up to me, waving a finger under my nose. I expected to see pure anger on her face, but I couldn’t deny the sadness pinching at the corner of her eyes.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t think it was this bad. I thought you knew,” I said, my words tumbling out in a poorly composed mess.

  “Knew what?”

  “I’m scared. Scared that we’ll be parted by duty, by your allegiance to Arthur, by secrets you’re forced to keep,” I answered, my voice louder than I intended.

  “And you think I don’t feel the same way? Taliesin, the man set on his path by the Lady of the Lake herself? Coveted by Mother Chox? You think to blame me for having a life outside you?”

  “No, that’s not it. I never imagined that we’d run off like a pair of mortals and start a farm or something. Still, I at least thought I would be willing to follow you anywhere. But when you shared that first plan, I just couldn’t imagine myself at your side.”

  “Why does that matter?”

  “How does it not? I failed you—failed us. I should be ready to follow. Is that not what one should do for someone they… care for deeply?” I chickened out at the last moment, fearing that introducing the word love into this conversation would force me to confront something I wasn’t ready for.

  Sephy took a step back and looked me in the eyes. Intense irises, somewhere between hazel and amber, danced over my face, tracing every feature. Her anger was banished by the calculating look I knew all too well, her eyes narrowing, her lips thinning.

  “You vexatious bard! All of this nonsense over the last few days for that?” She hit my chest—enough to push me back an inch—before wrapping her arms around me and collapsing into my embrace.

  “I thought it was pretty important,” I muttered into her hair.

  “A question—if I’d asked you point-blank, said I needed you to come sneak across the passes with me, would you have done so?” She didn’t release the hug, leaning her head against my shoulder and speaking into my chest.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “Yes.”

  “Being together doesn’t mean things are always smooth or that supporting the other isn’t a chore. I love my family, but I hate that they refused to let me share this secret. I trusted you to handle Spendlove’s insults at the gate, even if every part of me was burning with desire to separate his head from his body.”

  “You were that annoyed by him?” I smiled.

  “He was treating you like dirt. How would you feel if our roles were reversed?” She asked, then laughed as my face flickered with anger. “I trusted you to handle it, and I was right, wasn’t I?”

  “Yes. It’s just… I don’t really have any idea how to do this. I want to be there for you.”

  “You will be, just as I will be there for you. I am a knight, you’re a bard. We’re going to clash here and there. It’s how we handle it that matters.”

  “So you’re not annoyed?”

  “I’m still very annoyed. You handled this exactly like you handled Arthur—you ran away until you got hunted down. That isn’t any fun for me. You forced me to be direct, and you know how I hate that.” Sephy’s grip on me tightened, and I remembered that this woman could likely crush me.

  “Then why do you seem so happy?”

  “I am a woman. We can be both. If we had more time, I’d be making sure you appreciate my frustrations. Still, you better be ready to make it up to me when I get back.”

  “I’ll have to get creative,” I answered, daring to inject a coy tone.

  “I look forward to it.” She leaned back, but with my arms still around her waist, she was in the perfect position for a kiss. My lips found hers, and we shared a passionate moment. The tension of the last few days melted away as we shared in our mutual desire for each other.

  The kiss was full-bodied and caring. It wasn’t like our couple of lustful rendezvous when we’d been fighting—those had been driven by base instincts, by our want for each other’s bodies. This was different. This was back to how it should be. A perfect moment where our actions showed the depths of our passion. It should have been perfect.

  The sound of the latch clicking shattered the moment.

  

  “Are you two all right? Kay sent me to…” Arthur swung open the door, only to freeze in place, his eyes wide, his mouth opening and shutting as his brain failed to process what was happening before him. I cursed myself for not remembering our discussion this morning. Sephy, though, had a smile on her lips. Was this payback for my foolish mistakes?

  I braced for questions, demands that we separate, maybe even homicidal rage. However, Arthur just stared, his mind regrouping as it sought to understand the unthinkable.

  “Well, the secret was fun while it lasted.” Sephy grinned as she broke away from me and ran past the frozen prince in the doorway, calling out, “Oh, is that the time? Seems we have to leave.”

  “What?” Arthur blinked, finally shaking himself out of his fugue state. He looked at the fleeing Sephy and then back to me.

  “Best of luck on the hunt.” I waved awkwardly at him, my heart pounding.

  “You—” His confusion banished, he pointed at me, his face promising death. I didn’t hear the rest. I’d fallen back upon my tried and tested method of escape.

  I leapt out the open window.

  I’d already come to loathe Kay’s whistle from our training. It was constantly shrieking at me for my failures. Now, it was my saviour. Arthur had clearly wanted to talk and had sought to follow me out the window. However, his wider frame made that a challenge, and before he could do something foolish, the sharp cry of the whistle was demanding his presence.

  After landing in the garden, I slid into the town. I was going to wave them off, but I wasn’t about to hang around Arthur right now. If I knew the Order, they’d still be getting things ready for anywhere between five minutes to five hours after they’d been asked to assemble. Hurry up and wait was truly a terrifying philosophy.

  The talk with Sephy left me feeling raw, yet it had also cleared me of a burden I hadn’t even noticed I’d been carrying. If I was honest, being found by Arthur didn’t even register in my mind. I was far too busy reviewing my behaviour up till now, kicking myself for being so cowardly and avoiding talking with Sephy.

  Was I a coward?

  I wanted to quash the thought, but I was currently fleeing. No, that was different. I wasn’t so much scared of him as I was simply aware that dealing with an irate knight who cultivated emotion in a confined space was a terrible idea.

  I was saved from further dissection of my innermost self when I noticed the town was oddly quiet. I’d been walking around the back streets for a few minutes and hadn’t seen anyone. It wasn’t that early—someone should have been about, surely? A moment of panic that something dire had occurred passed when I found the entire town lining the main road, between the main gate and where it branched off towards Spendlove’s manor. The children clutched flowers, and the parents chatted amongst themselves.

  It was confusing until I heard the bell toll. Less than a minute later, I saw the knights round the corner, and every voice began to cheer.

  They’d put on a parade.

  For a brief moment, I saw my allies as the residents of the town must see them. Knights in shining armour, red cloaks billowing behind them, weapons at their sides. Overhead, Gring and Archimedes circled, with Lance and Gawain walking on the ground as part of the column. I couldn’t even be annoyed at the effortless beauty of the two moon-gifted, though Arthur didn't quite look as put together as normal. To the gathered masses, they truly looked the part of heroes off to slay the monster that haunted their dreams.

  I jumped up to a flat roof, finding a few children I recognised already in residence, their eyes expanding in awe as I casually leapt up the building. Watching from the better vantage point, they where no less excited, and cheered my arrival, and gawked as, in a puff of smoke, my lute disappeared and was replaced by the bagpipes. I took a moment to prepare them and then began to play.

  I was no great lover of the pipes, but I had to confess I adored the volume and power they spoke with. There was something primal about the noise that spoke right to the body, cutting straight to the soul.

  The crowd, knights included, looked to me, and then the cheering redoubled. I took particular pleasure in seeing Sephy’s smile and took extra care not to meet the razor-sharp glare from Arthur. I chose a bellowing tune, adapting something from my mortal days, when there was a conscription and bards sought to stir the soul and make men forget the horrors of the war that waited for them.

  The cry of the audience soothed me. My mind whirling with flaws, and failures rendered silent. I knew then that Sephy been right to corner me, and I'd been wrong for not just talking to her before. I never wanted us to part ways again with things left unsaid.

  As I watched those I cared for most stride out, my heart pounded with pride. I did not need to join them to be part of this moment, but I could make it more. I jumped across the roof tops, till I arrived at the last gates, guards to either side preparing to get in position to pull them open. That lacked a certain 'theatricality', so I set about pulling on the smoke of chimneys and the braziers of fire that warmed the crowd. Amassing the smoke, I pushed the unbarred gates open from the other side, giving the moment a sense of majesty.

  Ahead of the knights, the gates swung without a touch from the guards, as if beckoning the Knights forth. The morning sun sweeping across them as the Order of the Round Table marched out on its first quest.