“No.” I shake my head. “I haven't read a lot of romances. I'm still getting better at Middle French, you know.”
"It’s…interesting," Kingston remarks.
I say nothing to that. But he keeps going.
"Gawain marries Ragnelle, a woman who's hideously ugly, in order to save the king's life. But then, as their wedding night falls, she turns into a beautiful maiden. She explains to him that she's cursed, and she'll look like this at night, and ugly during the day."
“That’s…” I frown. “Isn’t that the plot ofShrek?”
Kingston stops and stares at me.
“You’re suggesting a twelfth-century French poet plagiarized the plot of an animated movie?”
I roll my eyes. “No.”
I swear, an actual smile plays at his lips. But he tamps it down and looks back at his notes.
“Right. So.Anyway. She says he can have it the other way around if he wants. He just has to tell her. But he can't decide. He doesn't want to decide, he realizes. So he says, my lady, the choice is yours. Andthatis actually what breaks the curse. From then on, she's beautiful all day, every day. Then Gawain solves the riddle, and the king lives.”
Kingston turns a page, and I wait for him to go on, but that’s it. Nothing more.
Which leaves us in more of that unbearable silence.
"I'm still thinking about what you said,” I blurt out. “All of you.”
“Good. You should."
That…isn’t what I expected he’d say. “And I told Morgan," I add, since it seems like we're in a full disclosure kind of place.
At that, Kingston closes his eyes briefly, like he wishes I hadn’t told her, but he recovers quickly. “I suppose that makes sense.”
He keeps writing. And writing.
"That's it?” I say, after a moment. “Don't you need to figure this out kind of soon?"
"We can wait.” He pauses. “Wewillwait."
"You can't wait forever, though," I say, my voice lower.
"That's not something you need to worry about."
“How could it not be?"
“Because weasked.” Kingston sets down his pen and looks at me. “We asked, Gwenna. We didn’t tell. Just because we’re duty-bound to a quest and a set of vows doesn’t mean we have the right to impose the consequences on other people.” He inhales. “Whatever you decide, it has to be your choice."
My heart squeezes. Morgan’s voice plays back in my head.
You can't just do this because they need you to, Gwenna. You should only do it if you actually want to.
“But…what if I say no?" after a moment.
"Then we find another way.” Kingston’s voice is firm. “Or we don't, and we face the consequences. That's not something that has anything to do with you."
All I can do is stare. At the classroom. At my desk. Athisdesk, at the Perceval text spread out before him.
"What was the riddle?" I say suddenly.
Kingston looks up. "What?"
