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I glared at her, touched a hand to my brow, then reached for a towel and dipped it into a pail of clean water. I could have gone back up to my room and called for a maidservant to bring me a basin of crystal clear water and a spotless white linen, but I preferred being down here with the others.
Sometimes the tower where my bedroom lay was too quiet. Lately, various encounters with a certain someone had caused me to avoid it more and more often.
The training courtyard was noisy and smelly. But there was a camaraderie there. For a while, I could almost convince myself that I was a part of it–even though the truth was, I would always be on the outside.
“Thanks for the reminder,” I said, a little frostily, wiping the towel over my face and neck. I knew it was ridiculous, but I was self-conscious of sweating. I could thank my many nurses, governesses, and ladies-in-waiting for that. A lady was not supposed to sweat. Unless the lady was a knight. It was all very contradictory. “I’m hardly in any shape to go out to a tavern.”
“No one will even notice.” Lancelet grinned. “Besides, there’s someone I want you to meet.”
“Let me guess. She’s pretty with a laugh like sunshine and she gives you free ale.”
“That’s not all she gives me.” Lancelet waggled her eyebrows and I giggled.
“Do you...care for her?” I asked curiously.
As always, it was hard to imagine a world where I could ever feel as carefree as she is. Lancelet... Well, she was one of a kind. Women certainly seemed to think so. She had no trouble finding willing partners when she wanted them. My tastes ran to men, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t admire her brazen charm.
I eyed her familiar form. Her fair skin was lightly tanned with short blonde hair that was swept back from her face and tied with a leather strap to keep it out of her eyes when she fought. She had incredible blue eyes. They sparkled with mischief but also reflected a keen intelligence. Not to mention she was unusually pretty with delicate feminine features.
And she was bold and brash and utterly fearless. Which was why she was one of my two best friends.
Not for the first time I found myself wondering what it must be like to stand out only because of your physical beauty and sheer brazenness? Because of what you were not who you were?
“I care for her...a little,” Lancelet said cautiously. “She’s fun. She’s easy. We’ll see how things go.”
“You like bedding her but it won’t last more than a week or two,” I translated with a smirk.
Lancelot raised an eyebrow at me. “Perhaps you’d find someone you’d like to bed if you came along.”
“I think not,” I said, with as much dignity as I could muster. “There’s my commitment to the temple, for one. Not to mention the king’s sister...”
Lancelet waved a hand dismissively. “Can’t be seen in a tavern? Can’t go about bedding handsome young men she favors?”
“I don’t favor anyone,” I said crossly, reaching for my flask of water and taking a long sip. “I never do. Not to mention that Arthur probably have a fit if I started behaving in a way he deemed improper. And then there’s Merlin.”
“It’s a tragedy playing out before my very eyes,” Lancelet said with exaggerated sadness. “You’re doomed to be a shriveled old maid and die alone.”
I flinched and hoped she wouldn't notice. She wasn’t trying to be cruel. Not really. How was she to know it was one of my greatest fears? Not the old maid part. But who wanted to die alone?
“Of course, that won’t happen,” she acknowledged belatedly. She snatched up the cloth I’d been using to wipe my sweaty face and began trying to whip me with it. I shrieked and backed away. “Because you’ll always have me around, won’t you?”
“To pester me to death.” But I gave her a small smile. She must have known she’d gone just a little too far. “Now put that disgusting rag away.”
Lancelet smirked. “Is that an order, Princess?”
I shrugged. “I beat you in the ring just now. If you want me to prove I can snatch that cloth from you and wipe my sweat on your face before you go to the tavern to see your little girlfriend, be my guest.”
Lancelet cackled. “Not how I want to smell, ideally.”
“Well, then.”
I pulled on a hooded black tunic and soft wool breeches, stowing my gear away.
As we left the building together I was distracted by two knights sparring in the practice ring across the courtyard. Their armor was polished to a high gleam, and their swords shone in the sunlight as they moved with a fluid grace. An impressive sight. So impressive that I was confused when a shadow dimmed my view. The next thing I knew I’d run smack into a wall.
I heard Lancelet yelp in surprise. We must have both run into the wall.
I focused my eyes. Not a wall. A man. A huge, looming man.
