A Week with a Prince

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕱𝖎𝖋𝖙𝖞-𝕾𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖓

"That's... beautiful, Morgaine," Ginny said reverentially, looking at the great, round table made of some shimmering stone, as bright as the castle's walls, filling the large Great Hall nearly entirely, just as Cai had said.

She looked up at Arthur, who stood very still at her side, transfixed by the view. "You wanted a table like this," she said, remembering the night they had spent on the Salisbury Plain a long time ago, "round and huge like the ring of stones..."

He smiled. "I wanted it to be big enough for all my Companions. But really, Morgaine, they are no more than fifty-five men, and this table..."

"This table seats one hundred and fifty," she said with a complacent smile, watching Lancelot and Garreth make their way around it, reading the names that had been engraved in golden letters on its surface.

"Sir Bors? Cormac? Percival? Mordred? Who are they, Lady Morgaine?" Lancelot asked, his voice echoing across the large hall.

"Your Company will grow, brother," Morgaine said, smiling at Lancelot but addressing her reply to Arthur. "All these knights will join you shortly, most of them before your last big battle."

Ginny shivered, and Arthur's arm came promptly around her shoulders again, even as he frowned at Morgaine, letting her know that he didn't want to talk about battles right now.

The princess, knowing well the infallible Sight of the priestesses of Avalon, wanted to ask her more about what else she had seen in her and Arthur's future. However, Garreth's laughter coming from across the table distracted them, and Morgaine, obliging to her brother's unspoken wish, used it to change the subject.

"Yes, Sir Garreth, that's your seat, and Lancelot's is on your left," she said, the typical, mischievous, all-knowing smile of hers playing on her lips.

"And on my right, look! It says Sir Geoffrey, it must be you, Ginny, and there's Arthur's name on your right..."

Morgaine's joke worked its magic and Ginny forgot that they had been talking about a more serious subject, while they all walked around the table, reading the strange, unknown names, until Arwen appeared in one of the doors leading out of the Great Hall.

"My lady, finally! They told me that you had arrived, but I couldn't find you! The dinner will be served in the rose garden in an hour, our preparations to serve it here as usual, were ruin... were disrupted by the sudden arrival of your sister and her wedding gift, my lord," she informed seriously, curtsying to Arthur, her eyes strolling to Morgaine.

Ginny giggled; she had never seen Arwen looking oh-so-important. Whoever assigned her the position of the castellan, or whatever she was now, did the right thing. The old nurse was made for such a post... Her giggles died away when Arwen looked at her again.

"Lady Morgaine demanded to sleep in your bedroom with you tonight, Lady Guinevere. We made a bed for her there and moved my Lord Arthur's things to a bedroom on another floor."

Ginny sighed even as Arthur groaned, their eyes meeting. They had both hoped they would share a bed again tonight; after the long three weeks of separation, they had a lot to... talk about.

But with Morgaine insisting on sharing Ginny's room and Arwen's chamber being right next to it, beyond a communicating door, it would be impossible. There was no reason to argue with these women, Arthur decided, recognising a lost battle at first sight.

He shrugged. "Go with them then, Ginny. I wanted to show you around the castle and take you to our bedroom myself, but... we shall leave it for tomorrow, once our guests are gone," his eyes met Morgaine's briefly but meaningfully, making her chuckle before he added, "I'll see you at dinner." He kissed Ginny on her forehead, smiling at the acceptance and patience in her eyes. She will be a great queen and wife, he mused watching her go. She could choose her battles too.

Arguing with Arwen and Morgaine would be like fighting against her father and Avalon at once, Ginny thought, allowing Arwen to lace her arm through one of hers, Morgaine doing the same at her other side, before they led her out of the Great Hall, along several torch-lit corridors, up a couple of sweeping, white staircases.

She let her nurse help her bathe and change into the dress that was to have been her wedding gown before Arthur sent her the white and golden fabric, wondering about all the noise reaching her from beyond the windows of her new bedroom, the bedroom that will become hers and Arthur's tomorrow night.

But it had gone dark outside already, and the thick, midnight blue curtains on her windows were drawn, not allowing her to see anything.

"It's your and Arthur's guests, celebrating your tomorrow's wedding," Morgaine told her, divining her thoughts as she dismissed Arwen and came to brush her hair herself.

Ginny nodded silently as she sat in front of a mirror, while Morgaine organised her long hair into braids, then pinned it up around her head like a crown. Her eyes kept strolling to the reflection of the great bed, swathed in snow-white linen sheets and a midnight blue velvet coverlet embroidered with gold, her teeth tormenting her bottom lip.

"Oh Guinevere, stop that, will you?" Morgaine said, pulling her to her feet the moment she was done with her hair, as if she could read her thoughts, making her blush. "Stop thinking about it. It will be... so much better if you just won't think at all when the moment comes... By the way, I have a present for you, too."

She walked to the small bed by the window that had been brought in for her, her hand disappearing into a bag sitting on top, coming back closed around a stem of an ancient looking gold cup.

Ginny took it from her politely. "Thanks, Morgaine..." she said, at a loss for words to express her gratitude for such an unexpected present in a more appropriate way.

Morgaine laughed. "It is not just any cup, Guinevere. This is the Holy Grail, a part of the Holy Regalia. It belongs to the Sword and will stay with you as long as Excalibur does. Once you don't need it anymore, it will find its way back to Avalon."

Ginny nodded, feeling that the mysteries of Avalon were quite beyond her comprehending. She placed the gold grail on her bedside table, watching the blood red gems set in its stem glimmer and shine, come to life with magic pulsating within them, even as she touched the Excalibur's hilt, taking it off the bed and fastening it to her belt... her eyes never leaving the grail... feeling as if it had charmed her... feeling powerless... unable to resist its spell...

"The Holy Grail bestoves eternal youth, beauty and happiness upon the person who drinks from it..." Morgaine's words reached her as if through a thick fog as she stared, mesmerised, at the cup, slowly filling with water in front of her eyes.

Suddenly, Ginny felt thirsty, her throat painfully parched, and she reached for the grail, swallowing with difficulty to ask, before she would bring it to her lips, "To anyone, Morgaine? To every person who will drink from it?"

"No," Morgaine's words ripped the shrouds of fog, making Ginny's hand pause even as it was about to press the grail to her lips. "No, only to its rightful owner. Just like your Sword, it can not serve two masters."

"Then I don't want it. Not without Arthur..." She put the gold cup back on the table, her hand shaking as if it was determined to bring it back to her lips, until Ginny finally pried her fingers from its stem, shaking her head to break the spell.

Morgaine smiled at her. "Well, it is yours, as I said, as long as the Excalibur. You might change your mind... Should you not, you are free to do whatever you want with it, while it is in your possesion. Now let me take you back to Arthur before he comes looking for you."

Ginny nodded and followed Morgaine out of the chamber, eager to take some distance from the mysterious cup.