Sword in the Stars (Once & Future #2) - Cori McCarthy Page 0,30

go wrong in Camelot the moment King Arthur left. She pushed the thoughts down, keeping her focus on the quest at hand.

Ari watched Arthur polish Excalibur from across the small campfire. She’d never seen him care for the sword before. She’d seen him train with it, fight with it, but never treasure it. Ari more than longed to hold the sword again. Merlin had taken the broken pieces when she arrived in Camelot, and the absence of the enchanted blade was never far from her mind.

Arthur’s sharpening stone sang over the edge of the blade as if he’d lovingly done this every night since he’d plucked the sword from the stone. Or was this the sword handed to Arthur straight from the Lady of the Lake’s disembodied arm? Jordan’s book offered two possibilities—which engendered new thought on the so-called legend. Most of it had been imagined much later by romantic writers—and less romantic screenwriters—based on certain foundational truths. An old magician, Excalibur, a love triangle, a round table, a murderous son…

That was, perhaps, the only reason they had any wiggle room with the time continuum.

“You are watching me as if contemplating eating me,” Arthur said, just loud enough for his timid voice to reach across the fire. “We rode long and far enough this day for me to imagine the possibility that you’ve only been playacting the role of a friend. Making a game of luring me out of my kingdom, away from my guards, so that you might kill me.”

“Not everyone wants to kill you, Arthur,” Ari said, feeling a pang for the reluctant royal. She’d been hunted by Mercer for most of her life, forced to always watch her back. “Besides, I told you the enchantresses will never take your offer of peace seriously if you arrive surrounded by armed men on horseback.”

“And you don’t count as such?” Arthur paused in his sharpening, staring at Ari with a daring look. “I watch you as much as you watch me, Lancelot. I know you keep secrets.”

Ari studied him. “I won’t keep the truth quiet if you ask the right questions.”

She swore she could hear Merlin exclaiming curses at the heavens for this offer.

Arthur slid Excalibur in its long, leather sheath. “Then my question is, why have you placed yourself at my side, good knight? Why do you seek to train me, improve public opinion of me, strengthen my kingdom with allies?”

Ari stood, pacing beside the fire.

“Will you sleep in your armor?” he asked, making her pause.

“Of course,” she snapped. “What if we were attacked in the night?”

“And what if I beheld your female shape?”

“My… what?” Ari actually drew her sword. Arthur pressed his lips nervously.

“You’re a woman. I suspected it from the start, but after the melee, I could just tell.” Arthur’s serious face split with a sweet, tentative smile.

Ari thrust her sword into the ground. “So you’re not surprised? Upset?”

“Everyone lies to me. The only control I have is to know how much someone lies. You’re not a man, but you are a mighty hero.” He nodded to himself as if this truth had taxed him, but not broken him. “If that is the worst secret between us, we can be friends.”

Ari was dumbstruck. She felt rather acutely as if she’d acquired a little brother. He was heartfelt to a fault, trusting, loving… lonely.

Like Kay.

And like Kay, the worst dealings between Ari and Arthur would not be the chalice or Ari’s ladyhood or any other subject. It would be one specific, vivacious queen.

Ari added more wood to the fire. “How far do we still have to go?”

“A day or less. We must arrive by nightfall tomorrow. That is when the door to Avalon appears through the mist.” Arthur curled on the ground, punching the roll of clothes that served as his pillow. That was the other thing about this trip; Arthur had left his finery behind. He wore plain clothes, no crown. Two people on the road had already treated Arthur as if he were Ari’s squire, carrying her fancy sword, and he’d seemed pleased with the arrangement.

“I believe I’ve underestimated you,” Ari managed.

Arthur nodded. “Imagine,” he said, “that you are no one. You are small and have no family. Imagine someone gives you a sword and tells you it was all a dream, your nothingness, your powerlessness. Instead, you are a king and this blade in your hands comes with a kingdom.”

Arthur’s voice dwindled, and Ari picked up his words, adding her own. “And with that kingdom