We edged around the forest and then Éowyn spotted some red cloth tied to one of the trees.
'Looks like the boys have left us a marker,' she said, smiling. We followed their trail until deep into the forest, a bit of cloak being tied to a tree every so often, then sat down to rest for a while at a stream. There was a rustling and Éowyn reached for her sword, but it was only Queen Mab. She squealed in delight.
'My favourite ladies here together
Beth survived the tower's terror
Rescued by this lovely maid
The perfect one to give you aid.
Now you must be on your way
Unless there is a chance you'll stay
We could have fun here in the trees
Eating honey, bread and cheese.
But no, I know, you should be leaving
One of your knights is sadly grieving.'
She hopped up onto a higher branch and grinned down at us. I replied.
'Which way do we need to go?
Back from here? I know you know.'
Mab applauded my rhyme.
'Homeward bound is straight ahead
The path you'll keep where they have led.
Now do not tarry, they are near
Hurry now, be of good cheer,
And if in future you should roam
You're always welcome in my home.'
Mab flapped her wings and circled our heads. I smiled up at her.
'Thanks to you, the tasks detailed
Without your help we would have failed.
We bid you leave and wish you well,
Majestic in your floral dell.
Hey, I'm getting really good at this, Éowyn!'
But as I turned back to Mab, it was to see only the flutter of her wings as she departed.
'So the men are not far?' Éowyn said, standing.
'Race you?'
The sound of us crashing through the trees made me briefly wonder if they thought we were actually something attacking them. It was Éowyn who broke cover first, mainly because I got my foot stuck in a trailing root and had to stop to disentangle it.
I could hear Percival greeting her and the voices of the others expressing surprise and pleasure. Slowly I entered their camp. Gwaine was standing to one side, smiling sadly at the reunion.
'Aren't you going to say Hello?' I asked.
'Beth! Oh my darling!' He held out his arms to me, but then didn't seem to know which bit of me he could hug without hurting me. It was so wonderful to feel his arms fold gently around me, to feel his hair soft against my cheek as I tried to blot out that last image of him. 'The tower, it disappeared.'
'I know.'
'I wanted to wait there but the others wouldn't let me.'
'I know.'
'They said we'd come back with a bigger search party.'
'Very sensible.'
'What happened there Beth?'
'I don't want to talk about. Not now.'
'In that case, I'd better introduce you to the king. My lord! This is Beth.'
I attempted a curtsey, a little wobbly on the uneven ground.
'It appears I have you to thank for my rescue,' Arthur said. He was taller than I remembered from the programme, and broader, but his face was stubble-laden and there were dark shadows under his eyes.
'Camelot, and Gwen, need you, sire.'
'I am forever in your debt.'
Arthur was so exhausted that he was soon asleep while Éowyn and I sat round the camp fire with the other men and we updated them with what had happened after I'd been locked in the room alone.
'Luckily Queen Mab had told me that all I had to do was sit still and say nothing.' There was a snort of derision from Percival, so I slapped him. 'And I had to keep telling myself that it wasn't real until it was all over. And then Katy . . . Gwaine, Aragorn, you remember Katy from my flat? She appeared with Merlin and Mordred.'
'Woah! Katy?' Percival said. 'With Merlin and Mordred?'
Gwaine was staring at me, his jaw slack with disbelief. 'Katy? That was the same Katy? But . . .'
'Yes, she's called something else here. High Priestess, erm . . . she did say but I can't remember. It began with an M. Maj . . . Magister. Something like that.'
'Magistra?' said Leon.
'Yes, that's it! You know her?'
Percival, Gwaine and Leon all avoided eye contact with me. It was Éowyn who asked what had happened and Leon reluctantly answered.
'We knew her as Katy too. She, err, turned up in Camelot. She wasn't treated very well.' They were all suspiciously quiet.
'Tell her, Leon,' Gwaine said.
Leon took a swig of water and stared into the camp fire. 'The king, Uther then, was away with Arthur. This . . . this girl suddenly appeared just outside the citadel. She didn't know where she was. She barely knew WHO she was. Arriving like that, it was clear that she had magic and so she was locked up. We . . .' He stopped and took a deep breath and then ran his hand across his forehead. 'She would ask us for help, beg us, but we could do nothing. We . . . we used to go and watch her. She would . . . she had these . . . strings going into her ears and she would dance around and sing. We thought she was, well, a bit . . . mad, but she was amusing to watch.'
'You did this a lot?'
'For several nights. Until she started sobbing and asking for her horse.'
'Her horse?' This seemed a bit bizarre.
'Well, specifically, her charger. We could not understand why she wanted a battle horse, but that's what she was asking for.'
'She was from my world,' I said slowly. 'She was listening to her iPod.'
'We did not know the magic from The Great Unknown then,' Leon said.
'What happened to her?'
'She stayed locked away for . . . too long. Her cries would keep the guards awake at night, but she had magic so Uther insisted she be kept in the dungeons. We think . . . we think Merlin released her.'
'How COULD you?' I said, looking at the knights in turn. 'She needed help and you locked her up and then laughed at her? How COULD you?'
'We're not proud of what we did,' Gwaine said quietly.
'Not proud? Not PROUD? You should be ashamed of yourselves.'
I stalked off into the forest, but didn't get very far, what with it being impenetrable and everything. I was sitting on a log half wishing for Mab and her painful rhymes, but it was Éowyn who found me.
She said nothing, just sat down next to me, and then reached out and clasped my hand. We sat in silence for a while.
'They do feel bad,' she said.
'I might have known you'd defend them,' I replied, snatching my hand away.
'I'm not defending them. I think they behaved appallingly, but they know it.'
'She needed help. She was all alone, and that's what they did to her.' I reached out for Eowyn's hand and she took it again.
It was a much subdued camp when we returned.
'Lady Beth, we are truly sorry,' Leon said.
'It's not me you should be apologising to.'
'I know. We know.'
'And now she's with Merlin and Mordred. Because of what you did.'
Curling up on my side next to Gwaine, I was still downcast.
'Sleep well, sweetheart,' he said, but he could feel my body tense as he spoke the endearment. 'What is it, Beth? Is it Katy?'
'No. Yes. I mean . . . it was the visions she showed me.'
'Was I in them?'
I turned so I could see his face and nodded. 'She showed you making love to two women. You called them "Sweetheart".'
'Two women?'
'Aha.'
'Was I any good?'
'Gwaine!' but it broke the tension and made me smile. 'No, you were useless so they got up and walked out, bored.'
'Ouch!'
'Serves you right.'
'So does that mean you don't want me to call you "Sweetheart" anymore?'
I was watching his face as he spoke to me and actually, being close to him, feeling his warmth, seeing the way he looked at me, the images from that room were already beginning to fade.
'No, it means I always want you to call me sweetheart. But just me.'
'I can do that. Sweetheart.'
It was a slow walk back to Camelot. Arthur was still exhausted, although refused to speak of what had happened to him, at least in front of Éowyn and me. It was good seeing her with Percival, they fitted together so comfortably and he looked at her with a tenderness that belied his size.
I walked with Gwaine, learning to forget about the visions, or at least push them to the back of my mind. He was attentive and carefully concerned for my welfare, checking the bandaging on my arm, supporting me over the uneven ground, allowing me to build up my trust in him again.
It was three days before we came in sight of Camelot, the spires gleaming in the evening sun. A routine patrol discovered us and were dispatched to bring us horses. Gwen was waiting in the courtyard when we arrived, throwing her arms around a now-bearded Arthur.
'That has GOT to go,' she said, after she had kissed him.
She sent instructions for hot baths for us all, and for Gaius to tend to my wounded arm. I ate in my room, too tired for a formal meal. When the servant came to take away my tray, he was followed into my room by Gwaine.
'How are you, Beth?'
'Tired.'
'Too tired for me to stay?'
'I thought you knights were supposed to be chivalrous?'
He twitched a half smile and then was silent for a while. 'About . . . Magistra . . . Katy,' he began. 'We did not act in a very chivalrous way then either.'
'But at least you accept that now. Gwaine?'
'Yes, sweetheart?'
'Please stay.'
