Galahad and I
By: SarmatianKnight13
Chapter Sixteen
Rhoslyn's POV
I knew from the moment I met her that she would ruin everything good in my life.
Her name was Cornelia. She was Roman but she lived in Southern Britain with her family. She was so amazingly perfect that it bothered me to even look at her. Her thick golden blonde hair was pulled into a bun at the top of her head. Her bright blue eyes sparkled and her porcelain skin was flawless. And underneath her tunic and stola you could tell that her body was shaped nicely: not to fat and not to skinny and wide hips perfect for child bearing. When she smiled she revealed perfect, straight, white teeth and her voice was musical. In other words, she was everything that I wasn't.
"It is wonderful to meet you!" She said with a niceness that was forced. I could tell that she disproved of me being acquainted with Guinevere because she is royalty and… well… I am not.
"It is wonderful to meet you as well!" I said, matching her with the forced niceness. "Have you enjoyed this land?" I asked in an attempt to be nice.
"No. I was forced to come here when I was fifteen years old. I have been here ten years. I hate the weather, and I miss Rome terribly." She said, snootily. "Perhaps, if my father will approve, I will marry a knight. I am well past marrying age back in Rome. I should have gotten married a long time ago but there have been no suitable men." She then began looking through the crowd for the knights. My blood boiled. There is one knight who is off limits, I thought. Damn Roman nobility.
Men, young and old, married and unmarried, glanced at Cornelia as they walked by. I wanted to lean over and vomit on her. I found myself actually wishing for some of Guinevere's cooking.
"So, Rhoslyn, where do you work in the castle?" Cornelia asked, oblivious to all the men staring.
"I beg your pardon?" I asked, clearly confused.
"Do you work in the kitchens or do you attend to someone?"
I blinked. She thought that I was a servant? Before I could make any snooty remark, Guinevere answered for me.
"She is not a servant, Cornelia. She is a really good friend of mine and soon Arthur will make her a Lady of the court."
Cornelia looked me up and down with a disgusted look.
Fortunately, Cornelia changed the subject, but she didn't have good news.
"My father has agreed to let me move here into the castle. I greatly appreciate the invitation, Guinevere. You should have seen my little sister and brother; they were so jealous!" Cornelia said with an annoyingly musical giggle which drew more stares from the male passers-by.
"It was no problem, Cornelia." Guinevere answered, some what strained. She could tell that Cornelia and I will not get along. I rolled my eyes sky ward, and wanted to let out a yell of frustration. I could not believe this! This… woman… was going to invade my life! And she clearly did NOT like me. The feeling was mutual though. I did not think that I could dislike someone as much as I disliked Cornelia. Clearly, she was a message from the gods, and the message was actually a punishment. I did something to displease them, and they send this woman as a potential person to ruin my life. This day could not get any worse, but as I always am; I was wrong.
I quickly excused myself, wishing for nothing more than to be away from this dreadful woman. I half-ran, half-walked away from her wanting to get away fast. I then began my search for Galahad.
I soon found him talking with Gawain and a handsome man whom I had never met.
"There you are!" Galahad exclaimed when he saw me. "I have been looking for you!" He grabbed my hands and pulled me beside him. "Rhoslyn meet Mordred. He is from Gaul.
I smiled politely at Mordred, and reached out to clasp his hand in greeting. Instead, he brought my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles.
"It is a pleasure to meet you." He said, gazing into my eyes. I could not help but look back. His eyes were so dark that they almost looked black. They were beautiful and deep. His hair was a shade darker than Galahad's.
"It is nice to meet you as well." I replied, quickly dropping my hand and latching onto Galahad. I hated the way my heart fluttered at his touch.
"I believe that Mordred is well on his way to becoming a knight." Galahad said, oblivious to the exchange between Mordred and me.
"I am sure." I replied, grabbing onto Galahad's arm tighter, looking at Mordred wearily. I wanted so much to pull Galahad away from this place and have another meal inour clearing in the castle gardens.
"Galahad!" A voice exclaimed. I looked over and spotted Guinevere and walking beside her in all of her perfect glory, was Cornelia. I tensed. Galahad looked over and spotted Guinevere and Cornelia, and I knew, by the look in his eyes, that as soon as he had seen her; I had lost him. He followed their approached as they made their way over to where we were standing.
"Galahad, Gawain, I would like you to meet, Cornelia, she is from Southern Britain and her father has given her permission to come live with us here in Camelot." Guinevere said. I could tell that she knew something was up because Galahad and Cornelia were looking at each other strangely.
"Lady Cornelia, is that you?" Galahad asked, letting go of my arm. I almost started to cry right then and there. They knew each other?
"Galy? My goodness! It is you! I barely recognized you. You have grown so much since I last saw you!" Cornelia exclaimed latching onto Galahad for an embrace. Guinevere looked confused, Gawain looked torn betweenanger and remembrance, and Mordred just stood there, taking the scene in.
"It has been… what… ten years? My how you have grown" Galahad said with a huge smile on his face.
"Would you excuse us a moment, my love?" Galahad asked, taking hold of Cornelia's arm. "We have to catch up. I will meet you later?" And with that said, he strode off with Cornelia in tow, laughing at an old memory that she had just shared with him.
I took a deep breath, and tried to calm myself. It is ok Rhoslyn. They are just friends, and they are just catching up on the time they have lost. But how the hell do they know each other?
I felt two hands on my shoulders. One belonged to Guinevere and the other belonged to Gawain.
"It is going to be ok Rhoslyn. They are just friends. Everything will be alright." But Guinevere did not look too convinced at what she had just said.
I took a shuttering breath; tears were in danger of spilling onto my cheeks.
"It will be ok Rhoslyn." Gawain repeated. "If anything moves beyond friendship, he will be dealt with."
But somehow I did not think that anything could be done. I saw the way that Galahad had looked at his long lost friend. Clearly he had felt something for her back when they had last seen each other. Gawain was called away by Arthur and I reminded myself to get the story of their meetingfrom Gawain later, because surely he would know.
Guinevere was soon called away as well, and before she departed she gave me a sympathetic look. I did not want people's pity. I just felt like I wanted to wallow in my own misery for the rest of my life. If indeed, the friendship grew into something more, than perhaps I shall go back to my mother and father's tavern back at the Wall. There I could work myself to death, selling drinks, and washing tables and chairs.
"It is awful to leave such a beautiful young woman behind." A deep voice said from behind me. I had almost forgotten that Mordred was there still.
"Everything will be ok." I echoed Gawain's and Guinevere's words hollowly. I gave Mordred one last look and walked away. I knew just the place to go: my tree in the garden. I went there, climbed to my favorite branch that could support my weight, and I cried. I had already given up without a fight.
A/N: Wow, holy cow, again I am sorry for such a long delay. I just have totally lost inspiration for this story, but I think I may be getting something back. I'll have to watch King Arthur some time soon to see if I can think of SOMETHING! And about Mordred, I really don't know much about him, but I thought that I could just add him in here somewhere, partly because I think he has a cool name. lol. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, and after I post this, I am going to begin on chapter seventeen, and hopefully that will be up soon as well. Thank you for all of the reviews, and again I feel really lazy and don't feel like typing out individual responses so I'll just type in the people I wish to thank.
A BIG thank you to: Jynessea, LANCELOTTRISTANBABY, Meraculas, starnat, nidriel, PhoenixFyre, Desdemone Kismet, A.K. Anomynous, talk show host, Quietrockchick. Thank you all for hanging in there and supporting this fan fic! Oh and Quietrockchick: Rhoslyn's name is pronounced Ross-lynn. Thanks for reviewing everyone!