Authors Note: Managed to get another chapter out. Hope I do not disappoint. Thanks for reading.
Disclaimer: This is Fan Fiction – I only own the character portrayed as the Lady of the Lake know known as Kera.
My Sweet Lancelot
By ForestMoon
Chapter 3 - Enthrallment
It is not long before Lady Guinevere realises that the bombardment of questions is causing the poor girl to fluster. She interrupts the conversation and declares that Kera is to be the guest of the castle until she is well enough and has regained her thoughts.
The men usually know that when the Lady of the house speaks, they need to listen. The silence is strange as all eyes are on Guinevere awaiting her next move. Alas, she does not disappoint and walks over to Kera.
"You must be parched!" she states and helps Kera to her feet. "Let us find you something to eat."
The two women leave the hall and head for the kitchen. Guinevere was never one for tradition and mostly did as she pleased. As usual the kitchen staff do not know how to react but the lady simply finds some recently washed fruits and offers it to Kera.
Meanwhile back in the hall, the king stirs in his seat and looks to his knights. They know him well enough to understand his concern. Anything that is unknown warrants investigation.
__________________________
"The strangeness of her being enthrals me." – Lancelot
__________________________
Later that day they suggest she goes for a walk around the market place. A servant girl accompanies her to show her around. It is a bit of a walk to the market which lies just within the castle walls away from the main buildings.
The servant girl remains shy and quiet mostly pointing to interesting sights and objects avoiding eye contact. Kera is fascinated with all of it and takes her time to look, feel and taste everything she can.
So engrossed in her discoveries, she does not realise that for quite some time there has been an onlooker following them in the shadows. Everything is so new and exciting including the air which, although it is damply fresh, also contains an array of pungent odours.
The servant girl startles and steps away bowing down to a man. He dismisses the servant girl telling her that he will see to the lady. The servant leaves in a hurry not questioning the master.
Kera did not even realise what had happened until she turned to the girl wanting to ask her something. The shock of discovering that Lancelot is standing next to her watching her every move causes her to hold her breath for just a moment, stunned.
Not saying a word, she peers past Lancelot looking for the servant girl, who is nowhere to be seen.
"I sent her home." He begins rather amused at Kera's reaction to his presence.
"Oh." She responds unsure what to say next or how to act. Her heart begins to race and her palms become clammy. She cannot help herself, for some reason he has this effect on her, as if she has had a spell cast upon her.
He gestures for them to continue walking and Kera decides to take her clue from him and play along. They walk for a short time neither of them saying a word. He leads her to a small bench and gestures for them to sit down. Kera is thrilled to finally sit after walking for over an hour.
She flops down on the bench and lets out a small sigh of relief. Lancelot laughs out loud causing poor Kera to blush.
"I thought you might be tired. You should not exert yourself too much just yet." He says breaking the cone of silence between them. Kera smiles and tries to relax.
"Yes well," she begins choosing her words carefully, "guess you are right. Perhaps we can just sit for a moment."
A passer-by recognises Lancelot from back in the day and greets him with a hearty hello! They briefly exchange greetings and make a point to catch up one evening in the local tavern. Lancelot introduces Kera before the gentleman rushes off back to his impatient wife who is calling to him from across the market.
They sit in silence for what seems like a long time, every now and again glancing at each other and smiling. Lancelot gestures towards her hand and politely indicates if he may take a closer look.
Puzzled and dazzled, Kera nods in curiosity allowing him to gently take her hand in his. He looks at the hand and strokes it lightly with his finger with a calculating look on his face, then turns it over and does the same.
"Hmph." Was his response causing the girl to pull her hand away clutching it against her chest.
"What's wrong with my hand?" She asked even more confused looking it over frantically trying to find something out of place.
Lancelot reaches for her hand again grinning with amusement. She hesitates for a brief second before allowing it back in his grasp. This time he takes both her hands and holds them within his own.
"There is nothing wrong with your hands." He assures her.
She has little choice but to believe him, unable to find fault in his intense stare. He suddenly brakes the stare and returns her hands before standing up.
"I was merely noticing that your hands are very soft and flawless. Which is a clue as to who you are."
"How so?" She asks surprised by his observations.
He continues to explain how it was rare to find a woman's hands so perfect in a life as harsh as this. His findings lead him to believe she is of noble blood having never worked in a field or worked at all for that matter.
Just then he realises that his words might have stung or sounded like he was implying that she were a rich spoilt brat who was incapable for doing anything. He quickly sits beside her again and smiles.
"This at least gives us a starting point to begin looking for answers." He adds before gently caressing her face with the back of his rough hand.
"I guess so." She says despondent but understanding.
A feint growl emanates from her stomach and Lancelot burst out a hearty laugh!
"Time to head back." He begins while standing up once more this time helping Kera up as well. "I am sure they have lunch prepared by now and you must be parched."
She could not argue with that, she was rather hungry and very thirsty. Have they really been out here that long?
As they walk back to the castle, Kera insists that she was not as incapable and frail as he might think. Lancelot simply listens and agrees not feeling the need to get into a debate at the moment.
It was a relief to finally reach the dining hall after a brief stop at her room to clean up. Everything looks so delicious and beautifully set out. The others were already seated and as soon as she arrives, they begin feasting and conversing about the days plans and happenings.
The rest of the day elapses in a blink of an eye as Kera helps Guinevere that afternoon. The conversations she had had with Lancelot earlier that day keep rerunning themselves over in her head.
Soon it was morning and Kera decides that today she would go exploring. It was easy to sneak out of the castle before anyone was the wiser. Instinct told her to leave a note but finding any sort of writing implement or parchments was too much effort.
It was not long, as the sun finally broke free form the horizon, when she was well on her way heading towards the nearby forest, a little way away from the settlement.