My heart swelled. I let go of little Gwen's hand and ran to Arthur's open arms, diving into them as he rested his face in the crook of my neck.
He breathed a sigh of relief. "Guinevere. I've missed you."
I scoffed. "Arthur, it's only been two days." He pulled his face away and met my brown eyes.
"Forty-eight hours too long, my Queen." The adoring look on his face stole my quip remark. My breath caught in my throat for a moment until I realised we had company.
Little Gwen had dropped yet again into a low curtsy, no doubt straight after I'd left the bed and ran to Arthur. Reluctantly, I let go of him and gestured to Gwen.
"My Lord this is little Guinevere," one of his eyebrows rose up speculatively. "The sweet thing you asked to keep me company while I dressed." Recognition flooded across his beautiful features. He quietly walked over to her a mirrored my earlier stance, dropping in a crouch to her height and waited for her to look him in the eye. She didn't, and he smiled warmly.
"Well, little one. I see you came through on your task," A glimmer of happiness tweaked in the left eye I could see, and once little Gwen lifted her face a little more, I was sure she could see the pleased look on his face. Finding her confidence, she smiled a little back and nodded her head slowly.
There was a proud note in my voice as I said, "Guinevere is the daughter of my old friend, Elaine," I blushed a little. "And she has told me that her mother named her after me, as she believed I was to be a great Queen one day." Arthur turned and grinned at my red cheeks. Looking back at little Gwen, he clucked her affectionately under the chin.
"Your mother seems very right; do you think that the Queen here is good at her duty?"
Gwen smiled. "Yes, very much so my Lord, I am proud to be named after her." She looked at me then from under her lashes and gave me a knowing smile. It reminded me so much of Elaine, I was amazed to have found a connection to her.
"Well, little Gwen," said Arthur. "I am afraid the Queen and I must go." He pulled out a sugar sweet. "We thank you kindly for your help today." Her eyes lit up excitedly. She carefully took the sweet, curtsied to both of us, and ran from the room. Her long blonde hair trailing after her, as she most probably went to go tell her friends of her afternoon.
Arthur stood from his crouch and walked over to me. Like he had done with Gwen, he put his hand in his pocket and rummaged around for something. When he found it, another grin lit his face.
I smiled as he pulled out a small beautiful yellow flower. Tucking it between my ear and my curls, he kissed the tip of my nose sweetly. He put both of his hands on my cheeks and looked me in the eye.
"I found that flower on my travels. As I recall, one of the old women of that village called it a dandelion. She said it meant 'courage' and I thought of you. Courageous Queen Guinevere with the dandelion crown." He grinned at his words.
I placed a warm hand over his on my cheek. "Thank you, Arthur. It's beautiful." I could have told him it works perfectly with my dress, but I remembered he was a man. He would not care for such a mundane observation.
"It suits your dress, my Queen." His eyes were blazing with love, and I was pleasantly surprised that he had noticed. True, the neckline was lower than all my other dresses, the sleeves a little shorter. I figured Arthur just appreciated the lack of cloth covering my olive skin.
But his eyes never wavered from my own. I pecked him lightly on the lips and pulled his hands from my face. Linking my arm through his, he led me out of our chambers and off towards the great hall. Time to become Queen Guinevere; plain Gwen was gone, but only for tonight.
Thank you for reading.
x, Isabella.