She looked at him with expectation. He examined her closely, searching his addled brain for the answer. It took several moments, but he found her face, buried beneath decades of another life that seemed so meaningless now. A golden queen who came to him in his youth as a young king. A promise to protect and serve sometime in the future in exchange for a beautiful bride.
“Titania.”
She beamed and the smile was genuine. “Very good. I knew you would remember.”
“Guinevere…” Another blond swam before his eyes, both gorgeous and terrible, lover and wife, the one who destroyed the greatest friendship he had ever known.
“Ah, yes, well, we all make mistakes. I should not have granted that particular wish, but alas, we must move on. There is a chance to do it again, my young king. You have your most precious knight back. Together, you must work to accomplish the greatest task you have ever taken on. Greater than ruling Camelot, greater even than finding the Holy Grail. You must save Faery.”
Arthur’s eyes wandered to the others milling around the rising knights. Beautiful women, all of them, having a strange grace and power that belied their otherwise human features. “Is that where we are?”
She nodded once. “You are in a special place, protected by the Four Queens of Faery, the one spot where our domains all touch and become one.” She held out her arms and spun in a little circle. “Within these trees, atop this hill, all is peaceful. Quarrels are put aside and sanctity is granted to those within. However, as you can see, the area is extremely small, and it can only be used for purposes that all four queens agree upon. Preserving your life and those of your knights was the last unanimous decision we could make, until now, when we raised you from the dead.”
Arthur pressed his hands against the grass. It felt soft and cool in his fingers. “Why now?” He wrinkled his forehead. “And when is ‘now’?”
Titania beamed. “Now is the year two thousand and twelve. Not quite two thousand years since your death.” She pressed her hands and laughed, a deep-throated giggle that seemed odd coming from a woman such as Titania. “A lot has changed since your time, dear Arthur. You are going to be amazed, and likely disappointed in the turn this world has taken.”
He raised an eyebrow at how pleased she seemed to be about that fact. “Why? Why bring us back?”
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Genre – Paranormal Romance
Rating – PG
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My Tree of Knowledge 