The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White

Author:Kiersten White
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2019-11-04T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

Arthur did not join her until the middle of the night. The tent was small, the ground covered with furs. Guinevere had been sitting in there, alone. She had not undressed for fear she would have to run or fight at a moment’s notice. Several times, she had peered out to find Mordred, Sir Gawain, Sir Bors, and Sir Tristan all still outside the tent.

“Is he gone?” she asked as Arthur sat next to her and rubbed his face wearily.

“Yes. An hour ago. Then I had to spend time making certain King Nechtan would remain on my side should Maleagant get aggressive.”

“Will he?”

He lay back. “I do not know.”

“Maleagant was one of your father’s knights?”

“One of my own, too.”

“What?”

Arthur closed his eyes. “He was my earliest supporter. Besides Merlin. He helped me plan the campaign against my father. I did not see then that he was using me to get Uther out. He thought me young and naïve enough that I would be an easier opponent. And in a way he was right. I banished him when I should have had him killed. It has haunted me ever since.”

“You cannot blame yourself for his actions.”

“I can, and I must. If he threatens Camelot, it is because I allowed it. Oh, I wanted to strangle him tonight.”

“Was he difficult during the discussions?”

“No, I mean when he would not stop staring at you.”

A flush of surprise and pleasure coursed through Guinevere. She knew Arthur had noticed. But she was oddly delighted that it had bothered him on a personal level. “What did he mean, that I am younger than I should be? I am only two years younger than you.”

Arthur’s face twitched. He did not open his eyes. “Maleagant…knows more of my history than I would like. There is a reason I banished him instead of killing him.” His pause stretched so long that Guinevere wondered if he had fallen asleep. “Her name was Elaine. She was his sister. I thought she loved me. She told me she was with child, and I was ready to marry her.”

Guinevere could not manage to draw a breath. The rumors that Arthur was a virgin king were…rumors. He had loved and been in love before. Somehow this felt almost as painful a revelation as Merlin’s role in Arthur’s birth. But Arthur had never lied to her. She had simply chosen to believe gossip because she wanted to. She wanted him to be as new to all this as she was, because it made her uncertainty feel less humiliating.

“When I discovered Maleagant’s plans and misdeeds, I banished him, and in my rage sent Elaine to the south. She died giving birth. The baby, a boy, survived only a few hours. And I was not there.”

Guinevere lowered herself to the furs next to him. She took his hand in her own. “I am sorry.”

“Even when I knew she had deliberately trapped me—that Maleagant planned to assassinate me and use my child as a means to the throne—I still loved her.

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