The Pearl of Avalon

My head was paining! Throbbing. When I opened my eyes, I quickly had to put my hands over them. The sunlight was deadly. When I finally adjusted to the light, I ran one of my hands over the top of my head. I groaned in pain as my hand brushed over a large bump. I was lying on my back, covered in Arthur’s cape. There was a faint aroma in the air. A very pleasing one.

Rubbing the blurriness out of my eyes, I rolled onto my side. Arthur’s coif was on the ground, folded neatly. Maybe the mail was irritating the exposed muscle?

When my vision fully returned I saw him. He was back on to me, kneeling by a small fire. There was something roasting over it. That delicious smell was coming from there. My stomach rumbled. I squinted my eyes slightly. I always found squinting helped me see a bit better if I was looking at something that was not close up. Maybe I’ll get my eyes checked when I get home.

My breath caught in my throat when I noticed his hair. Could he be fully formed? His hair was long and wavy, reaching just past his shoulders, and was somewhat of a dark, strawberry blonde. I was too dizzy to stand up, so I just kicked off the cape and crawled over to the fire. I glanced up at his face, “You’re normal!”

Arthur smiled and continued to tend the fire.

A sharp pain filled my head, “Ouch,” I said clutching it with both hands, “what happened?”

“A dragon dropped a stone on your head,” he said, calmly, as he turned over a large roast of meat with a skewer made from dead branches.

The dragon! I had forgotten about it, “How long was I out?”

“Most of the day. The sun will set soon.”

I just stared at him for a few minutes. His facial features were well sculpted. His eyes were an emerald green and he had what looked like a two-week whisker. The face shape, and nose, kind of put me in mind of Hugh Jackman. He caught me staring. Shit! I couldn’t help it though. He was stunningly handsome!

I felt my face get warm and looked away. I turned my attention to the roasting meat as I sat up, “So, what’s cooking?”

Arthur used a small dagger to cut off a piece and handed it to me, “Dragon.”

“Uh,” I took it and stared at it.

“It is quite good,” he said. “I have already had some.”

“Where did you get it?”

“The dragon that knocked you out kept diving at me. It was quite persistent. I fought back at it and eventually injured it enough to keep it grounded, then killed it. We have come quite a long way, milady, and we still have a long way to go. We need to keep our strength.”

No argument from me there! Knowing it was dragon meat, my mind kept saying “no,” but my stomach was growling so hard. “Where did you get the dagger?” I asked, admiring the gold handle.

“I found it in my boot. I had forgotten I used to keep it there.”

I stared at my serving of dragon a little longer. Looked like beef. I lifted the meat off and handed the dagger back to Arthur. Holding the meat near my nose, I took a long sniff. Smelled okay. Then I took a bite. It was a bit tough. Chewy. It had a slight chicken taste with just a hint of another flavor I couldn’t identify. A little bland. Needed salt. But it was food, and my stomach, I’m sure, was doing the happy dance! I finished the piece I had. The taste grew on me very quickly, and I decided it was very tasty!

Arthur cut off another piece for me, and I gladly accepted. “I am going to let you have the dagger, milady,” he said. “I have Excalibur. It may not be much, but at least it will offer you some protection.” He smiled. What a beautiful smile! “In case we get separated,” he added.

“Well I sure hope we don’t get separated,” I said taking a bite of a dragon. I usually don’t talk with my mouth full, but I was so glad to have food, I didn’t care.

“We must be prepared for anything, milady,” he said.

I noticed his gorgeous eyes had a sad look about them, “Are you okay?” I asked.

“Just memories,” he said with a smile. “Some good,” his smile faded, “some bad.”

“Guinevere and Lancelot?” I’m pretty sure that would be what was crossing his mind.

“Yes,” he admitted. “Tell me,” he said, rolling off his knees into a sitting position, “how do you know of them? I remember you talking about different stories.”

“It’s one of the most popular stories,” I said.

“Oh?”

“Did you catch them together, or did one of your knights? There are different stories of that.”

Arthur hung his head, “I saw them with my own eyes. It was a shock. My wife and my friend. My most trusted knight.”

I swallowed my food, “I know how you feel,” I said, starting to regret mentioning it. “I caught my husband in the act. The other woman wasn’t a friend, but she did live in the same building as us, and we saw her every day.” He just saw her more than I did! In more ways than one! Time for a subject change, “Tell me about Camelot. Was it a kingdom, city, or just a castle?”

His eyes brightened, “it started as just a castle. Many people built around it. They wanted protection. To feel safe. Eventually, I had a wall built up. Everyone was happy. Merlin erected two large, golden dragons at the entrance to the city. I took the golden dragons as my crest. Merlin used to say that the golden dragons that protected Avalon now protected Camelot. Extra land was claimed and everyone considered it part of the Kingdom of Camelot.”

“Sounds wonderful,” I said.

“It was. For many years. Everyone was safe. Saxon armies did not attack often. We were well guarded. My knights and I made it the safest place in all of Britain. Even other kingdoms would seldom attack Camelot. They always waited to get us on the outside.” A frown overtook his smile, “We just did not realize that our main danger was inside.”

“Modred?”

Arthur nodded. “He knew that his cousin, Gawain, would win the joust and be heir to my throne. He was jealous.”

“You had two sister’s, right?”

“Yes. Morgause was the eldest. She married Lord Lot.”

“Was Morgana mean towards you?”

“No. Both my sisters were very supportive of me. They even tried to warn me of her. Morgana knew what she was like before I married her, but I did not listen. Years after we were married, it was Morgause who tried to tell me about her and Lancelot. But I had to see it to believe it. It was not a sight I wanted to see.”

I could see the pain in his eyes, “I won’t keep you talking about it any longer.” I rubbed my stomach. It felt so good to have something inside it. “So, are we going to stay here tonight?”

“I was thinking about that, milady,” he said, “But I think it would be better to walk through the night and rest during daylight.”

“Walk at night? But we won’t see the dragons!” Black in darkness. Not a good combination.

“And they may not see us. We would have the cover of darkness as well as the trees. It would be much harder for a dragon to keep us in sight.”

“Okay,” I guess that made sense. But what about not being able to see our enemies? I didn’t ask that. I didn’t want him to think I doubted him. Maybe this was the better option? I just went with it.

He got up, then helped me to my feet. I helped him kick dirt onto the fire to douse it. He then wiped his dagger clean with the end of his surcoat and handed it to me, “as promised,” he said.

“Thank you,” I said, gratefully accepting my new weapon. It wasn’t near as big as the sword, but I figured I could do some damage with it if given the chance. I started to wish I had it the day I was kidnapped. I certainly would not have gone so quietly.

We walked among the dead trees until it became dark. The moon was fairly bright, so I had no trouble seeing the dragon shadows pass overhead. “Damn dragons,” I muttered. “I’m really getting sick of them. They just keep showing up.”

“If they are under Modred’s command, then he will know we are coming.”

That was not a nice thought at all! “I guess he didn’t expect someone to just wash up on the island and wake you up, huh?” Of course, that someone ended up being me.

“No,” he said with a slight laugh, “I guess not.” Arthur glanced up at the circling dragon, then at me, “Modred always wanted Excalibur. He begged me many times just to hold it.”

“Must be why they are always on the hunt, then,” I said, walking a little closer to Arthur. Sometimes, I’d walk a little too close and step on his heels if I were behind, or bump against his arm if I were side by side. I certainly wasn’t planning on getting separated.

The circling dragon disappeared. I heard a roar in the distance, so I was thinking that meant it was getting further away, and not landed somewhere close. That though made me feel a little more relaxed, so I stopped walking so close to Arthur. Not that I minded being so close.

The trees started to thin out slightly, so we picked up the pace a bit. For the most part, I had been keeping an equal watch ahead, above, and on ground level. When we sped up, I kept looking straight ahead and tripped. I fell face first on the ground with quite a bit of force.

“Are you alright?” Arthur asked, stopping to help me up.

No, not really. “I think so,” I said, trying to hide the look of pain on my face. “I got myself scratched up a bit, but I’m fine.” I looked down to see what I had tripped over. Bones. It was the skeleton of a dead animal. “Oh, poor thing!”

“Looks to be a horse,” Arthur said, walking around it. Then he paused by the head.

I went over to see what he was looking at and fell to my knees. A spiral bone. A horn was protruding from the forehead. “It can’t be!” Tears were welling up in my eyes.

“A unicorn,” Arthur whispered.

Tears were stinging my cheeks. “All my life,” I cried, “I had been waiting to see a unicorn. I had always held on to the belief that the sightings were real. When I was a child I would collect pictures and stories. When I got older, I would collect ornaments. Anything and everything that had a unicorn on it, I had. My ex-husband destroyed it all after the divorce.” I wiped my eyes. “Even to this day, I had hoped they were real. And now here it is. A real unicorn.” I was sobbing now. “But it would be a dead one that I see!”

Arthur wrapped his arms around me then and pulled me into his chest. He smoothed my hair down, “I guess now we know what you believe in.”

“Why does it have to be dead?” I managed to say between sobs.

“Unicorns are pure. I guess they could not be turned evil.”

I snuggled a little into his chest before I backed away, “did you ever see a live one?”

“No. But Merlin had told me of them. People would hunt them for the horn. It was supposed to have healing abilities and sold very well on the market. They became low in numbers, and to preserve them they were brought to Avalon.”

So unicorns really did exist! Was it really that belief that allowed me to enter Avalon? I looked down at the unicorn bones, trying to picture it in all its glory. “If we return that pearl, will the unicorns live again?”

“It is possible.”

Clouds were covering up the moonlight now. I wiped away a few more tears. Arthur helped. His hand was warm, and I felt a sense of peace, “Thank you,” I whispered.

“ We should get moving. Try to cover as much ground as we can.” He took my hand and we started walking again.