Goddess of Legend (Goddess Summoning #7)(56)

"The scene of the crime?" Isabel teased. Then seeing Arthur's confusion, she sighed. "Yes, I will be happy to help you find the poisons."

They strolled down winding mulch paths, the vegetation becoming much more dense the farther they walked. The quick flash of the earlier thunderstorm had passed, and the sun was shining once again.

Both were silent for a while before Arthur finally said, "I assume you consider me a bastard for not sitting by Gwen's side."

"It's not my place to judge, Arthur."

"Yet you have opinions on all things, Isabel, you must have one on this."

She stopped and faced him. "You truly want my opinion? No matter what?"

He actually grinned. "Yes, Countess, I really do."

"Great, then gird it up, tough man. Here's what comes to mind, just off the top of my head."

"I am girded."

"I believe we are heading to the cottage where Lance and Gwen meet. I think after their last meeting she found the mushrooms. I believe you are not sitting by her side right now because you refuse to be a hypocrite. You have made certain that she is in no danger of dying, and you have those around her making certain she is well taken care of."

"So far, you are correct."

"Don't stop me, I'm on a roll."

He continued to grin, and damn, she loved that grin. But he kept silent.

"You asked me here to not just help you, but because you wanted us to be alone in a beautiful, isolated spot. You wanted to tell me things you could not say inside the castle. In short, Arthur, you wanted to get me alone."

"May I speak now?" he asked, his eyes still glittering with humor.

"You may."

"You are correct, but you missed one important point."

"Which is?"

"Because I believe this is Gwen and Lance's trysting spot, I did not want to come here alone. I feared I might do something rash, and I wanted a voice of reason beside me to keep me from acting on impulse."

"I see." Isabel stopped him. "Arthur, you have a good six inches on me and probably at least half again my weight. What makes you think I could possibly stop you from doing anything you set your mind to?"

"Well, for one thing, I witnessed how you handled Mordred."

"Arthur, you were holding on to him at the time. Not the same thing."

"And second, your words are more powerful than any weapon. I can face a sword, but I have very little defense against your words, your thoughts."

That admission truly stunned Isabel. Would that she had that much power over any human. "You give me way too much credit, Arthur."

"We shall see when my desire to burn that cottage to the ground overwhelms me."

"Well, I have a good argument against that drastic measure right away. If you cannot contain the fire, you are in danger of destroying much more than just that structure."

"Now see, that is the cool-headed thinking that needs to be drummed into my simple and short-sighted thinking."

"Taking it out on a perfectly innocent cottage is not going to change what happened there, Arthur. The cottage did not cause the events."

He took her elbow and they continued walking. "Do you believe in fate, Isabel?"

"Yes, I do. Although I truly admit that sometimes fate takes some funny turns at times."

"How so?"

"Well, for example, I believed my purpose in coming to Camelot was one thing, but I believe fate conspired to make it something totally different."

"I still see the mutual benefit of our adjoining lands as a priority for Camelot and Dumont."

She hadn't even been thinking of that, but she didn't correct him. "I agree. And I still see it as wholly attainable."

"But now you believe fate had something more in mind?"

"I do."

"What would that be?"

"This is going to sound very conceited."

"I am listening."

"I believe I'm here to, I don't know, do whatever is in my power to help you save Camelot from those who wish to bring you down."

"That is not boastful. In truth, it touches me greatly. But my theory is slightly different."

"Okay, let's hear yours."

"I believe you were sent here to save me."

Oh boy, he kind of hit that nail on the head. Well, not exactly. The ultimate purpose as far as the Lady was concerned was to save Merlin. But that truly meant saving Arthur first. "You?" she asked carefully, though her heart began drumming.

"Yes, do you not see it? Even as I was building this dream of bringing knights to the table, my marriage was in deep trouble, and I was too exuberant about the future of Camelot, of all of Briton, to see it.

"But just as the awful stench of betrayal began to be near to unbearable, you showed up. Fate stepped in and gave you to me."

Isabel laughed. More like Viviane. "I am not a gift, Arthur."

"You are to me."

She had no answer to that. "How far to the cottage?" she asked instead.

"Why, Countess Isabel, I believe I have achieved what heretofore I believed to be the impossible. I have left you speechless."

She desperately searched for something to say, something witty, wise, dumb, it didn't matter. But Arthur was right. She was speechless.