Tearing their eyes off each other with difficulty, the princess and the knight hurried forward, reaching Prince Arthur and Garreth waiting for them on the sunlit river bank. They left the shadow-filled forest behind; here, the mist was gone entirely, and a splendid sunshine filtered through the leaves of the few trees growing close to the water.

Ginny noticed how the prince's eyes reproached Sir Lancelot silently when they passed by. Nodding to the knight to ride on with Garreth, the prince let his horse fall behind, obliging Ginny to ride at his side.

Garreth looked around once. His eyes boring into his cousin's emitted a silent warning, to which she mouthed, frowning deeply, 'Why on earth did you not keep him with you?!'

"Sir Geoffrey of Avalon... that's a rather peculiar name," the prince muttered thoughtfully.

Ginny looked at him, forcing her lips into a smile as she replied, "My family comes from the shores of the lake surrounding Glastonbury. Surely you know, my lord, that the people in those parts of our country still believe in the old gods and the legends surrounding them. They call the Isle of Glastonbury by its ancient name. Avalon."

"Yes, I've heard that. This land and its people are most interesting. My mother was born here... Is it true that the fairy folk still live in these parts? That they did not abandon our isles completely?"

"Yes. Some of us can still see them. Only on particularly misty days, though," Garreth replied. He and Sir Lancelot had slowed down and now rode within earshot.

"That's... wonderful," Lancelot said, while Garreth kept trying to catch Ginny's eye, looking worried.

What is wrong with him? the princess mused, but she didn't really care... She didn't care about anything when Lancelot was close; it was just him, and her... She shook her head, appalled by the images her mind swiftly produced to match her wayward thoughts.

"The fairy folk vanished from Caledonia long ago," Prince Arthur said.

Ginny nodded, nudging her annoying fringe away from her eyes. It was hot here, in the sunshine. She wished she could take her heavy gambeson off. "They keep close to Avalon, the Holy Island," she muttered, remembering the old bard's tales.

Her father's wizard and bard, the venerable Myrddin, told her so many of them as she grew up. Fantastical tales of the times long gone, of people, kings and queens, and mystical creatures who once inhabited Britain... Apart from a few wizards and witches who did not abandon the isles, now there was just the fairy folk that still lived in Albion, dragons in Caledonia and, allegedly, giants and cat-monsters in Combrogia... But no one could be sure about that; King Gwynedd guarded the secrets of his realm too closely.

"Shall we stop and refresh ourselves, my lord?" Lancelot's words disturbed Ginny's reverie. "It's too hot, we should wash and rest for a while."

In that moment, she realised for the first time that, maybe, Lancelot knew that she was a girl. The knight was looking at her as he said that, his eyes leaving her heated, glowing face for her shoulders, slumped under the weight of the crossbow.

She looked away from him only to meet Garreth's eyes, screaming at her, 'I'm sure he knows!'

Well, if the perceptive Sir Lancelot knew that she wasn't who she pretended to be or not, there was nothing much she could do about it right now, was there?

Ginny followed the men under the closest tree and let herself slip off the horse heavily, thankful to the knight for suggesting the break. She dropped her sword and crossbow on the tall grass, and while the men tethered the horses and spread out a blanket and some food under the tree, she dragged herself to the river.

Shaking off her jacket impatiently, then kicking off her shoes, she sat down and peeled her stockings off, too. Dipping her bare feet into the cool water with a sigh of pleasure, she let herself fall back on the sunlit, grassy bank, her eyes shut tightly against the sunshine. The birds chirped joyfully to the rhythm of the bubbling, rushing stream, and the lightest of breezes reaching them from the forest they had left behind made the distant leaves rustle faintly to accompany them. This was the best moment of the whole morning. Or maybe the second best...

A shadow fell over her too soon, blocking out the sun, but she smiled when she opened her eyes and saw Lancelot, coming to sit next to her, a loaf of bread, some cheese, and a flask of wine in his arms.

While the knight followed her example and immersed his feet in the river-- grinning, as if it was quite a new experience for him-- Ginny checked her hat quickly. She wasn't sure if he really knew that she wasn't a man, but she wasn't going to give him more clues than necessary. The princess was just beginning to enjoy herself.

"Do you have any idea where we are?" the knight asked as she sat up and accepted the drink he had passed her while he settled in a comfortable position at her side, dividing the loaf of bread.

Ginny nodded, looking around thoughtfully for familiar landmarks. "We are further downstream than I would have thought. We left Lord John's lands a long time ago, and we will be out of Lady Warwick's property by tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest."

She looked at Garreth, frowning, suspicious. Could this be her cousin's doing? First the rain, now this... She had never travelled this fast. Or was it the strange fog? Or...

Ginny turned around and scowled at the peregrine falcon appearing suddenly on the tree growing on the opposite bank. She had never seen him do it, but she had heard that old Myrddin could shapeshift. Why would he do it now, though? Did her father know what she was doing, and told him to keep an eye on her? No, the wizard surely had more important things to do...

She stuck her tongue out at the bird, just in case, while Lancelot drank deeply from the flask, eyes closed as he enjoyed the cool wine after the long ride.

The blue-gray bird lowered its head in what seemed to Ginny a half-bow, half-apology, but most likely, it was just a pang of hunger as it saw the piece of cheese she held in her hand. Taking pity on it, she threw the cheese in the air. The falcon took off from its perch instantly, screeching loudly, and caught it midair, then vanished into the crown of the huge oak tree under which Garreth and the prince sat, lost in conversation, and each other.

Her eyes fell on them after she lost the falcon, and she sighed, attracting Lancelot's attention.

"Tell me something about your prince," Ginny demanded of the knight in lieu of a reply to his questioning look.

For some reason, her request made him sigh too, but he obliged, "He is my good friend, loyal, honest, generous, and we... we would lay our lives down for each other." Lancelot fell silent for a while then added, as if he tried, but could not resist breaking the news to her, "He... doesn't really care much for girls, though."

The princess who had been observing Garreth and the prince, surprised by their happy laughter, the way they looked at each other, and the words and lines of their easy banter which the wind carried towards her, now looked at Lancelot.

Was he... jealous? Did he think that she liked his friend? She flashed the dark knight a wide, unguarded smile which faded away even as she remembered that in a month's time she would be married to the man who liked her cousin.

Lancelot shrugged out of his black gambeson; he wasn't sure if it was the sunshine or the girl seated next to him that made him feel so warm. So strange. So good. That smile lasting only a few seconds before it disappeared was the most beautiful smile he had ever seen; he wished he could make her smile that way again.

Just how would she look without that hat, how long was her hair, how did her laughter sound... He knew he shouldn't... but he had six days to find out, to discover the girl's secrets.