Authors: Victoria Alexander
“I
can deal with this.” Tessa stared at her very real surroundings. She was in a semi-prone position halfway between sitting up and lying down. And more comfortable than she’d been in a long time in spite of the frantic beating of her heart. “Logically, rationally, I can handle this.
“First there was the dragon that wasn’t real. Then I lost it completely. Followed by really great sex and falling asleep in the Big Guy’s arms. So far so good. Now…” Her fingers tightened on the arms of the chair. She glanced down. She was in her dad’s recliner. At once her apprehension vanished. “Merlin! Where are you?”
“As much as I adore modern times I must say, proper etiquette is simply not taught as it should be. It’s ever so much more polite to issue a request than bark an order.”
Tessa pushed herself up straight and turned toward the voice. The woman she’d seen at the feast lounged in a graceful wing chair beside a small, highly polished mahogany table. A glass of wine dangled carelessly from one hand. “Viviane, right?”
Viviane nodded. “I am impressed, my dear, since we have not been formally introduced.”
“Merlin pointed you out to me. Besides,” she nodded at the chair, “the recliners were a dead giveaway. That’s Merlin’s touch or somebody close to him.”
Viviane wrinkled her aristocratic nose in distaste. “I can certainly see where a man might enjoy one of those things but it is a shade too…well…comfortable for me. Especially when I have business to discuss.”
“Business? What kind of business?” Tessa struggled to sit upright but she kept sliding back on the slick faux leather of the recliner. “I see what you mean about the chair. I appreciate the thought, memories of home and all that, but could you whip up something with a little less comfort and a little more traction?”
“Certainly.” Amusement quirked the corners of Viviane’s lips. At once the recliner morphed into a wing chair to match her own. “Better?”
“Much, thanks.” The weird sensation of the chair changing around her left her just a tad queasy.
“Wine?” Viviane nodded at the bottle on the table. “It’s a rather lovely little Pouilly-Fumé. Very light. Quite refreshing.”
“Great.” A glass appeared in Tessa’s hand and she stared at it. “I gather the bottle is only for appearances.”
“Of course.”
Tessa sipped at the wine carefully. “This is good.”
“Indeed it is. It’s from a charming little vineyard in the Loire Valley owned by the same family since the first vine was planted. This was Marie Antoinette’s favorite, you know.” Viviane held her goblet up at eye level and perused the golden liquid thoughtfully. “I re
member saying to Marcel just after the revolution that he shouldn’t be at all concerned about—”
“Viviane,” Tessa said quickly. “I hate to interrupt but where am I and what am I doing here?”
Viviane lowered her glass and rolled her gaze heavenward like a queen trying to be tolerant with the peasants. Probably something she picked up from Marie. “You are sadly lacking in patience, Tessa.”
“I just want to cut to the chase, thank you. Now, what’s going on? Where am I?”
Viviane heaved a sigh of resignation. “Very well. First of all, you are in Merlin’s quarters.”
Tessa’s gaze skimmed around the chamber. “It looks like a cave to me.”
“It is. Tacky, isn’t it?” Viviane cast a disgusted glance around the cavern. “I absolutely hate it. I have always hated it. There’s simply no way to create even a modest amount of elegance or refinement or simple style when the primary feature one has to work with is rock. Unfortunately, Merlin adores it.”
“Men.” Tessa saluted with her wine and took another sip. “Wizard or mortal, they’re all the same.”
“You can’t live with them and,” Viviane’s eyes narrowed, “and you can’t turn them into—”
“Toads?” Tessa said helpfully.
“My dear, I haven’t turned a man into a toad in a long time. I much prefer small domesticated pets like white mice or hamsters.”
“Hamsters?”
“Indeed. Think about it. Confined to a tiny cage. The only sport available, as a participant or a spectator, is a wheel where they can run forever and never get anywhere. Wonderfully appropriate and extremely
satisfying when you consider their masculine egos, don’t you agree?”
“Sure. But it’s not all that different from a treadmill.”
“It depends on one’s point of view. Consider it from the perspective of a hamster. Caged. Trapped. Quite at the mercy of the whims of a being much bigger and more powerful. A god, if you will.”
“I see what you mean.” Tessa grinned at the thought of any number of guys she’d known working up a sweat on a hamster wheel.
“And how do you like Galahad?”
Tessa started at the abrupt change of subject. Just the thought of Galahad warmed her insides. Maybe Viviane couldn’t read her thoughts the way Merlin could, but given where she’d been when the lady had so rudely snatched her away, the answer seemed so obvious. “Oh, I like him.”
Viviane raised a brow.
“I like him a lot.”
“My dear,” Viviane’s gaze over the rim of her glass meshed with Tessa’s. “You love him.”
“I do not.” Tessa scoffed. “I mean, he’s a great guy all right and I will admit the sex was fantastic, but love—I don’t think so.”
Viviane cast her a pitying glance. “Come now, Tessa. Push aside all that nonsense about how you’re from different worlds and have no future together and yada, yada, yada and answer me honestly. Do you love him?”
Tessa stared at the older woman for a long moment. Viviane already knew the answer and Tessa was sure it had nothing to do with reading her mind. Tessa
knew the answer, too. She’d probably known it from the moment he first bellowed at her in the chapel. Did Galahad know?
“I thought so.” Viviane smiled in a “just us girls” kind of way.
“Why do you ask?”
“It may make a difference.” Viviane swirled the wine in her goblet with a studied casualness. “Do you miss your home?”
“Home?” The word cut like a sword. She’d tried to avoid thinking about home and her family and Christmas. Fortunately, events here had moved much too quickly for quiet moments of reflection and self-pity. She’d barely managed to squeeze out time for a small nervous breakdown or two. But damn, she did miss her parents. And Angie. And her friends and her life and her world. And what about those she had left? Were they worried? Frantic? Surely, by now somebody had reported her disappearance? How long had she been gone anyway? She wasn’t sure. And what if time in the future moved differently from time in the past? She could return to the day she left or a hundred years in the future. Or maybe not at all. Her throat burned and she fought unbidden tears. “Yeah, I miss it.”
“Do you wish to return? Now?”
“I’d kill to return now.”
“Excellent.” Viviane beamed.
“But Merlin said—”
“Don’t give what Merlin said another thought. I believe working together we can accomplish this.”
“How?”
“It will take very little on your part. You may refer to your contribution as psychic energy if you wish. Oh,
by the way.” Merlin’s book appeared on Tessa’s lap. “You may have this back.”
“You took my book? When did you take my book?”
“I believe you were otherwise engaged,” Viviane said wryly.
“Oh.” A rush of heat swept up Tessa’s face.
“At any rate.” Viviane waved a dismissive hand. “I had hoped to find an answer, or at the very least a clue, on how to end this ridiculous game of Merlin’s and send us all home.”
“I gather you didn’t find anything?” Tessa paged through the volume absently.
“Unfortunately, no. I suspect unless it is directly in Merlin’s hands, or perhaps in yours, there is nothing to the book beyond simple stories.” Viviane shrugged. “At least, nothing of significance. Frankly, it’s not even especially well crafted.”
“I suppose not.” Tessa flipped the volume closed.
“The book will not get us what we want. However, you may.”
“Me?”
“If I’m correct, we both may well be able to go back to where we belong. I need only your wholehearted support and faith.”
“Faith? That seems to be the currency of the realm here. Why are you so hot to send me home anyway?”
“It’s quite simple. I find this particular moment in time primitive, uncomfortable and boring. You and I have something in common on that score.”
“It’s really not as bad as I thought it was,” Tessa murmured.
“Oh, come now. It’s at least as bad as I remember,
perhaps worse. However, together we can end this travesty and return to where we both belong.”
“Sorry. It’s tempting,” Tessa heaved a heartfelt sigh, “but I can’t do it.”
“Because you love him?”
“Probably,” she said slowly, realizing the truth even as she spoke it. “I love him but I also respect him and I like him. He’s arrogant and stubborn but he’s also gentle and kind of sweet in his own way. He’s got a solid set of basic beliefs in things like honor and honesty and he’s got a sharp, twisted medieval sense of humor. And aside from all that, I promised I’d help him. I gave him my word.”
“That’s all well and good but…” Sympathy shone in Viviane’s eye. “It simply won’t make a whit of difference, you know.”
Tessa held her breath. “What do you mean?”
Viviane shrugged. “He did not find the Grail once; he will not find it now.”
“No.” Tessa shook her head. “Merlin said—”
“Merlin is a dear man and I have loved him for eons but he is a creature who deals in magic and illusion. He is quite literally the eternal optimist when it comes to things he wishes. But even Merlin cannot control the fates.” Pity colored Viviane’s face. “Galahad is fated to fail and spend his days bitter and alone.”
“Not if I can help it.” Tessa’s voice rang with determination.
“Of course you can help it, Tessa.” Viviane smiled pleasantly. “That’s precisely why you’re here. I suspected you would have a certain amount of loyalty to Galahad’s cause but I am extremely pleased to see you care more for the man than his quest.”
“Your point?”
“Tessa.” Viviane leaned forward, sincerity in her eyes. “Galahad’s pride, his sense of self if you will, shall never survive a failure of this magnitude. Why not spare him the entire ordeal?”
“Spare him?” Just the idea of Galahad defeated tightened her stomach. “How?”
“If, as I suspect, we can return to modern times if we pool our collective energies, then I see no reason why we cannot bring him with us.” Viviane raised her glass in a triumphant toast.
“Bring him with us? Bring Galahad into the twenty-first century?” The very thought of Galahad confronting modern America or even present-day Britain was enough to make her laugh. Or cry. She pulled a deep swallow of the wine. “He’d be a fish out of water. A living, breathing anachronism.”
“Nonsense.”
“Nonsense is just the beginning. Where would he go? What would he do?”
“I suspect he would go where you go. As for what he would do,” Viviane shrugged as if this really wasn’t her concern, “he’s a knight.”
“That’s not in many job descriptions unless he wants to be a waiter at a medieval theme restaurant.”
“Sarcasm does not become you, my dear, I was not suggesting any such thing.” Viviane drew her brows together in annoyance. “Menial labor would not suit Galahad, although he is an extremely physical man. One can see that quite easily by the breadth of his shoulders and the—”
“Drop it, Viviane, I’ve already noticed.”
“So you have.” Viviane leaned back in her chair.
“Galahad is not an unintelligent man. The times he lives in have simply never called for the development of his intellect. In a more stimulating environment, he could, no doubt, manage great things. That is precisely where the very qualities that have made him a shining example of knighthood will serve him well.”
“Maybe, but…no.” Tessa shook her head firmly. “I couldn’t do that. Not without asking him.”
“Then ask him.”
“He’d never agree. He’s waited his whole life for this quest. And Arthur is counting on him.”
Viviane laughed, a hard unpleasant sound. “Galahad’s failure or success will not alter Arthur’s fate.”
“Galahad doesn’t know that.”
“No, but you do.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Tessa placed the wineglass on the table that had appeared beside her and stood. “I appreciate your offer but I’ll try it Merlin’s way. You don’t know for certain we won’t find the Grail, do you?”
“My dear.” Viviane sighed. “You are deluding yourself.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Now, if you could just put me back where you found me.” Tessa hugged the book to her chest. “Do I have to tap my heels together or what?”
“Sit down, Tessa.” Viviane’s voice was cold.
“I’d really rather—”
“Sit down.” Viviane’s sharp order echoed in the cave. She obviously wasn’t as powerful as Merlin but the woman did have a few tricks up her sleeve. Tessa sat.
“I do wish you’d reconsider. At least about going
home yourself.” Viviane eyed Tessa with a thoroughness that made the younger woman want to squirm in her chair. “There are a few things you should understand about Galahad before your decision is irrevocable.”
“I’m not going to change my mind.”
“We’ll see.” Viviane paused, as if choosing the right words. “If you are staying here out of some romantic idea about Galahad you need to face a few rather unpleasant facts. He shall never love you, not as you love him. He is a man, with all the imperfections of his gender. He will use you to slake his physical desires. He will enjoy your company. He may even whisper terms of endearment in your ear. But his soul died with his wife. I watched him then and I see him now and he still carries that sorrow. There is not a place for you in his heart.” Viviane’s voice softened. “I am sorry, Tessa, but can you live with that?”
Could she? Could she love him selflessly without expecting his love in return? “I don’t know.”
“Furthermore, how do you think he’ll react when he knows where you’re really from? He’ll feel betrayed that you haven’t confided in him before now. Remember, you did mention honesty among his dubious charms. And, if you can get him to believe you, he’ll want to know what happens in the future. What becomes of his king, his country, his world? What is his fate?”