“Former High Queen Belladonna escorted by her great nephew Lord James of House Black.”

  Tina turned to look at Queen Belladonna. She had changed out of the warrior grab Tina had spot her wearing during Tina’s introduction. Now, she wore what appeared to be a heavy black dress with dark green trim on the edges of the dress, but covering her bodice was the Golden Dragon. Her black hair was still in the braids, but it was up in a bun with black and dark green ribbons weaved throughout the braids. Her gray eyes was hard, looking forward at the far end of the room.

  Lord James of House Black was dressed sharply in black courtly outfit with a simmering shine to it. Tina heard Salazar take in a sharp breath before he exhaled it, “Dragon hide.”

  She glanced up at him with a questioning hum. He glanced down at her and lend closer. “Lord Black is wearing a dragon hide jacket, pants, and boots.” He glanced toward the approaching Lord with the Queen, “I think that’s the hide of a Titan Dragon.”

  “If that is true,” Lord Godric spoke up from Tina’s other side, “That is either an heirloom or extreme rare achievement. I’m personally betting it’s a heirloom. There hasn’t been a Titan Dragon in this part of the world for at least a century or two.”

  “You are correct,” Salazar commented, “However, Titan Dragons are native to the far Eastern Desserts of the Raising Sun Plains and are hunted on a regular basis.”

  “Why is that?” Tina asked.

  “They have a high repopulation rate,” The Vampire Lord explained, “One Titan can produce 20 eggs at a time.” Tina whistled at that. 20 babies at a time. That was abnormal. She didn’t know any creature beside ocean creatures who could produce that high number at one time. “I will admit I have heard a Grand Titan Dragon roaming something called the Void.”

  “Yup,” Tina agreed, “Long as a long island, wide as one, scales hard as diamonds, and you can hear it coming from miles away.” She glanced between the two men and noticed they were looking at her with surprise reflecting in their eyes. “I traveled through the Void, recently, and spotted the Dragon, but I hid before it could lay eyes on me.”

  “What is the Void?” Godric asked.

  Tina took a breath before she explained, “The Void is space where it is dark as cloudy night, and nothing is there. It gives you the feeling of loneliness and isolation. In short, it is the last place you would really want to visit.”

  Salazar nodded in agreement, “It is something else.” He glanced over and muttered, “The next Queen is about to be announced.”

  Tina directed her gaze to the doorway in time to hear, “Former High Queen Susan escorted by Sir Frollo.”

  She gapped at Queen Susan. She could have been the real life version of Belle from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Her brown hair was pulled out of her face, but cascaded down the sides of her neck, coming to a stop by the top of her yellow trimmed bodice. Her blue eyes held sadness in them as she scanned the Great Hall, but her eyes darted straight forward as she walked beside Sir Frollo. Tina noticed her bodice held the Golden Dragon design. Maybe it was a family design. Or it could be a requirement for the family members of the Royal Family to wear.

  When Tina turned her attention to Sir Frollo, something nagged at her. It was something important. Tina knew that, but she couldn’t remember what it was though. She pushed it to the back of her mind, knowing she would remember it when she stopped thinking about it. Her eyes scanned Sir Frollo. His hair was black slowly fading to dark gray. His stormy gray eyes flickered around the room, like he was half searching for someone. His face emotionless as he did his job. However, there was something in his face that caused Tina to question the fact she never remembered meeting him, but she was sure she did at one time. She chewed on her tongue as she thought about it.

  She glanced toward the far end of the room. The magi had reached it. Merlin held Morgana’s hand as she sat down in a chair on the right side of the chair sitting in the middle of the line before he turned and went to the high back chair on the left side of the middle chair. Queen Vivienne and Sir Jack reached the bottom of the steps. Sir Jack helped the eldest Queen up the steps before he guided her to the chairs on Morgana’s left, walking around the long table. He pulled out a chair, two chairs down from Morgana, and Queen Vivienne stepped in the space between the chair and the table. She began to seat down and Tina knew Sir Jack pushed the chair under the Queen. He waited until the Queen was fully settled into the chair before he claimed the chair between Morgana and Queen Vivienne.

  “Princess Isabella escorted by Sir Tristan.”

  Tina blinked as she turned her head to watch as Tristan guided an Emma Watson look a like with a pair of crimson red eyes. Tina shot a glance up to Lord Salazar, silently wondering if the Princess was a Vampire as well, before she looked back at the Emma Watson double ganger. Isabelle’s light brown hair was twisted up onto her head, leaving a few curls hanging by her face. Her black dress was trimmed with blue instead the yellow like Queen Susan’s dress.

  Tristan’s face was guarded. His brown eyes emotionless as he escorted the Princess to her seat, on Merlin’s side of the table. Tina shot her gaze up to see Queen Belladonna sitting next to Merlin who looked somewhat annoyed by the seating arrangement, but he managed to put on a pleasant expression when the Queen turned to him.

  “Former High Queen Marie escorted by her son, Prince Dorian.”

  A plumped woman stood in the doorway. Her carrot top orange hair curled about her head before it flow down to her shoulders and disappeared down her back. Her green eyes held a dull expression to them, like a forest in the verge of darkening from the setting sun. The trim of her dress was a blue that remind Tina of the sea with the Golden Dragon on the bodice.

  Standing next to her, Dorian stood with his shoulders back. He stepped forward, guiding his mother to the far end of the Great Hall. He, too, wore a patch over the breast of the jacket he wore. He didn’t wear the ocean blue color that Queen Marie had trimming her dress, but the gold and red of the Drake Household. They walked down the aisle, heading to the table.

  Tina glanced around the room. She spotted Rosemary sitting a table down from the Royal Family sat. Tina’s cousin sat with several men and a few ladies. All who looked like they had a stick shoved up their rears. Tina didn’t know if she should feel sorry for Rosemary or not because Tina had found in the same situation. So far, the only one had been pleasant enough to talk to has been Lord Salazar because he could be a vampire. She didn’t know about Lord Godric, other then he had obviously some complex with his name and shortening it to ‘God’.

  “Former High Queen Brenna escorted by Sir Leon.”

  Tina’s gaze slowly drifted over the other faces in the rooms before she rested her gaze onto the two who started walking toward the rest of the Royal Family. Brenna had her black hair, pinned back. Her blue, gold fleck eyes seemed to depth-less as she stared ahead. She had an emotionless expression. Tina frowned, watching as the former High Queen made her way to the Table.

  Tina glanced to the escort, Sir Leon, if she remembered what the Court Announcer said. She ran her eyes over the Knight’s face and recognized him. He was one of the knights she ran during her midnight walk in town. He had changed into a fancier outfit, consisting of his house colors or that was Tina assumed. Leon’s outfit had some simmering shine to it as Lord Black had. However, it seemed different.

  “Well,” Godric muttered, “That explains the large bounty on his head.”

  Tina blinked. Bounty? She shot a questioning look at Godric. He went on, “That is Snake Skin he is wearing. Unfortunately, it is not just any normal snake skin. I can tell there are pieces of a Yuan-Ti and Lizard Folk.”

  Yuan-Ti? Lizard Folk? Tina wondered what they could be. It almost sounded they were some sort of creature.

  Salazar whistled lowly, “I had heard of the bounty, but I wasn’t aware there was a Knight of Camelot brave or stupid enough to hunt down a Yuan-Ti or a member of the Lizard Folk for their hide.”

  “From the stories I have heard,” Godric muttered as the couple passed their table, “He barely made it out, alive. Most of the troop he brought with him were original caught and planned to be ransom off in return of the one he had managed to Kidnapped, were killed off by the Yuan-Ti once they found out what he had skinned to the one he had kidnapped.”

  Tina’s jaw dropped, understanding. These Yuan-Ti were a race similar to those Fawns in the Forest, but were reptile in nature. She couldn’t image the horror from these reptile like creatures when they had found out what had happened to a member of their tribe. She watched them walk up to the high table until she heard the next announcement.

  “Former High Queen Holly escorted by Sir Lancelot.”

  A dirty blond haired woman stepped through the door. Her stormy blue eyes were guarded as she walked beside Lancelot. Her dress was the darkest green, bordering black Tina ever seen, trimmed with a red that strongly reminder Tina of the Christmas Red. Spread over her bodice, an Evergreen Tree stood out.

  Tina’s eyes darted over to Lancelot. So, that was the man who was named after the Famous or Infamous knight. According to the Legend of King Arthur, Lancelot was Arthur’s most trusted knight, but Guinevere held his heart and it was through their actions that Camelot fell. Tina didn’t know the version of Lancelot of King Arthur I’s Camelot acted. She did wonder how Lancelot of this era would be. Apart of Tina knew better then to compare and make decisions based on a name, no matter how that person came to be known as that. However, the other part of her knew there was a reason behind someone have a nickname. It was often a warning call. She wondered if this Lancelot was anything like the Original Lancelot from Arthur I’s time.

  “Former High Queen Elsa escorted by Sir Steven.”

  Tina’s eyes widen as she spotted the hostile looks the Queen and the Knight shared...at each other, wondering what happen between them to send those death glares. However, that didn’t stop Tina from looking over the Queen.

  The Queen wore a black dress that held a hint of a blue tint, simmering between the two colors as she walked forward. The trim of the blueish black dress was a icy blue. A brilliant white Snowflake covered the bodice of the dress, going from the Queen’s collarbone down to the V stitching of the dress and wrapping to the sides. Her stormy blue eyes pinned to the far end of the hallway, but every few steps, she would glare at her escort. Her blondish white hair swung behind her, floating out. Tina frowned, thinking that her sister Natasha would have loved this queen, knowing Natasha loved the story of the Snow Queen for some reason.

  Steven’s dark hair was slicked back, showing off his face. A pair of brown eyes darted around the room before they settled on the Blond Queen on his arm, glaring at her with hatred then they moved away, going back to the room.

  “I thought those rumors were false,” she heard Godric muttered beside her, “I can’t believe they made him her escort for the night.”

  Tina lend toward him, whispering, “What happened?”

  He glanced down at her and replied in the same low tone, “Mind you, this is what I have been able to gather, but according to the rumor mill, Queen Elsa’s late husband, King Jackson was found dead by Sir Steven. There were several people who named Steven at the scene of the crime. Many have the thought he might have been the one who did it while others say he is innocent.”

  Tina blew out a soft breath and stated, “That’s explains the death glares they are sharing.”

  Godric hummed in agreement.

  “Former High Queen Clarine escorted by Sir Mordred.”

  Tina’s eyes darted toward the doorway to see one of the queens she had seen earlier that day, but she didn’t give her much thought. It was the Knight at her side Tina was more interested in. Sir Mordred stood tall. His black hair curled about his head as his dark colored eyes stared forward. He guided the Queen down the walkway, wearing black outfit. For once, Tina couldn’t tell where the shirt transition into the pants or vice versa. However, there was a splash of color. Mordred wore a red cloth stretching from his left shoulder down to his right hip. Tina didn’t see any kind of symbol representing a house or a possible fraction.

  Tearing her gaze away from Mordred, Tina glanced over Queen Clarine. She didn’t look any better then she did when Tina first laid eyes upon her. Clarine was still ashen face with red rimmed eyes. She wore a black dress trimmed with red and the Golden Dragon over her bodice.

  Tina turned her attention back to the end of the room where the Royal Family were in the process of sitting. The two seats in the middle of the row were left empty. She glanced toward the Count Announcer, wondering who was left to call, as Queen Clarine and Sir Mordred finished crossing the room.

  “Prince Arthur IX of House Drake,” The Count Announcer called out.

  Tina frowned as she turned her attention to the Prince. He stepped into the hall, looking irritated. However, once everyone’s eyes rested on him, that look settled into a calm, guarded expression. He crossed the room, alone. Whispers broke out.

  “I thought Queen Kalliope was supposed to be with him.”

  “Where is the High Queen?”

  “Well, this is an interesting turn of events,” Lord Salazar commented loud enough for Tina to hear. She glanced up at him. He went on, obviously feeling her gaze, “The High Queen of Camelot has always been escorted by a male relative for these Mourning Meals.”

  “So,” Tina had to remind herself to address the woman with her title, “Queen Kalliope is breaking tradition.”

  “It appears so.” Lord Salazar agreed.

  “Here I thought Court was going to be a dull affair,” Lord Godric added his two cents into the conversation.

  “Funny,” Tina turned to the Lord on her right, “I keep hearing that.” She paused before she asked, “Is that really true?”

  Godric nodded, saying, “Majority of the time, yes.” He frowned with a thoughtful look on his face, “Or at least, it has been that way whenever I visit Court.”

  Tina hummed in understanding. She directed her gaze back to the Prince as she listened to the various whispers.

  “Don’t tell me The High Queen is planning to break tradition, now!”

  “She probably is.”

  “It’s about time.”

  “The High Queen needs a reminder of her place.” That last comment came from one of the Lords sitting at Tina’s table. She didn’t know which Lord said it. She made a mental note to avoid him. “She has stepped out of it by this insult to the Prince.” Tina lend forward, slightly. Her eyes searched for the Lord speaking. “If I was Prince Arthur, I wouldn’t have stand for this insult and dealt out punishment, already. In front of the Court if I must.”

  Tina’s right eye twitched as she tried to spot the asshole speaking. Lord Godric cupped a hand onto her right shoulder. She glared up at him. He held up his hands in an attempt to defend himself.

  “That would explains why you haven’t been able to find yourself a wife,” Lord Salazar commented, coolly, “With your reputation, I am sure you are the least desired bachelor in the Court.”

  “Excuse yourself,” the unknown lord growled.

  “Why would I need to excuse myself, Lord Stephen?” the vampire lord asked, turning his red eyes onto a haughty dressed Lord with brunette hair and gray eyes. “As far as I can tell, you are the one who needs to excuse themselves. Preferable from this Mourning Dinner.” Tina fought back a smirk of amusement. “And from this honorable Court.”

  “Are you suggesting I have no honor, Lord Salazar?” Stephen asked. “I have you know I am from one of the most Honorable Lines, stretching from the Original Court of Camelot…” Tina rolled her eyes as he listed off a bunch of names and titles. She turned her attention to see that Prince Arthur had reached the table and was in the process of circling it.

  “I must say it is very impressive you managed to say all of those titles and names in a single breath,” Salazar drawled when Tina brought her attention back to the conversation at her table. “It begs the question how you were able to learn how to do that.” He paused for a heartbeat before he went on, “An educated guess would be you brown nosed a lot. Unfortunately, the kind of brown nosing I’m referring to isn’t the kind I will be saying with the lovely Ladies around.” He waved his hand at Tina and a couple of the other women sitting at the table.

  Tina frowned, thinking about what Salazar was suggesting. Her eyes widened with realization and went into a fit of giggles. Her right hand flew up to cover her mouth, trying to muffle the sound. She glanced toward the other women at the table. They hid behind colored fans with twinkling eyes.

  Tina glanced up at Lord Salazar. He sent her a wink. She turned away as her laughter threaten to overwhelm her.

  Before the other Lord could figure out what Salazar meant, the Court Announcer called out, “Please welcome her royal highness,” His voice bounced off the walls, “the High Queen of Camelot, High Queen Kalliope of House Drake!”

  Tina turned her attention to the doorway to see the same woman she had seen sitting in the middle throne in the Seasonal Throne Room. Kalliope had changed into a modest black and dark gray dress. The dress hangs loosely on Kalliope's frame. Its black fabric was plain and unembellished. The dark gray accents added a subtle touch of elegance to the overall modest design. The strands of her blonde hair were woven into an intricate web, a honeycomb of golden threads that framed her face in a regal halo.

  She strolled toward the end of the Great Hall where the rest of the Royal Family gathered. No one said a word as she walked with her head held high. Tina waited, somewhat patiently, as the High Queen reached the table and walked around it. She walked behind her family until she reached the middle chair. She didn’t sit down after she stepped in front of the high back chair.

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  “Please, everyone, sit down,” Kalliope’s voice rang out, strong.

  Tina slowly sat down onto the chair, pulling on the skirt a little bit to sit comfortable on the seat while the Lords she sat between sat down. She glanced at Godric. He looked up at the High Table with his full attention. Tina blinked as she directed her gaze up to the High Queen.

  Queen Kalliope turned her head as she gaze over the Court, “Thank you for coming. It means a lot of the Ruling Family and I, you were able to attend.” She paused. In the silence of the Great Hall, Tina heard the High Queen take a deep breath before she went on, “King Uther X was many things - A Father, A husband, A Son, A brother, An Uncle, but importantly The King of Camelot.” She went on giving a small speech over the late King.

  Tina lost interested in the topic. She tried to keep her attention on the High Queen while the Queen spoke of her late husband, informing the Court of his many accomplishments and how he overcame various challenges he faced. It was interesting to a certain point for Tina, but she really didn’t care about the King. It was dull and seemed routine like the Queen was reciting from a script instead speaking from the heart. She allowed her gaze drifted over to Merlin.

  He kept his gaze on the High Queen as she spoke. He wore a pair of black robes over a black tunic and pants. His eyes were a rich gold. As far as Tina could tell, he did have the appearance of a man in his 30’s, but that was somewhat questionable since Tina couldn’t tell if he had any signs of a beard. She did noticed that his hair was a solid black, not a gray hair in sight or any type of discoloring in sight.

  Tina glanced to the High Queen and saw High Queen Kalliope slowly wrapping up her speech over the King. “Once again, the Ruling Family and I thank you for attending this dinner with us.” The Queen sat down.

  The red head woman heard the doors opened and a wave of servants swarmed in. The scent of cooked meats filled the air, carried on some of the largest dishes Tina had ever seen. These dishes were large enough it took two servants to carry one of them.

  Tina watched with wide eyes as one pair of servants approached their table and placed the dish down onto the wooden surface at one end of the table. Slipping in and out between the various lords and ladies at the table, they scouted the dish to the third way down the tables. Seeing it this close up, Tina was able to identify it as some type of pig. She hid a chuckle as she spotted a big red apple sitting in it’s mouth.

  Another servant seemed to dance into the empty places she could find, filling goblets with an amber colored liquid. Tina took a wild guess, thinking it could be mead. It would make sense. During the Middle Ages, it was safer to drink mead instead of water because they didn’t have a system to purify the water from germs, bacteria, and other nasties.

  From what she had seen so far, this society was stagnant, frozen in time. Something had happen where an important event in her own world happen, but it didn’t happen in this world. She wondered what that event was.

  Tina blinked and noticed the table was filled with various foods. She glanced up and down the table, seeing there was no plates or silverware, but a large piece of bread sitting in place where the plate would have usually been placed. She spotted one of the lords reaching out to the large dish of meat and pulled a huge roast leg from the body.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Godric did the same thing with the closet dish of meat. This dish reminded Tina of a large bird - Turkey? - of some kind. Godric placed the leg onto the large piece of bread before he reached for another dish what looked like mashed potatoes and used a large spoon to scope the mashed potatoes onto the large piece of bread followed by a spoonful of bright yellow kernels of corn.

  Tina watched the Lord from the corner of her eye as she turned her attention to start grabbing her own food. Godric would tear into the turkey leg then take a bit out of the large piece of bread. She frowned. She did remember reading about how the middle ages didn’t have plates, but they did used large stale pieces of bread that soaked up the juices from the food they ate. She could have sworn while she was in the kitchen, talking with Sanji the Head Cook, there had been plates nearby. Perhaps she had been mistaken. She could have also sworn when she was served a private meal within the White Hall Wing, earlier that, it had been on a plate. It could be something she would have to talk to Sanji about or Sebastien.

  It was so weird to see some advances this version of Camelot managed to make, but lacked in other areas. It was like the people was more interested in the advances of stone like books, but could careless of the basic everyday things Tina took for granted like plates and silverware. It was weird in not having a plate for a dinner like this, since it was such an important meal.

  She wondered what happened to the people who wanted to try make everyday life better for everyone. Did they only appear in her world? That she didn’t believe for one bit.

  There had to be some people who experienced the more modern things in life. They would have tried to make changes to their lives where having running water would have made a difference. Perhaps, there were more portals besides the one she had traveled through to get to the Forest.

  There was a good chance, they ended up in different places. Maybe this Kingdom of Mercy she kept hearing about or another country. However, it did beg the question what changed between the two worlds for cause a big change.

  She pushed it to the back of her mind. It could be something she could look into if she decided to stay in this world. She could make a killing by improving lives or at least help those who could improve everyday life, just in Camelot, alone. She could expand it to other Kingdoms as well once she got done improving Camelot to what she consider her modern standards.

  Dinner was an interesting affair for Tina. She mainly listened while she ate the different tasting foods. Some of the topics she heard were the same worries she had been hearing for most of the day - who will be the Chosen King? Will there be another war? Which side will you take?

  Tina just shook her head. Politics. It was apparently the same wherever she went. It was a dirty game. The only difference she usually spotted was the people involved.

  She knew as soon as she saw who will be chosen as King of Camelot, she would be heading to the White Hall Estate to figure out what Lady Freya wanted, to see if the letter was true when it came to her father, and then she would be hauling ass to get back home. She had been gone already far too long for her liking. She didn’t know what she would do when she got back State side, but she would figure that later when it came time and faced the music. It was something she dreaded since she really didn’t inform her mother or grandma where she was going.

  However, the conversation that happened on her right with Lord Godric and someone else she couldn’t see from her seat caught her attention for a long moment or two.

  “I know,” Godric was telling the other person, “However, if you had pay attention to some of our classes, you would have been able to figure out that the non-humans have no correlation to what is going on in Mercy.”

  “There is a lot of things going on at the same time, Godric,” the voice was male and sounded about the same age as Godric. “What is going in Mercy sounds off to me. People going missing and they are turning back up in the Mercian Army.” There was a pause then the man went on, “There are reports of creatures with wings appearing in that kingdom. Let’s not even talk about some of the four legged beasts with the ability to spit fireballs at their enemy.”

  Tina blinked. Animals spitting fireballs at their targets. That was something she never heard of before, not ‘State-side’ or in the Demon World. It sounded like creatures of a video game. Maybe it was some sort of dragon. Assuming dragons existed in this world. Of course, it could be some magical person with the ability to do that.

  “There are beasts in Mercy that are able to do that,” Godric sounded impressed, “I kinda want to hunt one down to see that for myself.”

  Tina wanted to snort into her cup as she took a drink of mead, but she couldn’t help agreeing with the Lord. A four legged creature with the ability to breath fire would be one hell of a sight to see. It would also provide a lethal game of dodgeball with deadly consequences.

  She frowned as she pulled the cup away from her mouth, thinking about Komodo dragons and if they had the ability to breath fire. She doubt it. If the Kodomo dragons did breath fire, she would probably heard of it through various stories about the modern day dragons.

  “I do admit,” Another lord agreed with Godric, “It would be interesting to see.”

  “Maybe I could visit Mercy after the ceremony of the Chosen King,” Godric mused out loud, “To see if I can spot one of these fire breathing beasts.”

  “Perhaps, if you don’t mind the company, Lord Godric,” Tina spoke up, drawing attention to her, “I could join you.” Godric’s head slowly turned to her. His eyebrows raised close to his hairline. His eyes pieced her as he stared at her. She blinked at him. “I think it would be interesting to see what kind of creature that breaths fire if it is not a dragon of some kind.”

  “I think it would not be wise to allow a woman on such a perilously journey like Lord Godric is suggesting,” the Lord on the far side of Lord Salazar spoke up, “After all, a woman like yourself, Lady Valentina, has much better things to do then going traveling with a Lord unrelated to her to track down a rumor creature that spits out fireballs.”

  Tina slowly closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she asked, “What kind of things I have better things to do?”

  “Taking care of the house, raising children, marrying well,” The lord listed off with a bit of laughter in his voice, “Be a respectable Lady of the Court, warming her husband’s bed…”

  Tina’s left eye twitched as she listened to the unknown lord list off what qualities he thought best in a woman. When he finally finish listing off the qualities, she spoke up, “While a woman can be all of those things, I believe, a woman’s best qualities shouldn’t be if she can raise children well or marry an arshole like yourself, Lord Pig. A woman’s best qualities should be if she can handle anything thrown at her.”

  “Lord Pig!” the unnamed lord exclaimed. His voice held a note of outrage as he stood up and glared over Lord Salazar’s head at Tina. However, Tina did hear a few snorts of laughter up and down the table. He was a forgettable kind of man with a too large nose, slick back hair, and mud colored eyes.

  “Yes, Lord Pig,” Tina shot him a glare, “And do not interrupt me. It’s rude and very unbecoming of a Lord of your station.” She turned away from him. “As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, a woman should be able to handle things throw at her. For example, if her brothers or husband isn’t around to protect her from…” she paused to think. She didn’t know much about this version of Camelot, but she knew one thing that nearly every society had. “A robber, she should have the skills to protect herself and if she has any, any children under her protection.”

  “I agree with what Lady Valentina said,” one of the ladies nearby commented. “While I don’t mind being rescued once in a while by one of my male relatives or possible future husband, I should have those type of skills.”

  “I was nearly robbed by a highwayman, once,” another lady spoke up, “I managed to sliced his throat before he did something far worst then just steal some of my jewelry.” Tina saw her shudder, indicating the robber did try something far worst then stealing some jewelry.

  The Lord Tina dubbed as Lord Pig sat back down and kept quite for the rest of the meal as the women at the table discussed the various pros and cons of learning such skills. When the topic drifted back to adventuring, Tina asked, “Why not go adventuring? It would be a good way for someone of either sex to improve their skills and get their name out there.”

  “I do see the benefit of a woman learning such skills. I often worry about my sisters traveling on their own with the number of highwaymen,” Lord Godric addressed Tina, “But why would it be a good way to get her name out there?”

  “For a good marriage of course, silly,” Tina stated. Godric hummed in thought. “Would you like to have a bride who can handle her own in both the house and on the field of battle if it came down to it? A woman who can match you in brains and wits, but can be gentle for the children you two will share? A woman you don’t have to worry about accidentally hurting in the throws of passion if you handle her a bit roughly.”

  Godric slowly nodded in agree. He was not the only one. Tina spotted a few other lords nod in agreement. “Yes, a woman can be full of beauty and grace, but she can be dangerous, too. So, it all comes down to which you prefer to have.” She glanced toward Godric then at Salazar. “I know I would like to have a man who is easy on the eyes, strong, protective, and be willingly to get rough in the bedroom,” Several younger ladies giggled at that and a few of the Lords gave grin. Tina went on, “But can be caring, drops his guard around me, and is gentle with me and any of the kids we could have together.”

  Godric opened his mouth to speak, but a hush fell over the Great Hall when the High Queen stood up from her place at the center of the table and started to speak, “Thank you, all, for attending this Mourning Meal with my family. It means a lot to us. However, the Service will be starting soon. Please, make your way there, to God’s Holy Light.”

  Tina watched as the Royal Family, one by one, stood up and each of the Queens and their escort left the Great Hall.

  “As much as I would love to continue this conversation with you, Lady Valentina, I fear we must part for now,” Godric said, smoothly, before he turned to the lady on his right and addressed her.

  “Lady Valentina,” Lord Salazar’s smooth voice rang out beside her and she turned to him, giving him her attention. She remembered to keep her gaze from meeting his when she caught his brilliant red eyes. “I unfortunately won’t be able to escort you to God’s Holy Light. However, I will help find you an escort to the service.”

  Tina nodded before she whispered, “So, that little rumor of a Vampire can’t enter holy grounds.” She didn’t see Salazar stiffen as she scanned the hall for her cousins, but her spiritual sense saw it. She resisted the urge to smirk. “Your secret is safe with me.”

  She watched as the Royal Family exited the Great Hall, but she noticed that Merlin and Morgana didn’t leave the far end of the room where they ate at. They appeared to be deep in conversation until Morgana glanced toward her then nodded in her direction. The duo turned and started to walk behind the table.

  “Thank you,” Lord Salazar directed his comment at Tina, “And apparently, I have found you an escort to the Church.”

  “Hmm?” Tina tore her gaze away from the Magi as they curved around the table and settled it onto the Vampire Lord.

  “Lady Morgana is retiring early and is in need of an escort to her rooms,” Lord Salazar explained, “Lord Merlin, I am sure, will be willing to escort a beautiful lady such as yourself to the Church.”

  Tina nodded as she brushed off the compliment. She glanced toward where she had last seen her brother/cousin. He was in the processing of escorting a woman from his table out of the room. Hopefully, she was better company then Lady Margiette.

  She spotted Remus offering his arm to a brown haired woman from his table before she stood up and walked beside Remus out of the Great Hall. Tina thought she spotted Rosemary being escorted by a Knight or at least a high ranked Lord from the way he was dressed out of the Great Hall a few steps behind Remus and his escort.

  “Ah, Lord Merlin,” Lord Salazar’s smooth voice rang out in greeting.

  “Lord Salazar,” A man’s voice sounded from behind Tina, “How are you doing this evening?”

  “Excellent,” Salazar stood up before he held out a hand to Tina. She slipped her left hand into his right, trying to ignore how icy cold the hand was and she slid to her feet. “Unfortunately, I won’t be able to join the rest of the Court in the Church, for personal reasons.”

  “Ah yes, I understand that,” Lord Merlin said. Tina turned to face Merlin and Morgana. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at Merlin with an shocked expression.

  Now that Tina was up close to Merlin, the Lord was beautiful for a man. Almost too beautiful. He had high cheekbones and a sharp chin. His eyes were a piecing blue. His nose was narrowed. Curiously, Tina stretched out her spirit energy and felt his presences.

  He didn’t feel like he was a full human, only half. However, she couldn’t identity what kind of energy his other half was. It was a kind she never felt before hand. She reasoned it could be the reason why he appeared so beautiful. She was aware of some demon kind appearing to be extremely beautiful in a way to lure unsuspecting partners to their bed. She doubt Merlin could be a demon. He didn’t feel like it.

  “I am in the same boat, if you will,” Merlin went on, “Lady Morgana, here, has to go to bed early tonight and is in need of an escort to her rooms.”

  Tina tore her eyes away from Merlin and glanced Lady Morgana over. The Lady in questioned looked familiar like Tina had seen her somewhere before, but Tina couldn’t remember where off the top of her head.

  Lady Morgana’s black hair held a shine in the dim firelight. Her eyes were the clearest blue Tina had ever seen. She had the face of a princess - high cheekbones, long narrowed nose, medium sized pink lips, oval eyes - and she gave off the same aura of someone of noble birth.

  However, when Tina’s spirit energy touched Lady Morgana’s energy, it held the same type of half human and half something else. It felt like it was similar to Merlin’s aura. Maybe these two were a part of the race. A part of Tina wanted to asked about it, but she knew it could be considered rude with so many ears who could overheard their conversation.

  Morgana’s eyes met Tina’s. Tina made her eyes widened, trying to look innocent at the other woman, but she didn’t understand why she would want to be appear innocent. She saw a glint of suspicion and curiosity in the other woman’s blue eyes. She needed to be careful around this lady.

  “It would be my honor to escort the Lady Morgana to the Queen’s Tower,” Lord Salazar tilted his head toward Morgana, “As long as Lady Valentina doesn’t have a problem being escorted to the Church by you, Lord Merlin.”

  Tina felt the gazes of the two men dart over to her and she opened her mouth, “I don’t have a problem with this solution.” She couldn’t really protest since most of the Great Hall was emptied and she could tell everyone else had been partnered up. It would look out of place if she walked alone to this Church.

  “Neither do I,” Morgana sent Lord Salazar a small smile as she drifted from Merlin’s side and claimed Salazar’s right arm.

  Merlin held out his arm to Tina. The red head woman slipped from Salazar’s left side and went over to Merlin, wrapping her arm around his offer arm.

  “Thank you, Lord Salazar,” Merlin bowed his head toward the crimson eyed Lord before he addressed the woman, “I will see you in the morning, Lady Morgana. I hope you are able to recover from the magical drain more tonight.”

  “Me too, Merlin,” Morgana sent Merlin a small and Lord Salazar began to walk toward the doors of the Great Hall.

  “Well,” Merlin turned to Tina, “Shall we, my lady?” She nodded. Merlin guided her through the nearly emptied Great Hall. “Is this your first time in Camelot, Lady Valentina?”

  “It is,” Tina admitted. Her eyes darted over the archway of the Great Hall. She frowned, her eyes running over the image of a battle.

  “Ah, The Battle of the Curse,” Merlin named the image. She glanced at Merlin. “It was called that for a private reason. It is a top secret.” Merlin’s tone held a mystic note. “Only certain members of the Ruling Family is allowed to know the reason behind the name of that battle.”

  Tina rolled her eyes and snarked, “Let me guess - an object or a person got cursed as a result of this battle. If it is an object, that curse still lives on today. If it is a person, hopefully, that curse die with the individual.” She looked at Merlin. She smirked in amusement as his face froze in shock.

  “You will be surprised how many cultures around the world has that story. The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt had their tombs lined with curses in order to protect themselves from grave robbers. The Emperors of China were the same way. Supposedly, there was a box cursed from World War 2 to destroy the Nazi. In fact, the jar that Solomon used to trapped Demons - it was a story in the Bible, the man who used demons to build the Temple - survived in tact until nearly a decade ago.” Tina let out a chuckle as she remembered the last mission she took with Aunt Nami’s student and his team, “Man, they were pissed about being trapped in that jar.”

  They passed through the doorway for the Great Hall. Merlin steered her to the left, listening to her. “They tried to take over the world and make humanity into their slaves as a form of revenge.” Her eyes settled on the stone floor. “If I remember correctly, they also wanted to open a doorway to Hell to unleash their brothers, the Great Hell Demons.”

  She glanced at Merlin who appeared to be half paying attention to where they were going. She continued, “It was a pain in the…” She wanted to say ‘ass’ but she remembered where she was at, “Neck to deal with. It took my team nearly a week to track them down and another couple days to fight them.”

  She allowed a proud smile to cross her lips. “But in the end, we managed to trapped them in a box, this time, and sent them…” She couldn’t tell Merlin where the team had sent those demons. She doubt he would believe her. “To far away place where there is little chance of them escaping again.”

  “So, your team didn’t kill them,” Merlin questioned.

  “Couldn’t,” Tina confessed, “They were simply too strong. I guess one of the runes on the jar that was suppose to drain them of their demonic power failed over the years and they grew powerful since then.” Merlin guided her out of one of the stone hallways and into an open court yard.

  Tina tilted her head back, staring up at the star filled sky. “We tried to kill them, but we nearly lost one of our own as a result. Apparently, thanks to one of the imprisoned demons, if we had died in the battle against them, we would have joined them for the rest of time. We decided that was a price we didn’t want to pay, so, it was our leader’s decision to imprison them again.”

  “Well, hopefully, they won’t escape again,” Merlin voiced, “I have met a couple of the Great Hell Demons before. I am surprised you managed to survive the encounter, Lady Valentina. I even had some trouble against them and I have been trained in some of the ancient magics of the outside World.”

  “Outside World?” Tina questioned. She knew that Sanji fellow had claimed to be from the Outside World as well as Sebastien, but she couldn’t help wondering if they were lying or not.

  “Yes, the Outside World,” Merlin winced. He took a deep breath before he went on, “Once upon a time ago, Avalon - this world - was apart of another world. Morgana and I were born that world as well as majority of the creatures nearly 1500 years old. A powerful mage tried to destroy Camelot through various means and Morgana and I thought it would be better if we had relocate the kingdom to a different world in order to make sure the kingdom would survive.”

  Tina nodded, understanding. Sometimes, relocating something made it easier to hid, but an entire kingdom, well, she mused it just showed how powerful Merlin and Morgana were.

  He went on, “So, eventually, we decided to call this world Avalon while the other world, the Outside World.” He sent her a smile, “What brought you to Camelot?”

  She shot him a side long look, knowing he was trying to change the subject, “Family Issues.”

  “Ah,” Merlin nodded, “Since it is your first time in Camelot, what are your thoughts of it?”

  Tina had thoughts of Kingdom alright, but she didn’t think it would be appropriate to discuss those thoughts with the Mage. She opened her mouth and tried to use her diplomat skills, “It has been interesting to see how this society has develop into what is it today.” She tried to change the subject on him, “I know this is a private question, but how old are you?”

  “Oh, me?” Merlin asked, teasing, “I believe I am nearly 3000 years old, this fall, but it has been so long, I kinda lost count.” He sent her a smile. “I know you dodge the question over your personal thoughts of Camelot. I will let it slide for now, My lady, but how long are you going to be in Camelot?”

  “Just a few more days,” Tina decided to be vague, “Then I will be heading home.”

  “And Where is home?” Merlin asked as they exited the Castle grounds, heading to a large Church in the distance.

  “Far away from here,” Tina shot back, “How long is this service supposed to be?”

  “It is,” Merlin started, but he was cut off by the Church bells ringing out the time. “Well, it is 8 so it will be closer to midnight before we will be able to head off to bed.” His eyes glinted with amusement, “So eager to get away from me, my lady?” Tina didn’t reply to his question, but it apparently gave him ammo to use.

  Tina tried her best to ignore him and his teasing questions on the walk to the Church.

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