"Yes, Dumont."

Arthur stared at their hooked arms, and Isabel detached and stepped slightly aside.

The king looked down at Gwen. "Wil she recover?"

"Ful y. She needs bed rest, plenty of water in smal amounts. If she feels an insatiable need to keep drinking, she needs to be stopped. Smal quantities in everything. She needs to be reintroduced to food gradual y. Chicken or beef broth at first, maybe rice or bread pudding. Nothing greasy or heavy for quite some time. But give her a few days and she should be good as new."

"I must needs relay al of this information to her servant, Jenny."

"Already done," Tom said. "I gave her the dril . I then sent her to rest because she herself was quite shaken. But she wil be here to relieve me shortly."

"So the mushrooms were the poisonous substance, as you suspected?" Arthur asked.

"I am nearly positive that must have been it. Nothing else in her routine had changed, according to Jenny."

"And Gwen brought these mushrooms to the cook herself?"

"She did. There was nothing nefarious here, King Arthur. It was just a horrible accident."

"I wonder where she came upon these mushrooms? I have seen nothing like this on the property or in the gardens. Then again, I suppose I do not monitor such details as I should."

"She found them at the farthest cottage at the southeast end of the grounds," Tom said. "At least, that's what she told me in between ... expel ing some."

Arthur's eyes first rounded, then narrowed. "I know the cottage of which you speak."

"Then I suggest you get your gardeners out there to pul and dispose of them as soon as possible. Before someone else sees them as potential delicacies and not the deadly poisons they might be."

Arthur nodded, then glanced down again at his wife. He should have felt a need to stroke her pale face, to pul a chair to her bedside and sit vigilance.

"If you would like us to leave the two of you alone, Arthur," Isabel said, "we wil be happy to give you privacy."

"No need," Arthur said, as he stared at his wife. "She appears to be in much better care than I am capable of providing." He took Tom's hand and shook it. "My eternal gratitude."

Isabel was a bit shocked. She had not witnessed handshakes in the normal form since she'd been here. She'd assumed such a practice had not been invented yet. Just ring kissing and groveling and manly grunts of approval between the men.

"I cannot begin to repay you. Either of you. For saving her, I mean."

"No need, sir," Tom said. "It's-"

"-what you do," Arthur finished, a slight smile tipping up his lips. "I am very grateful that you are here to have done it."

"You're welcome."

"May I escort you out, Countess?" Arthur asked.

"You may," Tom said before Isabel could reply. "And don't forget, Izzy, we stil have that bet."

"I know this is an unseemly request," Arthur said as they walked the never-ending steps down to the great hal , "but would you agree to walk with me to the cottage where I believe Gwen found her mushrooms?"

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

They strol ed 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 final y 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 al things, Isabel, you must have one on this."

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

He actual y grinned. "Yes, Countess, I real y 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 wel taken care of."

"So far, you are correct."

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

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 tel 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 stil 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?"

"Wel , 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 shal see when my desire to burn that cottage to the ground overwhelms me."

"Wel , 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?"

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

"I stil 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 stil see it as whol y 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. Wel , 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 careful y, 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 al 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.

A gift? No one had ever considered her a gift before. A curse, maybe.

Arthur chuckled. "Come, Isabel. 'Tis just around the bend."

They were nearing the curve in the path when Arthur raised his arm as a barrier, then put a finger to his lips. For a moment Isabel was confused, probably stil dazed by Arthur's sweet admission.

But then she heard it, too. A rustling up ahead. In one swift move Arthur pul ed an arrow from the quiver on his back, then raised his bow and armed it. "Stay here," he said softly.

Like a lethal panther he began silently moving forward toward whatever prey he might encounter.

Isabel's heart just about pounded out of her chest. Fear for Arthur had her nearly hyperventilating. She clasped the teardrop necklace in her hand, wondering if now would be the time to invoke its power.

No, Isabel, the time is not now. Save its power for when its power ... packs a pow.

Wow, Viv, was real y dipping low into the rhyming pool. Arthur is a warrior second to none; allow him to protect your smartass buns.

Arthur took cover behind a large pin oak, then slowly peered around it, his bow stil raised in the direction of the noise.

His body was taut, tense, and Isabel caught a smal sampling of what it must be like to watch this man head straight into a battle, ready to take on whatever enemy he would encounter beyond.

But then, just as suddenly, his shoulders relaxed, and he lowered his bow, removing the arrow and shoving it back into the quiver.

"Lance," he cal ed, "'tis I, Arthur."

"My lord," Lance responded, "I did not hear you approach."

Arthur looked back and waved Isabel forward. "Actual y, 'tis both the Countess Isabel and I, Lance, come to search for ..." His voice trailed off.

Isabel joined him and understood why. In the clearing in front of a charming wooden cottage was Lancelot on his knees, savagely pul ing mushrooms from the ground and adding them to a very large pile beside him.

The cottage itself showed signs of Gwen's touch. Flower boxes hung in places along the outer wal s, fil ed with colorful marigolds and pansies, miniature snapdragons and petunias. Wildflowers flourished on either side of the structure. A slight flowery scent managed to hit her nose, but it was quite overwhelmed by the dank scent of vegetation from the forest and, right now, overturned earth. The clearing looked almost like a mine field.

At the sight of Isabel, Lance scrambled to his feet and bowed, but not before she caught a glimpse of his tear-stained face. "Countess," he said, then attempted to swipe at his cheeks.

Arthur again took Isabel's elbow and they moved farther into the clearing. "I am going to assume, Lance, that you have been made aware of the dangers those mushrooms present."

"They almost kil ed her," Lance said, his voice choky.

"But they did not, thanks to the quick wits of-"

"My healer, Tom," Isabel interrupted.

Lance glanced at the mushroom stil in his hand and crushed it savagely before adding it to the pile.

"Your healer, Countess, relates a slightly different tale. I cannot express my ... I mean we, on behalf of the king, owe you much gratitude."

"No, no you don't."