-15-

Annis ended the phone call with Nimueh and looked out the window of the small upstairs library. The grounds of Tintagel were magnificent, especially in the middle of spring when buds of flowers were beginning to peek out. She could only imagine the riot of color the gardens would be once summer began.

She had been here many times before-as a young apprentice to her legal mentor who was the Dubuois family's legal representative, and when Ygraine decided that she wanted Annis' services as her own legal advisor.

Her last visit happened decades earlier, just right after Ygraine found out she was pregnant.

It was a happy time for both of them; Ygraine practically blossomed under the love and attention lavished upon her by Uther.

Annis smiled at the memory. As a young couple, the Pendragons made a beautiful pair. Uther was tall and handsome, with the easy confidence that came from a privileged background. Ygraine had always been beautiful, but her beauty was tempered with kindness and warmth.

The eldest of two, Ygraine owned Tintagel and she wanted to make sure that the transfer to her child was made legal. Never mind that she was only in her second month; Tintagel had been passed down from first born to first born, and despite her husband's much larger estate-Camelot-the young mother-to-be would not break her family's traditions.

Uther had looked on with humor as Ygraine pored over the legal documents, pausing to sneak a peek at Annis who was also smiling at the other woman's studiousness.

"I can see those smiles between you two," she had said, not raising her head as she read the lines of the documents. "And I am two heartbeats away from rolling up these papers to smack you both."

A small cough took Annis away from the memory and she turned to see Arthur Pendragon in the doorway.

"Arthur," she said as a smile graced her features. She walked to closer to where the young man stood and grasped his hand.

A smile bowed Arthur's lips as he bent down to kiss her cheek.

"Hello, Annis."

Annis patted his cheek.

"I wish I could say you looked well," she said softly, noting the dark circles under his eyes and his slightly downturned lips.

Arthur sighed.

"Is Guinevere settled?"

Annis nodded.

"I see you put her in Ygraine's old bedroom," she raised her brow slightly. "Should I read into that, Arthur?"

Arthur ducked his head as he gave a rufeul grin.

"She is mistress of this home."

"She isn't your wife anymore," Annis reminded him gently. "And what would your Mithian say about that?"

"She...," Arthur's voice faded as he realized he had no reply.

An uneasy silence stretched for a moment between the two.

"Arthur," Annis began. "What are you doing?"

The man raised his head.

"What do you mean?" There was genuine confusion in his voice.

Annis sighed and walked to a chair in front of the table that was at one end of the room, she smoothed her skirt and she sat down and motioned for Arthur to take the other seat directly across her. She waited until Arthur was comfortable before speaking again.

"I've known you for as long as you've been alive, Arthur. Ygraine and Uther made me your godmother. So if you think you can pull a fast one on me, I will tell you —again—that you are very, very wrong."

Arthur sighed, propped his elbows on his knees, and dropped his head in his hands.

"Everything...I've messed everything up, Annis," he said. "I did everything wrong with Guinevere."

"Yes. You have."

Arthur raised his head quickly and looked at the woman across him. While her expression was still maternal, there was no humor in her voice.

"Guinevere's not even a shadow of how she was when you married her. A lot of that was your fault."

"And I thought you were going to be on my side," Arthur muttered.

"Why? Because you're my godson?" Annis gave a small laugh. "It isn't about taking sides, Arthur. You are like a son to me; goodness knows how much trouble you, Leon, and Percival gave me and Robert when you were younger."

Arthur had to smile at that. Leon and Percival, Annis and Robert's sons, were his closest friends—they were inseparable growing up. Morgana never cared to play with them, preferring to keep herself away from their roughhousing, but he and his two friends got into all sorts of scrapes as soon as they were walking. It made for great memories.

"How are they?" Arthur suddenly asked.

"They're halfway across the world," Annis sniffed, clearly unhappy about not having her children around.

Leon was a ranking military official and Percival was a student taking up an advanced degree in a foreign university. Both towered over their mother by close to a foot, but Arthur supposed mothers never really saw their children as adults.

"But I am not here to talk about them."

Arthur nodded and settled back into his seat.

"Why are you suddenly going along with your father's wishes, Arthur? Why this sudden need to be a Pendragon?"

It took a while for Arthur to answer.

"I miss her."

His admission didn't change Annis' expression.

"You divorced her."

"Yes."

"You left her at the mercy of your sister and uncle."

"Yes."

"I will forgive you for a lot of things, Arthur, because you are my godson and heaven knows, I love you like a son, but you will never redeem yourself in my eyes because of that episode."

Annis' voice was like steel now. And Arthur saw how icy his godmother's eyes had become.

"You threw her to the wolves and then cut her out of what was rightfully hers."

"She never wanted the settlement..."

"She had to sell her home."

Arthur flinched at that.

"I didn't know..."

"You never bothered to find out?"

He shook his head numbly. Their home...the home he shared with Guinevere. The home where he spent the happiest days of his life...

"Where did she live?"

"She has an apartment."

Arthur nodded.

Annis frowned. "You truly had no idea where and how she was living?"

"No," Arthur answered. "After the divorce...I just couldn't be near her."

Annis made a small sound.

"She owns a small bookstore and lives in the apartment above it. She's renting out her apartment while she's here."

A bookstore. Arthur smiled at that, Guinevere had always wanted a bookstore.

"And her store?"

"She has a girl named Sefa to take care of it."

Arthur nodded again before dropping his eyes back down to the floor.

"I miss her, Annis," he admitted softly. "Sometimes, so much that it's painful."

Silence stretched between them once again.

"Do you love her?"

Arthur raised his head and looked Annis in the eye before nodding.

"I love her. I always will love. There will never be a day where I will not love her or be in love with her."

Hello. Sorry, it's been a while. - BNQ