“Yipes.”
“Yes, please see what I mean. There is a price whenever you choose to invoke the power of my tears. If you must needs use it, remember there is a cost. And one more thing, Isabel. Never allow anyone to take it from you.” Viviane seemed deep in thought for a moment, then spoke:
Viviane threw her arms wide, and clouds that had been gathering broke apart and rained all over the lake, all over them. Isabel wasn’t into getting showered on as a rule unless she was actually in a shower, but for some reason the drops felt warm and comforting when she was feeling a little scared and definitely out of her element.
Was this a death dream? Is that how it happened? She was singing the signature song to
Seems she’d taken way too many mythology classes in college.
Well, if it was a death dream, it was a pretty damn cool one. Where else would she want to land than at Camelot? Except for the plumbing thing. But hey, they managed; she’d managed the conditions in Afghanistan; she could find a way to live without her Kohler deluxe shower. But . . . “For how long, Viviane?”
“Until we’ve both accomplished our goals.”
“Just to be clear, am I dead at the end of this picture? Not that I’m complaining, mind you, since you saved me and everything, but do I die when Mission Impossible is over?”
“I assure you that once you’ve achieved this Mission Impossible—as you call it, but I will not—your fate will be in your hands.”
“So if I decide I really don’t want to die?”
“Your fate will be yours to decide.”
“If I decide I want to return to plumbing and electricity? And my photography?”
“Your fate will be in your hands, Isabel.”
“All righty, then,” Isabel said, testing the necklace, and sure enough it wasn’t letting go. “Is there any place I can write a Post-it on those words I need to spake?”
“You will remember them should you need them.”
“Another question. If I need help or advice, may I come visit you?”
“Always.”
“How will I find you?”
“Just ask in your mind, Isabel. I will answer.”
“Okay, just so I’m sure about my assignment. Try to seduce Lance away from Gwen so Arthur and Gwen stick to the happily-ever-after plan. And this will help the king to save Camelot?”
Viviane laughed, and the clouds and rain instantly disappeared. Isabel envied that power, wishing she’d known how to do that with a couple of boyfriends. “Yes, that’s the plan. But plans sometimes go awry.”
“Oh, goody.”
“You have the necklace. Use it judiciously, and you will—how do you say it in your time?—kick aces?”
“Close enough, if you’re a betting woman.”
“I’m betting on you, Isabel. I’m betting on love for you. The one you ‘shoulda’ had in your time.
Isabel was kind of regretting the last thoughts of shouldas at this point. Maybe she should have been concentrating on the
The Lady dipped her hand into the water and threw a handful into the air. They looked like drops of silver mercury as they hung for a while, and then one by one dropped back into the lake.
Viviane pointed behind Isabel. “Your horse awaits.”
Isabel looked around and there stood the most beautiful white Arabian horse, standing, snorting, impatient. Isabel tilted her head and looked down below. Definitely a female, as nothing dangled.
“Okay, Viviane, let’s get something straight,” she said. “First, I’m a good rider. In fact, my favorite is bareback. But I know a sidesaddle when I see it, and there’s not a chance in hell I know how to handle a horse that big sidesaddle.”
The Lady laughed again, then dipped her fingers into the lake and tossed drops of it onto Isabel’s face, then did the same to the horse’s, who took it much better than Isabel did.
“And now you know, Izzy, how to ride sidesaddle. And you and Samara will be fast friends. Now ride to Camelot. You are needed. And I grow impatient for my Merlin.”
“How come you get to call me Izzy, and I’m not allowed to call you Viv?”
The Lady stood. “Who is the goddess here, Izzy?”
“Okay, good point.”
CHAPTER FOUR
IZZY? Only her best friends and her father ever called her Izzy. But she supposed arguing with a goddess who’d just saved her life wasn’t necessarily in her best interests. As Isabel and Samara picked their way through the forest that would bring them to Camelot, Isabel pondered on just how deep a dream this was.
After all, as Viviane had predicted, she and Samara became fast friends, and Isabel rode sidesaddle as if she’d been doing it all of her life. How could that be?
Or was this truly an afterworld that no one still alive could even imagine? Was this how the universe worked? It dropped you off into a different place and time? Already she’d had to stop Samara twice to take care of business in the middle of woods, wondering if baring her butt was illegal in Camelot.
Strangely enough, every time she needed to stop, she’d find something akin to toilet paper waiting for her. She kept whispering, “Thank you, Viviane.” And she could swear that the trees whispered back, “No problem.”
And Samara was something else. The first time Isabel stopped, she’d roped the reins around a tree. Samara snorted in what was apparent disgust. When Isabel returned, Samara nearly sent Isabel flying several yards away. Isabel picked up that cue fast, and at the second stop, she left Sam alone. No messing with Sam’s trust or freedom. Isabel was rewarded by that trust when Sam leaned down to help her up into the saddle easily. After the first time, when she’d had to look around for a stump to step on, and Sam had kept kicking it over.
The turrets of the castle loomed ever closer, and Isabel found herself clutching the necklace so often it felt like it was even getting impatient with her.
Viviane was on her side, but she wasn’t by her side, which would have made her much happier.
“Looks like it’s you and me, Sam.” Other than her first misstep, it was amazing the bond they’d found together almost instantly. She didn’t need to kick, she didn’t need to slap the reins. Just a word and Samara understood her.
“So, whatcha think, Sam? Are we going to accomplish our mission?”
Samara snorted and nodded her head. But then she suddenly stopped and her ears perked. A crackling in the leaves from their left had Isabel’s heart racing. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my.
Isabel held on to the necklace and called out, “Who goes there?” Which was about the dumbest thing she
