[Faye]
I can't breathe. Something is in my throat. Choking, I sit up. Monitors in the room begin to ding erratically as I continue to gag, my heart beating fast.
"Hold on, Mrs. Drake" an agitated voice advises. "We just need to remove your breathing tube."
Breathing tube?
"Heart rate is elevated," a nurse records. "All other vitals seem to be within normal ranges."
The long tube is removed from my lungs and I almost vomit at the pulling sensation. Like a fish caught on land, I begin to gasp.
"Breathe, Mrs. Drake, breathe," a calm hand rubs my back. “You’ve been incapacitated for a few days. We had to put you on a ventilator when you stopped breat
“Good night, my love,” I kiss her brow before sitting by her side in an old wooden chair, its velvet cushion long shredded with time. Faye does not respond, her eyes closed tight, her breath shallow. She has been like this since the night of the battle, unresponsive and unmoving, preserved by her own magic, for the last three months. Technically we won; Mab is dead, her forces are scattered, and I am serving as regent, bringing the powers of Avalon back together once more as we work together to reconstruct our world. But we also lost. Arthur is gone, missing. I cannot feel him through the bond, not since I saw Mab pierce him through the heart with her bone blade. Nobody is sure why his body was taken. Some suspect that Mab had one final plan in place and that somehow he plays a part in it. We are searching for him, following every lead throughout this world and the next, but each time we th
[Kaydence]It's been two months since we lost Arthur in the battle for Avalon.Two agonizing months since my best friend fell into an enchanted sleep. I watch my mentor, Merlin Devona, cry over her every night. She tries to hide it from everyone else, but I know. How could I not? We spend most mornings together working on my skills as a paladin. I'm getting stronger, and more skilled, but not nearly as strong or as skilled as I was in my past life as Sir Kay. Kay had a lifetime to learn. I've only been at it a couple of months, and I know this, but it still doesn't keep the whole situation from feeling pointless and frustrating."Tell me why I have to do this?" I whine as Devona grinds some herbs in her pestle. "This has nothing to do with fighting.""All g
[Kaydence]The morning is bright. Too bright. My eyes hurt from too much mead and not enough sleep and I find myself for not the last time wondering why I let Devona trick me into this quest.I must have been getting on her nerves. Either that or she just needed me to find something to do so that she could focus all of her attention on the queen. It doesn’t matter.“Are you still with us, Sir Kay?” Gawain is annoyingly chipper. He’s a morning person. He also has this annoying habit of deadnaming me that is getting under my skin.“It’s Kaydence, you dumb ass,” I grumble, blinking at him while I shield my eyes, my other hand firmly placed on the pommel of my saddle.He
[Queenie]We are getting low on supplies. It takes quite a bit of baneberry juice to make the sleep potion. Because we need to keep him perpetually asleep, I need a constant supply. In Torq, baneberries are not very common and the cost of exporting them is stretching our finances thin, even with Mab’s hidden stash of gold.“This is why we should have stayed in Delas,”Mab argues.“We didn’t need to buy anything when we were still there and…”“It was teeming with knights. I had to stay indoors the entire time,” I argue. “Torq is better. I can actually go outside and talk to people here.“You
[Kaydence]I place a hand on her wrist. "Stop."She blinks up at me. In my mind I trace the rune for "peace" and watch in amazement as her body begins to relax, the flames melting away as her breathing stilled.Queenie's first reaction is relief. Her face goes still, every crease leaving her features. But then just as suddenly her relief turns to anger."How dare you!" she screams pushing over the table and running for the back door. The other players stand in a rush as drinks, cards, and chips go flying. Shouts chase her retreating form as she dashes between players."Balance," I call out, tracing the rune with my hand and watch in amazement as Queenie falls backward, her arms pinwheeling."Tranquility," the room goes still, everything stopping as if time itself couldn't be rushed. The people who were once angry and pushing their way towards us stopped moving. Soon Queenie and I are the only ones moving."Grace," I finish the incantation, moving with the speed and agility of a dancer,
This story is a fairytale of sorts.I know because I’m living it— in our world right now. But unlike most modern fairytales with a princess and a prince falling madly in love and living happily ever after in some dream-like world, my tale is something much older and darker. And like most traditional tales, it ends in tragedy.There is no “happily ever after.”Not in my world.I have been trapped in a never-ending nightmare.My name is Faye Archer.Welcome to my nightmare.It all started long, long ago…in a dream I can't quite remember.[Wales, 6th Century A.D.] The sharp edges of the cave are slick. Light filters through the rocks in small streams. As I weave around tall pillars of rock, my body moves in and out of the darkness, the trail ahead of me illuminated softly in the light of the full moon. He is waiting for me, as promised. I knew he would be. He always is. Every single time. He waits standing next to a large stone slab, a table carved from one of the pil
[Berkeley, California. Modern Day] The sun assaults my vision, even through my closed lids, as it filters through the slats of very expensive-looking redwood blinds. I rub my eyes, blinking awake. I always feel a little out of sorts when I wake from my dreams, but today is worse than usual. When I reach above me to find my glasses, I realize that the headboard does not have a shelf. As I continue to blink, I also remember that I didn’t wear glasses last night, but contacts that I forgot to remove and would be a pain in my ass to remove later. My neck is sore, and I notice my pillow is lumpier than usual. As I sit up and rub the sore spot on my neck, memories from the night before start to slowly flood their way back into my brain. The house party in Kensington. There was a large house with a pool and a huge yard with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge. There was a fire pit and really strong punch. Embyr left me alone with a handsome young man with golden hair and a shirt with
[Arthur] I never want to stop devouring her. Her nectar tastes of springtime and the richest mead. Like honeyed roses. I lick a path from her inner thigh into her core, and she moans for me. She is exquisite. I nuzzle into her freshly waxed mound and nibble on her little bundle of nerves, and she goes ecstatic, her body rocking hard with another orgasm. I smile up at her as she looks down at me, disbelief in her eyes. “You are far too young to know how to do this to me” she pants. My grin grows wider, more self-assured. “Am I now?” “Don’t get cocky!” I press my member against her opening, ready to go again. “Like this?”She groans, exasperated. I laugh as I press my member into her glistening opening, rocking us both. She flips the dynamic and begins to ride me, her full breasts bobbing above me in a sensual dance. She has endless curves, her hips full and her belly round in the most seductive ways. Not only that, but she is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen
[Kaydence]I place a hand on her wrist. "Stop."She blinks up at me. In my mind I trace the rune for "peace" and watch in amazement as her body begins to relax, the flames melting away as her breathing stilled.Queenie's first reaction is relief. Her face goes still, every crease leaving her features. But then just as suddenly her relief turns to anger."How dare you!" she screams pushing over the table and running for the back door. The other players stand in a rush as drinks, cards, and chips go flying. Shouts chase her retreating form as she dashes between players."Balance," I call out, tracing the rune with my hand and watch in amazement as Queenie falls backward, her arms pinwheeling."Tranquility," the room goes still, everything stopping as if time itself couldn't be rushed. The people who were once angry and pushing their way towards us stopped moving. Soon Queenie and I are the only ones moving."Grace," I finish the incantation, moving with the speed and agility of a dancer,
[Queenie]We are getting low on supplies. It takes quite a bit of baneberry juice to make the sleep potion. Because we need to keep him perpetually asleep, I need a constant supply. In Torq, baneberries are not very common and the cost of exporting them is stretching our finances thin, even with Mab’s hidden stash of gold.“This is why we should have stayed in Delas,”Mab argues.“We didn’t need to buy anything when we were still there and…”“It was teeming with knights. I had to stay indoors the entire time,” I argue. “Torq is better. I can actually go outside and talk to people here.“You
[Kaydence]The morning is bright. Too bright. My eyes hurt from too much mead and not enough sleep and I find myself for not the last time wondering why I let Devona trick me into this quest.I must have been getting on her nerves. Either that or she just needed me to find something to do so that she could focus all of her attention on the queen. It doesn’t matter.“Are you still with us, Sir Kay?” Gawain is annoyingly chipper. He’s a morning person. He also has this annoying habit of deadnaming me that is getting under my skin.“It’s Kaydence, you dumb ass,” I grumble, blinking at him while I shield my eyes, my other hand firmly placed on the pommel of my saddle.He
[Kaydence]It's been two months since we lost Arthur in the battle for Avalon.Two agonizing months since my best friend fell into an enchanted sleep. I watch my mentor, Merlin Devona, cry over her every night. She tries to hide it from everyone else, but I know. How could I not? We spend most mornings together working on my skills as a paladin. I'm getting stronger, and more skilled, but not nearly as strong or as skilled as I was in my past life as Sir Kay. Kay had a lifetime to learn. I've only been at it a couple of months, and I know this, but it still doesn't keep the whole situation from feeling pointless and frustrating."Tell me why I have to do this?" I whine as Devona grinds some herbs in her pestle. "This has nothing to do with fighting.""All g
“Good night, my love,” I kiss her brow before sitting by her side in an old wooden chair, its velvet cushion long shredded with time. Faye does not respond, her eyes closed tight, her breath shallow. She has been like this since the night of the battle, unresponsive and unmoving, preserved by her own magic, for the last three months. Technically we won; Mab is dead, her forces are scattered, and I am serving as regent, bringing the powers of Avalon back together once more as we work together to reconstruct our world. But we also lost. Arthur is gone, missing. I cannot feel him through the bond, not since I saw Mab pierce him through the heart with her bone blade. Nobody is sure why his body was taken. Some suspect that Mab had one final plan in place and that somehow he plays a part in it. We are searching for him, following every lead throughout this world and the next, but each time we th
[Faye]I can't breathe. Something is in my throat. Choking, I sit up. Monitors in the room begin to ding erratically as I continue to gag, my heart beating fast."Hold on, Mrs. Drake" an agitated voice advises. "We just need to remove your breathing tube."Breathing tube?"Heart rate is elevated," a nurse records. "All other vitals seem to be within normal ranges."The long tube is removed from my lungs and I almost vomit at the pulling sensation. Like a fish caught on land, I begin to gasp."Breathe, Mrs. Drake, breathe," a calm hand rubs my back. “You’ve been incapacitated for a few days. We had to put you on a ventilator when you stopped breat
[Queen Mab] The moon is rising full and bright over the fields of Camelot. My head is light, heady with the power of nearly a thousand souls, freshly harvested. The blade I carry was crafted from the very bones of my enemy, Morgana, whose rotted corpse lay buried beneath the tower itself, along with her granddaughters, the famous oracles who predicted my doom. There is something satisfying about destroying their legacy with their own bodies that provides me with a sense of peace. Stretching my limbs, I feel invincible, unstoppable, as I prepare to move through the battle. My agents have served me well. Guinevere, ever the loyal servant, was more than eager to take her position mixed amongst Arthur's trusted advisors, staying invisible, passing the corruption of my curse onto those two gullible knights as she waited for my signal to attack. She knew that she’d
[Arthur]A page helps me into form-fitting leather armor I’ve never worn in this lifetime as I suit up and prepare for war. It doesn’t matter that I am only 19 years old. I am the king, whether I want to be or not. I was born to this, it is my destiny. It doesn’t matter that I have no memory of living this life. As soon as I pulled Excalibur through time to my hand I became the leader of these troops in the fight that has been building for centuries. No, millenia. Now the enemy is sitting just beyond the gates, setting up camp, watching and waiting for the right opportunity to strike.It is my duty to lead these soldiers, these knights into battle. But what do I actually know of war? I have tried to access the memories of my previous life, but unlike Faye and Kaydence, I do not have a deep connection to the King Arthur I was. I have flas
[Lance]Holding my head, I scream, falling to my knees.“Camelot…Camelot…Camelot…Camelot…Camelot…Camelot”“Monsieur,” a hand shakes my shoulder, “Est-ce que ça va monsieur?”“Non,” I shake my head, “non…non…non…non…”The earth starts to shake. Glasses on tables begin to rattle, some falling to the stone floor of the cafe. People sitting at tables continue their conversations, laughing as if they do not see or hear everything else happening around them. Even my screams, echoing through this restaurant, are something they are trying to ignore.On the edge