As they continued on their way once they had eaten and changed their horses, a strong wind started to blow from the shore, carrying the scent, and the muffled sound of the sea crashing against the rocks. The wind finally dispersed the fog, allowing the travellers to take a peek at the world around them.

Not that there was much to see apart from the warm sun shining brightly above them. Taking her hat off, Ginny squinted into the distance-- a faint streak of aquamarine swayed and shimmered on the horizon, where the restless, green sea of grass merged with the azure ocean, before it bleached into the light blue sky. They met no one on the bleak, exposed moors; only a herd of wild ponies, paying no mind to the travellers, grazed nearby, on a safe, dry spot encompassed by the soft, muddy grassland.

"Is this place safe?" Ginny heard the prince ask Garreth as the path they had been following for hours, judging by the course of the sun in the sky, became a long causeway surrounded by shallow pools of seawater. A thin layer of mist rose from the water-infused ground now that the sun neared the western horizon, and the heat of the day started to give way to the chill of the approaching night.

"Yes, but it would be better if we walked and led our horses from here, and then left them under the castle hill," Garreth replied, pointing in front of them, before he jumped off his horse.

Ginny looked where he had pointed-- in the distance, the causeway became a road again, and wound gently uphill, parallel with the shore, leaving the moors behind. Then it reached a steep hill with an impressive, half-ruined, white castle perched on its peak, high above the sea.

"That's Tintagel, my lord," Garreth told the prince. "There is only a narrow, rocky path leading to the ruin, not suitable for horses."

Ginny felt her throat tighten with tears. This was the place she had seen in her dream, just like Lancelot's cloak... What did it mean?

Her knight, who had followed Garreth's example and dismounted, spread his arms towards her in that moment, and she let herself slip off the horse into his embrace.

"What is it?" he asked, noticing her seriousness,  but she only shook her head in reply. She didn't know herself.

Reaching the foot of the hill in silence, they tied their horses to an iron ring inserted into a crevice between two rocks jutting out of the hillside. Ginny smiled; only a man could have thought of creating a spot to tether one's horses safely in this abandoned place, where other men came occasionally, like pilgrims to a holy place of some miracle, to worship a sword thrust into a stone.

She looked up towards the ruin, and when she felt her knight's hand close around hers, she realised that the knights carrying the burning torches and the white banner with the golden dragon, her beautiful dress and the sword she had held, were the only things missing-- this was her dream all over again. Ginny giggled, thinking that she would happily trade the splendid gown from her vision for a life with Sir Lancelot.

He pulled her close to him, kissing her briefly, whispering, "I'll miss that sound."

"Let us go up before it gets dark. Then we can camp down here for the night," Garreth proposed, and they agreed, following him up the hill.

The path was narrow and interspersed with sharp rocks. Ginny hoped that they would be back down before sunset; it would be dangerous to descend after dark.

It didn't take them long to reach the top. The moment they entered the ancient ruin, Ginny felt as if they stepped into another world. The light was different within the white walls; it filtered through the leaves and blossoms of wild, rambling roses twined into a canopy, substituting the crumbled roof.

She saw her knight pluck two of the fragile pink blooms, unleashing their sweet scent. He reached her in the corner of what once might have been a chamber, where she stood silently by an archway, enchanted by the view it offered. It must have been a gate to a staircase leading all the way to the beach in the past; now, there was only a narrow stone ledge above a tall precipice.

Ginny tore her eyes from the sea rushing towards the shore deep down, crashing against the rocks, and looked in her knight's eyes, smiling, when he pushed the two blossoms in her hair, cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his waist momentarily then released him, so he could join the other two men, walking around the legendary Sword placed in the center of the room cautiously, as if they were expecting it to come to life suddenly and do something unpredictable.

But nothing happened, the Sword continued to sit in its stone in the middle of the chamber bathed in the greenish, moving, rose-scented light, its hilt set with colourful gemstones glimmering dimly as the roses fluttered in the wind.

The princess sat down on a bench attached to the wall next to the arch, pressing her forehead to the cool stone as she listened to the sea, the whisper of rose petals in the wind and the cries of seagulls echoing strangely around them.

"You first, Sir Garreth," the prince's voice drew her attention back to her companions. "As you have already tried..."

Garreth chuckled but nodded politely at the other man, reaching for the Sword's hilt. Ginny saw his hand close around it and pull, his knuckles white with the force he applied... but it didn't move. She smiled at him when he looked at her, shrugging and shaking his head.

"Lancelot?" the prince offered, but Ginny saw her knight shake his head silently, motioning to the prince to try first.

He did. Reaching for the precious hilt jutting out of the stone he pulled, then tried with both hands, but it didn't shift one inch, and the prince laughed, looking at Sir Lancelot challengingly.

Ginny stood up and reached the knight before he could move closer to the Sword. Their eyes met briefly; they both knew how this moment might change their destinies. She clung to his sleeve as he reached for the Sword's hilt, pulling, trying again, once, twice... She released the breath she did not realise she was holding when Arthur gave up, turning to her, his eyes full of sadness, apology...

She opened her mouth to console him but had no time to speak. Something... huge appeared in the crumbling arch, obscuring the light of the setting sun. It hovered in the air, flapping its bat-like wings loudly and breathing heavily, snorting like a horse as thin wisps of smoke issued from its enormous, trembling nostrils. The beast was white, but its back and the long tail were covered with golden scales, and it carried a rider...

Dragon! Ginny thought. It looked like the dragon adorning the banner in her dream. And there was one more, darker and larger, right behind!

Without thinking, the princess reached for the hilt of the only sword she could see, placing herself between her knight and the scary beast, brandishing the heavy, dark, leaf-shaped blade. She did not notice that she was shaking with fear until she felt Arthur's arms around her, his lips whispering in her ear, "It's all right, they belong to us."

Burying her face in his chest, barely suppressing a sob, she let her hand, still closed around the Sword's hilt, drop to her side, trying to understand... something... anything...

"Arthur, Lancelot, we were sent to fetch you immediately. The Saxons landed on the Northern Shores, and our army is gathering in the Celidon Wood, waiting for you." The man riding the golden-scaled dragon announced.

Ginny pulled away from her knight, tilting her face up, seeking his eyes. So... this was it. He was leaving, they would not even have the last night...

He looked down at her, wishing he had talked to her in the morning instead of waiting for tonight. But it didn't really matter; the incredible, gorgeous girl had pulled the Excalibur from the stone.

He laughed, crushing her against him, surprising her.

"Keep that sword, my queen, I'll come back for you as soon as I can," Arthur said, and she inhaled deeply. Only now did she realise what she had done.

"You... you take it," Ginny muttered, offering the Sword to him.

But he shook his head, smiling at her, then kissing her deeply, making her feel unsure on her legs. "It belongs to you." He walked to the arch then, and she followed him.

They watched the prince pull Garreth in an embrace, whispering something in his ear. Letting go of her cousin, the man approached Ginny, took her hand still holding the heavy Sword in his, and kissed it. "Now, that was unexpected, my lady. I can't wait for us to meet again."

With that, the prince stepped on the stone ledge and climbed on the second, darker dragon; its rider made it approach the ruin as well as he could.

Then it was the turn of her knight. He took her free hand in his and pulled her towards the arch the instant the prince's dragon was gone. Her hand shook only a little when she let him bring it to the dragon's pink snout, surprisingly warm and smooth.

"Her name is Rhosyn, and I have had her since I can remember," he said.

She giggled, looking at him incredulously. Out of all possible names, why would he name his dragon... "Rhosyn?"

"She likes... eating flowers. Roses are her favourite." He said nonchalantly, making her giggle again.

Ginny pulled one of the wild roses from her hair, offering the pink blossom to the beautiful monster hesitantly. It vanished from her hand without a trace in a blink of an eye, followed by the dragon's long tongue bestowing a grateful lick to her fingers.

"You bewitched my dragon, too, Gwen..." he muttered, his lips finding hers again.

"Oh, come on, we must hurry," the man seated on Rhosyn said impatiently, making room for his friend.

"Lady Gwendolyn, he's Cai, my foster brother. But I swear, Rhosyn is a much better companion than him," Arthur said, settling on the dragon, patting it fondly on its enormous, golden head.

"Warwick, promise me that you'll take her to safety, fast. I know that you can, with all that magic of yours. Wish us luck, and we'll be back in no time," he continued, looking at Garreth, who now approached Ginny and pulled her away from the arch.

Then he spoke to her again, "Wait for me, Gwendolyn."

She nodded, her eyes filling with tears, then ran back to the arch, so close to the precipice that Garreth got scared she would fall out, when Rhosyn flew away, following the other dragon, now a mere dot in the twilight sky.

"Be careful, Guinevere!" Garreth called, catching her around her waist.

Arthur turned around as he heard the call, waving at Garreth gratefully when he saw the girl with the Sword safe in her cousin's embrace. Had he just called her... Guinevere?

"Will you stop looking around, Arthur? You are slowing us down, and your father is waiting for you. King Leodegrance and most of our allies are already gathered on the shores of the Tweed, changing the peaceful Celidon Wood into an army camp..." Cai protested, bringing Arthur back to reality.

Arthur shook his head to clear it. He needed to fight this battle first to make the country safe again... for her... for them... After that, he would find her, whoever she was.

And as Ginny stood there in Garreth's arms, watching her knight fly away, taking a piece of her heart with him, it finally dawned on her.

"Garreth, I... I have the Excalibur, I don't have to marry your Prince Arthur! Take me home, I need to talk to my father. I'm going to marry Sir Lancelot of the Lake, or no one at all!"