The Daughters of Merlin
Chapter 8: A new Friend

Two months passed and things calmed down. Merlin allowed his girls to leave the house on their own again, though he made sure that Zana had Spark and Grace had Raven with her.

Besides going to the castle to see Virgil, Grace only ever went to the library which they had on the edge of the village which was run by a man with red hair and blue eyes which were always framed by spectacles named Mr. Lyndyle, though he allowed Grace to call him Lyn. Grace had just exited the building with a new book, having returned the one she had finished.

Virgil still had lessons preparing him for when he would be king, though Arthur had made it so that they wouldn’t take him all day. He would be done later in the afternoon at three. Grace liked to spend her time waiting by either sitting on the bench outside the library or at home, and as for today, she chose to wait outside the library.

Grace sat down on the bench, Raven jumping down from her shoulder to perch himself on the back of the bench next to Grace, peering over her shoulder, reading along with her. Grace only got three pages into the book when someone cleared their throat, bringing her back to reality.

Grace looked up from her book to see a boy around Virgil’s age standing in front of her. The boy had blonde hair and hazel colored eyes. He looked to be much taller than Grace, maybe even taller than Zana. The boy gave Grace a friendly smile, causing her to blush from the attention that the handsome boy was giving her.

“I’m sorry for disturbing you but I was wondering if you might be able to help me.” The boy said, his voice slightly deep but still smooth.

Grace marked her page before closing her book. “Th-that depends on what it is.”

“My family and I are merchants. We arrived here just yesterday. Our dog ran away during the night. He knows better than to go too far, but not knowing this place very well, I’m not sure where he could be. I’ve asked others but they said that they couldn’t help.” The boy shrugged.

Grace stood up, putting her book in her satchel before shyly looking up at the boy. “I grew up more so in the woods, but I’ll do my best to help. What does he look like?”

“He’s a big black rottweiler. About this tall.” The boy said placing his hand at his waist, indicating that the dog was very tall, meaning he was probably pretty large as well.

“You couldn’t replace him?” Grace asked, surprised, to which the boy shook his head no. “Then we should check the woods. People would have seen him in town if he was here, being that large.”

The boy chuckled to which Grace joined in. “Yeah, I guess so. Good thing you know the woods then.”

Grace blushed before heading toward the edge of the village which was bordered by the forest, the boy walking next to her.

“Oh, forgive me for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Mordred.” The boy said.

“I’m Grace.” Grace replied, returning his friendly smile.

After a half hour of searching, Grace and Mordred at last found his dog. After this, Mordred had to go back to his family so he said goodbye to Grace.

Over the next four months, Mordred would meet Grace on the bench outside the library where they would just sit and talk. Mordred always managed to leave a few minutes before Virgil arrived however, though Grace didn’t think too much of this.

“What is it?” Mordred asked one day, noticing that Grace seemed slightly distracted.

“What do you mean?” Grace replied, slightly confused.

“You seem preoccupied. What’s on your mind?” Mordred asked with only genuine curiosity.

Grace blushed, grabbing a strand of her long white hair and began to fiddle with it as she always did when nervous. “Oh, it’s just that my friend, Virgil-”

“The Prince.” Mordred interrupted, nodding to her so that she saw that he understood.

“His eighteenth birthday is five days away. His father is throwing this huge ball in celebration. There’s going to be a lot of royalty there.” Grace explained.

“You shouldn’t be worried about that. I bet you’ll be the most gorgeous girl there.” Mordred said with genuine honesty which Grace noticed, causing her blush to deepen.

“I highly doubt that. . . Th-there’s something else though . . .” Grace hesitated.

Mordred looked at her, waiting for her to continue. Grace placed her hands in her lap, sighing.

“It’s silly, really. Forget I said anything.” Grace refused to look at Mordred, unable to believe that she had been considering telling him something so embarrassing and silly.

“C’mon, you can tell me. I won’t make fun of you.” Mordred assured her, placing his hand over hers where she held them in her lap.

Grace bit her lip, glancing at Mordred out of the corner of her eye. At last, she sighed, clenching her hands into fists and squeezing her eyes closed. “I don’t know how to dance.”

Grace waited for Mordred to laugh. However, after several moments of silence, she opened her eyes and peered over at him to see that he was smiling at her, but not in a teasing way.

“Dancing isn’t that hard to learn. But if it would make you feel better, I can teach you the basics.” Mordred said, getting up and holding his hand out to her.

“I know how to dance, like waltz, it’s just that . . . I’ve never danced with other people outside my sister and dad.” Grace elaborated.

“Then allow me to be your first.” Mordred insisted, still waiting for her to take his hand.

Grace nervously glanced up and down the street, but there was no one watching them. Everyone was in the main square a few blocks away, shopping at the markets.

Grace then glanced at the roof of the building across from where she sat where Raven was watching them before she hesitantly placed her hand on top of Mordred’s. His smile widened as he pulled her to her feet, pulling her close as he placed his free hand on her waist. Grace gasped slightly at the sudden close contact before blushing and placing her hand on his shoulder as he began to sway to invisible music.

Grace was so close to Mordred and found herself surprised to discover that he smelled faintly of chrysanthemums, which were very rare to replace in that region. However, as she reminded herself that his family were merchants, she realized it wasn’t too strange.

After a few moments of swaying, Mordred let go of Grace’s waist, taking a step back as he lifted their joined hands, Grace smiling a bit as she spun underneath their joined hands before he pulled her close once again. Grace’s cheeks were flushed and she wondered if he could feel and hear her racing heart.

All of a sudden, Grace cried out in surprise as Mordred dipped her, grabbing tightly onto his shoulder while he simply chuckled. Mordred then slowly brought her back up. Grace couldn’t help but look down at his lips as she bit her own as he stood her up straight. When Grace realized that Mordred was leaning down, his face growing ever closer to hers, she felt as if her heart was going to burst from her chest from the slight fear and anticipation as she realized that Mordred intended on kissing her.

“Uh, Grace?”