Wonderly Wroth

By Yolande Kleinn

Arthur knows he is destined to die at Camlann. But when the Lady Merlin enlists a powerful enchantment to save him—an enchantment to tether Arthur's life to Lancelot's—the magic carries unintended consequences. Lancelot's strength could be Arthur's salvation, but what of the deeper connection that now binds the king to his most loyal knight? The connection is only temporary, but when Arthur learns the truth of Lancelot's feelings for him, their friendship could change forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Yolande Kleinn
• Release date: Sep 8, 2020
• ISBN: 9781310660061

Yolande Kleinn

Yolande Kleinn may be a shameless dreamer and a stubborn optimist, but she is also a proud purveyor of romance and hijinx. Excitable, fastidious and a little eclectic, she spends every spare moment writing the stories she wants to read. If she can drag other people into the pool along with her, then so much the better.

Book preview

Wonderly Wroth

by Yolande Kleinn

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Before the blade pierces his armor Arthur knows he is meant to die here.

Kings die on battlefields; such is the fate Arthur Pendragon has always accepted. But this is an even greater certainty. He knew before the sun rose that his death waited on this hillside.

He's dreamed this battlefield too many times.

And last night, a new dream: his favorite cousin came to him in sleep, though Gawain has been dead since they were both children. He stood in Arthur's tent— small and somber and dressed in his burial robes—and warned Arthur to turn back.

Arthur couldn't turn back, any more than he could send his men into battle without him. He doesn't repent his decision, even as he feels the bite of steel piercing through a gap in his mail.

Futile rage flashes through him as Mordred's blade lodges deeper in his shoulder. Mordred is only a cruel thug, a stranger intent on carving a piece of Arthur's kingdom for himself. He won't succeed—Arthur's knights will see this enemy vanquished, with or without their king—but Camelot will still fall to chaos in Arthur's absence. There is no queen to rule in his stead. Arthur has no children, legitimate or otherwise, and no heirs but for a horde of squabbling cousins to the north.

The succession will be fraught. This is one thing he regrets.

The wound cuts deep and Arthur falls to his knees. He twists painfully to see Mordred standing above him, blade poised for a second fatal blow. Arthur's own sword is in the dirt beside his helm, and his injured arm hangs useless at his side. He makes no move to escape the inevitable.

A scream of fury pierces the fading clatter of battle, and then a blur of motion and flashing steel cuts Mordred down. Mordred’s sword tumbles to the muddy ground. The life fades with surprising swiftness from his eyes.

Arthur stares. His own blood is rushing out of him with every heartbeat, but he raises his head to find Bedivere kneeling beside him. Bedivere's armor is chafed and scored, spattered with blood. His dark eyes widen with fear. Arthur offers a smile he does not feel.

The fighting has all but stopped around them, and Arthur knows his army has won. The field is theirs.

Bedivere scans the quieting battlefield, and after a moment he calls out in a ragged voice. "Merlin. Here!"

Arthur blinks, struggling to focus through blurring vision. He is slumped against