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"WOULD be best if you&039;d awake, Isabel"
"Just one more hour," Isabel murmured
"I understand the need to nap You&039;ve had a long journey," Viviane said, giving Isabel a shake You are ht away I need my Merlin"
When her new hope just moaned, turned over and said, "Coffee," Viviane felt exasperation roil inside of her "Awake your sorryperson, now! But not fordemands Double-cream chocolate cappuccino, yes?"
Her hope roused instantly, brushing the lush golden hair from her face "Oh, yes, please Where am I? Did you save me? I thank you so much There were so many shoulda - "
" - woulda, couldas, yes, I&039;e silver stein of coffee appeared out of the mist "Drink first Then we shall talk"
The beautiful woman stared at her but took the stein froh," she said, then peered down into the cup "This is the best coffee I&039;ve ever had How did you - "
"I learned quickly how to brehile visiting your time"
"My time?"
"As I said, we have much to discuss"
Isabel knew that she was either in heaven, because the coffee said so, or she was in hell, because the woman in front of her was so ethereally beautiful, she had to be the devil in disguise
Then again, she wasn&039;t ood cup of coffee when she tasted one And it aking her up fast, which was a good sign that it wasn&039;t decaf
She looked around She was sitting by a lake, but it definitely wasn&039;t Grand Lake The flora and fauna were all out of whack Thethat hovered over the water was shi she&039;d ever experienced there Not to n of civilization in sight
And then she noticed her attire Most definitely not what she&039;d al-sleeved, yet the sleeves stopped short of her shoulders and flared out at the wrists The bodice was square and offered a view of cleavage she was own to be sure, in fact it would make a thumbs-up on any red carpet, but it wasn&039;t hers
"What is going on here?" she asked "Where aet here, and who in hell are you?"
The woled, her silvercoffee
"I assure you, we, you, are not in hell"
"Then where araphed you, because you have to be the ly beautiful woman I&039;ve ever seen And I&039;ve seen theain, the delicious brew in her silverchalice? "What&039;s the deal?"
"I&039;ve chosen you, Isabel, for a very special, very important mission"
"I&039;d be flattered if I weren&039;t so spooked And I&039;d run screareat cup of coffee"
"Are you hungry as well? The Fates tell nets"
The woain, but Isabel stopped her "Much as I appreciate that, before you do that out-of-thin-air thing again, may I ask a few questions?"
"You deserve to have all of your questions answered"
Isabel took that as a yes "Were you the one who saved me?"
"Yes"
"How? As soon as I hit the water and couldn&039;t get free, I kneas in trouble" She held up her hand and wiggled her fingers, wiggled the toes encased in silver slippers "All better, just like that I was a goner for sure And then I got this feeling of, I don&039;t know, a second chance"
"Goner? You were, I think I&039;d say, a finder And yes, this is another chance to fulfill sos up" Isabel glanced around at the lush greenery, at the dense forest beyond this rocky beach "We&039;re not in Oklahoma anymore, are we, Toto?"
"Toto?"
"I&039;ht You sees about me May I ask what your name is?"
"I&039;m known as Coventina But you may call me - "
"As in the Lady of the Lake Coventina? As in the mythical Goddess of Water?"
The woman shined with a triumphant smile "So you have heard of -lost myth"
Isabel sat stunned The shiolden hair, the blue eyes that seemed to reflect the purity of the lake behind thelanced around "Where are the ca them, because I can spot and smell one from a mile away"
"I assure you, I as exist, not in net now And may I have them drizzled with - "
" - dark chocolate Of course" That snap thing again, and then Isabel was staring at a feast The beignets, yes, just the way she wanted thes and potatoes with onions, peppers and bits of bacon, just how she cooked theood Too perfect Too crazy
Then again, she was too hungry to actually be rude enough to decline
"Do youher fingers? She started to get to her feet That&039;s when she noticed that, with a wave of the wolued to the earth beneath her She tried to free herself frolued to her skin as well
"Please hear me out," said the woman who, if the tales were true, didn&039;t really need to ask
Isabel sat back down "You&039;ll excuse me if I&039;m just a littledumbfounded?"
"I understand"
"You saved me from Grand Lake"
"Yes"
"Why?"
"Because I have need of you And I have hopes that this will all turn out so that one of your - how did you put it? - shouldas will also come true for you"
"I&039;m alive I&039;m not just in another world?"
"Oh, I am afraid you are definitely in another world But it&039;s of this world, Isabel Just not of your time"
"Where aht about ht about Caain just stared at her "Surely you jest"
Coventina laughed, a sound that was so lyrical that even the lake seemed to respond to it The lake bubbled here and there as if so beneath couldn&039;t help but enjoy the joke with her "I enjoy a good jest, as do many of the men and women of the castle But I assure you, beyond this forest is the castle of Ca Arthur and Lancelot and Guinevere and Mer - Oh He really is your Merlin"
"Or was," Coventina said, and her eyes iray "But he has forsaken this world, too devastated by the destiny he fears is in Arthur&039;s future" The Lady grasped Isabel&039;s hand "Ihim back I must I fear that eternity will be an eternal misery without him"
"Why me?" Isabel asked, even as she tried not to shoatery eyes She was so not a crybaby, unless it was over the tragedy of a sweet and heroic hanistan or the birth of a kitten
Coventina squeezed Isabel&039;s hand even ely it didn&039;t hurt, but felt like energy being exchanged between the for I asked the gods for one as beautiful, smart and, I&039;m sorry to say, about to die And as a must for me was a woman who had an, as you put it, &039;shoulda&039; One who mourned in her last moments that she&039;d never found true love"
"What makes you think I&039;ll find it here, Cov - "
"Call me Viviane Merlin is the only one who ever has, but I&039;d like if you would as well Because I believe you will be the one who brings him back to me"