Chapter Two
Winter 519
The next month was a blur, lived in flashes that were more like visions than solid reality. First the world was black, then searing light pierced my eyes and the left side of my body was consumed by fire, burning, skin crackling and peeling back, leaving tender flesh and muscle exposed. Strong arms held me down when I tried to fight the sting of water and wine. By the time the sweet scent of honey and herbs reached my nose, I was worn out, numb, spent from the pain.
I slipped in and out of fever dreams that were no more pleasant for my mind and soul than the treatment my body was undergoing. In one, Arthur embraced me at Camelot’s gates, only to sink a sharp blade into my side again and again. This blade did not kill me, but rather it gave him a place to begin pe
