Reunion

[Demeter]

Luca patted the sand on either side if him. "Darius owns this island; we're safe here," he said before reaching up and pulling his companions down to the shore. "I brought us here because we have a problem and we can't fix it as easily as we can fix Camelot."

Luca knew that both wanted more of an explanation. "Aria, you think something is broken beyond repair. Kyros, you think you're too Kyrosian to make this work. But how do we know somethings broken if we don't have the time to work on this union in peace?

"We barely have any time for ourselves, either at Camelot or Avalon. Everyone needs something from us at every moment. If we don't take the time to make this union, which we were all thrown into, work, we cannot serve Avalon, Camelot and Excalibur as we were meant to."

Luca shook his head. "Before when I was Lancelot and Kyros was Arthur, it was you, Aria that bound the three of us together. Even after I knew I could hold Excalibur and just what that meant, I didn't recognize the depth of my feelings for Arthur. It was you, Aria, who slapped me upside the head and said that we were meant to have the most intimate kind of triad.

"This time, its my turn to bring us together. So I've brought us to this island to learn what we can be together as Luca, Aria and Kyros without the pressures of our other titles. Just us."

Luca looked at each of his mates in turn. "And we are not leaving this island till there is a solid, working partnership between the three of us."

[Maira]

Kyros smirked, and Aria glared. The cheeky bastard sitting between them had kidnapped them and Aria wanted to strangle him. More so, she wanted to pummel Kyros for smirking about the situation. Ignoring the smirking bastard, she turned her glare back to Luca and demanded, "You thought kidnapping us was the best way to solve things? Really? What healthy relationship starts off with being held hostage?" Then she punched his shoulder and got back up to storm off down the beach. As she went she was muttering varied curses under her breath and Kyros thought he heard "fuck romantic vacation" in amongst the rest.

When Aria was out of sight and hearing, Kyros burst out laughing and laid a passionate kiss square on Luca's lips. When he finally pulled away for air, Kyros nearly laughed again, but instead he asked jokingly, "How's your shoulder?" It was Kyros's turn to get punched now, and that set him into a fit of belly laughs.

When he was finally able to stop laughing, he asked lightly but seriously, "So, do you think this is going to work? Given the hot temper of our lovely travel companion, I think we've got our work cut out for us."

*****

Maybe Kyros thought she was out of hearing range, but Aria heard his laughing and it brought tears springing into her eyes. Bastard. Why did he think this was so funny? They had responsibilities at Avalon and Camelot, there were people looking to them to put those parts of the Alati world back in order and without them there, Gods knew how badly things would fall apart or get screwed up.

Aria, despite her anger, resentment, and tears, eventually had to admit that maybe she was a little grateful for this chance. Grateful that somebody else was taking control of the triad this time. Gods knew that she couldn't manage it with her still broken heart. She wanted to be whatever was needed of her for the triad to succeed, but she was scared that meant loving them. When it came right down to the truth, Aria was scared to love at all, let alone the two men who used to be her mates. Sometimes fate was cruel and not for the first time Aria wondered why she had been spared the same fate as her mates. Why hadn't she died during the same battle as Arthur and Lancelot? What was the purpose of keeping her alive, destroying her heart, and allowing the men to be reborn and start fresh?

[Demeter]

Luca leaned against Kyros and stared out at the moonlit waters of the lagoon. "It has to work. If we can't make this triad work, then we can never restore Avalon and Camelot. The castle is still safely hidden behind the veil and there are many who can see to the daily running of Avalon. We can take the time to sort this triad out before we start sorting out the rest."

He turned, kneeling next to his lover. "We work. But we and Aria don't work. We need to focus on her but also give her the time she needs to grieve. She's buried herself in Avalon and Camelot. That can't be healthy. We need to figure it out as who we are now and not who we once were."

***
Three days into their tropical confinement and Aria still wasn't talking to them. As Luca floated in the blue lagoon waters, he pondered the complexity that was Aria. He had to admit that it was completely unfair of the Powers That Be to thrust the woman into this just after she'd awoken. They'd never quite regained the easy companionship they'd shared in the apple orchard on Kyros' family farm. The accident with Kyros' beast of a horse and the awakening of Arthur's soul had driven a wedge into the budding friendship and concerns over Avalon and Camelot had only deepened it.

And as much as he thought on it, Luca didn't know how to breach the walls around Aria; not without somehow damaging her. He wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her; yell at her to stop being so stubborn and talk to them. And while things were lukewarm between him and Aria, there was a frigid wall between her and Kyros.

"And that is exactly why I've been dispatched."

Luca started, tipped to far and splashes around the water as if he was a drowning dog. When he finally righted himself in the neck deep water, he spotted the figure fluttering above him. Dressed all in white, she hovered in the air.

"I really hate being dragged from my Haven. The Atlantis Triad didn't give us any problems. Of course, that was a new triad..." The woman tapped a frosty blue fingernail against her chin. "Aria?"

Luca pointed to the shore.

"Thank you."

***

Charis followed the jungle path to Aria. The insistent prodding of the Celtic Pantheon had drawn her out of Haven and to this remote island. The Excalibur triad needed help to work out the kinks. Who better to council Aria and the other two then one who'd also suffered from a broken triad.

Charis, who'd devoted her life to serving all the pantheons known in this world, felt the heat of hate before the deities sucked it from her. Growling, she cursed the gods. She could handle their hold over her life but this she hated...

Yes, she thought, send the one who will never feel the blessed beats of her mates' hearts again to one who'd found her mates again. It was a relief to know that she could still be hateful and jealous but, like a good girl, she'd do the bidding of her masters.

Charis found Aria in the interior of the island's jungle. For a moment, she studied the girl and grumbled. Girl couldn't just be glad, she had to be difficult. "You know, a triad that doesn't work can be just as deadly as death. You've hardly tried to work things out with them, Guardian of Excalibur."

[Maira]

Aria had spent her angry energy doing something productive after that first night of sleeping on the beach. Waking up with sand in your nether-regions would be good motivation for anybody to find a slightly less back-to-nature sleeping arrangement. It only took five tries before the hammock that Aria rigged up from vines was stable enough to hold her, even through the stiff breeze off the ocean and her own squirming as she attempted to get comfortable. It was in her hammock that Charis found her.

The other woman's voice sent her scrambling from the vines, only her left foot got stuck and she went down hard. She knocked her chin on a root from one of the trees supporting her hammock, and between the wrenching pain in her ankle and her chin being split open, Aria couldn't help the tears. From her spot on the ground, her chin bleeding and her foot still hung up in the hammock, Aria turned and looked at the woman who was staring at her. Defiant, likely in part because of the pain, she snarled out, "Of course I know that, I'm no simpleton!"

Having recognized who the woman surely was, Aria was unwilling to remain at a disadvantage around the woman so she did the best she could to sit up and untangle her ankle from the hammock so she could stand and face the Oracle. Once she was, gingerly, standing on her own two feet again, Aria demanded, "Are you here to mock me, harass me, or help me?" If she'd been a fire elemental, likely things would have been getting singed at the edges from her temper. As it was, her ice ability was freezing the humidity in the air around her giving the appearance of a personal snow flurry.

[Demeter]

Charis resisted the urge to roll her eyes. They were both queens of legendary cities; she couldn't give in and be childish. "The Celtic Pantheon has ordered me to help you and I cannot defy them. If it were left up to me, and had I known you'd behave this way, I would have made it so you'd never find them again. It's not like you've put any effort into it. You didn't have to work to hard at finding them, did you? Wake up from a nice long nap and found them within a month. Both of them have their memories restored but you're whining about how they are too different. You don't know how lucky you are, girl, that they were available to be found.

"They gods are giving you three options of help. Option one: they put you back to sleep. They would remove Excalibur from your care, give it to a new Guardian to be queen to Kyros' king. You get to sleep the eons away with your pretty memories.

"Option two: they remove your memories of Lancelot and Arthur, allowing you to bond with Luca and Kyros. Problem with both of those options is that Kyros and Luca have their past selves' memories and no one to make sense of them.

"Option three: put away your fears, pull up your big girl panties and deal with it. Kyros and Luca need you, Aria."

Charis plopped herself down on a log. "Make your choice, girl, or the gods will make it for you. If Avalon is to herald the return of our civilization, it needs a stable triad and the gods will do what they need to do."

[Maira]

Resisting the urge to cringe, or lash out verbally, Aria did her best to get her little flurry under controll. There were still a few flakes falling when she answered the woman, "My life was shattered, I lived without my mates for years before I slept and upon waking I searched for 5 years. Even with that amount of time, I haven't had the proper time to grieve. You of all people should understand the need to greive." Her heart hurt, laying it all out for Charis, but maybe if the woman realized she wasn't just acting the spoiled child she'd not be quite so harsh. "Only once I started searching Ireland did it take me a month to find both Kyros and Luca at the same time. I wasn't ready for that. And they were already intimately familiar with each other."

Feeling defeated, she sat in her hammock to take the weight off her still tender ankle. She stared at the forest floor, surprised that Charis didn't hound her some more, after a few moments she looked up and told the woman, "I don't want to sleep anymore, I don't want to forget them, I just want it to not be so bloody painful to see my dead husband and dead lover staring at me through new eyes. They are right there where I can see them, and yet its as if they are on another planet all together. I am grateful to have found them again, but the men who I knew are untouchable to me and the new men are strangers. They are nothing like Arthur and Lancelot and that is hard to reconcile in my mind and in my heart when I can -see- them staring at me from new eyes..."

Tears threatened to fall so she blinked them away as best she could before asking, "Will the gods ease the pain? If they can make me sleep or take away my memories, easing the pain should be simple enough. I want to be able to love them, I want to be who I am needed to be, I came so close with Luca before the damn horse nearly killed Kyros and awakened Arthur.... I feel like I'm betraying them, all four of them, and I know its not logical but my heart and mind don't always agree on things."

[Demeter]

"Please recall your history, Aria. I know that you know who I am. I've lived for one hundred and eighteen centuries. I found my mates at age fifty. I lost both half a century later. I've never been allowed to die, let alone sleep. You have two men who, even if they don't physically resemble your mates, have their souls and memories. The souls of my mates were destroyed. Don't you dare assume to believe your situation is unique."

Charis ran a hand through her hair. "If the gods could take pain away, they would. They can do great things. Little things don't work.

"You have them, Aria. They need your help in order to figure out their past. Yes, Kyros almost died because the godless staged that attack. Avalon and Camelot are safe for now. Perhaps you should start with a conversation those two men that doesn't relate to either the island or the castle.

"There is no time limit for grief. Its not some magical time limit. It doesn't just end. I'm not saying go out to that beach and boink those men. I'm saying start a friendship. They are floundering without you and the godless know it!"

[Maira]

If Charis was looking to make her feel like the world's biggest ass, she was succeeding. Her voice soft, Aria answered her, "I never claimed my situation was unique, I know its not. I was only telling you in hopes that maybe you might understand more clearly why I might not be ready to move on yet."

It hurt, seeing the judgement in Charis's eyes, and after a moment she couldn't meet the older woman's gaze anymore. She stared at the forest floor for a few moments, thinking over what Charis had said before she got out of her hammock and left the woman standing alone in the forest as she went in search of Kyros and Luca.

*****

She was searching for Kyros. She knew that her relationship with him was going to be the harder one to tackle. Things had been good with Luca once and she knew that they could be again, given proper motivation. When she found the irishman, he was stalking some of the island's wildlife. As they had plenty of food laid in, she didn't really know why he was stalking them but she decided that she wasn't going to let his concentration stop her.

Walking up to Kyros managed to scare off most of the animals and when he turned to face her, frustration clear on his face, Aria just smirked and muttered, "Have to face my fears to beat them," and then she fisted her hands in his hair and pulled herself to him for a kiss.

Kyros attempted to pull away for maybe one breath before giving in and wrapping his arms around her waist. Whatever the hell had happened to change her mind, Kyros was happy for it. He wasn't a cold hearted man, like she seemed to think, and he was happy to finally have a chance to show her. He could feel the shock and confusion that Luca was feeling, wherever he was, and that caused Kyros to laugh and break their kiss sooner than he was ready.

Aria had also felt Luca's emotions in response to his two mates' actions and when Kyros laughed, she did too. Within a matter of moments, they heard crashing through the underbrush and Luca joined them in the small clearing a look of disbelief warring with hope in his eyes. Aria was still in Kyros's arms, but at Luca's approach she left them and went to the gawking man and kissed him too, afterwords whispering "I'm sorry I'm such a wreck." Then she left the two men in the forest and went back to their little hut on the beach to make something to eat.

[Demeter]

After the unexpected visit from The Oracle, the trio remained on the island for another few weeks. Not only did they discuss the future of Avalon and Camelot, but they spoke about the past of Arthur and Lancelot. Aria was able to fill in the many holes in their memories.

Those talks weren't always easy, especially when delicate subjects were brought up. They had to take breaks, letting Aria back away to deal with the emotions and her own memories that were awakened by these talks. This one of those days; they'd been discussing how the original plans for Camelot had come about. After, Aria had excused herself for a nap.

Luca occupied himself by plopping himself on Kyros' lap and engaging in a satisfying make-out session. Being the son of Lord Carmine had meant few opportunities for relationships of any lengths. That fact that the man with his hands on Luca's ass had been the one to have his virginity wasn't because of a lack of trying; rather it was a lack of opportunity.

In other words, Luca was making up for lost time and to find out just what all the fuss was about.

***
Charis took a moment to observe the pair of men on the beach. So wrapped up in each other, they didn't notice her. Which was all well and good because she wasn't here to talk with them. The Celtic Pantheon was pleased with the progress and Charis wanted to let Aria know.

She found the woman in the same spot as before, this time approaching Aria within the woman's field of vision. She motioned for her to stay put and sat herself down on a low hanging tree branch. "I'm here to pass along a message and to apologize for my behavior during our last meeting.

"The gods are pleased with the progress being made and they now worry less about the future. As a reward, they've allowed me to tell you a little bit about the future. Children. The course our relationship with Kyros and Luca hasn't been decided but there will be children this time around."

Charis smiled at Aria's gasp. She had to smother a laugh as the woman thrashed about in her hammock and was tipped out. "Not for a while yet; not until Camelot is restored at the very least but this time you will have what you were denied before."

She helped Aria to her feet and gave the woman a squeeze. "The curse the Godless placed upon your womb has been broken by the Pantheon."

[Maira]

Aria didn't get much of a nap after Charis's visit. Mostly she laid in her hammock and stared up into the leafy canopy above her as her thoughts replayed her weeks with Luca and Kyros, her conversations with Charis, and her memories of Arthur and Lancelot. The memories of her husband and lover still hurt and tears slipped from her eyes unbidden, they were also mostly unnoticed because coupled with them were the impressions of Kyros and Luca. Now that she was taking the time to get to know them better, she was able to recognize similarities between the two men and their past selves.

With a smirk at remembering Charis's news about her eventually having children, she couldn't help but wonder if Kyros would be as terrified of children as Arthur had been. She never could understand Arthur's hang-ups when it came to youngsters, but it also never ceased to amuse her and Lancelot. When it had been Arthur's own son Mordred (from before they were wed) that had killed him, she had thought maybe something inside of him knew that he would eventually lose his life in such a manner. Stranger things had been known to happen among the non-humans.

After a while, Aria's thoughts drifted back to Kyros and Luca and when they did she unexpectedly picked up on their activities on the beach. A blush crept up her cheeks when she realized just how intimate they were getting and then she giggled at the thought of all the sand involved. Thinking about all the sand, and just where it would be getting on their bodies caused Aria's blush to darken slightly, then it darkened even more as she realized she was actually physically reacting to what was going on between the two men.

With a groan Aria gave up on her nap entirely, rolled out of her hammock, and stalked off in the direction of where she had left Kyros and Luca on the beach. The fact that she hadn't gone to bed with either man yet, despite their weeks together on the island, coupled with her years of celibacy and feeling the two of them being intimate through their shared bond suddenly left Aria feeling more than a little bothered. She needed some release and while she was totally capable of taking care of things on her own she didn't actually want that. She wanted the men on the beach. In some way or another they would always be her men, and even if she wasn't sure she would ever love them like she had loved Arthur and Lancelot, she knew she could trust them.

When she reached the tree line it didn't take her more than a moment to spot Luca and Kyros, Luca straddling the bigger man, and she had to bite her lip to keep from giving herself away. As much as she wanted them right then, she had a nagging fear that they wouldn't want her. That fear paralyzed her, but only for a moment before she remembered Charis's mention of children. If she was to have children with them, surely at some point they would want to share a bed (or a beach) with her right?

Before she could change her mind, Aria shucked her clothes and left them in a pile at the base of one of the trees. Her approach went totally unnoticed by the men as they were both so engrossed with each other and she couldn't keep the smile from her lips. Before she was close enough to be easily noticed, Aria called on her magic and condensed and cooled the humidity in the air surrounding Luca and Kyros and turned it to tiny snowflakes. It took a few moments of the tiny flakes falling on Luca's back before he sat up muttering about something cold tickling his neck back and ass. Her right hand on her slightly cocked hip, her left on her long bare thigh, Aria asked, "Something wrong Luca?" as she swirled more snowflakes down on him and the still prone Kyros.

[Demeter]

Luca wasn't sure what had changed but Aria had thawed towards him and Kyros. And that was a very good thing. It meant that they could get off the island and start focusing on restoring Camelot and the island of Avalon.

First, they had to decide what to do about Camelot. All were in agreement that the old castle had to come down before it fell down. It had been his Aunt Bella who'd suggested a retreat-spa center for those of the Otherworld as well as a museum of dark ages and medieval history. As well as a gift shop to generate incomes for the people who'd been trapped on Avalon.

A museum of such history would also explain to the mortals of the nearby village why some eccentric yet reclusive rich old man was building a castle on the hill above their homes. Those mortals who disapproved of the project were being subtly encouraged to move away. They would be replaced with otherworld friendly neighbors.

They hopes that the new castle would call to the souls of the knights and guardians who'd perished. For the court of Avalon to be at full power, they needed all the knights and their ladies present.

But completion of such a project was a long ways away. First, they had to dismantle what remained of the current castle and dig out the artifacts that remained. After the final battle, the castle had been largely abandoned before being shuttered away by spells. And while those spells had guarded against looters and raids, they had not protected the structure from the ravages of time.

That alone explained when he was hunkered down in what he believed to have been the kitchens and slowly sifting for dirt. The archeologist they'd hired to help lead this part of the project, who was also another of his quasi-cousins, would bit his ass if he didn't go slow and examine every last bit of dirt. Trust could be a real bitch about it too.

Luca glanced to his left. Aria was happily mucking about in her pile of dirt. To his right, Kyros was sitting on the ground, poking the soil with his trowel and muttering. If this was any other castle then Camelot, he's have refused to be in the dirt.

Kyros also spent a lot of time grumbling about what had been done to "his" castle. It seemed that the integration of Arthur into his soul had been a quick process. He didn't believe Lancelot was that present in him but then, he got very grumbly whenever he was near what had been the stables.

Deciding that a break was needed, Luca set his trowel down and tossed a pebble at Aria. She looked at him, annoyed to be interrupted, only to sigh when he pointed at the grumbly Kyros. There was a reason why the three of them were in what use to be the kitchen, digging up pottery shards.

Not only was it one of the areas that Kyros felt less possessive over (the kitchens were important, yes, but not an area where they'd spent a lot of time) but it kept him away from where the workers were carefully dismantling the remaining towers. He'd snarled at the workers the other day and today, Trust had ordered them into the kitchens to work there.

Luca sidled over to Aria and nudged her. "He's cranky again. I think we need to take a nice, long lunch break away from the crew. You get our lunches and I'll get him down to our spot at the lake. And, for the sake of the Gods, make sure there aren't any salt and vinegar chips in my lunch."

Once she's gone, Luca crawled over, as, at some point the ceiling had collapsed and made it impossible to stand, to Kyros. He took the man's trowel and set it aside before crawling into his lap. Luca decided then and there that his grumpy boyfriend had a very cute pout. He grinned at Kyros' raised eyebrow as the man was no doubt wondering why he suddenly had lapful of Luca.

"Aria's gone to get out lunch. I thought we could sneak away early and have the afternoon at our spot on the lake. Its not like the boss is going to fire us. Heck, the crew might reward Aria and myself for distracting you. You, Sir Kyros, have been very grouchy the last couple of days."

It took a few minutes of work, mostly consisting of naughty whispers and palming Kyros through his trousers, before he convinced the man to sneak away with him. Together they crawled from the kitchens and walked, hand in hand, across the field to the lake. He might have once run across the field but hours of kneeling, crouching and crawling had taken its daily toll on his knee. He knew that if the other two knew about the ache, he'd get a lecture.

As they walked, Luca reflected on his whirlwind relationship with Kyros. Maybe they'd been drawn together by some greater power but Luca liked to believe that they'd stumbled across each other. The older man had been the first to actively question Luca's self-inflicted torment. Affection for the man who saved him from himself had turned to lust and Luca knew he was falling into love with the man.

Halfway across the field, Aria joined up with them. Luca took the bag that held their lunches and past it to Kyros before taking Aria's hand in his. Right now, out of respect for Aria's grief, he only had affection for her. In that realm of this triad, Aria had control.

Their spot on the lake had always been theirs. Guarded against intruders by spells that would react to their souls alone, the unspoiled spot was an oasis of peace. Originally a place that had just been for him and Aria, Kyros was the one of their modern triad that had stumbled across the overgrown spot. Recognizing it from his memories, Kyros had cleaned out the underbrush and updates the space with chairs, a real fire pit instead of a hollow on the shore, battery operated candles, as well as real blankets and soft bedding for the sleeping spot in the small cavern nearby.

Once they reached the place, each settled into their spot and they broke into the lunches. After, when Aria was swimming in the lake and searching for the elementals that had once lived there, Luca made good on his earlier whispered promises to Kyros.

After that, Luca relaxed as Kyros' strong fingers eased the ache in his knee. He prodded the man. "Stop being grumpy. Bad things happened to Camelot but Arthur died. Wrecked castle is better then death. Stop scaring the works or I'll make you go back to Avalon or, worse, I'll tell your Mom that you are making people cry."

With his good leg, Luca pushed against Kyros' chest and send the man backwards into the lake. With Aria's giggles in the background, Luca crawled in after Kyros and sat on his legs. "You don't want your mom coming down here to yell at you for being mean, do you?"

[Maira]

Luca's "pep talk" about not being so harsh on the workers actually got Kyros to realize just how grumpy he was being. After that day at the lake with Luca and Aria, he'd finally been able to get the part of him that was very much still Arthur to shut up and let him work in peace. With Arthur silenced, at least about the ruins that had once been Camelot, the work on the castle actually proceeded quite quickly.

Quickly enough, in fact, that Merlin had taken down the wards hiding where the castle had been a whole 2 weeks before schedule. Reconstruction, based on a remarkably well preserved diagram of the original castle that had been found in the old treasure room, was now taking place in full view of the village below the hill. More than one curious villager had made the trek up the hill to watch the goings on and ask questions about what was being built. Luckily Kyros had the foresight to know the villagers would be curious and he'd made up brochures to hand out.

The brochures would be adjusted slightly once construction was finished, to include actual pictures instead of just concept sketches, showing the castle built in traditional fashion but with modern upgrades (such as central heat, running water, electricity and all technological amenities). While its true purpose was to reunite the Avalon and Camelot knights and their partners, the castle would also be open to public use. The chapel would be available for weddings, the great hall would be available for conferences, rooms would be available for wedding and conference guests to stay in, and daily tours around the grounds would be given for any curious tourists or locals.

Aria thought it a little strange that Kyros was willing to open up their home to the public, especially after Arthur had been so possessive of the crumbling ruins. But Kyros had been raised to follow in his father's footsteps, to handle the business side of their family's growing assets and horse farm, while Odhran handled the daily operations. It was purely a business minded decision to open the castle to the public. Even with it being open, there would still be parts that would be protected with wards to keep the public out of private living spaces for the resident knights and their mates.

It took her a little while to process what Kyros was proposing, and a few conversations with Luca, but once she understood exactly what it was Kyros had in mind she thought it sounded fun. She even put forth the idea of historical reenactment days that would coincide with traditional local holidays. Expanding the use of the guest rooms to any curious people that wanted to participate "in character" and not just come as spectators. Happy that she was finally on board with the ideas, Kyros let her have free reign planning. After all, she was the one with actual memories from that time period and not just half formed ones from a past incarnation like he and Luca had.

[Demeter]

With the reconstruction of Camelot going well, the trio travelled back to Avalon to handle matters there. The isle would remain their headquarters until Camelot was restored and they'd brought the knights and priestesses fully into the modern century. That, he mused, would take a while considering the number of appliances Merlin had gone through since the Excalibur triad had returned.

But that wasn't what he was concerned about today. Nor was it the fact that he still had nightmares. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to be learning but at least he no longer woke screaming.

His thoughts were not centered on Camelot or his nightmares or anything particularly important to the greater world. He concerned himself with the state of Aria's relationship with Kyros and himself. He supposed it was possible that the relationship between the three of them could be one of friendship but he doubted it. The souls of Lancelot, Arthur and Aria were knotted together, each an extension of the other.

The romance between Lancelot, Arthur and Gwen was legendary, even if the mortals had skewed cockeyed (and, boy, Lancelot had had a lot to say once he'd gotten an eyeful of how the triad's relations had been portrayed in popular media). Luca knew that Lancelot had gone to their bed of his own free will. He'd never given himself to his King and Queen out of a sense of obligation or duty or coercion. Nor had, as the mortals like to tell, favored one over the other. His King, in both past and present, was a lusty man.

Nor had the relationship been purely physical. Hell, out of all the memories given to him by Lancelot, his favorite was a recollection of when Arthur had still been courting him. Chasing him around an rocky outcropping in Camelot's apple grove while spouting some ridiculous poetry while Aria had laughed her pretty head off at the two of them.

Somehow, he had to bring the three of them, in their current incarnations, together to have the same unity now as they had then. Not an easy task but there had apparently been talk that the Excalibur triad wasn't up to snuff. Not from any of the Knights, Ladies or the older Priestess but the younger generations were disappointed that they weren't living up to the great legends.

Luca had his own thoughts on the younger generation and they were not pleasant.

Still, he needed to bring them together and present an unified front. As High King and Queen, Kyros and Aria had other duties so Luca took the task of fostering the strength their relationship on himself.

Beltane was approaching. It was the best time to create a bond. He'd already broached the idea to Kyros and the older man had agreed. Now, to get Aria onboard.

He looked up when she strolled into the isle's oldest grove of apple trees. "Finally escape your hero-worshippers?"

Went she stuck her tongue out at him, Luca grinned. "Lady Guinevere, living legend. If only knew the truth about their supposedly pious and pure lady. I've had some very vivid dreams that I know to be truth that prove the opposite. I'm curious about that thing you used to do with your tongue and my-"

He laughed when she yelped and slapped a hand over his mouth. He gently gripped her wrist and pulled her hand down. "Care to Custosstrate the principles of that technique to me and then we can double team Kyros on Beltane."

[Maira]

Luca was a tease. He was more in touch with Lancelot than Kyros was with Arthur and that meant that he had many more memories than the other man to pull from. While this made things a little more difficult for Aria, there were times it also eased her transition from her old triad to this new one.

One such occasion that Luca used his memories to his benefit was when she found him wandering the apple orchard of Avalon. She hadn't had more than a chance to say hello before he started remeniscing about a certain oral technique she had used on Lancelot. He then proposed she show him again now so that they could team up on Kyros on Beltane.

She was still glaring at him when she took her hand down from his mouth. "Awful presumptuous that I'll do anything with you two on that holiday, don't you think?" She wasn't at all serious, but her tone didn't give her away. She had been planning for weeks to tell them both that she wanted to make things official between them, as a committed romantic Triad, on that night. She had even commissioned matching white-gold torcs, the symbols of Avalon and Camelot on the ends of each.

The look that Luca gave her, curious and slightly bewildered, nearly caused her to buckle and ruin the surprise. Instead, she smiled, walked toward him seductively, and stretched up on her toes to trace her tongue along his collarbone before giving it a small nip. Then, her desire for him making her voice husky, she asked him, "Here? Or somewhere people might actually -not- intrude?"

[Demeter]

He stared up at the ceiling of their chamber, wondering who'd created the pictographs up there and why. Most of the isle's dwellings were part of the earth or made from it and a great many pictographs could be found. He'd bet money that certain relatives would turn over their first borns to study the cave drawings. Luca rolled onto his stomach and watched as his wife fussed with the baskets of supplies her ladies had stocked the natural cavern with. He liked calling Aria his wife because that is what she now was. A look to his left confirmed that his husband was still sleeping.

He stretched, enjoying the pull of the torc on his upper arm against his skin. The band of metal was the only thing he wore. He was quite pleased at the outcome of last night; of course, his parents were going to kill him for doing this without their knowledge but he'd die a happy man. Luca also figured that Aria, Kyros and himself were already as good as married anyway and last night's ritual just made it official-like.

They had four nights of not being king, queen or royal consort. Just lovers celebrating their official recognition of their union.

Luca rolled again, sitting up and reclining against the headboard of their grand bed. Next to him, lightly snoring and sprawled on his front, Kyros slept. Luca smirked; they'd shagged him into exhaustion. Though, to be honest, it hadn't taken much. Completing Camelot as soon as possible was an obsession for their husband. A fixation that often dragged him to burnt out status. They'd had to physically haul him to Avalon. Like, toss him over a shoulder and cart him to the car haul him away. Once he'd known the reason for attending the Beltane celebrations on Avalon, he'd been slightly more willing but he'd grumbled that the workers were lighting a bonfire at the castle.

Aria had smacked him, stating she wasn't binding herself to them in the middle of a construction site.

Idly stroking Kyros' shoulder (not even that woke him), Luca let his mind wander. Perhaps it was the warrior in him but he started wondering why things had been quiet. He may have given the notion serious thought but Aria, also wearing only her skin and torc, picked that moment to hop up onto the bed and hold out a piece of honey dipped fruit to him. He was easily distracted by the naked wife who had food.

They took turns feeding each other fruit. Once the sweet treat was gone and they'd licked up any stray drops of honey from skin, both looked to the still slumbering Kyros. They cast sidelong glances at each other before pouncing. They both had the same thought; what would it take to wake their husband?

***

Outside of Avalon, Bishop screamed at the mists protecting the island. There was a lot of anger packed into her compact body and it was all directed at those bastards on the island. Life had been just fine up until five months ago. Everything had been just dandy until those pious idiots had razed their dumb castle.

One of the spies on the construction crew had come across a ritual room filled with signs of recent activity. Her clan leader and mentor, Morgan, had advised that while she didn't know much about Vinctum rituals she didn't believe the symbols used were within their allowed use. More damning had been the items used in the rituals.

Her picture, a lock of her hair, her clothing, and even what turned out to be a vial of her blood had been found. Alongside her things had been things identified as belonging to the Excalibur triad. The clan's seer had examined the evidence of dark doings and determined that she was being used as a focal point in a variety of fertility and brain washing spells.

Everyone knew Queen Aria was barren. She had at least two men, both now and in the past, but no offspring. Obviously, the woman was deficient where it mattered most. Bishop was damn well not going to let those Avalon idiots use her as a mindless broodmare.

Both Morgan and the seer assured her that they had removed the spells. But, they'd warned her, there was no telling what those people and their gods were capable of doing. Those spells could very well explain her weird black outs, the strange dream-visions she'd been subjected to, and the odd array of symptoms she'd been experiencing. Once she'd been declared curse free, she set off in search of revenge, dragging Xavier with her.

Xavier, the prize warrior of the clan, stood behind her, watching, listening and waiting. It never really occurred to either one to wonder how they'd found the way to Avalon so easily.

***

Morgause, otherwise known as Morgan, watched through a scrying glass as her sacrificial lamb yelled at nothing. It all seemed a bit too easy, she mused, as Bishop tossed rocks at the mist covering the lake. She really had expected it would be harder to get Xavier onto the island but her plan was just clicking right along.

Oh, she doubted they'd just let the pair onto the island right away. The Vinctum may have been idiots but they weren't stupid. Bishop and Xavier were marked as belonging to a Solutes clan after all. No, the plan was to earn their way onto Avalon by pretending to be swayed to their cause. Bishop was soft enough that she might actually change sides but Xavier knew the plan and would carry it out. He would earn their trust, get onto Avalon, and then learn how to get others onto the island. From there, they would sneak others in, reclaim the Avalon power well, finally destroy those triads and their damned weapons, and rule Great Britain and the Celtic nations.

Hopefully this would take approximately six, preferably seven, months. Her little lamb was surely impregnated by now. Bishop was expendable but the child she would birth was not. She was not willing to risk Mordred's heir. She has not worked for thousands of years, selectively breeding her clansmen together in order to reincarnate Mordred into Xavier. She also didn't put months of preparation and work into Bishop just to have her get rid of Mordred's heir.

She'd made sure that the girl was deaf, dumb, and blind to the fact she was carrying. If Morgause had her way, Bishop wouldn't know until just before the birth. Xavier knew; it was the reason she'd ordered him to accompany the woman, under the guise of doing his friend a favor. He'd fully, without any coercion, participated in impregnating his own half-sister.

There were also another half dozen of her clan's women who'd followed orders and were carrying his offspring. Now that she'd found Mordred, she was propagating his bloodline. They would all be raised to follow his footsteps and seek dominance over those Vinctum fools. She'd finally finish what she'd started centuries ago when she'd used her power to influence the conception of Mordred's original body.

***

There were some things that couldn't wait. It was understood that if she crashed the honeymoon of high king and his mates, it was Important. Morgana hesitated outside of the cavern and thought about the girl sulking on the other side of the lake. She'd leveled some serious accusations at the king and his mates but surely she could handle it. Still, she thought it better if their majesties were informed.

She called ahead, pleased that these new cell phones worked on Avalon (modern technology, she thought, was still amazing) and warned them if her arrival. Some things were better said in person. When she arrived at the cavern in the apple grove, all three of her leaders were standing outside. "I do so hate to disturb you after last night's events, Your Magisties, but I feel you should know about this. There is a young woman across the lake, accusing you three of using dark magics to enthrall and...impregnant her. I would never believe any of you to do such a thing but she brings evidence and there is strange magics around her, concealing something."

After the shouts of outrage at the girl's accusations, Morgana spoke again. "There's more, Your Majesties. She and her companion are of a Solutes clan. One of them is Mordred reborn; a mother knows her son's soul. Avalon knows the one who killed its High King."

[Maira]

The cryptic phone call from Morgana was a less than pleasant interruption to Aria and Luca's attempts to rouse their sleeping husband. It was actually the loud shrill ring that Kyros had as his default ringer that startled him into wakefulness. Aria and Luca had both groaned in defeat when Kyros hung up and informed them that Morgana needed to talk to them all. Reluctantly the trio got dressed and awaited the arrival of their unexpected guest.

When Morgana finally arrived, Aria was standing between her men. The look on the other woman's face spooked her, and a chill shot up her spine before Morgana had even started talking. The chill deepened, spreading throughout her whole body as Morgana relayed what was so important that she needed to interrupt their honeymoon. At the mention of Mordred, Aria staggered and fell against Luca, her eyes frantic as she stared at Kyros. "No. No no no no no..." Aria started repeating as the flashbacks to Arthur's death hit her full on before she passed out entirely.

*****

The part of him that was still Arthur stirred ever so slightly at the mention of Mordred. He knew the legends, knew what his knights and Aria had told him, but any actual recollection he had of the incident from his previous incarnation was walled up where he couldn't experience it. He assumed it was his mind's way of protecting him and he didn't question his lack of memories. Instead, he focussed on the now unconscious Aria cradled in Luca's arms and the problem of the woman across the lake.

"Lets get Aria inside the cavern for now. Let her rest, keep her quiet, don't let Mordred or this other woman near her. As for the two outside the mists..." Kyros shrugged and looked between Luca and Morgana for suggestions. He knew that Aria would never forgive him if he allowed Mordred reborn anywhere near him, especially without heavy guard. He also knew that he needed to address the accusations the woman was laying against them or people would wonder if there was any truth to them.