A Lady of the Lake
In the mountains of Colorado, Elle must come to terms with her family's legacy of magic to help a visitor from the south
Korinne West (she/they) is a graphic designer currently working in higher-ed communications in their home state of Texas. She spends her free time writing stories, reading stories, making art, and drinking copious amounts of tea.
The morning sun had barely crested over the snow-capped mountains when another visitor bounded up the lane, snowshoes flinging a fresh dusting over the very spot Elle was trying to shovel.
“Good madam,” this one said, his bravado diminished by the huffing and puffing punctuating every word. (Another one from the lowlands, then. Altitude gets ‘em every time.) “I am searching for the Lady of the Lake.”
“You and everyone else,” Elle replied wearily. She had run out of coffee beans yesterday, and this shoveling was taking forever, and maybe ice is just water but it’s the worst kind of water because it just gets in the way. “Why do you want her?”
He seemed surprised that she would even ask. “Why, for the glory, of course!” he exclaimed. “For the blessing of the Grand Sorceress, that I may be given an Excalibur to make the world a more righteous place!”
She tried very hard not to roll her eyes, but ultimately failed. “Let me guess,” she said, propping her shovel up in the snow and leaning down on the handle. “You just searched the internet for ‘lady of the lake, grand sorceress’ and it gave you my address.”
“Er,” he said. He fidgeted and nearly tripped over his snowshoe. “Quite.”
“If I have to call about getting that removed again, I swear to god,” Elle grumbled under her breath. To the bumbling idiot in front of her she explained slowly, as if to a toddler or perhaps a manager in a business meeting, “So I’m the lady of the lake for Grand Lake. Lowercase l’s. You’re looking for the Lady of the Lake, capital L’s. You’re not going to find her in Colorado.”
“Then where is she?” the poor misguided fool demanded. “Where is the real Lady of the Lake?”
“I dunno, dude,” she said with a shrug. “Wales, probably? Ask a scholar, not me.”
He blustered, but ultimately turned (this time actually tripping over his snowshoe) and ambled back down the winding road. She resumed her shoveling. “Real” lady of the lake, she scoffed internally. As if. These dumb adventurers don’t even know what they’re talking about.
She got the drive shoveled, and got the snowmobile out — no point in unearthing the car yet — and she made her way down the winding path and into town. Out here in the Rockies, tiny towns such as hers had their waves of tourism every winter and summer, and currently the snowbirds were flocking in. But aside from the visitors, it still had that small town charm, and — more importantly to the local lady of the lake — not too many residents who knew her and would try to strike up conversation on sight.
She parked the snowmobile haphazardly outside the diner-cafe-welcome-center combo, and headed inside before the wind chill could finish eating its way through her coat. A rush of warmth and coffee-scented majesty washed over her, and she sighed in something like happiness.
“Elle!” called a voice behind the counter. “Was wonderin’ if I’d see you in here soon.”
“I’d rather be at home,” she said, making her way over and leaning her elbows next to the register. “But I’m out of beans.”
“My favorite tragedy, if it means a visit from you.” The shop proprietor set aside the stack of receipts they were fiddling with and grinned at Elle. “The usual?”
“Yes, please.”
“Coming right up.” With a cheerful wink, they turned the little screen her way to complete the transaction, and vanished into a separate room, where the loud screech of an espresso machine could be slightly muted from the rest of the shop.
Elle paid for her coffee (Rayne had already rung up an extra bag of whole beans, bless them) and took a seat at an empty table nearby to wait. The place wasn’t too crowded for being the middle of the day. There was a couple eating sandwiches at another table that Elle recognized from the ski rental place further up the mountain; there was one guy she didn’t know finishing off his own coffee across the room, probably a tourist. She probably should go say hi to the ski rental people. Her grandmother would have chided her for poor manners.
But, well, Elle wasn’t in a sociable mood, and her grandmother wasn’t here, so she sat, waiting and watching the snow lazily fall outside.
Finally, Rayne called out her order. Elle pushed back her chair and went back to the counter, almost snatching the to-go cup out of the barista’s hands before they could finish saying “enjoy.”
“You’re a lifesaver, Rayne,” Elle said, remembering at least a little bit of manners.
They gave her another grin. “Anything for our favorite local lake witch.”
Elle rolled her eyes. “For the billionth time—”
“I know, I know, you don’t do that anymore.” They laughed. “For how reclusive you are, though, you’re not helping your reputation…”
“Thank you, Rayne,” Elle said sternly, turning away and walking to the door. “Goodbye, Rayne.”
“Bye, Elle!” they called after her, cheerfully unconcerned with her bad moods.
As she hesitated at the shop’s front door, readjusting her scarf and coat before going back out into the cold, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. That tourist who had been finishing off his cup had stood, presumably to return his dishes, but he seemed to be watching her. Elle ignored this. Rayne and their dumb comments…
However, she’d barely gotten one leg swung over the seat of her snowmobile before she was stopped. “Excuse me?”
Elle looked up to find, sure enough, the same guy from inside. He was Black, with a stack of neatly-trimmed tight curls of hair, a yellow knit sweater layered under a worn denim jacket, and round glasses frames that were fogged up from his breath. Had he run out here to catch her? He was beaming at her, though, bright and easy and cheerful. (Everybody in this town was far too chipper for so chilly a day.) “Did I hear right in there? Are you the lady of the lake?”
Rayne and their dumb comments! Elle thought again, but harder. “I’m off duty,” she said to the tourist-adventurer-whatever.
“Oh. I was just wondering if I could ask you a few questions—”
“No thank you,” she cut him off. And without waiting for another reply, she cranked up the snowmobile and sped away back home.
She was freezing by the time she pulled back up at her cabin and its neatly shoveled drive. It wasn’t too big, but it was homey and worn in like a favorite pair of socks, and Grand Lake was a very short drive away — walking distance, in good weather. The cabin had been in Elle’s family for generations, though she’d only been living there by herself for the last few years or so.
She trundled up the drive and through the door, sighing as the warmth enveloped her once more. Taking off her rapidly melting boots by the door, she unearthed herself from her many layers and took some time to get a fire going in the fireplace. Once that was done, she headed for the kitchen. Her to-go coffee had cooled significantly from the drive back and sitting while she worked, but she could just throw some ice in that one and use the bag of beans to make a fresh—
Except she’d left the beans at the cafe. Elle groaned. “Fine,” she said. “Fine. One of those days.”
Resigning herself to another trip out in the cold, Elle pulled her coat off the rack once more. Before she could finish putting it on, however, there was a knock at the door.
Why is the universe out to get me today? Elle thought. She pulled the door open, already saying, “Whatever you want, I’m not interested—”
“Brought you your coffee,” said the tourist-adventurer-whatever from before. Sure enough, there he stood, the top of his head dusted with snow like powdered sugar on a pastry and a bag of coffee beans held outstretched in one hand. He smiled widely. “The barista saw me talking to you and asked if I’d bring them your way, since you left without it.”
“We’re gonna have a talk about them just handing out my address to strangers,” Elle grumbled. Somewhat hesitantly, she took the beans. “Thanks, I guess.”
“Aw, don’t be mean to Rayne. I can be very persuasive!”
“First name basis already?”
“What can I say?” he said. “I’m good at making friends. I’m Theo, by the way. Theodore Sorley.” He stuck out his hand, which Elle did not take. She was not having this sunshine energy right now, not today.
“Nice to meet you, Theodore Sorley. Thanks for the delivery. Goodbye now.” She tried to close the door, but he stuck a Converse-clad foot into the doorway before she managed. Who even wears high tops in the snow? Tourist behavior.
“You’re the lady of the lake,” he repeated. “Of Grand Lake, I mean. I’ve been looking for one for ages!”
This gave Elle pause. The fact that he even knew that there were multiple ladies of multiple lakes was more than basically anyone else who’d come to her door could say. Still, she was skeptical. “Okay?”
“I’d hoped,” Theo said, “to tell you what I’m looking for, and see if you’d grant me a boon. Or at least point me in the direction of whoever can help me.”
Elle actually considered it, probably because he asked politely in normal language and not by pretending to speak like a Knight of the Round Table, and that in and of itself was shocking. Still… “I'm not in the habit of entertaining strangers’ flights of fancy just because they know the right words to ask me,” she said.
“What if I bought you coffee first?”
Elle gave him an unimpressed look, hefting her bag of beans in one hand.
Theo frowned. “What if… I bought you coffee tomorrow?”
Elle sighed. “Then I'll consider it tomorrow.” She closed the door before he could respond, then stood there and counted her breaths until she was sure he had left.
She went to the kitchen to put the coffee beans away, and a quick peek through the curtained window showed a tall, gangly figure walking away down the lane. Elle breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally alone and spared an extra trip outside, she went to the kitchen to get some hot coffee made. The kitchen was cramped with aging appliances she didn’t use, but Elle was bad at getting rid of things. It’s why everything in the cabin was more or less how Elle’s grandmother had left the place before Elle moved back.
She had not moved back to be Grand Lake’s next “lake witch,” no matter what the locals thought. And she was getting so weary of everyone walking up and assuming that she had.
“It’s not what’s-his-name’s fault,” she muttered to herself. “You could have left as soon as affairs were settled, you know.” She filled an ancient kettle, a pretty little thing enameled with retro flowers and vines, and set it to boil. She stared at it as the slow, dull roar of heating water began, knowing she was being ridiculous. Stupid adventurers. Stupid Rayne. Stupid, stupid lake.
Once refueled and caffeinated, Elle retreated back to the sitting room and pulled out her latest project — a quilted blanket that she was embroidering for her step-sister’s new baby.
It was easy to get lost in the repetitive motions of embroidery. The sun was already fading for the day but the fire was high, and she didn’t have anywhere else to be. Unfortunately, while Elle could more or less zone out while crafting this way — another leaf here, another decorative swirl there — that meant her mind could wander to things she’d rather not think about.
Like watching her grandmother open the door to visitors just like Elle had today, inviting them into the kitchen and making them tea. Listening from the other room until, inevitably, Gram would ask them to come back at six o’clock, and take them out into the cold once Elle’s mom was home. And then, after little Elle had been put to bed, hearing the clattering by the door as Gram returned and built back up the fire despite the late hour.
When Elle would ask questions back then, Gram would just pat her hand. “I help people,” she’d say like it was obvious. “Since I have the power to, it’s my responsibility.”
Halfway through embroidering a pine forest, Elle sighed and put her needle down. She fished in the basket of loose notions for her thread scissors, one of the pretty old ones shaped like a heron, and snipped the end of the latest tree’s thread. As she put the blanket down, standing and stretching, she stared into the fire.
Gram wasn’t around anymore. And Elle wasn’t going to make her same mistakes.
Besides, that guy probably wouldn’t even come back. Why should he? He’d given her zero indication that she was going to help with…whatever he wanted.
Yeah, Elle thought as she tidied up and prepared for bed. He isn’t even going to come back.
• • •
At ten o'clock sharp, there was a knock on Elle’s door. She opened it to see none other than Theodore Sorley, in his denim jacket and Converse, his glasses fogging up as he smiled and waved. “Hi again.”
“You again,” Elle said flatly.
“Me again!” He bounced a bit on his feet as he spoke, probably because he was absolutely not wearing enough layers for how cold it was. He stuck out his hand, which Elle now noticed was holding a coffee cup. “Here, a bribe.”
“At least you’re honest.” She debated refusing, but ultimately took the cup. “You’re here to bother me about a boon again, aren’t you?”
He had the decency to look sheepish. Rubbing the back of his neck, he said, “Well, hopefully not bother…”
“Every indication I have given you so far is that I don’t want to hear it,” Elle pointed out.
“I understand. I guess…” He trailed off. “Um, do you, like, charge for your time or something? I don’t actually know how this is supposed to work.”
Huh. And he’d seemed so informed before. “How did you even learn about me?” Elle asked.
“Internet forums,” Theo replied, like this was a normal thing. “I mean, not about you specifically. But, like, about the lady of the lake thing in general.”
“Of course,” she muttered. “What a grand new millennium we live in.”
“Do you need some help shoveling snow?” Theo looked around, still bouncing. “Or something. Like, obviously, my mother raised me right, and I’d never presume to ask you for help for nothing in return. I’m, uh, a bit short on funds right now, but I can do whatever!”
Elle squinted at him and his constant fidgeting. “You're clearly not used to the weather.”
“Nope. I’m from Houston.” He beamed as bright as the hellish summer sun must be in such a place. (For all her complaints about Grand Lake, there were worse places to dwell than up in the mountains. Thinking of the humidity alone down south made her shudder, never mind the heat.) “But I’m sure I can figure it out.”
Damn this southerner and his affable yet determined nature. She wasn’t getting rid of him easily, she could already tell. “Shovel the drive,” Elle finally said, “and get me some firewood. Then I’ll hear you out.”
Theo gave her a mock salute, though perhaps the exaggerated excitement was to hide the way his shoulders slumped in — relief? Either way, he said, “You got it!” and scampered off after grabbing the shovel she kept by the door. She hadn’t even had a chance to tell him where to get firewood.
With a sigh, Elle went back inside. He said he’d figure it out. Good lord, why was she even entertaining this? She should have sent him away the first chance she got.
But, well — maybe she’d been thinking about Gram too much. She’d always been a little disappointed in Elle for not following in her footsteps, as it were. Elle had always claimed she didn’t care. Maybe she did, a little.
She had to give Theo credit — he was determined, and not entirely in an annoying way. Usually, when supplicants came by to beseech the lady of the lake for a boon, they were annoying about it. They made their wish, which upon refusal became a demand, which upon dismissal became a haughty “Well, I doubt you could have helped me anyway.” It happened to Elle with unfortunate frequency, and every time she kind of understood why her grandmother had mostly just gone with it. Less headache that way.
Theo, on the other hand, came by for three days straight to shovel her drive, chop her firewood, and bring her coffee from town. After that first day, he didn’t even ask again if she’d help him, not even when he’d reported in at the end of the day and she hadn’t invited him inside to chat about it. He just appeared again the next morning with a smile, and set to work. Elle studied him from the window, sometimes, when he was flailing about with the shovel, elbows going every which way as much as the snow did. He didn’t seem to be pretending or impatient, either — he’d walk by sometimes and she’d hear him whistling along as he worked. He genuinely seemed unperturbed that Elle may just be using him for free labor.
So finally, on that third day, when he came back to the front door to report completing all his tasks, she sighed and waved him inside. With another glaringly bright smile, he thanked her about five times as he unlaced his snow-crusted high tops to come in.
“So how does one become a lady of a lake anyway?” Theo made himself right at home at her kitchen table, elbows and all, and wasted no time.
Elle busied herself with putting the ancient kettle on the stove. (She wasn't a tea person, clearly, but traditions were traditions — nothing for it.) “Step one, be a lady,” she said as the tap ran. “Some of us come by it easier than others, but the lakes don't seem to be especially picky about how you get there.”
“Right on,” Theo said.
“Step two,” Elle went on slowly, turning the knob until the gas burner caught and settling the kettle on the precarious prongs. “Get chosen by the lake in question.”
“Chosen?”
She sighed. She had nothing left to do with hands, so she moved a salt shaker around like it was in the way. “Something happens that leaves a mark on you. I, uh… I almost drowned as a kid. That seems to be a usual story.”
Theo nodded, his face scrunched up in serious contemplation over this. He didn't offer any meaningless platitudes, though, just asked, “And then?”
“Step three. Get taken advantage of by every sucker who thinks they deserve the right to change the world.” The kettle began hissing. “No offense.”
“None taken,” Theo answered, his default cheer returning. “I get the feeling most people you’ve helped have been… less than grateful.”
Elle saw her grandmother in her mind, coming back home day after day well past dark, soaked to the bone and pale as death. She waved the memory away along with the steam from the kettle, and turned her attention to finding mugs. “You could say that.”
“They say the Lady of Lake hands out Excalibur only to those who are worthy,” Theo went on. “But like… it’s not the real Excalibur, right? Like a sword can’t actually fix most modern problems, even if it was magical. So what do you really do?”
Into the mugs went the teabags. Elle’s grandmother preferred to use mint, but Elle hated mint tea, so she kept a mediocre herbal cinnamon around. “Real Excalibur,” she scoffed. “It’s debatable whether or not Excalibur was real, anyway. Or King Arthur, for that matter.”
“You’re literally a lady of the lake.”
“Yes. That part’s real, clearly.” Elle poured the hot water over the teabags, blinking against the steam in her eyes. “Look, I wasn’t there in, I don’t know, 500 A.D. or whenever… maybe it was real, maybe it wasn’t. But the Lady of the Lake — she was real, whether or not Arthur was, and the proof of it is that I can do the same thing. Somebody comes along with a noble quest. I go to the lake and come back with something they need to complete it.”
Theo took the mug from Elle gingerly when she handed it to him. “So I’m hearing that I’m not getting a sword,” he said.
“Like you said,” Elle agreed, “swords are rarely the answers to modern problems. But we still call it Excalibur, because…” She shrugged. “It’s like… creative shorthand. Collective human knowledge has power, and everyone knows the legends. It’s easier to start there and call it that. Anyway, I haven’t agreed to help you yet.”
He hummed, taking a sip of tea after blowing across the top to cool it down. “Fair enough.” A pause as he swallowed. Then, hesitantly, he added, “I don’t get the vibe that you do this job… willingly. Even if a lake chooses you… don’t you get to choose back?”
Elle plopped down in the chair across from him once her own tea was ready. He would go straight for the proverbial jugular, wouldn’t he. “Sort of,” she said slowly. “It’s… complicated.”
Theo nodded and kept drinking his tea, not pushing.
This is how he manages to get information out of someone, isn’t it, Elle considered. Not pushing. It was kind of annoying of him, but also refreshing. Maybe that’s why she was honest.
“There’s multiple of us,” Elle said, recalling the first and only time Gram had explained all this to her, shortly after Elle’s near-drowning. She remembered shivering, wrapped in several blankets by the fire, as Gram rubbed her back and put a cup of mint tea in her trembling hands. “Ladies of the lake, I mean. But that power wears on you. The more of us there are, the more the responsibility can be spread around, in theory. Less for one person to do means less physical strain over time. So, no, nothing is forcing me to do this job. It’s just kind of a moral responsibility.”
Gram’s voice sounded in Elle’s mind again — “I help people. Since I have the power to, it’s my responsibility.” — but this time it was followed by Elle’s mother’s screams, that day they’d had to fish Elle out of the lake and force the water from her tiny lungs. “If you want to throw your life away, that’s your choice. You are not doing that to my daughter!”
They’d moved to Denver. Elle spent her whole adolescence and most of her young adulthood away from Grand Lake, and Gram, and the magic of it all. She only came back to bury her grandmother, and deal with the cabin, when the toll of so many lake excursions left Gram too weak to fight off pneumonia.
Elle had to agree with her mother. Just because you are able to help someone doesn’t mean you should — and you certainly shouldn’t risk your life for someone who only sees you as a means to an end.
She very much didn’t want to be having this conversation right now, but Elle had agreed to hear him out. “Anyway. What’s your deal?”
For the first time, Theo’s cheerful demeanor seemed to fall away. “It’s… hmm.” He frowned and bit his lip, not meeting her eyes anymore. “It’s kind of complicated. A family thing. I, uh…basically, I need something that will help me bring people back together.”
“In what way?” Elle asked. “Emotionally? Physically?”
“All the ways, I guess,” Theo said.
When he uncharacteristically did not elaborate, Elle sipped at her tea. It didn’t really matter if she knew specifics — part of Elle’s magic was that she would create whatever would help, regardless of how much she was informed beforehand. So Theo being a little cagey wasn’t actually an issue. Besides, it was almost a relief that he wasn’t tripping over his words, desperate to justify his actions and wants, like people so often did when talking to a lady of the lake. Simple was best. Owning up to what you’re asking.
“A family thing, huh,” she mused. Theo looked up at her questioningly, but said nothing, letting her think. That, too, was refreshing: maybe her role was to help people who wanted to save the world, but usually people didn’t actually care about the world they were saving as much as they did the prestige and power it would require to do so. But someone’s small, personal world, well —
She set her tea aside, unable to stomach more of it. Standing, she said, “All right, well, thank you for your help the last few days.”
Theo hesitated, then stood up too. For the first time the smile on his face looked forced. “Well, I can read the room,” he joked. “No worries. Thanks for hearing me out, anyway.”
No protests. No offended derision or desperate pleading. That finalized the decision Elle had already made. “Meet me at the coffee shop tomorrow,” she said as he followed her to the door. “I’ll give you my answer then.”
Hope, and that familiar grin, returned to Theo’s face. “Really? I mean, um, yeah, sure. Tomorrow, then.” He waved excitedly, already turning to go as she shut the door and bolted it behind him.
She watched him go back down the lane through the window, wondering why on earth she was even entertaining this. But she knew the answer, deep down. With a sigh, she looked to the clock on the wall — still a couple hours of daylight left. — and grumbled to herself, “Should’ve waited and made him do it.” But she went outside, and began to clear her car of snow, hoping she wouldn’t need to jump the battery.
After that, she puttered around the cabin, gathering up supplies and leaving them by the door before sitting down next to the fire once more, the quilt in her lap. She was almost done with the embroidery, and she wanted to have it finished before she did anything crazy.
Just in case.
She pulled out her heron-shaped scissors, and got to work.
• • •
It was mid-afternoon when she climbed into her thankfully still-functional car and headed for town. Theo was waiting exactly where she’d first seen him, three empty cups and two books on the table in front of him. At the sight of her, he sprung up and rushed over. “Hi! Oh, can I get you anything? My treat.”
“Something hot,” Elle said. “And get it to go.”
When it became obvious that Elle was not going to be forthcoming — right about the time Grand Lake itself came into view — Theo finally asked, “So…you’re helping me? Or are you, like, I dunno, gonna sacrifice me to the lake or something?”
“If I sacrificed every annoying southerner who rolled up and demanded my help,” Elle replied, “I’d be several felonies deep in prison by now.”
Her answer did not seem to put Theo at ease.
Still, he followed her as they parked and walked toward the lake. “Uh, Elle?” Theo asked when she came to a stop and crouched down to untie her boots. “What are you doing?”
“Getting in the lake,” Elle said, kicking off her shoes.
“It’s the middle of winter!” Theo exclaimed. “You’ll freeze to death!”
Elle shrugged. “Hopefully not.” She peeled off her coat and scarf next and, in just her base layers and wool socks, headed for the water.
Theo was too shocked for a minute to react, and when he finally pulled himself together, Elle was already wading into the shallows. God, she hated this part. The icy cold halted her in place at first, but she kept going. She could feel it, now, the first little glimmer of power in her chest. Long ago, the lake had carved out a place in her. That same little piece was sighing in relief to be home.
“No, Elle,” Theo called out, panicking. He hovered at the shore, the water lapping at his feet. “It’s fine. You don’t have to—” He tried to take a step forward into the lake, probably thinking to drag her back to shore, but in a moment the sky grew dark and stormy, and a fierce gust of wind pushed him back. “Elle, stop!”
“Sorry,” she said. “This is what it takes.”
The water surged up to her knees, biting cold. The wind howled.
“No,” he repeated. He braced himself against the buffeting gale, managing to stay upright in place. “No, if that's the cost, I'm not asking. Nothing is worth—”
Theo started coughing as the spray kicked up by the wind caught in his lungs. Elle watched as the water rose around her, feeling detached as the lake whispered.
“Exactly,” she said, knowing her voice would carry to him, though she didn't raise it. “You didn't ask. You wouldn't believe the amount of people who stumble into something powerful, and make their demands without caring about the effects on those around them. You care, Theo. And that’s why I’m helping you.”
Elle breathed slow, drawing the cold deep into her lungs. She was submerged to her waist now. “For Excalibur you did seek me out,” she said, old words of power surging up with the tide. “For the power to do right you have entreated. The lady of the lake has judged you worthy, and you shall have what you need.”
She saw Theo’s eyes widen behind mist-speckled glass. She saw his mouth open to cry out, but no sound reached her before the water fully overtook her.
There was dark. There was cold. There was nothing.
And then there wasn't.
The bright copper of old magic began in the center of her chest and radiated out to every extremity. On instinct, she inhaled — heedless of drowning, for she had drowned before, and the lake had made its home in her, and would not harm her again so easily. She reached out her hand. She couldn't feel the water, or even really herself; but she could feel past the water; past the boundaries of Grand Lake, Colorado; past the solemn silence of the Rockies and toward something deeper, older.
The same ancient something that was used, centuries ago, to give a certain king a certain sword. More than a sword — the power to change the world. Elle’s own words echoed through the water. Excalibur. Excalibur.
Legends were, after all, a powerful creative shorthand.
From the ancient cold of the world’s creation she borrowed a strand of light, pulling it loose and letting it wind itself around her. Then she worked her alchemy. It was second nature, the weaving; like the familiar repetition of embroidery, stitch after stitch, something coming into being almost before you even notice it happening. Time slipped away. Push in. Loop around. Pull taut. Again, again. Over and over until before you know it, there’s a tapestry in your lap.
When it was complete, she snipped the end of the thread and let go.
Immediately the water crashed away from her, spilling out her mouth and pouring back into its natural container. Sputtering, Elle gasped, the oxygen deprivation and chilling cold hitting her all at once. She stumbled as her footing on the lake bed faltered with the rushing waves, and her head went fuzzy as she nearly blacked out.
Theo was there, keeping her upright and pulling her to shore.
“I always forget,” she mumbled, teeth chattering, “how absolutely miserable that part is.”
“Elle!” Theo half-yelled, his voice a cracked and hysteric thing. “Jesus Christ, what the hell were you thinking?”
She deigned not to answer that. (A lady of the lake never reveals her ways.)
At least his yelling helped her brush off the lightheadedness. After limping back onto solid, mostly-dry land, Elle shook Theo off and gathered the bundles she’d left behind. A change of clothes, a thermal blanket, a small army of hand warmers. As she moved to put one in her still-dripping pocket for the walk back, her chilled fingers touched a burning warmth.
Elle pulled out the new object, blinked, and laughed.
“Of course yours would be so literal,” she said, holding it out to Theo. He stared at it before taking it gingerly into his hands.
It was a small copper key, the ridges already worn, the head of it shaped into a flat facsimile of a sword’s hilt.
“Where does this go?” he asked, turning it over in his palm. It must have only burnt her because her fingers were so cold; if it caused Theo any pain, he showed no sign of it.
She raised an eyebrow at him, and turned to head back to the car. “Surely you know what I'm gonna say,” she tossed over her shoulder.
Theo shook his head, a wry smile forming on his face, and he jogged to catch up. “Yeah, yeah,” he said. “That's my job to find out.”
“Brilliance at work. Crank up the car, would you? Get the heat going.”
“You got it,” he grinned, “Lady of the lake.”
Elle grumbled and curled up in the front seat, heedless of the lake water soaking into the cushions. But for all her grumpy demeanor, him calling her that felt… nice.
It had been a long time since she’d done her work and could call it good.
Theo drove them back to Elle's cabin, and he didn't ask before putting the kettle on. Elle took a warm shower, bundled up in her thickest wool sweater, and joined him at the table for tea. The warmth began to seep back into her limbs, and with it, a deep exhaustion.
“What are you gonna do next?” she asked with a big yawn.
He chewed the corner of his mouth before taking a long sip. “Not sure,” he said. “I spent so long looking for all the clues, I didn't really consider how to piece them all together once I had them.”
Elle sipped her own tea — okay, maybe the cinnamon kind had rights — and said, “Maybe your quest will take you somewhere warmer.”
“Ha!” Theo leaned back in his chair, eyes twinkling. “Sure hope so.” Then he paused, studying her. “Maybe I'll end up back here sometime. In the summer, or spring…”
“Tourist behavior,” Elle muttered. “There won't even be snow for you to shovel.”
He laughed. Elle tilted her mug toward him pointedly before he could say something else. “Whatever you do, you’ve gotta sort out your own issues first. I won’t be held accountable for whatever you’ve got going on, key or no key.”
“That’s fair…” Theo propped up his outrageous elbows on the table, bracketing his mug and using his hands to hold up his chin. “Are you gonna do more lake lady things in the meantime?”
It was her turn to take a long sip to think before she spoke. “I don’t know. I’m certainly not going to be handing out boons to any idiot who can do an internet search. But…” She shrugged. “It was kinda nice to help again,” she admitted. “I guess. Fulfilling or whatever.”
Theo beamed at her.
“Shut up,” she said before he could say something annoyingly optimistic.
He laughed and took their empty mugs to the sink.
Elle tolerated a prolonged hug from Theo when he finally decided to leave, though she did disentangle herself and pointedly reach past him to open the front door and shoo him out. This put them both face to face with a stranger, a middle-aged man with fogged-up glasses perched on a round nose who was huffing and puffing from exertion, his hand raised to knock. The three of them blinked in surprise at each other.
The man collected himself. “I am seeking the Lady of the Lake,” he managed to say around his panting. “Pray tell, wherefore might I find her, that I may beseech her for aid?”
Elle and Theo shared a look. With a roll of her eyes, she said, “I’m gonna let you handle this one.”
Theo laughed and went out the door, throwing his arm over the man’s shoulder. As Elle shut the door behind him, she heard him start to say, “Okay, man, I’m gonna clear up a few things for you right now. So there’s the Lady of the Lake, right, but there’s actually like multiple ladies of multiple lakes…”
Elle was left once more in her cabin, a familiar stillness and quiet settling over the place in the wake of Theo’s leave. She went into the kitchen to begin her morning routine, but as she made her coffee and lifted her mug to her lips, she realized, “Ugh, I’ve got to call and get them to take my address off that stupid internet search…”
And so, the lady of Grand Lake shook her head and wandered off to find her phone.
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