Week 12 Storytelling: Lancelot's Proposal

She could not believe he was here. It had been years since she had seen him, but he still looked the same. His shoulders were not quite as broad, his hair had grayed, and he had a haggard look in his eyes, but the eyes were still the same blue they had always been. She could not look at them too long or she became distracted. Guinevere felt stirrings in her heart that she had not felt in a very long time, since before Arthur had been slain. The pain of his passing had not faded, and it still stabbed at her heart with an angry ferocity. She still woke up in the mornings and did not recognize the surroundings of her small room at the nunnery. It was so different from the grand palace she had lived in for so long. She did not mind the nun's habit, or the plain food, but she did miss the human contact.
Guinevere realized that Lancelot was speaking, beseeching her to run away with him. Wait, that couldn't be right. They were not children anymore, and their affair had ended many years ago. She scoffed at his proposal, but then he moved in closely to her and the memories flooded back. She remembered why she had betrayed the grand Arthur to be with him. But that was a long time ago, and Guinevere's heart had grown hard. She was a widow now, and a woman of God. She had begun to feel aches and pains in her bones, and age was quickly coming for her. It was time for Lancelot to go. She shoved him away, hard, and could barely stand to see the hurt in his eyes. Lancelot screamed that she was all he had left in the world, but Guinevere turned her back and walked towards the chapel. She did not look back.

The Parting of Sir Lancelot and Guinevere by Julia Margaret Cameron 

Wikipedia

Story source: King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1902).
Author's Note: Guinevere is the wife of Sir Arthur, King of Camelot. While they were married she had an affair with one of Arthur's closest knights, Sir Lancelot. After Arthur was slain in battle, it was written that Guinevere went to a nunnery and became renowned for how pious and devout she was. While she was there Lancelot came and saw her, but she sends him away. I wanted to elaborate on that encounter, because they have so much history and I think the emotion of their old affair combined with the pain of losing her husband is intriguing.