An American Teenager in King Arthur's Court

[9] His Kingly Duties

YAY AN UPDATE. Things WILL start picking up soon! I hope you guys enjoy the chapter. It was super fun writing it! I can't wait to see where this story takes us! ENJOY

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I was right. It was only lunch time and Arthur had made sure that my morning was absolute hell.

The first thing he decided he had to do-and ergo drag me to- was trek around the outside of the castle, despite the previous aforementioned threat of an unknown sorceress, and check to make sure all his armor was properly shined, that his sword and other dangerous medieval weapons were properly pointy, that his horse had been cleaned and all the stalls had been mucked out, all the while mostly ignoring everything I said to him and only replying with short or sarcastic responses.

Imagine doing this. In a heavy dress. With heels. In 90 degree weather.

By the time we finished, my dress was an extra 10 pounds heavier from the sheer amount sweat that leaked out of my pores. And my once beautiful heels were covered in horse crap and hay.

It was safe to say that I was not having a good day. I couldn't wait for lunch just because it would give me a chance to change, eat and make myself not feel and look like such a train wreck.

So imagine my surprise when Arthur snootily let me know, knowing full well that I was tired and hungry, that we wouldn't eat until he was finished addressing his subjects. Apparently that would take another 2 hours, with me standing along the wall the entire time, and consisted of Arthur just meeting people who lived in Camelot and attempting to help them with their various problems. This was to help Arthur ease into his kingly duties. Or so Arthur told me, none-too-sarcastically.

All these troubles led me to this moment, with me leaning against the wall, mentally throwing daggers at Arthur for his douchy-ness, while he "compassionately" talked with peasants and noblemen from all over the kingdom, solving problems that ranged from a lack of proper farming materials to the need of heavier guard patrols in the forests by the outlying villages.

If I hadn't been with such a crap-bucket of a person all morning, I would've thought he actually cared. But so far, all I could tell that Arthur cared about, was Arthur.

Finally, FINALLY, the last villager left the room, leaving only Arthur, some guards, a few noblemen, and myself standing (more like leaning for dear life because my feet were about to fall off) against the edges of the Grand Hall.

Arthur stood up from his throne, brushing off imaginary dust from the lapels of his tunic, and stretched. The noblemen in the room began scurrying away into doorways leaving just Arthur and I in the room. My stomach proceeded to make the loudest sounding growl, prompting Arthur to look at me in agreement.

"Come," he said, "let's go find some food."

I all but jumped for joy as we started making our way to the giant wooden doors. But just as we were about to reach it, the doors burst forth and in ran a girl, about my age, with golden blonde curls and bright blue tear-filled eyes. Arthur and I stared in surprise as she fell to the floor and sobbed incoherent words. The air around us began to fill with a familiar vibration.

The guards standing watch on the outside of the doors looked in, bewildered, and immediately hurried to haul the girl to her feet.

"I apologize, your Highness," one of them said, "she just burst forth as if the devil was chasing her."

Arthur held up his hand and inquisitively looked the sobbing girl up and down, her dirty dress in tatters around her feet.

"Leave her," he demanded and the guards let her go, causing her to fall back onto her knees. He then crouched down to her level. "What ails you, my lady?"

"S-sorceress, my lord. S-s-set my family's wa-wagon on fire as we were approachi-approaching the castle," she barely got out, tears streaming down her dirty face. "Sh-she...she KILLED them, your Majesty! She killed my family!"

Her whole frame gave out and she would've faceplanted if Arthur hadn't caught her.

"This sorceress, what did she look like?" Arthur asked.

"H-her eyes. As black as death. And her hair! As dark as night!"

Arthur seemed to have thought this over for a few seconds before nodding with resolve.

"The Sorceress, Morgause. As I expected. She's in league with Morgana," he claimed, then looked down at the girl, pushing a strand of dirty blonde hair from her face. "You are lucky to have escaped with your life."

She just quivered and leaned into him. He patted her back, rubbing circles into it before helping her up.

"Come. We will get you cleaned up and provide nourishment. In return, you will tell us all you can about your run-in with the dangerous witch."

She sniffled and wiped her tears away as she let Arthur escort her out of the doors of the Hall.

Just as she was passing through the doors, the sniffling girl glanced back at me. But instead of the fear-stricken blue eyes I was expecting, I saw black holes staring back at me, no emotion in them but cold calculation. Her face, too, matured in a matter of a millisecond, making her look 20 years older than just moments before. Her curly blonde hair morphed into a cascade of dark hair as straight as a board. A cold shiver ran down my spine as the vibrations in the room increased tenfold.

When she turned back around, her hair transformed back into blonde curls, her face instantly shaping into that of a 20 year old, and she let Arthur guide her further into the castle. The air vibration, that now was so thick it was choking me, followed her out the door.

Something was definitely wrong.