The Disappearance of Camelot, #.05, Stories from the Veil series

Chapter Three,

Chapter three,

She lifted her hand and pointed her finger at him, "You'll not touch, gift, or enslave my people."

"Done," he said in a bored tone pulling away from her. "Is that all? Or can I add my list of conditions?"

"You have conditions?"

"Of course, you have many I suppose."

"Because I'm being forced to marry you," Guinevere said dryly sitting in her chair once more. She let her fingers trace the rough wood that made up the arms, tracing all the names of those who came before her, even before the Romans came to their land.

"You'll be my Queen, and that also entails you'll bear my children."

Guinevere's eyes lifted to Arthur before they moved to Merlin. A silent plead that would fall on deaf ears crossed her mind.

"You'll accept hybrids?" she asked making sure to pause before saying the word.

"I'll accept whatever children my queen bears for me," he replied before he turned to look at Merlin. "Wait outside."

"Your Majesty—"

"Merlin, I swear, I'll dismember you right now," he said lifting his hand before he closed it slowly into a fist.

Guinevere's eyes followed Merlin as he walked outside the tent, and once the flap closed, they returned to Arthur.

"It seems that you've forgotten who is the king," Arthur mused out loud pacing around the entrance of the tent.

"Clearly, you've forgotten that you're not in Camelot."

"Silence," Arthur's voice echoed around them but rather than making her cower, Guinevere shot out of her chair. She stood straighter than before, with what she hoped was a defiant look in her eyes.

"You don't scare me," She said returning to Celtic while studying him.

"Maybe you should be scared," he turned quickly, pinning her to the center post in the tent, while his eyes stared into hers without emotion.

Guinevere tried to understand what had happened.

"You studied well, and now you speak our tongue?"

"My mother was born in Camborne before she was sent to Rome to marry my father, a Roman soldier," he told her before taking a step back. "If the Lady of the Lake and Merlin weren't so sure that our lives depend on our union, I would happily let you pursue Merlin."

"Pursue Merlin?" she repeated shaking her head. "Merlin left home to serve your father, and when he died, he stayed by your side, to serve you."

"He's a man," he said with finality. "Your pack has agreed to our union, and I'll agree to whatever whims and desires you may have. We can't waste any more time. Camelot is unprotected. I can't stay here any longer, I must return home, and you must return with me, as my bride and my queen. A united front is precisely what we need right now that my dragons did all the leg work with the vampires and the witches. I noticed how many empty houses and tents you have." He said deliberately slow, his eyes on hers. "It must have been hard having to bury so many dead."

Guinevere's face remained expressionless, though his words stabbed her right in the heart. She knew that the pack needed the dragons. Merlin's magic could only keep them safe for so long until the witches broke through the magical barriers and killed them. They needed Arthur's sword to survive if Merlin's predictions were to come true.

"I'll take your silence as an agreement," Arthur told her turning around and walking toward the flap, pushing it open.

Guinevere closed her eyes for a moment trying to center herself. Everything she ever did was for the pack and this wasn't different. The dragons would help them conquer their enemies but her pack would dominate the dragons, Camelot and the rest of them. They would never surrender to them.