Things between my father, Arthur and myself had been slightly awkward over the last few days to say the least. I mean, Arthur had tried to kill him and then I (along with Merlin) had saved him; both of which were extremely rare and unusual things to witness. I had done everything in my power to avoid being near him and had done fairly well so far but apparently the universe had other plans for today.
Arthur and I were currently sitting opposite our father in the Great Hall as he explained his excitement for a person of magic who was being brought in later on tonight. Clearly, he thought that he was going to be killing two birds with one stone; killing a magical being as well as giving the public some sick form of entertainment in the form of an execution.
"The trader should be arriving early in the morning of tomorrow. I should like to have the execution ready for the afternoon," father said, stuffing his mouth with grapes, as I rested my chin on my hand, counting how many chiselled swirls were engraved on the columns.
I had just reached 43 when I felt Arthur kick my foot with his. Straightening up, I looked over at father, who had been watching me, apparently waiting for me to answer a question.
"Erm... yes," I guessed, but seeing the shock on my father's face, I quickly changed my answer. "No. Maybe." I looked over at Arthur, hoping he would give me some clue as to what the question was but he was currently covering his mouth with his hand, trying to hide a laugh. "What was the question?"
"Were you not listening?" father accused.
No. No, I wasn't.
"Of course I was. I'm just double checking that you can remember what you said, make sure you don't have an illness with your brain or something like that. Better be safe than sorry, especially since you are getting older. Can't have a kingdom with a nutter as a king," I shrugged.
Father ignored my comment and instead cleared his throat, leaning back in his chair.
"I asked if you were going to attend the sorcerer's execution," father said, making me roll my eyes.
"What makes you think I'm going to attend an event where the whole purpose is to slaughter someone," I replied.
"That's a crude way to put it," Arthur commented.
"A crude word for a crude event," I defended. "So in answer to your question, I will not be attending and I really think you should stop making an event of this. Sorcerer or not, they are still people and deserve some dignity."
"They resigned their dignity the moment they chose to study magic," father replied.
"Right, thought you'd say something like that," I muttered sarcastically.
"I know you may not see it now, but one day, you will see that I am right," father said, eating another bunch of grapes.
"I won't hold my breath," I countered, leaning back in my chair, and resuming my chisel counting.
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The next morning I decided that I was going to challenge my dear brother to an archery contest as a means to distract myself from the execution. So after changing into the suitable attire, I made my way towards Arthur's room, a slight spring in my step as I thought about how I was gonna destroy Arthur in the challenge.
When I got to his room, I didn't bother knocking and was glad I didn't. When I entered, Arthur already seemed to be in an agitated mood making me wonder what Merlin had done to annoy him. If I had knocked, I would have probably missed the absolute distress on his face.
"Good morning," I said cheerfully, strolling over to Arthur.
"Am I fat?" Arthur asked me, making me tilt my head in confusion.
"What?" I asked.
"Look what Merlin brought me for breakfast today," Arthur said gesturing over at the second door into his room.
I turned and saw a squashed green apple and a bread roll on the floor.
"Why is it on the floor by the door? Huh, that rhymed," I muttered, walking over to it.
"Because I threw it at Merlin," Arthur shrugged before he turned to his mirror. "He said that he is going to start cutting my food down so I don't get fat."
I looked back over at Arthur and saw he genuinely looked concerned.
"You're fine, Arthur," I assured him, subtly picking up the bread roll. As he was checking himself out in the mirror, I chucked the bread roll at the back of his head, smirking to myself as it fell to the floor and Arthur slowly turned to face me. "Reactions are a bit slow though. But don't worry, my darling brother, I have a cure."
Ignoring the annoyance on Arthur's face, I walked past him and picked up my bow that I was having to keep in here.
"No," Arthur shook his head immediately before going to walk back over to the table. "We are not playing Archery."
"Why? Scared you'll lose?" I challenged, a small smirk on my face.
It seemed that that was the right thing to say as next thing I knew, Arthur and I were out on the green, a bow in our hands, repositioning the target so it was out from under the morning sun.
"You're gonna regret challenging me this morning," Arthur warned me.
"Is that so? Well, let's say we up the stakes then. First one to hit bullseye seven times gets the other person to buy them as many drinks as they want at the tavern," I said.
"I am not taking you to the tavern," Arthur said, turning to face me.
"Who said I'm giving you a choice? If and when I win, you will be spending your whole allowance at that tavern," I said.
"Yeah, right. Get your coins ready, Chels, cause I am going to absolutely demolish you," Arthur threatened, grabbing an arrow from his quiver.
"I'm so scared right now," I muttered dryly.
"You should be," Arthur replied.
He then lifted his bow and pointed it at the target. He was still for a moment, steadying his hand before he let go and, just like I thought it would, sent it flying into bullseye.
"And the crowd goes wild!" Arthur cheered for himself, holding the bow above his head.
"Be careful, Arthur. Cocky knights tend to celebrate early and then things really go downhill for them," I warned him.
"What was that? I couldn't hear you over the sound of victory," Arthur said, making me roll my eyes.
I approached the spot Arthur had just been at and raised my own bow.
"Now, I don't want you to feel bad if you lose. Technically, I am the best archer as I am the oldest," Arthur said from just to my left.
"Barely," I muttered, but remained focused on my shot.
Taking a deep breath, and narrowing my eyes slightly, I pulled the arrow back and released it. The point streamlined through the air, directly into bullseye, right beside Arthur's arrow.
I turned to face Arthur with a smile.
"You were saying," I said.
"Beginners luck," Arthur muttered before going to pick up another arrow.
Oh, this was so much more fun than I anticipated.
As we reached the end, Arthur and I were tied at 6-6 so the next right shot won. Even though Arthur was first and he had a decent shot on him today, I wasn't worried; I had a plan. I waited patiently for Arthur to pull him string back and just as he was about to let go of his arrow, I pretended to see someone behind him and wave.
"Hi, Gwen," I said with a smile.
Instinctively, Arthur's focus fell and when he released his arrow, the arrow landed in the inner red circle of the target. He then quickly spun around to see the empty space I had been waving and talking at.
"You little cheat," Arthur groaned, turning back to face me.
"You are so smitten," I replied with a smile as I picked up my arrow.
"Am not," Arthur replied, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks.
"Try telling the blush on your cheeks that," I replied coolly, as I lined my last arrow up. "Oh, and before you try it, nothing you can say while make me turn around."
Arthur didn't say anything as I pulled the string back. But just as I released the arrow, I felt him start tickling my sides, making me squirm suddenly. I tried to move from his tickle attack but the target caught my eye.
Despite the deliberate distraction, the arrow and soared into the side of bullseye.
"Yes!" I exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement.
"No!" Arthur countered. "How did you do that?"
"Well I am the better archer, and twin so..." I trailed off before holding out my hand. "Good game."
With a glare, Arthur shook my hand.
"I'll beat you next time," Arthur warned me.
"If your performance next time is as good as this one, I'm not worried," I smiled innocently.
"Be careful, Chelsea. Cocky princesses tend to celebrate early and then things really go downhill for them," Arthur repeated my earlier words, as we picked up the arrows.
"But I didn't," I reminded him. "So... when're we going to the tavern?"
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After a while of trying to convince him, I finally managed to persuade Arthur to let us go to the tavern tonight. But that was with one condition... Leon was coming with us. Not that I minded as I quite liked Leon but I only found it slightly amusing that he thought I needed two people to protect me. Did he really think me so defenceless?
So just as I was walking down the busy streets, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Instinct got the best of me as I went to pull the person's arm behind their back.
"Woah, woah, woah. My lady, it's just me," a familiar voice said.
I released the hand as I recognised the mop of golden hair and the rich red cloak that only a knight of Camelot wore.
"Leon?" I said. "I'm so sorry."
"Not at all, my lady," Leon replied, straightening his cloak. "It was my own fault." I gave him a small apologetic smile as I clasped my hands in front of me. "I just came to clarify something that Arthur said to me earlier. Is it true he's actually allowing you into the tavern?"
"He had no choice," I smiled. "I beat him at archery."
"Arthur did not mention that," Leon said with a small smile.
"I was quite surprised myself when he agreed," I admitted, falling into pace alongside Leon as we walked through the village. "Of course he had his conditions but I don't mind."
"That's what I wished to talk to you about. You don't mind that I'll be there?" Leon asked, and I could see that he was anxious of my answer.
"Of course I don't mind. Believe it or not, Leon, I actually like you. You're one of the few guards I can actually stand," I assured him, giving him a smile.
"Ok, good. I just didn't want you to feel uncomfortable with my presence," Leon said.
Just then, I noticed about a dozen guards rounding up a group of the villagers and start lining them up near the drawbridge.
"What is going on here?" I asked.
"You didn't hear?" Leon asked, coming to a stop beside me.
"Hear what?" I countered.
Leon gently grabbed my elbow and led me to the side of the street.
"That trader who was bringing in the Druid girl for an execution today, last night he went into the tavern, leaving the girl out in her cage but when he came back she was gone," Leon explained.
"Gone? How? Surely someone would have noticed if she used magic," I commented.
"Someone helped her escape. They're looking for her accomplice," Leon told me.
I looked back over at the line of villagers, all of whom looked confused yet innocent.
"Do you really think someone helped her?" I pondered.
"The only other option is she used magic, but like you said, someone would've noticed," Leon said.
A large man covered in soot and dirt then walked straight past us, grumbling angrily under his breath about incompetent guards. I was about to make a comment about it but then noticed the guard he was with and I would be lying if I said that he wasn't one of the most useless guards in Camelot.
"That's him," Leon muttered to me.
"He looks happy," I commented, making Leon smile.
"You should've seen him after he's been drinking in the tavern. I was doing my rounds and as I walked in he was singing loudly with the rest of the men in there," Leon said. "It was rather out of tune if you ask me."
"Please tell me you joined in," I smiled.
"I would've but I didn't want to outshine them all," Leon shrugged.
"Sure," I nodded sarcastically.
"I'm telling the truth," Leon defended with a small laugh.
"I never said you weren't," I laughed, beginning to walk away from Leon.
With one last smile I carried on walking through the village, immediately noticing the presence of someone beside me.
"You and Leon seemed like you were having fun," Merlin said, as he walked beside me towards the castle.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"He makes you laugh," Merlin commented, making me raise and eyebrow and glance over at him.
"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were jealous," I said innocently.
"I'm not jealous," Merlin muttered. "I was just making a comment."
"Leon's a friend, Merlin. Of course he makes me laugh, I've known him for most of my laugh," I said.
"Hmm," Merlin muttered to himself.
"Did you hear about the Druid girl?" I asked, deciding it would be best to steer the topic of conversation away from Leon.
"Yep. Yes, I heard. She must've been very desperate to have escaped like that. To have used her magic out in the open," Merlin said.
"Who said anything about her using magic?" I asked.
"I just presumed that was how she escaped," Merlin shrugged, but I noticed the slight pink tinge in his cheeks.
"Merlin..." I trailed off, eyeing him with narrowed eyes. "Please tell me you haven't done what I think you've done."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Merlin muttered.
"Christ, Merlin," I sighed. "You really do take every opportunity to try and get yourself killed, don't you?"
"I had to. She was locked in a cage. She's still a person, Chels. I couldn't let her be killed. She was being treated like an animal," Merlin defended.
"Where is she now?" I asked.
Merlin didn't say anything and I felt a cold shiver run through me.
"Don't you trust me?" I asked.
"Of course I trust you, Chelsea. I would trust you with my life but this isn't my secret to share. The least people who know about where she is, the better. And I can't have you hiding yet another secret from Arthur," Merlin said.
"That's my decision to make," I reminded him.
"And this is mine," Merlin replied before he glanced down guiltily and walked away.
So once again, even when he was trying to prevent it, I had another secret to keep from Arthur. I didn't need to know where she was as long as I knew she was still here, somewhere.
And that made me uneasy.
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