Chapter Sixteen
I stand at Arthur's side as a woman and her servant come into the room.
"Lady Catrina, is it really you?" Uther asks her.
Woh. Hold you there a second. That's my name bitch, not yours.
Arthur looks over at me and smiles a little when he sees me glaring at her.
"I can hardly believe it myself," the woman, Catrina, replies.
She looks almost ginger. Damn.
"We had tidings from the north that the house of Trigore had fallen to invaders," Uther tells her.
"All that you heard was true my lord, and worse."
"Your father, the king?"
"Gone sire. The enemy attacked without warning, we were outnumbered ten to one. We could not endure. I would never have survived had it not been for my faithful servant Jonas. But we did survive, and we have made it this far."
She starts to fall over, and both Uther and Arthur rush to her aid. I grab Arthur and pull him back, all without taking my eyes off her.
"Forgive me my lord," she says. "I fear my trails have taken their toll."
"Your sufferings are beyond imagining, my lady." No they're not. "It would be an honour to help you in any way that we can."
No it wouldn't.
"A bed for the night would be most welcomed."
"Then consider yourselves our esteemed guests, it's the least we can do."
"Thank you," she replies.
"Why don't I get the title of esteemed guest?" I mutter to Arthur.
"Because your not a guest."
I smile. "We haven't exactly made that official yet."
"Then we must change that."
Uther dismisses the court, and Arthur approaches him.
"Father, Trina here is still technically only a guest in the castle."
"Are you asking me to make her a permanent member of this castle?"
Uther looks over at me. "Then make it so. She has done more for this kingdom than I can recall."
I'm officially a resident of Camelot. Score!
I smile and bow. "Thank you so much sire, for I plan on staying in Camelot for a long, long time."
He nods to me. "I am glad, you make a valuable addition to our army."
I bow to him one more time, before leaving the room to head for mine.
It's official.
Oh gods it's finally official.
Finally.
~~**~~
"Well this is wonderful, thank you," Catrina says as Uther, Morgana, Arthur and I gather around the table to eat. Arthur forced me to wear one of Morgana's dresses for this, said I had to be a bit more formal.
This sucks ass.
I've been glaring at Arthur ever since he forced me to wear it and I don't plan on stopping just because we're at dinner.
"It's an honour. The houses of Trigore and Pendragon have been allies for well... As long as anyone can remember," Uther replies.
"My father often spoke of you my lord," she tells him.
"And I will remember him always."
"I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to meet him," Arthur says.
"I'm sorry too. But the house of Trigore is no more."
She pushes away her plate, and I give her an odd look.
"Well no Catrina, it lives on in you."
Aw thanks Uther.
"I only wish that were true."
"It is my lady." Arthur stares at Uther, a disgusted look on his face. I smirk at him, that's what you get for making me wear a damn dress.
"Your courage, your modesty. And you are as you always were, ever since you were a child."
"I fear I have much changed since then my lord."
"Ah yes, it's true. You are far more beautiful now."
Arthur looks completely appalled at Uther, and I snicker at him. He elbows my hard in the ribs, and yawns loudly.
Damn him that hurt.
"I'm sorry, hard days training."
I look up and nod.
"If you'll excuse us."
"Of course," she replies.
"Arthur, Katrina," Uther says, nodding to him.
I see her look up at me when Uther uses my name, and I give her a cocky look. She gives me a suspicious look, and I smile.
There's only room for one Katrina in Camelot, and that's me.
Arthur grabs my arm and pulls me out of the room.
"Is this really necessary? I think I know how to get up on my own! And ow, that freaking hurt!"
"Shut up Trina."
"Oh please, you know you love my constant yammering."
"Yes Trina, I love you constantly making fun of me."
I smile and nod. "Of course you do."
~~**~~
"Merlin what are you up to?" I ask him as I follow him through the halls of the castle.
"What do you mean? I don't know what you're talking about."
"I saw you just go into Lady Catrina's room then comes back out. What are you up to? What is she up to? I don't like her one bit."
"Wait, she's Catrina... And you're Katrina."
"Gods you're slow Merlin. Why do you think I initially didn't like her? But she didn't touch her food last night at dinner after a long ride... I'm starting to wonder."
"So am I, come on."
I follow him down out of the castle and into Gaius' place.
"What did you find?" Gaius asks him.
"He found a Kat!" I say, smiling.
"Yes, yes, besides that."
"Something wasn't right in her room. There was this strange smell, and I could have sworn the Lady Catrina's bed hadn't been slept in. And there's something else... Jonas. As I was leaving, I thought I saw something... This is going to sound mad, but I think Jonas had a tail."
"Tail?" I ask.
He nods.
"You sure?" Gaius asks.
"I only glimpsed it for a moment, I could be wrong..."
"No, no. I believe you," Gaius says.
And so do I. I've seen many things, other than animals, with tails.
"We must keep an eye on her, a very close eye."
I smile. "Leave that to me. I'm now an official citizen of Camelot and member of the royal household, although I'm not quite sure where I fit in. But yeah, leave the watching up to me."
~~**~~
"Honestly, look at them," Arthur says as we watch Catrina and Uther getting off their horses.
Can I just call her evil me or something?
"Don't you think it's odd how quickly they've become close?" I ask.
"There's nothing odd about that, my father's a wealthy and powerful man."
He walks off, and I follow after him.
"And how does that make it not odd?"
"I would expect you of all people to understand that."
I sigh. Yeah, yeah... I get it...
"I need you to do castle patrol tonight, by the way. I know you thrive durning the night time so I thought you might want to give it a shot."
He's basically handing me a chance to spy on Catrina.
I smirk. "Fine, I'll do it. But you have to promise never to make me wear a blasted dress again!"
He laughs. "I'll have to do it again just because you hate it so much."
"Damn you," I mutter.
"I heard that."
"You were meant to."
This should be fun, I get to do a bit of spying tonight.
~~**~~
I lean against the wall outside her room, and watch her leave her room and head down out of the castle. I follow after her, down into some tunnels below the castle.
Some runs into me from behind, and I whirl around, poised to attack and armed man with only my bare hands.
"Don't kill me, Kat. Please don't kill me."
I drop my hands. "Damn it Merlin you scared me. Now come on, I'm supposed to be on guard duty, not stalk evil me duty."
"That's what your calling her? Evil me? Really?"
"Shut up Merlin."
He shakes his head. "You spend too much time around Arthur."
I ignore him, and continue down the tunnels. I cover my nose with my hand as we go deeper in, the stench is horrible.
It smells like shit in here, no joke.
We turn a corner, and come to a stop in front of a larger room with hay on the floor. Laying in the hay, is an ugly hag, wearing the same clothes as Catrina.
It's a troll.
Merlin and I exchange disgusted looks, and we run out.
Merlin goes back to his house, and I go back into the castle.
I knew there was something wrong with her.
~~**~~
I stand outside Catrina's room, my head plastered against the door, listening to them.
She chanting a spell.
She's going to enchant Uther.
I slide the door open a crack, and see them chanting over a necklace with a red stone in it.
This is bad, so very, very, bad.
"Dinner time," she says, and they start cackling.
"Trina what are you doing?"
I close the door and whirl around to face Arthur.
"N-nothing." I stutter.
"What are you doing Trina?"
"I told you nothing!"
"Don't lie to me, your a horrible liar."
No, I'm a very good liar because I'm a good actor. I just can't lie to you, it's not possible.
I sigh. "Fine then, I was spying on her, making sure she doesn't do anything bad. I don't like her Arthur, I don't like her at all."
She's a stinking troll, what do you expect?
"Neither do I, but that doesn't mean you have to spy on her!"
"You're the one who gave me this post two nights in a row! What did you think I was going to do? You know me better than that!"
He looks me in the eye. "Yes Trina, I do know you better than that."
My gods, his eyes.
He takes a step closer, and my heart starts to race.
"I know you better than anyone," he whispers in my ear.
He leans in, and his mouth finds mine for the third time.
And it's just as amazing every single time.
The door opens behind us, and we break sort instantly.
Catrina raises an eyebrow at us, and I take off down the hall.
I run out of the castle, and out onto the training ground. I collapse onto the ground and sob into my arms.
It can't happen, and it hurts.
It can't happen, and it kills me.
I curl up into a ball on the ground, and let my tears fall.
"Trina..."
I look up, and wipe my eyes.
Of course he knew I'd be here.
"I know it can't happen, and it kills me! I try to push it into the back of my mind, try to forget. But I can't. I've tried, I really have, but I've come to the conclusion that once you care about someone that much, you never really stop caring."
"You're so smart, have I ever told you that?" He asks, coming over and sitting down in the grass next to me.
I shake my head.
He smiles. "Well you are. You're a genius, actually."
"Side affect of being the daughter of the wisdom goddess."
"Side affect? I'd call it a blessing."
I smile at him, and wipe away my final tears.
"I guess I'll just have to try harder."
"Maybe..."
"No," I interrupt. "You said it yourself, it can't happen. Not now at least. But when you're king, things will be different." We both stand up, and I look into his perfect eyes. "And I promise you, I will wait."
I kiss him gently on the cheek, and run off to my room. I jump onto my bed, and look at the ceiling, smiling.
I will wait.
It'll be hell.
But I'll wait.
~~**~~
*A/N: I'm not going to stick to the same love layout with Gwen and Arthur (which would be Kat and Arthur) as in the show for this. It's fanfiction, I can do what ever the hell I want XD I want to speed it up kinda maybe cause I loveeee writing about them.... Lalalalalala back to the story*
~~**~~
I stand next to Arthur as Catrina and Uther come into the room. Apparently it's actually called the council chambers, who would have guessed?
"Thank you all for coming," Uther says to the people gathered in the room. "You are no doubt wondering why I have gathered you here today."
No shit Sherlock.
"Tho we live in dark times, today, I bring you light, and love."
I cringe at the smug look on Catrina's face.
Damn troll.
"It gives me the greatest pleasure to inform you that the houses of Trigore and Pendragon are to be united, in the closest bound of all. I am to marry Lady Catrina of Trigore."
Oh damn no. Shit just got really.
He's going to marry a troll.
Wonder how that'll work out.
The people in the room clap, and she whispers something in his ear.
"I am to marry Lady Catrina, tomorrow."
I look over at Arthur, and I see a wishful look on his face.
A small smile curls onto my lips, he's thinking of me.
Did I mention this will be a hellish wait?
I look over at Merlin, and he sneaks around the corner. He's using magic on her. In front of Uther. Sometimes I wonder it Arthur's right about him being an idiot.
Uther and Catrina leave the room, and I run after Merlin.
"What the hell were you thinking?" I snap.
"I was trying to reveal her Kat!"
"But right in front if Uther? Gods Merlin that was stupid!"
"Yeah, well he didn't notice it did he? I'm fine."
He's mad that it didn't work. I can see it in his eyes.
He stalks away from me, and Arthur comes over.
"What was that all about?"
I shake my head. "Nothing, nothing. I... I have to go... Do crap."
Why can't I lie to him, damn it.
I run off down the hall and into my room. I close the door behind me, and kick it.
Damn it she's going to be queen. This must have been her plan all along, how could I not have seen it?
~~**~~
"Kat," Merlin cries, bursting into my room. I sit up in my bed, and stare at him.
"What?"
"I'm going to try and stop Catrina."
I jump up. "Let me help!"
He shakes his head. "No, you can't. I got the information from her servant, I don't know how much I trust it. I just want you to know where to find me in case..."
"No, don't think like that. You'll be fine. You sure I can't home?"
He nods. "Yes Kat. Arthur would never forgive me if I out you in harms way."
"I out myself in harms way much more often than you ever will."
He smiles. "I guess that's different."
He closes the door behind him, and I lay back on my bed.
Don't do anything stupid Merlin.
~~**~~
"Wear the damned dress Trina!" Arthur yells at me.
"No," I reply firmly. I'm not wearing a dress for her wedding, not in a million years.
"I can't have you not looking presentable at my father'a wedding!"
"Then I'll throw on my cape."
"That's not good enough. Just wear the stupid dress."
"You promised me you wouldn't make me."
"I never said that."
"Yeah, you did."
He sighs. "Please, just do it. It can't be that bad, can it?"
I hold up the dress Gwen delivered me earlier. "Have you ever actually tried to put one of these on? It's horrible!"
"Then wear the dress you got from your brother."
I stop, and turn to face him. "That's actually not a bad idea. Do I get to wear the leaf crown?"
He smiles. "Yes Trina, you can wear your stupid leaf crown."
"Fine then, I'll wear it. But you owe me now, remember that."
"Alright, I owe you. Now make your self presentable."
I leaves the room, and I dig through my closet full of armor, shirts, and pants, looking for the dress.
I find the dress I wore to my brother'a coronation, along with my leaf crown, and smile. Oh the memories.
I take off my armor, and put the dress on. I keep my belt fastened around my wait underneath the thing, just in case.
Arthur still owes me a new steel knife...
I grab a brush from the side table, and run it through my tangled mess of hair. I hate my stupid chocolate like hair, hence the reason I normally just wear it back.
It curls slightly once I'm on with it, and I put down the brush. I inspect myself in the mirror. Not bad for never having had to do something like this by myself before. Someone helped me for Jack'a coronation.
You could say I almost look pretty, but I'd laugh in your face.
There's a knock at the door, and Gwen comes in to get me.
She smiles at me. "You look beautiful Kat."
"You think that... As do you Gwen. "
She motions for me to follow her, and I let her lead me down to the throne room.
The people file into the room, and I take my place at the end of the aisle.
The men with trumpets by the door start playing, and Arthur and Uther come into the room.
I look at Arthur, my face softening. He wears a red cape overtop of a nicer shirt then normal, and he has a golden crown on his head. He looks so handsome when he's wearing something formal.
Him and Uther continue to process down the aisle, with everyone bowing as they pace. Arthur's eyes find me in the crowd, and I swear I see him take a step back. Bewilderment registers in his eyes. He can't believe I've cleaned up so nicely. That's so nice of you.
I bow as they pass in front of me, and Arthur joins me on the side.
Catrina processes into the room, and everyone turns to get a glance at her.
But not Arthur. He can't keep his eyes off me.
Funny thing is, I can't keep my eyes off him.
Stop being such a girl Katrina, snap out of it.
I guess it comes with the dress...
"My Lords, ladies and gentlemen of Camelot. We are gathered here today to celebrate, by the ancient right of Handfast, the union of Uther Pendragon, and Lady Catrina of Trigore."
Arthur gets that wishful look in his eyes again. What has gotten into him?
Wait a second, where's Merlin.
Oh damn it.
I look back through the crowd, but he's no where to be found.
Ugh I'm so stupid sometimes.
"Is it your wish to become one with this woman?" The minister asks Uther.
"It is," he replies.
My eyes fall on a necklace around Uther's neck. One with a red gem in the middle
She's charmed him. It's like that time with Sophia and Arthur all over again.
Nope, don't wanna think about that time. Don't think about that time Kat... Don't.
"Is it your wish, Lady Catrina, to become one with this man?"
"It is," she says.
"Do any say nay?" The minister asks the crowds.
Me damn it, me.
Where the hell is Merlin? I can't say anything.
When no one says anything, he carries on.
"With this garland, I do tie a know. And by doing so, bind your hands and your hearts, for all eternity."
He pulls out a garland, and ties it around their hands.
Eternity can be a damn long time.
"I, Uther Pendragon, king of Camelot. I shall not seek to change thee in anyway, I shall respect thee, as I respect myself."
I turn back to look at the door, but still no Merlin. What have I done? I should have gone with him.
"I now pronounce you to be, husband and wife."
You may kiss the bride.
No, don't kiss the bride!
They kiss, and just as they kiss the doors fly open. I turn and see Merlin at the door, breathing hard.
I conveniently my forget to clap as well.
Catrina turns, smiling at the crowd. She looks around, and her face falls when she sees Merlin.
What did she do to him?
I will stop this bitch from taking over Camelot if its the last thing I do.
~~**~~
A/N: ok, I need your opinion! I reallyyyyyyyy want to advance with Kat and Arthur's romance next chapter. They've known each other for sixteen chapters and I just can't wait any longer! What do ya think? Should I? I love how much dramatic irony there is in this episode because you as the viewer know she's a troll trying to take over the kingdom, but Uther doesn't. Dramatic irony right there. Sorry for any typeos, I did this chapter on my phone... btw, do you like the new cover? I'm quite proud of it.
Love,
Kateeeeeee