Whoo! Alright, Fanfiction's FIRST Arthur/Elena story! :DDD
Hope you like it! Please review and let me know what you think. :) QS
*Note: this probably won't make sense to anybody, including those who have watched all three seasons. I watched The Changeling(Season 3, Episode 6) just a few days ago, and decided that Arthur should have been with Elena (or Elena should have been Gwen). The parts I pull from the different series for the plot are, I'm sure quite jumbled up, so I'm sorry for that.
Arthur could remember her last words to him very clearly: "If you ever want to be beaten in a horse race, you know where to find me." He smiled even now, as he rode his horse through the wet foliage towards Princess Elena's castle. He didn't know what had made him turn her away...
Well, that wasn't strictly true. He knew what had held him back. Gwen. Guinevere. The enchanting lady's maid to Morgana. He had once been in love with her. Once. Now the woman who had made him scramble to find a reason not to marry a beautiful princess had run off-with Lancelot. Arthur knew why; even he saw the worth of the man. He was more suited to Gwen, and Arthur had seen the way they looked at each other.
The only thing that had been a shock was that Lancelot had returned. He had left Gwen before, slipped away during the night, stating quite clearly that she was to be Arthur's. But necessity had driven Lancelot from wherever he had been to the towns for food and shelter.
Arthur snorted as he recalled the wounds the man had borne. The way Gwen had looked at him, the way she had tended him...he should have known sooner that it was going to happen.
King Uther would never know that Arthur had continued to harbour feelings for Gwen. All he would know is that Arthur had finally woken up, a little late, to find he actually was in love with Princess Elena.
Rain dripped slowly over his forehead and down his nose, but he continued his steady pace through the forest. Hopefully, he would be there by dusk...finally.
"Prince Arthur! What a pleasant surprise!" The elderly king smiled genuinely, and Arthur knew he really was a pleasant surprise. This man was a long-standing good friend of his father's, which had driven Arthur to leaving so suddenly and without sending ahead to let them know he was coming.
"Thank you, sir," Arthur said, bowing a little.
"Come come now, tell me: what is the nature of your visit? I hope you shall be staying long?"
"Yes sir, I had hoped to stay for some time." Arthur replied, standing straight again.
"Well, that is truly wonderful. May I inquire why you choose to make your visit at this time?"
Arthur smiled as he responded.
"Your daughter, the Princess Elena, told me if I ever wanted to be beaten in a horse race, I knew where to find her."
"Well, we shall let her know, then?" The king said, clapping Arthur on the shoulder and laughing heartily.
As the two men exited the chamber and went down the hall, Arthur looked ahead and saw Elena hurrying toward them.
"Prince Arthur!" she said, clearly delighted. "I suppose you couldn't resist my challenge?"
"That's true, my daughter," her father said, turning to Arthur. "He said you both were to have a horse race. I hope I am invited?"
"To one of them, perhaps. Knowing Arthur, he probably will not stop until he has won," Elena said, looking up at Arthur, a challenge in her eyes.
"Too right!" Arthur said, bowing slightly as Elena curtsied. "You just wait, I bet I can beat you loads of times." Elena rolled her eyes.
"Would you show Prince Arthur to his rooms, Elena? He will be with us...for quite some time," the king said, handing Arthur off to Elena. She and her father exchanged a brief look that Arthur couldn't read, and he briefly wished Merlin was with him. Merlin would know instantly what that look meant-he mentally kicked himself. Merlin? That was the last thing he needed, some bumbling manservant constantly underfoot while he tried to woo Elena!
"So, what has really brought you here?" Elena said, leaning on Arthur's arm as they walked along.
"Something of little consequence. I suppose I just wanted to get out of the castle for a little bit, and enjoy some time off," Arthur added, smiling at the beauty beside him. Again, that odd, unreadable look.
"I'm sure I'll find it out soon enough," she said confidently. Arthur laughed-something that hadn't happened in a long time. She smiled too, and led him off through the halls to his new chambers.
The Royal Gardens were amazing here. The castle was built up near the top of a large hill, and the slanted terrain made for an amazing, twisting garden, filled with waterfalls and massive trees, their roots stretched out into the rocky side of the hill, shading the many pathways through the spring air and sunshine. Arthur could very comfortably stay there for the rest of his life.
He and Elena spent his first afternoons at the castle there in the gardens, enjoying the weather. Every day he fell a little more in love with her, though he was careful not to stare too long, or say the wrong things. He wanted her to find out, but he still wanted to do it on his own terms.
One such day, a week into Arthur's visit, a caller came. He was led down by the King himself, and Arthur knew instantly something was off.
"Elena, darling? Prince Marcus is here." The stranger was tall and dark haired, with an intense look about him, especially in his hazel eyes.
"Elena, what a pleasure," he said smoothly, bending over Elena's hand.
"It is nice to meet you again as well, Prince Marcus," Elena said in the eternally pleasant voice. It put Arthur's teeth on edge to know she would be so nice to him. Marcus' eyes flickered over to where Arthur stood beneath one of the massive trees on the relatively flatter part of the gardens.
"Who is this, precious?" he asked, possessively wrapping Elena's arm around his own, resting his hand on top of hers where it rested on his forearm. Shock and anger flooded through Arthur, and he nearly jumped at the man.
"This is Prince Arthur, Marcus," she said cooly, raising a hand to Arthur. He came forward more, out of the shade of the tree.
"He is staying with us for a visit," she continued, still cool, her eyes glancing down to his hand on hers. Marcus eventually got the message and released her from his grasp.
"But he will not interfere with our plans, will he Elena?" Marcus asked in a dark voice, looking at Arthur maliciously. Arthur glared right back.
"No, you need not worry, Marcus," the king interjected. Marcus started, seeming to recall at last his was in the presence of the King.
"Of course; I was not worrying anyway, my lord," he said, bowing quickly. "Come Elena, we walk," Elena moved slowly to the other man's side, taking his arm and walking away down the path with him. Marcus looked back to glare at Arthur once more before striking up a conversation with the blonde beauty on his arm.
"They are engaged, at last. Marcus is a demanding one, and working out the betrothal and dowry plans were difficult to say the least," the king said in a wearied voice, joining Arthur to look after the pair as they wandered down the path. "I must say, this would all have been easier if the pair of you had fallen in love, back when you were to be married." He smiled gently at the young man, before clapping his hands once.
"I must be off. Do not waste your afternoon staring Arthur. Best find something...to take your mind off things." The elderly man began the walk back up to the castle, and Arthur realized the King knew why he was there. Had someone of his father's come to tell the court about Arthur's intentions? His face burned at the thought. No, that couldn't be it...they would have come to see him before leaving. So that just meant he was that obvious. Great.
Could he have worse luck? Of course he would only realize he needed Elena right when she was engaged! Why hadn't he known sooner? Why had no one told him?
Arthur was pacing his room. Dusk had fallen, and Marcus had crawled back to whatever slime pit he had come from. The fire was crackling in the hearth, and his boots nearly slammed against the floor at every step, but Arthur could hear nothing. It would be best if he left. Elena and her father were obviously going to commit to this match, though why Elena would be wedding some man she didn't love-
Arthur stopped dead in his tracks. Elena was in love with Marcus. That was why she put up with him, and why her father put up with his demands. Elena loved him.
He dropped into a chair, blowing out all the air in his lungs. Despair crashed on him. What had he done wrong to lose both of the women who were once to be his bride?
A light tapping sounded at the door.
"Come in," he called dejectedly, tracing his fingers around a knot in the wood of the table.
Elena stepped in, and Arthur sat bolt upright.
"Elena," he managed. She smiled briefly, but it did not reach her eyes. She hurried to his side, and dropped to her knees before him. Taking his left hand in both of hers, she looked earnestly at him.
"Is it true that you love me?" she whispered. Arthur just stared dumbstruck, before registering that she had asked a question.
"Yes!" he said belatedly, but Elena smiled anyway.
"Good. Because if you weren't going to step in and rescue me from that awful Marcus, I was going to have to do something drastic." She bit her lower lip, as though thinking of what damage she would have to do to get his attention. Arthur drew her attention back quickly.
"Why are you engaged to him?" he asked. She looked at him again.
"Because he was different before we were engaged. I was about to call it off. But his family...aren't exactly like yours, Arthur. They would not have taken kindly to my rejection after the betrothal was made official. I am sure we could fight off their armies, but my father is right-it would be too much loss of life for a petty decision."
Arthur blinked. She was just so different from when he had first known her. This could not possibly be the same young woman who had fallen over her own shoes when they first met, or snorted loudly when she laughed, or sneezed all over him when she took the rose he had gotten for her. It just couldn't be...but it was a nice, wonderful, marvelous, difference.
"Could you break it off for me?" Arthur asked seriously. "If he will attack because you reject him, what would happen if you left him for me?"
"I do not think that they will dare to attack if the House of Uther is joined to ours, and both armies are ready to fight," Elena said finally, decisively.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"May I ask what caused this change, Arthur?" Uther asked, looking at his son over the documents he was signing. "It is a good one, of course, and I am very happy because of your decision, but...still," he waved his pen around vaguely. Arthur smiled.
"I realized I did have feelings for her. I'm glad I went after her."
"But she was engaged," Uther protested weakly. "You could not have...developed these feelings for her sooner?"
"Father, I thought you wanted me to get married to her," Arthur said, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Uther paused.
"Yes, I do, it's just-" he trailed off, and signed his name at the bottom.
"Thank you father. I take it we have your blessing?"
"Of course."
The wedding was held days later, with all the splendour of the last time. The man bonding them paused before placing the cloth over their joined hands.
"Anything you would like to say, Prince Arthur?" he asked, smiling. Arthur grinned and shook his head. He wanted this finished and soon. He needed to be married to this wonderful, wonderful woman. Elena.
His Elena.
They spent the days after their wedding performing horse races, and kissing long and often...even at court.
The End.
A/N: Yeah, I know. Just a silly oneshot. But I love this pairing that I've basically invented on (and elsewhere, who knows?), and there will be more of this, along with Feeling (a Draco/Blaise/Harry threesome), more of Harry Potter Is A Slytherin, and the continuation (at last!) of Don't Be Afraid of Me. Thanks for reading! Please Review! ~QueenStarstruck