December Heat could feel her heartbeat pounding so loudly when she passed the guard she feared he could hear it. Men of Camelot can smell fear from a mile away. They strike fear in the heart of any man who dare's to cross them, not one of them is a cowardly lion. Their hearts are filled with compassion and kindness, and their minds are filled with good manners and common sense. They're brave and smart, and spit in the face of death time and time again. Small amounts of fear mean nothing to them, but they can still tell. Luckily for December, she was not afraid. What reason did she have to be afraid? They could not harm her. She was invincible, nothing could touch her. She had all the confidence and self-respect she needed. She was fearless, on top of the world.
"Morning miss," said the burly guard "What business do you have in Camelot?" he asked cheerily. December smiled sweetly at the man and tilted her head. "I need to make a fresh start." She said with confidence. The man regarded her. About 5'5", brown hair, green eyes, slim. Nothing really threatening about her. She had a gorgeous face and body, and didn't look like she could harm a fly. He smiled and motioned for her to enter. "The name's Fin. If someone's giving you trouble or you need anything at all just come find me, you could ask for me too, I know everyone around here." "Thankyou Fin, I hope I don't need your help, but I'll visit you! Maybe we can have lunch or dinner." She smiled again and began to walk forward "By the way my name's December, December Heat" With a wave to Fin she strolled onto the city. Nothing could stop her.
What she saw could be described as nothing but breathtaking. The stone walls were a beautiful beige and the houses were lovely. Even where the poor were everything was amazing. The real site though was the square. Wagons and little shops and stands were everywhere. People were crowding the alley's and leading horses through. Stopping to drink or buy a snack. When you looked up you could see the top of the castle on the horizon and beautiful towers. For December, though, none of this held her interest. She was here for a reason and taking in the sights wasn't part of that. What she memorized were the passages and roads and some faces and stands. She mapped it all out in her head and stored it away. As she neared her destination she couldn't help but to look up. The castle was the most extraordinary part of the city, even better than the rose high over everything else. It's towers were even more spectacular now that she could fully see them. to the east she could see the Astolat River that she had followed to get there and silently thanked the nymphs. The castle, she now realized, sat high on a cliff above the ocean where the river flows into it. The walls were and high and probably thick. It was the mightiest castle she had ever seen. Enemies couldn't sneak up on the fortress because of its place on the cliff and because of the cliff itself. The cliff was impossible to scale and coming up the hill would be suicide. Perfectly safe.
While looking up at the castle she lost her train of thought. A steady beat on the pavement broke her trance, but not in time. She tried to run but wasn't quite quick enough. The horses knocked her around and she fell. The horses were unnerved, and the men didn't see why so they pushed them forward. December crashed into the pavement and hit her head. She felt some blood trickle down onto her forehead before her leg was stepped on by a big white horse. The hoofbeats died away suddenly and she tried to get up. She made it halfway up before she started to see black spots. She had been taken by surprise. As she fell toward the cobblestone again she felt something solid collide with her stomach stopping her short. Upon discovering that it was solid and not moving she leaned against it. She didn't care what it was, she just wanted to stay upright. She could hear footsteps and shouting but couldn't really make out anything. She just kept her eyes closed and tried to block it out.
She felt someone try to adjust her and started. The sudden movement sent her back to this strong brace the was holding her up. Once again she felt a shift and went right back to her saving grace, the lovely object holding her up. As her senses came back she realized she had cuts on her hands, arms, legs, and face. She could hear the murmur of voices crowded around her. She had to get them away. She had to let them know that this brace would be enough. It would hold her up well until she didn't need it anymore. Suddenly there was another shift and she realized it was the brace that was shifting. The brace was breathing. There was a deep sound coming from the brace. The brace was what was shifting. Realization hit her like a ton of bricks. She pushed away and found resistance. The brace was holding her. The brace wasn't a brace. It was a man. A strong, muscular man.
"I-I'm sorry," she stuttered "I should have moved." She looked up at the man. Her intent was to bat her eyelashes and convince him that she was fine. For a second he looked confused, then his face softened. Her intent was to forget about this whole thing. He opened his mouth. Her intent was to continue what she came her to do without anymore distractions. "Don't apologize." he said. Her intent just got a little side-tracked. "I'll take you to Gaius." December snapped back into reality. Who was Gaius? Who was this man? Who were these men he was with? He helped her up off the ground. December tried to walk away, maybe it was the injury to head that was making her stay, or maybe it was something else. She shook her head and soon found this was a terrible idea. Everything went fuzzy again and she leaned against this man. "Just try to walk, okay?" he asked her. She nodded and then reeled back. When would she learn?
" Relax" he said. She had to admit to herself that she needed the help of these mere men. They wouldn't leave her alone anyways. So, she let this man guide her. 'Gaius must be their physician,' she reasoned with herself ' plus these men haven't tried to hurt you. Worst case scenario you do something stupid and-' Her thoughts were interrupted when they got to the castle gates. Once again she took in every miniscule detail of the layout and the guards. This was what she came for, but even she had to admit, this castle was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. The sheer size of it left her speechless. The man chuckled at her expression as they climbed the steps. The laugh had to be one of the most amazing things she had heard in this great kingdom. This man was the most amazing thing in the kingdom.
As they made their way through the hallways the man was far from silent. He pointed out artifacts and rooms and gave her a great tour, though she knew there was much, much more than she was seeing. He led her to a room and showed her inside. She was hesitant at first. Was she supposed to be in here? All of this looked so expensive and precious. And who was this man that he could just waltz into the castle and give her a room. He must be one of the kings trusted knights. He must be, how else would he have so much power and all that knowledge about the castle? A door closed and, startled, she whipped around. An old man had entered. He couldn't have been more than 80 but was definitely older than 50. She wasn't sure. He had this air about him that she couldn't place. It was almost like he knew something nobody else knew. The thought sent a chill down her spine. Did he know?
"Gaius," her rescuer said " she was run over by some of the knights in the square. Please attend to her." The old man walked forward to see her injuries. "Hello miss," he smiled warmly "I'm Gaius, the kings physician. What may your name be?" She immediately trusted him. A trust she couldn't explain, she had no reason to trust him, but then again why shouldn't she trust him. 'Because he knows something' A little voice niggles in the back of her mind. She just brushed it off and gave the old man, Gaius, as bright a smile as she could manage and said "December, December Heat" as she held out her bruised hand. The man smiled and gently squeezed her hand. " A name like that could be a great topic of discussion," he laughed to himself " heat in december...could mean so many things..." He trailed off. The door opened, startling all the occupants of the room. Another man came in. Not at all as muscular or dressed as richly as her rescuer but just as handsome. He had this air of undiscovered power, unlike her rescuer who obviously had power.
"Ah, Merlin," said her rescuer as he clapped this Merlin on the shoulder "welcome to the party!" "Some party," said Merlin " I've noticed you make a habit of injuring your guests" Her rescuer narrowed his eyes at the man, but in a way that no one else seemed to pick up on except her. They were friends. "Merlin, go fetch a potion for brain injuries, salve, some bandages, and some water, said Gaius who had been attending to her as she analyzed the friendship of the two men " oh and by the way, Merlin, this is miss December Heat. What a fascinating name don't you think?" He smiled good-naturedly. Merlin inspected her for the first time. She could see the surprise in his eyes as he studied her face. Then a huge smile broke across his face. He took her hand in his and placed a light kiss on it. " Pleasure to meet you Miss Heat." "Call me December." She said and smiled sweetly at him.
Gaius prodded Merlin in the arm and told him to get on with it. Her rescuer walked forward and steered him towards the door. That's when she realized the man she'd come to know as her rescuer was the only one here whose name she did not know. "Um, excuse me," she said "What's your name?" He looked a little taken aback. Then walked forward and kneeled beside her. "You don't know who I am? " He asked, a little bemused. ' how could I? ' she thought. "I'm sorry, no." she finally said. He laughed a little and glanced at Gaius who also looked amused. "Look if you don't want to tell me, fine, but at least tell me because I don't enjoy being thought of as an idiot." she snapped. Merlin had chosen that moment to arrive. He laughed and said "I like her already! If she can stand up to this oaf, she's a friend of mine."
" I'm Arthur." He stated. She gave a blank stare and Merlin laughed again. "I honestly can't believe this." said Arthur, whoever he was. Gaius chuckled and Arthur smiled. Feeling really uninformed she exclaimed "I don't care what you believe, I just want to know who you are! Arthur, is not helpful so please get off your high horse and just tell me!" Merlin and Gaius almost died right there they were laughing so hard." She's a feisty one!" said Merlin happily. Gaius clapped his hands together and roared with laughter. Arthur on the other hand looked like he'd never been spoken to that way. As Arthur opened his mouth she realized, he probably never had. Piecing the puzzle together she realized who he was just as he said "I am Arthur Pendragon, son of Uther Pendragon, King of Camelot." She mentally slapped herself, she'd been insulting the Prince of Camelot!