Disclaimer: I don't own King Arthur (2004)

Rating: M for mature language and adult scenes that may not be acceptable for young children.

Promise Queen

Prolog

My eyes fluttered open at the lightest touch against my skin. The small smile that crept over my face was attributed to the feel of his warm and calloused fingers as they traveled down my arm. His actions started from my shoulder with a kiss that went with the light scratching of his developing facial hair; then it traveled downward. Over my upper arm, teasing the small hairs there, to the inside of my elbow where my blood pumped quickly through my veins, and then down my lower arm to my wrist and hand where he entwined our fingers together; his touch was always gentle with me, no matter what.

My smile grew into a grin as he buried his nose in my hair. He drew in a deep breath as he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer to his battle hardened body. As our skins touched, I felt the shiver that went through his body and heard the light groan he whispered in my ear.

"Gods, Aeron," he sighed as he took in another breath of my scent, "I could stay here forever with you." Another breath taken. "Your scent is all I need to survive," he mumbled.

I giggled slightly. "Mmm…sorry, love," I mumbled. "You may be able to survive on only me," I said turned over to look up into his handsome face. "But I personally need more than your body to continue living." The smirk I gave him made him smile in return and lit up his beautiful golden eyes.

"Good morning, Aeron," he said quietly.

"Good morning, Tristan," I replied as I reached up to place a gentle hand on his cheek. My thumb brushed over the darkened skin of his tattoos. I remember the day he had gotten them; two on each cheek.

He had only been a boy of twelve but he had still gritted his teeth together and not uttered a word of pain as his uncle had pricked his skin over and over again until his cheeks were bloody and the older man had rubbed the dried ink into the wounds to color the skin. That night the wounds had gotten infected and he had developed a fever and I watched as my mother had used her knowledge as the tribe's healer to bring him back to us. It had frightened me how high his fever had been and when my mother had told his uncle that he would stay with us for the night I stayed up and held his hand through the fever.

I dragged myself from the memory, blinking my eyes to clear my mind, and leaned towards him to kiss the tattoos that were forever on his skin. As I pulled away, the saddened look that crossed his face broke my heart and I felt tears prick at my eyes. I knew his next words before he said them. I expected them but the still tore at my soul and made me want to pull him to me and never let go.

"They'll be here soon," he said quietly.

I nodded in understanding before I looked down at our entwined hands and let out a shuddering breath. "I know," I said and heard my voice crack. "I know," I whispered the two words to myself before I looked up into the gold eyes I had loved from day one. Eyes that burned me to the core and were forever seared in my mind. "W-We should probably get up then, shouldn't we?" I said stumbling over my words.

His slight nod was enough to push me over when added to his sad and downtrodden expression. I wrapped my arms around him and buried my crying face in his chest. My body shook with the force of my tears but I uttered no sound. How could I, when there was no doubt that I would never see my Tristan again?

I felt his strong hands as they brushed through my thick hair and rubbed my skin in calming circles. Those same hands had held me into the night as we had made love. Those same hands had pulled me up when I had fallen down. Those same hands were the ones that had held on to mine as I was buried to this strong and brave man who had made his first kill at only the age of twelve.

"I don't want you to go, Tristan," I said as I wept.

"I know, Aeron," he replied as he held me tight. "But I promise you that I will return to you," he tucked my head beneath his chin as he made his promise. But how could he keep a promise when the reason he was leaving was to fight for a cause not of his own choosing.

I pulled away from him only to move my lips towards his in a passionate and smoldering kiss. Our lips didn't part except for when we needed air and even those short pauses were very brief. The smell of cedar wood and grass permeated my senses as I kissed the man I loved with every fiber of my being. A man who could not control his fate and was forced to embrace a future that he didn't want.

His hand cupped my cheek as his lips laid bare my soul and we both tasted my tears as our tongues intertwined in a dance that we had made our own. I didn't want to break away from that kiss but all too soon we knew we had to get ready for the coming trial and we pulled away from each other.

"Go back to sleep, Aeron," he whispered in the small space between us. "I'll wake you after I'm done packing."

I nodded silently with tears still streaming down my face before he kissed my forehead and got out from underneath the warm furs of our bed. Without him beside me it seemed cold and I couldn't go back into the slumber I had awoken from; so I watched him. I watched Tristan as he walked through our small hut, collecting things he would need for his journey to a land that was far away from his home and from me.

He had dressed himself in the dark leathers and furs that kept the slight chill of our land away from our skin. His saddlebags, he had filled with clothing and the small weapons that he didn't carry on his person at the moment. I knew he would take no personal trinkets on his march to the land east but I wanted him to take one item to remember me by on his travel.

I got up and dressed myself as well. All the while, I could feel his golden gaze burning into my back as he watched my fingers fasten the belts and ties of my own leathers and the thought that I was forever his ran through my mind.

I finished dressing as he finished packing and I turned to him as he slung his saddlebags onto his shoulder with his sword on his back and his bow in hand. He gave me a small smile as he led me from our hut and to his horse which was tethered nearby. He set his bags on the ground and handed me his bow to hold as he saddled the great white beast named Aidan. The horse stood there quietly as Tristan saddled him, unusual for the short tempered creature, proving that the air around them was tense with anticipation.

As Tristan bent down to retrieve his bags the distant sounds of numerous horses carried on the gentle wind that blew around us. Along with it came the cry of one of the younger men in our tribe as he raced towards us on foot.

"Tristan!" he called as he skidded to a halt in front of us. He gasped for breath as he tried to deliver his message. "They're here, Tristan!" he said in a hurry.

Tristan let out a sigh as he let his gaze fall to the ground for a moment before they traveled to me. I almost broke out into tears again at the forlorn look he gave me but I held strong to my emotions as I gazed up into his dark eyes. The message that we conveyed to each other in that single moment was enough to hold anyone for a thousand lifetimes.

Tristan turned his gaze back towards the boy and nodded to him silently. The boy then ran back the way he had come and ran into one of the nearby huts to hide from the approaching nightmare. With the message delivered, Tristan continued to prepare his horse and get ready for his journey. Aidan pawed at the ground as his own anticipation got to him and he watched the hillside that had a thick fog to hide our fears.

"Tristan," I said quietly to call his attention to me. He hesitated in buckling his bags to his saddle to make sure they would stay in place before he looked at me. I took a deep breath and hooked his bow to his saddle before I moved towards him. I reached up around my own neck and undid the clasp that held the small wolf's tooth that swung against my chest. It had been a gift from my father before he had passed on to the Otherworld and left Tristan and I with his blessing to marry. I reached up to him and he leaned down to allow me to tie the braided cord so that he wouldn't lose it. As we retreated from each other I let my hand slide down his leathers to touch the large fang gently. "So that you will be protected by our brothers' spirits," I whispered gently as I looked at my hand covering the fang and nowhere else. I took another deep, shuddering breath before I looked up into his eyes. There I saw the same love that I shared for him. "And so that I know you'll come home to me one day," I whispered. My voice was chocked and as the dam broke he pulled me to him and hugged me tightly.

"I will return, Aeron," he whispered against my dark hair. "I promise you that I will come back one day and hold you in my arms until the gods tear us apart," he said. His hand bunched my hair up as he held on to me for the last moments of our life as it was.

But all too soon, our enemies, his future, came over the hill and down to our small encampment. They had already collected some of the other young men from the other tribes and many of them were slumped in there saddles, as though their grief was too much for them to bear. One of the five Romans that accompanied them came forward on his horse to look over our gathered people.

His face held a mixture of boredom and pity as he looked around. "Who here is between the ages of twelve and twenty," he said in a harsh and gruff voice. I flinched as I heard that voice and felt Tristan pull away so that he could confront the man.

"I am," he said only loud enough so that the man could hear him.

The Roman nodded. "Then by orders of Rome you are called to protect her lands. Gather your things and let's be on our way," he said quickly.

Tristan gave the man a swift nod in return before turning back to Aidan and finishing up his preparations. Too soon he was ready to leave and had leapt into the saddle on his horse's back. I grabbed his leg as he started to move away from me. His gaze turned to me and finished shattering my heart with the sadness that I saw there.

"Return to me, Tristan. Come back to me," I whispered up to him.

He nodded to me. "I will, Aeron," he whispered back. "I promise to return to you and all our people."

The Roman called for him to hurry up and I was forced to let him go as he rode away from me and our village. As he reached the other collected boys one of the men in the crowd that were too old to collect called out his name. When he turned in his saddle to look at them I felt his gaze fall on me as the crowd let out our Sarmatian battle cry.

"RUS!"

The sound carried on as the other boys who had been collected let out the same cry as they all raised their fists into the air.

"Rus…" I whispered and let the wind carry the single word to the man I would never see again.

Tristan nodded to me before turning back in his saddle and continuing up the hill and towards the unwanted future that was before him. When they were all gone, when we could no longer see them through the fog, I felt myself break. My heart turned to dust as I fell to my knees and the wind picked up the little pieces of what was left and carried them after Tristan. The tears fell soon after as I wrapped my arms around myself to try to comfort me but nothing could make me feel whole again until Tristan was in my arms again.

"Come, child," said a kind voice as a pair of gentle hands were placed on my upper arms. I could feel the soothing warmth of the hands as they picked me up from my spot and brought me into a warm hug. "My poor little warrior," the voice said kindly, "Do not fret. You two will join again soon. Don't fret."

I looked up into warm brown eyes and knew who held me. Morrigan, the oldest female warrior in our village, and like the goddess she was named for, she brought down her enemies with a fierce quickness. Everyone took her words above everyone else's opinion and this also included me.

"Are you sure, Morrigan?" I asked her as she held me.

She nodded to me with a small smile. "More than I've been about anything else," she said quietly. She pulled me into her hug again and I let myself be warmed by her words and her hold.

"Thank you."