The soft morning light shone through the windows
into the king's bedchambers and rested gently on the young man's pale back. The
air was sweet and heavy with the distant smell of fresh bread wafting lazily
through the castle. Nested cosily next to her husband, Guinevere began to stir.
She ran her hand lightly along Arthur's shoulders, drawing from him a soft
sigh. "Good morning Arthur," she chuckled. Arthur groaned and dragged
himself onto his side, smiling back at her. "Good morning Guinevere,"
he reached up to stroke her cheek "You look beautiful," then he
kissed her softly, feeling the smoothness of her skin upon his fingertips as he
held her close.
Suddenly there came a clatter from outside the room. "Merlin," Arthur growled as he dragged himself away from his
wife and the warm covers. A few moments later the infamous manservant peeked
his head through the door, his hair ruffled, carrying a platter of food which
certainly hadn't been dropped on the floor. Again. Merlin began to chatter
before Arthur even had the chance to throw his boot at him "Oh good you're
up! The council are waiting for you," Arthur stopped mid-stride.
"What? The conci- Merlin!"
Arthur finally arrived at the council, no thanks to Merlin who had not only
managed to oversleep but had also failed to fix the gaping hole that had presented
itself in Arthur's favourite shirt. Guinevere on the other hand had managed to
ready herself more quickly than Arthur so was already waiting outside the great
hall with the rest of the knights. As they sat down at the round table Arthur
braced himself for some quip about his tardiness from Gwaine. However, no
remark came. Gwaine's seat remained decidedly empty, as did many of the others.
Arthur saw concern begin to creep into Guinevere's eyes as she realised that
Elyan, too, was absent. Sir Leon stood first to address the king. "Sire,
Three days ago Sir Percival led a patrol near our border with Essetir. They
still have not returned nor sent word of their position"
Arthur furrowed his brow "Has King Lot sent a message?"
"No sire," Leon replied gravely.
"If Lot were responsible he would have told us already," he breathed
deeply. "At mid-day I will lead out a search party," Arthur
announced, looking at Gwen reassuringly. "We will find them."
