The Helping Queen
A/N: This was created from a random prompt I received in a review for When In the Woods, by Safa…It was a no account reviewer that I'm now not sure will even get to read the answer to their prompt…Anyway I hope you all enjoy a little piece of what goes on in my mind…
"ARTHUR!" An all too familiar voice yelled across the violent, bloodied stretch of the battlefield. Instinctively, he turned cow-eyed in the direction of the voice. "Behind you!" As soon as she says it, Arthur can feel the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, alerting him that someone dangerous and armed was near and ready to attack. Generally speaking, enemies attacking a specific target tend to flow from one direction, so turning his back was not a good idea. Arthur rotated on the ball of his right foot, to attack the offender, but reacting out of instinct to be removed from harm's way had caused him end up in a rather compromising position. Before he realized what was happening, Arthur had managed to be disarmed and swept off his feet, with the offender standing perched above him with a sword ready to strike his heart. Arthur closes his eyes after he realizes that death has finally come to reap his soul, he takes a final breath in anticipation, and before he exhales, he notices the shining tip of a bloodied sword that ran through what he guessed was the very center of the man's heart. The man's eyes went wide before he dropped his sword and collapsed to his knees, and then onto the ground in death.
Guinevere retracted her sword that was sheathed in the dead man's heart, and held out a small hand to help Arthur stand. He grabbed it, and Guinevere pulled, handing him his fallen sword as soon as he stood erect. No time for formalities, immediately and without a word, they began to fight back to back.
"Guinevere…" Arthur quickly dealt with a man that was humiliatingly unskilled with a mace, "…What on earth are you doing!"
"Helping Camelot I should hope!" She yelled back over the roar of war.
"You should be in the castle, with Hadrian and Emery, safe."
"I was not about to let anything happen to you whilst I sit in the castle, and only hope for your safe return. I left the twins safe with Gaius." Gwen sharply dispatched, then sliced an oncoming offender.
"You could be killed!" Was his next argument.
"As could you! You would have been about two minutes ago actually." She replied in riposte.
"I am the King; it is my duty to die defending my Kingdom!"
"Just as it is mine. What kind of Queen sits home while her husband is away at battle!"
"A NORMAL ONE!" He cried incredulously.
"Well, I'm not exactly the orthodox queen am I?...Arthur, I don't think that this is the best time to be having this discussion." She finished before barely managing to fight off a rather persistent man.
"We'll finish this later." With that, Arthur went back into full battle mode, as did Guinevere; they became synchronized in their actions, seemingly merged into one very lethal piece of weaponry. Guinevere would fight a man enough to weaken him, then send him back around to Arthur so that he may finish him off while she moved on to the next. They would rotate in a circle, fighting, attacking from a multitude of angles. Together, they danced a deathly tango of epic proportions. They continued this way for hours, and while Arthur was used to this type of exertion from previous battles and daily training, Guinevere was not. She was becoming tired, and not as precise as she had been. Due to her lapse of judgment, she had miscalculated a strike, and in return received a nasty injury to her fighting arm. Forced to fight with her left arm made her vulnerable, the fact that she was injured only further held her back.
Arthur noticed this, fought off the few surrounding enemies single handedly, grabbed her uninjured arm gently even considering the situation, and ran for the forest, to hide Guinevere from more danger.
"Merlin should be here soon." She said, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in her shoulder. "I sent Elyan to fetch him from Ealdor before I left."
"It's just like the idiot to not be present when you could actually use him." Arthur hissed, no sooner had he said this, that the Great Dragon, Kilgharrah flew close to the battle scene with Merlin and Elyan perched atop his back. Elyan looked as though he was holding on for dear life, but Merlin had his hand outstretched as his eyes glowed a metallic honey.
The enemies began to run in random directions, fearing greatly the wrath of the dragon until Merlin called out.. "Illis non Camelot! Desine hoc facere, ut statim iubeo!" All motion stopped, those who were loyal to Camelot ran on. "Inimicus non est principium, sed tibi et tuis. Pugna apud vos manet vsque none!" And with that said the enemies that were left turned on themselves, and finished off any work that was left involving fighting. The battle was won. It was just that easy, Merlin got his eyes to glow, he stuck out and otherwise good for nothing hand, and BOOM…things turn in his favor, it was nerve wracking if you thought about his level of power.
"I'll never get used to that." Arthur muttered under his breath.
Guinevere hissed in pain as Gaius applied a healing balm, and wrapped the injury to her arm.
Arthur stood in the corner of the bedroom, with his arms crossed as he watched, concern clearly written in the sapphire of his eyes. Gaius paternally patted her good arm, and told her sleep was now be in her best interest. She smiled sweetly and whispered a 'thank you' before the aged man whisked out of the room.
"It's later Guinevere." Arthur said coming to stand nearer to her, he kissed her forehead, and looked directly into the warmth of her chocolate brown orbs. "I could have lost you today."
"And I you" She replied, gazing back at him.
"This is different Guinevere, it is normal for a King to fall in battle." He said.
"I'm not going to sit here when there is a possibility that it can be prevented." She argued.
"You have to understand that a Queen is supposed to remain. If you send us both out, Camelot would both sovereigns, and even worse than that, Hadrian and Emery would lose both parents. You and I both know how that feels, to subject our children to that would be careless. They are young, two years of life is hardly enough to cope with the prospect. Should I die one day in battle, God forbid, at least they will have their mother, and Camelot its' Queen." Arthur said, rubbing the delicate structure if her jaw with the pad of his thumb.
Guinevere knew he was right, she couldn't do that to her babies, her own flesh and blood, it would kill her twice over, she was devastated when she lost her father, but at least she had been able to properly mourn his loss. The twins haven't even grasped the concept of loneliness, let alone death. But the thought of Arthur dying anytime soon scared her half to death in its self.
"I couldn't just leave you to die." She whispered. Looking at the hand that was intertwined with hers, she couldn't even begin to imagine a day going by without it. "Not knowing that there was something I could have done to help."
"You can help by staying safe; I would hardly be able to concentrate worrying over your welfare. It would bring me peace knowing that you are here in Camelot, watching over our people, and our children." He said. Guinevere thought it over a moment…
"I suppose I could help Gaius in the infirmary." She conceded. She would still be helping out in the confines of the Castle. If she couldn't help standing by Arthur, then she could at least help her people. It was better than sitting and thinking too much, she had a tendency to be rather pessimistic during a crisis situation.
Arthur smiled in relief. "So that it? You'll leave the battles to the King?"
"Only the ones that involve a sword or weapon of some sort. The domestic battles, however, I will fight in, as well as stand to remain victor." She smirked.
"If you say so." Arthur said with a tone that implied that he thought he would be wining those.
"I do say so" She said leaning in closer to kiss him. She kissed his forehead, the tip of his nose, and peppered his face, agonizingly saving his lips for last. When her did connect with his, it was electric as always, but became more heated as it deepened and tongues began to tango. Arthur moaned, forgetting himself for a moment. He pulled back, and Guinevere sat on the bed with an adorable very rare pout that was on her face. "I don't believe I was quite finished."
"I don't believe I wanted you to be." Arthur said, and begrudgingly stood up. "I have to meet with the Knights to go over the damage reports, but I can promise you, that I will be back as soon as possible" He kissed her forehead before exiting the room. Guinevere sat enjoying that fact that she had a certain power over her husband.
A/N: That did not end that way I had planned(mostly because I didn't really plan anything), nor did the fic come out like I wanted…Oh well, I wrote so I decided to post it. The prompt was warrior queen by the way, but I guess I kinda bashed that in the end…Review if you remotely enjoyed…PLEASE!;)
