Teulun

Chapter One.

Princess Johanna Kaikonnen slid gracefully from the comfortable leather interior of the Bentley and smiled politely at the chaffeur who was holding open the car door. Letting her grey eyes wonder up the sweeping drive she finally let them rest on the manor of Cleveland Court which stood among acres of beautiful gardens. It still amazed her that castles and manors in Britain were far small than their counterparts in Scandanavia, and it made her miss her homeland even more. There were only two things that could force her hand back into England: a diplomatic mission organized by her Father or Grandfather, or a request by her ledi the great Lady Lowri Lloyd-Morgan. The latter was what had brought her here, a plea from the step-mother of the Welsh king to bring the only son of Lord Uther Pendragon to Caerdydd before Parliment got to him. And so she had travelled all this way to meet a man she had never met and convince him that his destiny lay somewhere far away from the path choosen for him.

Letting out a deep sigh, she climbed the steps to the enormous woodern front doors but before she could ring the ancient bell the doors slowly creaked open to reveal a man. He was maybe three years her junior and attractive if you liked that sort of thing, not that Johann even pretended to know what made a man appealing. He was about average height with floppy blonde hair and blue eyes; broad shoulders which tapered down to slender hips, and expensive clothes which did nothing to hide his muscular physique.

"You must be Princess Johanna," he said, giving a small respectful bow. "I'm Arthur Pendragon, I heard you were coming to see me."

Johanna had forgotten how quickly word travelled amongst the higher nobility, especially within the British court, and in the six hours it had taken to travel from Caerdydd to North Somerset word had obviously got to the Pendragons.

"Thats correct," she answered.

He was exactly the same as every other nobility brat she had ever come across, arrogant and haughty. It horrified her that this was the one which Lowri had chosen, and yes she understood that Parliment didn't approve of Aeron but this long lost grand-nephew of the late great Saith Vaughn couldn't be any better.

Following him into the main hall, she was barely able to look at the flamboyant decor before she was swept into the huge drawing room.

"Please sit." He gestured towards a sofa, which she sank into gratefully.

Arthur however didn't join her, instead he paced around the sofa and clutched the back of a high-backed chair. He appeared to be the kind of person who couldn't stay still for more than a couple of minutes, full of a restless energy that made the air around him crackle. Somehow she couldn't see this man holding court or having a meeting with Parliment, he was so different to Kynan that it made her throat close up.

"So I suppose you want to know why I'm here?" she asked, resting her elbows on her knees and leaning forwards. He didn't answer, instead he merely rose one eyebrow in response. "As you probably already know King Kynan Saith Lloyd-Morgan of Wales was shot three times by terroists in Ailen four months ago. This situation has brought forward a concern on who would take the throne should anything happen to him, especially since Parliment has decided that the next in succession is unsatisfactory."

She watched as he stalked around the chair, to perch on the arm.

"And how does this affect me?" he demanded.

"In 1943 Wales was invaded by the Nazis and the entire of the Royal family was killed, except for Saith Vaughn who ruled from 1945-48 and then abdicated in favor of his cousin Tristyn Lloyd II. However it would appear that another member of the Royal family survived, Bevan Vaughn was Saith's cousin and it turned out that he escaped over the border into England where he had a daughter Aisha. She in turn had a daughter by the name of Ygraine." She waited for the knowledge that they were talking about his mother to sink in. "Arthur you are the rightful heir to the Welsh throne."

"What must I do?"

The look on his face was one which she was intimately acquainted with, in fact it was one she witnessed every time she looked in a mirror. There was a war going on inside between what he wanted and the duty he had towards his family and indeed his country. Maybe he hadn't known any life outside of England, maybe he had never even had more than a passing thought for Wales and its people, but now he was prepared to look fate in the face and do what had to be done. Her first impression of him may not have been the best, but she was beginning to feel a grudging respect for him.

"Lady Lowri wishes for you to come to Caerdydd and begin your training," she answered. "Hopefully by the end of the month."

He nodded slowly.

"Training for what exactly?" he asked.

Johanna wasn't really sure how to explain how royality worked, it was something that had merely happened in her life without concious thought or even knowledge. Arthur, even though he had been born into nobility was not privvy to the royal court and all that it entailed.

"When Kynan took the throne he was eighteen, and the only thing that kept him going was the fact that he had been groomed for that position since he was born." She could still remember calling him that night he had been so scared and yet so full of plans, little did any of them know it would all go to hell within eighteen months. "You need to learn enough within the next six months, just in case ..."

She managed to stop herself before spurting out something that she and Lowri didn't even have any proof of, it was merely a feeling and if it did happen to be true Parliment would try and force Kynan to abdicate, which meant they were going to need a suitable heir. Arthur needed to be ready.

"Just in case what?" he demanded, crossing his arms across his chest. "I can't agree to this if something is being kept from me."

"There is nothing being kept from you," she answered, desperately forcing back the desire to get to her feet and start pacing. "There is a concern for the Kings safety, and therefore the continuation of the Welsh royal family."

Blue eyes seemed to bore into her as Arthur tilted his head to the side as if trying to draw her secrets out. After a few moments he merely shrugged his shoulders and turned to face the drawing room window, staring out into the gardens.

"Let Lady Lowri know that I shall be in Caerdydd by the end of the week," he whispered, a slight hunch coming to his shoulders. "After I have discussed this with my father."