Comments: A story about Arthur having one too many! Hope you like it. Reviews always welcome.
Gwen felt relieved that she had managed to excuse herself from the knight's feast, it would be a late night and she needed a night off to relax. She had it all planned in her head, cook her favourite meal, chicken stew and read her book in front of the fire.
Everything was perfect, she enjoyed the piece and quite of her home, after she ate, she got changed into her nightdress and sat in her favourite place by the fire and started reading. With the crackling of the fire and the warmth on her face she soon fell asleep.
She dreamt of someone knocking at the door, again the knock was louder, maybe not dreaming, she slowly opened her eyes and then she heard singing.
"My sweettttttttttttttt Guinevere" she recognized the voice straight away, no matter how slurred it was, she ran to the door finding a very drunk Arthur singing outside her door, she grabbed him in and then checked to see if any of the neighbours had woken up, luckily they had not.
When she shut the door she turned around to find Arthur sitting on her table.
"Guiinnerre my sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet Guinevereeeeeeeee" he sang again.
"SHHhhhhhhhh" she said approaching him and placing her hand on his mouth. "You will wake the whole town, now sshhhhhhh" he kept kissing her hand making her take it away. She tutted, the prince was worse for wear, his crown sat wonkily on his head, his hair all messed up, he had drink all spilt down the front of him and his eyes were all glazed over, all in all he looked hot! She shook her head to stop those thoughts.
He placed his fingers on his lips "ShhhhhH" and in a unusual move, he slowly looked her up and down and smiled. Gwen suddenly felt very self conscious and wrapped her arms around her body.
"Sire, Are you drunk?" she tried to look unimpressed.
Arthur looked behind him as if he had brought some other 'drunk' people with him.
"Whoo is drunk?" he looked confused.
"You are"
"Reallllyy" he looked surprised and sat there with a goofy grin, she tried not to smile.
"Really...may I ask the purpose of your visit my lord" at the last part of her sentence his lower lip curled.
"I am Arthuurr and you are Guiinevereeeeee" he got up and stood close to her and tried to stroke a curl away from her face, but ended up poking her in the face instead.
"You are a very drunk Prince Arthur and it is late" she tried to act serious, after all they both did not need someone finding a drunk Prince in her house with her half dressed, she blushed at the thought.
"Awwww Blushing" his very strong breath blew on her and she walked away from him.
"May I ask again the purpose of your visit" she grabbed her shawl and put it over her shoulders, he walked up to her again.
"You weren't there ....came here, I worried" his words slurred.
She had to smile, he had noticed her absence at the feast.
"Thank you for your concern, but there was no need, I took the opportunity of an evening off!" she tried to step away from him as he got closer, her back now against the wall. She wished more than ever that her house was bigger.
"I miss You" he said leaning down his breath so close, that she felt dizzy. She didn't know whether his breath was making her drunk or if it was the fact that a very good look man was inches away from her lips, his arms up against her wall. She had to get him out of here, she was sure that many a mistake had been made on a drunken night and she didn't want to be one of them. She slipped away from under his arms and walked to the door, she heard him sigh.
"Your thoughts are kind My Lord, but you must be seeking rest" she opened the door.
He walked up to her and closed the door.
"Are you trying to get rid of me?" he raised his eyebrows and shook his finger at her, as if telling her off, he then blocked her in by the door.
She obviously wasn't going to get him out that easily; she needed to sober him up and to do that humour him "My lord...I mean Arthur"
"That's better" He said smiling so wide that she was sure he lit the room, he stepped away from her and placed his crown on the table and his cloak.
She needed to sober him up "May I make you a drink?" at this his eyes lit up.
"Yes..Please".
"Please sit I will prepare you something....Special" she watched as he sat back on the table, she wanted to tell him to use the chair but quite honestly she was just relieved he wasn't pinning her against the wall. A shiver ran down her spine at the thought, any other time it would have been like one of her many Arthur dreams, but not today, he probably wouldn't remember anything tomorrow.
She boiled the water and started making her 'special drink' her father used to come back drunk and this always helped him sober up and made the next day not so painful.
Arthur watched from the table as she carefully placed things into the bowl.
He stood up and came up behind her, she pretended to not notice him there as she cut herbs and placed them into the pan, she shivered as his breath hit her neck.
"No ale?" he leaned his chin on her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her waist, in such a familiar way that if she closed her eyes, she would believe they were husband and wife.
"I do not have ale here, but I am sure you will like it" he was probably too drunk to notice what he was drinking.
His placed a kiss on her neck causing her to drop the knife she was holding "If you make it I will love it"
He placed another few kisses along her neck and her mind temporarily went blank. It was only the sound of the water bubbling over that made her snap out of it.
"Please sit, it shall be ready in a minute" she saw him roll his eyes at her and go and sit down, she could have sworn he said 'boring!'
She would have to keep him amused until he sobered up enough to get him to leave, if she kicked him out now, he would probably start singing again and wake the whole of Camelot up. She thought about making her excuses and getting Merlin to help but she couldn't, she knew how he teased Arthur about them and didn't want to cause him any unnecessary embarrassment.
She filled two mugs up and walked over to him.
"Shall we sit by the fire" at least there were two chairs there now. Since Arthur had stayed there she had re-arranged the house a bit, moving the bed to the back of the house and buying another chair, so if she had visitors they could sit with her, not that anyone had used it yet.
He took the mug and went to sit down, spilling a lot of it on the way. He sat in her favourite chair which rocked and she took the other one. She thought that she should be angry that he woke her and arrived in such a state, but there time together was so precious that drunk or not she was glad to see him.
Arthur watched as the light of the fire lit her face "You are beautiful" he said leaning back on his chair and sipping the drink.
Gwen blushed "You are too kind" and very drunk she thought. She didn't think she was at all attractive to men until recently and she did not assume she was classed as Beautiful.
"Not kind, honest" she heard him gulp the last drop down and immediately stood up.
"May I offer you some more?" her plan was to get him to drink as much as possible. Two mugs normally sobered her father up.
"That would be good, it's not bad!" it wasn't ale, but he liked it.
"Glad you liked it" she quickly filled up his mug again, as she went to hand it to him, he pulled her onto his lap and pulled her legs over the arm of the chair, he placed one arm around her waist and his other one took the mug and rested his arm on her leg, she blushed.
"Better" he said taking sips of his drink.
"I think I am too heavy to sit on your lap...and I hardly think it appropriate" she replied trying to take her legs off. She wondered how many other maidens had fallen into the drunk Prince's arms, she shuddered at the thought.
"Hmm I think it very appropriate!"
"My lord, please I am too heavy" at this he sighed and gulped down the rest of his drink and placed it on the ground. The drink seemed to be working, his eyes had started to come back to normal and his words seemed to make sense when he talked.
He held her tighter and she tried to wriggle off "You are not heavy at all...but if you keep doing that I things will become very inappropriate!" at this Gwen went bright red and sat dead still, causing him to laugh.
"This is hardly funny" she felt like the ground could swallow her up.
He placed his spare hand on her flushed face "I love it when you blush" he was defiantly sobering up, which made this situation even more awkward.
"I am glad my embarrassment amuses you" she folded her arms angry.
"Oh don't be angry Guinevere" he said holding her hand.
"Its Gwen and I am angry, you are drunk and teasing me...I was having a lovely evening and then you decided to show up drunk!" she could see him slowly taking her rant in.
"First of all it's Guinevere and it always will be.. I was slightly merry yes, but I am sorry if I have upset you, if you do not enjoy my company I shall go" he frowned.
"That is not fair" she said looking at a sulking Prince.
"What is not fair Guinevere is how I miss you and want to spend my evening with you and you reject me, that is not fair!" He held her closer.
"I have not rejected you, please can I get up!" he let her go, immediately she got off and he leaned back. Gwen immediately went to tidy up, it was what she normally did when she felt confused.
"Thank you for the drink, I feel great....I am sorry for disturbing you like this" he felt sober now he stood up and walked up to her as she washed the dishes Gwen didn't turn around she continued cleaning.
"It is fine, I am glad you feel better" she replied not looking at him. He knew he should not, but couldn't help it he pulled the shawl off her shoulders and gently kissed along her neck.
"Arthur please" the words were spoken, but the heat rising in her body made her lean back allowing him more access to her neck.
"I love you" his words melted her heart.
"Please don't you will regret it in the morning" he didn't stop kissing her.
"It is morning..and I regret not kissing you everyday" his strong hands wrapped around her waist.
"Please...it will only make it harder to keep the required distance" he sighed but carried on kissing her neck.
"I don't want to keep any distance anymore, required or not" he turned her around in his arms, "I think about you all the time, I miss kissing you...I miss everything about you!"
A tear had fallen down her face, his words seemed honest and no longer tarred by too much ale, he wiped the tear away.
"Guinevere please stop building walls between us, there is enough of that outside..Please when we are alone let us be honest about our feelings for each other" he stroked a curl away from her face.
"What use is that, if there is no chance of a future" she whispered, what a night it had been from a drunken conversation to a confession.
"I believe in us...I know in my heart we can be together; we just have to work out how. You have so much hope in me, in the future of Camelot, all I ask is that you trust in us Guinevere , trust in me to be able to secure our future" Arthur was completely sober now, he knew he should be embarrassed about being in Guinevere's house with her half dressed, but he took the opportunity to open up to her, for them to iron out the creases in their delicately formed relationship.
She looked into his eyes and she saw only truth there, his words filled her soul. If he had faith in them she wanted to.
She stroked his face "I want that more than anything, I know you want us to be honest about our feelings, but you know how hard I find it to speak of them" she dipped her head ashamed of it.
"And I also more than anything struggle with the right words, but if we cannot speak the truth alone then how can we speak of what we want to others, when the time is upon us" she sighed, she knew he was right.
"Drunken feelings are not quite the same" she spoke quietly.
"A few drinks may have given me the confidence to come here and for that I apologise, but the words I speak now are not tainted by drink but spoken from the heart" he placed her hand on his heart in a familiar move. She didn't know what to say.
"I need you to say it Guinevere, I need to know what beats in your heart...I need to know that the cause I fight for is because you're feelings match mine and that you will wait for the day when we can be bound together..I need to hear it" he looked into her eyes and felt like his heart was beating at a thousand paces.
"What do you want me to SAY" she cried out.
"What is in your heart" he needed to hear it , he needed to know that the nights he spent dreaming of her, she dreamt of him, not another man who he could not mention the name, he hated the thought of him.
"What is in my heart is complicated" she said looking away from him. His heart felt like it was breaking at her words.
"Then I need to hear it" he stepped away from her. He had been thinking on their relationship for a long time now and realised that the words he longed to hear had never escaped from her lips, he needed to hear them.
Gwen looked at him leaning against her table. What a night this had turned out to be and now he wanted her to open her carefully sealed heart, she looked at his worried expression, his eyes filled with a million emotions and the words started to flow.
"I love you Arthur you know that... I never thought I could feel this way about anyone, I think about you all of the time and I dream that one day I am not watching you from a distance but standing by your side always...IS that what you want to hear!" tears began to fall down her face.
He pulled her into a hug "I am sorry...I should not have pushed you" he felt awful, he had imposed so much on her tonight and now he had forced a confession.
"I love you soo much but I fear to speak those words, because if this dream does not venture to reality my heart will be broken, never to be mended" she sobbed into his shoulder.
He pulled her back to look into her eyes, his eyes were also tainted by emotions.
"Guinevere...you are the sole keeper of my heart, its fate is in your hands...I invest all I am into our future" he leaned down to kiss her, she opened her mouth as if inviting him in and their mouths met as if their hungry kiss sung the song that was in their hearts. His hands grabbed her around the waist hers laced through his golden hair, they only broke for air briefly and then kissed again. They found themselves on her bed with Arthur on top of her, she looked across her room and all she could see was the sparkle of his crown as he kissed down her neck causing her to shiver.
Arthur pulled back a little, her thin nightdress making it very difficult for them to just kiss.
"You know I am sorry that I burst in on you like this and ruined your evening" she bit her lip and leaned up to be closer to his face.
"I might forgive you, if you keep kissing me like that" this made him smile.
"If I keep kissing you, I fear my ability to remain a gentleman may become a problem" he said blushing slightly at his honesty.
Gwen gulped, it would be so easy for them to carry on now, for her to commit her body to his. Could she wait till the night they wed, should she...I mean it wasn't uncommon for a Prince to take a servant's virtue and there was always danger lurking would it be so bad!
"This is the bit where you are supposed to blush and look horrified" he teased.
At this she smiled "I was just thinking whether I wanted you to remain a gentleman" at this Arthur looked shocked.
"GUINEVERE...you surprise me I thought you a lady!" he laughed at her blushing.
That is it no more blushing she thought I am going to take control "What makes you presume I am a lady, my title is servant"
She was teasing him, Guinevere was a lady and her virtue in tact he would stake his life on it "No..I will have none of that, you are more a lady than any at court" he said placing a kiss on her hand.
"Your words are kind, but you know it's not uncommon for a servant to warm a prince's bed" she was teasing him, he was sure of it.
"I would not know of such things but I would like to point out that you are the only one allowed to warm my bed..but as a gentleman courting a lady I will have to wait till our wedding night, to see your full virtues" he kissed along her hand and up her arm.
She felt tired, it was probably nearly morning, but this rare moment was too precious to miss, she continued teasing him "Boring" she replied mimicking his earlier comment at this he laughed so loud that she had to cover his mouth to stop the neighbours hearing.
She covered his mouth with her lips and they laughed into the kiss. When they finally broke apart he leaned his head against hers.
"I should go soon" he hated the fact he needed to leave, but in a few hours the castle would be awake.
Gwen sighed and Arthur kissed her gently on her lips "Perhaps we could do this again soon..and discuss the boring comment?" he asked hopefully.
"Yes we do need to discuss that, but minus the drinking next time" she replied running her hands through his hair.
He kissed her once more on the lips and went to stand, she missed his warmth immediately. She watched as he picked up his crown and placed his cloak back on.
She remained laying there, her eyes feeling heavy as if she had dreamt the whole evening. He came back over and kissed her cheek.
"Thank you my love" she sighed and her eyes started to close as he closed the door. He headed back to the castle with a huge grin on his face 'boring' he laughed, I will show her.