Love Letters
'Oh, and don't forget, its Valentine's Day tomorrow," was Merlin's parting shot as he left Arthur's chambers weighed down by chainmail.
Arthur stared down at his dinner plate for a moment. Of course, Valentine's Day. How could he have forgotten? He looked out of the window and realised that darkness had fallen already. He had to get something for Guinevere – but what and how in such a short space of time?
"Right, no time for panic. She's a girl – what do girls like?" he said to himself. "Hmmm, flowers – done that before. Jewellery – now there's a thought...but, when would she wear it? Don't be ridiculous – she's a servant, so maybe jewellery is a bit over the top."
Suddenly a smile lit up his features as an idea came into his head. A poem! Of course! It was well known that ladies love poetry and Guinevere could not be an exception to that, surely. He stretched across the table and seized the pile of parchment and quill lying there from his work earlier, drawing them swiftly across the table. He would write her the perfect Valentine's poem.
"I mean, given that I am the epitomy of the word chivalrous and a highly educated young man, a poem will be easy, but original, and she'll love it," he thought triumphantly.
He applied himself to the task.
An hour later and Arthur's buoyant optimism was definitely waning. The chamber was littered with scrunched up pieces of parchment that had been tossed aside in frustration.
"Grrr!" shouted Arthur as he threw another piece over his head. "Why is this so hard?" He was beginning to find a new sense of respect for the court minstrels who seemed to turn out love songs in their hundreds each week.
He looked down at the fresh piece of parchment in front of him. Time to get real – Arthur was a great realist and good at practical solutions to problems. It was becoming very clear that he was not a poet. Maybe poetry wasn't the right idea?
Then he remembered, way back in his memory when he was just a boy, that his nurse had once received a poetic Valentine from one of the guards. He had teased her unmercifully at the time, but if he remembered correctly, she had been touched by the effort and had tucked in a drawer as if to treasure it.
He could remember the idea – could he twist it to fit Gwen?
He tentatively wrote a G at the top of the page. What quality did Gwen possess that started with a G? G...G...G...gentleness! He wrote 'gentleness' carefully next to the G.
Underneath he wrote a U. Hmmm. Not so easy. He might have to come back to the U. But 'I', now that had to be easier. Diligently he wrote down an 'I' and then... "Aha! Inspiring!"
He warmed to the task.
N ...how about 'nice', or 'naughty'! Arthur let out a bark of a laugh! Perhaps not! 'Narky' or 'nervous' – was there nothing complimentary that started with 'N'? He knew what he'd put if he was writing for Merlin – 'nincompoop'! He laughed again. Then inspiration came it him. "Noble." – perfect.
Next...E...elegant – of course!
Then he groaned – why did she have such an infernally complicated name with all these difficult letters. He loved Guinevere's name and the way it rolled off his tongue, but 'V' – honestly! He was going to have to really think!
V... very beautiful. Was that cheating? Hmmm. Virtuous – made her sound a bit too sensible. Much better to stick with 'very beautiful'.
E...another e. OK. 'Exquisite'. Oooh – that was a good word.
R... R...R...Ravishing. That sounded good. Or regal – he liked the sound of that too. No, ravishing it had to be.
Last letter (except of course for that blasted U!) E. Arthur smiled – it was a bit cheesy, and technically not quite right for the poem but what the heck! He wrote "for Ever mine" and underlined the E. That was a suitably appropriate ending for a Valentine.
He looked back over his work. Yes, that would do – apart from the missing U.
Ugly? NO! 'Unique', 'unparallelled'. Got it! 'Unforgettable'! He carefully filled in the blank line.
Arthur felt exhausted – he had not used that amount of creative brain power in a while and was more tired than after a training session with his knights. He laid down his quill and placed his forehead down on the cool table for a moment. To his surprise he felt a small cool pair of hands on the back of his neck and without turning, knew exactly who was soothing his muscles in that deliciously calm manner. He remembered the poem and hastily covered up the sheets with his arms and muttered "Guinevere, what are you doing here?"
"It was quiet and I wondered what you were doing. I brought some fresh sheets as an excuse to see you," whispered Gwen in his ear. "Have you been working?" she stretched over his shoulder to peek and he moved a bit too quickly to hide the parchment more thoroughly under his arm.
"What are you hiding from me? "
"It's nothing!" said Arthur, blushing slightly. Gwen was quick to pick up on the signs and before he could act to stop her she had reached over his shoulder, grabbed the visible corner of the parchment and whisked it out and over his head. He jumped up to snatch it back, but it was too late. He sat back down with his back to her and groaned inwardly.
It was very quiet for a moment.
Then a muffled "Oh Arthur! I don't know what to say!"
He spun round and saw Gwen dabbing a few tears from her eyes.
He gathered her up his arms and held her tightly. "Don't say anything!" and he captured her lips in a kiss.
This was originally written for the Sugar and Spice drabble competition on ag-fics and was awarded 2nd place!
Prompt: "Arthur attempts to make a Valentines day card/gift for Gwen"