Aurthur Pendragon regarded the woman in front of him. How could she NOT know who he was! He's the Prince of Camelot for God's sake! She's clearly crazy. She looked at him open mouthed for a second before saying "Well, that doesn't change much." She looked down and away then back to him. She inspected her hands for a moment and then brought her eyes up to meet his. What he saw in them wasn't pleading or apologetic or repentent. It was the opposite. Fiery, shameless, defiant confidence met his gaze. She smirked at him. It wasn't especially becoming for a lady who looked like her. The room was silent and Arthur realized they were all waiting for him to say something. He walked to the window, composed himself, and spoke.
"Obviously, you have no idea what you're talking about," he said coldly "I really don't think you want to challenge my athourity. First impressions can be tough, wouldn't want to make a bad one on Uther,but who knows, treason may suit you." "If the shoe fits..." she trailed off. Arthur followed her movement as she swallowed. Smooth and creamy skin, it looked soft. So soft he wished to reach out and touch the exquisite canvas. Merlin coughed and brought Aurthur back to reality. He really must learn to control himself. Daydreams can get you into trouble. "Merlin, fetch Gwen." Merlin again exited the room. Gaius picked up his things and slipped out the door behind Merlin as quickly and quietly as possible,to escape the tension, leaving the two alone.
December glared at him. He met her gaze and returned it's intensity. To his chagrin she did not once falter. No one had ever been able to hold his searching gaze for this long. He found it...disconcerting. "You going just going to stand there and stare? or are you going to say something useful?" She drawled. He rather disliked her caustic attitude. He walked over to the girl who was now sitting on the end of the bed. He leaned in and whispered huskily in her ear "What do you want to know, little vixen?" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She turned to face him and leaned in, so that they're left cheeks we're almost touching. "What would you like to teach me, little prince?"
Just then Gwen opened the door wide. Authur and December sprung apart. December turned to face the door and Arthur to his feet. Gwen stopped short, realizing that she had interrupted something. Merlin bounced in behind her and his face lit up when he saw December, completely missing the signs that he'd interupted something. Gwen's face closed up as she looked from Merlin to Arthur to the woman on the bed, and she decided not to say opened his mouth and quickly closed. Merlin spoke up "So why'd I have to go get Gwen, Arthur?" Merlin sent a wink in his direction that was missed by Gwen, but not by December. She looked from Arthur to Gwen and realized that there was a lover's spat heading there way. She was a little unsettled.
"Gwen, this is Miss December Heat. She's new to Camelot and unfortunately hasn't been welcomed very well. Some of the men weren't paying close enough attention and they trampled her. My own horse stepped on her legs," He turned to December "I really am sorry, whatever you think of me." Her eyes softened and she said "Apology accepted, Aurthur. I may have judged you wrong, but I have yet to decide. Hopefully you'll show me that I'm not always right." She gave him a knowling smile. "I too hope to prove you wrong." He said with a smirk. She was already rubbing off on him. "Gwen," he said suddenly "Please get Miss Heat settled here and aquire some new clothes for her. I owe her more than one apology." WIth that he took up her hand and placed a light kiss on it. He turned and left hauling Merlin along with him, who said "See you a dinner December!"
Arthur and Merlin went to Arthurs chambers and once there sat down to eat their lunch. Some small talk ensued till Merlin said "A beauty that one is. Don't you think?" Arthur, who did not one bit want to talk about December, at that point said "Merlin you really shouldn't ask me to assess the beauty of a servant." "Oh, come off your high horse! I know you a Gwen are together. It's plain as day when I'm around the two of you. Besides, I was talking about December." Arthur choked a litte to learn that Merlin knew about Gwen and himself.
"She's alright." he said shortly. Merlin's eyes glazed over and he stared into space with a small smile on his face. Arthur regarded his friend for a moment. Slack-jawed, gooey-eyed, piece of mush of a girl he'd just met for the first time. Admittedly, it seemed impossible to not like her on some level. From what he gathered talking to her,she was someone a man could fall hard for. Never the less he said " Stop drooling over the peasant for a moment and eat, for God's sake Merlin! You've only just met her, you don't even know how old she is. Who knows she could be somke kind of troll. Remeber what happened with Uther?"
"You have to admit, Arthur, that she seems perfect in so many ways. She did treat you like an equal. I bet nobody has ever done that before, not completely." Merlin said swiftly then went right back to gazing into space. Arthur considered this. Gwen had been the first person to be real with him. The first prson to make him feel somewhat normal. But even she referred to him as my lord and my prince, even when they were alone. Damn Merlin for planting that seed of doubt. He was right ofcourse, but this didn't stop Arthur from being angry with him. Arthur took one last look at Merlin before getting up and going to visit Morgana.
Morgana was found in her rooms with Gwen. They were disscussing something when he walked in. Gwen jumped up and curtseid to him, reminding him even more of what Merlin had said. He shook his head as Morgana said "Ever heard of knocking, Arthur?" Gwen quietly excused herself. "My castle." he said. Morgana glared at him and said "Uther would frown upon you bursting into his ward's room. May even punish youm, I think I'll bring it up at dinner." Dinner, just one more thing to remind him of December's presence in Camelot. "I trust you've heard about December," he said abruptly changing the subject "Gwen must have been in here to tell you." "Already reffering to her by her first name. Arthur?" Morgana sneered. What was it with this woman?
"Miss Heat," he corrected. "I need you to take care of her for a while. Who knows maybe you'll become friends." "Yes," she answered "I hear from Gwen that she's quite a firework." Morgana narrowed her eyes at him. "That she is." he said. Arthur met her eyes and hoped she would hold his gaze. She struggled for a few moments then walked to the window. A dissapointed Arthus said "Then will you take care of her?" "Yes, my lord" she answered quietly. Even more disappointed he went to tell his father of this new addition to the castle.
Uther took the news very well. He saw no harm in letting the girl stay and only rebuked Arthur a little about the eye sight of his men. Arthur made a mental note to have them apologize for trampling Decem-, Miss Heat. Uther also reminded him not to burst into Morgana's rooms like that anymore. Her dignity was to be preserved, seeing as she is the kings ward. Even though she is a very, very difficult person for Arthur to be around. He also made a note to talk to Gwen. He didn't want her mad at him. She was, in fact, his first love.
She had opened his perspective to a broader specctrum and taught him how to appreciate nature and life and love. She had been tender and sweet and grounding. He began in his mind to compare December and Gwen. One gentle, the other firey. One beautiful, one radiant. One- no, that wasn't fair. He couldn't compare them that way. They were two very different kinds of beautiful. And their personalities clashed. They weren't even in the same category. Arthur pondered this as he readied for dinner. Ahh bullocks.