Chapter 7: Lancelot, part two
By the time Arthur had returned to his chambers Juliana was long gone, much to the prince's displeasure. They didn't see one another again until two days later while she was tending to the injured people from Willowdale. She and Arthur had caught eye briefly before going back about their business.
Their next encounter was during Lancelot's test. Lancelot had requested her presence as a sort of lucky charm. Merlin confided in her that the future knight had developed a bit of feelings toward her, and Juliana felt very guilty about that especially after seeing the way Gwen, Morgana's serving girl, was looking after the man.
The siblings were standing off to the side of the arena with Gwen as they watched the two men size each other up.
"Well, here we are your final challenge. Succeed and you join the elite. Fail and your journey ends here. Lancelot, fifth son of Lord Eldred of Northumbria, your time starts now." The two men put on their helmets and squared off.
This fight was much more intense than the one a few days before, and Gwen was clinging to Merlin as she watched the fight worriedly. Juliana couldn't take her eyes off the two, it was impossible to see who would win.
Suddenly, Arthur punched Lancelot causing him to fall back and his helmet was kicked off. Arthur put his sword in the ground, took off his own helmet and moved to take Lancelot's flag, "Shame."
But quickly Lancelot jumped to his feet and knocked Arthur off balance before putting him at sward point, "Do you submit, Sire?"
Arthur motioned his hand over and a couple of Guards came over to retrain Lancelot, "On your knees!" he ground out and the guards forced him to his knees. Arthur grabbed his sword and pointed it at Lancelot's chest.
Juliana let out a soft gasp at the sight, catching Arthur's attention and causing him to turn and look at her. Arthur turned back to Lancelot and removed his sword, "Congratulations, you passed your test, Sir Lancelot."
The prince's words caused a round of cheers from everyone in attendance and Arthur turned back to look at Juliana. She was giving his a sweet smile and nodded her head in respect.
~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~_T.P.H_~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~
"Arise, Sir Lancelot, knight of Camelot." Uther appointed him proudly and the entire hall began to applaud the new knight.
The ceremony for Sir Lancelot was wonderful and everyone seemed to be enjoying the festivities. Juliana was standing off to the side with the Lady Morgana and Gwen.
"Who is this man? He seemed to have come out of nowhere." Morgana remarked, impressed.
Gwen smiled as she looked over to the new knight, "I know, it's been a bit of a surprise to all of us."
Juliana smiled, "Merlin and I found him out in the woods a few days prior, and he saved out lives."
"Hmm, he's rather handsome isn't he?" Morgana commented nonchalantly, causing a blush to rise to Gwen's cheeks and the girls began to giggle.
On the other side of the Hall Arthur and Lancelot sat together drinking. Arthur was staring over at Juliana as she conversed with Morgana and Gwen, "Tell me Lancelot," catching the knights attention, "Do you think her, beautiful?"
Lancelot turned and looked just in time to see Juliana throw her head back and laugh at Morgana's teasing of Gwen, "Yes sire, I do."
"Hmm." Was all Arthur replied. The fact that Lancelot found her attractive put him in a bad mood. Lancelot was only a knight, he could ask to court her and marry her someday, but Arthur was a prince he could never be with a commoner.
Juliana turned to see the two men staring at the group of girls at the same time Merlin walked over to them and Morgana was called away by Uther.
"You know, I think our Sir Lancelot has eyes for you." Merlin commented to the two girls, keeping it vague who he was talking to.
Just like the siblings knew she would, Gwen took the bait, "Don't be silly."
Merlin laughed, "What? So what if he did? Would that really be so bad?"
Gwen sighed, "He's not really my type." Though to siblings knew she was lying.
Juliana laughed, "Oh, well, there's a surprise. Sometimes, Guinevere, I wonder if you'd know what your type was if he was standing right next to you."
Gwen laughed with her, "You're probably right."
Merlin grabbed another drink from a passing servant and replaced it with an empty cup, "So come on you two, just for the sake of argument. If you had to, Arthur or Lancelot."
Juliana answered quietly, "Arthur." Just as Gwen laughed, "But I don't have to and I never will."
Merlin pouted at Gwen, "You are no fun."
Their conversation was interrupted by Arthur pounding on the table, "Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in a toast to our new recruit, our new knight of Camelot, Sir Lancelot."
The crowd began to applaud as Arthur and Lancelot toasted. Juliana sighed, Arthur was getting wasted and it was going to be her job to make sure he got to his rooms safely. Terrific.
As the festivities were beginning to come to an end, Juliana noticed Uther motioning her over to Arthur, and she took that as her sign to begin leading him to his rooms.
She stood to her feet and made her way over to the drunk prince, "Arthur come on it's time for bed."
The other knights in attendance started chuckling at the love struck look on their prince's face as he looked at the girl, "I'll go, but only if you come with me, lovely." He slurred
His words caused the knight to laugh loudly and a blush arose to her cheeks, but Juliana ignored it in favor of getting Arthur to his feet, "Come along, my Lord. You have a busy day a head of you tomorrow."
Arthur moaned and groaned as she led him from the hall but otherwise followed along easily enough. King Uther had learned a while back that when the Prince drank too much, Lady Juliana was the only one who could get him to bed without him giving her any trouble.
Once they made it to his chambers, Juliana led Arthur inside and brought him over to sit on the side of his bed as she left to retrieve his knight clothes, "Do you think you will be able to dress yourself or should I get a servant to help you?" she questioned
Arthur grinned up at her dopily, "Wouldn't you like the honor of undressing me, Juliana? I'd much prefer you to any servant."
Juliana was used to these types of remarks when he was drunk and simply brushed it off with a laugh, "Come now Arthur, I will leave you to sleep in these clothes, you know I will."
Arthur sighed before taking the clothes and moving behind his screen. While he was changing, Juliana began turning down the bed for him.
Once he came out Juliana helped him into bed and covered him up. She was about to turn and leave the room when he called her back.
"Juliana,"
She walked back to the side of the bed, "Yes sire?"
"Call me Arthur." He requested softly, his eyes only opened about halfway
Juliana chuckled, "Yes Arthur?"
"I don't regret it."
His words confused her, "You don't regret what, My L- Arthur?"
He smirked a bit, "I like it when you call me that, 'my Arthur'"
She smiled lovingly at him.
"I don't regret kissing you. I've wanted to kiss you for a long time. I'm glad it finally happened. And you know what else?" he half whispered
"What else, Arthur?"
"It was the best first kiss, wasn't it?"
She smiled, "Yes it was the best first kiss. Get some rest Arthur; I'll see you in the morning."
"Promise? No more avoiding me?"
"I promise. Goodnight Arthur." She leaned over and placed a kiss upon his forehead.
~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~_T.P.H_~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~
With all the excitement going on the next day Juliana didn't get a chance to keep her promise. From Lancelot being ousted as an imposter and being thrown in the dungeons to the creature attacking the kingdom, Arthur hadn't had any free time.
Juliana finally got to see him when the men had gotten back from attacking the beast and she was called in to check on Arthur. Juliana was checking him over while he and Uther talked.
"You said your knights were the best in the land. You proved that today." Uther commended his son proudly.
Arthur winced as she touched a tender spot, "All I know is it's still out there."
"Let's not wait for it; the kingdom has been menaced by this creature for too long. We finish this now." Uther demanded urgently only to be interrupted by Gaius.
"Sire if I may." He stepped forward
"Gaius?"
"I've been researching this creature, Sire. I believe it to be a griffin."
Uther looked confused as did many others in the room, "Griffin? What's in a name?"
A griffin? What's in a name?
"The griffin is a creature of magic." Gaius informed them and Juliana let out a soft moan at the mention of magic to Uther.
Uther scoffed, "I don't have time for this, physician."
But Gaius continued, "It is born of magic, Sire, and it can only be killed by magic."
"You are mistaken. It's a creature of flesh and blood like any other. Arthur proved that today."
Arthur spoke up then, "I'm not so sure, Father. I think there may be some truth in what he says."
"What truth?" Uther was starting to get fed up with the conversation
"The griffin was unharmed, Sire. Our weapons seemed useless against it."
Juliana spoke up softly, "Sire,"
Uther turned to her and motioned for her to continue.
"This creature attacked my brother and I as well several days ago and Lancelot came to our rescue. When he attacked the monster with his sword, the sword shattered upon impact. I fear that Gaius and Prince Arthur are both correct, simple weapons are useless against the creature."
Uther paused to think on what she said but end the end shook his head in disagreement, "Useless? I think not. No, it's tasted our steel once; the next time will be its last. When will your knights be ready to ride again?"
Arthur sighed, if his father would not listen to the three of them, then he would listen to one, "An hour. Maybe two."
"Good. We finish this tonight."
Uther left the room with his entourage following behind. Arthur and Juliana were the only two remaining. He turned to stared at Juliana, "I want you to get somewhere safe until this is over."
Juliana began to shake her head and opened her mouth to deny her request, but Arthur cut her off once again, "Please I would be able to fight easier knowing you were somewhere safe.
Juliana sighed and placed the palm of her hand against his cheek, "I wish I could follow this request of yours, but we both know I cannot. There will be people injured during this and I cannot run and hide when I can be of use."
Arthur frowned, "I knew you were going to say that. You're too good for us mere humans, my guardian angel."
Juliana chuckled at his small pout, "Come along, we must get you prepared for battle."
Juliana pulled Arthur out of the room and to the armory.
~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~_T.P.H_~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~_~~~~~
The battle against the Griffin had been won with next to no casualties and Juliana was with Gaius tending to the wounded. When the men had returned, Juliana had run directly for Arthur and began tending to the wounds he had been dealt, though small they were.
But he had eventually had to go to his father to inform him of the battle, leaving her to tend to the other wounded men.
After all was said and done, Merlin was quite disappointed that his friend had left so Juliana had offered to bring Arthur his dinner.
She knocked on the door and was given leave to enter. Juliana entered and tried to shut the door with her hip, her hands being full at the moment, then placed the tray the table before looking over to Arthur. She knew that he was also disappointed that Lancelot had not stay. Once he had gotten over his initial dislike of the man, they had really bonded.
Arthur didn't seem to even notice there was in his room so she called out to him, "Arthur, I brought your dinner. Aren't you hungry?"
Arthur looked up at the sound of her voice and smiled, "Thank you, Juliana. Where is your brother? Doesn't this fall under his job?"
Juliana chuckled softly, "He was a bit sad, seeing his friend leave, so I offered to do this last chore for him." She informed the prince as she began walking around and picking up his clothing off the floor, "Didn't I just clean this chamber yesterday?"
Arthur chuckled but there wasn't any real mirth behind his laugh, and Juliana noticed, "Arthur? Are you alright?"
He sighed, "It's just, he risked his life for mine, and he proved his worth. Why did he leave?"
Juliana sat down beside him, "Perhaps he did not feel worthy, after his lie. Lancelot was truly a man of honor, he reminded me a bit of you actually, and for him to profit from the lie he told… well, would you have accepted?"
Arthur smiled slightly at her, "No I suppose I wouldn't have. Thank you Juliana, for putting it into perspective for me."
"You're welcome Arthur. Now please come eat before the food gets too cold."
He leaned closer and placed a soft kiss on her lips, before she pulled him over to the table and forced him into the seat and moving to sit across from him. They began having a lively conversation, neither noticing the man listening from the slightly ajar door.
Uther had come up to his son's chambers in an attempt to make amends for their argument about Lancelot when he heard voices coming from inside. He had peeked through the crack and seen Arthur and Juliana sitting on his bed as she comforted him about the boy leaving. Uther had heard her words and watched as she brought his son out of his glum, he watched the kiss they shared and then watched as she forced him to sit down to eat. Now they were laughing with each other and Arthur was sharing bit of his food with the girl.
Uther straightened up and sighed and he turned to walk back to his own chambers. The relationship his boy had with the young girl reminded him so much of his own relationship with Arthur's mother. Juliana was a very wise girl and she would have made a just and good queen had she been born a noble. Uther could also see how much the two cared for each other. He had decided that he would let Arthur have his little tryst with the girl and when it was time for his son to find a wife, he would expect the two to act with decorum and let go with dignity.
Hey everyone, sorry it took so long to get this posted. i hope you enjoyed it. leave me some reviews and tell me what you think. Juliana's outfits can be found on my pinterest page: April Fillingim
