Chapter 20

He laughed and let me pull him along. I took him to where the knights usually congregated during the day when they had nothing to do. As I rounded the corner with Arthur in tow they all stopped what they were doing. Gwaine ran over to me and pulled me into his arms and spun me around. I started to laugh freely, feeling so happy. He put me down and I grabbed Arthur and pulled him closer to the boys. Leon immediately fell onto his knees and bowed his head. He looked up at Arthur "My King is that really you?" Arthur pulled Leon up from the floor and patted him on the back. "I'm not your King anymore Leon, you have a wonderful Queen, I'm just Arthur now." He looked back at me and I spoke up.

"Well technically you are the oldest so you should be King, anyway I don't really know how to be a good Queen." I frowned and looked down at the floor, Arthur stepped in front of me and lifted my chin up. "And you think that I had a clue what I was doing when I was King? No I made it up as I went along. What mattered was that I had a great group of people around me to help me along. Anyway I made plenty of mistakes while I was King, may that I regret even today." As if to punctuate what he said he turned his sad gaze on Mordred who clenched his jaw, avoiding my brothers gaze. "Well if I am to be Queen then I am stopping magic from being outlawed, people shouldn't have to run for their lives just because they were born different from everyone else. It's not fair. The druids will be left in peace and given back their rightful lands. I will not hurt any fellow magic users. They aren't all bad." Realising what I had said I clamped my hand over my mouth, my eyes the size of saucers. Arthur turned to look at me, "You have magic?" I shrunk under his gaze and nodded.

"Yes I was born with it and I had to hide my whole life just like Merlin and Mordred and frankly I'm tired of hiding." Arthur started to smile which really threw me off because I expected him to chop my head off there and then. "What you're not mad?" he shook head

"No. I always knew that there was something different about you even when you were a baby. This is going to be great for Camelot. You're going to be able to do things for the people that I was never able to do." I smiled and hugged him again.

"Thank you." He nodded at me and started to go talk to the other knights. Mordred walked over and smiled genuinely at me. "I'm glad that you're not like your brother, we will never have to hide again as longs as you are Queen." I smiled at the man in front of me and hugged him too. Robb came up behind us and told us that we were having a feast in honour of Arthurs return. Gwaine put his arm around my waist and led me to the tent, I looked behind me to make sure that Arthur was still there and to my surprise he was watching us with a smile on his face. I smiled back and waved him to follow us. It didn't take us long to get to the tent and the knights behind Gwaine and I were getting rather rowdy with the return of their friend. We were seated at the head of the table, Gwaine next to me and Arthur opposite, Merlin next to him. They seemed so happy to see each other, even though Arthur didn't like to admit it I knew they were like brothers. I turned to see Robb sit down and I took the hand he offered me and squeezed it. He waved his hand and food started to be brought into the room. I quickly took the swords off of my back so that I could sit comfortably. I didn't realise how hungry I was until the lovely rich smells of roasted meat filled my nostrils. The tent flaps were wide open so the late summer breeze was filtering through the entrance, bringing with them sweet smells. My stomach growled loudly and a blush spread across my cheeks. Gwaine and Robb started to laugh. "Beating up Lancelot must be hungry work." Gwaine winked at me and Lancelot hit his head on the table. I laughed at Lancelot's embarrassment and kissed Gwaine on the cheek. "Next I'll have to beat you." I raised my eyebrows at him to make my point. He moved him mouth near my ear and whispered "I'll like to see you try baby." He winked at me and another wave of heat rushed over my cheeks. I swatted Gwaine's arm and scowled at him. He lent back down and kissed my neck, I could his smile on my neck. I turned to look at him and he rested his chin on my shoulder grinning at me. He kissed my nose which made me giggle like a silly schoolgirl. I scrunched up my face and I felt Gwaine kiss my cheek and move away. He wrapped his arm around my waist and I rested my head on his shoulder. I started to load up my plate with food and was about to tuck in when one of my runners entered the joyous tent and made his way over to me. He bent down and whispered a message in my ear. A smile spread across my face and I turned to Robb who was talking to Arthur. "I'll be right back." I untangled myself from Gwaine, much to his disappointment and started to leave the table. Robb spoke up "Where are you going?" I turned around.

"My dragons are home!" He laughed and waved me off. I ran out of the tent and saw my five beautiful and ferocious dragons landing. They're scales shone in the evening sun and they sparkled like precious gems. I carried on running and they all hummed happily as they sensed me. I greeted them all in turn. Shiala stepped forward "You look very happy little one, what's happened?" Her smooth voice rang through me like silk. I smiled up at her "It's my brother he's come back. There was a prophecy that said he would come back when the need was greatest." Emrys smiled

"That's great news little one, you must be so happy. But I sense that there is something else. What is it?" I laughed at the way that Emrys was always able to figure me out so easily.

"Well Draco will be proud of me because guess who I beat in a duel today?" My Draco stepped forward, his large horns shining. "You didn't? You beat Lancelot?!" His deep voice was filled with joy. "YES!" He laughed a deep rumble and he stepped forward. I wrapped my arms around his neck, careful of his spikes. I could hear Thorn chuckling behind me, his blood red scales shimmering, he was the brawniest of the group and was pure muscle. "I told you we would make a dragon out of you." He closed one of his large eyelids in a wink which made me laugh even more.

"Come now you five need to eat. Then you're all going to bed for some well deserved rest." They all shouted a 'Yes Mother' which made me laugh even more. I made my way back to the feast tent and sat back down next to Gwaine, he grabbed me and pulled me so that I was sat in his lap. I slapped his hands away from my hips and tried to wriggle out of his grip. When I realised that I wasn't going anywhere I let out a long breath and folded my arms across my chest. I could feel him chuckling against my back. I grabbed my plate of food and started to eat it. "So are they okay?" I looked over at Robb and nodded my head. "Yep they're all fine, I sent to go get some food and rest. They were very proud of me when I told them that I beat Lancelot." Gwaine's arms squeezed me slightly, "That's my girl." I laughed and kissed his cheek. I looked at Arthur who was watching Gwaine and I intently. "You'll have to meet them all when they're rested." Arthur nodded his head finishing his mouthful. "I'd like that." I smiled and carried on eating my food. Once I was pleasantly full I leaned back against Gwaine and listened to the conversations around me, contributing every so often. The sun had long gone down and it was dark outside, only the light of the torches illuminating the darkness could be seen. At that moment I felt so content just listening to the voices of the men around me. I sighed and snuggled closer to Gwaine, keeping warm. Gwaine tightened his arms and shifted me into a more comfortable position. I was early morning when we finally made it to bed. Gwaine had proceeded to throw me over his shoulder and I was too tired to fight him so I just waved at everybody and held on. We soon made it to my tent and Gwaine gently laid me down on the very inviting bed. I stretched out and yawned rather unattractively and snuggled into the covers. Gwaine laid down beside me and nuzzled my neck affectionately. I rolled over and stroked his stubble, his large hand was on my waist and it warmed me. "We should get married Kay, then I can make an honest women out of you." I looked at him trying to see if he was serious or not. He was. I smiled and nodded at him, "I don't know whether the Lords and Ladies will approve of a vagabond like you though." I smiled kissing his jaw slightly. He made a deep noise in his chest, not unlike a purr. "Well I don't care what all those stuck up idiots think, I can't bear the thought of any other man touching you." He lifted my face so that he was looking straight into my eyes. A smile spread across my face and in that moment I realised that I had never felt so loved before. A tear rolled down my cheek, my eyes closing with it. "Hey, I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you cry." I felt Gwaine brush the tears away. I opened my eyes and looked at him, he had a large frown plastered on his face. "I'm sorry. I'm just being stupid. It's just I've never felt so loved before." He sighed and took my face in his hands.

"I will never do enough to deserve a women like you Kayla, you are the most perfect person I have ever met. I love everything about you even your weird little quirks. I will love you until the end of time itself, my beautiful Queen." I put my hand over my mouth to stop myself from crying.

"Oh Gwaine." I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my head in his chest, finally feeling complete. He gently rubbed my back, soothing me like a child. I looked up at him and shared a passionate kiss with him, all of my love and emotions pouring into it. Things soon got heated and we had to break away for air. Gwaine rolled on top of me his strong arms on either side of me. I buried my fingers into his thick hair. I looked straight into his brown eyes. "I love you more than I could ever say my King." He smiled at that and dipped down, capturing my lips again. His lips travelled down my neck, his stubble tickling the sensitive skin on my neck. I let out a moan which only seemed to spur him on. He travelled up the other side of my neck and up to my jaw making his way to my lips again. My hands moved from their place in his hair and they made their way to his strong chest. I traced my fingers over his muscles which made him let out a deep moan too. He pulled back from the kiss and I placed my hands on his strong shoulders. "I can't wait until I can carry on with that train of thought." I giggled, stroking his sharp jaw line. He closed his eyes and let out a long breath. "You're going to be the death of me Kayla Pendragon." I laughed and leant forward and nipped his jaw with my teeth. He let out a frustrated growl and quickly got up. I laid there and bit my lip pulling the cover up to keep me warm. Gwaine slowly took his shirt off and came back to his side of the bed. He was glorious, like some sort of god. He was pure muscle and was a beautiful golden colour. The candle light made him look even more delectable. I rolled over onto my stomach and bent my knees so that my feet were swinging in the air and propped my elbows on the bed and my chin in my hands. I tilted my head slightly at Gwaine. "Enjoying the view my Queen?" I made a Mmmm noise and Gwaine slowly got into bed beside me. He grabbed me around the waist and pulled me next to him. He wrapped us both in the cover and I laid my head on his chest. He started to hum a lullaby and it didn't take me long to drift off into a deep, pleasant sleep.