"So, you are not coming with us to Logres?" Arturia had spotted Gilgamesh sitting by the horses.
Gilgamesh let out a chuckle and stood from the small bench—of course he was not seated on the floor for he was too posh for that, "Yes, unfortunately a prince cannot do what he wishes when his life is on the line."
Arturia shot him a look, something between understanding and indifference, "Correct, you are," she mumbled as she walked over to her horse, "although, the more people there are on the journey, the better it is."
Gilgamesh's smirk dropped and he took a deep breath, "You have my deepest regards," he had mumbled it.
Arturia looked at him, her eyebrows furrowed as she was a little confused, "Pardon me?" She murmured and looked away a little bit as she fixed the horse's saddle.
Gilgamesh sighed and walked over to her, "I do not ever show the feeling of empathy—neither do I ever feel it—so this is a rare occasion. You have my regards."
She furrowed her brows and looked at him slowly, "Forgive me, Gilgamesh, but I haven't the slightest idea of what you are giving me your regards for."
He walked towards her and wrapped her into a tight hug, "Do not make me repeat myself."
Arturia was astonished and taken aback by being caged between his arms, "I am afraid I do not understand."
He held her tightly, even a little possessively, in his arms; trying to be as comforting as was possible for him. But Arturia felt the certainty in his grip and she slowly nodded, "I heard the news of your father. I am very sorry."
"I thank you for your concern, Gilgamesh, but I assure you that I am not feeling as sorrowful as you might think." She still tried to keep her straight face and silence. She tried her best to pull away from the man's embrace but his grip on her was secure and she was having trouble doing so, "Um...I believe it is time for you to let go of me," Arturia mumbled.
"I am thinking of your position as King now and I do wish you all the best in your kingdom." Slowly and hesitantly, he pulled away and gave her a short smile, "God knows that I will soon be in the same position as you." His hands were firmly placed on her shoulders, holding her in place, "A country is hard to reign, but you must not carry the world upon your shoulders alone. Count on those around you, the ones that have demonstrated to be trustworthy. And even if you feel alone right now, you are not. There are people that are waiting for you to return and there are people, like Diarmuid, that really want you to return."
Arturia looked at him, she had never heard him say something as meaningful and empathetic as he did. She slightly smiled, only lifting the corners on her lips as she looked up at him, "Thank you."
Gilgamesh shook his head and sighed as if to rid himself of his nice ways, "Well, enough of that sentimental ordeal. We'll be seeing each other soon anyways; hopefully we can all our Kingdoms in marriage." He gave her a wink and she replied with a look of abhorrence.
"I would like to decline your offer," she grumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest, she should have known that he was going to disappoint her soon enough.
The red eyed man chuckled and then, out of the blue, his soft lips connected with her chapped one's in seconds. Her eyes were wide as his arms snaked around her waist and he brought her closer.
Her heart beat hard in her chest and she was not really sure what she felt because it was somewhere between astonishment and embarrassment. Her stomach felt tight and her throat dried up.
It took her a while to react, but when she did, he had already stopped the kiss and then kissed her cheek, "That was our engagement kiss." His hands slipped from waist and he gave her another wink.
Arturia pushed him away as to show some sort of reaction and then she covered her mouth before wiping it and quickly mounting her horse with every force she had in her.
Gilgamesh started chuckling and laughing before giving her a nod and waving her goodbye, "Until our wedding day," he grinned as he walked off.
Arturia was blushing deeply as she huffed and looked away in order to calm herself down, "Until never." She replied harshly for she was flustered. No man other than Lancelot had ever showed her their feelings in a romantic manner and Lancelot had never been this upfront about anything to do with romance.
As she tried to compose her raging heart and burning face, she saw that Diarmuid approached and for some strange reason she felt a tinge of guilt wash over her. She bit her lower lip and tried to think of a reason for that feeling but nothing came to her and she simply took a deep breath before Diarmuid arrived.
"Are you ever planing to tell me how the farewell went? For I cannot decide whether it was alright or not because every time I mention it, you turn away with red cheeks." It had taken him a lot of courage and thought to bring it up as they were boarding the boat. The whole process had taken an hour for the people to get on board and any belongings to also be placed on board the ship as well. He had asked about Gilgamesh probably a total of three times before but she had ignored him all along.
"There is nothing to say about it," she bluntly replied as they settled their belongings on deck; the ones they deemed more important to not leave them with the horses.
Since she had turned her head, Diarmuid followed to where her gaze was settled and then caught her eyes again, "Then you should not be turning your head away, milady." He was trying to still sound respectful and not like he was eager to know the truth.
Her eyes turned to slits as she glared at him and then she looked down, "He proposed to me, I declined but he thinks himself very persuasive."
Something in Diarmuid's chest cringed and he had to bite back a harsh response, "Proposed? Are you going to marry him?"
"Do you have a hearing problem that I am unaware of?" She furrowed her brows and sighed, "I declined. I am not looking for a husband right now, plus, I am already in a relationship with someone other than that prat."
"Really?"
"Well, it's rather complicated right now," she chuckled, "I mean I am supposed to pass as a man and he sort of has to be with my fiancée."
Diarmuid tried to laugh along with her but it did not sound believable because she glanced over at him, "I mean, we are not actually in a relationship anymore because he now has to be with Guinevere. I believe I am only holding unto that relationship because as idiotic as it sounds, he was my first love. They say you never forget them."
"And that they are always fated to be tragic," Diarmuid added, "I had a first love of my own. I had to give her up..." He mumbled.
Arturia sat down on the dock and took a deep breath, "And what about Gráinne?"
"What about her?" He followed suit to st next to her on the boat's floor.
"You clearly felt something for her, right?"
"No, I think that I have told you many times over now. I guess maybe a little bit of something deep down, but I had never truly loved her and she had never truly loved me either. The desperate look of love in her eyes that evening...it was a lie. A very sad and tragic lie..."
Arturia looked at him and then she noticed how lonely he truly seemed. The lonely soul he had that she could see through his eyes and that was when she realized that when he was sick, he did not have a heart burn, but rather it was the pain he had been keeping inside all along. The pain he had felt of not truly being loved and the fact that he had fought his own friends for a forced love. She thought that if maybe he had truly loved Gráinne, then he would not have felt that sort of stinging in his heart. The emptiness in his chest would not be there and he would have not regretted his cruel fate.
She had not known why, but she reached to take his hand in hers, in order to comfort him. When he looked over at her she only gave a small and soft smile before she turned towards the dock again. There were quite a lot of things that they both had in common and she was glad that he confided in her in order to show her how he truly felt inside.
"I did not confuse you with Gráinne." His voice was hushed and as the boat rocked it was a little difficult to hear him, but she managed.
Arturia chuckled and looked at him again, her heart almost stopping at the sight of his amber eyes. She felt a discomfort in her stomach but she pushed it aside, "How so?" She realized that she had whispered when she spoke and she caught herself right then as her heart felt a little heavy. She slipped her hand from his, well aware that the warmth of his hand vanished.
"Because I never loved Gráinne. I must have been trying to tell you something about her."
The ship had continued to be cradled by the sea as they fell silent and did not say anything else for the rest of the trip. They tried not to lean against one another as the ship moved and turned because Arturia knew that if she had any contact with him, she would feel the same feeling in her stomach and she did not want to feel that way.
"Am I allowed to ask you who it was that you loved?" Diarmuid wanted to break the silence because he thought the the sound of the waves needed to be hushed for a while.
Arturia glanced at him for mere seconds and the looked away, "His name is Lancelot..."
"Oh, the one you confused me with when I was whistling?" Diarmuid leaned forward to see her face but it was not possible because he was only able to see a part of her profile.
She gave a uncertain nod, "Yes..." It sounded as if she was still pondering the comment that the knight had made, "He was a good man to me and he was the only one of my knights to know that I was woman. I cannot say that I love him, because I know that love is different than my infatuation. I think that the reason I do not actually love him is because I knew that we could not be together. Our relationship ended when my father insisted he be the one to give Guinevere a child."
Diarmuid furrowed his brows and tilted his head, "Why would your father do that? Was it to spite you?"
Arturia shrugged and took a deep breath, "No, it was because he already knew I was a woman, it was safe for less people to know of my sex."
"Do you consider Lancelot your lover?"
Arturia shot her head towards Diarmuid and blinked, in her dictionary a lover was something more intimate than Lancelot was to her, "We secretly courted, but nothing more than kisses. They were chaste, just to let you know."
"That was not what I meant," he chuckled, "Do you think that he was the one for you?"
Arturia sat thinking for a little bit and then flickered her eyes towards his again, "No one is the one for me, that is why I cannot allow myself to fully give my heart to someone. I cannot fall in love with every little bit of my being and so no one can be the man for me."
Diarmuid inched closer to her and then gave her a small smile, "There is always going to be some one just for you. Plus, you would have to invite me to your wedding." He grinned.
She chuckled and shook her head, "I do not know about that..."
"You have to invite me, what if I'm the groom? A groom not invited to his own wedding," he winked and nudged her arm with his elbow as a blush dusted her cheeks, "But honestly, all jokes aside, you must invite me to your wedding when it comes. I'll do the honours of walking you down the isle and hand you over to Gilgamesh."
"I am not going to marry Gilgamesh." Her jaw was clenched and the blush was gone.
"Then you will have to settle for me because, frankly, we are the only ones that know you are a female prince and you do not want others to find out." He was chuckling and leaning back on their luggage.
Arturia blushed again and scoffed, "Of course," she rolled her eyes in sarcasm.
"Then it's settled. We'll wed on the first eve of the sixth month," Diarmuid winked and sighed.
Her heart fluttered a little at his flirtatious comment and gestures. He was quite handsome even if there might have truly been a spell on him. The beauty mark was somewhat alluring and his amber eyes made her stomach turn when they locked with hers.