A/N: And this is the chapter where, as they say, the shit hits the fan.
"Can I speak with you for a minute Veronica?" asked Horvath.
She looked up briefly. Three months had passed since their triumph with preventing Guinevere's execution. The last she had heard Lancelot and the Queen were still holed up in Joyous Guard, the Papal Bull not quite reaching England yet. The distance between Rome and Camelot was great and the sea was unpredictable after all. No matter, the problem was all but over and the solution would come soon.
In the meantime Arthur had officially declared Gaheris his heir to the throne, to be succeeded by Gareth if he were to die. Morgana had been present then, and for a minute it looked as though something were about to happen. However, she had just sniffed and gone out of the hall with her son in tow.
"Your timing's good," Veronica replied as got up from the ground, wondering vaguely why Horvath was outside, "I was just finishing up."
"Finishing up what?" he asked curiously.
"Plant restoration," she said, tapping the tree she'd been kneeling by with her fist, "It was dying, and I think losing a perfectly good apple tree is a shame when I can do something about it. What did you want to say?"
Horvath smiled nervously and licked his lips.
"I uh…hm," he said, "You'd think I hadn't rehearsed or something…"
He looked up at her with a sheepish expression. Cocking her head to the side Veronica said;
"Come on, whatever it is can't be that embarrassing. Did you and Balthazar set fire to something again? You know I'm not very good at cover-ups."
"We're not fifteen anymore," Horvath said pointedly.
"You could've fooled me," she grinned, "But come on. I'll be here 'til my twenty-second birthday if you don't hurry up."
"That's not that far off," he said.
"I know," Veronica shrugged, "It's just a figure of speech."
Closing his eyes Horvath took another deep breath.
"I would like to start courting you."
"Was that so hard?" asked Veronica, "Now-what?"
Again the sheepish expression came across his face.
"I would like to start courting you," he repeated.
Her mouth opened a few times. She shut it abruptly, her mind furiously trying to think up something to say.
"I…Horvath," she said carefully, "You're a very good friend…very good…but you're my brother. I just don't…I just don't feel that way about you."
He nodded, as if that was to be expected.
"I know," he said earnestly, "We've been friends for such a long time that I know my affections must come as something of a surprise. I've been trying to make sure that no one knew for the longest time….it would be odd if things…never mind. I never even told Balthazar."
Wishing that this wasn't happening Veronica hugged herself. Weakly she asked;
"If you know that…then why did you go and…go and…?"
…ruin everything.
"I think it would be good if we got to know each other in that sense," he said, his voice still bright, "I just didn't want it to come as a complete surprise. We could take some time with this, see how it goes."
"So this is just a heads-up then?" she asked, closing her eyes tightly.
"I…I suppose that you could call it that."
Feeling a sharp ache in her chest she said;
"Horvath, no."
"Huh?" he asked.
"Listen, you can't do this," she said, opening her eyes again, "I can't allow you to…it would be wrong."
"What do you mean?"
She saw the pain creeping into his face and sighed heavily. Veronica wanted to do this without hurting his feelings. It wasn't as though she didn't have some experience in this area. There had been plenty of occasions in the past where she had gently turned men down. However, this time was rather different; she was his friend. She was close to him, had grown up with him.
Part of her told her that it wouldn't be wrong to just let it continue on for a little while; make it clear that it wasn't working out that way after a while. However, she immediately rejected it and smacked it out of her brain. She wasn't a tease like some arrogant noblewoman. She wasn't willing to lead Horvath on like that.
Then there was the fact that Balthazar was already courting her. Of course, there hadn't been any letters or flowers in the months since his family had died. Veronica understood that though. He had undergone a tragedy; it would probably be awhile before he even thought about trying to court her for a long time yet.
"It would be a lie," she said, "I…I'm sorry, but I don't love you."
"It's okay," he said patiently, "I told you I knew that. And I…I can…I can get you to love me."
Veronica had to suppress an expression of revulsion. She knew that he hadn't meant it that way, but it was the same cry of the many haughty men who had chased after her with their ultimate destination being a bedroom. Taking a deep breath she calmed down enough to answer reasonably;
"I'm sorry, but you can't."
"I'm just trying to-"
"I know," she said, "But you're not listening to me. I told you that it can't work out."
"Why not!" he demanded, "Why don't you just listen?"
Blinking Veronica looked at Horvath in surprise. He was getting violent now, something that she wasn't used to seeing him like at all.
"I said why not?" he snapped.
Drawing herself up Veronica tried to see a reasonable way to deal with the situation. She decided to settle on the truth of the matter.
"Horvath," she said quietly, "I wouldn't want to hurt you or lead you on. Like I said, it wouldn't work. You see…I'm already in love with someone."
Immediately Horvath looked as though he'd been slapped. After a few seconds though, the expression turned dark.
"Who?" he asked, his voice low.
"Beg pardon?"
"Tell me who it is!" he yelled.
Instinctively she reached for her silver necklace. It was a mistake, she could see from the way Horvath's eyes darted jealously to it. Veronica knew it was too late to take her hand away though; that would just make the already awful situation even worse. She had never seen Horvath lose it like this. Adopting a soothing tone she started;
"Horvath-"
"Don't you call me that!" he said threateningly, "Why did you always call me by last name? My name's Maxim dammit! You call everyone else by their first name! You call Balthazar…by…his…"
In the moment that the final syllables left his lips, he knew. Veronica couldn't quite explain how she knew that he knew, just that he did. Something had changed about him, something horribly subtle. There was something in his posture that betrayed a cracking, a breaking of infinite proportions. A look had come into his eyes, somewhere between betrayal and fury.
Without warning his arm shot forward. Horvath's fingers closed around the silver necklace and he jerked her forwards by it. Surprised and in pain from the sudden movement she gave a small shriek before she fell to her knees. She could feel the scratches forming on her throat and she gritted her teeth in pain. Another jerk brought her head up so that he was glaring down into her face.
"He gave you this, didn't he?" he snarled.
To emphasize his point he shook her by the necklace again. Dizzy Veronica moved up her hands, thinking of a spell to repel him. Instead his hand crushed hers in its grip. A second later, despite her strugglings, she felt him remove her ring with a growing horror. He held it outside of her reach.
"Is this all that it takes?" he demanded, "Dammit, I helped him with those poems! Helped him all this time when I didn't know what it was he wanted; wanted you when I did…and it just takes one stupid little necklace? You'd sell yourself so cheaply?"
"Let go," she said, trying to push him away from her.
Pulling her up by the necklace he grabbed her arm with his spare hand. She felt his bruising fingers wrapping around it. Panic started to set in as she tried to wriggle away, maybe get her ring back somehow, but mostly just to get away from him. Whoever this was now, this wasn't the Horvath she had grown up with. This was something different, something she'd never seen before, something horribly dangerous.
"HORVATH!"
Both of them turned to see Merlin standing not three feet away from them. There was a tense moment when the three of them looked at each other; Veronica with her scratched and bleeding throat, Horvath in his jealousy, and Merlin radiating righteous rage.
"What on earth do you think you're doing?" demanded Merlin coldly, "Release her this instant."
Veronica watched as the black in Horvath's eyes started to take over.
"Horvath," threatened Merlin, "Let her go."
Horvath's eyes flashed back to hers before finally settling on the silver necklace. Pulling the necklace forward he broke the clasp and threw Veronica to the ground. All around her the links of the necklace broke, scattering across the ground. Angrily Horvath tossed her ring afterwards. She reached for it and looked over at where Horvath was storming towards the Keep.
For a second Merlin looked after Horvath in continued rage. Then he strode over to Veronica.
"What happened?" he asked, helping her up.
She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Inarticulately she tried to explain a situation that she herself didn't fully understand. Shoving her ring back on her finger she twisted her hands together over and over before wrapping them around herself. Veronica started breathing deeply in, the gravity of the event starting only now to sink in.
Sighing Merlin put one hand on her shoulder.
"It's alright," he said, "It's alright."
They stayed like that for a few minutes, her breathing not getting any steadier. Finally they heard running feet.
"Not now," murmured Veronica to herself, "Please not now, not-"
"Horvath just left the Keep!" Balthazar said, hurrying up to them, "Shoved me and called me a bastard when I tried to stop him. What the hell happened?"
Merlin turned and gave a calculated shrug. He looked down at Veronica, whose head was still bowed.
"Veronica?" asked Balthazar, confused.
"He…he wanted to court me," she heard herself say.
She could see Balthazar visibly stiffen.
"I told him…I told him no," she said, "And he…he just started…"
Helplessly she gestured to the remains of the silver necklace around the ground.
"Did he hurt you?" Balthazar asked, his voice containing barely restrained anger.
"Not…really…" she murmured.
Merlin snorted and brushed back some of her hair before withdrawing a little. She knew that the cuts on her throat were plainly visible now. Without saying a word Balthazar put his arm on her shoulder. Gently he ran his hand over the wounds on her throat, healing them. Finally he pulled her a little closer and she leaned into his chest, still breathing hard.
"And how long had this been going on before I came?" asked Merlin.
"About…about five minutes," she said, "Saints it all happened in five minutes…"
Veronica looked around, first at the sky and trees, then at Balthazar. She wanted to tell him something, to explain that what had occurred was so much more than she had let them know. She wanted to let him know that things wouldn't be the same anymore, not in any sense. Instead she just shook her head furiously.
"I need to go," she said, pulling away from Balthazar.
"But-" he started.
Without waiting for him to finish his sentence she hurried into the Keep. Veronica took the steps two at a time to her room, shutting the door behind her. She locked it; inasmuch privacy as that would provide against sorcerers. Then she collapsed onto the floor, breathing hard and feeling where the necklace had once been; unable to cry.
