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It was late the next morning when Alethea woke to find herself covered with a blanket and curled up in one of the most awkward of positions in a chair. Her joints were stiff from the day's ride and her night's sleep and it hurt to move, but she knew that she had to. She had things to do and she couldn't stay curled up forever, unfortunately. Stretching out, she washed her face in the basin of water that Gaius had left out before looking for her glasses as she noted that everything was blurred. The only problem was she couldn't remember taking them off last night and now she couldn't find them. Letting her hand wander over the bench, she tried not to knock anything over before her fingers rested on a familiar shape. Putting her glasses on, she felt better and knew that she had to sort something out today. She had a clearer head after having slept and knew that she needed to see the Prince as soon as she could. Moving across the room, she had just reached the door when Merlin appeared.
"Alethea? Where are you going?" He asked, stopping Alethea in her tracks. Alethea couldn't help but feel like a criminal caught red handed.
"To find Arthur. I owe it to him after abandoning him in the forest last night."
"Are you sure that's wise?"
"I need to see him Merlin."
"He came by yesterday. Says he's sorry."
"I need to see him myself." Alethea said, refusing to give in.
"At least put some different clothes and some shoes on." Looking down, Alethea realised that she wasn't in the best of states for a Lady of Camelot. Her clothes were nothing more than rags and her shoes… well, they were now in the same state as her clothes. She just thanked God that she'd left her boots in her room.
"Which ones?" she asked and as Merlin turned his back, she made a break for it and ran out of the door and towards Arthur's room, wincing as her feet touched the freezing cold stone floor.
Once she reached a safe distance from the Physician's quarters, Alethea slowed her pace and walked down the corridors, ignoring the funny glances she got from the people she met before finally coming to the Prince's room. Praying that Arthur would be in there, she knocked on the door. She didn't want to have to go searching for him elsewhere. It was a cold enough morning already and she didn't want to have to go outside to find him. Not receiving any answer, she wondered if Arthur would still be asleep and so she gently tried the door. Thankfully it wasn't locked and she poked her head round to find a somewhat shaken Prince sat up in his bed. He didn't look like he'd had a good night's sleep and Alethea couldn't help but feel guilty as she guessed that it was her fault.
"Arthur, I… I need to apologise for…" she started, about to apologise for running off and leaving him yesterday in the forest, but she noticed that he was physically shaking and was very pale. She knew he wasn't shivering with cold and she prayed that he wasn't ill, otherwise she would never forgive herself. "Are you alright?" she asked, concerned.
"Will be..." He told her, flashing her a quick smile.
"Do you want me to go and fetch Gaius?" she asked, before noticing that his eyes were red and puffy, almost as if he'd been crying. Had her refusal meant that much to him?
"No, I don't need him."
"Are you sure? You don't look at all well."
"I'm positive." the blue eyed Prince told her. Alethea still wasn't convinced but she felt his forehead with the back of her hand and he seemed fine.
"What do you need then?" she asked him, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"You." he stated simply, beckoning her to sit beside him.
"Arthur, about last night… I'm sorry for running off like that. I was just so confused…"
"It's alright Alethea, I understand." he said, seeming to gain a bit of colour in his cheeks and calming down a bit. Alethea just smiled slightly as she turned on her side to face him.
"You do?"
"I should be the one apologising. I never even thought what I was making you do. I'm sorry."
"Then you know why I had to say no?"
"I do. Forgive me Alethea."
"You are already forgiven my Prince." she told him. "Besides, it is nice to know that you love me so much that you are prepared to spend the rest of your life with me."
"Only now do I realise that it's impossible."
"Not impossible, just highly unlikely." she smirked. "Not that I'm saying that I wouldn't but you know that if it had been any other way then I would have said yes. You do know that?"
"Well, let's just make the most of whatever time we have left together." he suggested.
"Sounds good to me." Alethea agreed. "Now, are you going to tell me what's wrong?"
"You'll laugh."
"I promise I won't."
"Bad dream. That's all."
"More like a nightmare from the looks of things. Do you want to talk about it?"
"I'd rather not."
"Alright then my Prince." she smiled, gently brushing her lips against his.
"My lady, you are cold." Arthur pointed out, noticing that she wasn't wrapped up warmly and her feet were bare.
"I'll be fine." Alethea shrugged, not realising that Arthur was thinking of his dream.
"Alethea, you need to stay warm if you don't want to get ill. Come here."
Before she could object, she was lying next to Arthur in his bed with the covers wrapped around her. If she was married to him, Alethea thought, then this would be a regular occurrence. If only she hadn't been so hasty to decline his offer and reject his proposal. If only she had given it thought before answering, but it was too late now. She couldn't change her mind and she doubted that the Prince would ask her again. Not after she had hurt him so. Stupid girl, Alethea thought, to turn down such an opportunity. She had gone and turned down the one person she loved most and she knew that it was perhaps her only chance of love. Of course she wasn't in the legends, but surely she could be easily forgotten in the pages of history. It had happened to others before, so why could it not happen to her? Someone somewhere along the line would mess around with the legends and add things in and take things out. The story of Lancelot and Guinevere may yet happen, but Guinevere in reality may not be Arthur's wife. Artistic license, wasn't that what all writers had? Failing that, Alethea could always persuade Merlin to do some magic tricks on the chroniclers and make it so that she wasn't recorded or even change her name. Why hadn't she thought of these yesterday when she needed to?
"Alethea…" The Prince said, breaking her track of thought.
"Yes?"
"Are we still alright after yesterday?"
"Of course we are." Alethea smiled at him. "Nothing can change what you mean to me Arthur. But I'm sorry that I hurt you yesterday. It wasn't intentional, I can assure you."
"You are quite forgiven." Arthur smiled. "But promise me something will you?"
"Hmm?"
"You'll stay here for a bit longer?"
"A lot longer hopefully, and I promise Arthur." She said before their eyes met. Gazing at each other, neither of them broke away and Alethea couldn't help but wonder if this would be what married life would be like. If so then she certainly did regret answering so quickly last night. Still looking into each other's eyes, Arthur suddenly pounced and started tickling her. Alethea just couldn't help but laugh.
"Arthur… Stop it…Please!" she begged.
"What's it worth?" he asked, all sweetness and innocence.
"I'll…" she started but they were interrupted as the door opened and Merlin walked straight in.
"Sire, I don't suppose you've seen Alethea?"
"She's about so high, dresses weirdly, brown hair…" Arthur couldn't help but smile. "She's here." The Prince told him and Alethea just waved at the young warlock.
"Oh."
"Anyway, what have I told you about knocking? And haven't you got something better to do like muck out my horses or polish my armour or something?"
"Of course." Merlin said, taking the hint and leaving, whilst Arthur and Alethea both burst into fits of laughter. It took some time for them both to calm down but once they did, they found themselves being called for.
"I suppose I'd best go and get dressed."
"And I'd best find out what they want us for."
"Shame we can't stay here all day."
"I know." They both smiled before getting out of the bed. "I shall see you later my lady." The Prince smiled before leaving the room, pulling on his boots as he did so. Alethea just watched and smiled before going to her own room, startling Ceridwen with her sudden appearance.
"My lady, what happened to you?"
"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies." Alethea told her. "Now, the warmest gown I own and a jacket of some sort. It's freezing today."
Once changed and wrapped up warm, Alethea ran to the Great Hall to find the Court in session. They seemed to be dealing with the problems of supplies for the villages over the winter, defences for Camelot, the increase of the use of magic, finance, punishments… The list went on and on and Alethea felt a little out of her depth, although she did find herself quite enjoying it at points. There were one or two things that actually had her interested and as one of the Protectors of Camelot, she was asked on how best to defend Camelot. She stumbled slightly at this.
"I would erm… I would try and avoid war in the first place."
"And give in to our enemies? Nonsense." One of the nobles dismissed her.
"What I mean is to, erm…" She couldn't find the word she was after but before anyone else could attack her, Arthur stepped in and saved her.
"Compromise. But should war become inevitable, we fight away from the castle. We've had too many innocent casualties when the fight has been here."
"Good idea. Now, next on the list, finance…" It was a good few hours later when the Court ended and Alethea felt like she had just stepped out of an exam. It had been awful for her, with most of her ideas being ignored or dismissed as stupid. More often than not Arthur had had to step in and save her from more insults and questions from the older nobles. In fact, Alethea had been the youngest person there, and one of the few women present. By the end of the Court, Alethea had just stopped putting her ideas across, knowing that they would only be ignored or laughed at.
"I'm sorry about that." The Prince apologised, looking grim.
"It's alright. After all, it's not as if I know much about Camelot." she said sarcastically. "There's still a long way to go before it becomes the one I know."
"Probably." Arthur agreed before sighing as he realised what was next.
"When is it?"
"This afternoon." Arthur told her.
"I'm here for you, you know." she told him, knowing that the Prince was not looking forward to burying his dead comrades. She knew that Arthur had lost quite a few friends in the battle a few days ago and that he felt part what guilty for not realising that Nimueh was in Camelot until it was too late. "They died a hero's death, and they won't be forgotten." She told him, taking his hand in hers and gently squeezing it.
"I know. I can't help but feel responsible though Alethea."
"Arthur, if it's anyone's fault then it's mine. But life goes on. They will be remembered for what they did."
"I suppose." He agreed.
That afternoon, the families of the fallen, the King and the nobles of Camelot gathered to witness the memorial for the fallen. Alethea stood next to the Prince, giving him moral support and listening to him as he made a speech about the brave men who had made the ultimate sacrifice for Camelot. Tears were in the eyes of most people before the bodies of the dead were lowered into the graves and the earth was placed over them. Some of the nobles left at this point, as did the King, but Alethea and the Prince stayed there, watching as the families mourned. Morgana stood there for a bit with them, but she too eventually went inside to the castle to shelter from the chill wind that was blowing. With Arthur's arm wrapped around her shoulder, Alethea stood with him, feeling guilty for the deaths of these men. If only she hadn't been so desperate to get home then perhaps these men would still be alive. But she couldn't change it now, no matter how much she wanted to.
"Come on. Let's go inside." Arthur said once the last grave had been filled. Leaving the families to mourn, the two of them slowly walked back towards the castle to escape the bitter wind and the chill in the air. One thing was bugging Alethea as they walked though, and she couldn't stay silent any longer.
"Arthur, can I ask you something?" she said as they came towards the courtyard.
"Hmm?" He asked, turning to face her.
""Would it be too late to change my mind?"
"About what?" he asked, a confused expression on his face.
"Yesterday." she said simply, waiting for him to realise what she was on about and watched as it finally clicked.
"You mean…?" she nodded. "But what about your family?" he asked, but couldn't stop a smile spreading on his lips.
"They've managed without me for a few months. A bit longer won't do any harm." she shrugged. "Besides, I love you Arthur Pendragon, and if I leave then I will never return. I know that now and we ought to make the most of what we've got." she paused "But it all depends if you'll still have me, which means asking me a question." she pointed out.
"Then, Alethea, will you make me the happiest man in the Kingdom and be my wife?" the Prince asked her, taking the hint and producing the ring.
"Prince Arthur Pendragon, you know something? I do believe that I will." She smiled at him before she was embraced and her lips were merged with the Prince's. She knew at that moment in time that she had gone and made the right decision. It was meant to be and the legends could go hang. It seemed it wasn't too late to change her mind after all.
