Episode: The Coming of Arthur (Parts 1 & 2)
Category: Het
Rating/Warnings: T
Author's Note: The maidservant is a character who was briefly featured in another story of mine called "Beguiled."
"Come on, we have to go!"
The maidservant lifted her head, gazing at her companion with dull, lifeless eyes. "She killed him. She killed the king."
"You can't tell me you're surprised. She's been using him from the start, the evil witch, and he let her get away with it. Don't grieve for him – he brought it on himself."
Shaking her head, the maidservant stepped forward into the throne room with tears running down her face. "We can't just leave him this way."
"We can, and we must! Do you know what's going to happen when word gets out that the king is dead? This place will be sacked! Bandits, criminals… do you know what men like that will do to us? I don't know about you, but I'd rather not be raped tonight."
But the words fell on deaf ears as the maidservant crossed the room, blood drenching her skirt as she knelt beside the body of the fallen king. His face seemed to be sculpted in stone, forever frozen in an expression of horrified realization. Poor Cenred… for all his flaws, he'd genuinely loved the woman who'd betrayed him. He didn't deserve this, didn't deserve to…
"We can't bury him, you know," spoke the voice from behind, urgency replaced by bewilderment. But of course, the confusion was only to be expected. Nightly visits to Cenred's bedchamber had been a discreet affair, ending months before her companion had even been hired. Yes, the only man the other woman had ever seen had been under Morgause's thrall, oblivious to all else but her sinister influence.
But before that… the maidservant clasped his hand tightly in both of her own, swallowing a rush of pain.
"I know we can't bury him," she whispered brokenly. "I wish we had the time and the strength, but… just give me a moment alone with him, would you?"
"I don't see why…"
"No, you wouldn't. And I don't have it in me to explain. Please, just a few minutes. I'll join you shortly."
Her companion let out a heavy sigh, but did as she was asked, closing the double doors behind her with a soft thud.
Even as the maidservant knelt beside him, weeping openly now that they were alone, she knew her grief was out of proportion with what she'd meant to this man. After all, she'd been nothing more than a pretty face, a soft, feminine body to warm his bed at night. Despite that, however, he'd been good to her, going out of his way to give as much pleasure as he received, even holding her sometimes when all was said and done.
That was what she thought of when she hunched over to lay her head on his chest, so still and cold, a cruel mockery of a body that had once been filled with barely restrained power and restless energy. Closing her eyes, she tried to imagine him that way again, this same chest heaving in the aftermath of a passionate coupling, heartbeat strong and steady beneath her cheek.
But it was only an illusion, chased away by the grim reality of absolute silence.
Leaning forward, she pressed a lingering kiss to lips that were pale and bloodless, reaching out to smooth his thick chestnut hair away from his forehead. And then the words came easily, soft and bittersweet, a truth she could've never allowed herself to utter if he'd been alive to hear it.
"Goodbye, Cenred. I love you."