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"In the Tower of London today, a group of 10 terrorists attempted to steal the Crown Jewels. A group of students from Australia were present during the attack. According to the police, one of the students engaged in a fight with the leader of the terrorists, in which they used some sort of pole as make shift swords. The student defeated the terrorist, and won the right to keep the Jewels. Another student contacted the police, and the terrorists were placed under arrest. The Queen is said to be preparing a vote of thanks, in which the students will receive a special honour. This 'special honour' however, has not been released to the public. The terrorists are believed to have come from Garce, however Queen Jazinta has stayed neutral on the topic so far. Any information that can be provided is greatly appreciated, please call the number at the bottom of the screen.
I'm Kathleen Talbit, and this is BBC news."
Queen Jazinta was fuming. Her attack had failed. She threw the remote at the TV, screaming at the same time.
"How could my terrorists fail!" she cried. "Zey vere trained at zee best Military camps in zee vorld. How could zis zeventeen year old boy defeat zem?" She glanced at the paper beside her. TERRORISTS CRUSHED BY KIDS, it screamed.
"Stupid little furcines!" She muttered, hurling the paper into the fireplace. Its flames shone brighter and fiercer for a moment, then died down again.
"Ve need to vind a vay to deveat zis boy. Contan!" she barked. A tall man in a plain black suit shuffled into her office.
"Yes Your Majesty?" he said quietly
"Contan, ve need to keednap zis boy oo deveated our attackerz yezterday. Zee it to it, NOW!"
Contan hurried out of the room. Jazinta picked up another paper, one that featured a picture of Arzhur and Sophie outside the Tower of London, obviously taken after the attack, when they weren't looking.
"Ve shall get your little girlfriend too." She murmured, throwing the paper into the fire, along with the rest of them, laughing as she did so.
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"This is a computer. It enables you to have pictures and stories and all sorts of stuff on it. If you have the internet you can go online and send emails, which are like letters, but you type them up and don't actually put them in a letter box or anything, or you can look at maps."
And with that Sophie went to Google Images.
"What's a Google?" Arzhur asked
"It's a search engine, it's connected to all sorts of place, and you can find almost everything there. And here we have a map of the world." Sophie brought up a map that had Australia in the bottom right hand corner and America on the left hand side.
"This is Australia; it's where I'm from. This bit down here; this is Brisbane, where I was born and where I go to school. Over here, we have America. I'm not exactly sure, but I think this is where Washington is. But we shall get another map." She searched for a moment, then brought up another map that showed the states of the USA, each individually labelled.
Sophie spent a little longer showing him the various pictures and internet sites available, then opened her emails. Sophie rolled her eyes, as she saw 100 emails in her inbox.
"Damn Georgia and Ashley. Always replying all." And indeed, she was right. Most of the emails were blank, or had one word in them. Arzhur, however, was very fascinated, and had to read each one carefully. Pretty soon Sophie's money ran out, and the internet shut off.
"Come on, let's go get some lunch." Sophie said, leading Arzhur out of the internet café.
It was Sunday afternoon. Mr Johnston had taken them to Madame Tussauds wax museum in the morning, but most of the sites were shut Sunday afternoons, so they had another free night. So long as they were with their buddy.
After seeing a movie, The Chronicles of Narnia, in which Arzhur enjoyed making comments at the bad use of swords, and the bad battle strategies. They made a stop off at McDonalds, and Arzhur had his first Quarter Pounder and coke.
They caught the tube to Hyde Park, which was a new experience for both of them, albeit quite smoky and dirty. Sophie and Arzhur walked around for a while, hand in hand, sometimes stopping to admire the squirrels, which Sophie hadn't seen before.
"I've never really seen squirrels before, only possums and only them at night." Sophie said.
"Really? Never seen a squirrel? Wow. What's a possum?"
Sophie started to laugh.
"A possum," she began, "is a marsupial. Marsupials are native to Australia, and their young are born into the pouches they have on their stomachs. A possum…Well possums are quite like squirrels, except they don't sit up like a squirrel does, they have larger ears which are pink, the same colour as their nose, they're nocturnal, and live in trees. They are also much larger. I'll show you some pictures at the hotel computers."
Arzhur was very excited at the prospect of using the computer again, and reading Sophie's emails.
They went together over to the swings and sat side by side, Sophie facing one way, Arzhur the other. Sophie had to demonstrate to Arzhur how to use them, and after a few examples and trials, he had the 'swing' of it.
"So…" Sophie began, "Are you ready to tell me?"
"Tell you what?" Arzhur asked, thinking he had an idea of the topic she tiptoeing around so gracefully.
"About…her. Guinevere. I've heard the stories, about her and… Lancelot. Is it true?"
Arzhur sighed, "I knew this day would come, when I would have to tell you…
Guinevere was the most beautiful woman I ever met. You have to understand that in my time, things were different. She came to my court when she was a little older than you are now, and I immediately fell in love with her. However, when I told Merlin I intended to wed her, he warned me against it, and said she would betray me. We were together for years, until she began a romance with Lancelot. Their union remained a secret, but when they were found out, she was ordered to be burnt at the stake. It wasn't my decision, but Merlin said that it would be for the best. I trusted him, because he was the one who had been by my side almost all of my life! But Lancelot rode up, just as the flames were ignited, and saved her. I was heart broken. That was one of the reasons why Mordred and I were in battle. Over Guinevere. I haven't heard anything of them, only that they were living on an island somewhere together, with children. I never got over my loss."
When Arzhur had finished his story, he was in tears. He had stopped swinging, and was just sitting there, water running down his face. Sophie got off her swing and took his hand,
"Arzhur, it's ok." She said, "I know its hurt. You've been through a lot of pain. But now you have a chance to live again, and have a better life."
He looked up at her. "But you don't understand. Merlin knew this was going to happen. He could have forewarned me, I could have listened! Instead, I ignored him completely, and acted so stupidly. I am an idiot!"
With his last statement, he stood up and walked away from the swings.
"You aren't an idiot, Arzhur," Sophie said, following him. "You were the ruler of a great kingdom. You made England the rich and peaceful country it is today! If it weren't for you, we may have been plagued for years with invaders from other countries. Instead, you tactfully defeated, seemingly at ease! And look at what you did yesterday! You saved the Crown Jewels of England! The Queen herself is going to thank you. You'll be famous. I know that you and I can save this country. You just have to believe in yourself!" Arzhur looked at Sophie, and knew that she believed in him. He knew he could save England, and now that he knew he had her help, he needed a plan.
"We need Merlin." He said. "He can help us find a way to stop the attacks. He may even be able to get us into Garce, and to see Queen Jazinta."
Sophei didn't actually know if Merlin was actually able to achieve this, but she knew she had to let Arzhur know that she did have faith in him.
"Oh my god! It's almost 8:30! We won't back in time if we catch the tube, and it's too far to walk! We'll have to catch a cab!" She ran out onto the street and flagged one down, checking to make sure she had money. They sped along towards their hotel, Arzhur caught up in the excitement of riding in a car, instead of a bus.
"So many new experiences for me today!" He said, making Sophie laugh. After 26 minutes of weaving in and out of traffic, Sophie paid 10 pounds and they ran into the hotel, at 8:53. Sophie and Arzhur collapsed on to the sofas in the lobby, laughing and out of breathe.
"That was fun." Arzhur said
"Not as fun as a pillow fight!" Sophie said, throwing a pillow at him.
"Pillow fight eh?" They heard a voice say suggestively from behind them. "Well girls, what have these two been up to?" Eleanor and her minions laughed wickedly.
"Maybe a bit more than Mr Johnston wanted." Gracey said.
"Hopefully no one will tell him." Lacey said
"Just imagine what would happen if someone walked in on them during an intimate moment!" Sally said.
"Oh come off it you guys. It's not as if they're doing it." Gules said. Sophie couldn't help but stare at her.
'Wow. Gules said something nice. Maybe she'll be my friend again. People change in Europe, I suppose, hopefully it's just a phase.' Sophie knew it was probably a long shot, and wouldn't really happen, but she could dream.
"Maybe we should tell Mr Johnston about the cute little couple." Eleanor said, laughing. "Oh, and don't worry Giulie, you don't have to be in on it."
They walked off. Gules stayed behind for a moment, looking from Arzhur to Eleanor, until Sophie turned away defiantly. Gules called to Eleanor and ran after her.
"I knew she wouldn't come back." Sophie said, crossing her arms and walking to the elevator.
"Sophie!" Arzhur chased after her. "Sophie, what's the matter?"
"Gules, or Giulie, as she is now known, has been my best friend since we were 7, and now she's gone over to the dark side. To the girls we always laughed at, who dyed their hair white blonde, and wore tight tight shirts and miniskirts." By now, Sophie had started crying. Arzhur pulled her over to him and he put his arms around her. He rested his chin on her head softly, and said
"Shh, it's ok Sophie. I know how you feel. But you've still got me."
"Like that's anything to be proud of." She said into his shirt sarcastically.
Arzhur laughed. "See? You're already feeling better."
Sophie looked up at him and wiped her eyes. "I suppose." She said. Arzhur leaned down and kissed her, just as the elevator door pinged on the level 3, where Mr Johnston's room was…
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