Hey, thank you for the welcome back and for all your kind words. I appreciate it. I'm still taking things slow, so updates aren't as frequent.
I do not own Merlin or the characters and I honestly do not own Wicked In Your Arms.
Warning: Battery
Sorry for any offense caused.
"Thank you," Gwen murmured to the servant who had just delivered a missive to her. The girl...Isabelle, she thought her name was, ducked her head almost shyly before slipping from the room.
Suddenly, a small tremour of delight rippled through Gwen as she read the letter.
She clasped the piece of parchment close to her chest, the words printed there whispering through her head...
I long to see you without the presence of others. Meet me outside the back of the house as soon as you can get away. I'll await with a carriage.
Gwen looked down at the letter again and a secret smile lifted the corners of her mouth. Over the last three days, she and Prince Arthur scarcely had a moment to themselves.
Her father insisted they be seen about town as much as possible, presenting themselves as the happily affianced couple. But they were always surrounded by others.
However, she told herself it wouldn't be like this after they were married. They would have ample opportunity to be alone together then.
But three days in his constant company and never a word in private, not a touch, not even a stolen kiss, caused her doubts to resurface and take hold. And she found herself wondering with the whirl of wedding and travel arrangements if a little regret had not entered his head.
She'd entered a state of breathless agitation... If he had the slightest remorse for his hasty offer of marriage, she hoped he would call a halt to this madly racing train at once.
Tomorrow they would leave for Camelot... The next step towards their real life together... A life that could be hell for both of them if he was already regretting their impending union.
The letter crinkled against her fingers, reviving her with hope that Arthur wasn't afflicted with regret.
"What do you have there?" her sister, Elizabeth asked looking up from her novel, her finger marking her spot in the book.
"Nothing," Gwen replied.
"Nothing! Nothing made you smile?"
Gwen's smile only deepened. And Elizabeth rolled her eyes.
"A love letter from Prince Arthur, perhaps?"
"Something like that..." Gwen hedged, rising from the sofa. "If you'll excuse me."
Arthur was waiting...
Her sister waggled her fingers in the air and said as she stood to leave the room,
"Run along, reread your letter in privacy where I don't have to hear your lovesick sighs."
Gwen only smiled as she hurried from the drawing room, stopping only to fetch a cloak. Her heart raced at Arthur's romantic gesture.
It gave her hope that what he felt for her was deep and true. And strong enough to withstand his grandfather's disappointment.
Strong enough to last.
As she hastened, she earned a few speculative glances from servants she passed on the stairs, but she didn't let it deter her. She was on a mission.
A secret romantic rendezvous...
Gwen stepped outside the back servants' entrance and burrowed into her cloak, scanning the narrow alley where deliveries were usually made.
A carriage idled alongside the wrought-iron gate, the driver blowing into his hands.
She smiled as she skipped down the steps and quickly made her way along the path, mindful not to let the iron gate clang too loudly behind her.
She gave a quick glance around to be certain that no one was lurking about. But no servant stood outside. She was all alone in the gray afternoon...only a few yards separating her from her prince.
Gwen's feet flew faster, her heart beating like an anxious drum in her chest. Until this moment, she didn't realize how desperately she needed to see Arthur... Or how desperately she needed reassurance that everything was going to be all right.
At the carriage door, she hesitated, expecting him to reveal himself, open the door and greet her and assist her inside with him. Or perhaps pull her into his arms for one of those kisses that melted her from the inside out.
She'd missed his kisses...
"Arthur?" she called, looking to the left and right, wondering if she could be mistaken, if this wasn't his carriage at all and she'd made some kind of mistake.
A long moment passed until the door finally opened.
And yet it wasn't his face that emerged behind the door...
Arthur's cousin stared down at Gwen with a welcoming smile...one that did not reach his eyes.
Her heart stuttered in her chest before resuming its beating.
Something lurked in those eyes... Something that made her feel decidedly unsafe. The same as when she'd confronted a wildcat hunting in the mountains back home.
He had that same cagey look in his eyes as an animal cornered.
Only he wasn't the one cornered...
"Ah, Miss Davies." He leaned out of the carriage. "Thank you for coming so quickly."
"Where's Arthur?" She looked over his shoulder into the dim confines of the carriage even though she didn't really expect to see the prince there.
"He sent me to fetch you."
Gwen felt her brow furrow.
"But the letter..."
"The missive was indeed from him." Nigel nodded jovially, his red hair bright even in the murky air. "He asked that I convey it to you and then fetch you for him."
Grier frowned and angled her head, mulling...
If Arthur longed to see her as his letter had claimed, why would he have sent his cousin in his stead?
It just didn't sound like him. In fact, none of this felt quite like something Arthur would do.
Nigel stretched out a hand to Gwen from inside the carriage.
"Come. You don't want to keep Arthur waiting."
She shook her head slowly side to side and took a step back, now quite convinced something was amiss.
The tiny hairs on her nape tingled in an alarming manner...
Nigel sighed as if beleaguered and dropped down from the carriage.
"Come, Miss Davies." His tone cut like the whip of a schoolmaster's rod and Gwen blinked, her skin shivering with growing alarm. "I haven't all day to linger here."
At that, he reached for her arm and she jerked it clear of his grasping hand.
"No, thank you!" she said sharply. "I just remembered I have several things to do today. I'll wait to see Arthur at the theater tonight."
Reluctant to turn her back on Nigel, Gwen inched away again.
But she didn't make it another step before he lunged for her and grabbed her arm.
She cried out and shoved at his chest with her free hand...
"What are you doing?"
He ignored her and clamped down on her other arm, hauling her towards the open door of the carriage. Gwen dragged her heels, but her soft-soled slippers slid like butter over the ground.
"Stop!" she cried, certain Arthur was not behind any of this, but her mind didn't have time to process why any of this was happening...
Why Nigel would treat her in this rough manner.
"Stop fighting me," he panted, locking his arms around her and hauling her off her feet, squeezing her ribs to the point of agony.
And with those words, she knew she absolutely had to fight... He meant her harm.
With her very last breath, she could not stop fighting him!
Spots danced before Gwen's eyes and the edges of her vision blurred.
Realizing how close she was inching towards swooning, she bucked against Nigel in one fierce surge of strength.
He cursed.
His arms loosened and she broke free for a fraction of a moment before he snatched her by the back of the head, digging his fingers deep into her hair.
Then he spun her around and slapped her soundly in the face.
Her head snapped back. And she bit the inside of her cheek. The copper tang of blood filled her mouth, running over her teeth in a warm, metallic flood.
Stunned from the blow, she fell limp, the struggle temporarily gone from her, leaving Nigel to swing her up in his arms like a limp doll and secure her inside the waiting carriage.
She was dimly aware of the door closing and his weight dropping down beside her.
Then the carriage started to move, swaying her on the squabs and she panicked, a fist squeezing her heart.
Seized with the need to act, she jumped upright, fighting the surge of dizziness and flung her body at the door, grappling for the latch, her hair a wild tangle around her face.
"Oh no you don't!" Nigel's hand grabbed her by the back of the neck and shoved her forward, crashing her head into the carriage door with crushing force.
Her body crumpled, pain vibrating in her skull. And she toppled back onto the carriage floor as though every bone in her body had suddenly dissolved and was nothing more than liquid.
Unable to move, helpless in her own skin, Gwen gazed up at the carriage ceiling as darkness crept over her in a descending fog from which she could never escape.
"Arthur..."
Her lips moved numbly around his name. Then Nigel's face filled her hazy vision...
She lifted a hand in a weak attempt to strike him, to claw at his shadowy face, but she never made contact and her hand fell limply at her side as dead weight.
And then there was nothing...
Evening light trickled through the damask drapes as Arthur faced his future father-in-law in his well-appointed library.
"What do you mean you can't find her?" he demanded. "She's not a glove to be lost."
"She's not here," Mr. Davies repeated, waving his hands. "She took no carriage. And all the mounts are accounted for in the stables. She's gone..."
Suddenly, Elizabeth cleared her throat from where she was sitting in the shadow near the window. She was elegantly attired in a grand gown fringed with satiny pink rosettes, ostensibly ready for their evening at the theater.
But it only served to remind Arthur of the evening he would not be sharing with Gwen.
He stared pointedly at Elizabeth...
"Did you want to say something? Do you know where Guinevere is?"
"I didn't want to say anything sooner, but as you're here now...clearly something has gone amiss."
"You know something of Gwen's whereabouts?" her father snapped. "We've been looking for her for hours now and you haven't uttered a word."
Elizabeth ignored her father, training her gaze on Arthur.
"She received a letter this afternoon...from you. So I assumed you were together all this time."
Arthur's heart stuttered in his chest before it picked up speed and began racing...
"I didn't send her any note."
"She rushed from the room as soon as it was delivered. She didn't say, but I suspected that the two of you had planned to rendezvous."
"Who delivered it?" His gaze yanked to Mr. Davies. "Assemble all the servants at once!"
With a quick nod, Reginald Davies marched from the room, bellowing for his butler.
And in a matter of moments, Arthur was standing on the bottom steps of the grand staircase, overlooking two dozen liveried servants.
Their upturned faces watched him warily. And a few whispered among themselves...until Elizabeth quickly pointed out the girl who had delivered the note to Gwen that morning, and a hush fell as all eyes swung to her.
"There she is! Isabelle."
At Elizabeth's announcement, the whispering began anew...
Arthur, however, stepped down one more step and addressed the servant in an even voice, trying to hide his anxiousness lest she become even more agitated.
"Isabelle, did you deliver a note today to Miss Guinevere Davies?"
The girl muttered something softly beneath her breath, her wide eyes and fearful.
Arthur cocked his head in an effort to better hear her, just resisting the urge to storm across the foyer and grab her by the arms and give her the shake his tightly stretched nerves was urging him to do.
But he'd get nothing out of her if she was too frightened to speak.
"Speak up, girl. Answer him!" Mr. Davies growled, making her jump.
At that, Arthur flicked him an annoyed look and moved into the mass of servants to stand before the cowering maid.
Ducking his head, he connected with her fearful gaze. Using a gentle voice, he asked,
"Who gave you the note to give to Miss Davies?"
"He was out back. Just a driver. He asked me to deliver the letter for his master. I didn't see him though...the gentleman was waiting inside the carriage."
Arthur swept his gaze over everyone in the foyer...
"Did no one see Miss Davies outside?"
"I saw her through an upstairs window," a maid volunteered. "She was behind the house, talking to a gentleman."
"Who?" Arthur demanded.
The servant shook her capped head.
"I've never seen him before. Had I, I would've remembered for certain."
"Why?" Arthur pressed, desperate for some clue... something... anything that would lead him to Gwen. "Why would you have remembered him?"
"Well, it was his hair. It was a really bright red...almost hurt my eyes to look upon it."
Red hair... So bright it could hurt one's eyes...
He knew one such man. Or rather, he didn't know him. Not in the least. Not if he would abduct Gwen.
"Nigel," he breathed. And a myriad of feelings flooded him.
Betrayal. Confusion. Anger...
Why would Nigel steal Gwen away?
Simply because he didn't wish him to marry her?
He couldn't wrap his head around it. But even as he failed to understand why, the reality of the situation pressed down on him.
Gwen was gone.
Nigel had taken her.
He could harm her...
Impotent rage burned through Arthur Pendragon. His hands balled into fists at his sides until he wanted to break something... Namely his cousin.
"Your cousin?" Elizabeth angled her head "What would he want with Gwen?"
"To keep us from marrying, I suspect. He wasn't keen on our match... Unfortunately, now I realize just how much."
Mr. Davies stewed, a dark shade of red churning over his face.
"If he harms one hair on her head..."
"She will come to no harm," Arthur swiftly cut in, his voice an icy wind, even as he knew nothing anymore. Not the ground he stood upon and certainly not the gnawing fear inside him.
He never suspected Nigel would do such a thing.
Why should he care so much whom he married?
It didn't affect him.
"Where did he take her?" Elizabeth echoed Arthur's thoughts, looking at him with expectation bright in her eyes. As though he should know.
He shook his head, despising that he didn't. That this terrible thing had somehow come to pass and he hadn't seen it coming.
"You don't know?" Mr. Davies bellowed.
"No. He didn't exactly inform me of his plan to abduct my fiancée." He dragged a hand through his hair. "Look," he said in a calm voice that reflected none of his inner turmoil. "He doesn't know I know that he took her."
As much as he wanted to do something, like scour the vastness of London and the world beyond, that would be senseless. He hadn't a clue where to begin searching.
"So? What does that help?" Mr. Davies snapped.
"He'll return. With nothing to fear my cousin shall return. Either here or to his mother's residence."
"So we wait?" Elizabeth shook her head, looking as frustrated as Arthur felt.
"We haven't another choice."
As much as he loathed the idea of doing nothing and sitting around while his cousin did God knew what to Gwen, he saw no other solution.
He'd wait.
And be ready for Nigel when he returned.
True fear flickered across Elizabeth's young face.
"While we wait your cousin could be doing anything..."
"We'll wait out his return," Arthur cut in, not wanting to discuss the wretched scenarios already playing out in his thoughts...all the possible horrors that Gwen could be suffering at his cousin's hands. "I don't think Nigel will harm her," he said, even though he knew no such thing but felt the need to placate Elizabeth.
"He abducted her. I'm certain you didn't think he would do that, either!"
Hot colour splashed Elizabeth's cheeks at her outburst, but it was warranted, Arthur decided.
"No. I confess, I did not," he replied uneasily, admitting that he did not know his cousin at all.
"What if he kills her," Mr. Davies grimly inserted with no care for anyone's feelings. "While we wait, as you suggest, what if your cousin decides to kill my daughter?"
A tremour ran through Arthur as he was forced to meet the possibility... As he was forced to recognize that a piece of himself would die, too... That nothing would matter to him in the event of Gwen's death...not his life, not his future.
Nothing would ever matter again.
Instead of answering, Arthur turned and motioned to five strapping-looking grooms watching them as if they were street performers putting on a grand show.
"You five there!" He snapped off directions to his Aunt's place of residence. "Wait there in case my cousin returns. Watch the street for him. I want him and the driver that conveys him. Do not let the driver leave. Do you understand? If my cousin proves unwilling to talk, good coin should break the driver's silence. Come, I'll put you all in a carriage."
"And where are you going to be?" Mr. Davies asked.
"At my townhouse. I suspect he'll return there. They're better lodgings and finer fare. But I'll be in wait for him and his driver. One way or another, I'll have him. And Guinevere's whereabouts."
"Don't think things will go light for you if something befalls my daughter. You'll not find another bride so easily when everyone hears you're responsible for killing the last one."
"Father!" Elizabeth whispered harshly, her wide eyes horrified at his blunt words. "He didn't intend for any of this to happen."
"But it did happen. All because of him!"
Arthur stopped in his tracks but didn't turn around... Rage coursed through him hot and acrid as the fear he battled inwardly for Gwen.
Reginald Davies was completely correct. He was at fault here. He should've seen... He should've somehow known his cousin was as rotten as his sire.
But Reginald Davies was wrong to think he would ever try to replace Gwen. He couldn't. She was more to him than a bridal settlement. She could never be replaced.
A sobering thought struck him...
Perhaps she thought the same thing her father did.
His stomach churned uncomfortably at the notion.
Because right at that moment, he was discovering something standing in the middle of her father's foyer with gawking servants all around him...
He was in love with her. He was in love with Guinevere Davies...
He'd fallen totally and irrevocably in love with the most unseemly female of his acquaintance.
And it was for no other reason that he'd offered her marriage... And for no other reason would it break him if something happened to her.
If he lost her from his life, he would be lost as well.
Stay happy and stay safe!
