"Sarah, slow down!", Gwaine calls after me.
"Not a chance!", I call back over my shoulder, flicking the reigns to bolt even farther ahead. "You catch up!" This was the first time in weeks I'd been allowed outside of the castle. It had taken several days of begging Uther to let me out, and even then it was only for a short ride. Of course I had several of the knights with me, but I was still enjoying my freedom. And it was even better now that the snow had melted.
"I'd become much more comfortable on a horse since I had first gotten here. I even found racing Gwaine through the woods fun, though for now I would have to settle for the outskirts of the city.
As far as Gwaine went, we had gotten close lately. He had even taken me for a walk one day, going as far as trying holding my hand. It wasn't as if he hadn't held my hand before, but this was different. All of those other times we had been running for something, and it was more for the necessity of keeping hold of me so we wouldn't become separated then anything else. This had been for merely no reason at all.
I caught sight of something red on the ground, it's trail leading behind the corner of a house. I slowed, curious, and urged my horse toward it. Before I can see what was behind it Gwaine caught up, following my gaze. "Sarah, get back." He didn't mean it as a suggestion, saying it rather forcefully.
He really shouldn't have expected me to listen. I manoeuver my horse forward to see and immediately wished I hadn't. My light hearted mood completely gone in an instant. Five of Camelot's knights were all lined up on the ground, bound hand and feet. Their throats were slit, execution style. The man in the center had a dagger stuck in his chest, skewering a piece of parchment. The smell was terrible. You didn't need to be a genius to tell they had been dead for a while.
The rest of the knights dismount, and I follow. I knew exactly who did this, and it was a declaration of war. Raul would be attacking any day now. "It was Raul", I muttered. "Or some of his men."
"And you know this, how?"
"I just do.", I say through gritted teeth. It was just an instinct, but I had to be right. I'd spent enough time around him to know his style of cruelty. This was definitely him. He liked big shows, things that were sure to catch people's attention. This was meant to be an attention grabber.
"You're sure?", asks Sir Percival as he pulled the dagger and parchment out of the man's chest. I cringe, looking away.
"Positive."
"We need to get Sarah back to the castle.", Gwaine decides. They all nod in agreement. We all mounts up, and start to head back the way we came. But someone stood in our path. Someone I did want to see. Someone I didn't think I would have to see again, except perhaps in battle.
"Meliorn.", I say, glaring at him. He wasn't in uniform, which made him less of an enemy in their eyes, but I knew better then to feel any less threatened. Gwaine was off his horse in a second, sword drawn and pointed at his throat.
"I'm unarmed.", he says, hands raised to prove it. The entire time he kept his eyes locked with mine. I forced myself to stay quiet and look away. I had nothing to say to him anyway, and was perfectly fine with Gwaine and the others dealing with him. At least anything that came out of my mouth wouldn't be very lady-like at the moment.
"You know him?" Sir Leon asks me, raising an eyebrow.
"He's one of Raul's men.", I say flatly, not really acknowledging his concern.
"I must speak to your king." Meliorn interrupts, getting straight to the point. "I have matters for his ears alone."/
"Gwaine searched him, making sure he was telling the truth about being unarmed, before binding his hands. They weren't taking chances with him. He didn't complain about it either. Something wasn't right with this. Why would he just show up in Camelot at the scene of a murder meant to send a message to us? He would be immediately accused of committing it! I couldn't make sense of his actions. He wasn't this stupid.
They put him on Gwaine's horse, leaving me to share my own mount with him. I didn't mind. No one said a thing, each coming to their own silent conclusions of the situation. Or perhaps just wanting Uther and Arther to make sense of it for them. I avoided Meliorn's gaze, keeping my head turned from him against Gwaine's back. He showed no sign of injury, not even a wince as he mounted up. A wound like the one I had given him wouldn't have healed yet.
"You're tense.", Gwaine says to me as he seats himself in front of me. I wrap my arms tighter around his waist.
"I think I have good reason."
"Do you think he killed those men?", he asks./
"I don't know what to think. I don't think he'd be so reckless." He nods, flicking the reigns to move faster.
Meliorn was taken straight to the hall as soon as we arrived. I wanted to listen in, but I wasn't allowed inside, even though it was clearly my buisness as well. Meliorn had admitted to the fact that I was going to be forced to marry him upon arrival, so Uther was determined to keep me out of it, sure that he would upset me. Much too late for that.
So I sat outside the doors on the bottom of the steps, waiting to hear what they would do with him and listening to it begin to rain outside. I don't know what I had expected. That he would be thrown straight into the dungeon upon our return? That was where he belonged, in my opinion. He could rot there without mercy for all I would care. He was probably sent here as a spy, trying to get into Uther's good graces. But this was not my court, I had no say in the royal politics. I didn't have enough men to leave the protection of Camelot, so I would be forced to suffer Uther's choices.
After what seemed like forever, the doors opened. I stood as Meliorn emerged, no longer bound but escorted by two men. He glanced at me, frowning, before they lead him away. Once he leaves, Gwaine also comes out. "What did Uther say? What is to be done", I ask.
Gwaine grimaces. "He provided us with infromation. Raul has allied himself with Morgana." I grimaced. That was a name I was more than familiar with. Nobody mentioned her, unless it was unavoidable. But her story was well known in the castle. A servant told me once to satisfy my curiosity.
"So what will be done with him?"
He shrugs. "Uther hasn't quite decided yet. But since he risked so much to alert us, I don't think much of anything will happen to him, other than being under close watch. They seem to think he's trustworthy."
Trustworthy? Was he joking? It took all I could not to march into that stupid hall and start yelling at Uther, even though that would get me into more trouble than I was looking for. They couldn't just trust Meliorn! He had done nothing to earn it! Was Uther stupid? He was one of Raul's most trusted men, a high ranking official in his army! He was probably sent he to spy on us! And he shows up at the most suspicious time possible, and he's just let off the hook? One thing was for sure, I was keeping a weapon on me at all times.
To make things worse, Uther insisted on inviting him to dinner that night. I allowed everyone else to do the talking while I kept my attention on my plate, even though I barely touched my food. I regretted not taking my dinner in my room.
I knew from the looks exchanged between Arthur and Gwaine that they had caught onto the fact I was angry, but neither of them said anything about it. Uther and Henry were oblivious. Or in Henry's case, to busy ignoring me to pay any attention. I was especially angry with Arthur, after I confided in him last night. He knew exactly who that man was, yet he made no effort to protect me from him.
Finally, I couldn't take anymore of Arthur and Meliorn's friendly chatting. "Please excuse me.", I say quickly, abruptly standing up from the table. I hurried out of the room as fast as I could without making eye contact with a single person.
"Sarah.", Meliorn calls after me, addressing me for the first time. I can hear him excusing himself to follow me as I push trough the doors, which only makes me walk faster. No one tried to stop him. "You can't avoid me forever."
"Leave me alone.", I hiss over my shoulder. I could do just that if I decided to. He was nothing here, at least I was still considered a princess. My knights could keep him away from me if I wished it.
I reached the door that led outside and threw it open. Even before I opened the door, I knew it was still raining and dark outside. But it was the quickest way to my room, and I didn't feel like taking the long way through several corridors with him following me.
"I believe I am the one with cause to be upset, if either of us have one. I didn't stab you or leave you to die on your wedding day.", he says, without so much of a trace of anger in his voice, as he followed me out into the freezing rain. He sounded hurt. It was beyond pathetic.
I kept walking, even though he was right behind me. "It isn't my fault you didn't see that one coming. You knew I would bolt the first chance I had. What did you expect? That I would want to marry you? Because I couldn't! I didn't love you! You work for the man I hate the most! I have my people to think about, Meliorn! If I married you, I would have never escaped him!"
"Of course I knew! I knew all of it! I just stupidly hoped you would choose me! I thought you had grown to care. We could have found a way! I would have chosen you over him!" He pauses for a moment. "You have to know that."
I scoffed, stopping to face him. The rain had already soaked him through, water running down his pitiful face. "Why are you even here? If it's to win my back or something, just leave. You never had me to begin with, it isn't my fault you were fool enough to believe I would ever love you."
"Fine!", he snaps. "You should know, though, you were right."
"I was right about what?", I ask, throwing my hands in the air in frustration.
"Everything. Raul. I had admired him, trusted him with my life even. The man practically raised me. I felt I owed him. But you were right. He's is a complete lunatic who only cares for his own gain, a monster."
I rolled my eyes. He wasn't very bright if it took him this long to figure that out. "I'm pretty sure that isn't a reason to leave everything you had behind only to come to Camelot."
He nods. "He needed more soldiers for his army. So he sent out a draft to all the surrounding villages. Any man or boy over the age of fourteen was to be enlisted. Most were only children. Too young to even wield a weapon, and he intended to send them off to be slaughtered. He attempted to take my brothers. I couldn't stay after I helped them run away. He was angry enough with me about your escape. He had already stripped me of my title and took my home. I had no where else to go."
"You have brothers?", I ask quietly. He nods, staring off into the distance wistfully. Maybe he did have a heart, if only a little one.
"Do not worry of them. They are... ", he trails off and stiffens, a second later I realized the cause of his sudden alarm. Somebody approached in the pounding rain. Gwaine. And he didn't look too happy.
I felt the chill of the night in a new way as he stopped beside me, eyeing Meliorn suspiciously. His eyes were cold, I had never seen him look so angry. "Your grace, why are you out in this weather without your cloak?", he clearly asks me, but doesn't take his eyes off of Meliorn.
"I forgot it.", I mumbled, knowing full well he was using it as an excuse to follow us. I hadn't really forgotten it, more like I didn't take the time to grab it in my hurry to get away, but I wasn't about to say so. I felt the rain plastering my hair to my face as I tried to keep my composure. "I bid you both good night, gentlemen.", I say before I could say anything else I'd regret later, especially to Gwaine, and sulk off towards my chambers, glad to be rid of Meliorn.
Half of me hoped Gwaine would remain behind to grill Meliorn. After all, his issues were with him, not me. But I had no such luck as he hurried after me. Meliorn stayed behind. "Sarah."
"I didn't stop.
Thirty feet away from the door that would lead to the safety of my room he caught my arm, forcing me to slow and look at him."Sarah, please" A covered torch on the wall illuminated his face, making my anger at Meliorn disappear. It was just Gwaine and I. All I could do was concentrate on his face. It was twisted with conflicting emotions. Confusion. Anger. Fear. Frustration. "What was that? Who is that man?", he asks, motioning behind him to where Meliorn and I had been yelling at each other. I wondered how much he had heard.
What had happened back there exactly? I didn't quite know myself. I didn't know how to feel about any of it. "Mercy.", I say hautily, turning to press the latch on the door to escape inside. But he just reaches around me and slams it shut before leaning against it. "Gwaine.", I said, getting angry. Why was he acting this way? I turned, but he didn't back down.
"I don't want you near him.", he says. At least we could agree on that.
"Gwaine...", I repeated, I didn't know what else to say."
He sighs and edges away, avoiding my eyes. "I knew you had spent time with him while you were... captured. I knew you were forced into an engagement, but I hadn't imagined you had developed feelings for him."
"Gwaine, stop.", I pleaded. I didn't like where he was going with this, he had read everything so wrongly.
"I suppose I couldn't blame you. He is handsome. And good with words. I can see why you might love him. You were gone for so long. I saw the way he looks at you..."
It took me a second to process what he was saying. "What? no! Gwaine, stop!" Guys could be so stupid sometimes!/
"It's understandable. I should have realized..."
"Gwaine, look at me.", I said firmly. His eyes, slightly wild, stilled on my own. "I am not in love with Meliorn. I never have been." You big idiot! Don't you realize how I feel about you? Not that I was ready to tell him about any feelings. It felt too soon. Too sudden. He seems hesitant to believe me. "And I never will. You have no idea what happened there. I did nothing but try to get out. I can't help what he feels for me.", I say, barely above a whisper.
Gwaine just stared blankly at me. I didn't know what else to say so I turned back towards the door, intending to go inside, but he only holds it firmly shut, leaning over me, leaving me trapped between him and the door.
"You're right, I don't know what happened. But, dare I believe you have feelings for me?", he asks, terribly close to my face. Tantalizingly close. Even with all our flirting, all our time spent together, we'd never been this close. This... this was intense. It kinda freaked me out, but at the same time I didn't want him to move away. I found myself fighting for breath and unable to answer him.
"Sarah.", he says, moving to whisper in my ear. So close that if I turned my head our lips would touch. His soaked hair dripped onto my shoulder, making me shiver even more. "How long will you torment me so?"
"That remains to be seen.", I whisper, the corners of my mouth tugging into a smile.
"Ah, how you wound me! Such... is the excruciating... pain", he gasped, stumbling away into the rain and clutching at his heart. "Of unrequited love."
Then he was back, a ghost of a smile on his face, reaching around me to open the door. For a moment I thought he was going to kiss me, I'm not sure if I would have stopped him, but he only rests his forehead against mine. "Someday", he promises, "you shall ask me to kiss you."
"Such are the dream of men.", I say with a slight laugh.
"Dreams of you? Only upon every single hour of the night." I felt a blush creep onto my cheeks, which seemed to be happening often lately. "Goodnight, Sarah." he says, turning to leave.I grinned to myself as I reluctantly went inside, closing the door behind me. The warmth of the castle was welcome against the chill of my sodden gown and hair. This had been a strange, frustrating, and yet wonderful day. No matter how many new challenges it had presented.