Chapter Nine

At the feast that night, there was no mistaking the pride in Uther's voice as he announced his son.

"My honourable guests, I give you Prince Arthur, your champion."

And it was Uther who led the applause.

Jocelyn was already in the hall and watched with a smile as Arthur entered, gleaming gold crown on his head, crimson cape falling from his shoulders. He smiled at his enthusiastic reception and walked forward to offer his arm to Morgana, her escort being part of his prize.

"See, told you he gets all the girls and all the glory."

Jocelyn turned her gaze to look at Merlin in amusement as he complained to Gaius. She approached the pair and they nodded to her.

Smiling warmly she said, "Congratulations, Merlin."

There was sudden confusion in the servant's face and not a little fear. He exchanged a look with the physician, but before he could open his mouth to say anything, Jocelyn spoke again further explaining her comment.

"You were right about Valiant, well done."

Nodding to them once more she moved away, towards where she could see Morgana seething at whatever it was Arthur had said.

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There was no chance during the celebrations for Jocelyn to speak to Arthur properly. Everyone wanted to exchange a few words with him, offer him their congratulations and they could do no more than exchange an occasional smile.

As Gwen unpinned Jocelyn's hair for the night, however, there was a knock at her door.

"Come in!" she called, careful not to move her head.

The door swung open and Arthur entered the room, clearly having come straight from the feast, his crown and cloak still in place. Jocelyn met his eyes briefly in the mirror before he went to stand by the window and she returned her attention to what Gwen was doing with her hair.

When the maid had finished, Jocelyn got to her feet and smiled at her.

"Thank you, Gwen. Goodnight."

Gwen knew that was a dismissal but that didn't stop her from darting a look towards Arthur, still staring out of the window. She looked back with raised eyebrows and Jocelyn nodded at her.

"Goodnight, milady." Gwen replied, leaving the room reluctantly.

As the door shut behind her, Arthur finally turned from the window and came to sit opposite Jocelyn by the fire.

"Does your maid not approve of me?"

Jocelyn looked up from her contemplation of the flames in surprise.

"I don't think many people approve of you."

Arthur shot her a supposedly innocent 'who, me?' look but it quickly dissolved into a smile under her gaze. They were a silent for a bit longer, each with their own thoughts. Then, as if responding to some inaudible cue, Arthur straightened in his chair turning to look at her.

"Thank you, Jo, if you hadn't thrown the sword - "

He trialed off and Jocelyn shook her head to prevent him from continuing. "It was Morgana's idea. We couldn't allow you to have all the glory."

He smiled and got to his feet. "Well, I'll say goodnight."

"Yes, you must be tired." Jocelyn replied.

"Tired? No, I'm going back to the feast!"

Jocelyn regarded him for a minute before going back to look at the fire. He hesitated a moment longer before making his way out of the room, touching her shoulder briefly as he passed.

When Jocelyn heard the door shut behind him, she closed her eyes and let her head fall back against her chair. Finally the emotions of the day began to catch up with her and her breathing grew deeper, a frown forming on her forehead.

She held herself still for a few minutes before rolling her head round to rest on her shoulder and opening her eyes to stare into the fire. None of them, not Morgana, or Uther, or Arthur, or her, would ever admit how scared they had been. How sleepless the night had been for all four members of the muddled, dysfunctional family.

In some ways they were the perfect royal family, not betraying their emotions or even talking about them. Proud, cold and beautiful. Underneath though their emotions suffered turmoils of uncertainty and fear, as much as any commoner and more perhaps, the expectations that were heaped upon them stopping them from being able to act with the freedom of others.

Jocelyn sighed and left the fireside, getting into bed and resolving not to dwell on what might have been and only be glad of the victory Arthur had achieved.

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