[ Once again this story has ruined my sleeping pattern. . But it was worth it, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I feel things are starting to kick-off now in regards to the main plot. I just want to dedicate this chapter to YourSapphireEyes (Charley) and Anina613 (Anna)- , I think you are both lovely, wonderful people and I'm very happy I met you both. :) Thank you both for loving my story! :) Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my story also, it means the world! :) 3 ]

Chapter 6

"Cupid's Arrow."

Arthur rose from his bed that morning, feeling fine and wonderful, until the rushing thoughts of last nights events came flooding into his head; he felt like kicking himself. Half-begging that it wasn't true, but sadly it was, and the ache that swelled in his heart returned and he knew it would not cease until he put things right again.

Arthur made his way down to breakfast where he was face with a cheery Uther who was reading some pieces of parchment that he held between the fingers of his leather gloves, before he turned to Arthur who looked greatly displeased. Arthur didn't say anything, he didn't greet his father, in fact he didn't even bother eating, instead he just sat back on his chair waiting for Morgana to make an appearance, he knew she would. But he waited, and waited and waited, his face growing more and more distressed with each passing moment. "That's all the wine for you." Uther joked, thinking that his saddened face was brought on by that of a hangover; nonsense. Arthur grunted as a response, before he cleared his throat. "Where's Morgana, shes never this late." Arthur told his father, rather than asking. "Well, I expect shes in bed." Uther told him as though he were a three-year old child asking an obvious question. "It was her Birthday last night, after all." Uther told his son, before returning to his reading, and with a violent sigh (more of a huff) Arthur rose from his seat angrily and retreated back to his room.

The next morning he returned after not seeing Morgana for an entire day, but she did not show up, and the morning after that, and the morning after that- until soon it had been almost a week since Arthur had seen her, she had told Guinevere to inform the King of lies, that she was either ill or off to market stalls in adjourning lands, of course Uther being the fool that he was believed all of these things, being too wrapped up in Council matters that he didn't notice he hadn't seen his Ward in nearly a week.

Arthur trailed the castle, in search of Morgana, but he couldn't find her for anything, since she was always out of the castle when he went searching. Every night he returned to bed with a heavy heart that ached in his chest, everyday the ache becoming stronger and more unbearable. Morgana was blatantly avoiding him, it was entirely obvious, he wondered how long she could keep this up -or how long he could be without her.

The next morning, Arthur was awoken loudly by the slashes of rain off his window, the curtains were drawn around his bed and when he peeked his head out he was greeted by the dull light of the sun, obviously hidden by the overcast clouds- yes, today was going to be another treacherous day. Funnily enough he was wide awake, so he pulled himself out of bed and went to wash before pulling on a red shirt with a leather-lined jacket and of course his brown pants. Again, he was reacquainted with the painful ache in his chest, the yearning- the want and the painful wince that he would have to endure another lonely day in Camelot, dwelling over what he'd done again. He knew it was early, Uther would perhaps still be asleep, so he didn't see much point in going down to sit alone at the Breakfast table, staring at the empty seat across from him, it agonized him too much.

Wandering over to his window, he glared out at the empty Courtyard, the odd Guard standing in for shelter. He sighed heavily before he caught sight of an emerald cloak coming into view. It was the Lady Morgana, in one of her trademark cloaks pulling a horse out into the Courtyard, with the hood over her head, obviously soaked from the rain. For the first time his heart pounced at the sight of her, that she was alright, alive and well- physically anyway. But he wondered when he might see her again, of course he didn't leave himself much time to wallow on the subject because he was already down the long winding staircase, before he too was out in the rain- sadly the emerald cloak and the young lady in it had vanished, along with the horse. Heartache set in again, but the swirling tail end of a green cloak caught his eye as it was whisked from the Courtyard. With that Arthur was thundering off again in search of a horse, any horse- he settled for a deep chestnut brown, tall and slender horse already saddled up and ready to go; thankfully, and with that he set off in the rain- after one Lady Morgana.

Morgana had been avoiding Arthur Pendragon for a good six days, and she found she was doing it extremely well. She had got Guinevere to tell Uther silly lies; she was feeling under the weather; she had gone to a market to buy some new clothes; she had went to visit her father's grave, of course all were untrue. Some days she stayed in her bedchambers and Guinevere brought her food and other days, like today, she ventured out into the forest- Guinevere calling her mad that today she choose to go and explore the surrounding forests when it was emptying out. Of course, Morgana knew that it would get to Arthur and that was the main thing, she didn't care if she caught a cold or fell into a ditch- it was Arthur who was suffering, and in ways she was glad that he was, because he was arrogant and selfish and she wanted the blame to be put entirely on him.

Morgana dug her heels into her horse's ribs, before it set off in a high gallop, gripping the reigns tightly beneath her frail fingers, as the horse clopped against the cobbles before it fell in harmony with the damp grass.

Arthur was now in a harmonious gallop with his horse, as the rain drenched his face, making him squint his eyes in protest, but that didn't stop him, not even the slightest. After what felt like a lifetime on horseback, Arthur began to give up hope, that he had lost Morgana in the thick trees that surrounded him, he was now well out of Camelot, and he feared what kind of territory he was traveling on, his father had always warned both him and Morgana never to venture far in fear of causing chaos with adjourning lands but he knew full well that Morgana wouldn't be bothered if she caused Uther the smallest bit of annoyance, she was selfish in those ways.

Morgana too felt like she had been riding her horse for hours, and the rain didn't seem to be easing, as it hadn't these pass few days, so she slowed down her dapple-grey and dismounted him, her breath fast paced from fighting with the wind and rain. With a final heavy sigh she took shelter under a large oak tree, as her horse went off to the far side of the shrubbery to a stream to gladly take a drink, happy for the rest. It was after a few moments that Morgana heard something other than the rain engulfing the forest, or the slight babble of the stream as it sailed over out-of-place rocks, it was that of horse hooves caressing the grass in a deep melodic gallop. Her eyes widened, afraid that it might be a Knight from one of the surrounding Kingdoms, come to scold her' threaten her, for being out her when she knew much better. The sound grew closer and closer until she realized it was only a few meters away, she was afraid to move; it would have been a wise decision to grab her horse and gallop off in a different direction, but the fear wavered through her bones, paralyzing her movements.

Arthur caught a glimpse of her through the trees, his heart thundering in magnificent booms in his chest as he saw the glorious figure of Morgana standing by a tree, her emerald cloak clung to her from the damp rain. He slowed his horse before he commanded it by a light dig in it's ribs to go forward to greet her, of course there was no escape for her now but he feared she would have other means of making him feel worthless. But nevertheless his lips curled into a smile when he saw her standing under a tree, he knew addressing her with a wide smile would possibly be the worst way to begin an apology, especially with Morgana, so he tried his hardest to make his face serious with a hint of guilt- although it wasn't forced, since he was sincerely sorry for upsetting the young Ward.

Morgana's eyes widened in aggression when she laid eyes on Arthur, who was on top of a magnificent chestnut brown horse. All her fear vanished from her face as her brows furrowed. She didn't want to speak to him, she loathed him dearly, but if she was truthful she knew that wasn't entirely true. "Arthur!" She spat in disgust, knowing that he must of followed her here. "How dare you!" She snarled; Arthur never ventured out in the forest this early, especially when it was raining from the heavens. "Calm down." He ushered as he dismounted his horse, the horse lingered there for a moment before it too slowly made it's way to join Morgana's by the stream. "You had no right to follow me!" Morgana persisted with rage, hardly believing this was true. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright." Arthur replied, his eyes full of over-flowing guilt. "Well, what stopped you running to my aid all week?" Morgana replied smugly, instead this time there was no hint of humor. "I've been searching for you all week and I couldn't find you!" Arthur snapped back, starting to get annoyed by Morgana's patronizing tone, even though he knew she'd be like this, he should have been better prepared.

"Funny, I didn't hear a knock on my bedchamber door all week either..." Morgana snarled sarcastically, more with anger than with humor. Arthur was taken aback, that would have been the best place, but he feared her. "I was afraid you wouldn't allow me to see you." Arthur admitted, the guilt returning. "And what makes you think I want to see you now?" Morgana snapped. "Just because I don't have a door to shut in your face?" She growled, stating the obvious in a rhetorical question, before she walked away from him to get her horse; he was becoming uncomfortably close. But Arthur gripped her arm, making her make eye contact with him for the first time in what seemed like forever. She could have melted right there, she could have forgave him and forgot about the whole entire thing, because she wanted to more than anything- but instead she continued to keep her brows furrowed, she fought against her strong will and pulled away from him violently, hating herself the moment she had done it. "No Arthur." Morgana told him more out of sympathy, her eyes loosing the cruel glint and they softened in to more of what seemed like sympathy and guilt. "Y-you can't just..." She began, unable to find the right words. "You can't just do that!" She said, a hint of pain in her voice, motioning her feelings with her hands. "This! You can't just come out here and, and.." But in truth she didn't exactly know what she was implying, she was trying to state that it was unfair of him, but she didn't know how. She was getting unnecessarily distressed, she hadn't expected him to be here, she had no time to prepare herself, she hadn't even planned what she was going to say to him since she didn't expect him to ever apologize since he was an arrogant prat, but even to think of him in that way pained her, since she knew it wasn't true and it was only her selfish thoughts perceiving him in that way, but she wasn't going to let him win. "Morgana..." Arthur began. "No." Morgana replied, her anger returning, but he could see she was angry for all the wrong reasons. "So what?" Arthur called back to her as she wandered over to her horse. "Will this go on forever? Will you run from the castle every morning and return every evening just to avoid me? Are you going to hate me forever?" Arthur demanded, angrily for the way she was reacting, he didn't know the right way to go about this, but whatever way he did he felt he wasn't winning- he couldn't possibly win against Morgana, she was in the wrong now, but still she would find a way to push the blame back onto him.

Morgana's eyes closed, somewhat in despair as she sighed, she didn't know what she wanted, she certainly didn't hate Arthur, and she didn't want to have to avoid him for the rest of her long days left in Camelot, but she didn't want to forgive him either, for reasons she was unsure of. "No..." She sighed out calmly, turning to face him. "Then..." Arthur replied, happy she was facing him now. "Then why do you continue to feud with me?" He asked, walking closer to her. She shrugged, unable to meet his gaze once again, practically admitting defeat. "I don't want to fight with you." Arthur admitted, as he looked down at her hooded face, watching the rain drip off the end of her nose. "I don't want to battle with you either." She told him, feeling him take hold of her cold and soaking hand, although he did not comment on this, since his was just as numb. Morgana looked up to him, to meet the young Prince's gaze, all hate and loathing lost, she realized now why she could never hate him, even if she tried; and she had tried.

Arthur examined her face, seeing less anger and more hurt, seeing her long dark eye lashes frame her wondrous emerald eyes that shone beautifully from her adoring pale features; she looked truly Devine and he could not recall a moment when she didn't look beautiful. He wanted to take her and ravish her right there on the spot, for all the feuding to stop, for her just to belong to him, and that be the end of it- and so he leant in, readying himself to steal a kiss, she didn't move; so that in itself was a good sign.

Morgana could feel his warm breath against her freezing, wet, numb face- she knew what was happening and if she was in her right mind she would protest, but she did not; because she wanted this as much as he did. His lips were merely an inch away from hers, she yearned for him, as he teased her going so slowly. It wasn't until now that she realized how much she truly wanted the unruly Prince, all her dreams about both him and her made sense. The soft, warm feeling of his lips against her own became somewhat overwhelming but enjoyable so, the dream that she should recall of them sitting on warm summer's grass seemed laughable now, because that dream that made her all warm and fuzzy inside had no comparison to this moment. She could barely even recall where she was, not that it even mattered anymore, the feeling of cold rain numbing her body could hardly be felt, the sound of pattering raindrops engulfing the forest could no longer be heard, it was strange but now she knew she was completely infatuated with one Arthur Pendragon.

Morgana absent-mindedly pulled her hood from around her head as it hung lightly on her shoulders, Arthur's fingers getting lost tangling through her glorious dark mane, that was slowly dampening due to the heavy rainfall. All hate was lost, that emotion alone getting engrossed by love, overcome, so all hatred was lost, there wasn't even a spectrum of it, and the thought of how she loathed him but a moment ago was ridiculous to even think about, barely believable. Morgana's warm lips moved in wondrous motion with Arthur's, the two of the fighting passionately with one another, as Arthur glided his hands through her hair, whilst Morgana tied her arms around his waist, holding him to her, not ever wanting to let go. Arthur pushed her back to pin her against an nearby oak tree, where they were safe from the rain slightly, and it gave them more freedom to know the other did not want to stop, but it did not ease Morgana's tight hold on the Prince, or his violent tangle of fingers through the young Ward's hair. The moment seemed all to good to be true, before a large red arrow struck inches away from Morgana's head, awakening both of them from this dream, as Arthur pulled away from her immediately to turn in the direction the arrow was aimed at; a cavalry of men sat on horseback, shouting at one another, before another arrow was shot, that skidded and bounced off the ground. Both Arthur and Morgana were trespassing on a land that was not their own, and if the violent men mere meters away found out it was Arthur Pendragon they would surely strike war against Camelot, depending on the land they were trespassing on. Arthur pulled Morgana's by the forearm and dragged her over to her horse, both the young faces wiped of infatuation and affection, but instead replaced with fear and vulnerability.

Arthur pulled himself on top of his horse, planning to gallop off to Camelot, he turned to see if Morgana was upon her horse also, as arrows were fired wildly around them. Thankfully Morgana was on her horse; but as Arthur broke into a gallop he heard the small squeal of Morgana, so he pulled his horses' reigns harshly, the panic of getting hit with one of the arrows and no weapons of his own to fight back. He turned around to see Morgana no longer on her horse, but instead on the cold, soaking grass, with an arrow wedged in her ankle. He hopped off his horse immediately, to aid her, seeing the blood pool from her ankle- she cried out in pain, unable to look at her acquired battle wound, Arthur soothed her by telling her it wasn't all that bad, when he knew it was- it was lodged deep and he feared pulling it out in the horror of making her face more pain. Arrows continued to be fired at them, and soon the men would dismount their horses and slice them through with their swords, Arthur didn't have a choice in the matter.

Arthur grabbed Morgana around the waist and heaved her up over his shoulder, before he sat her on his own horses; she would have protested but she was in too much pain to even stifle an aggressive grunt. Seeing the men through the trees, he had no choice but to leave her horse, instead he slapped her horse on the hide to watch it gallop off through the brambles, giving a heartily 'neigh'; he would obviously send a strong Knight to retrieve it later, since it bore the Camelot crest on it's saddle. Nevertheless the young Prince pulled himself onto his own horse; in front of Morgana and galloped off, as she clung tightly around his waist to stop herself from falling.

Soon they were back in familiar territory and it made him significantly glad to know they were no longer getting fired at by vicious arrows. Nevertheless Arthur kept riding until he was well into Camelot, not wanting to stop; he just wanted Morgana to be seen to and attended and for that dreadful arrow to be pulled from her leg.

When Arthur finally reached Camelot he dismounted his horse to see a trail of blood behind him, but he didn't waste a second with the now drowsy Morgana who was becoming faint from losing so much blood. He lifted her and carried her, without any hesitation from her, she practically fell into his arms, her eyes tried and worn from the high level of pain she was enduring, her eyes were stained with tears; obviously the sudden emotion was brought on from the indepth feeling of pain that was surely unbearable for the young Ward. "It's all right." Arthur ushered as she leant her head against his chest, whimpering.

Giaus was more than alarmed when he was greeted by Arthur carrying in a near unconscious Morgana. "Whats... Whats happened?" Giaus panicked as Arthur laid her down on Giaus's main table. "We were struck by... bandits, out riding." Arthur lied, not wanting to tell him the main reason. "Out riding in that weather? You must be mad!" Giaus told him before scurrying over to see Morgana's wounds. "That's lodged in deep." He told Arthur. "It'll have to be manually dislocated from the leg." Giaus explained. "Meaning I'll have to pull it out, it's the only way to stop the bleeding and avoid infection." Arthur froze, knowing it was be immensely painful, but he agreed to let Giaus remove it, for her best interest obviously. "Go fetch Uther, he'll need to be informed." Giaus told Arthur. Arthur nodded before he stole one last glance from Morgana, before he departed to go get his father. Halfway down the stone steps he heard a heart-wrenching scream mixed with pain and sorrow; knowing it was from Morgana, in made him freeze and wince in pain for her, but thankfully he knew the most of the pain was over- and with that he ran to the castle to get his father.

"What?" Uther growled with his eyes widening, an edge of panic in his tone. "Yes, she was hit by an arrow." Arthur explained, fumbling over his words. "From whom?" Uther demanded, pulling on his leather lined jacket. "From Bandits I expect!" Arthur lied, growing tired of explaining this story, knowing it wouldn't be the last time he explained it. "And where is she?" Uther asked frantically. "Over with Giaus, he asked me to fetch you." Arthur told him. "I would hope so!" Uther snapped before he left his bedchamber to go to Giaus's. "I don't understand why you two were out riding in this weather anyway! And this early!" Uther scolded as he marched through the rain. "Like that matters now!" Arthur snapped, angry that his father was practically blaming him for Morgana's treacherous accident. "Of course it matters- how could you be so foolish!" Uther growled. "Had you know weapons to hold them off?" Uther asked his son angrily. "There was too many of them, they were closing in on us!" Arthur napped back, a rage coming over him. "Honestly Arthur, I dread the day you rule Camelot!" Uther snapped before he ran up the winding staircase to Giaus, not giving Arthur the chance to retaliate, which made the young Prince very angry, of course the anger was washed away when he laid eyes on Morgana, the emotion replaced with sorrow and guilt.

"How is she?" Uther asked frantically as he rushed to Morgana's side. "Well, I've managed to remove the arrow, thankfully it didn't touch the bone- I'll have to apply some stitches to the wound of course." Giaus explained. "I've given her a remedies of herbs to build her strength, of course she'll need plenty of iron." Giaus told Uther seriously as the King listened intently. "Depending on the amount of blood-loss she might take about two to three weeks to fully recover." Giaus said, washing a rag in some sterilized water. "Now, if you'll leave me to clean and attend the wound." Giaus nodded to both Arthur and Giaus. "She's soaking!" Uther commented, feeling her drenched robe. "Yes father, that would be the rain." Arthur replied sarcastically. "It's no wonder she's caught her death." Uther frowned, before pulling Arthur from Giaus's home, leaving him in peace to treat her.