This chapter is dedicated to a friend of mine, Strictly Untalkative
Thanks for all the reviews. *sends virtual cookies* and I hope you like….
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The sun shone brightly as Arthur found his men gathered in the training area, all of whom were looking very much worse for the wear and were nursing sore heads. They had all been merry the night before, and now they would suffer the effects of too much alcohol. Arthur smiled. He was in a playful mood and he would teach his men a lesson. Drawing his sword, he stopped in front of one of the youngest and newest additions to the team and remained silent. He could see terror in the young mans eyes but Arthur simply smirked as he held the blade and brought the hilt down onto the helmet. The unfortunate man widened his eyes in terror whilst everyone else held their hands to their ears at the clanging sound. All of them groaned at the clanging noise that rang in their heads.
"Right then men, I have a job for you to do today." Arthur told them, still smiling. "There are still some cottages that need fixing up so that's what you will be doing today. Everything you will need is already there. I shall see you when it is finished. There's a lot of work, so I suggest you get a move on."
The men walked off, many still nursing their hangovers, much to Arthur's amusement. The blue eyed Prince then walked through the town after sheathing his sword. His quest for the day had begun and nothing would stop him from succeeding. For Arthur, failure was certainly not an option and so he began to look through the houses, hoping that he would find some sign of her. As noon struck, he had found nothing.
Having searched a great deal of places and yet only a little of Camelot itself, not one person had seen Alethea since two days ago. Arthur may have been a Prince, but one man alone is not an effective search party. Besides, she could be anywhere by now or he could simply have imagined her. He hoped he hadn't but it was poss…
It was as he reached the marketplace that he saw her. Blinking two or three times just to make sure that he definitely wasn't seeing things, Arthur's heart leapt. She looked exactly like Alethea. Everything was perfect. It simply had to be her. She was back. It just had to be her. Speeding up his pace to try and catch up with her, he realised he'd never reach her in time.
"You there…Stop!" He called out and as the girl did so carefully and slowly, Arthur couldn't believe it. Looking into her green eyes, Arthur saw panic before he smiled gently at her. Fate had decided to give him another chance! Unable to hide his flow of emotions, he swept her into his arms and held onto her very tight, never wishing to let her go. She was flesh and blood and it was definitely his Alethea. The Alethea he loved and adored was back, and she had returned to him. She had come back for him and not for Merlin. She had chosen him over home, him over her family and him over everything else.
They talked for a while, and Arthur had to smile as she congratulated him on his victory. They began to walk for a bit, and Arthur couldn't believe his luck when she told him that she was going to stay for as long as possible. That was the best news he could be told. In truth, he couldn't actually believe that she was here with him, and he was slightly dubious at how she dismissed getting back. It would have required magic and Arthur knew (or rather, believed) that Alethea was anything but a sorceress. She didn't possess magic and Arthur knew that. However, although it would later eat at his mind, Arthur decided to forget it for the time being as he had more to be thinking about.
On discovering where Alethea was staying, Arthur decided to give her the offer of a room in the castle. He was somewhat surprised that she refused as he had thought that she would jump at the chance. Then again, she did have good reasons even if he had already forgiven her for them. She put it down to memory loss but Arthur could sense that something was not entirely right with her even if he couldn't put his finger on it.
As they reached the castle, Arthur led Alethea up the stairs to the corridor where his room was situated. He didn't stop at his room though. In fact, he didn't stop until he was a good few doors down. Opening the door, he had to smile at Alethea's reaction.
"For me?"
"For you." It was the best guest room in the whole of the castle and as Alethea was highly prized in Arthur's eyes, he had decided that she deserved the luxury. The best room for the best person he knew.
He knew that it had took her breath away and as he invited her to the feast he could see the amazement in her eyes. As she claimed that she needed to rest, Arthur wished her sweet dreams and waited in the doorway. He had to, just to make sure that it was really her and it wasn't a dream. Taking one last longing look at her, he wondered if she would keep this promise before he left her to rest.
Evening soon fell on the kingdom of Camelot and as everyone began to gather for the feast, Arthur was making last minute adjustments to his outfit. Merlin hadn't shown up and all of the servants were busy sorting out the feast, so Arthur was alone. Looking in the mirror that was highly valued, Arthur sighed. His shirt wasn't quite right, his belt too low and then too high, his top the wrong colour, his boots too shiny. His hair was rather too smart and as he looked at his reflection, he ruffled his hair a bit and then decided it was too unruly. Sighing angrily as he realised it was too tousled, Arthur knew there was nothing much he could do about it if he didn't want to be late.
Leaving the room, Arthur went down a few doors before hesitating for a moment. Straightening his outfit, he knocked on the door. His heart sank when he got no answer and he feared the worse. She had left him again without saying a single word. Common sense soon took control of his mind and Arthur reakised that she could quite easily still be sleeping. Looking through the keys on his belt, Arthur silently placed one in the lock and turned it, trying to be as quiet as possible. Opening the door, he found everything as it had been before, with a pretty blue gown still on the wooden screen. His eyes turned to the bed where he found Alethea sleeping peacefully. She looked so calm and serene with her hair splayed out on the pillow. She looked beautiful as she slept, almost like a Princess in a fairytale. Arthur didn't want to disturb her and yet she had to be woken. Tiptoeing over to her still form, he gently sat on the bed to wake her up, but instead he ended up brushing a few stray curls from her face. He knew though that eventually he would have to wake her so he leant over to kiss her but she suddenly opened her eyes.
"The feast?"
"Yes."
"Give me two minutes." Alethea said as she shot out of bed and disappeared behind the screen for a minute as she changed into the blue gown. Arthur smiled as he waited patiently for her to finish getting changed and a few moments later she appeared, looking as beautiful as ever. She looked stunning and took his breath away. Arthur smiled as he offered Alethea his arm and she took it without hesitation. Together, arm in arm, they walked to the Great Hall.
Alethea was given the seat next to Arthur and the two of them spoke for most of the evening, commenting on the costume, the food and the tournament and then of life in general. There was very little sign of Merlin but Arthur was too busy feasting to notice the lack of his servant. Music played and much food was eaten until people could not stuff themselves anymore. As the night wore on, more and more people began to retire to their rooms whilst Arthur and Alethea still remained talking. Listening intently, Arthur was too happy to notice the mistakes that Alethea was making and it was only later that he realised this. Soon though, a slightly merry Arthur escorted Alethea back to her room as it was beginning to get very late.
"Good night my Prince." she said as they reached her room.
"Sweet dreams my lady." Arthur said, not letting go of her hand. Instead of letting her go he pulled her closer to him so that their bodies touched.
"Forget something?" she asked, one eyebrow raised.
"I did as a matter of fact."
"Oh really? What did you forget?"
"A kiss good night." he whispered softly in her ear as their foreheads met. Plunging his lips on hers, Arthur kissed her and poured all of his love into it. Although merry, he was immediately sobered up. There was something not quite right about the Alethea stood before him, and all too soon would he realise the truth. For the time being, he pushed all of these bad thoughts away, and smiled gently as they parted. Letting go of her, Arthur watched as she headed into her room.
"Sweet dreams Alethea." he whispered as he closed the door and headed to his room. Stripping off and climbing into bed, Arthur slept fitfully that night. Although he had succeeded in finding Alethea, he was certain that she had changed and he didn't like that. All of the thoughts he'd pushed aside began to return, and vivid images of Alethea being held captive somewhere played on his mind. Tomorrow he would test this and see if the Alethea who was sleeping a few doors away was the one he had fallen in love with. Until then though, he would rest, and so he tried to sleep once more.
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Meanwhile, the real Alethea who was currently being held captive was sleeping. Another day had passed by and there was still no sign of anyone. Each and every part of her ached but there was nothing she could do to ease the pain. She simply had to suffer. Her throat was dry and her stomach rumbled with hunger. When she opened her eyes her head ached and she knew she was dehydrated. She hadn't had a drink in two days and now she would have done anything to get one. Head down, she stared at the ground, wishing that a miraculous spring would appear as if from nowhere. Nothing happened.
As the midday sun bore down on her, Alethea felt even worse than she had done earlier, and felt rather thirsty. Seeing clouds form in the sky, she wished for rain and as the afternoon wore on, she got her wish. She tilted her head back as far as ti would go, but she could not get any water. It was all absorbed by the gag and she was forced to suck the water form the cloth. It would suffice to keep her alive for the time being though,a nd that was the important thing for her. She wasn't going to lose hope just yet and because of her belief that she would be rescued, she decided to stay alive. She was concerned that Nimueh hadn't showed her face yet, but that could only be a good thing. Clinging onto hope, Alethea felt weak and once again closed her eyes, wishing that Arthur would come and rescue her.
