Camelot
October, 506 AD
The plan is perfect. It doesn't even matter that it's a fairly obvious one because the enemies have no chance of stopping it. Not unless they play dirty and... well, they're too noble to do that.
Dallas and I trotted decisively along the edge of the large browning field towards the northern end, trying to seem as inconspicuous as possible as we circled the main action from afar.
With a ridiculous battle cry that made me burst out laughing (so much for being discreet!), Lancelot and his horse, Tolkien, pushed past an unsteady barrier made up of Leon and Faye and Elyan and Scheherazade. Leon's hand barely missed grabbing the grey stallion's bridle as the pair galloped ahead.
In a blink, both enemy knights were in pursuit of them.
Percival had a quick decision to make: he could either continue to fruitlessly fight Gwaine and Fallyn in an attempt to capture our flag, or he could aid his teammates in recovering their own from Lancelot. I wasn't surprised in the slightest when he opted for the latter and, with a grunt, he turned Promesse around, hurrying her after his buddy-turned-rival.
Indeed, our plan is perfect.
Just as all three knights had their fierce sights set on Lancelot, he promptly wrapped the red flag around the wooden stick that holds it and made eye-contact with me before winking. I smirked at him and nodded. He flung it my way and I moved Dallas towards its trajectory. I cheered once it landed safely in my hands.
"Get her!" Elyan yelled as he turned Scheherazade towards me. His two teammates quickly followed suit on their own horses.
"Dallas – go!" Smart as ever, my Thoroughbred surged forwards and began sprinting towards the southern end of the makeshift battlefield. I gripped the flag tightly in my left hand as I stood on my stirrups, enjoying the breeze in my face as the enemies tried to get their trusty horses to catch up with my freak of nature.
"Come on, Trae!" Gwaine cheered me on from our base, prompting me to ask Dallas for a little more speed. Not that it's needed. We left the competition in the dust!
With a maniac laugh, I slowed down my horse and stuck the red flag in the barrel next to our blue one, then I turned Dallas around and high-fived Gwaine as we exchanged a grin.
Lancelot soon joined Gwaine and I in celebration while the other three knights exchanged annoyed looks and groans.
"How does it feel to be a bunch of losers, losers?" I taunted with a smirk.
"You cheated," Elyan accused me while narrowing his eyes.
"You can't cheat at 'Capture the Flag!'" I argued with a chuckle.
"Your horse is much faster than ours are," he pointed out.
"Well, yeah! Something's gotta make up for the physical strength I lack against all of you!" I shot back. Elyan crossed his arms. "Perci almost pulled me off Dal last time!" I added as an example while motioning towards Percival, who looked away sheepishly as his cheeks reddened slightly.
"She is right, Elyan. It is only fair," Gwaine stepped in with a grin.
"You are only saying that because you are on her team."
I huffed, "You're a sore loser, El."
"Oh, no," Leon's sudden gasp ended the semi-heated conversation.
I frowned and followed his line of sight. My eyes widened when I spotted Arthur and Merlin galloping towards us.
"Oops," I said and bit down on my bottom lip when I noticed the Prince's unhappy expression. "You said you'd keep 'em busy!" I playfully scolded Merlin.
He gave me a guilty smile as our eyes connected. "I tried, but he saw right through me."
I pouted and moved Dallas in front of all the nervous-looking knights (except Gwaine, he was giggling), ready to take the blame as Arthur and Tequila came to a stop before us.
"Hello, Peaches," I greeted the Prince with an attempt at a sweet smile, hoping to butter him up with that. He scoffed at the nickname and narrowed his eyes at me.
"This is the third time that the lot of you have skipped etiquette training," he said authoritatively. "What have you got to say for yourselves?"
Leon gulped while avoiding Arthur's gaze, "Uh…"
"Etiquette training's boring and we didn't wanna do it," I replied quickly before Leon could give a diplomatic answer.
"Yeah!" Gwaine chirped and I sent him a grin.
Arthur huffed, "You are Camelot's best fighters! You cannot afford to goof off!"
"We're not goofing off – we're training!" I exclaimed in protest of his outrageous statement.
"And kicking butts while we are at it," Gwaine piped in with a smirk.
"You cheated!" Elyan repeated while raising his voice slightly. I turned to glare at him.
"'Capture the Flag' is a game that demands skill and strategy, Sire," Lancelot defended. "You should join us one day."
Arthur's enchanting eyes were still jumping among us with a displeased look in them.
"The teams would be uneven, however," Percival pointed out.
"He can join our team and even the playing field," Elyan responded.
"We will take Merlin, then," Gwaine suggested and he winked at the suddenly wide-eyed sorcerer.
Arthur scoffed at that, "What would Merlin do?"
"Join us next time, and you will find out," Lancelot replied with a small grin.
"Fine," the Prince grumbled while looking away with a clenched jaw.
"Yes!" Gwaine and I cheered and high-fived each other again.
Lancelot reached over to pat Merlin's back – the latter now looking mortified and lost.
"Fun stuff. And now..." I collected Dallas's neck-rope in my hands again, "I'll race y'all back to the castle!"
"Heeey... Are you still mad?" I asked Arthur as I slowly entered his room that night.
He looked up from a document he was reading and stared at me stoically, though I could swear he was fighting a smile. "Yes. I did not make you a knight so that you could turn all of them against me," he muttered and he dropped the paper to cross his arms over his chest as a bit of a pout formed on his soft lips.
I skipped over and jumped to sit on his desk, facing him.
"I'm not turnin' them against you!" I argued. "I simply offered them an alternative to having to sit in a room all day while listening to the same boring lecture you gave us the first three times, and they took it!"
He huffed, "Etiquette training is more than that!"
"Is it?" I countered with a grin. He narrowed his eyes at me for a second and then looked away.
Boom! I win.
"Shut up, you are crazy," was the best he could do after a few moments.
"Crazy for you," I quickly shot back and smirked as I raised my eyebrows in a challenging manner.
That worked to break his stoicism and he let out a breathy chuckle. Then he stood up and moved to wrap his arms around my waist, his head dipping to press our foreheads together. "Really?"
"Ew, no!" I responded while scrunching up my nose, then I giggled when he gasped in mock offence.
Arthur rolled his eyes and gently pressed his lips against mine. I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck, savouring the moment.
"Seriously, I mean – 'Do this, Astraea. Don't do that, Astraea. Stop making jokes, Astraea. Stop making everything a competition, Astraea'... It's bound to drive one bananas," I said rapidly as soon as he pulled away while trying (and failing) to imitate his accent.
"Bananas?" he questioned with a frown.
"It's another word for crazy," I explained. Arthur snorted and he kissed me again.
A sudden knock at the door caused us to jump apart. I winced when it opened to reveal Agravaine – Arthur's uncle.
I didn't know this until very recently (when the man showed up in Camelot three weeks ago, seemingly out of nowhere, claiming that he wants to help the Pendragons), but Ygraine had another brother besides Tristan (you know, the one who rose from the death and tried to kill the Prince, prompting Merlin to create the magic sword).
I noticed that he held a scroll in one hand, causing me to tilt my head in curiosity.
"Agravaine – how can I help you?" Arthur asked politely as he moved around the desk and walked towards his uncle.
I turned around on the table so that I could face them, accidentally knocking down a flask of ink in the process. My eyes widened as I quickly moved to set it upright. Lucky for me, it was closed.
"News from the northeastern lands, Sire," Agravaine said as he handed Arthur the scroll.
I watched as Arthur unfolded it and skimmed its contests, his eyes widening towards the middle. Intrigued, I hopped off the table and moved to stand next to him, grabbing his arm with the excuse to read over it.
I'm pretty sure that Agravaine already suspects of our relationship, but I don't want to confirm it for him just yet. Who knows how he might react? I don't want him to tell Uther, or something.
"Victims drained of blood!?" I exclaimed as my eyes fixed upon that exact sentence on the paper.
Apparently, there's a sort of serial killer running around the town of 'Branmoor', and it's bad enough that the people have decided to appeal to the King. Only, the King is still in a bad mental state, so Arthur will have to deal with it.
He glanced down at me for a second and then he turned to his uncle with a raised eyebrow.
I couldn't help the questions that spewed out of my mouth – "Were their throats slit? Or do they have any bites on them? Or did they lose any limbs?" Of course, the deaths are horrible and no one should go out like that; but I wouldn't be me if I wasn't enthralled by the mystery.
"I do not know, my Lady, I am simply delivering the letter," Agravaine replied politely.
"Lady-Knight," I corrected under my breath as I dropped my gaze to the scroll again.
Arthur put an arm around my shoulders. So much for keeping our relationship secret, but I wasn't about to move away. Mainly because my brain was still stuck analysing the contents of the letter.
"Is that all, uncle?" Arthur asked.
"Yes, Sire. I bid you goodnight," Agravaine replied, then I heard shuffling, then the door creaked slightly as it opened and closed.
"Artie, d'you know what this means?" I asked as I looked up to him with a grin. He frowned and shook his head. "I think we might be dealing with a vampire," I explained, trying not to sound too excited at the prospect.
"A what?"
My smile fell and I let out a sigh. That's right. The 'vampire' myth that I know won't originate until later in history. "It's just this creature that feeds on human blood…" I said.
Arthur's eyes widened for a moment, then he fell pensive while examining the document once more.
"I shall inform the knights. We leave tomorrow at dawn."
"Cool, I'll tell Merls," I replied as a grin formed on my lips again, then I reached up to kiss him for a few seconds before running out of the room.
"What murder case is so important that it requires the Prince's personal attention?" Elyan inquired, breaking the silence that had befallen the team (besides my angelic singing to 'Changing Tracks by Wishbone Ash) as we rode through the Camelot forest on a windy day.
"The attacks were carried out in a manner that made us suspect there might be something not-human involved," Arthur answered – rather cryptically, if you ask me. They have a right to know the full story.
"Such as what?" Lancelot asked.
"Vampires!" I quickly chirped in response.
Merlin huffed and shook his head at me. "Vampires are not real, Astra."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "They could be!"
"What are vampires, Trae?" Gwaine asked while moving Fallyn closer to Dallas.
"They're humanoid creatures that feed on human blood n' live for hundreds of years."
"How do you know about them?" Elyan asked.
"Stories involving them are popular in America," I replied with a nonchalant shrug.
"Are attacks frequent?" Percival questioned with a worried frown.
I shook my head. "No, they're supposed to be mythical."
"Then how are you so sure that we are chasing one of them?" Leon inquired.
"I'm not. I just like speculating."
"I bet it is just some crazy person with a wild imagination," Merlin cut in again while sending me a pointed look.
I turned to face him and narrowed my eyes at him again. "You wanna bet against me?"
"That is a bad idea, Merlin..." Gwaine cautioned with a taunting grin.
Merlin smirked at me. "If you are wrong, you will have to polish Arthur's armour for a month."
"And when I'm right, you'll clean Dallas's tack for a month," I replied.
"Deal."
Branmoor is not as small as I'd pictured it. I'd been imagining something akin to Ealdor, but this is at least three times the size of that, plus the buildings are much more structured and have richer architecture – the classical English style that one sees in movies set in the middle ages. A river runs through the middle of the town, so there are multiple wooden bridges built to connect the two sides. The rugged wooded ecosystem gives it a bit of a mystical aura.
Arthur led us straight to the town square, where we met with Philip, the Earl of Branmoor – a tall, slim, blond middle-aged man with a goatee and rich crimson clothing.
"Welcome, Prince Arthur," the Earl greeted with a courteous bow. The Prince extended his arm and engaged the man in a firm hand-shake. "Thank you for coming."
"These are my knights and my servant, consider them at your service," Arthur stated while motioning towards the bunch of us as we hung slightly behind him. I gave Philip an awkward wave, trying to ignore the indecipherable look in his eyes as they scanned me. "Except for Astraea," the Prince added while gently pulling me to his side by wrapping an arm around my waist.
I could feel my face getting warm at being singled out, but I can't complain when he's the one doing it. I did cower slightly at the teasing smirks I got from the knights, though.
Once all formalities were done with, Philip ushered us inside a tall stone building so that we could discuss the murders away from prying ears. As you may imagine, a large crowd had been quick to form outside, given the novelty of the Prince's visit.
"What can you tell us about the murders?" Arthur asked as soon as we were sitting around a rectangular wooden table with a slim crimson cloth running down it.
"It is most strange, S-sire," Elmer, the town physician, responded shyly after Philip motioned for him to take centre stage. "They have taken place every three days since the first attack ten days ago."
The word 'physician' evokes an image similar to Gaius's – elderly and with a calming air of wisdom. However, Elmer is on the younger side, likely just a couple of years older than Arthur, and he seemed to tremble under the curious gazes that inevitably fell on him.
As self-appointed lead detective, I figured that I should take notes; so I pulled my notebook and a pen from my crossbody bag, and I placed the former atop the table while I started to twirl the latter around my fingers. Arthur gave me an amused look, but said nothing as he placed his hand on my knee.
"The report states that the bodies were drained of blood," I noted and sent a smirk towards Merlin, who rolled his eyes in response
"I-indeed, my Lady," Elmer replied while avoiding my gaze.
I swallowed the urge to correct him on my title. "How did that happen?" I asked instead.
"Uhh..." the young physician turned to Philip with a nervous glance. I tilted my head.
"We are not certain, but we believe that a pair of puncture marks on their necks may have something to do with it," the Earl replied in his place.
"Really?" I questioned, turning to look at my best friend again with a triumphant grin.
Arthur squeezed my leg under the table and gave me a stern look when I glanced up at him. Instantly putting on the best innocent expression I could muster, I slipped my hand into his and brought my legs up on my chair, tucking my knees against my chest.
"Have you been able to find any connections between the victims?" Arthur then asked Elmer.
The young physician nodded. "Yes, Sire. All of them have been females in their twenties."
I noticed a hint of a foreign accent in his voice, which made me smile. It's not often that I encounter someone from outside the British isles, which is definitely refreshing.
Arthur's grip on my hand tightened and I started to run my thumb over his knuckles in an attempt to ease him up a little.
The questions flew out of my mouth as I struggled to restrain the excitement I felt at getting to play vampire hunter – "What else? Did they know each other? Were their lifestyles similar?"
"Uh. We are not certain," Elmer replied, still avoiding my eyes. I frowned.
"We have not reached that point in our investigation," Philip added while giving the young physician a reassuring look.
I puffed. What have they been doing for ten days, then?!
"We will start with that in the morning," Arthur stated while nodding at the Earl.
Philip smiled gratefully and gestured for us to stand up. We followed him out of the building and reunited with our horses.
"I will take you to the Inn," Philip announced while mounting his horse, a sturdy flaxen chestnut cob.
The Inn is almost as big as the one in Camelot. A traditional English building (I'd call it Tudor-style, but we're about a millennium early) made of wood and stone with triangular rooftops and a cosy air to it. On the first storey is a tavern that surprisingly offers room service, and I was elated to hear from Philip that the place has indoor plumbing. "I brought the project to Branmoor as soon as I learnt about what you did in Camelot," he told Arthur. Gwaine was quick to mention that I'm the brain behind that operation, which made me blush as the Earl's intense gaze fell on me.
After Philip left, the Prince paid for four rooms while the rest of us hung out in the lobby, and then he instructed us to pair up. My eyes quickly found Merlin's and we shared a grin.
"Astra," Arthur called my attention.
"Yup?"
He scoffed, "You are with me, darling."
My eyes widened. Right, that makes more sense.
Elyan let out a suggestive whistle, causing me to glare at him and lightly punch his arm.
Once I had a much-needed bath and changed into my PJs, I curled up with my Avengers blanket on the chair to the desk that sits on a corner of the room and began to go over the few notes I took during the meeting with Philip and Elmer while Arthur took his turn in bathing.
I quickly gave up on trying to find a pattern since, obviously, I don't have enough information yet. So, instead, I started writing down everything I know about vampires.
Arthur exited the bathroom some minutes later and he moved to stand behind the chair, leaning down to rest his chin on my shoulder as he looked at my notebook. "What are you doing?" he asked in a soft voice. A shiver ran down my spine when his breath fanned my neck.
"Just sortin' my thoughts," I replied in a mumble.
"You are still convinced that a 'vampeer' is responsible, huh?" he questioned.
"'Vampire', Artie," I corrected with a little giggle. "And yeah. The puncture marks that Philip mentioned only confirmed my hypothesis."
He moved away from me and sat down on the queen-sized bed, resting his back against the headboard. Then he patted the spot next to him.
Only slightly annoyed that I was being asked to leave the comfortable position I found on the chair, I gathered my notebook and pen and ungracefully plopped down next to him.
"Tell me more about these vampires, then," he said while pulling me closer by wrapping an arm around my waist.
I let out a sigh and rearranged my blanket before I curled up beside him, resting my head on his chest.
"Well, there are variations among the stories. The only constants are that they drink blood from humans and live for hundreds of years. Most of the time they are vulnerable to sunlight. Sometimes they cannot be in it at all or they burn to death. Other times, it's simply uncomfortable so they avoid it. Many stories state that they recoil at the smell of garlic, and at the sight of holy items..." I paused to write down those two things quickly, realising that I hadn't. "They need to be invited into a home in order to enter it... Uh, they're generally weakened or killed by wood. Usually by a stake to the heart... And 'Supernatural' states that they can only be killed by decapitation, and that they can be weakened by 'dead man's blood'. But I'm not sure if that last one is supported anywhere else…"
I dropped the notebook onto Arthur's lap and stood up to get my water thermos from my duffel bag after I grew thirsty from so much talking. I stopped drinking when I noticed the Prince's beautiful eyes fixed on me and a small smile playing on his lips.
"What?" I asked, my body slightly cowering under his intense gaze.
"You find a new way to amaze me everyday," he replied while reaching towards me again.
I smirked. "Well, all my fictional obsessions had to come in handy at some point," I noted with a shrug, then I jumped onto the bed again and curled up next to him once more. He wrapped an arm firmly around me and continued to read my notes while I twirled my pen around.
"What do vampires do besides drink blood?" he questioned after a few moments.
I hummed. I was too focused on figuring out how we could trap and kill the bastard, and I forgot to consider how it could overpower us.
I took my notebook from Arthur again. "They have super-strength," I said as I wrote that down. "Very sharp teeth." More writing. "They're fast… agile… can heal quickly from non-lethal blows... And, well, Dracula could turn into a bat, but..." I paused and tilted my head.
The line between 'possible' and 'impossible' has practically disappeared in my mind, with everything that I've seen since I stepped out of the twenty-first century.
"Y'know what? I'm not gonna discard that. You had a troll for a step-mother for, like, two weeks," I mumbled to Arthur, earning a snort, before also writing that our target might be able to shape-shift into a bat. 'Or other animals' I added.
"All right, that is enough for today," Arthur stated and, without warning, he snatched the notebook from my hands.
"Hey!" I protested while reaching for it. His grip on me tightened as he held me firmly against his side, then he placed the book on the nightstand. "But I might be missing something!" I argued while wriggling in his grasp, helplessly trying to break free.
"You need to sleep or you will not be able to think straight tomorrow," Arthur retorted as he gently moved us into a lying position.
"I don't need sleep, I need answers," I quoted Sheldon Cooper with a pout.
"And you will get them. Tomorrow," he said sternly before giving me a quick kiss. "Now, sleep," he ordered as he blew out the candle beside him.
I huffed, but didn't argue further as I nuzzled into his warm chest and closed my eyes.