The Royal Scandal *Book Two*

A Fresh Layer of Betrayal S2 E8

A/N

Ok, so if you remember in the first book (as I wrote it when I hadn't watched season two yet), I wrote that Arthur and Chelsea's mother died when they were small children but I know now that in canon she actually died when they were babes. I won't change what I've written before and instead I will just continue it on as though they have a few memories of her but they don't really remember. Also, to clear something else up.

As you know, Ygraine died so that Arthur could live in the show. In this case, as Uther used magic so he could have an heir, though the character will probably be irrelevant, I have decided that Ygraine had a sister (who doesn't exist in the show) and wanting a daughter to marry off to another kingdom to strengthen Camelot, Uther sacrificed the sister's life as well. Then rather than dying straight away like in the show, Ygraine and the sister would have been weakened and fallen ill after their births but Gaius was able to treat them for a few years before he no longer could.

I hope that makes sense. So back to the story...

As the sun began to set around us, we found a small hidden clearing that was covered over the top by many trees. There was no point trying to continue through the night as we wouldn't be able to see a thing even with Cinnamon leading the way. And anyway, if we were going to be ambushed again, it would be in the dark, I wouldn't put it past Odin to have men surrounding his forests at every hour of the day and night.

So while Merlin tended to the horses, and Arthur collected some firewood, I went down to a nearby river and got up some water. I'd managed to carry down a few jugs that we had brought with us, not thinking about how I was gonna get them back up to our camp without spilling the water.

In the end, I attempted to slowly walk back up the hill, holding a jug in each hand, balancing the other two in the creases of my arms. There were several times when I had to stop and take a breather before pushing onwards to get back to the others. After a while, I found a roaring fire with Merlin and Arthur sitting around it, cooking some of the food we'd brought with them.

As I approached them, I stepped on a twig, getting their attention, though Arthur had instinctively held up his sword in my direction.

"Just me," I panted, walking even closer to the fire.

Seeing how I was struggling, Merlin got to his feet and came over to me, taking a couple of the jugs.

"Thanks," I gave him a smile as a large weight was lifted off my arms.

"What took you so long?" Arthur asked, prodding the fire.

"What do you mean 'what took you so long'? Need I remind you that I only have two hands and I just had to carry four jugs filled with water up a steep hill," I said, placing the jugs down on the ground.

"Wasn't that far," Arthur countered.

"It was far enough," I replied, falling into a patch of moss on the ground.

As I laid back onto the ground, leaning up on my elbows, staring into the fire, I noticed Arthur take an arrow from my quiver and start picking at it but I didn't have the energy to tell him to stop.

"What was your mother like?" Merlin suddenly asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over us.

"I don't remember really," I answered. "I have a few memories of her but they're just so vague and I don't think we ever really got to know her."

"From what I've heard from Gaius she was like you, Chels. But you're lucky, I remember nothing of her, no memories, nothing," Arthur muttered.

"I'm sorry," Merlin said sadly, subtly grabbing onto my hand that was out of Arthur's sight.