A Week with a Prince

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖎𝖝𝖙𝖞

The chamber looked different, Ginny noticed with surprise as they stepped in.

The snow-white sheets on the bed where she slept alone last night were fresh and perfectly straight, pristine and untouched. A wooden tub filled with water stood in the corner where Morgaine's bed had been, half hidden behind a wooden screen. The curtains of the long mullioned window were drawn back, and Ginny realised that she had not seen the view offered by the room that Arthur had chosen as their bed chamber yet.

Mesmerised, drawn forward by the flickering lights of the tens of fires burning beyond the castle's walls illuminating the night like an early sunrise, she left Arthur by the door and walked towards the window. She could see the entire hillside sprinkled with tents, the bright flags and banners of the kings, dukes, and chieftains of their kingdom dancing in the breeze, just like the tall flames... And beyond, the black, smooth waters of the Lake stretched infinitely. No trace of fog lay on its surface tonight and when she kept her eyes fixed on the spot in the middle of the Lake where the island of Glastonbury should be for a while, Ginny was sure that she could see a flicker of flames... flames like those which were already consuming her from within... And it wasn't the nuns who were celebrating the Goddess tonight, but the priestesses of Avalon, Morgaine, and Morag among them. She wished she could go and visit Morag soon, her dear friend who had not been allowed to come to the wedding, Morgaine had said, because this would be her very first Beltane night and she needed to prepare, like the other Maidens of Avalon...

"I told Arwen that you will not need her." Arthur's softly spoken words startled her. "But you can always call her," he said, wrapping his arm around her waist from behind, his warm lips kissing the side of her neck, his body, flush against hers, making her lean into him as his lips trailed lower, to her shoulder, bared by his fingers which pushed her dress out their way.

He unlaced her gown at the back, making it slip farther off her shoulders and as he pressed her to him again, even closer than before, she realised that his chest was bare-- she could feel his cool skin, his strong muscles press against her, making her body tremble with anticipation.

Her breath caught, and her legs threatened to give way as his lips continued their way, caressing her shoulder, the column of her neck... Closing her eyes, she leaned her head against his shoulder, giving him more space; his arm around her waist, the only force keeping her upright.

She could feel his lips curl into a smile as he noticed how she responded to his touch. Taking a step back, making her feel dizzy by his sudden absence, he let her dress pool at her feet, the Sword following it quite noiselessly to the floor, its hilt gleaming dimly from beneath its silky layers. As she turned around she caught a glimpse of his body, already stripped of all clothes, all barriers between them, bathed in the soft light of the fires coupled by the moonlight, and the flicker of a handful of candles lit around the chamber.

His eyes bore into hers, seeking and receiving permission, before he lifted her in his arms and carried her to bed.

And then, even as the cool sheets caressed her heated skin, following Morgaine's advice, Ginny stopped thinking. Slowly, she abandoned herself to the pleasure of his touch and the instinct and desire it was awaking within her.

The early summer sunrise was breaking on the eastern horizon, quenching the glare of the Beltane fires with its faint, grey light, when she finally fell asleep cradled in Arthur's arms, feeling as elated and complete as she had never felt before.

She is the... most perfect thing, Arthur mused, wrapping his arms tightly around her, kissing her, watching her sleep... He didn't know how he had deserved her, but this beautiful, loving girl was his, his wife and queen. He rested his chin on top of her head and strengthened his hold around her, as if never to let her go, thinking how he would love and worship her forever, as the sleep finally took him.

Ginny stirred first in the morning, only a few hours later, feeling too hot in Arthur's embrace. Smiling, she disentangled herself from his arms, and after pressing a featherlight  kiss to his lips she tiptoed towards the bath.

The water was cool now, but she welcomed its caress on her warm skin; it was exactly what she needed after such a... short night.

Smiling and blushing at the memories her mind promptly offered, she wrapped herself in a towel and knocked on Arwen's door, finding the old nurse already waiting for her.

Ginny begged her to call a maid to get clean water for Arthur's bath without disturbing his sleep, but there was no need to keep silent-- the moment she returned to bed, dropping the damp towel on the floor and laying down next to him, someone knocked on the door, waking him up.

He pressed a kiss on her lips as he saw her smiling at him before he called to the person on the other side of the door, "Unless the castle is burning, come back in a couple hours..."

Ginny giggled, then closed her eyes, barely suppressing a sigh, as she felt his hand tracing the contours of her body lightly, his fingers leaving a trail of goose flesh in their wake.

"Hmm, I'm afraid it is rather urgent, my lord." The voice spoke again, and Ginny's dazed mind now realised that it belonged to Gawaine. "We need your help, sir. The dragons are nervous with all those people packing and leaving, they don't appreciate the noise and commotion. Cai is quite desperate."

Arthur closed his eyes briefly; Ginny could tell that he had imagined this morning differently.

"Go. I understand," she said before he could word the excuse she saw forming on his lips.

"Find someone to show you around the castle," he murmured as he kissed her again. "I won't be long, hopefully, and then we will do something together."

Then he was in the bath and then out, and she, still undressed herself, rushed to help him get dressed, slowing him down greatly instead of helping him to hurry up, as his hands, distracted and confused by her closeness, kept straying from his buttons and laces to her towel-wrapped body, followed by his lips, making her sigh and giggle, and lean into his touch.

It took another impatient knocking on the door, followed by Lancelot's voice this time, to get Arthur out of the chamber.

Ginny let Arwen help her into her gown once he was gone but refused the old nurse's offer to show her around the castle. She would explore alone... but first, she needed to do something else.