Luminescence ✺ Arthur Pendragon

The Castle of Fyrien [2]

Having been riding for as long as they could, as night began to fall, the entire group agreed it was time to make camp. Not only to rest, but to also properly discuss the plan which Arthur had perfected since first coming up with it, and made sure it would work. But before getting to that, they first needed to set up a camp and ensure it was secure. Which was why Arwen was now working on getting the bags off of her horse to allow it some rest while Merlin and Arthur continued to put things in place throughout the camp behind her.

"Go get some more firewood, would you Merlin?" Arthur's voice reached her ears, but she paid it no mind as she hissed as a rebellious claps pinched the skin of her finger instead of coming undone as she was trying to make it.

"I thought Morgana and Gwen were doing that?" Merlin questioned in a confused tone.

"Well, go and see if she's alright." Arthur continued to insist.

"Why wouldn't she be?" Merlin, as oblivious as ever, was pretty certain that the two women could take care of themselves as well as some firewood. Perhaps Morgana wouldn't be the best at collecting it, but Gwen could handle it.

"I don't know, maybe there are wolves in these woods!" Arthur exclaimed in an annoyed tone. Sometimes, he really did wish for a servant who simply did his job instead of idiotically questioning everything he said.

"No... I don't think so." Arwen had to do her best to keep her laughter at bay as she glanced at the two men from the corner of her eyes, catching a sight of Arthur giving his servant subtle signals and pointers that finally made Merlin realize what was being asked of him. "Oh, yeah. Yeah, of course. The wolves." Merlin suddenly changed his tune, his voice dramatic at the mention of the wolves as he dashed off into the woods, entirely lacking even an ounce of subtlety.

"You need some help with that?" Arthur questioned as he walked over to where she was standing beside the horse.

"Thanks." Arwen said, finally letting out the laugh that she'd been holding in as she stepped away from the animal and allowed Arthur to do it. "You know, you could have done that with Merlin here too." The comment made a bashful smile appear on the Prince's face as he realized he'd been caught.

However, Arwen realized the perks of a moment alone which allowed her to bring up something she hadn't yet had a chance to tell him since her conversation with Gwen. "There is one more thing you should know about this mission." She announced, making Arthur fix her with an expectant look, waiting to see what it was that she had to say. "Gwen knows. About us. And it wasn't me who told her."

"Honestly, I don't know why we all trust Merlin so much. He's incapable of keeping his mouth shut." Arthur sighed in disbelief, Arwen unable not to laugh at the irony of her statement.

But still, she shook her head in denial of it. "It wasn't my brother." She revealed with certainty that made Arthur's own suspicions rise on the matter. "It was Cenred." The information had the prince giving out a heavy sigh, clearly growing worried over Cenred's knowledge.

"I wish you hadn't insisted on coming with us." He said honestly. "Cenred knowing makes it even more dangerous now."

Reaching over, Arwen removed his gloved hand from the clasps of her saddle and took in in her own, giving it a small squeeze to make the man look back to her. "Arthur, I wasn't about to let you walk into a possible trap alone." She reminded. "And you should know better than to expect me to."

"You're too stubborn for your own good." He said with a small chuckle which brought a smile to Arwen's face as well.

"It's part of what you like about me."

"It is." He admitted in a soft tone, leaning closer in an attempt to kiss her, but the sound of footsteps trudging through the forest floor, forced the two to separate, Arwen letting go of his hand as they turned to look at Morgana, Gwen, and Merlin returning.