All or Nothing

The Bet

A deep frown set on her pale lips. How did such misfortune fall upon her? What god did she anger in order to receive such retribution?

Arturia Pendragon was not one to bow out of a challenge. Her father, Uther Pendragon, raised her better. She was born of high class, daughter to the Excalibur Tea Company, provider of Britannia's finest teas. As the heir to her father's enterprise, and also blessed with youthful beauty, it was only natural that there would be many suitors to come and try to woo her.

Thank God in Heaven that her friends had the ability to scare the unwanted attention away. However, her father had expressed concern on many occasions.

"Yes," she'd tell her father, "I'm well aware that I am already twenty-one."

"Yes," she's reply to her father, "I know my sisters are married and have children already."

"Yes," she'd sigh at her father's insistence, "I'm fully aware that, as the heir, I have to start a family soon."

Conversations like these almost came too often, until, that is, three months ago, where Arturia had finally lost her temper.

She was willing to admit her fault in the argument. She had been in a foul mood, which only escalated with her father's unyielding persistence. Finally, she had snapped. She snarled at him that he had no right to interfere in her life, telling her how and when, where and why, who and what. Once she said everything that had pent up inside, she stormed off, leaving him speechless in her wake.

Nevertheless, Arturia had felt guilty about her rage towards her father. Uther, while having never truly participated in her life as she grew up, leaving the task of raising her to a friend of the family, he did care for Arturia's wellbeing. And Arturia also knew the importance of marrying into the right blood. As wrong as it might seem, it would simply be better for her to marry a man with the right connections, right experiences and the right upbringing. Even with the reservations her close friends carried towards the concept, it was Arturia's life and choice, and they, for the most part, respected her decisions.

Dismissing this as her fate, she went through life carefully observing each suitor with a discerning eye. None of them seemed to click, nothing to stand out and declare, "I am here!" They had all been the same, marrying for money, beauty, and status. They were not willing to grow, not willing to educate themselves or mature. But most importantly, they weren't willing to accept a challenge.

Her failure in selecting a future husband combined with her father's efforts to find her one coupled with their fight only three months ago has thus led to the mysterious phone call from her father a day ago.

"Arturia. Listen, I know that it wasn't that long ago since our ... 'discussion' about your martial status. Before you say anything, I would like to admit an old man's fault."

Flabbergasted, Arturia could only listen as her father continued rambling on, "You were right. I had no business pestering you with these mundane suitors. I lack the parental eye for it. Therefore, I have made it my goal to get to know you as much as possible. By your friends, our family, the servants and your professors."

Arturia could only roll her eyes, but she listened this far and chose to wait to see if another shoe was going to drop.

"And all this led me to find you the perfect match. He is quite the catch; strong, handsome and doesn't tolerate hogwash. Most importantly, he likes a good challenge. Now, contain your excitement, my dear, but I need you to keep listening.

"I need you to come to Uruk to meet this fellow. I know you have to fly to Japan for the year in order to get credit for your studies, so I managed to convince him to fly with you to Japan. You two can get to know one another better. I'll leave the wedding date completely up to you, too. Bye, love."

With the click of a receiver as Uther hung up her fate was sealed. Arturia didn't get a chance to speak and regretted being courteous to him. It happened so suddenly. As there was no choice in the matter, she had done as her father asked, flying to Uruk to meet the man arranged to be her husband.

As she reflected on her situation, she found no anger or resentment towards her father. For her people, it was simply common to arrange marriages. She had long ago known that, and she found she didn't mind it all that much. It was no different than her sisters, or for Lancelot and Guinevere, or for Diarmuid and Grainne.

So she did not fret over the thought of her father suddenly arranging a marriage. Actually, she had been rather surprised in the beginning by him allowing her to select a husband. She was a little touched by the effort he had put forth. Unfortunately, in those three months she had been unable to contact him or even apologize to him. All this time he had been making arrangements so she would have a perfect spouse.

Little did she know that her fiancé would be this man.

This man whom she was referring to went by the name Gilgamesh Shepherd. She didn't know much about him. The trip to Uruk was filled with suspense and, frankly, boredom.

Sure, she was curious as to who this finance of hers would be like, but she had trusted her father's judgment on character. She was only given a name and description by her father, which wasn't to go by, although he assured her she'd have no difficulty picking him out in a crowd.

Look for a man with blond hair and red eyes, she had scoffed to herself at the time. Really, while red eyes might not be common, there were certainly a few she could list off the top of her head that possessed red eyes. Still, she followed faithfully, blindly even, to her father's words.

Only to meet that man.

In the present day, only moments after taking off and given the green light, Arturia felt her brow furrow, and her mouth set into an even harder line. Seeing her facial expression with one of amusement, that man cocked his head slightly to the side. "I am assuming this arrangement does not please you?"

Resisting the urge to punch the smug look off his face, she instead huffed and turned away from him. "Of course not! But," and this is where she had swallow her pride, "it is also beneath me to go against my father's wishes."

He chuckled darkly. "Yet you think nothing for yourself?" he asked her.

"I do what is best for the whole than the one," her reply was automatic, robotic, almost as if she had practiced that one verse over and over again.

He in turn clicked his tongue in displeasure. What a strange girl. If she wasn't such an interesting thing to watch he might have just lost interest now. However, something was pulling him closer and he wasn't above a challenge. Gilgamesh never turned his nose up to a challenge, and this girl, Arturia, proved to be quite the catch. At least, in entertainment value.

She had an air about her that spoke volumes of who she was. Her presence drew everyone's attention. There was a sense she was a capable leader, with fathomless strength in her movements and speech.

But Gilgamesh carried even more weight. Just looking at a person would render them incapable of speech. His sheer glow seemed to set fireworks off in the bodies of women, both outside and inside the bedroom, clothes or not.

But, upon looking her straight in the eye, her green eyes gave no hint of becoming trapped in his gaze. She had resisted him and continued to resist him. Feeling the faintest hint of a smirk, he offered a challenge, one he hoped she would take;

"Very well then. I have a proposal for you. Become my girlfriend for an entire year and if you haven't fallen head over heels in love with me by then, I will personally cancel the engagement. Do we have a deal?"

Arturia looked at him. Green eyes locking onto wine colored eyes. She scrutinized him closely as if looking for something. Gilgamesh did not move. However, he still bore that slightly twisted grin on his face. If Arturia were to describe that look, it was one of a predator, a wolf.

Eyes narrowing, she stuck out her hand, answering, "Challenge accepted."