Out of Time

Chapter 23

Merlin was hesitant to approach Danielle. She'd rejected all his advances thus far, and he didn't hold high hopes that she would be any more amenable now. He deeply regretted his actions. Shaking his head, he hated how often he seemed to think that. He seemed to have far too many events in his life he deeply regretted. Why couldn't he simply make better choices? For a man such as himself, he had a great deal of time to accumulate regrets.

She sat at table, determinedly wearing her tunic and braes, even though everyone viewed her as a woman now and Arthur had given her plenty of gowns, much of which was of much finer quality than what she currently wore. She drew a lot of glances in that way, and drove Arthur up a wall. Three times in the last week, Arthur had vented his frustrations with Danielle at him, which only seemed to make Merlin smile, though he tried to hide the expression from his friend.

He felt it was a good sign that the woman could bring him to that point. More importantly, she could do so without making him angry. While frustrated, Arthur seemed more exacerbated than anything else. Not to mention, more determined to have his way than ever. With each refusal, he seemed to try more and more ways to convince her to his way. The stubborn woman didn't relent, of course. The two were well and equally matched, and though his Truth had failed him of late, he felt confident that they would deal well together. With her, he hoped that Arthur would have a chance.

Merlin sat down beside Danielle, keeping enough distance to not have her protest. After a few moments, he spoke. "There are no words sufficient to beg forgiveness for what I did."

Danielle didn't speak. She didn't look at him or in any other way acknowledge his presence. She popped a piece of meat in her mouth, chewing slowly. After swallowing, she finally spoke. "I understand why you did it." Her voice barely drifted to his ears.

"You do?"

"I don't forgive you." She stood, and left her half-finished meal on the table, walking away without another word.

#

Arthur frowned as Danielle stood up from the table, having not finished her meal. She had been eating better the last week. Until she had been officially outed as a woman, he had thought her poor eating habits had been a matter of her becoming sick, but it seemed when she no longer need worry about her secret, her appetite returned with a vengeance. She finished her meals and even at times requested some more. This pleased Arleigh to no end. As it did Arthur.

So when she left the table without finishing the food in front of her, he had to wonder what the reason could be. He looked to Merlin. What had he said? It had been only moments after Merlin sat down that she decided to stand. And now that he thought of it, this hadn't been the first time Danielle had brushed off Merlin's attempts and conversation in the last week.

Arthur stood, and walked up to his friend and mentor, touching his shoulder as he reached him. "Is everything alright?"

Merlin looked up, but didn't say anything at first. He turned back to where Danielle had disappeared to, deep in thought.

Arthur frowned, now fairly confident that his intuition had been spot on. Something had strained the relatively close relationship Merlin and Danielle had shared almost from day one of her presence here.

"I did something I shouldn't have."

Arthur glared, his voice hard. "What did you do?"

Merlin looked up, surprised. "Calm yourself, Arthur."

"You expect me to calm myself?" He didn't raise his voice, cognizant of the people around them, but his anger only grew. "My bride practically ran away from your presence, you tell me you didn't something you shouldn't have, and then you dare tell me to 'calm myself'?"