Profound Bond

title of your story

The next day, Bella set out to speak with Arthur. When she got to the door, she paused. She was worried. What if Arthur was still upset with her? What if he were to yell again? But Bella had decided to do this, and she would not back down.

 “Enter,” Arthur’s voice said from inside as soon as Bella knocked. She opened the door and stepped inside. Arthur was siting at his desk, a quill in his hand and looking up to see his visitor. Only when he saw who had just entered his room, did he suddenly have an interest in his work in front of him.

“Arthur, we need to talk,” said Bella, looking at the floor. Arthur’s head stayed down too. “I’ve come to say sorry. I shouldn’t have spoken out of turn.” Arthur looked up immediately after she said this. He put his quill down and walked across the room, closer to Bella.

 “No, I’m the one who should be sorry, I should not have shouted at you,” he said to Bella.

“And I shouldn’t have shouted at you ever,” Bella said, looking at Arthur, “You are the Prince after all.”

They stayed like that for some time, just looking into each other’s eyes, when Arthur spoke, “Do you want to go hunting with me?” he asked, remembering Bella’s love for hunting.

“Yes, I would like that,” Bella said happily as she walked out of the room, “Let me have ten minutes to get changed. I’ll meet you in the courtyard?”

Arthur smiled and nodded.

~~~~

As Bella went around the corner, she collided right into a knight.

“Hello, Leon,” Bella said, realizing it was an old friend, “How are you?”

“I’m great,” said Sir Leon, smiling just as big as Bella.

“I have to go, but we’ll talk later,” Bella said as she walked away. Leon waved her a goodbye. Once the horses were ready, and Bella had changed into suitable hunting clothes, Bella, Arthur and his manservant Merlin rode out of the castle together, and into the Darkling Woods.

Bella didn’t know why Arthur had chosen this place, as it was the place that Uther had found her seven years previously. Once they had found a good spot to put the horses, they hopped down from them and started to walk along with their hunting gear. Both Bella and Arthur were equipped with crossbows.

“Arthur,” said Bella, looking around and feeling her bad memories crushing in on her, “Why did you bring us here of all places?”

“It’s the closest to Camelot,” Arthur said, turning towards her, “And it’s where we’ll find the best game, don’t you remember?”

Bella just nodded her head.

“Are you alright?” Merlin asked. Bella looked at him. She took a deep breath.

“Seven years ago…” She began to say in a whisper to Merlin, but just couldn’t finish her sentence. Arthur overheard her, and he mentally kicked himself for not remembering earlier.

“I am so sorry, Bella,” he said, putting his hand on her shoulder. Bella stared at the ground. “I had forgotten this is where it happened.”

“Where what happened?” Merlin questioned.

“Do you want to return to Camelot?” Arthur asked, ignoring Merlin and focusing on Bella, who was beginning to tear up. He rubbed her arm sympathetically.

“Could we?” Bella asked, managing a smile and wiping her tears with the end of her sleeve. Arthur and Merlin nodded together. As they approached the horses, the trees surrounding them became quiet very abruptly. Merlin glanced around suspiciously, as if he knew what was about to happen. Arthur knew that something wasn’t right either. Bella, who had not noticed any strange disturbances, was preparing to mount her horse. Arthur trod over to her quietly and put his arm around her.

“Bella, if anything happens, I want you to ride back to Camelot,” he whispered. “If you hear or see anything, just keep riding. That’s an order.” Bella looked at him uncertainly, wondering what on Earth he meant by that, and was about to argue with him, when an arrow flew straight past her head.

“Bella, do as I told you!” Arthur yelled and Bella jumped onto her horse. She rode as fast as she could, but stopped when she heard a pained cry.  She knew exactly whom it belonged to. She turned the horse around and pulled out her crossbow, getting it ready to fire. When she reached the fight, Arthur had a knife to his throat and a deep looking cut on his right leg. Merlin was nowhere to be seen.  Bella was aiming her bow at Arthur’s captor, when the cold tip of a knife pressed against her back. She lowered her weapon slowly.

“Look who we have here,” a rough voice grunted from behind her. Bella could smell his awful stench. He smelled of ale and other unpleasant substances. “Who should we keep then, Kelvin?” he asked. “The Prince of Camelot… or this lovely thing?”

The man holding Arthur chuckled and grinned a disgusting smile. Arthur struggled in his arms, but winced when the man held the knife closer to him.

“Now, now,” said the man behind Bella, “We wouldn't want anyone to hurt themselves, would we?”

Bella suddenly found the courage to speak up, “If you're going to kill us, we should at least know your names,” she said.

“The name’s Gill and he’s Kelvin,” the awful smelling one replied, gesturing his weapon towards his friend. Arthur stared at Bella, then at Kelvin’s hand that held the knife to his neck. In the one instant that Gill’s knife was absent form Bella’s back, she brought her crossbow up again and fired it straight at Arthur’s captor. The arrow pierced right through Kelvin’s hand and he cried in agony, releasing Arthur from his grip. The prince snatched Kelvin’s blade up from the ground and spun around, killing Kelvin nice and quickly.

Meanwhile, Bella had troubles of her own. Gill was charging at her. Bella jumped backwards from her horse, just in time to dodge Gill’s attack. He turned around, annoyance and anger apparent on his face. With a yell, he charged once again, his eyes flaring with rage and dead set on Bella as his next kill.