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No way he was blaming this all on her. She had been flirting with him during the day but that was just her way, it wasn’t supposed to lead anywhere! He couldn’t just blame her for it, it took two to tangle. The blood on the sheets was still sinking in. They could assume they had done something last night, but that just confirmed it and that was only going to lead to more problems. She put her face in her hands again, drenched in fear for a few moments; what if she was pregnant? His words just annoyed her, and she looked up to him, her cheeks now red as she tried not to let herself become too distressed, “Blood, why what did you think it would be.” She snapped and put her head back in her hands; this wasn’t happening.

She shook her head defiantly, starting to get slightly distressed. She was annoyed at herself enough without him blaming her for everything that had happened. “Why the hell would I drug you?” She directed at him angrily, “I didn’t drug you.” She said firmly and scowled at him, what had he done? Clearly he couldn’t remember anything either which just made this even worse. How could they both just not remember anything. “I don’t remember anything,” She was starting to sound more distressed now, she knew what must have happened, but the fact she couldn’t remember any of it just made it all more distressing and she was panicking. He could have forced her or anything.

She rolled her eyes, he chose now to become all private? He could have done that last night and neither of them would be in this stupid mess. She complied though, pulling her dress closer towards her, she couldn’t slip it on yet because she wasn’t looking at him but he still had a perfect view. She felt sick, and not just because of the amount of alcohol she assumed she had consumed the night before. She wanted to cry but didn’t, how could she had been that stupid?

Caitrin hadn’t really expected Griflet to take her seriously and her eyes widened slightly as he took his shirt off. He was almost too confident in doing it and she let her gaze wander over his flesh; he had practically invited her to do so, so she was hardly in the wrong was she? She grinned a little bit, defiantly enjoying what she saw; she was allowed a bit of fun some of the time. But now he was expecting her to return the favour, did he honestly think that it would be that easy? “I never said I was fair.” She pointed out and then leaned in close to him, giving him a small peck on the lips, “You’d have to give me a better reason than your being here to even put the thought in my head.” The thought she was of course referring to was that of removing her dress. Was he honestly just expecting her to take it off, in the middle of a tree?

Caitrin wrinkled her nose as she thought about her encounter with Lucan. She had flirted with him yes, but that wasn’t because she found him particularly attractive, it was just her way; that was what she did best after all. She hadn’t liked how he had generalised her into his idea of what an ‘easy’ noblewoman would be like. Or at least that was what she had thought he had been saying. She was more strong willed than most women at court, and she certainly wasn’t just going to let her emotions run away with her in the case of Griflet. She wasn’t going to fall for him; she was Caitrin de Archer, she never fell for anyone. However, when she looked up at him, and she felt the familiar flutters in her stomach she wondered how much longer she could keep telling herself that.

Caitrin sighed softly and Griflet’s question and gave a short frown, “What gave you that idea?” She asked sarcastically and looked down at the ground, replaying the conversation with Lucan. She was sure she was not just one of Griflet’s conquests, and if she was, then she certainly would not allow herself to be conquered by any man, not just the one in front of her. “The conversation was certainly a bit...heated.” Yes that was the word, and to say how angry she had been with Lucan, she was being incredibly conservative now and keeping her emotions in check. “He told me I was just another of your conquests.” Now that came out a lot quieter than it had meant to, but it had been the main theme of the argument, and he might as well hear it from her lips rather than his brothers.

Turning on her side, she was glad to see Griflet had copied her actions. Her gaze dropped a little bit; he still had no shirt on but she didn’t blush. Why should she? Instead she was now just thinking about her father, his words of disapproval ringing through her ears. He never seemed to approve of anything which she did, and that was a fact which was consistent right from her early childhood. She had always been the one to be shouted at, and she had always managed to get herself into some form of trouble. She took the letter back off him as he finished reading it and slipped it inside one of her pockets so her darling Uncle could read it later.

She smiled as he just simply told her to ignore her father. She honestly wished it was that easy, she did usually ignore him but he was always there in her thoughts. Then again, it was a heck of a lot easier to ignore him here than when she had been living with him. That had just been hell. “I usually do.” She replied confidently, but then gave a soft sigh, “But he remains determined to try and get me up the aisle again, whether I want to or not.” She hadn’t realised what she was saying until it had been said, and by that point there was no real reason to regret it being said. Yes she had once been engaged, but it was nothing to get too excited about.

His arm around her waist just made her feel secure for a moment, like she could just ignore her father and the rest of her family, and just stay here, with him. She shuffled forwards a bit, slipping one of her arms around his side and grinned as she ran a finger on the exposed skin of his back. She laughed at his comment about getting disowned but nodded all the same; she supposed if she hadn’t got herself sent here then she wouldn’t have ever met Griflet. “I didn’t get disowned, but I was sort of sent here.” She wrinkled her nose again, it had been her Uncle’s or another suitor and although she hadn’t jumped at the prospect of coming to Camelot it had been preferred to another suitor she knew nothing about. “But your right, good things do happen.” She was still running her fingers along the flesh of his back in a rather absent minded way, simply smiled at him for a few moments, thinking that there was no place she would rather be right now than here, with Griflet.

Caitrin couldn’t help but flicker her eyes over his shirt, but blinked the thought of him without his shirt on out of her head as quickly as it came. She cocked a small laugh at his words, knowing now that he wasn’t serious; therefore her jealousy had been misplaced. Caitrin felt slightly relieved, and then felt silly because she shouldn’t be worrying about him running off and finding someone else because he was here, sat in a tree with her and just her. She regained her confidence which had faltered slightly previously and grinned over at him, “You can if you want.” She teased softly and shrugged, “But I will not be returning the favour.” She leaned forwards to poke him softly on the nose and just smiled at him for a few moments. Yes, this was more her style, over confident and flirty, and she would make sure it stayed that way.

The ground was soft beneath her gown, and it was at least a change as she had been setting up in the tree for quite a while before Griflet had arrived, and at least now there wasn’t the possibility of her falling and breaking her neck. She scowled slightly as she grabbed her fathers letter from her side again and brushed her eyes over it. She was sick of her whole family trying to dictate her life. Her father had tried to marry her off to some idiot nobleman she had never met once before, and she would be damned if she was going to let it happen again. She had found his comment about her conduct rather amusing, her Uncle didn’t know the half of what she had, and did get up to.

She watched Griflet as he climbed down the tree after her, less gracefully but she supposed he was less practised than her. She turned her head towards him as he spoke about how much he hated his family as well. Oh god, that was just another thing altogether wasn’t it. She supposed Griflet was ignorant of the fact she had met his brother Lucan the other day in the castle as he hadn’t brought it up. “I met your brother, Lucan, in the castle the other day.” She didn’t look particularly happy when she told Griflet, but she had disliked Lucan’s attitude the second she had met him. He had tried to tell her she was just like some lovesick girl running after Griflet. She had feelings for him, yes, and she did feel like there was honestly something between them, but lovesick was something she was not.

She put her eyes away from him at the moment, flickering her eyes over her Uncle’s manor in slight disgust. Of course he had probably been all but too happy to report back to his brother about his daughters behaviour. It might shock them all but she didn’t care much for their advancements, hadn’t they all already got their lot from her sisters and brothers who had been married off in haste? She wanted to marry someone she truly cared about, when the time finally demanded it. Griflet’s touch brought her attention back to him and she blinked slightly, the anger at her father was now mixed with an odd sense of longing for Griflet’s touch. It was a strange combination and one she hadn’t really experienced before. At his question she looked at him seriously and then heaved herself up so she was leaning on the lower part of her arm, raising her shoulders off the grass, “My Uncle thought it was his duty to write to my father to tell him about us.” She said quickly and snatched the letter from the grass, “Read it, I don’t mind, it is about you anyway.” She half thrust the letter into Griflet’s safekeeping and leaned back into the grass once more. The letter concerned him mostly, well apart from the dowry, but that was of little consequence to him really was it? What would he care about that?

A few hours ago she wouldn’t have thought that Vortigern was capable of being gentle with anything, from his words to his touch. Now they were both here, finding solace after the whole days events in alcohol and each other; or perhaps the first had just accidently led onto the second. That was probably more likely. She was sure she was going to regret this come the morning, but she didn’t regret it now and she felt like that was all that mattered for the time being.

The fact she had arched her back meant that it left an opening for him to slip his hand behind her back. She felt the top hem of her dress loosen slightly but the material did not shift and she moved one hand to the fastenings at the top of his shirt; why should he be the one to have all the fun anyway? She rested her cheek against his head as he was preoccupied with the skin at the top of her shoulder. “Obviously.” She said softly, raising her spare hand to run along his collarbone and along the flesh around his neckline, trying to take in as much of him as she could before the night was over. She wanted to enjoy this night, and this moment. Her head was still light with alcohol, but that didn’t matter now, all that mattered was the man in front of her, for now anyway. “Now where else do you have to search?” She asked softly, her suggestive tone too overt to be disguised as anything else.

The whole day had been one long ordeal, and this was just the last in a long list. She was feeling too aroused, like she needed his touch. She had never needed any man, and had never wanted to. She found herself no longer caring if it was the wine which was causing her actions, she was enjoying herself too much to care. She was wrapped up in so many foreign emotions that she wasn’t sure if it was just the alcohol which was causing her head to spin. She opened her eyes to meet his, as their lips brushed together and the urge to close the gap in-between their lips was unbearable but she still had a small ounce of self control and she stayed back.

She didn’t answer him as he spoke, her eyes felt heavy for a moment as she raised them to him. The room, which before had felt deathly cold, was now feeling too warm completely and she was sure it wasn’t a result of the small flickering candle in the corner. His hands were caressing her side and she gasped slightly as she felt his hand on her thigh. Her heart was racing now and she felt slightly weak at the knees. “I am sure they did not look there.” She said, smiling and letting out a small huff off a laugh. Her breathing was becoming quicker with the anticipation, she felt as if she had simply run to this moment and once again she rested her head on the wood behind her, engulfed with emotion for the man in front of her.

The man in front of her looked suitably surprised as he spun around. Well she hadn’t intended her entry to be particularly friendly. Her eyes looked to his hands straight away; he wasn’t wearing a weapon so he wasn’t robbing her, or if he was he was very bad at it. So what on earth was he doing here?! She stepped towards him and closed the door behind her, he wasn’t going anywhere until his intentions became clear. Was he trying to rob her? At least he had taken her circlet off, now at least she could take him seriously. She didn’t want to laugh but she couldn’t help a small giggle, “You were, what on earth were you doing?”

She stepped in front of the door again but didn’t lower the knife. He was introducing himself, he was Arthur’s servant? She did lower the knife, as she was sure that if he was truly Arthur’s servant then he meant her no harm. However it was still in her hand; just in case. She looked to her dresser where there was a small vial which hadn’t been there before. She replaced the knife at her belt, he couldn’t have known that she had asked for the tonic unless he had been bringing it, so she felt more at ease. She bobbed her head, “I am Lady Caitrin de Archer.” She replied softly to his introduction and held out her hand for the small vial he now clutched in his hands. She needed to get rid of this headache desperately.

She stood back towards the door as he started to leave; oh no, he didn’t think it would be that easy did he? She raised her eye brows at him and folded her arms, “Did you just call Arthur a prat?” She asked carefully, half laughing, who did this servant think he was? He probably didn’t know the close friendship she had with the prince, but she was sure there was some explanation. “I assume he doesn’t know about your fascination with women’s jewellery?”

Even though Caitrin had arrived in Camelot last night to spend a few nights, she still had the headache which she had left her Uncle’s estate with. He had been shouting at her about some suitor she had fought off until he had withdrawn every comment about her and had left her life altogether. She didn’t care, she wouldn’t have married him anyway, which was her point to her Uncle who obviously hadn’t seen it that way. She therefore, because they both needed their space, had sought lodgings at the castle for a few nights. She was always welcome in Camelot so it hadn’t been that much of an inconvenience.

Caitrin had been down in the markets all morning seeing what they had to offer. Although she enjoyed the ride from her Uncle’s estate from Camelot it was a small relief to know that she could just go up to her room instead of travel anywhere further. She had a book up in her room she was intending to finish off this afternoon, well that was the plan anyway. She hadn’t actually purchased anything at the markets, she had hoped that the fresh air would have dampened her headache; it hadn’t. She had already sent a servant to ask Gaius to prepare something for her headache that morning, so perhaps it had already been delivered.

She hitched her skirts as she climbed the spiral stairs to her chambers. Today she was wearing her long blue dress which showed her to be every inch the noblewoman. She had left her jewellery in her room, it was secure enough there; or at least she hoped it was. As she reached her room she stopped as she noticed the door was slightly ajar. She was certain she had closed it. She had her small dagger at the belt at her waist so she wielded it tightly in her hand as she inched the door open slowly. Poking her head around the door she saw there was someone stood with their back to her, looking in the mirror. She faltered, what on earth was he doing? “Who on earth are you?” She demanded, still gripping her small dagger and pointing it in his direction. She was looking in the mirror to see if she could spot who it was but then she saw something more disturbing, “Hang on, are you wearing my circlet?”

Caitrin was surprised she could keep on her feet, the alcohol had made her light headed and she felt as if she stopped concentrating that she would fall over. She didn’t though, much to her surprise she managed to keep on her own two feet, and even managed to just stay still instead of swaying which was a small sort of achievement. The room was only lit by a few candles on the wall, so it was for the most part rather dark in the room, but it was light enough for Caitrin to see Vortigern as he looked outside the door. What on earth was he looking for? She decided it would be better not to ask, and he was soon back inside the door and she heard the soft click of the lock. Now they were alone.

She watched him silently as he just looked at her, she still stood strong, waiting for wherever he chose to take their conversation next. As he lowered his head, she raised hers to meet him until their lips were at the point where they should merge. She could feel her heart beat in her chest, it wasn’t with fear, it was with the passion and anticipation for what was going to happen next. She gasped slightly as his arms took hold of her and spun her around until her back hit the wall. Caitrin felt no pain; she hadn’t been slammed into it after all.

His hands were now resting above her shoulders and she caught his eye line again, watching him carefully as he grinned at her. She wasn’t so drunk as to miss what his words meant, and for a moment she was quite nervous. Did he intend to have her virtue by the end of the night? At the moment she felt such a burning desire for his touch she didn’t care, but she was relatively new to this game. She didn’t falter though, she probably would have been distressed at anything like this if she was in her right frame of mind, but she wasn’t, so all she did was nod in agreement. To get into role she smirked back at him and raised one of her arms to rest diagonally across her chest, hiding it from his view; she knew her dress was leaving little to the imagination anyway. She then looked back up to Vortigern and raised her lips so that they were the closest they had been without yet meeting and smirked at him, “And how exactly do you intend to steal it?” She shouldn’t be talking about her virtue with such liberty, but she was already too far into this now to want it to stop. She yearned for his touch, even though a few hours ago it would have repulsed her.

As her fingers lingered over his lips she didn’t miss the small smile he gave her. Even in her current state she was still quick enough to notice things like that. She traced small circles on the exposed skin of his neck for a few moments before resting her hand on his shoulder again. “I knew I could make you smile.” She teased softly and just stayed as she was. The warmth of his skin could even be felt through the shirt covering his shoulder, it felt comforting and inviting. Caitrin couldn’t pinpoint the moment she had decided to stop bickering with Vortigern, but she had to say that this was a happy alternative; she was certainly enjoying the experience so far. This was a man who she had been fighting with all afternoon and most of the evening, he had fought her every inch of the way, and it seemed at last they had found their compromise; and it seemed neither of them was about to give it up in a hurry.

Caitrin turned her head slightly as he leaned in towards her, expecting him this time to merge with her lips. But no, he kept her guessing and she flashed him a quick smile before his lips sunk into her cheek. She closed her eyes gently, just focussing on how his lips felt on her flesh. Every touch he gave her just increased her desires for him and she felt it burn through her; wanting some form of release. He was resting just next to her ear and she gave a small shudder of anticipation as he spoke. She knew her head should not be flooded with such thoughts of him, she knew that she should never have been in this situation in the first place but again she decided against reason as she was still burning for his touch. She turned her head to him, which meant that her lips were hovering quite close to his. Instead of merging their lips together she rested her forehead on his for a moment and then raised her hand opening up the palm and indicating for him to take it. “Then I think you have little choice but to show me.” Her voice was little more than a whisper, and she was sure of one thing, she desired him now, and through his actions she knew he desired her as well.