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Celyn and his men were lead into the main hall where he had been told the king and the other courtiers were waiting. Usually Celyn was greeted in the courtyard by his host before being led inside, but he wasn't that surprised. He'd heard several things about King Olaf, and a lot more about his daughter Vivian. She was supposed to a beauty - even Ifan said so. He'd also heard that many men had tried to...how was the best way to word it...try their luck. None of them had succeeded. Not that that mattered to Celyn. He was here to see the world, not try and seduce some silly princess. In his experience princesses were spoilt and ill-tempered (especially his sisters) so he had no desire at all to be anything other than a passing acquaintance.

If it was entirely up to him, he wouldn't be here anyway. He just wanted to travel not spend his life in a different court. They were all the same and full of the same mindless people and the same mindless conversation. But they couldn't travel through Lyonesse without having an audience with the king so he was forced to present himself. His father had told him to try to act as an ambassador while he was away. As a general rule Sugales never had that much to do with the other kingdoms of Albion and apparantly it was up to Celyn to change this - no pressure then.

The king and Vivian were already waiting for them. Olaf looked surpsingly welcoming - Celyn had heard rather a lot about him too - and Vivian...well. She was a beauty, he would give her that, but she looked like a lot of effort. Even so, he was of an optimistic nature and he wasn't going to get out of a meeting now, so he might as well make the most of it. "Your Highness," he bowed before Olaf and on standing up continued, "It is an honour to be invited here." He then turned to Vivian, "My lady," and bowed again. Here we go...

Again, apologies for the wait.

Hmm. That was a good question. Celyn couldn't actually list all the places he had been. Half of the time he didn't realise where he had been until he left. It was just wandering around really and finding himself in villages and forests which were all much of a muchness. It was only places like Camelot - big, busy, living places - that left an impression on him. "Sugales is on the west coast so my men and I simply walked east." He explained. This was probably the most detailed answer he could give at the moment. Iwan would know all the places they'd been to and could probably list them from the top of his head, but he'd wandered off somwhere. "I can't recall an Escetia. But then I can't recall a lot of places. They all blend it into one."

Celyn raised his eyebrows at her insult, a smile on his face. Well, she had told him to ask. He was still surprised to find a fellow royal, but he thought he was hiding this rather well. He supposed the last thing she needed was some gawping prince. She'd probably had more than her fair share of that. This certainly wasn't a revelation that he had been expecting when they had first started their conversation, and he was rather surprised by how casual she was being. Perhaps she was surprised as he was at fnding another hiding royal but was hiding it well.

She had yet to explain why she had been keeping her status a secret, which made Celyn both suspicious and curious. He hadn't been declaring his own status as soon as they'd started talking, but she seemed more guarded than he had been. She obviously had an interesting story, and one he was rather eager to hear but he wasn't going to just ask her. She may have told him that she was royalty but that didn't mean she trusted him, and he couldn't blame her. There were several reasons why someone would lie about who they were. Instead he followed suit and raised his own tankard. "The twisted and amusing ways of happenstance." He repeated and took a swig. "Or maybe it's fate." He added with a wink. Personally he didn't believe in fate, but it could provoke an amusing reaction from her.

Celyn should have returned her comment about being able to open the door with his own, but he didn't. Instead he just smiled. She was making the effort for him, and although he'd told her time and time again that she didn't have to, he did appreciate it. It was times like this that reminded him how brave she was. Even now she wouldn't let the world know there was anything wrong, she just carried on with it.

Now that they were inside he began to feel more relaxed. Maybe it was the alcohol. Whatever it was, he was glad they could sit down. It might give them the oppurtunity to have a proper conversation about everything. He knew no matter how Caitrin tried to act she wasn't fine at all. Normally he let her get on with it - she wouldn't take any advice he offered anyway, and who was he to question someone else's coping mechanisms? But this was important.

Rather selfishly, he remind himself that it affected him. He had to sit here and tell her everything was going to be alright, and watch her fall apart over another man, all the while hiding his own feelings. Ah yes. His own feelings. Because everything wasn't complicated enough without him having to be in love with Caitrin. Of all the people in the world, he had to fall in love with her, and then watch someone else break her heart. It was times like these he wished he didn't love her at all, he wished she was nothing more than a good friend. He could sit here and offer advise and try and help her through everything without thinking that she could be happy with him, and that no one would ever deserve her because she was everything exciting and adventurous about life.

"It's Griff, Celyn. He's over there."

For a moment or two, Celyn just stared rather blankly at Caitrin. He'd been too absorbed in his own thoughts to really listen to what she was saying. He remained almost completely still, trying to work out just how he felt about this. Well, first there was the obvious confusion. It was one hell of a coincidence. He didn't want to turn around, because he'd see Griff, and he'd probably look happy and Celyn would be even more angry at him. But he did turn around, fists already clenched. "What the hell is he doing here?"

How the man could just sit there looking so damn pleased with himself was beyond him. Did he not realise how much damage he had caused? Well, if he did he probably didn't care. Griff, Celyn thought, had always been self-obsessed so it was no surprise that he wouldn't give a damn about what he'd done to Caitrin. Well Celyn did, and he wasn't just going to sit there and do nothing.

"I'll be back in a moment," he muttered to Caitrin, not really concerned with whether she heard or not before leaving his seat and making his way over to Griff. He didn't know whether the man had spotted them or not. Celyn wouldn't be surprised if Griff was deliberately ignoring them. It would just prove Celyn's opinion of him correct. He approached him rather slowly, not wanting to draw any attention to himself, well not yet anyway. Once he reached the man he wouldn't care about whether he was making a scene or not. Eventually he reached him. Either Griff was really good at ignoring people, or he was too unobservant to notice him. Celyn didn't particularly care which one it was. "Griff? Is that you?" He smiled down at the still seated man, but didn't give him time to answer before he pulled him by his shirt out of his chair.

"C-Celyn?" Griff hadn't been entirely sure what was happening until he was now face to face with the man. What on earth was he doing here? And why was he holding onto his shirt? Needless to say, Griff was confused. "What are you-"

Celyn didn't give him time to finish his answer before he let go off the man and punched him squarely in the jaw. Griff staggered backwards, managed to trip over the chair, and fell rather unceremoniously on the floor. Celyn didn't notice this, however, he was too busy shaking his hand. Who knew punching people in the face hurt so much?

It was one of the few occasions that Celyn did not find himself followed by Ifan and his father’s guards, so he was taking the opportunity to have a quiet walk and try to gather his thoughts. There was something troubling him, something that he could try and talk to Ifan about, but he doubted his companion would understand. Celyn didn’t understand it himself so there was little likelihood anyone else would. He wandered through the forest, taking his time in order to prolong his separation from the others. He still hated the fact that his father didn’t trust him to look after himself. He was a grown man – he didn’t need guards following him around all the time. But he was alone now, that was the important thing.

The forest was quiet, but then it was big enough, there could be hundreds of people wandering around just as he was and he wouldn’t find them. Annoyingly, the forest reminded him of Caitrin. It was where they had first met and contained some of his fondest memories of the young woman. After a few moments he realised there was a small smile forming on his lips. That wouldn’t do. He quickly dispelled all thoughts of her from his mind. This was why he’d wanted a walk in the first place – to clear his head, not to fill it with confusing thoughts.

He sighed and continued walking at a slightly quicker pace. His plan didn’t seem to be going all that well, which was very irritating. He’d come to Camelot to have an adventure, he was just getting confused. As he walked into the forest he saw what looked like a young girl leaning against a tree. Why was the forest always full of young women by themselves? Didn’t they have places to be? He approached slowly, not wanting to stare the girl. Celyn wasn’t entirely sure, but she looked rather annoyed. Hmm. “Excuse me? Are you alright?”

Apologies for such a long wait. It’s also nice and sectiony...

Yes, he would figure something out, he always did. Trying to think of ways to get rid of his guards was quickly becoming his main purpose in life. Honestly, how was he supposed to enjoy himself with them breathing down his neck? It was ridiculous, and just proved how little faith his father had in. If his father really thought that he couldn’t cope with having to look to look after himself, how on earth did he think he was fit to be king? But that was not something he wanted to dwell on. He’d left Sugales so he could forget about his responsibilities and the inevitably of his future, not so he could sit in taverns and be miserable about the whole thing. Besides, it wouldn’t be very interesting for Yassia to have to sit there while he complained about things he couldn’t change anyway. “Well it keeps me busy.” He replied with a shrug, it probably shouldn’t be such a casual topic for him, but even so. Trying to get the guards off his back was a daily occurrence now, although he was beginning to run out of new ideas.

”Because then you won’t have legs left to run to me?”

“Well that’s one reason,” Celyn replied with a laugh before taking another swig from his tankard. In desperate situations he could always crawl back, but that was hardly as gallant an image as he’d be hoping for. And it would probably be more bother than it was worth – that was no to say that he was not enjoying Yassia’s company, but should this situation arise she wouldn’t be the first person on his life to drag himself towards. He knew exactly who that person was, even though she wouldn’t be much help. She’d probably just laugh at him, and make some comment and tell him how much of an idiot he had been. He couldn’t help but smile at the thought, embarrassing as it was. These days he found himself thinking about the redhead increasingly more often, and each time she would have the same effect on him. He picked up his tankard again – hmm. If he was going to start thinking about Caitrin de Archer again he was going to need more ale.

Celyn automatically leaned forward when she asked him whether he could keep a secret. He had thought it a little odd when she used the word coincidence, hopefully she was about to tell him why. His curiosity was well and truly piqued. The signet ring was certainly something he had not been expecting. His eyes briefly narrowed while he tried to work out exactly what it was, before widening – eyebrows rising – as he came to a conclusion. Surely he was wrong? But then now that he thought about it, she didn’t carry herself like a commoner should. He should think it was impossible, but then he was living proof that it wasn’t, and he liked to believe nothing was entirely impossible. No, this was interesting, exciting, almost. He tried to keep the grin from his face, such a reaction probably wasn’t appropriate. “Why do you speak of coincidences?”

It shouldn't matter quite so much when she links her arms with his, but it does, despite everything he's told himself. He's being ridiculous (and embarrassing because really, who makes this much of a fuss about a silly little thing like this?), and he's only going to end up feeling worse. But it does matter. It matters to him. She trusts him, and she enjoys being with him, and that's worth...well, it's not entirely possible to put it into words. But it's there, and that's what's important.

Celyn laughs at her words, feeling a lot happier now that the mood has been lightened. He's never really asked her about Griff, or about what happened and it's not in her nature to throw her feelings at people, but he knows that when she's quiet and has that look about her, the one that you can only see if you know it's there, he knows that she's thinking about him. Naturally it hurts. It hurts more than anything to know that the woman he loves is thinking about someone else. He'd learnt to live with it, to pretend that he was happy for her (and some part of him was genuinely happy for her), but now...he hates the fact that she thinks about Griff. He hates the fact that she's still in love with him. Not because he's selfish, not because he thinks she should be thinking about him - the one who stayed - but because she was thinking about a man who couldn't care less about her. She was wasting her life waiting for a man who was never coming back, a man who'd probably forgotten all about her by now. He wanted so much to tell her that Griff wasn't worthy any of this, that she was so much better than this, that she could move on and find happiness, but he couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to say any of that because he knew as soon as he started he'd tell her everything, and ruin everything too.

So he didn't. He repressed his emotions as he always did and raised his eyebrows at her, trying to find some normality again. "Oh you have, have you?" Needless to say, he wasn't convinced at all. "What about that time we ended up walking into that weird market and almost being sold a goat? Weren't we lost then? Or did you just decide useful directions would be boring?" He thought that was a rather good argument, but now doubt Caitrin would find something to turn into proof of her own correctness. She had an annoying habit of doing that. To at least try to attempt that he continued talking - although she would only interrupt him if she felt the need. "Is that it over there?" They were coming to the outskirts of the forest now, and up ahead he could see the small building that looked rather tavern-like to him. Having said that, he'd thought that once before. It hadn't been fun. "I ask because you know exactly where we are, obviously."

If truth be told - and only then it would only be told internally, there was no way he was going to say this to Caitrin, she had a high enough opinion of himself already - he was rather glad he didn't waste the oppurtunity. That was not because he particularly wanted to be attacked in a bush by an angry redhead, but because it then led to introductions. It also didn't mean that he was in any great rush to repeat it. Once was more than enough for any young man, so it was certainly, without any question of a doubt, enough for Celyn. He could see that Caitrin was trying to flirt with him, which surprisingly wasn't an unpleasant as he had first thought. It was with this in mind that he chose is answer carefully. He didn't want to ruin her fun but he also didn't want to give her anything else to tease him with. "Well maybe next time you can do the dragging." Logically, he doubted that she would be able to drag him anywhere, but that pointing that out would probably be a mood-killer.

He was still unconvinced that the east was better than the west. The north east definitely wasn't better. He'd never been there but from what he had heard it was dark and cold and there was very little rain. Celyn happened to like the rain. He liked the smell and the sound and the feel of the ground afterwards. "On the contrary," he began, putting on his best authoritive voice because this was important business, "I think you'll find the west is better because it's where I'm from." It wasn't the strongest of arguments, but then it was the same as hers so if she pulled it apart she was doing the same to her own.

Celyn doubted that anything with Caitrin could become dull. She may be quite an acquired taste, but she was certainly not dull. Her face, for instance, was becoming a source of entertainment as she kept pulling it while she thought. He didn't know anyone with quite so animated features.

"Well we could always just let ourselves become lost in the forest."

Now there was a suggestion he couldn't disagree with. It was his opinion that people should get lost more often as that was when interesting things tended to happen. He liked the feeling of not knowing where he was, the excitement and surprise of the unknown and he'd heard stories of this forest. While it was highly unlikely that anything that interesting was going to happen, there was still that small glimmer of hope. All in all, it was a rather good idea, which was a surprise as it came from a woman.

He shouldn't be surprised that Caitrin thought him "too serious" to try and catch her, that had been the way he'd been presenting himself. But the reality was that he probably wasn't too serious for anything (which is perhaps why he had so many arguments with his father). Well, that wasn't strictly true. He was serious enough to feel embarrassed about running through a forest holding a herb basket. But Caitrin was already running off and there wasn't anywhere to put it to keep it safe. Oh well. It would be a first, and wasn't that what he was always looking for? With a roll of his eyes, but also grin on his face he started running after her.

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It wasn’t often that Celyn had quite this effect on people. Usually they didn’t recognise him, he was, after all travelling like a commoner (or trying to anyway) so people assumed he was another face. Those who did recognise him, however, showed him the proper respect that his birth gave him. It therefore took Celyn by surprise that not only did this woman recognise him, but she also refused to bow or address him properly. A look of confusion found its way across his face. She looked familiar, but he couldn’t quite place her. This was annoying, and slightly embarrassing. He hoped she wasn’t anyone important, but then if she was then she wouldn’t be wandering around by herself. The fact that he was currently doing just that wasn’t the point. He was the exception.

“Yes, me, hello.” He spoke rather awkwardly, playing for time rather than trying to strike up a conversation. He knew he knew her, that was the frustrating part. And then he noticed her hand. “Ah.” Now he remembered. She was the girl his father had punished. It seemed like years ago, back when he was in Sugales, still under his father’s thumb. His whole life had changed since then, he’d certainly changed since then. And yet here she was, stood right in front of him and reminding him that no matter where he went there would always be his father, Sugales, responsibility, restrictions. A wave of guilt washed over him, memories from that day becoming fresh and clear in his mind. She hadn’t deserved to be treated the way she had. In truth, Celyn didn’t know the whole situation. He hadn’t really been paying attention until his father became involved. All he knew was that the woman had been protecting a child, and for that she had lost her finger.

For a moment or two he just stared at her, not sure at all what he should say. It was obvious from her expression that she didn’t hold him in any regard, which was more than understandable, but it wasn’t him who had sentenced her. It was his father. “He was wrong, you know.” He was still speaking rather awkwardly, and now standing awkwardly too. It was that sort of situation. “My father, he was wrong to punish you.” His words were hardly going to make everything alright, but at least it was a start.

Celyn wasn’t entirely sure whether Yassia was being serious or not. As they had only met a few moments before it was impossible to tell if she was joking. And if she wasn’t joking, would he ask her to do it? She clearly knew what she was talking about, or if she didn’t she was good at pretending. His guards would probably be perfectly safe. It was certainly a tempting proposition, but Celyn had started to enjoy the thrill of hiding and thinking of new ways to get away from them. It wouldn’t be half as fun if they were physically unable to catch him. He was still grinning, but it had left his eyes as he tried to determine what exactly they were speaking about, whether this was all just hypothetical. After a moment or two he decided that she wasn’t being serious, and he was being ridiculous. “One day I may just hold you to that.” He replied, not wanting to ruin the light-heartedness of their conversation, but also trying to make it clear that he didn’t actually want his guards being poisoned.

Oh he wouldn’t come back complaining, she could be sure of that. Whatever happened – even if he lost both his legs, it would still be an adventure. That was the exciting thing about life, not knowing what was going to happen, not knowing that this was it, your time was up. Obviously this was something he wasn’t hoping for in the Forest of Balor – that was something he’d quite like to survive. But even if he didn’t, even death was an adventure, perhaps the biggest one. “Oh I won’t.” He reassured her with an easy smile. Celyn ap Llewellyn never ran to anyone, especially if he did end up losing both his legs.

Her reaction was certainly amusing. He hadn’t been expecting her to just shrug off this new information, but even so, it was rather an overreaction. “Why would I lie about that?” He asked, still half-laughing at her reaction. It was probably a rather obvious answer, after all, no one in Camelot knew him. It would only be too easy for any imposters. “Those guards,” he said, pointing at them behind him with his thumb, “They work for my father, the king. He wasn’t quite so pleased about my plans.” He shrugged casually. It was an often told story, and one he was in no huge rush to go through again. There were only so many times he could tell his life story with any enthusiasm. And then a word in her speech caught his attention. “Coincidence?” He frowned, eyebrows furrowing, “Why would this be a coincidence?”