With All My Heart || Arthur Pendragon

18

Arthur's p.o.v

"Lady Mira, good morning!" I greeted and stopped walking as I passed her.

"Good morning Sire" she smiled warmly and halted in her steps beside me.

"How are you?" I asked.

"Fine, thank you. And you my Lord?".

"Good".

I'd been worried about Mira ever since she'd told me about her Uncle Osric. Every time I saw her I stopped to talk and ask her how she was, if I could that is, I wanted to try and help her feel more comfortable in Camelot after all she'd been through.

"Are you looking for Merlin, Sire?" Mira asked.

"You read my mind" I laughed.

"I saw him in the armoury, he's actually looking for you" she smiled and laughed softly. Her smile always seemed to fill me up with warmth and I forgot about all my worries for just a few moments, the court, Morgana, training, everything. Mira looked beautiful today I noticed. The morning sun shone through the window and made her brown hair look like it had streaks of gold, she wore a very light mint coloured dress that was like the lilac one I'd seen her in when she and Gwaine had been running away from those men. Her blue eyes were bright and when she smiled the corners of them seemed to turn upwards ever so slightly and sometimes it looked like only the sides of her eyes were squinting.

I caught myself before I went any further. When she smiled the corners of her eyes seemed to turn upwards slightly? Why did I notice that?

Her voice dragged me out of my thoughts. "My Lord?".

"Oh, I'm sorry. What were you saying?".

"I was wondering whether you'd be competing in the Jousting Tournament? Gwaine was telling me there would be one in a few weeks".

"Oh yes, I will be" I replied,"Forgive me, I'm tired from the council meeting I was just at".

"We all feel like that sometimes" Mira replied, then she blushed,"Oh, well, not that I would know...after all I've never been to one...a-and you are the head of them of course, so even if I were a-at one i-it would be quite different...". She trailed off, she looked embarrassed.

"Believe me, it's not the most exciting thing in the world" I said trying to save her,"But maybe I'll show you someday, so you can see what it's like".

Mira smiled gratefully at me and then cleared her throat. "Are you training for the tournament yet?" she asked.

"Yes, harder than usual, I think everyone has started to compete with each other in training even though it's not the actual tournament" I answered. That made her laugh and I smiled. "What are you up to this morning?" I went on.

"Just going for a walk, the castle is so big I'm actually able to go for a walk".

"Have you gotten lost since the last time?" I smiled.

"No" she giggled,"Thank you for helping me that time my Lord".

"It was no bother. I've lived here all my life so I know the entire Palace like the back of my hand".

"I knew my home like that" she replied as we started walking towards the armoury.

"What was your home like?" I asked and immediately regretted it. Her smile faded a little. "I'm sorry, that was insensitive".

"No its...its fine" Mira replied and surprisingly she started to tell me,"It was a manor, well kind of a castle, there was a lake beside it and the forest stretched out for miles on one side, on the other you could see all the fields and small houses that people lived in, they rented the land you see. My Father loved it there and he put his heart and soul into it. It was always bright inside and the walls were lined with tapestries and shields, the corridors went everywhere into different rooms, my favourite was a tower. You could see just above the trees and the entire land, it was stunning. It...it isn't like that anymore".

"It sounds beautiful, I'm sorry" I stated.

"Don't be. What happened, happened. No one can change it. We can't turn back time, so we shouldn't dwell on things that are unable to change" she replied.

That was my first experience of learning how wise Mira is.

"Do you really believe that?" I asked quietly, thinking of Morgana,"Don't you sometimes find yourself dwelling on what you could've done differently?". I hadn't realised that I'd actually been myself for once.

"Well, I always think about what I could've done to change things. I don't think it's possible not to do that" she replied.

"Remind me to come to you for advice in the future" I grinned. She laughed but a part of me wasn't joking. I looked at her and for a moment our eyes locked until she looked away.

Why did I feel almost, like I had nerves in my chest, when I looked at her like that?

Eventually we ended up outside in the training grounds where we'd discovered the others, much to my disappointment, we saw Merlin there. Although I'd never admit it to him, Merlin was my best friend, but at that moment I was enjoying spending time with Mira and I knew that once we reached him she'd go.

"Hello again Merlin" Mira greeted.

"Hey Mira" he smiled,"Get lost again?".

"No, I think it was me this time" I grinned.

"Unusual" stated Merlin, he had an amused look on his face.

"Yes, it's your fault. I was looking for you!" I laughed, he did as well.

"Thank you my Lord, I had a nice time" Mira said, turning back to me.

"I should be the one to say thanks, you helped me find Merlin" I replied with a smile which she returned.

"I must return to Gwen, Sire. Good luck with your training".

"Thank you, oh and Mira? Again, please call me Arthur".

"Of course" Mira replied brightly, but she didn't say my name. She curtsied and I bowed my head, she then turned and walked in the opposite direction. I watched and she turned back and smiled at me. Whenever I watched her go she would do that, I liked that. It was kind of a habit almost now, I would wait for her to turn back and smile before walking away. I smiled happily to myself and walked over to Merlin.