The Rise of Arthur Pendragon

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Alia winced at the sharp tone in the Kings voice but did not protest even though she had half a mind to. On one hand she wanted to yell at Arthur and tell him that he couldn't just order her around like that, King or not! But on the other hand she had missed him and Merlin too, despite what had happened, and she was starting to want to go home. For a few seconds she warred with herself. In the end the desire to see Merlin again and make amends with him won. The Druid girl looked up at her friend, who wore an angry yet worried expression, and sighed. Then she slowly nodded and let Arthur help her onto the honey coloured horse before climbing up to sit behind her.

Alia had no idea how far she'd wandered or where they were so she didn't know how long it would take them to get back to Camelot, but she didn't dare ask Arthur. So they rode on in silence, Alia sitting crestfallen on the horse's broad back and Arthur perched stiffly behind her. Alia wished he would say something because the thought of losing Arthur as well as Merlin was killing her. "Arthur please say something.",she whispered to the horses neck. "What do you want me to say?",came Arthurs curt reply. "I don't know." This time there was no answer. After another period of quiet riding, Alia had had enough. "Alright that's it!" With one swift movement she had swung her leg over the horse and slid down it's side, landing smoothly on the grass below. "What on earth do you think you're doing? Get back on this horse this instant!" Arthur was watching her with narrowed eyes, his blond hair was windswept and sticking up in all directions and his armour glinting in the evening glow. Alia thought he almost looked comical, up there on his high horse, with his tousled hair and angry expression. Then she remembered herself and said defiantly; "No." Arthur just stared at her. "I'm not moving until you talk to me properly. Yell at me, scream at me, do whatever you like but just say something!" Arthurs expression went blank and he too, slid off the horse to join Alia on the grassy meadow. "Alright."He spoke softly but deliberately. "Do you have any idea how worried I was, when Merlin came charging into my chambers at an ungodly hour babbling something about 'a huge mistake, what was he thinking, and, she's gone'? It took me half an hour to calm him down enough to get him to tell me what happened. And what do you think I felt when he did?" He spoke like this was an ordinary conversation, like he was asking her what she thought he should have for dinner. "At first of course I was furious with Merlin but then he explained the whole story and I just couldn't stay angry at him. You're my friend Alia, and what Merlin did was wrong but he's my friend too and what you did wasn't right either." At this Alia hung her head in shame. Arthur paused. "What hurt me most was... was that you would just run away like that. No explanation, no note, nothing. Just gone." "I'm sorry",was all the young girl could manage. "I know you are." Arthur gave Alia a small smile and said; "Well then, now we've 'talked' I say we head home. It's not far anymore anyway." Alia nodded and smiled back. As they clambered back onto the horse and continued homewards her thoughts began to wonder. She couldn't wait to get home but, once again, she was dreading her encounter with Merlin.

A/N: Hi guys :) I really want to know what you think about my story so I'd really, really appreciate it if you left a comment... I also know that what Merlin did in the last chapter was very uncharacteristic but I thought it would be good to give him some more space. Please give me your opinions everyone!! I really want to make my story as interesting and exiting as I can.