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     Arturia had cleaned her wounds outside of the tub, and once she did  that, she sank into the warm water and rested her head on the edge of  the tub, letting the water soothe her muscles and joints

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     Arturia had cleaned her wounds outside of the tub, and once she did that, she sank into the warm water and rested her head on the edge of the tub, letting the water soothe her muscles and joints. She slowly shut her green eyes and sunk in deeper so that the water was up to her chin.

     The words of Diarmuid rushed back into her mind and she felt her heart thump a little faster; as if it was trying to tell her something that she still wanted to ignore. Her cheeks warmed up and she knew that she was already blushing. They were just... very strong words.

     She took a deep breath as she began to scrub herself, letting all the small touches soothe her, to stop her from thinking about something that she would rather not. She missed being submerged in a bath; back when she was in Camelot it was her escape from the world and that was what she wanted to do this time around too. Escape.

     Arturia slipped entirely under the water and held her breath as she opened her eyes. She saw the blurry world past the water and slowly let out her breath in bubbles.

     Love was the hardest thing that she had ever come across; Lancelot had told her that Love was when your heart beat a little faster when you saw someone. Love was when you would say goodbye but never mean it. Love was when you wanted to see that person again. Love was even when her father would tell her that she should be careful when she was going out to battle. Love was when her heart swelled when she saw that person smiling or laughing. Love was something that made you happy, sad, angry and grateful.

     Arturia sat up and let the air fill her lungs. She rubbed her face a couple of times in anxiousness and then shook her head. What was she thinking now? Being nice to Diarmuid could only cause him the impression that she liked him as well; but it was not as if she did not like him.

     She splashed the water because the stress was getting to her. She never knew that liking someone could be so hard to explain. Arturia sank back in and let out a loud grunt so it could fill the room. She clenched her teeth and waited until the water had turned cold and even the fire place beside her could not warm it up again. The prince sighed; her fingers were already wrinkly and she was starting to shiver.

     Slowly slipping out, she dried herself off with a cloth and then fit herself into a baby blue dress that she had prepared. She dried off her wet hair and shook off all the water she could. She slowly drained the tub and sat by the fire so that her hair would dry properly. The fire place was warm and she almost wished it was like water that she could submerge herself into.

     Upon feeling that her hair was dry, so took a look at the small handful of cosmetics that Thomas had given her.

     "They used to belong to my late wife, but now nobody uses them; it would do me good if you could." She remembered what he had said as she opened a small container. There was ground lily root that would make her skin free of most bruises and so she applied it to her neck and under-eyes. Crushed leaves of angelica served as a blush but she thought it best to pinch her cheeks so that they would look a more natural shade of red.

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