The Royal Scandal *Book One*

Arguing All Day and Night S1 E11

Just like Arthur had said, we returned to the forest in search of Anhora. We had only been looking for a few minutes when I heard Merlin shout out to us.

"I'm not entirely sure what I'm supposed to be looking for," He called out.

"You're looking for footprints or broken branches, anything that would indicate someone passed that--" Arthur interrupted himself by yelling our names. "Chelsea! Merlin!"

"What is it?" I called back, running over to him.

"He's here!" Arthur yelled.

By the time Merlin and I got there, Arthur had already gone after Anhora. The thing is, we were now faced with a decision; left or right.

"Where is he?" Merlin asked. "Which way did he go?"

"There's only one way to find out. You go right, I'll go left," I suggested, going to run down the left way.

"Chelsea, wait. It could be dangerous," Merlin worried, grabbing my hand.

"Everything we do is always dangerous. You're just going to need to trust me. I promise, I'll be fine," I assured him.

"Ok, be careful," Merlin said, giving me a peck on the lips.

"I always am," I smiled.

We then took off running in our own directions, trying to find the idiot brother of mine. Why would he go off without us? We could of helped. As I was running, I was having to dodge trees, branches and many roots that threatened to trip me up or knock me down.

I continued running for sometime before I finally found Arthur sitting on a rock, with his head in his hands.

I went and sat beside him but didn't say anything.

"I failed. He said that Camelot is now going to perish for all eternity," Arthur muttered.

"There must be something we can do," I replied.

"No. That was it. Camelot is screwed," Arthur said.

Merlin then came running up the hill panting but stopped when he saw Arthur's face. That was the only thing he needed to see to realise that Arthur had failed the test.

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After returning to the castle, Arthur and I were immediately pulled aside by the guards. Apparently something else had gone wrong. We were led to the grain store, where we saw that all the grain we had left had rotted away.

"What is it? What happened?" Arthur asked Father.

"All our remaining supplies have rotted--every last grain," Father explained, pacing around.

"What are we going to do?" Arthur asked.

"I don't know," Father admitted.

"Well we're going to need to think of something. I few don't we will all starve and many people wont last till the morning," I said.

"You think of something, if you think you're so clever," Father snapped.

"You're the King. It is your duty to protect your people, not pass the responsibility onto someone else. The people are expecting you to sort this out so quit complaining and start thinking," I said as calmly as I could.

"You have no right to talk to me that way. I am not only your King, but your Father too. You will show me some respect," Father yelled.

"Or you'll what? Lock me away? Starve me? Well guess what, Father, that is the reality of basically everyone in Camelot right now. There is nothing you can do that will make things any worse for me," I told him.