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Arthur was looking at the courtyard with fascination. Or, not as much at the courtyard as on who was standing there. Lean figure was on one side of it, drawing the bowstring in one smooth, graceful motion. Then, the man let the string go and the arrow hit the dummy, right in the head.
And while Arthur loved the way he was more skilled with a bow than anyone else he had ever seen, it was not the only reason why he was watching Bill.
“You like him,” said soft, quiet voice.
Arthur didn’t show that Guinevere’s presence surprised him. Instead, he slowly turned to look at her as if he knew she had been there the whole time.
“And what might you be talking about?” he asked innocently.
It was one of the rare moments when the young woman smiled. It was just as soft as her voice, and there was something knowing in the soft smile that could easily escape someone else’s eyes.
“You like him,” she repeated.
Arthur didn’t say anything and looked away, pretending to be amused. He might had come up with an excuse if he wasn’t so caught up by the look at Bill again. Now, the smaller man was leaning against one of the pillars, the sunlight gently caressing his face.
It made Arthur want to caress it too before kissing him deeply.
When he looked up at Guinevere again, he realized it was too late and he already gave her the answer without speaking a word.
Arthur had never been shy about what or who he wanted, a man or woman, he would always approach them. If they were interested, good, if they weren’t, no hard feelings. The thing was, it was mostly one night stands with people he had never met before or afterwards. One night stands.
Bill…. Well, he was pretty sure he would be seeing Bill on daily basis for a long time.
But in the end, he guessed it was somehow worth it. He could always ask the girls about their opinions but that would probably mean having to get over a lot of giggles and girls asking for details about his crush.
“Arthur!”
Arthur’s thoughts were interrupted by Bedivere’s loud voice. Bedivere was following him and Percival through the hall as they were discussing the rumors about another witch in the north.
“What is it?” he asked, stopping in his tracks.
He immediately knew it was not good news. Bedivere’s eyes were serious and his expression was full of worry.
“It’s about Bill,” Bedivere said seriously.
Fortunately, Arthur had never been one to start to panic. He knew that even though Bill was in fact collecting information about the Saxons on his own since they had heard rumors about their arrival, he also knew that Bill could take care of himself and he trusted the man’s abilities. So, until now, he didn’t give much of thought to it, except for the fact that he missed Bill’s company and he was more worried about how he would tell him about his feelings.
“Well?” Arthur asked impatiently, shifting his weight nervously from one foot to another. “What’s wrong?”
“Bill sent me a message several days ago sent on a pigeon, saying that he should be back in few days,” Bedivere said as if that explained everything.
“Then everything is well, innit?” Arthur said but he already had the feeling it wouldn’t be that simple.
“I received the message several days ago, Arthur,” Bedivere said, his expression darkened. “He should’ve been home by now.”
Arthur stayed quiet for a minute, the tension growing in the air. “No more messages?” he asked.
“None.”
The king took another minute to think about it. Once again, he knew Bill could take care of himself and that a lot of times (as he found out from Bedivere’s stories) he went on his own for a reconnaissance and even though he had been caught many times, he always managed to get away.
Was Arthur going to risk though, that was the question. Skill or luck, nobody was invincible. And if Arthur was being completely honest with himself, now that Bedivere brought the matter to him, he was a bit worried.
“Let’s get the horses,” Arthur ordered and everyone moved to get ready for a journey.
Ever since becoming a king, Arthur still kept his retinue small when he had to travel. People loved him and if there someone trying to avenge their previous king, Arthur and his friends were quick to deal with them.
They traveled to Londinium because that’s where Bill had originally went to gather information about Saxon before he traveled south. He never went into details in the messages and he usually only sent them only to Bedivere anyway. As they say, old habits die hard.
It took several days to get to Londinium and then to the next big city on the south. Arthur let Bedivere talk to one of the people who claimed that they had seen not only Saxons but also Bill. The old man claimed that Saxon were the ones following Bill.
That was what made Arthur even more worried. Saxons should not be taken lightly. Arthur fought few of them a couple of times.
They continued on their way through the forest the man from the city told them Bill was heading few days ago.
Arthur was considering the possibility that Bill could be in fact by this time safe and sound on Camelot while they all were just chasing a shadow but his guts told him that was not the case, and Arthur had always relied on his instincts.
He had known the hooded figure back in the brothel would be bad news because of his instincts. Now, Arthur didn’t know if he should smile or frown upon the memory. It was the first time he had ever seen Bill, yes, but he also gave him to Blacklegs without any remorse. It felt like such a long time ago.
“Arthur,” Bedivere’s voice came from behind him, making the king look over his shoulder curiously, his thoughts disturbed.
“We should set up a camp,” the older man said, his voice reasonable and calm. “It’s dark and the horses are tired.”
Others are tired, was unspoken but Arthur could see it in Percival’s and George’s expressions, even Guinevere’s.
To be fair, Arthur had made the stops short and neither of them really got any good sleep ever since they had left Camelot. Arthur just wanted to find Bill as soon as possible. But he couldn’t sacrifice others’ well-being for it and he knew that.
“Let’s stop here,” Arthur ordered, the guilt settling deep inside his stomach when everyone’s expression turned relieved.
They all tied their horses to the trees, and then George and Percival started to make a fire while Arthur and Bedivere went to collect more wood so they could keep it overnight. Guinevere sat down, leaning against the tree and her eyes turned into unnatural color as she was casting a spell.
They were lucky that lately there hadn’t been much of rain which was unusual for England, and they could collect dry wood.
“You shouldn’t worry so much,” Bedivere murmured when they were far enough for the others not to hear them.
“What makes you think I do?” Arthur murmured, trying to sound indifferent.
The same smile Arthur had seen on Guinevere before, now grew on Bedivere’s lips. “I know you do. You are extremely protective of your people.”
Lie. If he was, Backlack might still be alive.
As if reading his mind, Bedivere continued: “Being protective doesn’t mean you lock someone up in the tower as if they were fragile dolls. You tell them the risks and still let them do their decisions and you respect that. Bill has been captured and wounded many times and he always found his way back. And maybe when we get back to Camelot without him, we will find out he had been there the whole time, probably laughing at us being fools for worrying and trying to find him. He’s gonna be fine, Arthur.”
Arthur felt his cheeks getting warmer. Why did everyone knew he was attracted to Bill? He didn’t find any words he could say to the other man and so he just kept silent.
In few minutes, they brought the wood back. Percival and George already set up the fire and Guinevere was now relaxing against one of the trees, watching Arthur.
He walked to her while the other three men were looking after the fire, and asked her: “Did you find him?”
“No,” she said quietly so the others wouldn’t hear them.
Arthur’s face clouded.
“It might be because he doesn’t want to be found,” she said neutrally. “It’s hard to track someone who is skilled at the art of hiding as much as he is.”
Arthur only hummed in response. Then, he took his own blanket, walked to another tree, and made himself as comfortable as he could in the cold, dark knight in the woods, leaned against a tree and closed eyes.
He knew he would not get much of sleep but he didn’t feel like talking to either of his companions. Arthur just closed his eyes and tried not to think about Bill too much. If Bedivere and Guinevere knew about his… feelings towards the other man, did others know as well? Did Bill know? If Bill knew and didn’t say anything about it, what would it mean?
Arthur found himself wistful and sad at the thought of Bill not returning his feelings, something he had never felt before, but he knew he could not force anyone into wanting him.
He fell into restless sleep. He heard others talking quietly so he could not make out the words. Arthur was sleeping but also wasn’t until he found himself falling into a dream, underwater, looking down at beautiful woman whose hair were wild and she was watching him with meaningful eyes.
Arthur had few dreams of the Lady of the Lake and she always gave him advices in them. She warned him of the children-eating witch on the west or the giant cat on the south of England, and the king soon started to trust her. He’d once tried to seek her out in the Lake but she didn’t show to him there. Only in his dreams.
She rarely talked to him as she did when she was giving him the sword, by using words, instead she used images.
The Lady now took Arthur’s face between her hands and looked him in the eyes and he saw.
He saw the forest, himself sleeping there and then he went away from his body, faster than his feet or any horse could take him, he run away, through the trees and coppice, away from the road and deeper inside the forest until a cave appeared in front of him, overgrown with moss and almost completely hidden from a human eye. Arthur knew he should go in but the moment he made a step, for the first time in the dream, a stick under his foot cracked, and the at the sound opened his eyes, finding himself leaning against the same tree he fell asleep at.
Bedivere looked up at him from the campfire: “Waking up for your watch?”
Arthur opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out of his mouth. He looked around for a second, considering what Lady of the Lake tried to tell him, and then got up, grabbing the scabbard with Excalibur, murmuring: “I’ll be right back,” before taking off into the forest, leaving confused Bedivere behind.
As he walked, he felt the urge to move faster and faster to the point when he was running through the forest much slower and much less gracefully than in the vision Lady showed him.
It took him at least a half an hour, maybe more, to finally get to the cave Lady showed him.
It looked exactly like in the vision and Arthur almost missed it even when he knew exactly where it would be. Arthur pulled out Excalibur and carefully walked inside the cave.
The sword was glowing in his hand, brighter than any torch, and he walked inside it. It was cold and wet and silent. Soon, Arthur noticed there was blood on the ground of it. His worry grew and he called inside the cave: “Bill?”
There was a long moment of silence during which Arthur hurriedly continued his way in, and then he heard an: “Arthur?”
Arthur felt almost maddening relief upon hearing Bill’s voice and some of the tension left his shoulders. Definitely not all of it, though. There was still the blood there after all.
After few seconds of running into the depths of the cave, he finally found Bill. The older man was leaning against the wall of the cave, there in complete darkness until Arthur’s sword brought the light, making the shorter man narrow his eyes. The first thing Arthur did, was to look for the injuries.
There was a small wound on Bill’s temple, his cheeks and forehead, he had a bruise on his eye and then there was a lot of dry blood on his thigh but Bill already tried to treat his injury as best as he could apparently, because it was wrapped in what looked like tore of his sleeve which was also missing form his left arm. He was holding his bow and arrow in his hands that were also from blood, and his sword was on his side.
He was awfully pale in the face and the dry blood on his left temple and face was standing out against it.
Almost without thinking about it, Arthur moved closer to Bill and put the Excalibur on the ground next to them, the soft blue light made Bill looking even paler than he actually was.
“What happened?” Arthur kneeled down in front of the man to take a closer look on his injuries. He already knew that most of the blood had to be from the wound on his thigh and that it had been caused by an arrow. What he couldn’t see over the cloth Bill wrapped it in was if he removed the arrow or not.
“I got ambushed,” Bill said. He tried to use his light tone but Arthur could hear the exhaustion and relief in his voice. “By the Saxons. They held me for a few days.”
“Why?” Arthur asked hurriedly, already finding himself getting furious. He didn’t know what to do with his hands, whether to try to rewrap Bill’s wound or just help him get on his feet and help him get into the camp. Guinevere and Bedivere were better on treating injuries than him.
“They wanted to know information about you,” Bill said in wannabe mocking tone. “Guess they were looking for an easy invasion of the England.”
“How long did they have you?” Arthur didn’t even bother trying to be sound funny at this moment.
Bill was just staring into his eyes for few seconds before admitting: “Around three days. They had a camp at the shore several miles from here. After I escaped, they were still looking for me so I tried to lay low for a few days.”
“That’s smart,” Arthur murmured, still watching Bill closely but it looked like he was mostly alright; at least he didn’t look like he was dying.
“Aw, did I make ya worried, my king?” Bill joked half-heartedly.
Arthur didn’t think much about it, he just leaned in and pressed his lips against Bill’s. It was nothing more than a quick press of the soft skin against each other but it was enough to get Arthur’s heart racing and to slightly calm his worrying mind.
When they broke apart, they were gazing into each other’s eyes for a second, neither of them really knowing what to say.
“Well,” Bill licked his lips, his tone joking again, but he sounded genuinely happy now. “I know I am irresistible but I would love to get out of this sticky, cold cave.”
Arthur couldn’t help himself and smirked. “Such a shame you don’t like getting sticky.”
Bill snorted, the corner of his lips raising in soft smirk, and he put his hand on Arthur’s face to push his face lightly away. “That was horrible even for you, my king.”
He always said the ‘my king’ with such tease in his voice it made Arthur want to do very naughty (and very pleasurable) things to him.
“Let’s get you out of here,” Arthur said.
“Oh, why?” Bill asked sarcastically. “This is only a flesh wound.”
Arthur gave him serious look to let the older man he didn’t find this at all entertaining but he couldn’t help but smile as well when Bill giggled.
He helped Bill on his feet or, more precisely, on his foot. It didn’t escape the low groan Bill made when he tried to put some of his weight on it.
“Did you pull out the arrow?” Arthur asked, throwing one of Bill’s feet over his shoulder and holding it there, while he himself wrapped his arm around Bill’s middle.
“Oh, please, I may be a fool but I am not a lunatic, Art,” Bill laughed through gritted teeth.
Comparing to how quickly Arthur get in the cave, the way outside took them much longer. Arthur didn’t want to rush Bill because he saw how strenuous only walking was for him.
“Maybe I should carry you?” he said only half-jokingly.
“And what might the people think of that? A king carrying a simple peasant,” Bill answered in the same tone. “Please, Art, let a poor man keep some dignity.”
“Dignity?” Arthur snorted teasingly. “You?”
“You are hurting my feelings,” Bill whined falsely. It almost sounded cute.
“Am I now?”
They finally got out of the cave. It was still dark out there and the only source of light was Arthur’s sword.
“Who is with you?” Bill asked through gritted teeth after he tried to put some of his weight on his bad leg again, this time enduring the pain.
“Just Guinevere, Bedivere, George and Percival,” Arthur said and then he noticed something that sent shivers through his spine. The blood on Bill’s hands didn’t come from the wound on his head or on his thigh, he was missing his fingernails.
“That’s a small party but considering your big sword I think that will be more than enough,” the older man said with tease but Arthur was in no mood for jokes in that moment.
“You told me they wanted information on me,” he growled in cold tone. “What did they do to you?”
There was a moment of silence, heavy and gloomy. When Bill spoke, it was in light tone again. “As I said, they tried to make me say some information about you. And to be fair, I was not being exactly cooperative.”
Arthur felt cold rage burning within him.
“Arthur,” Bill made the other man stop in their tracks, and then waited until the king looked him in the eyes and only then he continued: “I didn’t tell them anything about you or about your army.”
Arthur frowned. “That’s not what I am worried about.”
A smirk with soft edges grew on Bill’s lips. “I know.”
“If you know then-“
This time it was Bill who leaned in and silenced Arthur with a kiss. It was just like before, soft and warm and safe, until Bill ran his fingers awkwardly through Arthur’s hair and pulled him closer, body on body, until Arthur deepened the kiss and their tongues met in an ungraceful dance of passion and desire.
That was until Bill suddenly hissed and Arthur, worried, pulled away.
Bill whined again, this time because of the broken kiss and when Arthur frowned and when the king pulled up his tunic, he found out there were bruises on his stomach.
Bill lightly touched Arthur’s wrist, perhaps because the fingertips still hurt, and pretended to blush: “Not in here, my king.” He was still joking.
“I’m going to make them pay,” Arthur growled and Bill smirked again.
“You know, that’s exactly what I told them you were going to do.”