100 Fantasies Challenge: #28 Fic:Delicate And Strong
Title: Delicate And Strong
Characters/Pairings: Arthur/Gwen
Rating/Warnings: PG/PG-13
Spoilers: None really
Disclaimer: Again I own nothing *sobs*
Summary: both the characters musings on satin sheets and an interaction between them.
Word Count: 1,815
Author’s notes: This was written for the 100 fantasies challenge hosted by camelot_love The prompt was: Satin sheets
Comments always welcome and loved
He’d always liked the satin sheets that adorned his bed. The feel of the satin sliding over his body felt like a second skin, like home. They’d keep him cool in the summer and in winter he would just shove another blanket on top, but he would always keep the satin on his body come rain or shine. Arthur had enjoyed the idea that not everybody had them, that they were made specifically for the likes of him, for royalty. They were sheets for the people in history that were written into ballads and books, the men whose names would pass down through generation after generation, sparking wonder and amazement. He thrilled to the idea that satin sheets were objects of the men who made a difference in the world.
But the main reason Arthur held a great affection for them, why they always lay on his bed, was his mother. Sometime in his youth he’d entered his father’s chambers and been surprised to see that no satin sheets were there. Arthur had been confused by the revelation. His father had always told him that royals were above, that they should show it in their every movement and their possessions; it should all speak out of their blood. Yet here his father had only cotton blankets, yes the finest cotton in the kingdom but he lacked the satin, the most expensive and lavish sheets.
Arthur had been unable to understand why his father would choose not to have this fine object so he had asked Arabella. She’d been his wet nurse when he was a baby and for all intense and purposes had acted like his mother though the line of royalty and servant had not been crossed. Arthur didn’t embrace her as a mother, didn’t hug or kiss her. He would however ask her questions, mostly about his mother. Arabella had been his mother’s handmaiden. Arthur would ask her what she’d been like, how her voice had sounded, what she’d looked like, her favourite colour, any question that popped into his brain. When he’d asked her about the satin sheets her grey eyes had sadden, clouds had crossed over and her entire face had crumpled with grief.
“Your mother.” she had whispered soft and low, her voice full of unshed tears.
Arthur hadn’t understood what she meant. What did his mother have to do with satin sheets and why they were absent on his father’s bed. Arabella had smiled sadly when he had voiced his opinion and looked him in the eyes, her storm grey eyes twinkling with moisture. Chocking back sobs she tried to explain in further detail, pausing at certain moments when her voice cracked, but the soft wistful smile of remembrance never left her face.
“Queen Igraine, she…she loved them…satin sheets, they were her favourite. She liked the way they felt on her skin, the delicateness of them but the strength in them too. After…well after she passed, your father he…he ripped them from the bed and ordered us never to put them on there again. I think they reminded him too much of her. Too…too many memories are wrapped in the threads, it opens the wound.”
Arthur hadn’t known what to say so he’d simply nodded, left and returned to his room to see satin sheets lying neatly across his bed. He remembered what Arabella had said about his mother and his heart had saddened at his father’s grief, at the thought that he was in some way responsible for it. But it had also leapt for he and his mother shared something. His love for those sheets had grown that day; their importance to him had reached a new level. They now weren’t just about their richness but had become a chain that stretched across the barriers of life and death, connecting him and his mother. They were a symbol. From that moment onwards satin sheets would always decorate his bed.
Gwen had always loved satin sheets, the feel of them on the roughened skin of her hands. She would collect the washing day in and day out, and marvel at the smooth texture of the sheets. She’d allow herself a small indulgence each day and spend a few minutes running the materials through her fingers, over her hands wondering how it would feel to have the material covering her whole body. When she made the bed she’d spread them out patting them down making sure they were perfect and then delicately brush her fingertips over them as if she was stroking a living animal. Wishing that one day she would know what it would feel like to lie in the bed of satin.
The first night she’d spent in Arthur’s bed her wish had come true; more than one of them. She’d felt the satin sheet across her bare body and she wasn’t disappointed by the feeling it was like lying on a cloud, floating in a sea of bliss. The feeling of complete delight had only intensified when Arthur had slung his arm around her waist, pulling her into him tightly. Her heart had picked up pace as he kissed her shoulder lazily and buried his head in her neck leaving tingling caresses all over her skin.
He had mumbled something incoherent against her dark skin and she had struggled to keep the giggles of glee that were bubbling inside her contained. Small ones had escaped when the vibrations of his unintelligible words had hit a tender spot tickling her. She had flung her hand to her mouth trying to muffle the sound, giggling into her palm, her heart soaring. She’d felt how his lips had stretched widely across his face and his body begin to shake with laughter along with hers. Gwen fought against Arthur’s strong grip as she tried to twist round so that she could face him. Arthur sensing her movements released his grip just enough so that she could turn and then tighten it once more. Trying to compose herself and failing miserably Gwen asked her voice high pitched and breathless from laughing.
“What are you saying?”
Arthur’s chuckles died down as he looked into Gwen’s giddy face. She was aglow with laughter and happiness. He’d never seen a more beautiful sight in his life and knew he would never see another that could ever compare to the loveliness before him, the beauty that was his. Her chocolate eyes were wide and bright gleaming vibrantly as she stared up into his sapphire orbs.
“I was saying I never thought I’d find something that could match the feel of satin on my skin.” Arthur replied his voice full of fondness and his words covered in a layer of amusement. Gwen blushed. Her eyes looked away from Arthur’s as she smiled shyly. Arthur smirked, increased his grip around her waist, pulling her in as close as she could possibly go and laughed at her very Gwenish reaction.
Gwen’s eyes looked timidly up at Arthur. His face bore the expression of a child; a child when it’s just got the most expensive, extravagant toy. His eyes were sparkling with smiles. She found herself blushing more deeply when they looked down at her and softened. She’d never get use to that, the look of love in his eyes, the look that was meant for her. Her stomach would always leap and her heart clench from the emotions than ran through her, the joy. Conjuring up her courage she spoke her thoughts.
“I never thought I’d feel satin on my skin let alone…” she trailed off unable to speak the words, not yet brave enough. Arthur had known though. That was the best thing she realised, the thing that joined them so perfectly, no words were ever needed. It was just there between them, a connection. Two hearts that acted as one. His voice soft and full of sincerity he whispered into her ear.
“That’s all about to change”
Gwen closed her eyes sighing as the words washed over her. Her heart believed him, trusted blindly in their love, believed a way would and could be found, her head knew better. It screamed at her the difficulty of their situation, her lack of nobility, his bloodline. What would happen if their relationship were ever to be found out by Uther? He wouldn’t like this, she knew he wouldn’t. Wouldn’t accept or approve of her for his son. The thought made her stomach sink and her heart drop as if it had become leaded down suddenly.
Arthur felt Gwen slump, saw the glow begin to drain out of her skin. He knew what she was thinking, her worries, he knew all to well. He felt them too, had agonised day after day over it but he was Arthur Pendragon. He wasn’t about to give up or in. If he had any of his father’s traits at all, stubbornness was one of them. When he set his mind to something he’d find a way even if he had to fight tooth and nail the whole way through. He’d already made his mind up about Guinevere; she was the one he wanted, his future queen. His father just didn’t know it yet but he’d fight that storm off when they came to it.
Shaking the thoughts of the battles that were yet to come off, Arthur lent down and captured Gwen’s soft lips in his, expressing his feelings though the embrace. Trying to make her understand, what he would do. How he would fight for her, for him, for them. Gwen leaned in closer pressing herself up against him, her hand coming up to rest on his check pulling him closer. Crushing their lips together she let her fears go. With each second their lips moved together in perfect synchronicity they slipped further away into the dark depths of her mind. They’d find a way, one step at a time. Their hearts were both pounding, she could feel his through his chest and he could feel hers, they were beating in harmony.
They spent most of the night like that, wrapped in each other’s embrace until Gwen had to sneak out so no one would find them. Their legs and limbs enfolded in each other so they couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began. Lips kissing every inch of skin they could find, marking their love, confirming their trust in one another.
The next day when Gwen returned home after a long day at the castle, she hadn’t seen Arthur all day for he’d been on a hunting trip and her work load had been to the extreme, she found lying on her bed satin sheets. The satin sheets, the sheets from their first night together. On top of the sheets was a scrap of paper. On the paper in neat handwriting was written three words.
It starts now