Destined to Be | Arthur Pendragon

Caught in the Act

"Three cheers to the princess," Gwaine held his goblet up high. "I, for one, always knew you would come back to us unscathed. Everyone else here, they were doubtful. But here you are, alive and well. Best of all, you've joined all of us at the tavern to celebrate."

"Thank you, Gwiane," Adeline raised her goblet along with the others at the table.

A few days after Adeline woke up, Eliza insisted the princess join her, the knights, and any other friends of the royal family at the Rising Sun. Everyone, especially Adeline, needed an evening to relax and unwind after a crazy few days. So naturally, the tavern was the location of choice. No one complained, of course.

The large group occupied the back of the tavern, enjoying each other's company, completely ignoring the glances and whispers of the other occupants minging amongst the other tables. Was it that strange to see certain people having fun in a tavern, mixing with the common folk?

Apparently.

Gwaine, who was quite tipsy by this point in the evening, gathered a decent-sized group for a game of Hazard. One round quickly turned into a rowdy, never-ending event of dice-rolling, swearing, drinking and altogether merriment. Adeline couldn't help but laugh when the man would roll and not land on his desired numbers.

Poor guy. He was going to be penniless at the end of the night if he wasn't careful.

"Has he won anything yet?" Thalia asked, joining Adeline and Eliza at their table, a freshly poured drink in her hand.

"Not yet," the two women answered, watching the men cheer from the neighboring table. The one they dubbed The Gaming Table.

"That's at least ten rounds now," Thalia groaned. "He said he was going to get me something special with his winnings."

"Oh, was he now?" Adeline questioned, cocking an eyebrow at her.

"Thalia, just how close have you and Sir Gwaine gotten over the last couple days?" Eliza joined in the questioning.

"Wouldn't you like to know," she shot them both a wink, before turning her attention back to the game. "Damn it, Gwaine! Who taught you to roll dice?"

"Those two are perfect for each other," Eliza snorted.

"Completely," Adeline agreed.

Together, Adeline and Eliza sipped on their drinks, watching the men continue to lose money and make fools of themselves while drinking twice their weight in alcohol. Both Arthur and Johnathan were all but tripping over themselves as the two played against one another.

"Come on, sire! One more round," Gwaine slurred, slamming his goblet on the table. "I'm sure you will win this time."

"No. No," Arthur waved the knight off, making his way over towards the two ladies. "I think that's enough for me. I'd like to be able to move in the morning, as should you. We've got training in the morning, in case you've forgotten."

"What?" The Camelot knights chorused in anguish.

"Looks like you've forgotten," Arthur muttered, offering his hand to Adeline. "Shall we? You don't mind if I steal Ada, do you, Eliza?"

"Not at all," the redhead smiled at the couple. "I was about to go over and save Johnathan from further embarrassing himself anyway."

"I'm sure you were," he turned his head back to the rowdy knights, over half of whom were trying their best not to fall over each other. "He has something he wants to talk to you about, by the way."

"Oh, does he now?" Eliza perked up at the thought.

"Arthur Pendragon!" Adeline's brother hollered loudly over the commotion. "Don't you dare ruin my surprise."