VIII

Percy kept staring at the girl, he didn't know why, but he just did, he couldn't take his eyes off her, literally. Eventually she managed to take notice and awkwardly gulped, snapping Percy out of his trance, his head was aching all of a sudden. Percy shook it off and turned towards her.

"Are you alright?" Guinevere asked with a raised eyebrow, Percy nodded, albeit a little woozy from his sudden headache, as soon as it came, it instantly vanished, disappearing out of nowhere.

"You seem a bit out of it." Guinevere stated, Percy shook his head, trying not to cause any unnecessary attention to himself, Percy merely shook it off, scratching the back of his head in slight embarrassment.

"Anyway, see you, I'm going to head to the kip if you don't mind me." Guinevere said, smiling one last time and align away. Percy smiled a little, feeling blood rush through his cheeks, Percy shook it off as the doing of the cold weather. Percy walked throughout the castle, going multiple floors until reaching a certain one, a cellar door decorated on the entrance with gold rimming around it, making it seem grand.

Percy sighed, he never wanted it to be grand, or anything special, he just wanted it to be a normal, sleeping quarters where he could rest, but no, they had to do it with gold rims, which by the way was a waste of resources. Percy sighed, he can't do anything about it. Percy opened the door slowly, shutting it without any sound, careful not to wake up any of the neighboring people.

His room was directly next to Arthur's and the other royalties, the only reason he decided to stay and use this room was because he was next to his best friend, otherwise, he would've chosen a more normal and discrete room, Percy turned towards his own room, seeing a king sized bed. Multiple desks and bookshelves, filled with a multitude of books. The room was lit gently by candlelight giving it a small glow, providing the room with at least some warmth from the cold weather outside, and finally, a balcony that hung over the edge, overlooking a small garden that only the royalties could go to.

Percy went to his bed, instantly plopping down onto it, he wasn't usually the type to not remove his boots when sleeping, but he was tired, the moment his head hit the pillow his mind instantly blanked, his consciousness leaving, black suddenly overcoming his peripheral vision in a matter of seconds, the knighting and everything took a toll on the demigod.

The Next Day

Percy awoke, stretching his semi sore limbs, Percy immediately sat upright, instantly regretting it, figuratively transporting himself into another dimension, the sudden jolting and sitting upright caused Percy's vision to go temporarily black, his eyes adjusted in a few seconds, finally getting used to the sunlight. Percy yawned, walking to the balcony, feeling the cool winter wind brush up against him, there were patches of snow littered across Camelot, giving it a nice serene feeling.

Percy turned towards the small garden, surprising himself when he saw someone randomly picking some berries, said person was just enjoying the air and their surroundings. Percy couldn't identify who it was, the balcony was too far up for Percy to see his or her face. He couldn't even identify their gender, but one this was for sure, they were royalty, even the Nobles weren't allowed in the garden, only royalty.

Percy sighed looking at his drawer, all his stuff was already there, he used to live in an inn, but now, he was living inside the castle, Arthur once gave Percy a room in the castle, but Percy turned it down, now, he had no choice, if you were knighted, you needed to stay inside the castle, and protect the royal family, whatever the cost, it was foubled over the fact that Percy was the royal families personal guard, Percy was duty bound to do it.

Percy went to his drawer, opening the wooden drawer and picking out his Royal guard outfit, he didn't like to wear much armor, so he went for his normal golden tunic along with combat boots and trousers. Most guards would wear armor, but Percy, he felt like it weigh him down, so he chose not to. Percy went out of his room, his sword slowly tucked away in a sheath in his hip, his sword itself was nothing special, just a normal short sword much like a xiphos but more Celtic.

Percy remembered about the day the Saxons attacked, the sword he picked, Merlin decided to extract the magic from within a sword and form a repellant for monsters from Camelot, Celtic monsters were now rampaging through the plains, hunting for food, the repellant was very effective, for weeks and weeks Percy spotted not even a single one, he would only spot an occasional one that managed to wonder a little bit too close to the walls, the archers instantly dispatched them without a second thought.

Percy walked around the castle, seeing multiple people already up, some of them were drinking some fine wine, which Percy didn't want to ingest in his body, some were working, maintaining the castle, Arthur didn't want anyone to be a slave or a maid, but the Nobles forced him, if Arthur didn't do it, they wouldn't have a job, meaning they won't have money to buy food. The higher ranked nobles were the worst, the lower ones were okay, they weren't pushy or greedy, they were like normal people with some pounds in their pocket, which Percy was thankful for.

Percy was so deep in thought he didn't notice a person in front of him, walking towards the other direction, Percy immediately bumped into them, making Percy fall to the floor with a thud, luckily no one was there to see, or else Percy would feel embarrassed. Percy shook his head, turning towards the person he bumped into. To his surprise it was Guinevere, she shook her head, looking at Percy with a shocked and surprised look.

"Sorry about that." She said in her English accent, Percy smiled a little awkwardly, trying to lighten up the situation a bit.

"I didn't see you there." She said, her brown hair tied to a braid, passing over her shoulders, she wore a a blue long sleeved shirt that had intricate designs on it, along that, she wore a pair of trousers and some snow boots for the cold weather. She looked towards Percy with shock in her face.

"Oh, wait, you're the head Royal guard!" She said in surprise, Percy raised an eyebrow, standing up and dusting the dust from his shirt, he lender her a hand to which she gladly accepted.

"They didn't tell me you were the Royal guard, I only just thought you were a random knight." She said, Percy smiled awkwardly, he didn't exactly know how to reply to this situation, especially when he had no voice.

"So that's why your room is next to my cousin." She said with a look of realization, it was Percy's turn to be confused now, Guinevere chuckled a little.

"I'm Arthur's cousin, Guinevere Pendragon." Guinevere said with a small smile, Percy was gobsmacked, realization suddenly hit him, she was royalty, which meant. Percy immediately shook his head and bowed awkwardly, not realizing she was Arthur's cousin.

"Ah, please don't bow, I hate people bowing, my cousin does too." Guinevere said with an awkward laugh, grabbing Percy by the shoulders and gesturing him to stand up, Percy obliged, turning towards Guinevere. Percy wondered how come Arthur never mentioned his cousin.

"I guess we'll be seeing each other more often." Guinevere said with a small smile, Percy nodded, returning back the smile.

"Oh hello Vere." Arthur said out of nowhere, smiling at Guinevere, he turned towards Percy, his smile, brightening almost instantly.

"Oh hey, Percival, I see you've met my cousin." Arthur said with a small smile, Percy nodded, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, Guinevere though was looking annoyed.

"Anyway, Vere, the nobles are starting to question why on earth the garden was suddenly picked fresh of the berries." Arthur asked, Guinevere smirked.

"You can tell them to shove those complaints up their arse." Guinevere said with a small mischievous smirk.

"You got it younger cousin." Arthur said, dashing off towards the nobles.

"I'm older than you!" Guinevere shouted, Guinevere sighed, rubbing her temples.

"He cheeses me off, that bastard." Guinevere said annoyed, Percy chuckled a little, Guinevere turned towards Percy with a small smile.

"Hey, want to go for a walk?" Guinevere asked with a raised eyebrow, Percy rubbed the back of his neck nervously, it wasn't normal for a knight to be going out on walks.

"Come on, it'll be quick, don't worry." Guinevere said, grabbing Percy in the hand by surprise and dragging him out of the castle in almost an instant. Percy had no time to react, he was instantly outside the castle in a matter of seconds, Percy didn't know why he was out here, but he didn't question, he couldn't question, it was the sad reality of things. The two were walking on the snowy surface of Camelot, snow slowly dropping from the sky.

"Have you ever done a snowball fight?" Guinevere asked with a small smirk. Percy shook his head, not expecting the sudden snowball launched into his face. Percy immediately fell to the ground with a small puff, the snow giving Percy the chills. The Royal guard outfit was not for cold weather, it definitely wasn't for cold weather. Percy stood up, shivering a little from the snow, Guinevere though was laughing . Percy made a ball of snow and instantly launched it to Guinevere.

She didn't expect it and was sent barreling to her face, she tumbled down, landing on the snow, Percy smirked, Guinevere sat upright, a little bit of snow in her brown hair, she turned to Percy with a mischievous look. Percy gulped a little as Guinevere made multiple snowballs and launched them towards Percy, he instantly gulped, the snowballs landing in his full force. Percy shook his head, snow in his hair, Percy was not about to be beaten so easily and launched a multitude of them towards Guinevere, the two having a full on snowball war.

A Few Months Later

Percy clutched his sword and made multiple strikes at his sparring partner, it was Arthur, his best friend. Percy clutched his sword and did multiple slashes towards the king of Camelot. Percy dodged, multiple slashes coming from Arthur, Percy clutched his own sword and counter attacked, making a small thrust towards Arthur. He instantly ducked, parrying the strike with as much ferocity as Percy did.

Percy could feel multiple cuts and bruises forming from their spar, Percy did multiple slashes and rolled, Arthur avoiding the slashes, Percy swiped at Arthur's feet, sending the king of Camelot to a knee, Percy smirked, grabbing his own sword and placing it on Arthur's neck. Percy smirked a little, winning for the fiftieth time, Arthur sighed, rolling his own eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I yield." Arthur said, Percy nodded, grabbing his sword and sheathing, Percy extended a hand towards Arthur to which he gladly accepted, dusting the dust and dirt that got trapped in his tunic.

"Man, Percival, go easy for once, let me win every once I a while." Arthur said wincing a little, Percy smirked a little. Arthur sighed, rubbing his wrist, Arthur widened his eyes as if he remembered something.

"Oh yeah right, I forgot, we have a meeting today, we better get going, being late would mean Merlin would scold us again." Arthur said, Percy nodded. Arthur slowly walked away from the sparring arena, going around Camelot castle, following a small stone path, leading to a small secret area shrouded by trees and vegetation, Merlin magically enchanted it so only a few dozen selected people could go there, Percy, Arthur, and Merlin were one of them.

Percy saw Arthur look around and finally stepped inside a variety of vines, he instantly disappeared like magic. Percy followed, entering the vines, a normal person would just pass the vines and discover only some trees, Percy, Arthur, Merlin, and the rest were able to pass through the magic barrier and enter the secret meeting point. Percy smiled towards Arthur, looking at everyone who was gathered around. Percy nodded towards Arthur, Percy slowly sitting down on a chair. Arthur did too, sitting right beside Percy, Merlin was next to Arthur, as his advisor and friend, all were equals, sat around in a polished circular stone table

"Alright, let the annual meeting of the Knights of the Round Table begin." Arthur stated, the meeting officially begun. Merlin wasn't officially a Knight of the Round Table, he never swore on the Code of Chivalry, it was the code that all knights must partake in order to become a knight of the round table, Merlin however wasn't a knight, he was a sorcerer, but, he had every right to join and be one of the Knights, figuratively.

"So, any news?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah, in the north side of Camelot, monsters have been forming groups, though our archers were able to dispatch of it quickly, it is still pretty troubling." Gawain the knight said.

"That is pretty disturbing, monsters are forming and hunting in packs now." Arthur said in a low voice.

"Well, it still isn't a direct threat, we can form a solution when it comes to it." Geraint added.

"But what if we're too late, what if they manage to muster an army with strategic placements, we might not be able to form a solution to that right in the knick of time." Lamorak stated, giving a flaw in the plan Geraint made.

"Don't worry, if in case a monster attack does come, the repellant and barrier will hold for at least three days, in that amount of time, we can muster up any plan that can counter their numbers." Merlin added, giving a solution to their dilemma.

"Anyways, with that out of the way, any of you mates have any more news?" Arthur asked.

"One of our traders got a rumor about one of the neighboring kingdoms planning to overthrow a decent few of our mines." Galahad added with a disturbed look.

"That can prove troubling." Bedivere said with a serious look.

"Wait, this is just a rumor, we can't be sure if this is real or not." Tristan said looking around the Round Table to see the other Knights reaction.

"But we have a treaty with the neighboring kingdoms, if that treaty is broken, a full on war will enrage." Palamedes stated, the rest of the Knights were sent to think about the recent events.

"That, is very disturbing, what do you think Bors?" Arthur asked.

"We need to bulk up our forces as a fail safe if it does happen, if it does happen, well, there's no harm in getting more Knights."  Bors stated.

"Still, the out of a raging war overhead can still make a normal bloke lose sleep at night." Lancelot said, getting a few nods from the other Knights.

"Anyways, as there is no more new information, I'll call this meeting, concluded." Arthur said, the other Knights stood up and left the round table, a few people were simply silent the whole time, listening intently at the conversation, Percival was one of them, there was also Gaheris, Gareth, and Kay.

"A war huh." Merlin said, staring at the round table.

"Yeah, it's been a few years since the last war, I'd rather not repeat that, we've been apart of a few battles recently but not wars." Arthur stated, Percy was rather pale, he didn't like wars, the dead bodies of his friends and comrades, the mere image of multiple dead bodies lying on the ground, be if enemy or ally, it kept Percy awake at night. Percy shook his head turning towards Arthur who was getting ready to leave.

"Anyways, I'll see you later Percival, I still got things to do, damn it, being King sucks." Arthur said with a sigh. Over the course of a few years, the Royal guard has grown to a decent number, instead of just one, there were around five, they were the elite of the elite, each one of the Royale guard could take on fifty men and some, the captain of them though, Percival, could take a hundred and another hundred, which Percy could do but he never confirmed, nor denied the fact which meant it was all but rumors to the public eyes.

A Few Days Later

Percy laughed, looking at Guinevere who was doused in water, freezing water, the two were near a water fall, the waterfall was still dropping water down, but the water bank was frozen still, it just so happened that Guinevere managed to slip and fall into said freezing water, Percy helped her up, but not until a couple of laughs, now here they were, Percy laughing himself to death, and Guinevere, shivering, looking at Percy with a death glare.

"Y-you a-are a b-blimey i-idiot." Guinevere said, shivering, Percy still laughed, seeing her in discomfort. Percy shook his head, grabbing the cloth the size of a towel and walking towards her. Percy approached Guinevere who was shivering like crazy, Percy slowly draped the cloth over her shoulders, providing her at least some warmth. Percy gestured towards the castle, rubbing his hands together as if trying to signal to get some warmth.

"T-t-thank you." Guinevere said, her face flushed red, either from the cold, or from something else. She looked towards Percy with a shivering smile, He smiled warmly slowly guiding Guinevere back to the Camelot castle.

"Hey, Percival?" Guinevere called out, Percy turned towards Guinevere with a raised eyebrow.

"Do you remember the time when you accidentally fell asleep in my room?" Guinevere asked, Percy shook his head, not remembering what happened.

"That time that a monster attack surprised us, and you managed to slay them, you were so tired, you had multiple cuts and bruises, that when you escorted me to my room, you fell asleep right on the spot." Guinevere explained, her shivering stopping.

"You were, how can I explain this, you weren't specifically mumbling, you couldn't, but I could somehow hear your thoughts, something about Olympus." Guinevere said, Percy visibly stiffened.

"After that, I heard something something about a girl, in your dreams, you said, I mean, your mind said she had brown hair in a braid." Guinevere said, she shook her head.

"You know what, forget it, let's just get back to the kingdom." She said, Percy sighed, he guess he survived another day without dying of embarrassment.

-----------------------

"Sire, sire, an attack, a massive army, it's closing in on one of our kingdom outposts."

Word Count
3340
Words

A/N
So, chapter eight is out, I'm kind of, I dunno man out of it right now, I really want to make a chapter, but, when I do want to write it, it's already like 30 minutes until midnight, like what the hell, anyways, I managed to pump this chapter out, it is currently a few minutes till midnight so I have no time to edit this, I'm relying on you guys again on this, if you want to edit it, just type it in the comment about any typos or mistakes.

Anyways, I think a few more chapters like I think two more chapters until the arc is over, I'm very excited on writing this story, I just still don't have time to make the chapters, so, I'm trying to make more chapters, but it's not working out so well, anyways, next week, I'll Try to make three chapters at least for this book, I'm really excited for this so I'm trying to dedicate my time into this book.