Title: Forsaken Hope
Rating: T
Summary: He made mistakes and buried them a long time ago.. When a skeleton emerges from the past will he be able to stand by and pay for his mistakes?.. Can she stand by his side or will they be torn apart?..
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my ideas and the original characters..

A/N - Here is the beginning of Forsaken Hope!. I had hoped to have written more of this story than I have, but I've had a few ideas for a couple of changes, some thanks to you guys. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed both Fallen Angel and Broken Glass. It means a lot to me that they are still being read and are still being enjoyed. I will try to update this as regularly as I can. I hope you enjoy it and here is the next instalment.

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Part I

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Prologue – You Don't Belong

The castle's walls reflected the cold that swept through the corridors. The city was not what it used to be. People used to come and go, milling through the village and throughout the land. Living under Cenred was luxury compared to the reality of now.

"Helios!" A man stormed through the gates, passing the few people who still worked in the castle.

The man pushed the doors to the great hall open to see the man in question sat at the table, with a servant quivering in fear stood to the side.

"What the hell am I paying you for?!"

Helios put down his fork, and motioned for the servant to go.

"Be patient, Odin. All good things take time." Helios assured him.

"Patient! You promised me Arthur's head on a spike two years ago and I am still waiting!" Odin boomed. "I want Arthur in front of me, on his knees by summer's end otherwise it will be your head on a spike." The King growled.

"Things are already in motion." Helios smirked.

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The forest was full of life. Rabbits hopped through the bushes as deer munched on the grass in the meadows.

Arthur crouched close in the under growth, eyeing up his next target. He listened out for the tell tale noises that his hunting partner was around. Hearing nothing, he aimed the crossbow at the boar ahead of him. He concentrated, lining the target in his sight a moment before rustling caught the boar's attention and it bounded off.

Groaning he stood from his position, turning around glaring at the noise that lost him his shot.

"What?" Merlyn stood there shrugging with a smirk on her face. "I never said I would play fair." He spotted the pheasant that was in her hand. He carefully unloaded the crossbow, before a smirk crossed his face.

She saw the look in his eye change before she dropped the pheasant and ran. He dropped the crossbow and gave chase. It didn't take long until he had her trapped with his arms around her waist, picking her up from the ground and spun her around. She was laughing while trying to wriggle free.

"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry you lost your boar." He placed her back on the ground.

"Oh no, that's not good enough." She laughed as he began to tickle her. She tried to break out of his grasp but laughing made her weak in his hold.

"Arthur!" She laughed, trying to get his hands to stop. He did and turned her in his arms to face him. She grinned at him as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He captured her lips with his and sighed happily into the kiss. There was nowhere else that he would rather be.

The Kingdom was thriving, relations between Kingdoms had never been better and if he had things his way, the woman in his arms would be his wife before summer's end.

Things were finally going their way.

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Let me know what you think! x