Aldwin's Betrayal

Author's Note:

King Arthur's sons are not part of Type-Moon's lore, they are part of very old Arthurian lore that isn't used much in recent fiction. I like to use them as my own unique spin for Fate stuff I write, but for this story, I think it works nicely. Also, the extended M-rated version of this chapter is up on Archive of Our Own.

On a cloudy, dreary day in the Realm of Logres, a woman arrived at the castle of Camelot with a chest.

The chaplain began to read the letter:

"These letters say that the Knight whose head lies in this vessel is none other than Loholt and that he was the son of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere.

He had slain in a day that has passed, the giant Logrin, by his boldness. Lord Aldwin Vi Britannia was passing by there and found him asleep atop of Logrin as was his custom after battle to sleep on top of his enemy.

Lord Aldwin Vi Britannia smote off Loholt's head, so his head left his body on that piece of ground. Then he took the giant's head and bore it to King Arthur's court. He made all the Kings, Queens and barons understand that he had slain the giant, but he had not, instead he had slain Loholt, according to the writing of the King's letters."

"Jenny…" Arturia said gently, placing her hand on the Queen's shoulder.

"It cannot be true! Not our son!" Guinevere opened the box that had been given to them by the woman who brought the chest to them.

She cried out, "The scar! The scar on his face from when he was a child! My son! My son!"

The Queen fainted. Arturia managed to catch her.

"You shouldn't have banished him, you should have killed him!" Mordred roared, as much as she disliked her legitimate siblings, what that man had done was utterly disgusting. Men of House Britannia were little better than dogs.

"Yes, we had not known what he had done when you had prepared that feast to honor him for his great deed; he beat one of the guests and disgraced himself even further!" Lancelot added.

"How do we know the letters are true? What proof do we have that it was Aldwin's doing?" the King asked the Chaplin.

"The lady who brought the chest says that only his murderer can open it."

"Then pass it around the Table. It shall judge each of us, just to be sure," the King ordered.

They passed the chest around the table, not even Mordred was able to open it.

It was true; Aldwin X had murdered the King's son. Arturia steeled herself for what she had to do, kill someone she loved. Arturia was worried for Guinevere, she stopped eating. She refused to leave her chambers. They could constantly hear her crying all day and all night.

The King took Lancelot aside. "You have to help her, Lance, she'll die of grief. First, we lost Gwydre, then Amhar and now Loholt. All I have left is Durand..."

"We did not lose Amhar, you and I both know you killed him," Lancelot reminded her.

"Yes, I slew him; he went mad and tried to violate me, so I killed him."

"You will never tell her will you?" Lancelot asked."How did he know that you are a woman?"

"He said Morgan showed him proof, I don't know how. It matters not. He is dead. We all have our secrets, Lance, you of all people know that," Arturia sighed.

The door opened. A Messenger arrived.

"My King, Aldwin Vi Britannia has been sighted near Cornwall, he is leading a vast army!"

"Now I will have justice for my son, Loholt. Gather the men, we leave at dawn!"

Arturia could not grieve as a parent, she was King, and she must behave as a King should. She had a war to fight, and she couldn't let her emotions get in the way of what she had to do: Kill Aldwin Vi Britannia.

Lelouch sighed in frustration. He was a decent singer, but not even he could come up with a tune to fit the lyrics from the book.

Shirley and Rivalz came up with something pleasant sounding, but at least this would be a group effort for their grade.

"This would be so much easier if we had something to go on," Rivalz sighed. "I wish Suzaku were here, he'd come up with something cool, but ever since he disappeared, we don't know where he is."

"I'm sure he'll be fine, he'll be back soon," Lelouch reassured him.

Arturia hadn't decided what she would do with him since the Britannians didn't seem the least bit interested in rescuing him, she knew they'd been trying to find Princess Euphemia and Princess Cornelia, but they still hadn't been able to find them.

They met in a park near Ashford, Nunnally was accompanying them.

"Guys do you hear something?" Shirley Fennette asked. The rest of the student council stopped what they were doing. Hanging out in the park doing homework together was no one's idea of a fun time, but Lelouch couldn't let his grades slip due to his activities with the Black Knights so he had to finish this homework assignment with them, lest Rivalz and Shirley become suspicious, so he suggested it so they could get the assignment over with.

Lelouch stilled for a moment. Unlike his friends, he recognized Arturia's voice. He was surprised she could sing and it was a pleasant sound. Then he realized she was singing the lyrics of their school assignment!

Iseult of the emerald isle,
Still I seek you, mile on mile
Through the wide world following
Love – a white bird on the wing.
Iseult, though the world wax old,
Never shall our love grow cold: Still while youth and Spring are sure
Lives our love and shall endure.
Iseult, in the after-time
Poets still shall fit their rhyme,
Tell of love beyond compare:
Tristan and Iseult the Fair

The group followed her voice as they found Arturia sitting by herself beneath a tree. They listened to her singing as they remained silent.

Shirley and Milly looked at each other. Nina seemed dumbfounded. Rivalz watched her with interest as she was a beautiful woman.

"Prez, are you okay? You're crying!" Rivalz asked, concerned.

"I'm fine, Rivalz, I'm fine. Just haven't heard anything that beautiful in a while." Milly Ashford wiped her eyes.

Shirley nodded an agreement and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief.

"Do you mind if we steal that for our school assignment?" Rivalz blatantly asked.

"It's not my song or my tune to claim," Arturia laughed. "I never could tell if he was awake or asleep. His mind was always somewhere else. Thinking about her I suppose."

Lelouch realized just who she was talking about and hoped it would go over their heads. It did and they smiled politely.

"My name is Elise Watoson. I have been away from Britannia for a very long time and have recently returned to the country. I was in Gweynned for a time. I am an acquaintance of Lelouch's mother."

"Where's that?" Rivalz asked, curious.

In the country of Wales, or it would have been the country of Wales," Arturia told him.

"So you're from the old homeland then?" Shirley noted.

"You could say that."

"We hope you enjoy your time here," Shirley smiled.

"I'm sure I will," Arturia smiled.

"Isn't the original homeland where all the stories of King Arthur take place? Like Lancelot and Guinevere?" Nina asked.

"Gwenhwyvar," Arturia corrected gently. "In Welsh, she was called Gwenhwyvar, but the court called her Guinevere because it suited them. But to the King, she was always Jenny."

"That's really sweet," Nina added, "It's too bad it all fell apart."

"Yes, it is," Elise Watoson replied.

Arturia took out a book and began to read, "As long as she remained in his sight most attentively and with delight, but when he could see her no longer, he wanted to fling himself out of the window and shatter his body on the ground below."

Arturia laughed, "He wasn't that incapacitated by his love for her, he still had to fight after all."

The students laughed.

"I think we all better head home," Milly said.

"I should go home and take care of Nunnally," Lelouch began to get up.

"Don't worry, Lelouch, Miss Sayoko will take good care of me. It seems like you wanted to stay a little longer."

"You could tell?" he asked, he hadn't motioned anything.

"I know you better than anyone else," Nunnally told him.

"Thanks, you're an angel, Nunnally," Lelouch smiled.

Lelouch found her later after everyone had left.

"Would you care to join me for a game of chess?" Arturia asked.

"Of course," he smiled, sitting beside her.

He noticed there was an extra piece on the board. It was a gold cup.

"I have never seen that piece before," Lelouch extra piece.

"it is a replica of the Holy Grail that Mages fought for in Fuyuki. In this game, one does not check the King, you must check the Grail," Arturia explained. "The pieces still move the same way in regular chess."

"I see," Lelouch noted. They began to play. He observed her as she played.

He found his mind wandering to how beautiful she was and that it was a shame she'd never been able to live as a woman in her own time. He had taken to reading Aldwin's memoirs again, he found them to be a valuable resource when it came to understanding her, but he wondered if his ancestor's words were merely his ideal of what he thought she was.

The variation of the game kept his interest. He was pleased by it and he watched her moves keenly. She was always observant of her pieces and she was an aggressive player, always going for the Grail.

He thought he would have an easier time playing against her, but they were evenly matched.

They battled each other on the board for several minutes, but she won, checking the Grail.

"Tell me, was there anything you ever wanted for yourself, when you were younger?" Lelouch asked, curious.

"Yes, in my daydreams, even after I knew what I would have to do before I pulled Caliburn from the Stone, I had…to be perfectly honest, I once had deep and passionate feelings for a certain enchanting man. I had dreams of a long and happy life that involved this man, however painful. In the end, those feelings of passion amounted to absolutely nothing. In short, all those dreams were only dreams. And in the place where those dreams lived, stands the woman I have become today."

"I see, but you don't have to be that way anymore, you can live for yourself now."

"Infidelity, adultery, dalliances in the dead of night, that was Aldwin Vi Britannia's reputation at Camelot," Arturia smiled sadly. "He always let his eyes wander to what caught his eye, even his wife knew that he was never going to stop, she tolerated it because she enjoyed his prestige as personal friend to King Arthur. Enough about him, let us speak of other things."

Arturia changed the subject.

"You've done well for your first try at this version of the game. You almost had me," she smiled.

Her face showed surprise as Lelouch smirked.

"I thought I already had you," he kept smirking.

"What do you mean by that?" Arturia asked.

Lelouch leaned in closer to her, "You stay in my house, you lead The Black Knights, you have sworn an oath to me. In a way, I do have you."

"You're so arrogant, you frustrate me to no end you—"

Lelouch leaned in and kissed her. His lips brushed hers, he had wanted to kiss her since they'd started their game, he tasted her lips and felt the warmth of her breath.

"Your Highness…" she murmured softly.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, gently pulling away.

"Ever does House Britannia steal from me," Arturia murmured.

"I've overstepped, forgive me, Your Highness," he whispered gently.

He got up and left. She stared at him.

"It troubles me," Arturia said to herself after he was out of earshot, "that all I want is for him to kiss me again. What came over him I wonder? Is he teasing me? I do not know."

The next Monday, Lelouch sat in the Student Council Room. Milly looked at him, "Lelouch, you know the Ball is coming up soon right? You still need to get your dress."

"Oh," Lelouch's voice went silent. "Oh, no, not again!"

His wail could be heard throughout the school.

It was time for the Crossdressers Ball and that meant he was going to be trapped in a dress, again!

"So what are we going to make him wear?" Shirley asked Milly.

"Oh, Milly, someone already provided Lelouch with a dress," Nina Einstein told her.

"Huh?" Shirley was surprised. "When?"

"Elise Watoson volunteered to give Lelouch a dress and said that Lelouch owed her something, she said she heard about the Crossdressers Ball and bought him a custom dress."

Rivalz Cadermonde started laughing. "Just what do you owe this girl? Did you lose to her in gambling?"

"You could say that," Lelouch gritted his teeth. Oh, he was going to make her pay for this, one way or another.

That night they arrived at the Student Council room that had been set up or the Crossdressers Ball.

The Student Council had met up when Lelouch heard a familiar voice call his name.

Rivalz, Shirley, Milly, and Nina all turned to stare at the figure who had called Lelouch's name. The young Prince found himself staring at Arturia Pendragon in surprise and awe.

Since this was the Crossdressers Ball, all the men were wearing the dresses and the women were wearing men's clothing.

She stood before them dressed in fine woolen clothes, colored blue and white, her trousers were blue but her shirt was white with designs made of real gold thread.

Her hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail. But she'd never looked more beautiful to him. Lelouch couldn't help but be stunned.

Now Lelouch understood why she could pass herself off as a man. She looked every bit the part of a long-haired teenage boy! When he had asked how old she was, she claimed she was 35, although the revelation left Lelouch's jaw hanging open, he could see that she most certainly behaved much older than she looked.

Most of the time, Lelouch thought that the male students would leer at her for cross-dressing as a man, but there was a purity in her face and looks that Lelouch noted that had a profound effect on all the men in dresses there in the room with them.

"Miss Watoson, what a surprise!" Lelouch exclaimed; he hadn't expected her to actually show up, although this was one of the few events where they were allowed to bring a dance partner that didn't attend Ashford Academy.

The music began to play. She offered her hand to him and they began to dance.

"Do you like what you're wearing?" Arturia asked him.

"It's a nice dress," Lelouch admitted.

"Splendid. It's a taller version of my own dress that you've seen me wear," she smiled. "It suits you well, much to my amusement."

He could see her bemused expression slipping into a smirk. She whispered into his ear.

"This is for all the time's you have antagonized me," she smirked.

"I'm sure I'm going to pay for it somehow and it has nothing to do with me wearing this dress."

"You will, Your Highness, you will."

They danced together as the music continued to play.

"And just how am I going to pay?"

"With your body," she told him, amused.

"What do you mean by that?" Lelouch asked, surprised.

"You're a man, I'm sure you can imagine."

Lelouch blushed. Arturia laughed in amusement.

She danced with a few others, she chose Rivalz, he blushed for reasons known to Lelouch, he had been trying all night to get a dance with Milly.

Arturia smiled, "Do not fret, Rivalz Cardemonde, you'll catch her eye one day."

"Believe me, lad, I know the look of a man in love, and you are quite smitten," she put a hand on his shoulder. "She enjoys teasing our mutual friend too much when it comes to women."

The dance ended and they headed home. She had enjoyed herself, and she had noted with interest how Lelouch rarely took his eyes of hers, even when he danced with the other girls in school.

They headed home, the night was over, Lelouch wondered just how she was going to make him pay for how he'd treated her.

"The heavens tell of God's glory; the skies proclaim His handiwork. Speech is poured forth during the day and knowledge during the night."

"Isn't that the prayer of the French Saint Jeanne D'Arc?" Lelouch asked, curious.

"It is the 19th Psalm of King David, it is also been said to be the prayer of the Holy Maiden Jeanne," Saber replied. "How strange that you should bring up Jeanne D'Arc, I have often been mistaken for her. I have been told I am like her in appearance. I never fought her in any of the Holy Grail Wars that I participated in."

"How interesting. The history books say she was an evil witch that murdered innocent children."

"Your history book lies, although I never fought her, I did wage war against one of her companions, a Caster class Servant. As mad as he was, he never once spoke ill of Jeanne D'Arc, he worshipped her as a saint that much I do know. As we are both Catholic, there are some things I understand about the Holy Maiden Jeanne D'Arc.

Saber got up from her kneeling position, ending her prayer.

Saber looked at Lelouch, "It has been six months since you rescued me from that prison cell and all I have done for you is not nearly enough. I have not nearly begun to repay my debt to you."

"What do you mean?" Lelouch asked.

"You will see soon enough, go sit down on the chair, I will return shortly."

Lelouch saw her return with a basin filled with water and a washcloth. She approached him, knelt down and took off his shoes.

Lelouch wanted to protest, what she was doing to him made him feel uncomfortable.

"Arturia, you don't have to—" Lelouch objected adamantly.

"Is it so humiliating for me to wash your feet?" she asked gently.

He found her in prayer once again, though God was not high on his priority list, the elegance of her words drew his attention.

"I don't have the humility of Christ to wash someone else's feet. This isn't something you have to do for me," Lelouch protested.

"You are not a believer so it does surprise me you know such things," Saber smiled.

"My friend Shirley Fennette is a Protestant. I hear her talk about church or sermons once in a while so I remember things."

She washed his feet and said very little to him.

"Have you seen what the news has said about us now that you have shown the Britannians who you are?"

"Remember that no servant is greater than his master," Arturia looked at him. "If the world hates you…remember that it hated me first."

"So you have said, they say He's a myth and doesn't exist."

"All myths exist in this world, why else do you think they retain their power even after they are nothing more than words in your history books, or words sacred holy texts, it is the way of the world that science has made people of your era forget."

"Yes, you are a myth that still stays with us to this day. But you have been lying to me, saying you've abandoned your ideals, making you a hypocrite, a King cannot be selfless, and they always have some motive that gives them self satisfaction. You say you've abandoned your ideals, but you clearly haven't, that much I can tell, or you wouldn't have shown mercy to Orange Boy, you would have killed him on the spot."

"What makes you think that I've been lying?" Arturia asked, curious.

"You follow the ideal of a humble King who always serves others. You are hardly Jesus that you can truly be such a thing," Lelouch told her in a stern voice.

"So you say, but this is something I wanted to do for you."

"They say King Arthur is a Messianic figure who will save Britannia. You honestly think you can do all that?"

"It has been my entire reason for living. But even I know this Britannia cannot be saved and must be destroyed."

Her humility was not a false air she put on to make herself look good. This was not boasting, this was her strange and unconventional way of showing her gratitude to him for rescuing her.

Lelouch couldn't help but be moved by what she'd done for him. She was truly different from anyone he'd ever known, still, she did irritate him sometimes, but he graciously accepted her gratitude.

She dried his feet and left him. There was a look of resignation on her face. Lelouch was rather dumbfounded, for all his intelligence, religious symbolism and metaphors weren't something he had particularly studied.

He began to research the meaning of what she'd done to him, besides the typical essays on Christ's humility and talk of servant leadership, there was another thing he noticed.

Some writings brought up that washing the disciples' feet were symbolic of the love Christ had for his disciples.

Lelouch realized that this was her way of telling him she loved him when she couldn't bring herself to say the words aloud. He had noted the expression on her face as she left. It seemed to be resignation.

He was going to find out whether his hunch about her feelings for him was true, and then he would decide what he would do about it.

"Is something bothering you, King of Knights?" Lelouch asked.

"How long must I endure you?" Arturia asked irritation in her voice. "You always find ways to insult me. I am merely a tool to you."

"I am not mocking you," Lelouch's voice was calm and amicable. "I'm being perfectly reasonable."

"Well, here's a thing, I look before me and all I see is an ass weasel!" Arturia growled at him.

"And yet you have gone to great lengths to thank this ass weasel," Lelouch grinned, gesturing to himself.

Arturia moved quickly and grabbed Lelouch by his shirt; she pressed him against the wall.

"Your arrogance sickens me, and yet I cannot bear to be away from you!"

"Have you never been teased before, Your Highness, I do find you amusing and adorable," Lelouch smiled.

"Is that all I am to you? An amusement?" Saber snapped at him.

"No, but you always feel you have to give and give to others. You yourself said you'd give me the whole of Britannia. I want you to actually take something for yourself. You act like you aren't a human being."

"Tell me, Lelouch, what you expect me to take for myself? What could I possibly want?" Saber asked, sarcasm filling her voice.

"No one gives you what you want! Don't get what you don't earn! Can't have what you need; only what you deserve!" Lelouch told her in a deep voice, his face was dangerously close to hers.

"Tell me Your Highness what do I deserve?" Arturia asked.

"I'll show you…" He replied.

Lelouch pulled Arturia Pendragon close and kissed her, gently stroking her cheek with his palm.

Saber was quite stunned. She had been steeling herself for a vigorous and enthusiastic argument, but he continued to surprise her.

Her body trembled against his; she was still unaccustomed to intimate affection from men that knew her true gender. She had known a level of intimacy with Aldwin X that she had not had with many men, but Aldwin had often coaxed her with his touch and kisses, but Lelouch didn't try to coax her for any further intimacy than the kiss.

"Your Highness…Arturia, it's all right…it's all right…" Lelouch murmured in her ear. He held her for a long moment, not letting her go "If she does not heal my suffering with a kiss, she will murder me and damn herself. Yet for all the suffering I endure, I do not renounce sweet love."

"I know such words, for he said them to her, do you wish for me to suffer as she did as well? Then I will endure your suffering, and you will live, for my sake! Lelouch, please know that I love you!" She clutched at him, pulling him close, kissing him with a desperation that surprised her.

Arturia's mind spun, she had heard these words before, 1,500 years ago, and staring up at Lelouch she saw the face of the man she had loved once. The first and only man she had ever truly loved.

"Why must I love you so much? An arrogant ass weasel as yourself. You sweet little fool," she whispered in his ear in her native tongue, Cornish-Breton. She could speak both Cornish and Breton and Anglo-Saxon. She spoke French as well because of Lancelot.

"Huh?" Lelouch was bewildered, she spoke to him in a language he had never heard, but it was still beautiful.

"I forget myself; you are not Aldwin that you can speak my native tongue. He always disliked speaking to me in my own tongue. He preferred to speak to me in his native tongue of Anglo-Saxon."

"Will you teach me some time," he asked.

"Yes, that would please me very much," she smiled at him.

"Good night, Lelouch," she said softly. Arturia turned and left him alone.

Lelouch knew it, but he was unsure of just when he knew the truth: He had fallen in love with Arturia Pendragon, the King of Knights. It was in that moment, he had unwittingly doomed himself to the curse of his bloodline placed by Merlin long ago

The next day, the Student Council was gathered around one of their screens on their phones.

"What is it?" Lelouch asked, curious.

"Archeologists in the Republic of Britain have discovered a tomb. One they say proves that that Britannia has no right to claim their bloodline is tied to King Arthur's," Rivalz explained. "There had originally been a special on the Royal Family but this just interrupted it."

"How come the Britannian government hasn't shut down the broadcast?" Shirley asked. "You'd think they'd try to stop them from saying stuff like that."

Lelouch smiled, It must be Diethard's doing, ever since Arturia revealed herself, he's been begging her for a private sit down interview. She's never answered him regarding it though.

One of Britannia's foremost Arthurian scholars laughed. "The King of Knights had no sons. The Queen was barren. That is an undisputed fact. You lost the right to call yourselves Britannians the moment Napoleon turned you all into democratic French toadies!"

"We here are true Britons, it is your people who are the imposters! Here!" he pointed to the stone. "Here is the proof of Arthur's true heirs!"

"Here lies Loholt, son of Arthur, slain by an unknown assassin." The scholar said. "It proves not only did the King of Knights have a legitimate heir, not an appointed successor as Britannia's Royal Jackass claims, but also that someone murdered him. That's why I have come on television today. I was once a royal historian for the Britannian Royal Family. I found torn pages from Aldwin Vi Britannia's memoirs where he confessed to slaying King Arthur's son and heir!"

"Whoa, but can they prove it?" Rivalz asked. "That's a big deal right?"

"Yes, but the Royal Family can just say that they made it up and faked the pages," Shirley noted.

"But there is a way to prove it," the archeologist said. "We have exhumed Aldwin's body because there is a story regarding the death of Loholt. That a woman brought the severed head of the King's son back to Camelot in a chest and after Guinevere confirmed that it was her son, the box was shut, and that only his murderer could open that box. It was passed around the entirety of the Round Table, and not even the Treacherous Knight Mordred was able to open it."

The archeologist sighed, "If the story is true and Aldwin Vi Britannia did indeed murder Loholt Pendragon, then his hand should open this box, and if he didn't then it won't open."

Lelouch watched as the man's gloved hands took the hand of his dead ancestor and placed it on the chest.

To his horror, the chest opened. The skull was not covered in skin, but Lelouch could swear that the hair was golden blonde, like hers. He noticed the skull had a scar on it.

Lelouch felt visibly sick. She had often commented that he was the image of Aldwin Vi Britannia. How could she even bear to look at him now, knowing he had the face of the man who had murdered her son? She knew she had to have known long before he knew who she was.

"Lulu, are you okay? You've gone pale," Shirley asked, concerned.

"Here, have some water," Nina offered him a water bottle.

"Thanks, Nina," he accepted gratefully. He drank it, he felt much better.

He wondered if she hated him, but he would find out once he returned home.

"Arturia, are you all right? You watched Diethard's broadcast?" he asked gently.

"Yes…I will be fine, you seem surprised, you did not know that I had sons?"

"It's not in our history books," Lelouch crossed his arms.

"I can see why," she sighed.

"Because Aldwin X wanted no competition in the annals of history to contest his claim to the throne of Britannia," Lelouch answered.

"No, because my sons were of unnatural birth, God saw fit to take them from me. They all died young, all five of them."

Lelouch was stunned, but then again that television special about the history of the Britannian Royal Family had made her angry already. This was all new knowledge to him.

"I'm sorry," he told her.

"You are too kind to me," Saber told him, turning away.

He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"How did they die?" Lelouch asked.

"Gwydre died when he was gored to death by a giant boar, Twrch Trwyth, he died along with my two maternal uncles. We were on a Quest for my cousin Culwhch, so he could marry Olwen."

"And the others?" he asked.

"Durand and Leicheu died with me at Camlann."

"Aldwin never believed they were truly my children, he believed they were bastards someone else had."

"But how?"

"Merlin pulled a prank on me, he…gave me a man's virile member so I could have children," she explained. "He did it to me on multiple occasions, said it would be good for me to have many sons."

"WHAT?!" Lelouch bawled in shock.

"My son Amhar…I slew him myself," Arturia told him.

Lelouch was somewhat surprised. Murdering family members was a common practice among the Britannian nobility, but he didn't think it could occur in Camelot.

"Why did you kill him?" Lelouch asked.

"It's no concern of yours!" Saber uncharacteristically snapped at him.

He did something to her, but what could it be? Wait…no, that's too disgusting to even consider!

Incest, he'd always heard the rumors, but she was far too righteous to do something that disgusting. It must have been…

Lelouch shook his head; he decided not to push the subject of Amhar further.

"I knew he killed my son, but I did not learn of it until after I banished Aldwin. I should have killed him during our last fight, but I spared him due to my feelings for him. All it did was bring me pain."

"You should have killed him, how could you let him live?!" Lelouch shouted. "All I have ever wanted to do was kill the person who murdered my mother! You knew he killed your son, and you spared him!"

"Why do you complain, you are his descendant if I had killed him you would not be here, Lelouch Vi Britannia! I made a just decision, he promised to never return to Britannia, I made him swear solemn oaths that I should never see him again. He kept his oaths after that day, it was enough for me."

Lelouch forced himself to calm down. She was such a fascinating creature. He could only gaze at her in silence.

Lelouch turned her around to face him.

"Do you hate me, for having his face, now that you know the truth of everything he did to you?" Lelouch asked her.

Saber looked at him, "You are not the man who murdered my son. He is dead. I don't love him. Not anymore."

Lelouch got up and began to leave.

"Please stay with me. Will you…console me?" Arturia moved closer to him.

She pulled him down to kiss her.

"Yes, if that's what you want right now, I can do that," Lelouch told her gently.

This man was not Aldwin. She had to remember that. He was…

Important to her, she knew that much, but her emotions roiled inside her heart. The storm that clouded her mind and made her feel like she was stumbling around in the dark.

"Lelouch…" Saber fought for words to leave her throat. She couldn't bring herself to say anything more.

She reached up and stroked his cheek. It was a gesture that she'd done to Aldwin X, and Lelouch's response was to deepen the kiss even further.

She led him back to the King's bedchamber and led him to her bed. She sat on it.

He heard the sound of something dropping. Lelouch felt her take his hand and press it against her body. It was warm and…

Lelouch looked down and blushed. His hand was between her legs. She lay back and sighed.

"Arturia…you're so beautiful…" he whispered.

She smiled. "Give me your hand." She took his hand and lowered it between her legs.

Lelouch was stunned. He wanted this. She stirred up emotions in him that no one else did. He wanted her like this He saw where his fingers were, this was something he could have never done with anyone at school, and he'd never gone this far with any of them.

He began to move his fingers on sheer instinct. He noted her face and her reactions to his touch.

He heard her voice, it was hoarse and she called his name. He let his instincts take over.

"So close…" she gasped. "I'm going to…"

Then he remembered Aldwin's memoirs. He often described in lurid detail just what he enjoyed doing to her and how much it pleased him to see her reach the heights of pleasure.

It troubled him that his ancestor seemed to gloat over physical intimacy with her, treating it like she was just another dalliance to him.

This moment had become precious to him; she wasn't just some girl he was fooling around with.

Seeing her this way made him…happy. That was a strange way to describe what he felt, but it was true. He was happy being with her like this.

He continued his ministrations, watching her face, reading her expression and when she began panting, he was somewhat startled.

"He'd touch you like this, you enjoyed it," Lelouch prodded gently with his words.

She gasped a reply, "Yes."

"You were obviously flattered by the attention," Lelouch observed, he continued his explorations, letting his instincts take over.

Her hips began to rock, she moaned.

He was fascinated by her reactions to his touch.

"I never knew you could make that sound," he purred.

"Lelouch," she gazed at him, her eyes pleading. "Please!"

His fingers continued with gentleness as he slowed down, drawing it out as much as possible. Aldwin had never been this way; it seemed to please him how fast he could bring her to orgasm.

She cried out as she found release, he gazed at her.

"I want you, my adorable King of Knights," he murmured gently. He kissed her mouth, he let her go.

She pulled him down into the bed and once they started, there would be no turning back.