A/N:: is still laughing from the previous chapter:: pardon me, I�ll be over here in my corner sniggering at dear Cu.

Cu: w;;

Chapter Thirty-One

Things continued on for several weeks this way, though she did not come to him every night. When she did come to him, he was restrained in ways he never wanted and never thought about being put in during sex. She would tug on his leash when she felt him misbehaving during the act, forcing his head back against the wall behind him with enough force to cause him a small headache. She would keep his hands and feet strapped down so he could do nothing but let her have her way on his lap.

She didn�t attempt to take his manhood into her mouth except sparingly. This was because she seemed to have figured out that this caused him more grief than sex did. She did it once or twice after that night, but that was the end of it and it was purely out of her own enjoyment of watching him squirm.

Cuchulainn had lost count of how many days it had been since he had been forced to stay in Camelot castle as Arturia�s captive. As the days wore on, he was allowed to move around naturally, though still chained. He was given a bath by Arturia, led to a bathtub not far off in her room that would be filled with hot water and he would have soap to wash himself with that smelled of mint. He did not mind, for it was a pleasant smell and did not bother him so much. He wondered, however, of what sort of perfume it was that she wore that seemed to announce her presence to him when she came near. It smelled of roses but of orchids as well as something musky. None of these naturally grew in the frigid climate, so he gathered she paid for the perfume at great expense from either Scotland or Ireland or America. He knew America exported a great deal, but it was far more expensive to eat and drink and use goods from America than it was to import from Ireland. However, he also knew of the taxes placed on goods going out of Ireland for the problem that Ireland wasn�t big enough to feed all of Briton and Wales.

He leaned his head back against Arturia�s shoulder and leaned into her neck as she scrubbed his chest gently with a cloth. He could smell the musky roses and orchids there. �Is something wrong?� she asked.

�I like your smell. I�ve always liked the smell of you when you were near,� he murmured near her ear.

Arturia flushed deeply and seemed to tremble slightly as he licked her ear. He smirked when she had grown stiff and stopped scrubbing him. It had been the first time in a long while that he had been able to show the least amount of freedom and he was going to take advantage of it!

�What�s wrong, little queen? You tremble so against me for merely enjoying a little of the taste of your skin,� he muttered softly in her ear, biting her earlobe gently.

A sharp slap and a shove caused him to hit the side of the tub. He blinked in surprise and rubbed his tender cheek before looking back at her angrily. His words died in his throat however when he saw how flushed she was. Her eyes were wide and scared; her hand trembled faintly as she looked at him. He had scared her with his advances! At least, he thought he might have scared her.

�Such a bold woman in so many areas is afraid of the advances of her own prisoner?� he said softly, smirking faintly at her.

�I am not afraid,� she said finally, her face going back to the set doll mask that she always wore. �You are being difficult.�

He leaned closer once again and sniffed at her. �Difficult is my general state of being, little queen. Even my wife would say so.�

He dodged this time, for her fist was what she sent at his face. He moved back sharply to avoid being hit and held his shackled hands in front of him in defense. �Oi! Oi! I didn�t do anything to you to warrant that!�

He watched as she picked up the cloth from the tub and beckoned him. �Be still and I will finish washing you.�

He frowned and moved back over, staying silent so she wouldn�t try to hit him again. He just couldn�t figure out what would make her suddenly so very angry!

Arturia moved around her desk and kneeled down to him, putting her lips to his ear. �I have a favor to ask of you, Emiya. Only you can make it work and make it look good.�

Emiya shivered slightly and closed his eyes as she whispered into his ear. �What is it you wish of me?�

�I want you to kill someone and make it look like Connacht did it or raiders. If she has daughters or sons, they may live unless they get in the way, understand?� Emiya felt an arrow head get pushed into his palm. �Here is the evidence so your work can still vanish as it usually does.�

�Who is it you wish to die, my queen?�

Arturia leaned closer again and murmured into his ear softly. �Queen Emer of Ireland.�

And when her menstruation period came, he watched Emiya clean her sheets and listened to her whimper and whine from the pain in her belly. He would see her curl up much like she had when she had just lost her maidenhead and cringe repeatedly from the cramping in her tummy. During that time, he recalled Emer and Aife and the other women he had been with in the past. For women like Aife and Emer, he had spent an incredibly long time with them and was able to see how women coped with such things early on. Most men cringed away from it or simply wouldn�t acknowledge it. He, however, felt a bit bad for the ladies, for they always looked like they were in the most terrible discomfort. Even a strong woman like Aife turned tended to either turn into a complete raging monster or a sobbing little child. He had seen his nurse and mother even go through it and they explained to him why women went through it when he was but a small boy.

Emiya was always there to watch over his queen except when he was sent out, which only happened once after he had arrived. He came back later and gave his queen information, which he heard small amounts of and then resumed his daily duties of taking care of his little queen. However, he noticed that the man was not around once more sometime after the fiasco in the bath. He wondered briefly what new person was going to be interrogated and sighed. At least Arturia would let him walk around in his chains a bit so his muscles wouldn�t be so cramped.

She looked up at the messenger and sighed. �Thank you� er� I don�t recognize you, actually. Are you all right?�

The messenger�s face was covered completely with a white cloth, much like a leper would; however, his hands were free and brown. Maybe he suffered a terrible fate that marred his face when he was younger. She could see his eyes, however. They were hazel and almond shaped. This man was not from her soldiers that was for certain. Might he be from someplace else and caught the message?

�You are an unusual man,� she said.

�I am fine, I found the message after someone had attacked your messenger and I went to Camelot for a brief period to see if maybe it was meant for someone there. When no one recognized it, I broke the seal and read it myself. I found your husband inside the castle, m�lady,� he said. His accent was odd, like that of an Arab. Maybe that was why he had his face covered so oddly and his clothes were bright as well. It also explained his brown skin and his odd looking eyes.

�How did you find him inside the castle?�

�I was trading goods with the cook and saw my lady�s husband being paraded around on a chain as though he were a dog,� said the strange Arab in front of her.

Emer shot to her feet and slammed her hands down on the desk. �How dare she!? Thank you, kind sir; I will give you your reward soon. However, I must make arrangements to get my husband back! You have done this queen a great service with your information!� She leaned up and kissed both of his cheeks before she hurried to gather the note from the table and get herself gathered up to go gather the forces of Ulster, of Ireland, to go against all of Briton.

She only made it to the door when a sharp pain entered her back. She gasped and fell against the door with a thump. Another sharp pain in her back and she turned to see the strange Arab holding up a Connacht bow and arrow and pointing it at her. �Actually, I lied,� he said in perfect, royal, English, �but my queen wants you out of the way so she can keep her new pet. By the way, he is only chained up, but he receives the best care possible from her and enjoys himself immensely.�

He let loose his final arrow into her heart from a strange angle, each to make certain it didn�t enter far into her, but far enough to kill her, as if from afar. When she slumped against the door, blood oozing from her mouth as she trembled, dying, he made the arrows disappear and walked over to her. Then, with precise movements, he pushed the Connacht arrowhead into her heart and went to the window. He looked out and gazed at the towers. He could hear someone coming, so he had to make his escape soon.

He had a coin he kept on him should he need to make a swift exit and pulled it out. It was a trick Merlin had taught him in his youth. Put spells on the coin that will pull him out of one place and into the other where he would have placed the coin�s mate. He touched the coin and counted to three and felt a pull behind his navel. He then, shot forward through something bright and wildly lit before landing next to his horse who he had let loose in Cannick. There, he had ambushed an Arab trader and gone to Ireland dressed as such.

He saddled up his horse and left for home. He had grown numb to the faces of the people he had killed. If he pretended they didn�t exist, then they didn�t and he could keep going. His queen needed him and that was the important thing.

�Mummy� I�m sorry,� she whimpered and curled up under the blankets. He frowned and tugged at his chains. This was something new. He had never listened to her whimper about her mother or other family. She only ordered invisible servants about in her dreams as far as he knew.

�Little queen?� he said softly, trying to see if she was not simply awake and whimpering.

�Please look at me� Why won�t you look at me?�

Her mother didn�t look at her? So, did her mother not truly want her when she was born? He frowned and tugged at his chains to see how far he had to work with. He found he could get up and did so, heading for her bed. He managed to get onto his feet and sat down on the mattress, though this was putting strain on him as the chains were heavy and stretched out as far as they would go.

�Please look at me� why won�t you look at me? Morgan? Why won�t mummy look at me?� She shook underneath her blankets as she started to cry. He frowned and attempted to lean over her, but found he could not. Damn chains!

He pulled the blankets back from her body a little to see how she was positioned. She was tightly curled up on her side, crying softly in her sleep. He covered her again and tried to touch her face, but found that his fingertips were all he could touch her with. He stroked the skin of her cheek with light gentle strokes as he hummed softly, the sound sweet and gentle. She started to relax at his coaxing and fell silent after a little while. He side when she wasn�t whimpering anymore and eyed his chains warily. He supposed he wouldn�t have a problem with staying longer, but he worried for Emer taking her new title on all by herself. She was more suited to the lifestyle than he, but he could lead and she could not. She had moments of decisiveness, but most often, she would simply let someone else take the job for her.

He hoped that Emer was all right and went back to sleep, this time leaning against the bed of Arturia with her curtains as his blanket.