A/N: And so we have the next chapter. Blah di blah di blah, usually I have something witty or at least something to say, but right now I�ve got nothing. Still coughing and sniffling, however. w

Chapter Four

The ale was passed out as well as spiced wine, using the French wine that King Gilgamesh had brought. He had changed since he first arrived, his people having warmed themselves well enough and he had taken a bath in his quarters before coming down. At the moment, he was now dressed down in something white and rather sheer with a heavy dark blue coat over it to keep him warm, though Arturia found his still rather exposed chest distracting. She knew that was his intention as he smirked at her every moment she even laid eyes on him. His hair was relaxed and fell in gold locks around his face and in his ruby like eyes. Red tattoos lined his chest as gold sparkled everywhere it could on his person. He was a very lavish king and relished in showing off how important and wealthy a lord he was. The exact opposite of what Arturia even wanted to associate with.

�You look a bit sour, my queen,� said Gilgamesh in that low purr of his as he sipped his spiced wine.

�You look a bit underdressed,� quipped Arturia, sending a chilly glare toward Gilgamesh. He didn�t seem the slightest bit deterred.

�You have to be the chilliest woman I have ever met,� he said, leaning back in his chair as his musicians came out. �How about I let my musicians play some music to entertain everyone.�

�If that is your wish, you may do so. I do enjoy interesting music,� said Arturia, though her doll like face did not once crack a smile.

Gilgamesh frowned and grunted as he settled in his chair, looking to musicians tuning up and the drummers testing their drums. Godric frowned at Gilgamesh as the king seemed to sprawl unseemly in his chair. Salazar, meanwhile, was watching Arturia with interest. Arturia noted this as she looked to the black haired man. �You are not Scottish nobles, are you?�

Merlin nearly choked on his wine when she said this. Arturia�s gold eyes once again registered the motion and calculated its meaning in several different fashions. Salazar was most interested in this girl for this. �Oh, we�re nobles of a sort. You sent us an invite and we came,� he said with a low voice, seeming to rumble up from his chest like thunder.

Godric, on the other hand, whistled nonchalantly as he made Gilgamesh�s chair tip backward. Gilgamesh spluttered as his wine went into his face before he hit the floor. �Who did that!!�

�Judging by the way you were sitting, my lord Gilgamesh, it was bound to happen,� said Arturia as she sipped some water.

Gilgamesh growled and charged up to his room to change. Arturia smirked deviously as she watched the gold king march away angrily and kept a mental note to give Godric a gift of her gratitude later. Merlin, however, was rather amused by the display. A maidservant came in and cleaned up the wine before setting the chair right and going back to the kitchen. The musicians started to play and Arturia found the music odd, but pleasant.

Gilgamesh came down once more, dressed in the sheer white cloth wrapped around him a few times and a dark red coat on his shoulders. He sat down and a maidservant came out and served him more wine. He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her over. �Don�t serve me again. You stink.�

The maidservant flushed scarlet and nodded before he let her go. Arturia watched her skitter back to the kitchens trying not to look too humiliated. She also noted the now very foul mood of the gold king and smirked in spite of herself. Watching such an arrogant peacock find his own downfalls was more amusing than the musicians. �Your cultural music is quite lovely. I�m growing very fond of it.�

Gilgamesh looked slyly toward Arturia and she felt her skin prickle. She felt the severe need to take a bath from the way he roved over her with his eyes. �You say that I look underdressed and yet you wear such revealing attire?�

�The lady is suitably dressed, I feel,� said Salazar as he eyed Gilgamesh coldly.

Gilgamesh frowned at him before looking back to Arturia. Indeed, Arturia�s gown was high collared with the top piece, but the second top piece had a bodice that tied in the front and split down past her navel, revealing more than her fair share of skin to the chill. If she had not felt that it was at least covering her more still than his covered him, she might agree with him. �I am still covered, your highness.�

�My name is Gilgamesh, Arturia. I would appreciate it if you said it.�

Arturia flicked her eyes toward Gilgamesh and then returned to her water. �King Gilgamesh is allowing a foreign queen to say his name without anything before it to honor his status as king? Astonishing.�

Gilgamesh growled a moment before he snapped his fingers. �Dancers!�

The four dancing girls that Arturia had seen before trailed in one by one, their gold finery jingling as they seemed to jog in on their brown toes. The musicians struck up another song and the girls began to dance.

Arturia watched the girls dance and was entranced by how beautiful they were. They each were like shining jewels in a treasure box. Fergus laughed and stood up and bowed to the girls as they danced, each one stopping to look at the old, handsome rogue. �You ladies are far too fine t�be following that lummox, but do continue! I wished only to say how beautiful you are this night!�

The girls giggled and crowded together as they murmured to each other. Gilgamesh growled and started to stand, but Arturia beat him to it. �Sit down, Mac Roich. Lord Gilgamesh wished to entertain us with his cultural delights and I would let him do so, for it is not disrupting anything. You, however, ARE.�

Fergus looked to Arturia and smiled faintly toward her, a sort of charming grin that he usually held. The woman he traveled with frowned deeply toward him before he sat down. �Forgive me, your highness.�

Arturia rather liked the older man, but she would not stand to have a fight break out in her hall while entertainment was trying to lighten everyone�s mood. Gilgamesh, however, seemed to think her coming to his aid meant she was starting to accept him, for he gave her the most irritating smirk ever. Godric frowned at the gold king and looked like he was going to dump him again, but Helga stomped her foot on Godric�s before he could do anything. Arturia saw the look of pain shoot across the lion like man�s face as he whimpered to his wife. �Helga!�

�Shush, my foot slipped,� she said softly.

The dancing girls went back to their dance and Arturia watched them glide and flit around with their colorful garments and jewels, jingling and jangling to the beat of the drums. Arturia began to feel sleepy from watching the girls dance. Gilgamesh smirked faintly to himself as he watched her eyes droop slightly. Merlin, however, stood up slightly. �My queen, if you are tired, I suggest you should go and rest in your room.�

Arturia nodded. �You are right, Merlin. I shall do as you suggest.�

Gilgamesh frowned at Merlin with severe dislike, but this gave Gilgamesh an opportunity. �If you wish, Arturia, I will help you to your room.�

�NO.�

Gilgamesh sat down with the sudden and very definite answer from the small woman in front of him. She turned slowly and fixed him with a steely gaze. �I will retire to my room. Should I be disturbed unexpectedly, I will not hesitate to use my sword to skewer the assailant.� Then, she picked up her skirts and walked up the stairs.

Salazar looked to Gilgamesh and smirked faintly before finishing his wine. �Very nice wine, your highness. I am glad that you brought it for Queen Arturia.�

Gilgamesh glared angrily at Salazar and stood up. �I am tired. I will go to my room now. Dancers! Do as you please!� With a flourish of his hand, he turned on his heel and marched up the stairs. However, he didn�t go to his room, he went straight for Arturia�s.

However, when he went for Arturia�s room, he found that not even knocking politely and asking for entrance could get the door to budge. Gilgamesh had never been so angry in all his life! How dare such a woman defy him like this! Especially when he was being so generous with her!

He lifted his hand and snapped his fingers once. A sword was embedded in the door as if it materialized from no where. It had broken the lock on the door that he wished so much to enter through with the force it had shot out at it with. He opened the door carefully and walked in without even a notice that he was staring at the business end of a black and red blade, the red circles and lines pulsing faintly like a heartbeat in front of a very angry Arturia Pendragon.

�I said you didn�t need to take me up and now you are intruding upon my quarters. If you do not leave, I will be forced to run you through. As you are a guest, I do wish to keep you in one piece.� Her voice was strained, cold and angry, as though she was trying very desperately to keep her wits about her well enough to keep from killing him on the spot.

However, Gilgamesh didn�t seem to register any of this. �Tch, do you honestly think you can harm me? A little girl such as yourself barely has the strength to carry that blade, much less do me damage.�

Gilgamesh was surprised and more than a little worried when his ever ready shielding of blades intercepted her sword nearly slicing his ear off. He felt his cheek sting and knew she had nicked him well enough. �Ah..�

�You have been warned once, your highness,� she spat at him, �I will not miss again, now that I know you have a net of magic around you like that.�

�It is no net, I assure you, dear little girl,� he said, his voice rumbling slightly in his chest as he crossed his arms over his chest. �But, you would have no idea what sort of magic I can use, would you. It is no magic, actually, but merely the use of dimensions at my disposal.� He stepped to the side and disappeared entirely from view, causing Arturia to whip around with her blade, her hair down and getting in her face as she looked around frantically. �I told you that you couldn�t possibly stand up to what I have, little girl.�

Arturia managed to block an attack from beside her as Gilgamesh whipped a blade from no where and cut a lock of her hair from her head. She shot sideways and held her blade ready as she glared angrily at him. He smirked as he bent down and picked up the little bit of hair she awarded him. �Very soft hair you have, dear little queen. I don�t wish to harm you, you know. I wish to take you as my wife, as I�ve never seen a more enchanting woman before.�

The frozen mask fell into place as she gazed at the golden king. �So you did have a motive for coming, I see. I am glad I was correct, as I am glad that you came up. I do indeed need a king to marry, for nothing less would give my people more lands to use.�

Gilgamesh grinned arrogantly and lowered his blade, ruffling his hair as he straightened up. �Well, now you see the good in my coming. Will you take the offer I so generously hand to you?�

Gilgamesh nearly had to dodge as the black blade broke into sections and whipped at him like a deadly chain. He stared at Arturia in disbelief as he watched the blade form back into a single sword. �You� what is that�?�

�I am the holder of Excalibur, the holy blade as well as the holy scabbard in which it stays when I have no need to use it,� she said in a low voice, her gaze betraying nothing. �You have overstayed your welcome, king of Babylon. Leave now, or I will toss you and your people out myself.�

Gilgamesh growled and pulled out another, stronger blade this time from his strange dimensional gate that Arturia still never saw a sign of. �You have no knights, no soldiers save what your predecessor left you! You won�t win against me! I AM GILGAMESH! KING OF ALL!�

This time the sound of footsteps were running up the stairwell. Gilgamesh grunted and made the sword go back into the air behind him. He snarled and shot a glare at Arturia. �This isn�t through, woman! Before I�m done with you, I will have you pregnant and chained to my side like a pet! I�ll parade you through the streets of your own city on your hands and feet to show your people their prideful princess has been turned into NOTHING.�

�Arturia!!�

�Your highness!�

Godric�s voice could be heard as well as Salazar and Merlin as they ran up the steps. Gilgamesh chose that moment to open up another gate, but stopped when a thought occurred to him. He could simply steal the venomous bitch and they would never be able to find her as his people left with him.

As if Arturia were reading his thoughts, when he stepped into the gate and then came out next to her, she punched him on the nose and tried to run him through with her sword. He managed to dodge well enough, but failed to dodge the kick aimed at his groin. He groaned in pain as he doubled over. She raised her sword and swung it down at his head, but he moved away and dove into another of his gates, disappearing from her room entirely.

Godric made it in first. �Cub! Are you all right?�

Salazar muttered behind him. �Hatchling.�

Merlin rolled his eyes and walked into the room past Godric. �Are you all right, Arturia?�

Arturia nodded and stood up straight, sheathing her sword into Avalon. �Make certain that all of Gilgamesh�s men and women are gone from this castle. I do not want a single person of his troupe left within my walls. He has trespassed thoroughly on my authority and goodwill and it�s time he leaves.�

Merlin nodded and went to find Galain. Salazar watched Arturia with interest. �You look very harried, dear queen.�

Arturia straightened her hair with her fingers and looked to Godric and Salazar. �Thank you for coming to my aid, gentlemen.�

Godric grinned faintly and bowed. �A braver woman I�ve only met one rare occasions. You do yourself proud, m�lady.� Then, he bowed with a flourish and left, looking very irritable. �I find that fiend, he�ll feel the bite of my teeth and claws,� he growled as he walked out.

�Not before I turn him into so many things he will never know what he used to be ever again,� muttered Salazar. He looked to Arturia once again and bowed his head. �Rest well, hatchling.� Then, he smoothly left Arturia in her room and walked down the staircase after his friend.

Arturia sat down on a chair in her room. It was a fine chair with a silk pillow set on the seat. If she hadn�t been so angry, she might have been a bit fascinated with the texture of it, however, the golden king had crossed her too far and now the pillow was little more than something to throw. She tossed it with a vengeance for letting her guard down so far as to let him get the advantage in her room. He was also right about the fact that she had few soldiers.

In the morning, she would have to start asking of the nobles that had come if any of their men could be spared in Camelot�s defense, or, if, indeed, any of them would be willing to become knights for her counsel and be the head soldiers in her army. She had seen a few practicing with the guardsmen in the snow earlier in the day, so she knew some had fighting skills.

�My king, what happened to have us thrown out so fast?� asked the carriage driver.

Gilgamesh threw his cup at the curtains. �Don�t speak to me, peasant! I�m in no mood!�

The driver grunted when the cup hit his head and moved to the other side of the bench so that he wouldn�t get hit again. Gilgamesh kicked his small table over and through a few things around in his tantrum. �No woman refuses me! I will not let this insult slide!� He sat down in a huff and crossed his arms and legs in the silk pillows. �Mark my words, dear Queen of Briton, you will rue this day. You will and it will be because of me that you will,� he hissed through clenched teeth.