Fractured Fairytale: Ch 3 Rumplestiltskin, Part 4

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Avid Author: well thank you very much. I'm glad you like my work.

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Part four:
They were eating breakfast the next morning when an envoy came for them. "The queen requests your presence" Gwen and Arthur glanced at each other.
"Please let us pack and pay our bill." Arthur said. The envoy nodded.
"Of course your majesties" Gwen froze. Arthur jumped up. Gwen looked closely at the envoy.
"I'll be up in a moment Arthur" Arthur shrugged and went to get their bags.

Ten minutes later they were riding up to the palace. A servant said he would stand with the horses. Arthur didn't have to give up his weapons this time. They met the queen in her personal quarters. She met them holding the baby prince. He was wriggling and had a smile on his face. The queen looked radiant. "I wanted to thank you myself. You saved my baby, and the future of this kingdom."

The door opened and the king came in. He went and stood by his queen.
"I have been told everything, and I just wanted you to know, I owe you a great debt." The king looked down at his son. "Very few are permitted to be in the same room, let alone hold my son. To show how much I am grateful I would like you each to hold him."

Arthur looked rather worried. He glanced at Gwen who smiled sweetly and said "Such a great honor, we feel privileged. Arthur" she gestured for him to hold the baby. He swallowed and stepped up to the king. They handed him the baby prince. Gwen stood next to Arthur and smiled at him. There were few things in the world that scared Arthur, babies were apparently one of them.

The prince seemed to regard Arthur for a moment then expelled vomit all down his face and chest. There was a moment of disbelief then the king started apologizing, the queen started cleaning vomit off the shocked Arthur. The king handed the prince to Gwen. She stepped away from the group and stood by the window with the prince. The sun was out and the sky was clear. She stood holding the baby in front of the window.

Gwen tickled the baby and stuck her tongue out at him. He started giggling and trying to grab her hair. She smiled down at him. Arthur the king and queen all turned at the sound of the prince's laughter, they saw Gwen standing in front of the window bathed in light smiling down at the happy boy. They all stopped for a moment and starred at the two by the window. "What did you name him?" Gwen asked. The king was the one to reply,
"Lorenzo" Gwen turned to the window.

"Lorenzo this will one day be your kingdom" The queen came and stood next to her. Gwen handed her Lorenzo. "He'll be a good king, I can tell" she said. The queen smiled her thanks.
"If we had an artist here I would have made him paint you and Lorenzo." The king said.
"Have him paint the three of you. It will mean so much more." The king nodded. Gwen and Arthur left.

They were out of the city and following the road when Arthur finally spoke "That suited you"
"What do you mean?" Gwen asked. Arthur stammered for a few minutes then cleared his throat and tried again. "What I meant was the baby. It seemed so natural, you holding a baby. You looked, serene. One day I think you'll make an excellent mother." Gwen smiled at Arthur.
"And one day you'll make a great father." Arthur laughed.
"Yeah, I'll get thrown up on, Guinevere will have to clean me up and I suspect you'll be there holding the baby." Gwen sighed.
"If what you say is true, then Guinevere will have her hands full"

They came to a bridge over a large stream. They were about to cross it when a troll jumped in their way. "You may not pass unless you answer my riddle" Gwen looked at Arthur and sighed. The troll sniffed. "Can you smell lavender, it's such a fem- Ahhhhhhhh!" Arthur kicked the troll off the bridge and into the water ten meters away. Arthur got back in his saddle and gave Gwen a look that dared her to make a comment. "This is not your week" Gwen said sympathetically taking in all his injuries and shortened hair with one look
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