They were smut, Sir Lancelot

The two of them headed for the doors, Sir Lancelot pulling them open first and holding it opened for Artie. She was greeted by two guards standing outside of the doors, and they bowed to her as they saw who it was. 

"Well, I'm glad you think so." Artie said, continuing the conversation. "It would be hard to have my right hand man think I was inferior and that a man should own me." Sir Lancelot's eyes widened at her words. 

"My lady, even if you were not the King, no man or woman owns the other in their relationships. Moira can attest to that. Marriages are done sometimes for convenience sake, but once the bond is linked, you share everything together. Those who view women as weak have never seen a woman on the battlefield. Lady Morgan alone can change anyone's mind, but the enemies are also nothing to be trifled with." He coughed. "On a different note, you don't need to keep me in my position for the sake of consistency. You can change your right hand man." Artie frowned at him as he closed the door behind him. 

"Sir Lancelot, if I didn't think you were fit for the job, I would have something earlier. If you are displeased at being my right hand man, say something now, because I have no intention of choosing someone else. You're it for me." The guards outside the door stared at them, agape, and Lancelot turned bright red. 

"S-Sire, those words could sound like a confession." Artie crossed her arms, frowning. She knew what they sounded like, and in a way, she did mean it as a confession. 

"A confession of competency, yes. If it was anyone else, I wouldn't keep them in their position. You are good at what you do and I won't change my mind on this matter." His ears were now red. 

Your Highness, please, I beg of you, stop. The guards are getting the wrong idea about our relationship." Artie glanced at the guards, trying to understand why he was getting so flustered until she went over what she had said out loud to him. She cleared her throat.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I know you have feelings for another. I simply meant I can't imagine someone else as my right hand man, my general, beyond you." Sir Lancelot was slowly pulling himself together. 

"Maybe other females marry their generals, Sire, so please change me out if your husband is a knight. I won't take offense." Artie waved her hand dismissively at his words. 

"Sir Lancelot. It is far too early to be discussing my marriage. For one, I haven't even been sworn in as the King. Yes, the sword chose me, but the people are protesting. And like Arthur before me, I'll probably have a marriage of convenience. Yes, they did eventually grow to like each other, but I've never expected anyone to love me." Especially now. Poor Lancelot was confused now. He clearly hadn't anticipated the conversation going this direction, and from his expression, he could also tell that Artie's words held a deep pain inside. Unsure how to proceed, he decided it was best to leave that bomb for later. 

"My Lord, we will discuss your feelings on that later, but I would like it to be known, even though you teased me, and you seem to know where my affections lie, everyone deserves to be loved. Everyone. That includes me, and that includes you. I have sinned, yes, but I did have love in the past for others, and I will have love in the future." His tone was firm, and his eyes were clear. He reached out, giving Artie's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "You will too." Artie could feel her heart squeeze, and her eyes began to water. She tried to hide it. She gave him a smile, laughing. 

"Such a charmer, Sir Lancelot. I bet quite a few women have fallen for that." The smile didn't reach her eyes, and Lancelot's smile in return didn't meet his either 

"Sire, you have a greater opinion of me than you should." His words were gentle, but still struck a child with her. As she had said earlier, she had already potentially changed what was supposed to happen in this world, and Arthur was already dead. It was far too soon for his death, especially when compared to the world she came from. Things were bound to change, they already were changing. Artie was also changing. 

She sighed, before taking Lancelot's arm in her own. She wasn't an idiot, she at least knew that men escorted women all the time, and it would give her an excuse to lean on him if she was in pain from her wound. Lancelot stiffened before he relaxed. 

"You might be right about that, Sir Lancelot. I sometimes forget that the things I remembered and focused on haven't happened for you yet. With my being here the probably won't happen. I might tease you, but please tell me when I cross over the line. I don't really know if everyone else will. You'd be surprised, but most of the stories I know are about you, Lady Morgan, Sir Arthur and funny enough, Sir Tristan and another Lady. I won't mention her name in case I change her future too." Lancelot cast Artie a strange look.

"Why am I included in that list?" It was Artie's turn to flush as he led her towards the direction of the courtyard. 

"Oh, um, it was uh, well recorded that Arthur's second was a handsome man with dark hair and either green or blue eyes. Very loyal as well." Artie's cheeks felt hot to the touch as she remembered the stories written about Lancelot. As a kid she had been a firm Lancelot fan over Arthur, and had read many an inappropriate book about him and usually, Lady Guinevere. Part of it had been in protest against her name, and the other half had been because most people had shipped Arthur and Merlin, but she was never going to disclose that to Merlin. The wizard would probably laugh his ass off about it. Sir Lancelot stared at the complexion of his new King, and wasn't sure if he should tease her about it. 

"Are they fairytales Sire?" He asked tentatively, clearly interested in what Artie had to say in this regard, and Artie only blushed more. Artie felt too guilty to not disclose the truth, especially with the curiousity in Sir Lancelot's eyes. 

"I can't lie to you. They are very much not appropriate tales when they speak about you, Sir Lancelot. And also Arthur. There are quite a few that are children's tales or recounting battles and the like. Most of those stories involve everyone, but the more common trend involves you and Arthur." She sighed, covering her face with one of her hands to hide the colour she had turned. Sir Lancelot's eyes sparkled as he looked down at his embarrassed new King. "I apologise." She muttered and he laughed, threw his head back kind of laughed, and Artie wanted to crawl into a hole. 

"You've surprised me, Sire. I didn't think you would believe any of those kinds of stories." She flushed at his teasing tone. 

"Well, if I'm honest, knights don't really exist in my time. A knight is the closest I could compare my job title to. I investigate things as a job, usually related to crime. And knights are romanticized in my world. A loyal knight who swears fealty to the king of their Lady Love? Who wouldn't love that?" It was a rhetorical question, but Lancelot was still laughing.

"Your Highness, I don't know if I expected you to be…more masculine in this regard because you claimed you were a knight, but you've thoroughly surprised me with your words. Being a knight isn't romantic. It's hard work, and dangerous work." Artie, still with her flushed cheeks, scoffed. 

"I am aware. What I do is also romanticized, so I am unfortunately familiar with what that feels like. There are tons of stories about people who are in my position who fall in love with the people they are chasing, or the main character of the story has to choose between two hardworking detectives. It's ridiculous." Artie sighed. "I just, I'm flustered, okay? I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that the people whom I knew as stories from the past are real, with their own feelings and emotions and wills, okay? Not just characters in a book. I'm gonna mess up with this for a while." Sir Lancelot's eyes were kind as he glanced down at his new King. He was appreciating the small differences and similarities the two Kings he was going to serve had. 

"If I may be so rude to ask, how old are you, Sire?" Artie sniffed. 

"I'm 27. Fairly young to be in the profession that I have. One of the youngest, and also a female. It was a very big deal." She bragged and he chuckled. 

"Also unwed, and now a new King. Both are unusual, but no doubt once you officially announce your ascent to the throne, many men will ask for your hand in marriage." He chuckled as Artie turned pale. "I am already worried about how the diplomats will respond to the fact that 10 days after the previous King's death a woman was declared the new King." He patted the hand that Artie had wrapped around his forearm. Artie noticed that they were already at the stone archways that overlooked the courtyard, and then she spotted the stairs. They had made their way here rather quickly, and she knew it was because of the conversation with Sir Lancelot had distracted her. Once again, she did not remember the way to the courtyard, and she was actually kicking herself this time. She liked part of the courtyard, just not the back half. Artie sighed, a sense of sadness washing over her for the man who helped her down the stairs slowly, and with great care. They were halfway down when Artie spoke again. 

"I'm sorry you lost Arthur, Lancelot. I knew he was a close friend. It never is easy to lose someone." Lancelot glanced at Artie, who was focusing on her steps instead of looking at him. His eyes softened.

"It will be okay now, I think. If anyone else had taken the throne, I wasn't so sure, but you two share similar ideals. I am glad for it, and also worried that he reincarnated too soon." He wasn't quite teasing, but Artie still chuckled at his words, turning her face up to smile at him. It was a very flattering thing for him to say to her, since she too, had great respect for what Arthur had done.

"The Lady of the Lake didn't say anything about reincarnation, so I don't think that's the case. Don't people who reincarnate get at least some flashbacks from their previous life?" She joked, before continuing, turning her gaze back to her feet so she didn't slip. "What she did say was that they stole me from my timeline. Apparently, I was supposed to hold a similar position there if my friend hadn't tried to kill me." Artie's foot slipped, and Sir Lancelot was there to catch her quickly so she didn't hurt herself. Artie laughed at herself, while Lancelot looked her over, giving the hand he now held a squeeze. 

"We already caught and killed the person who assassinated the King. You are relatively safe here, Sire." Lancelot's tone was serious and Artie's chest squeezed. She gave a laugh. 

"Thank you for your kind words, Sir Lancelot, but I'll be fine. If I die, I die. I'm already living on borrowed time." He frowned at her words, able to tell she was drawing a line in the sand between them, but unsure of why. He wanted to ask her more, but they had reached the bottom of the stairs and something else had drawn both of their attention.