Page 50 of Gwen and Art Are Not in Love

Gabriel’s expression was completely neutral; Arthur raised his arm just in time as he lunged again, and deflected weakly. ‘Shit. This isn’t the sort of thing you look like you’d be good at, you know. It’s misleading.’

‘Why?’ Gabriel asked quietly.

‘Well. You’re built for reading,’ Arthur said, his words punctuated by the sound of blade against blade. ‘Reading – in a darkened room – until covered in a fine layer of dust.’

‘I’m good at that too,’ Gabriel said, attempting to knock Arthur’s sword completely from his hand; Arthur blocked him, then pushed in closer, forcing Gabriel’s weapon back towards him.

‘I know you are,’ Arthur said in a low voice. ‘Among other things.’ Arthur distinctly heard Sidney make a quick, strangled noise behind him.

Gabriel immediately pushed away from him, threw his sword down on to the cobblestones with a clatter and walked away.

‘Guess you win,’ said Sidney. Bridget and Gwen had stopped fighting to watch Gabriel leave; Gwen seemed to be making a meal of one of her fingers as she frowned after him.

‘Your highness?’ the Master of Arms called, looking rather disappointed.

‘I’ll go,’ Arthur said. ‘Sid, why don’t you fight Lady Bridget for me while I’m gone, hmm?’ He pressed the training sword into Sidney’s hand and took off at speed after the retreating prince.

Gabriel had much longer legs than Arthur; he had made it as far as the south entrance courtyard by the time Arthur caught up.

‘Going for a spontaneous walk?’ he asked breathlessly. Gabriel stopped, but didn’t turn to look at him. ‘Or … a ride?’ They were almost to the stables; as Arthur watched, a stable hand led a handsome palomino out of a stall to be tacked up in the yard.

‘No,’ Gabriel said, sounding a thousand miles away.

‘I think we should talk,’ Arthur said decisively. Gabriel didn’t agree with him, but he didn’t leave, either; Arthur reached for his arm, intending to steer him towards the stables. Gabriel shied away from Arthur’s grip, but followed him anyway.

They located an empty stall. It was cool inside and smelt sweetly of hay and horse; Arthur closed the door firmly behind him and then realised somewhat comically that he had to close the top half too, leaving them in near darkness.

‘It’s always sheds, isn’t it,’ he said thoughtfully.

‘What?’ said Gabriel.

‘Don’t worry,’ Arthur said. ‘Um. Hello.’

‘Hello,’ Gabriel said warily. There was quite a long silence, accompanied by the sound of horses snorting and stampingtheir feet in neighbouring stalls. ‘You wanted to say something?’

‘Yes,’ Arthur said, neatly sidestepping a pile of manure and crossing his arms. ‘You keep running away.’

‘Do I?’ Gabriel said, shifting from one foot to the other and looking determinedly at the door.

‘That’s twice in as many days,’ said Arthur.

‘I don’t know if that counts as a pattern.’

‘You’re trying to do it now,’ Arthur pointed out.

‘Well, I’m standing in horse manure, and I’d rather I weren’t,’ Gabriel said, suddenly sounding irritated. ‘What do you want from me, Arthur?’ He seemed to realise immediately just how charged this question was, because Arthur saw him go bright red, even in the relative darkness of the stable.

‘I mean – nothing, really. I just thought – you seemed a bit torn up about last night. And there’s no need, honestly. It’s not a big deal. I’m not expecting a proposal of marriage. I am, famously, otherwise engaged.’

‘A proposal of …’ Gabriel trailed off, glancing at Arthur and then quickly away again.

‘I’m not going to tell anybody,’ Arthur said. ‘Obviously. So whatever crisis you’re having right now, there’s no need.’

Gabriel looked at him properly, face screwed up in disbelief. ‘You can’t be serious.’

‘Rarely,’ Arthur admitted. ‘But right now, yes.’

‘Maybe it doesn’t seem like a problem to you,’ Gabriel said, pressing the heel of his hand to his forehead, ‘but I’ve had a lot of time to think about this. And itisa problem. Just because you’re not …’