Arthur was no fool.
He knew that when a hoard of soldiers just show up in front of your home, it wasn't for a spot of tea.
Not like he would have invited them in anyway. Upon entering his yard they had trampled his garden irrevocably.
If it weren't for the fact that they would have probably been missed had they not returned from where they came from, Arthur would have turned them all into toads.
Save perhaps, the young violet eyed soldier who had taken care to avoid the patch of Wolfsbane, from atop his horse. It seemed he was a squire, judging from his armour. Which, while not the best, was more fantastic than all those on the ground, and the insignificant detail that his chestnut steed was only one of the two among them.
The actual leader -whom Arthur knew to be a knight from his infrequent journeys into town- eyed him critically. Sizing him up, to see how much of a fuss he would make.
It seemed that if one of them were to make the first move, it would have to be Arthur. He cleared his throat and stepped forward.
Kneeling to the knight, he asked, "How may I be of service, Lord Aleric?"
His question seemed to snap the tension that had polluted the air and brought them all back to the present.
Some of the soldiers started to fidget and others readjusted their position. Arthur could tell that this irked the knight, and smirked inwardly. He did not dare show it.
Lord Aleric reaffirmed his lock on the boy's bright emerald eyes and roared, in a surprisingly strong voice, "We are in want of the teenager, Arthur Kirkland"
The teenager in question, nearly blanched, but he caught himself before he could give anything away. It seemed the young man would have to play it cool. Though he had no idea what in the hell they could want with him. He'd never broken a law in his life!
"I'm sorry sir," He answered, " but may I inquire as to why you'd pursue this young Mr. Kirkland?"
The knight was outraged at his question. He leapt down from his horse and marched up to the, now terrified, young man.
"I have no intention of explaining our prerogative to you! Now you can either tell us where he is, or stand aside while we search the property!"
Arthur bristled at the threat of searching his home. He would not accept this injustice! Never has he done anything to warrant this behavior from a soldier or otherwise! Perhaps it would be worth it after all, to charm this accursed party of imbeciles!
Arthur snapped back at the man in the harshest voice he could.
"There is no one in this humble abode, but I! Searching it would be useless!"
The knight laid a hand on the hilt of his sword. Arthur was quick to recognize the not-so-subtle warning.
"Then I suggest you tell me.", growled the knight.
Arthur was about to reply, when he heard a sound. After a second, he recognized it as a voice.
It seemed the knight heard it too, as he quickly looked around for the source of the disturbance. It came from all sides, bouncing off the trees surrounding Arthur's meadow home.
Soon enough, they could make out what the voice was saying, and to Arthur's dismay, he knew exactly who it was.
A little boy in a sailor outfit and with eyebrows as monstrous as Arthur's burst out of the tree cover. He was yelling a string of 'Bushy Brows' and made his way over.
Just as he was within' kicking distance and as oblivious to the situation as ever, Arthur tried to convey his sense of panic.
"Peter! Will you stop that non-!"
"Who is this 'Bushy brows' you speak of?", interrupted the knight.
Peter cocked his head to the side and frowned.
"What are you talking about? Bushy brows is Arthur. He's right in front of you. Can't you tell?"
Arthur heaved a great sigh. So much for controlling the situation.
The knight turned and glared at him, his long, blonde hair catching in the sunlight. Arthur took his chances and tried to search the angry soldier's eyes in the hope that he might be shown the slightest amount of compassion. He was sorely disappointed.
The knight waved his men forward, then addressed Arthur.
"Arthur Kirkland. You have been charged with failing to appear in the castle when summoned. We have been ordered to retrieve you forcibly, if needed."
All the color drained from Arthur's face. All his life, the emerald eyed boy has had a deep distrust of authority figures, and it looked as if now, all his suspicions were coming to fruition.
Hell, they were even coming up with fake excuses to arrest him! No summons from the castle had ever reached his door.
A heavy hand fell on his shoulder.
Arthur couldn't help but note that, should he resist, the knight would be forced to wield his sword with his weaker hand. That is, if something were to happen to the one currently gripping him.
Peter looked around nervously, the situation only now starting to dawn on him.
"Uh, I think I hear Tino calling me!", he stammered. Peter started to back up slowly before turning tail and running toward the woods.
Arthur was truly on his own now.
Several of the footsoldiers laughed and the squire frowned. The hand on Arthur's shoulder though, gave a great push. Which sent him stumbling several feet ahead of him.
All at once Arthur's anger and fear overcame him, and he willed the knight to burn. It wasn't a real fire, as much as Arthur wished it was, but an illusory one. To everyone else , it would look like there were real flames and the man would certainly feel real pain, but no actual damage would be done.
Unless , of course, you count mental damage, of which there would be much. The knight had probably experienced much worse in his life however, so the teenager didn't spare it much of a thought. With all the anger and fierceness in his soul, Arthur focused his livid gaze on his assailant and he burst into flame.
It only took two seconds for everyone's attention to fall on the burning man, and three seconds for the man himself to notice he was on fire.
That was plenty of time for Arthur to gain his bearings and make a run for the house. He didn't stop, even as he heard an unknown voice yell after him.
Arthur was nearly across the threshold, but an arm suddenly reach out and grabbed him round the waist. The arm was blazing, and now Arthur was starting to feel the burn too.
He struggled to loosen the man's grip on his torso. His mission nearly immediately changing from getting to the safety of his home, to escaping the excruciating pain of the flames on his skin. He started yelling and screaming as it got to be too much, and his instincts took over.
His hysterics woke the soldiers from their daze and they crowded all around, not quite sure what to do, but knowing they couldn't do anything.
Someone shouted to get water and a few soldiers complied, running into the house to bring whatever they could find.
Matthew, the man Arthur correctly assumed to be a squire, studied the burning men carefully. There was something off about it. He was compelled to figure it out even though his mentor and their quarter were burning to death.
That was it.
It suddenly hit Matthew that, though they were on fire, they weren't actually burning.
He had an idea.
"You there! Give me your shield!", he barked at one of the soldiers. The man was quick to follow his order.
Matthew leapt from his horse and made a beeline for the two burning men, pushing soldiers out of his way as he went along. He raised the shield above his head when he was a safe distance from the fire but close enough to reach, and took careful aim before gathering as much strength as he could, and swinging it down hard on the head of Arthur.
And it was all over.
The flames disappeared, and Arthur fell limp in the knight's arms.
It was dark.
Not pitch-black, just dark. Arthur lay on the ground of the familiar forest. Only able to observe his surrondings from his immobile body.
He didn't panic, this was normal.
It meant one of the fae was to have an audience with him for whatever reason. He'd find out soon enough, though there was usually a bit of time before the Fae were able to find him. When called upon, he'd always appear in a random place.
He didn't mind, the ground was warm and the air, sweet. He always felt safe on his piece of another world.
Several times, creatures of different walks of life passed him by. Only to spare him the most indifferent, if slightly curious, of glances. It was as a flying mint bunny was flapping his wings away that Maribell had finally found him.
The Fae was a tiny little thing. Maybe about the size of Arthur's thumb.
Sometimes you could see the general shape of a human when you looked at her, but usually all you could see was a tiny orb of colorful light.
She was dimmed considerably now; Much to Arthur's alarm. He had never actually seen maribell before, and she was crying.
"Oh Arthur! I'm so sorry! This is all my fault!", she sobbed, "I can never forgive myself for this startling display of wickedness! And n-now you're hurt, and you-"
"Mari!", yelled Arthur, "Please speak clearly. Why are you devastated so?!"
Maribell flew forward and landed on arthur's chest. Her sobs slowly quieted down into whimpers as she forced herself to calm down.
Finally, in a weak voice, Maribell was able to speak with only the occasional hiccup.
"Do you remember*hic* when we found you?", she asked first.
"Why, of course," said Arthur.
He could remember the day as clearly as if it were this very moment. As a young child he had been quite feral. He would wander the woods, day and night, trying to survive in his wild home. One day, while he was in the river trying to wash the accumulated mud and muck from himself, he'd heard laughter. He wasn't very sure what the noise was then, and so he chose to investigate. The young child searched the woods trying so hard to find the noise, when he came across a cottage in a meadow. He went inside the cottage, after the laughter until he came to a door on the highest level of the home. Naturally, at that point he was stumped. There was nothing he could do but wait.
So, that's what he did.
For days on end he would never leave the door, other than to go forage for berries and a nice bug if he was lucky. It was after nearly two weeks of this, that the Fae finally showed themselves and took the boy in.
They showed him magic and taught him to be civilized; and soon enough, he was the perfect gentlemen. He had learned so many new things! Like how he lived in the kingdom of spades, and that each village had a knight to protect it, and that there were four kingdoms that ruled these lands.
They were Spades, Clover, Diamond, and Clubs, and each one had a King, a Queen, and a Jack.
The greatest thing the Fae had ever done for him though, was teach him magic. They had even shown him a potion that, when drunk everyday, would ensure him a long and prosperous life.
Surly what was troubling Maribell couldn't involve that time. He had more pressing matters now.
Arthur focussed back on the Fae when he heard her tiny sigh.
"Do you remember how you used to have a birthmark in the shape of the spades crest? You were so excited when you learned this, and so disappointed when it faded away."
Maribell frowned at the guilty memory.
Arthur felt a small twinge of annoyance at Mari's roundabout questioning. Of course he remembered. It was not so long ago when he joined them, and he wasn't a total dolt.
He was about to say as much when he felt it. He couldn't name the feeling, but it was as if for a second he wasn't there. As if he'd stopped existing just for a moment. Maribell noticed it too.
She knew exactly what was happening, and knew she had less time because of it. She flew up to Arthur's face to look him in the eyes.
"I don't have a lot of time, so forget what I said before! This is very im-"
Arthur faded again,
"-world made up of three dif-"
and again,
"Alpha, Beta, and Omega. Arthur, you ar-"
and again for the last time.