Uther watched with an enormous sense of relief as his son walked back into Camelot, the servant not even a step behind.
It was not the first time the king wondered how was that boy able to join Arthur in battles and quests and still come out mostly unscathed, when some knights did not even return. Of course, in a dark corner of his mind, he held an answer that was very likely to be true, but he chose to ignore it.
His son was safe; he did not need to know the how.
He had always worried for Arthur. Without a mother to raise him and himself busy with kingly duties, Arthur had grown up without much feminine influence. His mother had taught him humility and how to behave with others. How to put himself in their shoes even as he upholds the law. Arthur had not had that, only various nursemaids.
His son had become some kind of a bully between then and a couple of years ago, but then the servant came. Somehow, Merlin was able to keep up with Arthur's demands and teach him things not even the king could hope to at this late a time.
He watched as Arthur went from a prideful prince to a prince to be proud of, someone that one day would make a great king, even if sometimes he defied Uther's orders.
He could put up with some disobedience if it meant his son knew how to think for himself, as much as he did not like the thought.
On the subject of thinking for oneself, the king had been doing much thinking recently. In light of the many ghosts of his past returning to haunt him, he could barely afford not to.
To his council's surprise, he had ordered a funeral be made for Balinor. He had lost the honor of having the man as a friend, but that did not mean that Balinor had died without honor.
Once his son was safe inside the castle, he hurried to collect any news.
"I gave it a killing blow, right to the chest," His son boasted
"Oh, on which side?" Uther asked the seemingly innocent question.
"Left, of course. Right through the heart" At least that is what Merlin told me
"I see" Uther nodded "What of the body?"
"He flew to die somewhere else," Arthur explained.
"Well, congratulations, my son. You have saved many lives today," Uther praised, before leaving the room.
Many lives had indeed been saved that day. However, he had a hard time believing it was the work of his son.
A dragon's heart was, after all, on the right side of their chest. And even if that was not enough, they could only be killed by a Dragonlord.
He shook those thoughts out of his head. The kingdom was safe, that is all that mattered at the moment. He joined the members of the council to share the news. The traitor who shot Balinor had also been caught and sentenced to death by decapitation in the morning for the act of treason.
As soon as the kingdom's affairs were in order, he returned to his chambers. It took a few hours of twisting and turning in his bed for him to make the decision.
Taking a parchment and a quill, he started to write the letter.
As soon as he was finished, he called for a servant to take it to be sent.
The final destiny being the village of Ealdor.
Aw, this was a short one.
But worry not, the next chapter is just around the corner...