First Official Visit
By Montez
Disclaimer: see chapter one
Chapter 15
The last week had been one of the worst the Kingdom and it's King had endured since the death of their beloved Queen. Following word of the attack and finally the arrival of their gravely injured King without his son, no one had dared breathe what was feared the most. Each night since the King's return many of the people from both the upper and lower town had held a vigil in the courtyard. Prayers for the healing of their King and for the safe return of their Prince. Yet as the week progressed with patrols returning with no word, despair could be felt falling over the people like a snuffer putting out the flame of hope.
Inside the castle had been so much worse. The guards, knights, and court members moved through the halls, mere shadows of themselves. Most heartbreaking of all was the King, he moved like a ghost, pale, distraught, and empty. His physical recovery was slowly progressing, but with each returning patrol he seemed to disappear a little more. It had been four days since Sir Cador's patrol had left, many knew that if they returned empty handed then there would be a chance that the extended patrols would end and hope for their Prince, their King, and the Kingdom would be lost.
Uther was standing at the windows in the hallway just outside his room, he could see the courtyard below, the faint glow of his people's candles casting flickering shadows. "I've lost him Gaius" the King's broken voice whispered as the older man came to stand next to him. "First Ygraine and now…" a sob escaped the normally unshakable man, his world grumbling beyond all repair.
"There may still be hope, Sir Cador has yet to return, we must not give up without knowing for sure." Gaius laid his hand on his friend's shoulder; he could feel the tremors passing through the distraught father.
"You know as well as I do the odds of finding them," Uther's breath hitching as he tried to make himself say the words his heart would not allow him to accept, "the odds for finding them alive are not in our favor. I just can't…" a hand going to his mouth trying to cover the choked sob that was determined to escape.
"I am being punished," tear and pain-filled eye's meeting those of the Court Physician, "My arrogance, my selfishness, the God's are punishing me. First, they took Ygraine, my beautiful Queen, my heart. Now, now they have taken my son. In the grief of her loss, I was given the gift of Arthur to help me through, to look at him and continue to see his mother. Gaius he is so much like her, not just appearance, he has her heart, her soul, her compassion and that has been so cruelly ripped from me." Leaning heavily against the wall, his strength slowly leaving him. "why couldn't they have taken me, it's my sins that have stolen the two loves in my life. Why did they have to take such innocence in the place of all my sin." Uther felt his body start to slide down the wall, Gaius trying to control his decent.
"I cannot answer those questions Sire. But until Sir Cador returns, there is still the faintest of hope, and we must grasp onto that with both hands." Gaius gently laid his hand against the King's forehead, Uther had still carried a slight fever through his healing, Gaius believing it having more to do with the emotional turmoil than anything. "You are still unwell, I must insist we get you back to bed Sire." Uther's only reply was a slight nod of his head, all energy having fled his body, darkness of his new reality quickly pulling him under. Gaius called for the guards stationed just down the hall, wordlessly they got their King back to his chambers, unconsciousness grabbing him as soon as his body was laid in the bed. Gaius took a seat next to his friend's bed, he had no way of consoling the broken man before him. With Ygraine there had still been the hope of the newborn Prince to ground his father's grief, but this time the older man feared what would become of the widower, the King, but more importantly, the father.
Once everyone had finished eating breakfast, Hunith started to gather the food she was going to send with boys for their trip home. They may not be having to go alone now, but she knew any little food would help on their journey. Sir Cador, Leon, and Richard had been talking about everything that had happened, who had been injured or lost in the attack. Leon had explained his flight with the Prince, the fear he'd had, then the relief at finding someone to help the injured boy. He told them of not realizing he had crossed the border and the little bit of fear that stayed in the back of his mind, fearful that word would somehow get out and the possible danger they had unwittingly placed on themselves and Hunith.
The three men watched as Arthur and Merlin kept up a conversation nearby. "Merlin is a strange child, he seems so much older than his years, but I have never seen anyone so excitable and continuously happy. The ease at which Arthur has taken to him, maybe it's because of their closeness in age, but I believed in no small way it has also helped in his recovery." Leon watched the boys.
Sir Richard had excused himself to make sure everything was ready with the horses, leaving Leon and his father. "It is quite interesting to see Arthur behaving more as the child he is rather the Prince he needs to be." Sir Cador replied before looking at his son. "I'm proud of you Leon," the younger man looked toward his father, "you got our Prince out of the danger, you protected him to the best of your ability, and found help for him. No more could have expected of you."
Leon's gaze left his father and drifted to his feet, "He was still severely injured. I tried to get him away as soon as the fighting started, but his horse went down, then he saw the King injured, I could not keep hold of him." Looking again at his father Leon started pacing, "Father you should have seen him, as I desperately tried to get to him, he was fighting his way to his father, as terrified as I was trying to grab him I couldn't help but be amazed at the skill he was showing. I know he's just a boy, and oh God…" Leon's hand rubbing his face as he recalled just how small and fragile Arthur had appeared once he was injured, "he is just a child father," looking back to his father, "He is still just a small child, but in those moments, I saw…I saw the warrior he will be." Cador watched as a look of wonderment overtook his son's expression, "he was fighting with no regards to himself, focused on his goal of reaching the King. You know how uncanny he is with his knives," Cador nodded, "He was able to throw one, hitting the men attacking his father in the middle of his back while running, then upon reaching him taking his legs from under him. The man did not move once he was down." Taking a breath the young Knight looked back toward his charge, his Prince. "I did not see the blow from the sword that struck him, his motion never faltered, but I did see the blow to his face he took. In that very moment my heart stopped father, the hit was so violent and once he hit the ground and did not move. It was like I couldn't process what had happened. I yelled out to him just as I heard the King's desperate yell while trying to reach his son, I got to him first and grabbed him up and ran, just before I reached to trees I looked back, so many of our men were down, but many of the attackers were also, yet in that moment I saw the King go down and not move then I turned and ran."
Cador finally saw everything that had transpired play out across his son's face. The Knight's and people of Camelot had been fearing for their Prince, but knew their King was safe, injured, but safe. Leon had spent much of the week not only fearing for the Prince, but also fearing that their King had been lost. It was in that moment he saw the boy beneath the man his son was, the boy who seemingly was carrying the weight of the Kingdom on his shoulders in his worry and protection of his Prince while also trying to prepare himself for the possible loss of his King and the immense responsibility of knowing getting Arthur back to the Citadel safely could determine the fate of their kingdom.
Stepping up to his son, placing his hands on the boy's, no, the man's shoulders making sure Leon was looking at him, "You did what you were trained to do, what you were assigned to do. Yes, the Prince was injured, but we both know who his father is and the stubborn determination streak that flows through them both. In the end you did everything right, our Prince is alive and on the mend because of you. And more importantly to me," Cador's hands moved to Leon's face, "You are alive, for both I am eternally grateful." With that the father pulled his son back into his arms, still struggling to believe he was now safe.
Merlin and Arthur had been playing one last game of pebble toss, the Prince still outdoing the Peasant, but the dark-haired boy had improved some. "Just keep practicing, you're aim will get better." Arthur gave his new friend a slight smile. "I know I will probably never see you again, but you're kind of the only real friend I've ever had." The blond felt a little embarrassed admitting that, but it was true. Yes, Leon was becoming a true friend, a brother even, but he was still years older. Merlin had been the first person close, yes there was a three-year difference but that didn't matter, to his own age he'd been around, and he had really liked it, even if Merlin was a bit weird.
"I know, besides Will, you don't treat like I'm weird or something and really Will is the only one around here who is my age. But I like being friends with you too. Who knows maybe we'll meet again one day, hopefully you won't still be a prat." Merlin giggled as Arthur grabbed him and rubbed his knuckles on the boy's head, both squealing.