36. Resilient

Lucy stared back at Arthur with passive longing. So many emotions were raging inside her but she couldn't bring herself to project any one of them. All she could do was stare into his stormy blue eyes and watch the pain and fear flicker in them as she completely disregarded all of his concerns and feelings. She had never felt so cold before.

"Say something." He begged. She couldn't help but think that he deserved better than her. Someone who could dedicate all their time and energy to being the serving wife a King deserves.

"We are burning daylight." She replied bluntly, then trekking away into the forest in front of Arthur.

"You don't even know where we are going!" He shouted at her before running after her to catch up.

"I do too!" She shouted back, over her shoulder.

"Well then enlighten me."He stated humorously, stepping in tune with her gait.

"We are going to see my mother's only remaining sister." She shrugged.

"How do you know the way?" Arthur asked skeptically. There was no way that Lucy had traversed these woods before. They had walked in silence while Lucy worked up the courage to provide an answer. Only the chirps of crickets and the buzz of wildlife filled the void between them.

"I've been here in my dreams." She said quietly and slightly embarrassed. She knew that Arthur had no real reason to believe her, she just had to trust that she would find the little cabin she had visited eventually.

"Your dreams? How is that reliable?" Arthur scoffed. Dreaming of a place and actually being there were two very different things. He wondered if he could truly trust that she knew what she was doing, but he was also well aware that he couldn't just abandon her out here.

"I'm a dream walker." She looked away ashamed. She was starting to realize that any amount of power came with the responsibility to do good with that power. It was a responsibility her sister seemed to be ignoring. She felt the world weigh on her shoulders. Everything was seemingly coming down to rest on her back and she worried she couldn't carry it all.

"Have you been in my dreams?" He asked as they continued walking. The forest was lively and warm, comforting almost, yet it did nothing to ease the growing tension. Arthur was a little wary still, this was Savernake Forest; the home of untold horrors. At any moment their luck could run out.

"Once. I think I followed Mary's path. She was trying to give you nightmares about me." Lucy answered hesitantly. She was embarrassed and never intentionally wanted to invade his privacy.

"Well, it didn't work. I haven't had any nightmares." He replied smugly.

She nodded, appreciating his effort to reassure her that he was stronger than her sister, but she was there that night. He may not remember it but she did.

"What else can you do?" He asked curiously.

"What do you mean?" Lucy looked a little offended. What was he getting at? She wasn't a weapon or a solider to be used, she was just a girl trying to save her sister.

"Well you're a mage, so like what other powers do you have?" He asked.

"Honestly, I really don't know. So far, it's been little things, like entering the void." She answered honestly. She wasn't about to start hiding things from him, she wanted him to know, as long as he cared about knowing.

"When did you do that?" He asked a little baffled.

It was weird for her to realize that Arthur had been there for her since the day her sister had disappeared. She had never felt so alone than in that moment of realization that her sister was gone, yet there was Arthur, the knight in shining armor that he was, lifting her up and getting her back on her feet.

"My coma?" She offered hesitantly letting the dots connect themselves. They had never had the opportunity to talk about what happened, but this long walk in the lonely woods offered more opportunity than Lucy was comfortable with.

"Yeah?" He coaxed until it dawned on him. "Oh."

"Yeah." She nodded in agreement.

"You never told me about what happened." He said finally after a long moment of silence. Lucy had secretly hoped the conversation had come to an awkward end, but it was evident there was more to discuss.

"You never asked." She shrugged. She wasn't opposed to talking about it, necessarily, but to a certain extent that experience was personal and she didn't know if she was ready to share all the details with him yet.

"I didn't want to push you to talk about it. It also felt like we could never get five minutes alone." He half smirked. She nodded in agreement. It was true, the two struggled to have time for each other.

"Well, I entered the space between life and death where I could access any memory I had lived." She replied, telling him the basics.

"Which memory did you choose?" He asked curiously. He had long accepted that he loved her, but it was conversations like this that allowed him to get to know her deeper. The more he learned only made his love for her grow because even though she could be a bit difficult sometimes, she was tough, smart, and strong. Her soul was resilient, just like his. Every day he was surer that they belonged together.

"I chose two. First I was able to see my mom and dad again. It was one of the last suppers we had together before they were taken from us." She revealed, reminiscent of the memory.

"I'm sorry about your parents Lucy." He apologized sympathetically. It was no secret that he too had lost his parents as a young child.

"Thank you, but I don't need your pity." She dismissed him like she has been since he found her.

"I don't pity you, Lucy. I know a thing or two about growing up an orphan. I miss my parents too." He told her bluntly. He knew she was trying to push him away, but he wasn't having it today. They were lost in the woods, Savernake Forest nonetheless, and he needed to keep calm.

She smiled at him. She suddenly realized how much they had in common and it was almost uncanny. There were traumas that only they would understand.

"I'm sorry. Thank you, Arthur, for everything you've done for me." Lucy said quietly. She genuinely appreciated everything he has done for her, but she hadn't realized that she had grown to depend on him.

"I'd do anything necessary for you Luce, and more, but you are not alone anymore." He smiled back at her.

She loved his smile, it looked so good on him. Lucy felt powerful and humbled that is smile was because of her. Her stomach rolled around with the feeling of butterflies and the best she could do in response was reach out and grab his hand. He looked at her with surprise and shock, he was finally breaking her walls down and all it took was a trip to the forest.

They continued to walk along, hand in hand. Lucy kept looking around, trying to remember the details of her dream, but also engraving every detail in her mind for later. Arthur walked with such acceptable silence that Lucy could fully focus on the sounds of the forest. The buzz of bugs was constant, the birds chirped and sang with one another, and the leaves rustled in the wind. These were the sort of adventures Lucy had dreamed of going on, but she never was able to give up her shop. Her head sank with disappointment, she struggled for years to keep her shop open and suddenly her sister disappears and she abandoned the thing almost without second thought. She would have dwelled on it more had she not heard an odd sound in the distance. Slowly but surely that sound manifested into the growl of a wolf, which was standing in front of them. The wolf snarled and Arthur pushed Lucy behind him before he pulled his sword with his remaining hand.

"Don't kill it!" Lucy shouted at Arthur.

"Why not?" He questioned, slightly baffled, "The thing is going to eat us for dinner."

"I told you we should have left." He whispered under his breath but Lucy heard him anyway.

Lucy began to panic as the wolf stepped closer and its growl only increased in sound. She didn't want this poor animal to die because of them. She thought back to when Mága took over the horse in the stable and wondered if she too was strong enough to complete such a task.

"Step out of the way, let me try something."

"Have you lost your mind woman?" Arthur replied, but Lucy pushed him aside anyway.

She focused on the animal and attempted to project herself onto it. The wolf was tough and wouldn't let her enter its mind. She concentrated harder, pushing the walls of the wolf's mind, but they wouldn't budge. The wolf kept coming closer and Arthur was on guard.

"Anytime now Lucy would be great." He said through tight teeth.

This was the moment when it could all go bad. Two meaty humans versus the king of the forest. There was no other predator that Arthur feared more and his racing heart reflected that fear.

Lucy tried one more time to enter the wolf's mind, she oiched with all her might and just as she was about to give up and become dog food, the wall gave and suddenly Lucy saw more than just a wolf, she saw her mothers sister controlling the wolf. They were close now.

Author's Note:

So, a couple of announcements today.

First, a huge shout out and thank you to @lucamalfoy for my brand new cover! I love it! I think it looks great and I hope you all like it too! I have it posted on all the platforms I post to like wattpad and quotev.

Second, roughly 60 favorites and 80 follows! That's awesome. I'm beyond impressed with myself and you guys!

Third, I finally have the Grammarly keyboard for my phone which means hopefully all the small mistakes I miss will be fixed! And overall reading it should be smoother with less grammatical errors.

Thanks so much!

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-Surviving (12/21)