Chapter 3

MM

I'm back home, so here's the next chapter.

MM

Hunith hummed to herself as she strolled through the village towards her home. She had a full basket of herbs clasped tightly in her hand. The sun was high overhead, and most of the other villagers were out going about their business with an air of contentment.

Hunith herself had just been enjoying the nice weather on her way back from the forest. She quickly reached her house, opening the door with only a quick knock to warn her son of her arrival.

"Merlin!" she called out, depositing her basket on the table.

Not a minute after she spoke, Merlin jumped out from behind the door where he had hidden at the sound of his mother knocking.

"Hi!" he called, making Hunith turn sharply towards the sound. He grinned up at his mum, before he hopped over to her, black hair flopping about. "Did you get all the herbs?"

"Yes dear," Hunith replied, giving her 9 year old son a smile in return. Confident Merlin wasn't up to any of his usual tricks she let her eyes scan the room, a frown forming on her face upon spotting that the sweeping hadn't been done. Huffing more to herself than anything else, she quickly collected the broom from the corner of the room intent on completing the chore herself.

From where he stood, Merlin's blue eyes followed his mother's actions carefully, a slight crease forming between his eyes as she huffed. Then as she started to sweep the floor, a resigned expression settled on her face.

"Mum…" He muttered almost imperceptibly quiet. Hunith however, heard her son mutter and stopped sweeping to look across at him.

"Yes, Merlin." Her tone was slightly clipped. His large blue eyes met hers for a second before they dropped abruptly to the floor. His teeth chewed at the corner of his mouth.

"I was- Ah, I mean I was going to do my chores, but Will came 'round and he wanted to show me something." He hurried to explain in a small voice, correctly guessing at the reason for his mother's sudden change in demeanour.

Hunith paused in her work to give Merlin her full attention. While Merlin, encouraged that his mum hadn't tried to stop him from talking, continued with his story.

"And I followed Will because he said it was something I had to see." His voice grew slightly louder and more confident as he got to the - in his opinion - best part. "We went out to the far side of the village, behind Glen's house." He paused slightly, arms raised in a gesture meant to convey the distance. He waiting for the slight quirk of Hunith's eyebrow which he took as an indication that she knew what he was referring to.

"Anyway, behind the house and near the bushes there was these three tiny bunnies!" A massive grin had spread over Merlin's face as he announced what it was he had gone too see. "They were really cute. Two of them were brown, and one was a sort of creamy white colour, and they were just sat there, sort of huddling." He bounced up onto his tiptoes as he took a breath and continued - "And they didn't run away when we got real close."

Hunith's month tightened as she tried to suppress the urge to smile to herself at the mental image of her son and three tiny, fluffy bunnies. It took her a few seconds to compose her answer, so as to hide any amusement she felt.

"But we might have got distracted playing with them, and I forgot that I was supposed to be doing something else." His enthusiasm diminished as he came back down to reality from his memories. Hunith signed audibly.

"I know they were cute Merlin, but it's not the first time you've seen baby rabbits, and it won't be the last." Merlin nodded seriously as she spoke. "Next time you need to finish all of your chores before you go off. Even if Will insists."

"Yes, mum." He met her eyes, trying to keep his gaze locked on to hers, to show his determination to follow her rules, as well as the guilt that tugged at him for being negligent. "For now instead, you can help me out by sorting the herbs."

"Of course!"