Chapter 14: - The Once And Future King

Uther had given Belle his trust and decided not to question her methods of both trying to gain his son's trust and also teaching him what he needed to know in order to be the great king he knew his son was capable of becoming.

Belle had stayed true to her promise of taking Bae and Arthur to the lake that rested within the royal grounds. Rumple had stayed behind at the castle as he and Uther continued to discuss a future alliance between Misthaven and Camelot.

Belle smiled as she watched Bae teach Arthur how to skip a stone across the water's surface. She could see that the boys were becoming fast friends. She allowed the boys to bond as simply two little boys with minds full of imagination and hearts filled with the desire for adventure. Belle thought it best to let Arthur forget his worries of becoming king for the day and just allow him to simply be a child.

Arthur and Bae played tag by the lake side and Arthur laughed as he tagged Bae's shoulder,

"Haha you're it!" he said with triumph and Bae giggled as he started to chase his new friend,

They ran all the way round the lake at least 5 times before Bae suddenly stopped when he noticed something shinning in the distance amongst the trees,

"What's that?" he asked Arthur curiously and the young prince gulped when he saw it too,

"I don't know. Father says that part of the forest is off limits until the knights have explored it properly" he explained nervously, not wanting to get into trouble with his father and Bae smiled brightly as he looked at Arthur,

"We're knights. We can explore it!" he said as his eyes shined with excitement and Arthur looked unsure and Bae smiled glancing back at his mother who was reading and looked back at Arthur,

"Come on we'll be back in a minuet" he encouraged and Arthur looked at the mysterious object glinting in the distance with curiosity before looking back at Bae and nodded and the two little boys ran off towards the object.

Belle sighed and shook her head. She hadn't really been reading but secretly keeping an eye on the two young princes. She knew it wouldn't have been long before her son would encourage Arthur to wander off on an 'adventure'. She got up from the picnic mat and started to follow them.

Arthur and Bae acted as if they were the kingdom's bravest knights and that it was their quest to retrieve the mysterious shining object that was hidden within the forest.

What they both discovered confused them both indeed. The shining object turned out to be a sword that had been plunged into stone. It had obviously been there for a long time for the obviously ancient blade had been tied with growing ivy. They boys looked at it curiously and it was then that Belle caught up with them,

"Bae, how many times have I told you not to wander off?" she asked disappointed and Bae turned,

"Sorry mama but look what me and Arthur found. It's a sword" he said excitedly and Belle looked towards the object her son was pointing at and she too was curious.

"Strange. Why would a sword be all the way out here? And plunged into solid stone?" she asked herself.

Bae and Belle hadn't noticed that young prince Arthur seemed almost mesmerised by the blade as the sun glinted off its reflective surface. Belle soon looked at Arthur and became concerned and went to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder, kneeling down so she was eye level,

"Arthur are you ok?" she asked concerned and her soft voice instantly brought him out of his trance and he looked at her before nodding,

"Yes…. Yes I'm ok" he assured but Belle still was concerned, Arthur suddenly looked exhausted and she nodded,

"Ok I think you've both had enough excitement for today. Let's head back to the castle" she suggested and both boys nodded.

Belle had kept a careful eye on Arthur as they made their way back but as the distance grew between them and that strange blade concealed in stone, he seemed to get better. They all entered the throne room and Arthur ran to his father with excitement who was sat at a long table along with Rumple,

"Father! Me and Bae discovered a Sword in a stone on the north path from the lake!" he told his father proudly and Uther stood suddenly,

"You foolish boys! There no north path leading from the lake! Did you wander away from Lady Belle?!" he roared angrily and Arthur gulped and backed away and Belle soon stepped toward Arthur, placing both hands on his small shoulders and looked at his father firmly,

"If I recall correctly your majesty I was drawn to the mysterious object that lead off into the uncharted area and I suggested to the boys that we investigate it. If anyone is at fault then it is me" she said firmly with an equally firm look in her eye towards the king.

Both Bae and Arthur looked at Belle surprised when she lied on their behalf and Belle was stunned when Arthur suddenly hugged her side but she smiled as she hugged him back gently and patted his head softly,

"Why don't you and Bae head back to his room whilst I speak with your father? I'll follow shortly. Bae could show you his toys he brought from Misthaven" she suggested and Arthur looked up at her before smiling gently and nodded before he ran out the throne room with Bae.

As soon as Belle was certain that the boys were out of ear range, she turned back towards Uther who glared at her,

"I agreed to not question your methods. I gave you my trust and you betray my trust by taking my son into danger!" he roared and Rumple stood quickly but Belle held up a gentle hand towards her husband as if to tell him that she could handle this and she continued to look at Uther,

"I can assure you your majesty that your son was in no danger with me. He was within my sight at all times. So yes….. Feel free, raise your voice at me. Try to put fear in my heart with your anger. Act as if I were your enemy but I assure you…." She began firmly before taking a step towards him, looking him right in the eye,

"If you 'ever' raise your voice like that to Arthur or my son again then it shall be you who has fear in your heart put there by my own form of anger" she assured firmly before leaving the room, not allowing the king to respond.

Rumple smirked. His wife was indeed the bravest woman in all the realms. No woman would have had the nerve to stand up to King Uther like that. But his wife was not just any woman. She was the woman who had given up her own freedom twice in order to save two kingdoms. She had saved him from the terrible curse that had transformed him into the dark one… but the one thing that made her the most dangerous to Uther was that she was simply a mother.

Prince Arthur had requested that Lady Belle tuck him into bed that night so after Belle had tucked Bae in and seen to little Rose, she made her way to his bed chamber and she smiled softly at the young prince who was sat on the window seat across the room in his night shirt and she smiled softly,

"Your father didn't mean to call you a fool you know? He loves you. He was just scared that he might have lost you today" she explained gently as she walked towards him and sat next to him on the window seat. Arthur didn't respond, He just looked out the window and Belle looked at him gently,

"Arthur…. That sword today on the north path. You seemed….. Distant" she pointed out and Arthur slowly looked at her with a sad expression and Belle looked at him softly and held out her arms to him,

"Oh Arthur" she said softly as the young prince quickly crawled into her arms and cried as she held him and she patted his head soothingly,

"Arthur I can't help unless you tell me what's wrong" she said softly and he slowly looked up at her with tears in his eyes and she wiped them away with a handkerchief gently,

"I… I don't want to….. I don't want to" he said and she urged him to continue,

"You don't want what sweetheart?" she asked and he sniffled unhappily,

"I don't want to be King Lady Belle" he said sadly and Belle looked at him sympathetically,

"Oh sweetheart…. I know the responsibility seems very scary but trust me. The day you become king is very far away. It's not for a very long time. You're still so young" she assured softly but the young prince looked at her with teary eyes,

"That….. That's not what the sword said" he told her sadly and Belle's eyes widened in surprise and she looked at him gently,

"Arthur…. What do you mean 'that's not what the sword said'" she asked gently and Arthur looked out the window towards the patch of forest where they had discovered the sword,

"It said….. It said my time to become king was approaching. It said my reign would begin soon…. But it said that I had found it too early. I wasn't supposed to find that sword today." He said and looked back at Belle with a scared expression,

"I'm scared Lady Belle. Please don't make me become King" he begged as he hugged her around the waist and she hugged him back gently,

"Shhhhhhhhhh. It's ok Arthur. No one's going to make you do anything. It's alright. I'm here. I promise everything's going to be ok" she assured him in a soothing whisper.

Arthur had fallen asleep in Belle's arms so she carried him to his bed and tucked him in. She felt sorry for the young boy. He was so scared of becoming King of Camelot but the subject of how he had heard the sword speak to him concerned her. But for some reason she knew that this was not caused by a child's frightened imagination. She knew he was telling the truth. He had heard a voice and it had come from that mysterious sword and only Arthur had been able to hear it. Belle was determined to find out exactly what that sword had told Arthur and she would find out tonight.

I hope you all enjoyed Chapter 14. Please review and let me know what you thought in order to unlock the next chapter.

In the next chapter Belle will journey back to the resting place of the mysterious sword concealed in stone but will she find the answers she seeks?

You will have to review in order to find out.

Kind Regards,

TheAuthor1996