20 year old Ariella Morgenstern lost her mother to an evil sorcerer when she was just seven years old, and has had some pain in her heart since, though her father, King Oberon, hates magic, but not nearly as much as King Uther, because of it. Ever s...
I sit on a rock in a corner of the cave we've taken shelter in, in the Valley of the Fallen Kings, Mira held in my arms as I softly sing to her. I was waiting for Merlin to return from foraging for food in the forest.
It's been about a week or two since Morgana took over Camelot, three days since we'd started running out of food. I was starting to worry for Mira; since she's only a baby, I knew she wouldn't be able to survive without proper food, unless I breastfeed her. I've done that a few times, and had to go to a dark, isolated corner, away from the males, so they wouldn't be able to see me lower my neckline.
It would've been embarrassing and Merlin would've basically gone berserk if he saw any of the other men staring at me while breastfeeding.
For the first few nights, I'd slept next to Arthur, my baby between us so we could keep her warm with our body heat. I did this because I knew Arthur needed someone with him, despite the Prince telling the rest of us to leave him be. I know exactly what he's going through, because Arthur knows that Morgana had once been like a sister to me, and she is Arthur's blood sister. But, now she's betrayed us, and has hurt both Arthur and I.
I could barely get Arthur to talk about it, so I just left him be until he was ready. After that, I went back to sleeping with my husband, Mira snuggled between us.
"Hey. You worried about Merlin?" I look up to see Elyan coming to sit next to me. I nod. "He'll be fine. I'm sure."
"I know he will be," I reply. Just then, Merlin and Gwaine appear in the entrance to the cave. I feel immense relief at the sight of my husband. Elyan hands him the water skin, and Merlin drinks from it, but no water came out.
"I'll get some more," He volunteers.
"No, it's too dangerous," Merlin states, handing the water skin back to him.
I ask, "What happened?"
"Nothing," Merlin says before he grabs my arm and pulls me with him to the side, away from Gwaine and Elyan. "We need to do something. Morgana's men are everywhere!"
We turn our heads to look at Arthur. He's sitting in a slumped position against a few boulders, some blankets beneath him, sword propped up against the boulders, and his forehead in his hand, a defeated look on his face.
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Merlin strokes Mira's head gently before he says, "I'll try to cook us something for dinner."
I nod and he goes to the small fire pit. Once dinner was made, I go with him to give it to Arthur. Dinner for us tonight was rat. Just as it was the first two nights. Gwaine had even threatened to eat some of Mira's baby food, as he didn't want to live on rat for the rest of his life.
