Love, Faith and Family

Epilogue

Avalon was still as beautiful as Miriam remembered it, even though the last time she was there was well over 50 years ago when her brother and her retrieved Excalibur from the lake for the first time.

But as she appeared on the isle that housed an old stone tower, she was surprised to see that her face and body were not that of an elderly woman, which she definitely was after ruling Albion for 45 years before stepping down and giving her son the crown, Arthur having made a wife out of his best friend and Sir Leon's daughter, Anneliese, just as his mother foretold.

The former queen of Albion gazed back across the lake where she swore she could see her just as elderly brother retreat from the shoreline.

She longed for the day they'd be reunited.

Arthur was just as stubborn as his father. He'd insisted that the only quest that would prove him worthy to be king would be to find the long lost lord Merlin Wyllt.

And Arthur did.

Using sorcery taught to him by the many sorcerers that lived in Camelot and enhanced by the blood of the dragonlords that flowed through him, he was able to find Merlin. But he wasn't able to bring him back.

Merlin had been delighted to finally meet his nephew at last. A nephew he knew resented him somewhat for leaving his mother alone in Camelot, but a nephew that soon realised that his mother had never been alone and the people that surrounded her was why Merlin felt safe leaving her in the first place.

Though, he still couldn't bring himself to return, especially since he thought that everyone was doing better without him there.

Instead, he presented his nephew with a red neckerchief that was slightly tattered with age, as proof that Arthur completed his quest, along with several stories of adventures his mother hadn't told him about.

So, Miriam had yet to be reunited with her brother.

"Well, you haven't aged a day," came a voice, a voice Miriam would never forget, a voice that brought tears to her eyes as she dared turn around.

Arthur was just as she remembered, just the same as the portrait of them that hung in the castle and the statue of him that had been created atop the cliffs of Calmann.

He gave her a cheeky smile before Miriam was running towards him.

His hug felt like coming home.

It was warm and familiar as they squeezed each other so tight that not even air could fit between them as her tears soaked his shirt.

And then their lips met.

And just like that, the hole inside her that she'd spent almost half a century trying to fill, vanished.

"I missed you. I missed you so much," she cried as she hugged him again.

"You're here now. And we have all of eternity to make up for it," Arthur said as he just enjoyed the moment of being able to hold his wife again.

"What do you mean? We're just across the lake," Miriam asked as she pulled back, and Arthur smirked.

"Appearances aren't everything, my love," he said as he picked up a stone from the ground and threw it across the lake.

The rock sailed through the air before it seemed to hit an invisible shield and bounce backwards.

"It's a ward of sorts. They can't see us, but we can see them. Kilgharrah explained that we're sort of in a realm of our own. That when Albion is in its greatest time of need, then we'll be allowed to pass through and rise from the lake."

"You saw Kilgharrah?" Miriam asked in surprise as she took his hands.

"Only for a moment as he passed. You'll see him again though. For when my once and future queen and the last dragonlordess rises, with her rises every fallen dragon."

Miriam dropped her head as she soaked up the information.

"That's a lot to take in. And you seem so certain that we'll be able to save Albion no matter what peril it faces."

"And you should be too," Arthur said as he lifted her face to meet his eyes. "I've watched you build Albion to what it is now. I watched you raise the son you named after me and spoil our grandchildren rotten. You can accomplish absolutely anything you put your mind to."

"How did you know all that?" she asked, and Arthur smiled as he walked towards the water, placing a hand in it as he said,

"Show me Arthur Pendragon II."

And the image of the shores of the lake rippled as they were replaced with Arthur sitting at his dining table as he laughed with Anneliese, their kids playing with a small carving of a dragon, the carving Ballinor had given Miriam decades ago.

"I told you I would always be with you," Arthur said with a warm smile as he walked back to his wife's side, the woman gaping at her son. "You don't know how many times I wished I could be there, to help you, comfort you, even just to be with you. I wanted to be there."

"Well," she replied as she looked up at him. "We have eternity for you to make it up to me."

Arthur's smile was warm and full of a million happy emotions as he lowered his lips to hers, glad to now be able to fuel his addiction for her kisses.

"Come on," he urged as he took her hand and began to lead her to the tall stone tower.

"Uh, is that tower stable?" she asked hesitantly, and Arthur laughed at his wife. Gods it felt good to laugh with her again.

"Let's just say that it's more than meets the eye, but yes, it's perfectly safe."

"You seem like a full advocate for magic now," Miriam remarked as they made their way up to the arched wooden door.

"Well, my brother saved my kingdom, who knows how many times with magic, and I believe that it was some sort of magic that landed you in my life - that did land you in my life, because, I guess we're dead now."

Miriam's answered laugh was the best sound he could ever hear, next to her telling him that she loved him.

"Then, by all means, I'd love a tour of your magical tower."

Arthur pushed open the door.

"We'll start with the bedroom."

And in they walked.