ANTHEA || Hisirdoux Casperan

08 | The Crystal Ring

Not only is the apprentice stressed out about Anthea's safety, but he's worried for King Arthur's and Morgana's lives as well. If either of the royal siblings die, then his and his friends' future is destroyed. And this quest to protect the King and his sister does nothing to help his stress levels.

Douxie thought it was going to be easy to protect them and get them to reconcile. However, it quickly took a dark turn when the Gumm-Gumm Prince appeared out of nowhere and attacked the king. Not only that, but while Morgana did want to protect her brother, she couldn't bring herself to attack Bular. Even with her brother pinned to a tree.

"I'll drink your blood out of a goblet made of your skull!" The dark prince growls, raising his sword to Arthur's chest, "I'll carve you open and let your guts spill out."

Douxie gasps and quickly summons a magical lasso to catch the troll's arm. As soon as he's stopped Bular from hurting the king, the troll turns to him. The apprentice laughs sheepishly as the troll prince pulls hard on the magic lasso, flinging Douxie into a bush.

However, before the troll can very far, Merlin captures him in a large net.

The troll prince roars in frustration and struggles against his bonds but Merlin's magic is too strong for him to break.

"Finish it, Fleshbag!" He growls as Arthur gathers himself.

The king clears his throat and lifts his sword to the troll's neck. However, he hesitates then lowers his sword, "The spawn of Gunmar. I won't dull Excalibur's edge with you-" He glances carefully at Morgana then back at the troll prince, "Drag this monster back to Camelot! I have plans for him. The rest, with me! My blade hungers."

"You've got the 'Gumm-Gumm Prince,' one of the strongest of troll-kind,'" Morgana calls suddenly, stopping Arthur in his tracks, "Are you really going to hunt down those who cannot defend themselves."

Arthur turns toward her with a serious expression, "I've already told you, sister, I will lose no more loved ones to these monsters."

"If you really love me, brother, you will stop hurting them," Morgana replies, standing steadfast, "If you continue, you will lose me."

Arthur looks her up and down and turns away. He thinks for a moment before replying, "You still owe loyalty to Camelot. As your king, I order you to finish this hunt."

Morgana exhales slowly, "Look who the monster is now."

Arthur sighs and says nothing more. Instead, he orders his men to continue before following after them himself.

Douxie grunts as Anthea helps him from the prickly shrub.

So much for getting the siblings to hug and make up. At least both siblings are still alive as of this moment. Though Douxie can tell that the tensions are rising between them rather than declining and if his instinct is correct, something terrible will happen very, very soon.

Anthea pats his arm and pulls a couple of leaves from his hair before offering him a kind smile, "It may take time, but I swear Arthur almost told Morgana that he's doing this to protect her."

Douxie finds his footing as he looks at her, "How can you be so sure?"

"Call it a woman's intuition," She grins sweetly before following after Merlin, "All women have it, but not many people listen to it."

Steve glances at Claire with the look of a lost puppy. The girl only shrugs as begins walking. As she passes Douxie, she whispers, "I like her."

Douxie sighs and follows Anthea with his eyes, "And I love her."