THE FORGOTTEN KINGDOM

HUNTED

ATHENA 

I took a deep breath from the cold air as I looked out at the night sky Arthur asleep behind me, we had finally managed to find a cave to hide in after several days of running away from those damn shadow things, my gaze landed on Arthur who was shivering in his sleep as I stood by the cave entrance and I sighed shaking my head sadly at the look on his face. He was twisting the ring around on his finger looking devastated, a tear slipped down his face as I watched so I took of my cloak and draped it over him hoping that the warmth would bring him some sort of comfort. My breath hitched and I realised that Arthur wasn't the only one crying and I grumbled as I walked back to my post, this time I couldn't blame it on Merlin as much as I wanted too. Wherever he was I knew that my brother was asleep and I was now grateful more than ever for the bond that we shared as I would have been going out of my mind with worry without it. I reached up to the ring I wore around my neck running it across the chain as I tried not to let my thought run wild, I knew we couldn't stay here for much longer but Arthur needed sleep and I needed time to myself. I gritted my teeth feeling a bubble of anger rise within me at the absurdity of the situation, I was supposed to be the one apprehending Ramsey and yet I had been running from him for days with no clear destination in mind just the need to get away barely stopping until we stumbled across this cave.

I bite my lip placing a hand over my mouth to muffle my cries so that I didn't wake Arthur, I closed my eyes shaking my head as I thought about my horse (random but still) it probably sounded cold but I was more worried about my horse than I was about my brother as bad as that sounded. I knew my brother could take care of himself and he had Morgana with him and I couldn't focus on my feelings for them as Merlin would be able to sense them and we both needed to have a clear head as we tried to keep the others alive, I knew that if I allowed myself to worry about my brother instead of my horse it would lead Merlin to worry about me and our emotions would just be feeding of each other reducing us to a blubbering mess in the corner so I pushed those fears way down deep. My horse however was a different story, she was a wild Mustang that I had rescued from some smugglers when I was six, she had been injured during a struggle with one of the men so I had decided to nurse her back to health and she had been with me ever since. No one else could ride her and she was utterly fearless even when we were surrounded by hundreds of men, she didn't even balk when a dragons flew overhead. I must have made an involuntary sound because Arthur woke up and walked over to me placing a hand on my shoulder making me jump hand going to my sword. Arthur raised his hands giving me an apologetic look as I sighed and hastily wiped my eyes dropping my hands back down to my sides as I cleared my throat trying to pretend that I hadn't just been crying like a baby. At least he had the excuse of being asleep and unaware of the fact that he was crying, me not so much, Arthur pulled me into a hug holding me tight and I sighed almost collapsing in his embrace.

Shaking my head I pulled back giving a nervous laugh as I gave him a self-conscious look "Not being very queen like huh?" I said shakily before pressing my lips together tightly as I fought to gain my composure or at least some dignity. Arthur raised an eyebrow at me before shaking his head giving me a hesitant look as he patted my back awkwardly clearly unsure on how to react "You don't have to be strong all the time Athena" Arthur said slowly and I blinked at him in surprise. "I mean you don't have to constantly be queen either" he said wiping a stray tear of my cheek, "Its ok to be scared Athena your brother taught me that" he said giving me a genuine smile as I looked at him, "Now it's my turn to teach you" he said laughing quietly and I raised an eyebrow at him sceptical. Arthur just gave me a knowing look and I sighed, "See there we go it's not all bad" he said and I scoffed looking at him in disbelief and he chuckled "it could be worse" Arthur continued and I resisted the urge to hit him as I said "How, how could it be worse" my voice no longer shaking which I was thankful for and he grinned at me "We could be stuck with George" he said and I barked out a surprised laugh shaking my head as he gave me a triumphant look. "We need to leave" I said and Arthur shook his head "You should get some sleep" Arthur said and I frowned at him shaking my head and he rolled his eyes at me glaring, "Athena you have been up for days you are exhausted" he said and I folded my arms stubbornly and he growled looking like he was about to go for his sword "Athena please you can't protect me if you pass out from lack of sleep" oh that was a low blow and he knew it as he gave me a satisfied smirk and I glared at him knowing that he had won. He knew that I couldn't refuse when he put it like that because he was right, he couldn't protect himself from Ramsey without me. I grumbled but did as I was told and he took my cloak of his shoulders and placed it back on mine as I settled down on his vacated spot using it as a blanket as well as a bed roll. I glared at him but he just placed a kiss on the top of my head and took up my position as he stood watch and I closed my eyes believing that I wouldn't sleep and I found myself drifting almost immediately.