It had been a day.
A day since the king and his escorts decided to cross the Wallowing Woods to visit another kingdom. A day since they entered full of uncertainty and fear of what might be the woods. And a day... since the king had disappeared meanwhile his knights had returned safely.
Slap!
The harsh sound echoes across the vast courtroom as soon as Jonas, one of the court advisors, sees Levi who he had called to the room. The knight does not respond to the spanking, however, as even he thinks it is fit for him after he had failed to fulfill his duty of protecting the king.
"What have you done? It had been a day since the king disappeared from the woods! Where is he now?! Who will lead us if he is gone! We've already experienced being without a king for years! Do you realize what grave danger you've put Viridus in by losing him!" Jonas did not stop for even a second as he continued to scold the young knight.
And through it all, Levi kept his head down, taking everything in, whether it be the advisor's words or the hits he places upon him.
Truly, the past day had been quite nerve-wracking for the whole palace. And with no news or sign of the usually active king coming out within the past day, even the people outside the palace have begun to become aware of the current happenings.
The king had gone missing. And into the very woods the previous king had always so adamantly kept his people from going into.
"What's going on? The boy-king had disappeared?"
"They say he left for Kilune to meet his bride-to-be, but something happened and the knights soon returned without him."
"Could it be whatever's in those nasty woods?"
"At this point, he must probably be dead already. Are we already getting a new king after only four years?"
"Now, wHO THE HELL SAID THAT?!" Suddenly, a loud voice penetrates through the busy gossiping in the markets, and as soon as it had rang out, people turn to it to see Peter, the young black market trader, flinching with an embarrassed look on his face.
He looked embarrassed, indeed, but nevertheless, all the people in the market just go on with their ways as if they never heard him.
Meanwhile, Peter, sort of, panicked. He knew exactly where Arthur was, however, so the young king's wellbeing wasn't his biggest concern. What is his biggest concern is the kingdom's thoughts on his disappearance, especially the council's and whether they choose to pronounce him dead sooner or later.
It's been a day now, which meant Peter had to act fast, lest he were to let the council decide the king's fate without the king himself.
•●•
"P-P-Peter?!"
Arthur sat there, completely flabbergasted as he looked at his friend who had seemingly shown up out of nowhere.
Meanwhile, Peter stood catching his breath, completely exhausted after having ran through the woods as fast as he can to get to the fairy village. He got lost a couple times, trying to find his way, but eventually, he made it here. But not before almost losing his breath completely apparently.
"W-w-what are you doing here?! W-wait... you knew about this place?!" Arthur began to interrogate the boy, but he could barely even talk still with just how much shock he was put into earlier. And before he could even get to properly talk, Peter interrupts him, holding his palm up as he finally catches his breath.
"Let's save that for later. The people... The people of Viridus are saying that you're dead!"
"Peter? What are you doing here?" All of a sudden, Lily appears behind Arthur, and along with her, Sam and Lucy look towards the boy with mixed expressions of surprise and curiosity.
"Hey, you–" Lucy began as sho pointed a finger at Peter, and as soon as she finishes, Sam continues her words. Well, in a way.
"Fairy dust collector?!"
"Fairy dust collector?!" Arthur repeats Sam's words with a confused expression on his face, and as soon as it occurs to him, he turns to Peter. And his expression says it all. "You knew about the fairies all along?!" He stares at Peter, and the latter, having realized his mistake, pauses.
"... Well, I guess, I did?"
YOU ARE READING
The Orphan King and The Witch of the Woods (KINGDOM Arthur X Female OC)
Fanfiction"Lavender's blue, dilly, dilly, Lavender's green, When I am king, dilly, dilly, Who will be queen?" An orphan had become king. But on the day of his coronation, the one person most special to him had disappeared, forever gone in the Wallowing Woods...
