A Warrior At Heart (Arthur Pendragon x oc)

5

Adira spent the rest of the day with her mother and a few of the other women in the village, trying to teach them as much as she can about fighting before Kanen comes back.

That night Adira, Merlin, and Arthur were sat awake while everyone else was asleep in Adira and Hunith's house. It was cramped but they would make do for a few days. Arthur was probably struggling with it a little more than he was letting on though, due to him being used to more luxurious sleeping arrangements.

"Have you always slept on the floor?"

"Yeah, the bed I've got in Camelot is luxury by comparison"

"Want to swap?" Adira asked Merlin teasingly.

"It must be hard. Living like this" Arthur said, trying his best not to sound rude.

"Not really. I've never known any different. It's a simple life, that's for sure; you eat what you grow, and everyone pitches in together. As long as there's food on the table and a roof over your head, your happy."

"Sounds.. nice" Arthur said, making Adira chuckle lightly.

"You'd hate it." She said smirking

"No doubt. Why did you leave, Merlin?"

"Things changed"

"How?" Merlin took his time to answer so Arthur playfully nudged him in the face with his foot, "come on, stop pretending to be interesting. Tell me"

"I just didn't fit in anymore; I wanted to find somewhere that I did."

"had any luck?"

"Not sure yet. There's still something missing in Camelot." Merlin said, looking pointedly at Adira. She sighed,

"Merlin, you know I want to come to Camelot, but I can't leave mother. I don't want her to be alone here."

"She wants you to join me too. She will be fine on her own. You will never be your happiest here; you could have so much more out of life in Camelot." Merlin said pleading with her.

"How about we compromise? I'll come to Camelot if and only if we beat Kanen. I won't leave while the village is still in trouble" she said, making merlin smile widely and Arthur show a small smile himself.

"That works for me" they laid on the ground in silence for a couple of minutes until merlin remembered something he forgot to ask about.

"Adira?" he said quietly, wanting to check she was still awake.

"yeah?"

"What did Kanen do to you last week. Mother mentioned it but she didn't say what he actually did or how bad it was, I've been worried." He asked gently, hoping he doesn't upset her.

This got Arthur's attention as he obviously had no idea anything bad had happened, he sat up quietly, but loud enough that they knew he was there and could tell him if they didn't want him to hear.

Adira took a deep breath, having already known he would bring it up at some point

"its probably easier to just show you rather than me trying to describe it, because I don't want to end up looking like a baby if I start crying" she said light-heartedly, trying to brighten the mood but it didn't work.

Merlin gave her a nod and knowing Arthur was looking too she looked to him, silently asking if he was okay with it, he gave a nod too, slight apprehension showing on his face.

She turned around and started to remove the shirt she wore for bed, making sure to keep hold of the fabric around her breasts. There was a shocked gasp from each man once they saw the state of her back, covered in many angry, red, and bruised wounds. Seeing the reality of what had happened made merlin even more sure that he would do whatever it took to bring her back to Camelot with him so he can look after her; even though he knows she can take care of herself, he doesn't want her hurt again.

Arthur's response to seeing the wounds, however, was completely different. It only made him even more sure of the fact that she is one of a kind; the fact that she is still so willing to fight after already having suffered so much is a trait not even found in some knights. Her desire to put everyone else before herself makes him sure of one thing: that he will always make sure she is protected too.

After the exchange of worry-filled questions about her wellbeing, and after Adira put her shirt back on properly, they all laid back down in their previous places ready to finally get some sleep.

"We'll start training the men tomorrow" Arthur said, probably directed at merlin, but Adira responded anyway.

"and the women" she added. Arthur didn't even bother arguing with her about that, knowing that it was one argument he would never win.

"Get the candle, Adira" and then they all said goodnight and went to sleep, ready for the long day ahead of them.