━━ ⦗the swan princess! ⦘
❝ you're beautiful!
thank you, but what else?
... what else is there? ... ❞
███████████ 𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝
the courageous odette teaches the
once and future king a less...
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chapter thirty-seven! 037. what comes with winter?
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THE NIGHT DAWNEDcloser to the unprecedented morning. Merlin could not sleep, even if he wanted to. He clutched onto the rabbit foot Gaius had given him in the dying candle light with a trembling grip, somehow praying to his Lord, or the gods of the old Religion▬whoever that may listen▬to grant another miracle. No matter his courage and his determination, Merlin found himself terrified as his final moments left him. He was scared of what awaited him after ... but he was more scared of who he was going to leave behind. Arthur, Gaius, Guinevere, Ronyn, Odette ... his mother ... all those he had promised to protect.
He wanted to cry. His destiny had led him to this▬his end was prophesied before he even first opened his eyes. Merlin had no choice to follow this path, and he had to accept that fate because there was no one else who would. His death would not be remembered in the annuals and epics of Kings▬his sacrifice would be forgotten as soon as the next sunrise, and everyone will remember how Arthur survived. They would wonder how and bless their miracles, unbeknownst to the seventeen-year-old boy who had given everything to make sure that they could.
Merlin ran his fingers along the old rabbit fur, trying to keep himself calm. He wondered how it would hit him. Would he feel it? Would it be pleasant? Would he drift off in exhaustion and not then wake up? Or would it be ruthless▬a price for playing with life and death?
He glanced out of the window at the night; the moon shone back at him. Maybe he will live in the Moon▬that was where he felt like he'd want to go when he died. He will be the Man on the Moon, watching over everyone still alive during the darkest of nights.
Merlin pursed his lips and looked back down at the rabbit foot. He continued to think of all those he will leave behind without a proper goodbye. His friends, his family▬and those who he will see again when the time comes. But there was one that suddenly struck him, and stayed there in the forefront of his mind.
He took a deep breath. He hadn't spoken▬let alone seen▬her since he snapped in his frustration back at those gardens. He did not whisper to her in his mind to express how he was sorry▬that he did not mean to get mad at her. But now, Merlin was afraid she didn't want to talk to him, either.
For some reason, the thought of leaving the Lady Adelynn alone made his tongue dry. It made him feel as if he was betraying some connection between them▬some responsibility he had placed on himself to make sure Ronyn's sister never felt the way he did about magic. To make sure she wasn't alone, that she didn't look in a mirror and see a monster▬to have someone to tell her that her powers were a gift ... for all that he said and thought of himself, he stepped up and told her the opposite▬so much that he had started to believe his words whenever he looked at himself in the mirror.
