Of Chores and Crowns (A Merlin Fanfiction) ✔

Chapter Five

I wanted to dig myself into a hole.

It was one thing to stealthily defy a King, and a whole other thing to assault a Prince in the corridor of his own castle.

"Do stand, please."

I straightened upright and looked him in the eye. He had a smirk on his face and I couldn't help but narrow my eyes slightly.

"Ah, there's the bold little girl I saw in the throne room." He said, his smirk growing into a grin.

I bristled, but kept quiet. I pressed my lips together and intertwined my hands together behind me. He raised an eyebrow as if he were waiting for me to do something.

"Do you need anything, my lord?" I asked, adding an edge to my voice.

"You are a curious creature, girl."

"My name is Dawn." I snapped before I could stop myself, "And I am a human just like you, not some creature."

I snapped my mouth shut, sure I was going to be put in the stocks, but Arthur only laughed. I blushed. He probably found my insolence amusing in a childish way.

"You're bold, Dawn." He acknowledged.

"You tend to be that way when you have seen a whole population slaughtered as I have."

He fell silent, his smirk falling, and his eyes growing serious. Dread pooled in my stomach, and I grew terrified. I had no doubts he would surely yell at me now. I bowed my head, waiting for some form of punishment, but nothing came.

I looked up through my lashes to see him looking down at me with a grim expression. He seemed sad, but not for himself. His grim expression struck something inside of me, and I seemed to begin to fall apart, the last week or two finally catching up to me.

When he didn't say anything, I bowed, silently asking to be dismissed. He kept silent, so I stood.

"I apologize for running into you, sire."

With those last words, I turned and walked away. I kept my chin up, as if I wasn't about to cry. I could feel Arthur's eyes on my back, two hot pinpoints of heat.

Finally, I turned the corner and the heat of his gaze vanished. I sighed with relief, pausing to lean against the wall, my hand to my chest. My heart was pounding wildly, and I could not figure out the cause.

I was physically and emotionally worn out, but there was still more to do. I steeled myself and began my way towards the kitchens. When I arrived, everyone was bustling around as they started dinner. It would be a couple of hours before the meal was actually ready, and everybody was bracing themselves for hours in the hot kitchens.

I hated to interupt their work, but I pulled a servent to the side to ask her where the stables were. Her dark skin glowed in the fire light of the ovens and she smiled at me.

She gladly told me the directions, and didn't seem to mind at all that I had interupted her. She seemed kind. She was the type of girl I would have gladly made friends with had I been in any other situation.

However, I needed to get away from the castle for a little bit, so as soon as I had a good idea of where I was going, I bolted.

I raced through the halls, picking up my skirts to run faster. My thigh screamed in pain, but I ignored it. I knew I should have it looked at, but there was too much to do, and Faye to worry about.

I passed knights and servents alike, all of which turned to watch me run by, but I ignored them all. Prince Arthur's sad look passed through my mind, and I felt tears rise up in my eyes, but I wiped then away and kept running.

Finally I reached the stables. There was only one small boy in the corner sleeping in a pile of straw. I ignored him, and scanned the stalls until I found Abatos' head popping out of the very last one.

I sighed in relief and hurried forward, leaning on the door of his stall. I noticed that he had been well taken care of, and I mentally reminded myself to find the stable boy I had handed Abatos off to and thank him.

"You feeling better, handsome boy?" I asked the horse, my voice catching in my throat.

He huffed, and his warm breath fanned over my face. I sighed and stroked his nose.

"Yeah, I'm not feeling too good either." I said, as if the horse had responded. "All of my friends...dead."

Tears finally began to stream down my face as I mourned the loss of Deira. It's the first time I had allowed myself to cry since before the attack.

Abatos nuzzled my hair, nibbling at my ear. I giggled through my tears, and ran my hands through his long mane. I was relieved to see that, along with being fed and watered, he had also been groomed.

I really needed to repay that stable boy in some way.

"It'll be better now that we are in Camelot." I said this to the horse, but I was trying to reassure myself. "It has to be. Fayelinn will marry the Prince, you'll settle down with a nice lady horse, and I will...well, I guess I will be the Queen's servent. That's a secure job. I won't starve, or want for anything I need."

I couldn't help but sigh, relaxing with each word. I would be well taken care of, as will Faye. Camelot was one of the most powerful kingdoms in the land, surely we wouldn't be unhappy.

Yet, even as I imagined all of the things we would earn, and be given; as I thought about the new lives we would create in this fine kingdom, I couldn't help but mourn the loss of our old lives, and our old kingdom.

Camelot may house us, but I couldn't imagine it ever being the home Deira was.