Earth & Magic

ØØ8. Never Equal

     The first day of the talks had come to a close, Natalia was exhausted. She had gotten most of the things she wanted to say out of the way.
    "Lady Natalia," she turned to Olaf. She bit her tongue, and smiled curtly,
    "Yes?" He huffed and spoke begrudgingly,
    "I underestimated you. It was rude of me to-" Natalia put her hand up and stopped him,
    "There's no need, we both lost our temper. All is forgiven." They both uncomfortably smiled; Natalia was too tired to fight or argue anymore.
    "Thank you for stopping me from doing something so rash as to attack Camelot." Olaf put out his hand,
    "You would have come to your senses, it was simply a precautionary measure." They shook hands and parted ways hastily. Natalia needed to scream into a pillow for a solid four hours and then hit something with a sword for several more. Before she could enjoy any of that she heard Arthur,
    "My love, I do not know what I've done to offend you."
    She looked down a hall to her left and saw him standing with a plate of chicken and vegetables.
    "Your love?" Lady Vivian's muffled voice passed through the closed door, "Not now, nor ever." She opened her door violently, "My father will have you killed if he sees you here." Natalia thought that she should approach, but decided to watch this comedy unfold.
    "Your father does not worry me," Arthur's voice took on a certain deep quality that many arrogant men had.
    "You won't be saying that when he's running at you with a knife in his hand. I've seen it before." Arthur's face went slightly grey,
    "Really?" Vivian slammed the door in his face.
    "Just five minutes!" Arthur knocked on the door with force and desperation. From the other end of the hall, Natalia heard Merlin approach hurriedly to Arthur.
    "My Lord, I don't think your advances are welcome," Merlin said nearly out of breath.
    "Go away!" Vivian yelled, "And take your chicken with you!" Arthur shoved the plate toward Merlin,
    "Don't know what gives you that impression." The pair walked toward Natalia, who waved at them. She was feeling better even without releasing her pent up anger.
    "Seems your not a charming as I thought you were Arthur," Arthur grumbled,
    "Thank you for stating the obvious, Natty." Natalia punched Arthur's arm,
    "Ow!" Arthur squeaked.
    "You should know better than to call me that." Merlin laughed, and Arthur rubbed his arm,
    "At least you find this amusing." Merlin shrugged as Natalia linked arms with him.
    "That meeting was exhausting, don't you think Arthur?" Arthur frowned for a moment at his friends,
    "You two know each other?" Natalia squeezed Merlin's arm a bit more,
    "We've been friends since we were very small. He even worked in the kitchen at my castle," Arthur nodded, and then stopped in his tracks,
    "Natalia," she turned to him. "The way you were treated today was unacceptable and when we are Rulers, no one in the Five Kingdoms will speak to you like that." The three were silent for a second before Natalia laughed chuckled.
    "How naive of you?" She let go of Merlin's arm and looked dumbfounded. "Although I appreciate the sentiment Arthur, you will never change men's minds when it comes to a woman being in positions of power."
    "What?" Arthur was upset by what he had just heard, "What about my mind? I believe that women should be allowed to rule as well."
"Do you think a woman could lead an army into a bloody battle? Or that she should even fight?" Arthur said nothing. "Do you think I could live my life fully without baring a child or be allowed to leave her family to pursue a life that makes her happy or be free to become scholars or physicians?" They reached her room,
"But how could a woman be happy without having a child, it's what their bodies are meant to do isn't it?" Arthur meant well and it was a genuine question, but Natalia was fed up too begin with.
"Who cares!" she yelled in the empty hall, "Shouldn't she be allowed to do what she likes no matter what?" Arthur stood thoughtfully as did Merlin. Neither of them had been posed with such questions.
"Do you really want to do all those things?" Merlin asked Natalia. She looked shocked,
"What?" The question seemed to knock the breath out of her lungs. Merlin sighed
"Do you want to become an educated vagabond, who fights to be free and have nothing that ties them down?" Natalia looked out the window that faced the mountains. She imagined for a moment that she lived at the peak of the tallest one. She dryly sniggered,
"It doesn't matter what I want." Then smiled at them cheerfully, "I'm a woman." She continued to walk down the hall as both boys looked at her in awe of her power.
    "Arthur," Merlin said quietly.
    "Yes?" Merlin opens his mouth, but then smiles,
    "Never mind."