The Man in The Cave

Chapter 3

There was a sound of metal falling to the floor. The clink sounded almost like a bell, serving as a sentence to end the silence that had fallen in the cave. Valerie's eyes were focused on the man who had knelt in front of her in solemnity, his eyes on the ground, her eyes darted around the cave.

"You must be mistaken" Audrey was the first to say, stepping as soon as she noticed Valerie's eyes. "I know Valerie since I was eight, if she was of royalty, she would have told me. We tell each other everything!" Her voice hesitated for a second, when she looked at Gabriel, who couldn't find any proper words to say.

Jonathan joined Audrey, trying to bring any sense in an otherwise ridiculous situation "Why should we believe you? We do not know you"

After the initial shock had passed Valerie moved her eyes to look at the man who denied her friends the right to a response. He was still kneeling on the floor, eyes focused on the ground, she found surprising that he remained unmovable. She knelt to his height, picking the fallen sword from the floor extending it to him by the handle waiting until he lifted his eyes to look into hers.

"I'm afraid they are right" Valerie affirmed, her voice calm and certain "We do not know who you are, and if this is a prank, I suggest you to stop because no one is falling for it. If you need help finding your home we could help when the rain stops, but whoever you are looking for, I am not that person" She extended the sword to him, with the delicacy such piece of work deserved, he placed his hand above hers not to retreat the sword, instead to prevent her from handing it to him the metal remained between them.

"People know me as Merlin." He spoke, there was no visible reaction from the teenagers who wanted to hear the conversation "I do not understand, the maiden told me you were the one to pull out the sword"

"I was, yes." Valerie admitted, sighing "But it was already loose because my friends had tried to pull it out before me"

"Your majesty" The man spoke firm, lips pursued and eyebrows slightly furrowed, it no longer sounded like a reverence but more of the voice of someone scolding a child "Someone who I knew and trusted a long time ago left that sword there for a reason, and that reason was that you found it, which you did. I'm only telling you the truth, and with utmost honesty I assure you, those three could have tried over a thousand times and none of them would have succeeded in their lifetime"

Gabriel was about to say something, Audrey put one hand over his chest shaking her head, putting a finger above her lips.

"Even if what you say is true, I am not of the royal family I am many things, but the one you're looking for is not one of them" Valerie raised her head, chin up to look the man in the eye. Jonathan slowly walked to her side, the sword remained on Valerie's hand. Merlin stood up from the floor letting go of the sword taking a step back and raising an eyebrow looking at the teenagers standing side by side. Jonathan stood up straight when he felt Merlin's eyes over him, his shoulders tensed.

"You say you are not a born queen. If that was the case, pray tell why does the wizard appear to be so eager to protect you, and the maiden is about to hit me with the light on her hand?"

Gabriel tried giving a step forward "Look man, there is no..."

Audrey was frozen before she could land the blow, her eyes moved, yet the rest of her body held the lamp high as stiff as a statue, Merlin moved out of the way and with a snap of his fingers Audrey was able to lower her hands, her eyes wide staring at the man in front of her lines formed above her eyebrows and her mouth opened but no words came out. Then, he held his hand up against, Valerie and Jonathan an orb of light forming on it, Valerie waited for the impact to come, closing her eyes tight and raising the sword high, she felt a hand moving her out of way and she fell backwards, ending up sitting on the floor.