The lost Prince

7

It had been about a week of hiding out in this cave. It was always dark, gloomy. We'd all been training, trying to get stronger. The Camelot knights still seemed surprised when I beat them in a fight and still believed that I must be fooling them somehow.

Gwaine was still trying to cook, to make a feast "fit for a king".  he knight would erupt in laughter every time he said that.

Part of me wanted to go to Camelot now, to go to Belepor and kill him. I'd even suggested it a few times, but Valian always told me that we had to wait. Honestly, I didn't know why. We were as strong as we were going to get and if we went now, then at least it would be over sooner.

But Valian had been fighting longer than I had. For years, I had lived, pretending that I hadn't lost my kingdom, or at least, pretending that there wasn't any sort of fighting to get it back. Valian and the other knights had been on the front lines for years, taking over from the older Knights to continue the battle.

So I would trust in Valian and his plan and hope to the highest star that everything would work out.

---

"A-ha!" I heard someone scream. "Valian, they sent word!" 

I looked up to see Terric untying a rolled up piece of parchment before he quickly moved to unroll it.

"What does it say?" Valian's voice was rushed and high pitched. His eyes were wide and locked up the parchment.

Terric quickly read through whatever letter had been sent, mumbling quickly as he did. After a moment or two, a smile took its place. "They did it!"

"Who did what?" Leon asked. He was looking at me, questioning whether I knew what this was about. I gave a small shrug of the shoulders.

Valian swiped the parchment from Terric's hands, quickly reading over it before he smiled as well. He turned to me, his eyes glimmering.

"I didn't want to tell you earlier in case it didn't work, but we were sent to keep the king and the knights he brought with him here and to kill him if we got the chance. While we've been gone, an army has been working on getting into the village, closer to the castle. We just got word that they actually took hold of the castle as well!"

I just stared. The words didn't feel real. It felt like someone was playing some sort of horrid joke on me and would burst out of some hiding place to tell me it wasn't true. But how could it not be true? This as Valian, Terric and Edwin, the knight's I had been friends with since before I could remember. Valian, who, even though he was 7 years older than me, always felt like a person I could trust anything with. Terric who was always loud and demanded attention on and off the battlefield. And Edwin, who never brushed his hair and thought that his name should have been destroy.

They had been fighting for years and it was paying off.

"So what happens now?" Gwaine asked, flicking a strand of hair out of his eyes.

"Re-enforcements are on their way here. When they get here, we can start to make a plan to take the city."

"No," I growled.

"But, Sire, you can take the - "

"No. We will not take the city. Camelot has been a home to me and I don't want anyone here getting hurt. We'll draw out Belepor and his knights and battle them outside of the city walls." Immediately, Valian, Terric and Edwin nodded, keeping their heads slightly bowed.

"Then when do the re-enforcements arrive?" Mordred asked.

"It takes about two weeks to get from Elemania to Camelot but it might take them a bit longer. They aren't all knights and were only afforded limited training, so they may move at a slower pace." Edwin says, cracking his knuckles

"How many will come here?" I ask.

"A couple hundred, I think." I nod. That should be enough to take on Belepor's knights and any knights from Camelot that are convinced to fight.

"We'll train until they get here and when they do, we'll train them and make plans," I said, everyone nodding in agreement.

---

"Do you yield?" I asked, smirking down at Elyon. He gave one of those unbelieving smiles, one that people gave when they knew something was true and real, but still couldn't quite believe it.

"I yield." He said. I sheathed my sword, reaching a hand down to pull him up. He grabbed it but instead of standing, pulled me down with him.

"You might be quite the swordsman, but you sure do like to trust people." Valian chuckled, picking up a stone and turning it in his hand. "You'd think you'd have seen that coming." 

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Ok then, you and me, lets fight." Valian raised his brows, tired, but willing. He drew his sword, swung it in a loop before taking a fight stance. I drew my sword but maintained a relaxed posture. 

Valian knew all too well what I was doing and maintained his stance, unwilling to be the first to break.

And for once, I decided to let him win this minor battle. I took a swing, hard and fast, only to be blocked by a slightly shocked Valian. He pushed me away using his own sword and tried to swipe at my feet but I jumped before taking another swing. Once again, I was blocked, but this time, I quickly moved, aiming to hit Valian with the flat of my sword against his torso. I did and he grunted at the force. I took this as a chance to knock one of his feet from under him and he fell to the ground before chuckling.

"I hope you never lose your touch, Merlin." He grinned as I gave him my hand to pull him up. 

"And I hope that you might put up a good fight one day." 

"A good fight like this?" He asked, taking a swing of his fist at my head. I ducked, only barely missing his attack.

"Kind of." I grinned.

"Oi! Dinner's ready!" Gwaine called. Elyon and Leon groaned and Edwin and Terric scrunched up their noses. Mordred and Percival just looked at each other. "It's not that bad, I swear! I'm getting better at this!" I couldn't help but laugh. Truth be told, Gwaine was getting better at cooking. I mean, He hadn't burnt a meal in at least two days which was saying something. Even though it never tasted that good, it was better than tasting the burnt meat we had started becoming used to.

And besides, I liked not cooking.

Hey everyone (who stuck around even with extremely slow updates).

I know this took a really long time for any sort of update and I'm really sorry about that. I've been super busy with school and work and I've just kinda neglected this story. It's a pretty bad chapter but hopefully, you can look forward to some better, quicker updates (this may be wishful thinking).

Thanks for sticking around!