The Man in The Cave

Chapter 7

She tip-toed into the bedroom of the baby, avoiding the guards she knew wouldn't allow her to get inside if they saw her. It was easy enough when their eyes were so focused forward. They didn't see a tiny child who couldn't even reach their waist sneaking past them. Or maybe they had seen her and chose to ignore their king's order. She was sure her father's knights never had defied him. Even after his death they assured their loyalty to her mother and their kingdom.

The room was bigger than her own, and she thought of the foolishness of it, she was older, she needed a bigger room. Even her sister's room wasn't as big as the baby's was. Her mother was sleeping in a bed, near a moises, tiny figures of horses and swords moved with the wind over it. The bedroom was decorated carefully, a vase of flowers in the table in the middle of the room, an enormous dark blue carpet above the stone floor and wooden chairs, there was a place for candles away from the window and the crib

She walked with small steps, grabbing one of the chairs and trying to drag it across the carpet. Her mother shifted in bed, her eyes remained closed as the small dark skinned child adjusted her dress trying to reach the chair and climb it so she could get a better look at the inside of the moses.

She struggled to keep her balance once she was over the chair standing almost on her toes, trying to adjust her mane of dark hair as her blue eyes scanned over the blue blanket until she was able to see a child. Eyes barely open, pink skin, a blue blanket over his body and what appeared to be a white long shirt and small pants to go alongside it.

"People say you will be a huge king" She began, reaching her hand to poke his cheek, repeating the words she had heard from the adults around her and Emrys who was the only one kind enough to give her any news on her new brother and her mother. She liked Emrys. "But I don't think so, because you are very tiny, and everyone knows a king has to be the biggest and strongest so he can protect the weakest people"

The baby wrapped his fingers around her own, the small hand holding onto her finger. The girl pouted; eyebrows furrowed feeling the baby's tight grasp around her.

"Morgause says your name is Arthur, she says she heard it from Uther. I don't like you Arthur, because of you mom got sick and they don't let me talk to her, Mor says mom was like that too when I was tiny, but I don't believe her I was never tiny like you, I've always known how to talk" The baby shifted, she looked at him, terrified he would begin crying and someone would discover she was there.

"I hear you crying a lot through the door, we should make a deal. I used to have those with my dad, and he said a good deal has to benefit both sides. So here is the deal, alright? But you have to pay attention; I'll sleep with you to scare away the nightmares and when you grow older you have to be my friend. It should be easy, because as your older sister, I will take care of you. Deal?"

The baby wrapped his hand around her finger for a second time, and the girl smiled, moving her the hand the baby had his hand wrapped around up and down.

Valerie kicked a stone on the road ahead of her, the buzz of the students leaving school had died out and she was waking to her home with Jonathan by her side. There was still a drumming on her chest, that raised whenever she thought about the knight aiming his sword at her and how she had barely managed to make it out alive. Audrey had left with Gabriel, they exchanged an awkward glance between each other while the blonde said she would go to ballet practice. Valerie figured Gabriel would walk her there.

"...hurt?"

Valerie lifted her eyes from the stone she had kicked looking at Jonathan who was staring at her. She felt embarrased.

"What did you say?"

"Your arm, does it hurt?" he repeated, eyes open, head slightly tilted, not a hint of dreadfulness on having to repeat the question to her. Valerie raised her arm staring at the cut fabric of her uniform's jacket and the red stain on it that looked like if it would dry soon.