The Man in The Cave

Chapter 10.

She recalled when she was younger, she could hear the faint voice of her father encouraging her to cry. Assuring her that if she cried enough, the sadness would wash out of her body and she would feel happy again.

At this point, even after holding onto her mother when she had closed her eyes she had cried for hours and had yet to feel the sadness washing away. Now she was sitting next to her sister in the inside of the church, feeling the icy stares of the people who passed by her side. Emrys had also sat by her side at some point, however, he had to leave multiple times due to the king's request, he always managed to sneak back nonetheless, she was grateful, despite her sister's careful mumbling that he had no business being there.

Morgana this time was staring at the careful embroidery of her dress, counting the flowers and the golden leaves, her body trembling slightly.

"Where is Arthur?" She lifted her face to see her sister, there was not a trace of tears on the older's face.

"I don't know" Her tone was terminal, making it clear for the younger girl to not ask anything else related to the topic of their younger brother. She tried to assure herself she would ask Emrys when he returned.

"Do you think she and dad are together now?" the little girl tried, Emrys had said something like that, something about the fact that Igraine would no longer have to withstand being close to Uther anymore.

"If she is" Morgause spat, voice filled with venom "She should have taken us with her instead of leaving us behind with the Rotten king and his offspring." The younger of the two knew her sister had read a lot of books, the word offspring was unfamiliar to her ears, but the way Morgause had said it made it distinctly clear for her that it couldn't be anything good.

She dragged herself, sitting a little further away from her sister. Moving her feet to and from, in the bench to prevent the recently surged need to go to the bathroom. She turned to her sister to tell her, opting instead to remain quiet. Jumping from where she was, she began walking trying to find somewhere she could go to the bathroom, the castle was still far too unfamiliar for her and she had never been to that part of it. The hallways felt bigger, as she walked through them alone for the first time.

The sudden sound of a platter of metal falling onto the ground made Morgana jump, breath catching in her throat, it took her a couple of seconds to re-adjust herself before she rushed behind the armor of a knight, staying behind its legs holding her hair tight so it wouldn't be visible through its legs.

"Are you sure this is the correct way to proceed your majesty?" She identified the voice instantly, he was the head of the knights, he was a man not much older than Uther, but he had firmness to him and a presence that could have scared Morgana if the man didn't sneak her a little extra dessert at every chance he got and made funny gestures at her when she was the only one looking.

"You know just as well as I do how far our enemies are willing to go" Uther's voice was barely loud enough for her to hear.

"Still, your majesty. Proceeding with this is risky. That is your son you are leaving on someone else's hands" The head of the knights said "I'm not sure this is the wisest choice"

"There are few men as indebted and as loyal to me as Sir Ector. And you very well know Your duty is to follow my commands, not question them"

"Very well, I shall make sure the preparations are made" The knight forced out, Morgana remained still when she heard heavy footsteps leave the room.

Audrey's peeked her head from the above the bed at the top of what had once been a bunk bed, there was a desk below her, Gabriel was putting his recently washed laundry on the drawers of his closet. Audrey was working on her history homework, eyebrows furrowed trying to remember the details of her French homework. Eventually giving up and focusing her entire attention on history.