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"Hunith, may we speak?"
Hunith looked up from her embroidery to see Balinor standing awkwardly at her doorway.
"To what do I owe the honor?" Hunith teased, setting down her hoop. He walked in after gently shutting the door, only to stop awkwardly in front of her.
"We have been courting each other for a while now." He started. Hunith couldn't help but to frown. Balinor had just returned from visiting his homelands, a trip the apparently was a rite for young Dragonlords. "And after visiting the mothercaves I found myself not fully there."
Hunith raised an eyebrow at him. "It wasn't the spiritual quest you wanted?"
"I left some part of me here in Camelot."
"Oh."
"Good you know-"
"I didn't know you and Uther had that kind of relationship." She teased again, mainly trying to avoid the nerves that were building from his all too sappy words.
"I remembered you speaking of a tradition from your village, that instead of the sigils of court, your people gave cloak pins." Balinor said, he was digging around in his bag as he spoke. "My people have a similar custom, instead of sigils or pins, we give something of high value from our hoard."
His eyes lit up and he pulled out a beautifully carved wooden box. It had gladiolus, baby's breath, and amaryllis flowers etched into the top.
"Open it." He said.
Hunith carefully did as she was told, inside of the box lay an intricately crafted cloak pin. It was in the shape of the dragon from Balinor's crest, in its eyes were sparking gems that Hunith had only seen on Uther and Ygraine's crowns. She gently ran her fingers over it. The metal was strangely warm, and there was a quick pulsing which felt like a nervous heartbeat.
"It's beautiful." Hunith admired. Balinor shifted from foot to foot. He was nervous, it was incredibly charming.
"It's yours." He said
She gasped and almost dropped the pin. "Mine? Like-"
"You have my soul, Hunith, my heart and my mind belong to only you. I want to make sure it stays that way."
Hunith couldn't believe it, a Dragonlord was proposing to her, the daughter of a small village healer. Not only a Dragonlord, but the shy and witty boy who had very quickly captured her attention and her heart.
"I want that too, Bal."
"Will you be my wife?"
"Yes, of course I will!" She said throwing her arms around him. Balinor hugged her back, squeezing her as if she were about to float away. "Oh, Bal, I love you so much."
"You're my treasure, Hunith, my reason of being. I love you."
She couldn't help but to kiss him harder, leading him to her bed.
As he snored next to her in bed, his arms wrapped possessively around her torso, Hunith couldn't help but to play with the beautiful piece of metal. She had nothing to return to him other than her love and loyalty. It seemed to be all he needed.
She hoped she could live up to the treasure he had gifted her.
"We need to go, my gold, now." Balinor said as he woke Hunith up. The moon was high in the sky, leaking in through the windows. Balinor eyebrow was cut, it was openly bleeding, and his face was covered in ash.
"What happened? Did 'Raine have the baby?" Hunith muttered with sleep still heavy in her eyes.
"Uther is killing anyone with magic." Balinor said, he was frantically moving around their chambers. He had grabbed every bag they had and was throwing in anything important to them. Hunith still sat in bed, half asleep.
"Uther wouldn't hurt you though, he's your friend."
"My friend just ordered a raid on every healers shop in town." Balinor said, he stilled and stared off into space. "My friend killed at least a hundred people tonight for the crime of just existing with magic. My friend just demanded me to call every dragon to him to slaughter them."
The words settle into Hunith's chest, like the warmth of their life snuffed out, and now only the chill of fear took over. She hurried out of bed to waste no more time, packing alongside Balinor. She kept pausing to make sure her engagement pin was tucked safely on her person. Balinor's heartbeat pulsed like crazy through the metal.
They escaped in the night with the help of her brother. Gaius had seen them off with tears in his eyes and promise to join them if things were to get bad for him. Gaius was more of a man of science than anything, choosing not to focus on magic healing like the rest of their family had.
As Camelot disappeared behind them, Hunith slipped the cloak pin out of her pocket. Balinor noticed, taking it from her fingers. He gently pinned it on, kissing her afterwards.
"Will you ever tell me what happened?" Hunith dared to ask. They had found refuge in a hidden glen for the night. Just the two of them and the stars. Hunith watched him carefully, Bal hadn't spoken much and had kept looking over his shoulder like Uther had known they left.
"I'm not very sure myself, something to do with Ygraine and the baby." Balinor said, his voice monotone and disconnected. He refused to look at her as they lay together sharing a bedroll.
"Did they-"
"Hunith. Not tonight, please." Balinor pleaded. She frowned and forced him to look at her, moving his chin.
"Did they pass?" Hunith asked. Balinor's eyes watered, the only sign of emotion of his face, and Hunith felt hers begin to do the same. Her friend was dead and the baby the two had eagerly planing for together was gone with her.
The couple laid under the stars, the sounds of the woods the only thing accompanying the soft sobs coming from Hunith. They could do little more than hold each other, and try not to drift away.
Ealdor was welcoming to them, a safe haven far enough from the reaches of Uther Pendragon and his quest to end magic. Balinor had come across the village when coming from a diplomatic mission with the King of Essetir, the kingdom Ealdor resided in. The people had welcomed them in, Hunith aided the town's apothecary and Balinor was an excellent huntsman. They along with their marriage, was prospering.
"Where are you going off to?" Hunith asked.
Balinor froze by the front door, he had a big bag slung over his shoulder. Hunith couldn't tell exactly how late it was, but it felt way to late for him to be going on a hunt.
"I have to leave." He said with a sigh, he refused to look at her, refused to turn around and face her like the man that he was.
"I thought we were safe here." Hunith said, wrapping their blanket around her. She desperately wants him to return back to their marital bed and hold her tight once again where they had been safe and warm.
"Having two beings of magic in this house…we'll be too obvious especially when they get old enough…"
"What on earth are you talking about?" Hunith's magic was long dormant, only strong enough to maybe stir a spoon in her tea.
"You're pregnant."
Hunith trailed her hand down to her stomach, she hadn't be feeling great the past two days but she assumed to had to do with the shifting seasons.
"I'm pregnant?" Hunith asked. "Bal, please look at me, if I'm pregnant then I'll need you even more. I can't harvest or help the animals-"
"A dead man can't help you."
Hunith huffed out a frustrated breath and marched forward to grab Balinor's shoulder. She forced him to turn around.
His eyes are puffy and watery, with bags underneath them. Hunith reached up to hold his cheek, gently rubbing his cheekbone with her thumb. He looked scared and young, like the young dragonlord she had met in the halls of Camelot who had stuttered over his words to impress her.
"Please don't leave us." She begged.
"I must."
Hunith dropped her hand, taking a step back from her husband.
"Fine, leave us. I'll find someone new. Our child will call him father."
Balinor growled and threw his bag to the ground. His eyes flashed gold, and every candle and the fireplace all ignited.
"You are mine!" He roared.
"Not if you leave out that door, Balinor. You will chose to make me take another lover."
He drew in a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair, his look shifted to something manic, like he was loosing his grip. Hunith never feared him, her Balinor would never hurt her, hurt them. She stood with her head held high, he will not be leaving her tonight, not if she could help it.
"I-" He started. He looked around the room, his eyes frantically looking for anything other than his wife's attention.
"If I'm yours, if I'm your hoard, than why leave me? Uther would have to declare war to find you and we all know he's already neck deep in his own civil war to look elsewhere."
"What happens when he tries to find me? Or when he tries to find them?" He asked pointing to her stomach.
"We will deal with it together."
Balinor chuckled and finally met her eye line, "I forget how stubborn you can be."
"I refuse to let you forget it."
He stepped back into her space, cupping her face in his hands. Balinor gently kissed her forehead, then her nose, and then her lips. "I love you, Hunith, I do."
"There is no buts in that, Bal, we need you."
"What happens when you have to watch me get torn away from you both to go fight in that idiot child's army of magic users?"
"Cenred doesn't care about our lands. Please can we not think about that, you just told me I'm pregnant, we should be celebrating."
"You knew that this wasn't going to last."
"No I didn't, I thought that we were going to run away and be happy forever." She refused to let him be right. Hunith knew that their time was getting slim, that the sands of the hourglass were narrowing down. She wanted so badly to be as naive as she sounded, but in reality she knew he would have to leave.
"We no longer live in a fairytale, my gold."
"No…I guess not." Hunith said, turning out of his grasp to head back towards the bed. "Are you joining me?"
She refused to turn back to him, he didn't deserve to see her face if he was abandoning her and their child.
"Hunith."
"Fine. I never-" Hunith tried to choke out, she wanted to spit it at him, the accusation that she never loved him. Instead, her voice faltered and hiccuped with sobs.
There were heavy footsteps heading towards her. Too warm arms wrapped their way around her, holding her tight to a rumbling too warm chest.
"Please, my gold, you-" Balinor said, his voice was tight and trapped in his throat as well. "You are my everything."
"Then stay."
And because her husband and love of her life would never deny her any wish, all he could say as she dragged him back to bed was- "Okay."
Matthew and Balinor were talking in hushed voices by the front gate. They had met inside the cottage and then headed outside for further discussion.
"I don't know either, little bird." Hunith said. She rubbed Merlin's little stomach as he laid in his crib. She had moved it to the window so he could get a little sun, it was good because now she had an excuse to spy. "But I fear it's not for delicate ears."
Merlin gurgled up and her . He paused, scrunching up he nose and sneezed. The cupboards all flung open, one ripping off the hinges. Hunith didn't even jump, not anymore.
Hiding the magic has been difficult, she never had to worry about a show of magic growing up. Her parents had allowed them free use of it inside their home. It had added in her their parent's practice, they had been excellent healers.
She sighed and walked over the their bed, reaching under their mattress to feel for her cloak pin, Balinor's heartbeat was faster than normal, and there felt like a second faster heartbeat that had appeared the night Merlin was born. She slipped it in her apron pocket and went back over to Merlin. His big blue eyes matched hers, but held the same wonder a young Balinor had for the world.
If she had her way, the world would be nothing but kind and wonderful to their son. He would have a father that wasn't one foot out the door and a mother who could keep everything together. But Hunith was a grown woman now, and she could see the last few grains of their hourglass of time together trickling down.
"I'm sorry, Merlin." She muttered, her gaze going back to her husband. The men's discussion seemed to have gotten lighter, both of them chuckling over something. "I'm so sorry. I tried to keep him here, but he's wild and wasn't made for a life like this. He loves us, he'll always love us."
She wasn't sure if she was trying to convince her baby who was barely old enough to lift his head that, or if it was for herself.
It didn't matter, because a few nights later when Balinor snuck away in the middle of the night after leaving a kiss on Hunith's forehead and a soft 'I love you', she knew it to be true.
"I think this belongs to you." Sarah said. Hunith looked up from their garden to see her neighbor standing there with something that she still thought was tucked away under her bed. She rarely wore it out, the whole village knew of Balinor and his choice to leave them. It was too formal and too lavish for farm life. The metal and gems had dulled.
Much like their love had, Hunith thought.
"Thank you. He-I'm not sure how he even got a hold of it." Hunith said. She stood up and headed over to her friend. She held out her hand and Sarah dropped the cloak pin into her palm.
"It's not a problem, Hunith, it's very sweet of him. I felt flattered."
"Probably much nicer than some of the other attempts of courting you have been."
"Your husband goes to war for two years and all of the sudden everyone thinks you're ready to betray him." Sarah sighed with a soft smile. Hunith giggled and put the cloak pin into her apron pocket. Her fingers brush the metal, which had lost the warmth it had once had and she swore that she could still feel a heartbeat through it. It was faint enough to keep her hope alive, that one day she'd be reunited with her beloved.
Hunith walked back into the cottage to see Merlin, now a willowy youth, setting the table like she had asked him to do before stepping out.
"Thank you, little bird." She said.
"Of course, mam, I'm starved." He said.
"Merlin, where did you find this?" Hunith asked, sliding the cloak pin across the table. Merlin scrunched up his face and frowned. He became all too focused on his dinner, and there's not too much to pick at. "You're not in trouble. I just need to know how you found it."
"It sings." Merlin said.
"It sings?"
"Like…like you or like how the woods sing to me."
Hunith looked down at the pin and smiled softly. She wished she could hear it, her magic now nothing but a light hum in the back of her mind.
"Your father gave this to me as an important gift, a gift that promised that he'd be mine forever."
"But he lied." Merlin said grimly.
"Things changed…but he left this, and it's important, so important to me. This is proof that he loves me and loves you. You can not just take it from me, it'd be like taking my heart from me."
"But he still left."
Hunith sighed and picked up the pin, tracing the dragon on it gently. He was still too young to understand the delicacies of what Balinor has sacrificed for them.
Merlin mumbled something under his breath. Hunith leaned forward.
"What did you say?"
"It wasn't for Miss Sarah." Merlin said.
"Then why did you give it to her?"
"I didn't. I left it for…for someone else."
Hunith tried to rack he brain, who else would he be leaving a courting gift for if not Sarah? There was only Will left in the house and they were-
"I see." Hunith said.
"He's worried the army will take me from him. The other kids are so mean to us." Merlin defended himself. "It sings like it'll protect, so if I give it to him, if the army takes me because of my magic, it'll protect him."
Hunith moved over to him and hugged him tight. She couldn't fight the tears welling up in her eyes. She held her boy tight.
"Mam?"
"Merlin, no one will take you from us. I'm too stubborn and Will's too angry to let that happen."
"My magic is getting worse. They'll find out."
He wasn't wrong, it was becoming instinctive now, like a living creature within her son. There were so many questions that Hunith had that only Balinor could answer.
"Little bird, I'd protect you with my dying breath, and I will make sure that never happens. I can write to my brother, see if he has any of our parents old magic tomes to learn from. We'll deal with it together." She said pulling away from him. He stared up at her with those same wonderful blue eyes. She held out her pinkie. "I promise you that, my heart."
He smiled and wrapped his pinkie around hers.
Hunith stoked the fire, trying to keep the cottage warm and comfortable before the fight they were to face in the morn. She hadn't had ever thought that Uther's son would come against his father's wishes to protect their small village. Maybe calling him Uther's son was wrong, Arthur looked just like Ygraine, and had her loyalty as well. He had been following Merlin around like a lost pup whenever they weren't training the villagers. They rarely left each other sides, even when hanging around the girls, one of whom looked so much like Vivienne who Hunith had known in court.
She could hear soft and deep muttering coming from where the boy were laying, head to foot, but it didn't seem to matter. Merlin must've made a joke, as Arthur laughed a bit louder then he probably should've.
Hunith couldn't help but to be reminded of the late night she had spent with Ygraine in her chambers in Camelot. Although they had never slept so close together, the boys were hardly a hair apart. She smiled at the memory of her friend, who should've been able to see their babies together, safe in the citadel of Camelot and not preparing for a bandit dispute in a farming village.
"Merlin, before you go." Hunith called to him. He looked to Arthur, who rolled his eyes and pushed him towards her. Merlin softly chuckled, it was tinted with a grief that she knew was for Will. Hunith reached in her apron pocket and pulled out a small cloth wrapped object. He looked at it with furrowed brows and then back at her. " Your place is no longer here, little bird."
"Mam, what are you talking about-?"
"Let me finish," She said calmly, she spent most of the night practicing what she was going to say. "Your place is with him, you belong at Arthur's side. I've seen how much he needs you, and how much you need him. You're like…like two sides of the same coin."
Merlin mulled over her words, she could see him taking them in. "You know, you're not the first person who's told me that."
"I'm going to miss you, well I can't call you little bird anymore can I? You're such a good man, I'm so proud of you." She said, cupping his cheek with her free hand. "And when the time comes, this is yours to give."
Hunith grabbed his hands and placed the cloth in his hand. His eyes flashed gold and he hissed, as if he had touched something hot.
"Mam, no, I can't-"
"It's time, Merlin. It'll let you know when it's time to gift it."
His eyes watered up again, and he wrapped her up a second time.
"Thank you."
"Thank you, my heart. I love you."
"I love you too."
"Merlin, hurry quick, Arthur going to turn into a pumpkin soon." Vivienne's daughter called. Hunith chuckled and pecked a kiss onto her son's forehead.
"Be good, do good."
Merlin nodded and hurried back over to his friends. Arthur leaned over to say something to which Merlin laughed at. As they headed towards the outskirts of town, Arthur looked back and nodded towards her.
It was a vow, her son would be safe with him.
Hunith explored her room, a royal guest chamber, that if she remembered correctly used to be a knight's room. There wasn't anything especially new, the furniture all seemed to be upholstered with the same crimson red it had in Uther's day. It seemed that with his father's death, Arthur was focused on changing the larger laws than the interior design.
"Lady Hunith?" Lila, the maidservant responsible for her, called out as she entered the room. "King Arthur has requested your presence."
"Ah, well we shouldn't leave our host waiting."
They walked to Arthur's room. Hunith was still amazed to be wandering around these halls, after all these years being forced away.
Arthur was sitting at his desk, working on some kind of paperwork. His room was a comfortable warmth, a hearty fire bellows in the fireplace. Sitting above his heart, not anywhere like it's supposed to be used, sits the cloak pin Balinor made for her. Hunith smirked, amazed that her son may be a grown man now, but still remained that darling sweet boy from the village.
"Ah, Hunith, welcome!" Arthur said with a bright smile. He stood and motioned for her to sit on the opposite side of his desk. She bowed and then sat, catching a glimpse of small notes written in Merlin's illegible sprawl littering the surface.
"Thank you, King Arthur." Hunith said respectfully.
"Just Arthur, please. Not very Kingly of me to sleep on your floor."
"Or for you to ask for my son's hand without my blessing." Hunith added, it was all she could think about. She was doubtful that Merlin had meant for her to see the sigil, or that he knew she knew what it was.
"H-How did-?" Arthur stuttered.
"Unlike my son, I know about this court's rituals." Hunith said.
"I don't know what you could be ever talking about." Arthur tried to defend, gathering his papers which already appeared well sorted.
"So the sigil my son holds onto everyday like his life depends on it means nothing?" She asked. The fact that is was Ygraine's meant so much more than if it was the Pendragon sigil.
"He holds onto it everyday?" Arthur asked, his voice beautifully soft. Hunith did feel like she was talking to a boy versus a fierce King.
"I believe it's with him everyday, I haven't seen him without it since I've been here. Why haven't you said anything to him?" Hunith said.
"I can never think of what to say." Arthur said, his fingers trail over the pin. Hunith used to have a similar habit, letting Balinor's soft heartbeat calm her nerves. She couldn't help but to wonder if he could feel Merlin's through the metal. "He writes all my speeches."
"He is quite witty, his father was the same."
"When he first offered I was surprised that he could read."
"I grew up here in court, Arthur, my son was going to be able to read."
"You did?"
Hunith nodded.
"I was fairly close with your mother and Vivienne, Gaius is my big brother. After our parents passed, I came here. "
"My father never said. He didn't-He should've helped you. Merlin could've still had Will." Arthur said. She was surprised that he even remembered Will.
"I fear if Will was still alive, you might not have Merlin." Arthur sat with that. His face was hard to read, Hunith had trouble with Ygraine as well. "You overturned the magic ban for him?"
"Yes." Arthur said, too fast. "I mean, not just him. My sister, Morgana as well, and for everyone else my father hurt."
"Morgana is your sister?" Hunith asked with fire bubbling up in her stomach. She thought the girl was just a ward, Gorlois and Vivienne were close allies. She had been older than Arthur. "When did-"
"Nimeuh told me the truth, she was trying to manipulate me, but she told me the truth. Your son, gods above, tried to stop me but all I could think was all the blood that was on our hands."
"Stop you from what, Arthur?" Hunith asked. She knew the answer, it was whispered around Camelot if you went to the right places. The King Slayer, they called the boy in front of her.
"He needed to be stopped. Magic didn't take my mother from me, a greed my father had took her, and he was too much of a coward-"
"Arthur, what would you do if Merlin was taken from you?" She interrupted him. He was silent, choosing to stare down at his desk. She could see the fire burning in his eyes though. "What your father did wasn't right, and it ruined so so many lives, but he thought he was doing right by her."
"It doesn't excuse him."
"No, darling, it does not." Hunith made the choice to go around and hug the King. Arthur slumped in her arms, and she felt a few tears drop onto the sleeve of her dress. "You did a hard thing, Arthur."
Love tore Camelot apart at first, and love is desperately trying to patch it back together.
"King Arthur, it appears the rumors are true." A deep baritone echoed throughout the courtyard and citadel hallways. Hunith knew that voice inside and out. She ran to the hall window and saw him.
Her wild husband.
His hair was long, black fading to grey, and a mess of curls and braids. He wore pelts that looked to be heavily patched clothes roughly stitched together. Balinor was never one of handicrafts.
Hunith ran down the stairs to get to the courtyard, her heart racing. She sprinted down the stairs and outside, she felt like a young courtier. Like when Balinor and Uther would come back from some ego trip, and she would pretend to be oh so interested in what Uther had to say.
"Where did you get that?" Balinor growled, any friendly tone he had was gone. Hunith could only guess that Arthur was still wearing the cloak pin, surely Balinor could feel Merlin's magic on him as well.
"My consort gave it to me." Arthur stupidly said. Hunith loved the boy, but social smarts were not his thing.
"Balinor." Hunith called out from the bottom of the stairs. He looked over to her, and she saw his being light up. A rush of magic washed over her, comforting and familiar, like a limb she had lost long ago. They both ran to each other, falling into each other's arms.
"My gold, my treasure, what are you doing here?" He asked. His voice was weepy, and she could feel the tears gathering on her shoulder. Hunith couldn't stop her tears either. "Don't tell me-"
"You big idiot, I'm not married to a child." She giggled into his neck. God he smelled of the woods, he was going to need a bath before they laid together. "Merlin."
"Merlin?" Balinor asked. "Our Merlin? Is married to-?"
They pulled apart and Hunith nodded. Balinor looked back at Arthur who awkwardly stood in the middle of the courtyard, trying to look anywhere other than his in-laws dramatic reunion.
"It's a long story."
"Clearly." He said with a chuckle. His eyes were puffy.
"Your son-in-law called you here for us." She said, running her fingers through his wild hair. He looked rather handsome as a wild man, an extreme version of what he would look like when he went on hunts.
"A Pendragon son-in-law…" Balinor hummed.
"I was honorable, sir." Arthur said unprompted.
"He was not, he gave Merlin Ygraine's sigil way before he asked for my blessing for Merlin's hand in marriage." Hunith said. Balinor's attention looked past her, to the top of the steps.
She turned to see Merlin, wearing a deep blue tunic and his circlet in his hair and Ygraine's crest in the middle of his belt. He was shining like he always did these days. He furrowed his brow and hurried down the steps.
"Gods above…" Balinor said, with a unsteady laugh and a wide smile. "My boy, the royal consort to Camelot. He's spectacular, Hunith."
"Merlin, this is your father." Hunith said, guiding Merlin by his arm to be in front of her. She noticed his eyes flashed gold at the same time Balinor's flashed gold. "But I sure you can feel that."
She did also notice the spark in Arthur's eyes, it was something she had picked up in her time hanging around the boys. Arthur had an interest in Merlin's magic, something that reminded her of Ygraine's interest in Nimueh's magic.
"It's an honor to finally meet you again, Merlin."
"It's nice to finally meet you." Merlin said, being the sweetheart he was, went in for a hug. Balinor looked shocked at first, meeting Hunith's gaze with a bit of fear.
"Don't tell me the Last Dragonlord is scared of his own son?" She teased, she could only smile at the, especially when Balinor finally wrapped his arms around Merlin. When Merlin let go, Balinor kept his hands on their son's shoulders. He was looking him over. Balinor luckily met Merlin on a good day, normally he was covered in ink or some potion material or locked away in Arthur's chambers doing what newlyweds did best.
"Come, we have dinner planned, we can catch up in comfort." Arthur said. He grabbed Merlin by the shoulder and pulled him up the stairs, but he was leaning in close, his gaze dangerously serious and soft.
"Oh he's spoiled." Balinor said with a chuckled.
"Just wait and see, the whole kingdom is in love with him."
"If he's anything like you, my treasure, it's an easy thing to do."