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In the Land of Stories Old
On the fourth night after the wedding, Uther found himself drinking with Jack again, but this time it was some kind of sweet, fruity tea and they were in the kitchen. Jack had said he wanted to show Uther something, and once he’d made up his mind that they’d waited long enough he led Uther out of the kitchen and up to the second level of the palace. Nobody seemed to be around, but then came the sound of a wolf’s howl and he knew where they were going. “She’s in the garden tonight?”
“They are both in the garden,” Jack told him, and showed him to a small balcony which overlooked said garden. Arthur was there, sitting on the grass with the sleeves of his white shirt rolled up and his jacket thrown over a nearby bench, and it looked like he was braiding a chain of flowers and leaves. And then the largest wolf Uther had ever seen came bounding over to him and he put the chain around the wolf’s neck, tying the ends so it would stay. The wolf nuzzled him and then licked his cheek, and Arthur laughed and ruffled her ears. Jack led Uther back off the balcony and down a nearby flight of steps to what appeared to be the garden door, which he opened and allowed Uther to enter first.
Up close the wolf was even larger, and Uther couldn’t deny that his breath caught in his throat when it bowled his son over in the grass and yipped at him. “I am not your brother, I absolutely can’t sing with you,” Arthur told her, and she huffed. “I’ll ask him to come out with us next moon, how’s that?”
This time she licked his nose, which made him laughingly protest being mistreated by her, and that was when Jack cleared his throat. “Well I hope his lack of singing ability was not a deal-breaker for you, Serena, because you are stuck with him now.”
Her yip this time was a joyful, happy sound…and then she saw Uther and her blue eyes went wide with fear. He shook his head and went down on one knee so they would be at eye-level. “Oh my goodness, little girl, just look at you.” Serena’s ears started to come back up, and she very cautiously approached him. Uther waited, and then held out his hand for her to sniff. Which she did, and then she cocked her head to look at him before again very cautiously nosing at his hand. He gently stroked her fur. Her coat was as soft as silk and luminous in the moonlight, and against it the flowers looked like jewels. “Your brother was certainly right about how beautiful you are.”
That got him a nuzzle, and then she bounded back to Arthur, who had stood up and was brushing grass off his pants, leaning against his leg. She yipped at Jack, a question, and he nodded. “Of course, baby sister. Where shall we sit to sing our song to the moon?”
He followed her to the other side of the garden when she bounced off again, and Arthur blushed at the look his father was giving him. “I wouldn’t take such liberties when she’s human, I agree with Jack that needs to wait a bit…but it’s different when she’s a wolf.”
“I could see that.” Serena howled, and Jack’s voice joined her a moment later, singing a song Uther had never heard before in what might just be the ancient tongue that had given the people of Fantastique their distinctive accent. He put his arm around his son’s shoulders. “I’m glad I got to see how much the two of you trust each other. She’s a lot larger than I thought she’d be.”
Arthur returned the one-sided hug. “Weres tend to be big—all of them I’ve ever seen have been—but Serena is a very big wolf. Jack told you, about the hunter?”
“That she crushed his skull and then complained about how bad he tasted? Yes.” Uther smiled. He still needed to think of an appropriate gift to give the girl as a reward for that. “I can see how she was able to do it now. You’ll have to take her huntin’ for deer sometime, she’d probably enjoy that.”
“She might, but we’d have to watch for hunters.”
“That won’t be a problem on Avalon soon,” his father told him. The intermingled song of wolf and human swirled through the cool night air, beautiful and haunting. “Your betrothal contract says I have to make it a law that any wolf-hunter who sets foot on our lands forfeits their life. Not that I’d have a problem killin’ one of the filthy bastards anyway if they sought to ply their trade in Avalon—some of them will also take gold for killin’ humans when they have nothin’ else to hunt.”
“I’m not surprised.” Arthur noticed the questioning look his father was giving him and smiled, shaking his head. “I’ve never caught one of them at it, but we’ve run into wolf-hunters a few times in the past. They aren’t nice people. A few of them are obsessed because they lost someone to a were, but mostly the ones who cause problems are just bad men who enjoy the hunt and the kill a little too much.” He went to pick up his jacket, shrugging back into it. “It’s my plan to stick around here for a while, and the others are goin’ to as well. Somethin’s comin’…”
“Jack told me.” Uther smiled. “Because I said a year-long courtship might necessitate us findin’ you a quest to go on.”
Arthur shook his head, blushing just a bit. “I…I may be fallin’ in love with her, Dad, but even I can tell she needs some time. She’d never been anywhere except her family’s castle, the grounds, and the woods beyond them. She’s from Catylan Isle, if you were wonderin’.”
Uther shook his head. “So the stupid bastard really did pay the hunter with coin of the realm. I’ll have to whisper that in a few ears, let it get around.” His son raised a questioning eyebrow. “Jack offered the hunter’s gold as his sister’s dowry, but I requested the right of vengeance instead. Puttin’ his own child out of his castle because of her curse is one thing, but hirin’ someone like that to murder her is another thing entirely. And once word gets around, I won’t be the only one who wants to see his head separated from his body.” He considered that. “Hmm, maybe I shouldn’t start that gossip yet. I’ll have to think about it.”
Arthur grinned. His father wasn’t nearly as bloodthirsty as he sounded sometimes, although a good many of Avalon’s trading partners weren’t altogether sure of that. “Snow said they showed you the paintings.”
“They did.” Uther took a seat on the bench, and his son sat down beside him. “It’s one hell of a legacy, Arthur—and one hell of a burden, on both of them. Well, that and the situation with her father. I still can’t believe the cowardly bastard told that little girl she should expect Merlin to be unfaithful to her.” His eldest son’s sharp intake of breath raised his eyebrows. “They didn’t tell you?”
“I knew he said somethin’ that really upset her,” Arthur said slowly. “I was all for confrontin’ him about it, but Captain Gerard told me he knew what the problem was and he’d take care of it. And he did, King White was…subdued after that.”
“As well he might be, since apparently the good captain told the man exactly what he thought of him,” Uther said. “And then Gerard went up and told your brother, with the suggestion that the former king should probably meet with an accident to keep it from happenin’ again. Merlin told him no, of course.”
“He…he didn’t tell me.”
“He’s had a year to get used to not bein’ able to tell you things, Arthur.”
Arthur made a face. “Yeah, I suppose. He forgave me, though.”
“Of course he did, he’s your brother and he’s not usually one to hold a grudge.” Uther snorted. “I suspect…no, I’m mostly sure he’s even forgiven that bastard who sired him. But that doesn’t mean everything between you is goin’ to go right back to the way it was before. You’ve had a year to grow apart, it’ll take some time to grow back together again.”
“Do you think we can?”
“I’m certain you will. But what that’s goin’ to look like…the seven of you boys aren’t boys anymore, Arthur. Merlin is married and has a kingdom to run, you’re betrothed—to Jack’s sister, no less—and the others are tryin’ to figure out where they want to go from here. What’s been between all of you will grow and change as you do.”
“But he’s my brother.”
Uther pulled him into another hug. “And he always will be, Arthur. The two of you just have to…get comfortable with each other again. As the men you are now, not the boys you were a year ago.”
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