Prologue
War. It's almost an essential part of who we are as people. There is always a war to win. Whether it be a mental war, an everyday struggle, or the brutal kind of war that leaves us all grieving for the ones we've lost and the innocence the battlefield has claimed.
I believe after all this time, Arthur grieves not for the men he's lost but for the man he was before he set out to become the King he didn't know he was. Now more than ever, he wishes things were as simple as they were when we first met. Before our world was dragged into the modern era. Before everything became as complicated as it has. Back when we resolved our issues with our swords instead of our seemingly stable diplomacy.
"What are you doing?" I glanced up at my husband and smiled.
"Thinking about them," I answered truthfully holding up the only photographs I have of our daughters. He put his coat down and sat next to me looking at the pictures from over my shoulder. If anyone misses them more than I do, it's him. He died a little inside when we had to willingly give Lily up and more when Rose went missing.
"She'll make her way back to us. It's almost time. She'll come back with her and you'll hold them both in your arms again," he whispered in my ear but it sounds more like he's trying to convince himself.
"She will hate us for what we did to them,"
"She won't," he tried to reassure me. I sighed turning around to face him.
"She's our daughter, Arthur. You still haven't dealt with what happened to your father and I want to kill mine with everything that I am. The descendants are upon us. Meerlyn grows restless. Merlin struggles to keep her at bay. I know you hear it calling out to her,"
He came around to sit in front of me briefly before he stood up and walked out of the room.
It has been centuries since Excalibur has cried out to its master. A long time since it disappeared from Arthur's side. Now, I can faintly hear it cry out. It's distant. It calls the new savior and King of Camelot. The Knights have been fighting to keep order and peace among the people but the sword has sung its melody of conflict. It isn't the only sword that has awakened. I feel the strength of the Durendal as Arthur feels Excalibur.
This isn't the only thing that plagues both Arthur and me. Our eldest daughter has to pick her path. Arthur had chosen the path his father had before him but it doesn't mean she will. She can choose the dark part of who she is. She can flip our world inside out for the life she was forced to live just as I did.
I, just as Arthur, know how easily we can give over to the darkness inside of us. I had killed my way through life until I met him. He had saved me and countless others. I was redeemed and was put on the path that granted me the meaningful life I live now. But fate has a way of making sure we pay for the sins we commit even if we do spend what remains of our lives trying to make up for it. One cannot simply buy their way into heaven. That isn't the way of the world and I have plenty of hell to pay for.
