enchanted | a. pendragon [on hold]

xiii | le morte d'arthur

"you're far too cocky for someone who has only just recovered from nearly dying."

[1.13 — Le Morte d'Arthur]

In life, you don't always realize how important someone is to you until you almost lose them. To lose someone that you love before you even know that you love them is a pain little can compare to. To sit in a chair and wait for death to overcome them, knowing that you are helpless and nothing you could do would save them was agonizing. It is as if you can't breathe as you watch their life leave them.

And it was not until Arthur Pendragon was dying that Illyria Lytar realized just how strong her feelings for the Prince had become.

It had started off as a normal day. Arthur, along with Merlin and some knights, had gone out hunting. There had been reports of some beast lurking in the woods on the outskirts of the woods, and they went to investigate. While they were tracking the creature, Lia and Gaius were in the council chambers, sitting through their meeting. However, the council meeting was disturbed by Arthur barging in, followed by his knights.

Arthur immediately went into detail about the creature they had encountered in the woods. Lia had never heard of something so terrible. Whatever it was, it had the body of a cheetah and the head of a serpent — and judging by the still frightened look on Merlin's face, Lia could only assume that it was huge. It had killed Sir Bedivere, and they were lucky no one else had been injured. While the creature seemed to puzzle everyone else, Gaius apparently knew exactly what it was.

"The creature you describe has all the characteristics of the Questing Beast," he told them.

"Surely that's a myth," Arthur claimed. Lia didn't understand how he could deny such claims after seeing the beast himself.

"According to the old books, the appearance of the Questing Beast is supposed to foreshadow a time of great upheaval," Gaius explained.

"Gaius," Uther said in an almost warning tone, "it's an old wives' tale."

"Look, whatever it is, it's spreading panic," Arthur said. Mythical beast or not, it had to be stopped. "The people fear it will enter the city."

"Then we must kill it. Arthur, gather the guard together. You ride at dawn," Uther ordered.

Uther dismissed them all, and the knights left, knowing they would need a good night's rest before the next day. Lia trailed after Merlin but paused when she noticed Gaius stayed behind. She couldn't hear all the way from the door, but whatever he had said to Uther had upset the King.

Perhaps it was the warning from Gaius or the fact that even Arthur looked scared at the thought of facing the best again, but Lia was worried. It felt like something was about to change.

Once Gaius finished up with Uther, he joined Lia. Along with Merlin, the three of them made their way to the physician chambers. Merlin began preparing everything that he would need to hunt down the beast the next day while Lia sat silently and watched him with a worried look on her face.