•The Story Of The Lost Princess•

•2•

-We should make camp or the night will fall on us.- Gwaine said, eyeing the sky that was becoming darker every second.

-¿With what? The horses are gone. The Lord knows where they are now.- Elyan commented, groaning.

Ivy hummed at their side, and all the eyes focused on her.

-Your horses are fine. They will arrive in any moment, do not worry.- she said nodding, and Lancelot smiled.

-Ah, I love that horse.

-I mean no disrespect, my Lady, ¿but how do you know that?- Percival asked, unsure. He didn't know if he should call her a lady, but she was just so regal and...kind. She held herself in a way he had only seen in noble ladys and he couldn't get to call her any different.

-Your horse, it escaped too, right?- Arthur asked, gentle.

-She went to look for them.- Lancelot added, earning confused glances.

-¿Who?

-My horse, Belladona.- Ivy responded to Leon, smiling.- She is very smart, and she follows my orders even from a distance.

-I have never...heard anything like that, I suppose.-Merlin frowned, while Gwaine chuckled.

-You will see. She is damn extraordinary.- the man said, clapping his shoulder.

-Indeed.-Lancelot agreed.

Just in that moment the sound of branches cracking broke the silence of the forest, making all the men raise their swords.

-Just in time.- the girl said, advancing to the white horse that appeared. Shockingly, all their horses rode behind it.  

The animal, Belladona, was beautiful. She was completely white and her hair was clean and brushed in perfect waves by her side. She was bigger and stronger than a normal horse, and that type of animal could be normally seen at the side of royalty, if the hair in her four toes was anything to go by. It represented pure blood.

-It is a majestic horse.- Arthur commented, admiring her.

-She is.- Ivy said while petting her and kissing her snout. The horse responded to her, huffing and petting her cheek. - She has been loyal to me all these years without complaints.

-The last time I saw her she was just a foal, I reckon. She had grown up in an enviable and strong horse.

-She is a beauty, indeed.- Merlin smiled, caressing her face sweetly.

Arthur rolled his eyes. Merlin, children and animals. Just great. Awsome.

Gwaine, Lancelot and the girl watched Merlin with big eyes, shocked.

-¿What?- he asked, catching their glances.

-She doesn't let people touch her unless it's me.- Ivy said, watching Merlin with big and curious eyes.

-Yeah, she almost made me lose a leg the first time I tried to pet her.

-Don't be so dramatic, Gwaine. She barely kicked you that time.- Ivy said with a roll of her eyes.

But Ivy was surprised. Belladona never let anyone who wasn't her, her mother and...him to touch her, not even Lancelot. And now Merlin was petting her, and even though Belladona didn't reach his touch like she did with Ivy, she let him.

Merlin had reached her eye the moment she left Lancelot's arms (something in his eyes, the kindness in them but also something she only had seen in a few people...people with magic), and if she was curious before, now she was dying to know who he really was.