That is the part of being king. Of being queen. Making choices that will hurt some but save others. And often not knowing until it is too late who will be hurt and who will be saved. I am sorry you have to share it, but I am glad to have the company.

I am never in the dark when I am protecting you.

Her voice betrayed her. She could say so many things. She wanted to move to his side. To rub his weary forehead for him. To curl into him. To tell him about the dragon and how lonely thinking of it made her feel. She wanted to run her finger along the fullness of his lower lip. To feel his smile against her own. And that was dangerous.

How unfortunate that nature was both the most peaceful and the most dangerous place possible. But that was its duality. It gave life and it took it, provided and withheld, offered beauty and danger in equal measure. Camelot was safe and ordered and structured, so many things put in place to separate people from nature. Roofs and walls. Pipes for water. Swords with men to wield them. The separation was a protection but also a loss.

How peaceful to be a tree! Trees had only to grow. Trees had no hearts to confuse and complicate things. Trees could not love kings and still disobey them.

Arthur nodded, slipping his arm around her and stroking her hair with a movement so soft she wondered if he realized he was doing it.

The flock of birds always living in her chest these days had been startled. They flund themselves against the confines of her ribs, beating and flapping in a frenzy inside of her.

She had constant tension from her magic knotted into the rooms and surrounding city, and even if that had not been the case, she found herself perpetually mulling over the figurative knots of her life and choices, checking for weaknesses, for where she could have done better.

She did not want to be an invisible queen in the castle. Arthur did not rule that way. And she wanted to be his match. His equal.His partner. She could no longer deny it. She wanted to be more than a protector to him.