Read Rosethorne Kingdom :: No Rest For The Weary

Throughout the journey back to Silverwood, Arthur was unconscious. He was carried back by a horse shared by one of the knights. Once they all returned to Silverwood Castle Arthur was placed into a bed as soon as they were able to do so. The bed was in the servant's quarters on the ground floor of the castle, since this was the only bed of which was available.

While Arthur laid on the bed he was surrounded by people hoping that he would wake up. Those were Norman, Robert, Lydia, the knight that threw him off the ledge, the knight that carried him back and even Count Silverwood himself. Lydia was the nearest, caressing Arthur with tears rolling down her eyes.

After an hour of all of them waiting nervously, Arthur woke up in a bit of daze. Once he noticed everyone around him, he asked:

'What's going on?' to which one of the two knights answered

'You fell unconscious while you were in the monster lair'

'What?! Really?! What happened to that... giant snake thing? Did it anyone kill it?'

'One of us managed to smash it's skull while it was lying on the ground, and I think that took care of it' said one of the knights.

Count Silverwood moved closer to Arthur and then started talking. `From what I have gathered from the knights, most of the undead soldiers from the cave have been defeated, I've heard that the cause of their states was by some sort of bug turning them that way' Arthur’s face went pale the moment he heard that.

'Believe me Henry, it's not a pretty sight' said Arthur 'Those bugs are some the scariest things I've ever seen.' Everyone else in the room looked pretty shocked to hear that, especially Lydia.

'Anyway... Arthur, I commend you for your bravery and you've certainly helped the city of Silverwood a great deal. Once you've recuperated, give me a shout and we'll talk about your proposals' said Count Silverwood. He had a smile on his face `Oh, one last thing, I don't know if you're going to be happy about this or not, but your father is almost here' Arthur's eyes went wide open and he almost launched himself out of the bed.

'Oh shit, seriously?' he seriously. Count Silverwood then left the room, once he got up to the door he started laughing. A moment later Robert looked at him and asked:

'Why did he start laughing all of a sudden?' Norman was listening and responded:

'Well Robert, you see I've been in situations where I have to be deadly serious and formal to certain people, and then once I've left the room I can be myself again. That or he's laughing at how Arthur here knew about King Richard being here'

'Or maybe a bit of both?' suggested Robert

'Well... you know I didn't really think he was just sick of being serious, I just wanted to say that, but now that you've mentioned it, you're probably right.'

Lydia was still close to Arthur and had her hands all over him the whole time. As soon as the two stopped talking, she said:.

'Arthur, I was so worried about you!'

'Yeah... OK'

'I was fearing the worst for you when you were in that bed'

'What?! Come on Lydia! You worry way too much!' Lydia was knocked back a bit by what Arthur said, she then looked at everyone behind her and then took a deep breath.

'Arthur sweetie, don't you know you've been asleep for twelve hours?'

'What?! Really?!'

'Yep, not only that, you haven't moved since you woke up'

'Yikes, though now you mention all of this, my head is pretty sore' Arthur then stretched a bit and decided to move out of the bed. Although he was bruised and a bit dizzy, he was able to stand. He walked over to Robert and Norman.

'Arthur, did my family amulet do anything for you in the end?' asked Robert, to which Arthur started thinking about his time in the cave.

'Well... let me think.... I remember this time when a shadow thing cast a weird spell on me and it didn't do anything to me'

Once he said that everyone in the room started looking at him and there was a brief moment of silence.

'Shadow thing?' said Robert in a puzzled manner `What's all this about about?' Arthur took a while to say anything back.

'Well, down in a temple in the cave, I bumped into this shadow of a person. I didn't know who it was, heck I couldn’t tell if it were a man or a woman'

'You're saying you didn't know who this person was? Well, what did he or she look like?' asked Norman.

'He... she... it had long hair, was wearing a cape and wore a hat, it seemed to know a lot about magic too. Oh by the way I think it was a man really' Lydia was clearly intrigued by Arthur's description and joined the conversation

'I think that might have been Edward' Everyone in the room gasped as she said that.

'Well, he kind of reminded me of Edward, so yeah. And now that I think of it, he was as tall and skinny as he was too, so that could have been him'

'What made you think that the shadow creature is actually Edward?' probed Norman.

'That he's a powerful magician?' she answered.

'That can be a whole number of people, so it's kind of silly to think that' Lydia appeared to be a bit downhearted when Norman told her that 'Did this shadow use any other spells?' Norman was looking at Arthur.

'The last I saw of him, well, you know, if he were a man, was that he turned into a bat and flew away' Norman then came to a conclusion

'That's a spell only Vampires can use’ asserted Norman ‘and since Edward's not a Vampire, and the fact that he's most likely dead, means that the shadow isn't Edward' Lydia looked even more downhearted, she even looked like she was going to cry.

'So did my amulet help you?' asked Robert, all of a sudden. Arthur looked a bit confused.

'Oh yes! Well... it did.'

'May I have it back?' Arthur got nervous upon hearing this, and had a good look at the amulet he was wearing.

‘Oh OK, here you go’ Arthur handed the amulet back, looking miserable `But then what if I get attacked by the shadow guy again? I will be dead!' pleaded Arthur in an obvious attempt to get Robert's family amulet back.

'I'm sorry Arthur, but... it's mine you know' Suddenly the door opened

'Arthur! What are you doing over here?' bellowed a familiar voice, it was his father, King Richard. Arthur started shaking a little bit and replied by saying:

'Apparently I got knocked out while on a mission' Richard had a porter with him, whom was carrying something with him. It turned out to be Arthur's enchanted armour.

'Arthur! Don't you ever forget your armour again! You could have easily died on your mission hadn't you have been so lucky!' shouted Richard, which had Arthur a bit scared and had him sweating, though shortly afterwards he just sighed deeply, took the armour and said:

'Whatever' To which Richard angrily responded:

'Don't give me that attitude, boy!' Arthur put the armour into a luggage bag that he had carried with him. Arthur started walking to the end of the room where the door was 'Wait! Don't walk away from me!' yelled Richard, of which Arthur turned around, looked at him with his head on top of his head and said

'Oh dad! just... pull your head out of your arse for once, OK? Count Silverwood told me to meet him in his office once I was ready, and that's what I'm going to do'

'Is that so? Well I'm coming with you, you're not going to botch this meeting on my watch!' Shortly after that Arthur and Richard left the room.