Chapter 1
MERLIN
War is like a game of chess for those of royal blood. Those with a discerning mind understand that all could be lost if they don't think three steps ahead, anticipate their enemies, and keep their king well protected. Ronrah understands this, his father King Cenred made him understand this. His father had been killed at the height of his reign, a conquered king before he could even really begin the game against Camelot, and so, a year after his death, Ron refuses to let the cruel lesson that his death your father taught you, be it in vain.
The reason for his concern started with something clumsy, something silly that left a flea behind his ear. An old hut at the southern end of Maen-Gorffwys Forest, a strange little place taken over by nature, was probably there even before the trees grew around the wood.
Truth be told, Ronrah would never have given the place a second look, that is, of course, if only people would stop casting nervous glances at the damn shack.
Every time he came down from his kingdom and addressed the druids who lived in his lands, Ronrah asked them about the only wooden house in the Tuatha Danann camp, and every time he received a new answer, but which, despite everything, always carried the same tone of warning: "Do not approach".
The people of that band, whether young or old, always warned the king about the danger of approaching the old structure. "Not only is the place decrepit and smelly, my lord," was what his village guide, Cines, kept saying, "but it is also unimportant. Trust me, it is no place for a king."
Ron wanted to be respectful, he really did, but he couldn't help but glance in the direction of the shack every minute he walked through the Druid camp, after all, why bother moving him away from an old and "unimportant" structure? Like the one when so many of your people were living in huts of cloth and leaves?
There was something about that place that left him scratching his head. What was inside that made even the most peaceful people look at it as if they were ready to attack? Ron just knew the druids were hiding something big in that cabin.
The king spent the day thinking about the matter, his worries becoming increasingly paranoid as the day went on. I mean, they were at war with three other great kingdoms, all in search of exterminating magic and all their former allies followed Uther on this absurd mission that the king of Camelot had embarked on, who can guarantee you that the druids were not working against Ronrah to overthrow him and take over his kingdom, after all, Uther was known for being powerful and, even worse, spiteful, especially against the chosen ones of the mother Goddess, who could guarantee him that, driven by fear, the druids were not plotting to betray him?
He didn't know what to expect or what to trust, but he was willing to find out and there would be nothing and no one that would stop him from getting an answer tonight, he was foolish anyway, he shouldn't have let that secret be kept by so many months.
Although curious, Ron was more clever than impulsive and forced himself to wait for the sun to go out so he wouldn't risk anyone seeing him. His knights, who always accompanied him on his visits as an escort, were sent to distract the old man in order to give his sovereign time. Luckily for them this wouldn't be suspicious, since their knights always needed care for some recent war wound, so who better to take care of everything than the magical children of the mother Goddess.
Walking around small villages is not a common duty for a king, especially when there is war going on, but Ron was never like the others, always too charitable and welcoming for his own good, he was always told that this would be his downfall and, taking into account considering that he may or may not be about to discover a betrayal, Ron began to wonder whether, in the end, this would be true.
Only one cycle had passed since Maponus, the god of his people, ordered in a dream that he opens the doors of his domains to welcome the people of Danu, a poor people who were unjustly persecuted by the terrible king Uther after his decree of laws against magic and the start of war, but of course Ron couldn't welcome them without getting something in return, even his god would never ask him to do such a thing, he was, after all, a king above a devotee, and, therefore, made an agreement with the elder, Allan Kardec. For each family he welcomed from the tribe, at least one man should be sent to the kingdom and join his armies as a knight and, if possible, at least one pupil of Airmid, goddess of medicine, for some healing work in the kingdom. . Cardiff was a considerably smaller kingdom than the others, second only to Asterion, so Ron needed power if he wanted his kingdom to survive this war.
Despite the limited number of magic users in his army, those who worked for the kingdom possessed a high level of magic ability, at least that was the perception. Therefore, Ron was apprehensive about what he would encounter in the old cabin.
When he reached the edge of the forest, he finally found himself where he wanted to be, and surprisingly, the old shack did not look at all as hideous as it appeared from afar, the wood was rotten and broken in some parts, there was a musty smell hanging around and that not even the forest could hide; roots from several surrounding trees were invading the cabin and brought with them several disgusting insects, spiders, for example.
Not wanting to spend another second there, Ron walked to the windows, checking the contents inside before daring to enter. He looked and looked, but there was nothing. He then checked all the holes in the house and again, there was nothing.
Frustrated, Ronrah went back to the front and decided to open the door. He drew his sword and held it tight in his left fist before, using his right hand, he pushed over the threshold. Surprisingly there was no creaking, although the wood was almost completely covered in moss, which made opening difficult.
When Ron made it through the threshold he expected to see something incriminating, perhaps something magical, perhaps a blessed object or - oh, well, he certainly expected to see everything but what he found.
Although the walls remained the same, there were viscous vines coming out from between the boards and beautiful flowers on the floor, butterflies of all the most beautiful colors were flying everywhere. Besides all the little natural things, there were also magical ones; small, fluffy clouds wet the plants beneath them; the floor rose and fell in a way that made it appear to be breathing. Although everything there seemed to come out of a fantasy book, what caught his attention the most were the two little pearls that were staring at him from behind old cloths.
"You!" The pair of pearls blinked in fright, "get out, get out right now!" He orders clearly and clearly, drawing his sword.
There was no response, so, fearing that the creature would flee, the king approaches with long steps and, without hesitation, pulls the rags off the creature.
"Oh" he sighs wordlessly, "By the gods, what are you?" Charm and desire was what dripped from the king's rough and deep voice, he felt enchanted, bewitched, totally in love.
The creature was as brightly pale as a marble stone; His face was thin and elongated, his nose was super prominent and his cheekbones were sharp and prominent. Her curly hair fell around her and spread across the ground like a turbulent Black Sea full of waves. Her breasts weren't the biggest, but they had delicate pink nipples and small freckles shone all over her chest and broad shoulders, her legs were long and elegant, she was much taller than Ron and definitely thinner, you could see her ribs just below her breasts and this made the king want to feed her as quickly as possible.
Despite all these attributes, what most aroused the king's interest were the two pearls that the lady carried in her eyes. This woman had the brightest and most magical eyes he had ever seen, in fact, if her freckles resembled stars, then her eyes were, without a doubt, the moon.
Despite being questioned, the young woman gave no answer, she actually seemed to be shaking, perhaps she was cold?
"Milady?" He called worriedly, Ron took a step forward and, only when she flinched did he remember that he had removed the only layer of clothing from the young woman's body "Oh! Oh, pardon me, my lady, forgive my clumsiness, I totally forgot -"
Her green cape quickly came off her shoulders and was draped over the frightened young woman.
"I really beg you to forgive me, I got lost in your beauty for a moment." He waits for her to answer him or say something, but she does nothing more than stare blankly. "Milady? Is everything okay?"
One moment, Ronrah is worried that the young woman may be traumatized and so doesn't speak, and the next moment he is being thrown away until he collides with one of the rotten walls.
With the king fallen the woman ran out of hiding and tried to escape, but she attacked the king, and he could not allow this betrayal to be forgotten, soon he is on his feet and barking orders to his men: "Get her! Get her!"
At the command of their sovereign, all the knights ran out of the tavern and began to chase the girl in the direction their king pointed out to them.
It didn't take long and his men soon returned, two of the strongest of them were holding the young woman and a small group of four were dragging bodies behind.
"What happened?" he asked one of his men worriedly, but without taking his eyes off the figure that was struggling completely naked in the hands of his guards, the cloak probably lost in the middle of the run.
"Sir, this witch killed three of our men by breathing fire and injured two others with bites! I know she looks attractive, but I swear on your name she had horns! Whoever she is, she is not one of the druids" To all At the moment the knight kept his head down and his eyes glued to Ron "She's too dangerous, our containment chains didn't even have any effect. We had to chain her even by her feet!"
Ronrah analyzed the woman with different eyes after her knight's report, suddenly all beauty was covered in warning flags. Her height became intimidating rather than elegant, her wavy hair moved restlessly like scorpion tails ready to attack; her pearly eyes shone brightly with magic, despite her being restrained by seals and chains of blessed iron.
"Tristan!" he called suddenly, attracting the attention of everyone around him and silencing the whispers of all the druids.
"Yes, my Sir?" His knight waited for orders.
"Bring me the priest." His man waved and quickly disappeared into the crowd. "What is your name?" he asked without taking his eyes off the creature, there were no answers other than a powerful growl. Ron frowned. "Don't make me repeat myself, woman!"
The tip of his sword was pointed at the neck that was like a swan's, long and thin.
"Allan -" his voice is cut off by the druid he called.
"Get away from her, get away this instant!" The normally gentle druid's angry order surprises all the knights and the king himself.
"Don't raise your voice at me, Allan!" The knights got into position "You are under my domain, treat me with respect!"
"Get away from her, we're warning you" he whispered, the druid's voice was slow and hoarse, he was serious and it made Ron uneasy.
Who was that woman? Why was she so important?
The blade of his sword lightly pierced the young woman's fragile skin, a single, solitary drop ran down and hit the ground, this in itself would not have been relevant, if, after contact with the ground, the liquid had not done something unthinkable. From the clean, mucous earth grew a beautiful, bright flower, just like that, just like that, a golden flower that blossomed as quickly as it grew and, from within, released a small creature with a humanoid head and a little body of petals. She was a beautiful fairy.
"Holy shit" it was one of his men who broke the spell of the rare sight they witnessed.
Everyone recovered their senses and returned to the attack position, although still a little bewildered by the whole scene. Ron only had eyes for the young creature, who generated not just one, but two lives with just the use of a measly drop of blood.
"What the hell are you?" Frightened and delighted in equal measure, Ron moved closer to the young girl, more blood gushed out, this time, however, when a small jet splashed against the earth, it was not fairies that were born and there were no flowers appearing. When the blood touched the earth, the ground shook, thick roots emerged from the dirt and rose until they formed unfriendly humanoid bodies. Those were damned Thornbark's soldiers guarding the Thalorian queen, Hunith!
The princess, for that was who she was supposed to be, fell against the ground and tried to get up so that her creations could remove her handcuffs, but thank the Gods Ronrah was faster. He picked the woman up over his shoulder and ran to the nearest horse there.
None of his knights needed an order to be shouted, they knew the importance of having a creature of such power on their side in this war and were willing to sacrifice themselves so that their king and his kingdom could obtain the necessary power to survive.
Ronrah knew who would win, so she regretted her losses, but she also knew that she couldn't miss this chance, having only druids in her cavalry was not an option, they were pacifists and hardly capable of destruction, but her? The princess of Asterion was known for being the only exception to the rules of magic, capable of creating life out of nothing, the one recognized as being the most powerful. Uther Pendragon claimed that he defeated the royal family of Asterion, but this young woman was proof of his lie, and this would be his downfall.
With the princess in his hands, the war was won.