❝ The future was yet to be written, uncertain in every way except one: there will be fire.
When the dawn closed her eyes, she awoke in flames-a hellfire inferno burning as leaves on briar-thicket trees. A forest of thorns alight. A vision of the fut...
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the bear and the serpent
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DAMP WITH REMNANTS OF feverish sweat, the fallen knight woke to marigold morning and the warbling of vaguely familiar voices in his ear. Aches and pains, though dull and beginning to fade, ricocheted through muscle and bone like fire. Chapped lips parted, drinking in a gulp of brisk air like water after a drought and it was the sharp intake of breath that brought all else to stillness.
Two sets of eyes—one of aged wisdom and another of starlight youth—looked upon him as the haze began to clear. Those he recognized as the court physician and his apprentice lingered nearby, a room lined with wooden planks and ceiling high bookshelves surrounded him and for a moment, he remembered little of how he came to be there; his oblivion didn't last for long, rushing back like a sea billow in the blink of an eye. A groan ripped through clenched teeth as he rushed to sit up, but he cared little about the pain. All that mattered was warning Camelot's heir about what awaited him at Knight Valiant's hands.
"Ah, ah. I don't think so," the one he recalled to be Aurora chided as her hand rested upon his shoulder in a featherlight touch. "The antidote is running its course but the poison is still in your system, so don't be moving about too much."
"There was a snake in his shield... It came alive." The memory of it was so fresh in his mind—it felt as if he was reliving it every passing moment. Once again, ever so painfully, his body jolted in an attempt to flee. "I must warn Arthur—"
Still, she guided his shoulders backward. "Arthur already knows and he's requested an audience with the king. As the only credible witness, they'll want to hear your version of events for confirmation."
"Until then, you must rest and regain your strength," the court physician insisted, eyes kind and gentle as a midsummer breeze.
Ewan, though he would have rather told the world all he'd seen without delay, knew he hadn't much of a say in the matter. With the venom still lingering in his blood and the weakness it brought, he wouldn't be able to make it three steps without collapsing. He gave in.
