Excalibur

The First Battle

KANE DIDN'T HAVE a good reason to go to war.

He wasn't altruistic enough to claim that he was accepting his destiny in order to save his dying world. Shit, a tiny part of him even agreed with Queen Mab. Although, he'd never tell Silver that.

Humans had done so much damage to the earth in their pursuit to satisfy their greed. Seeing how well the fae cared for and respected nature had him thinking. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to bequeath his world to them...

Kane fiddled with his dark pants and fitted shirt, conflicted. Arthur was the definition of a true and loyal hero right until the bitter end. Arthur wouldn't even need a reason to go to war against Queen Mab and her death banshee. He would simply do it because it was the right thing to do. Because lives hung in the balance and he held the power to make a difference.

All the stories Silver read to him had said so.

Kane couldn't comprehend how he could be the Once and Future King yet be so different in this life.

If his grandma were alive then things would've been different. He'd go to war for her any day. But now that she was gone, what did that leave him with?

A mother with too many mental issues to count. A father he hadn't seen in years. Aunts and uncles he only saw on holidays where it was required to pretend they were the perfect family. He loved his cousins but they lost touch as adulthood pulled them in separate directions.

Kane had no friends. The curse always drove them away with a string of bad luck. He pushed all of his lovers away whenever an odd feeling to immediately start a family overcame him.

Kane didn't know what he was fighting for and that bothered him.

And yet, he also didn't mind. He'd rather fight in a war he might not survive instead of sitting at home and waiting to die.

"Can you braid your hair for me?" Silver asked, pulling Kane out of his dark thoughts. "I'd do it myself but we're not a couple so..." Silver shrugged. "Can't."

Kane plaited his hair into a tight Dutch braid, leaving two sections to frame his face as requested. Silver wrapped silver coils around each section, securing the ends with dazzling emeralds.

"So, saying thanks is rude because it implies that you now owe people something." Kane stood still while Silver fastened the first set of armor over her wide shoulders. "And braiding hair is for couples only?"

Silver hummed, covering Kane's large forearms with thick vambraces. All of his armor had to be specially tailored because the people of the fae weren't big like he was.

"Arms." Kane obeyed and Silver slid the breastplate over his chest. It was a tight fit, almost squashing his man tiddies in the process. "Hair is very special for us. We never cut it unless we've been shamed or are in mourning. Braiding itself is a very... intimate thing to share with someone. I would go as far as equating it to making love."