home is behind, the world ahead,
and there are many paths to tread.
Arthur stood up as she entered the room, but froze slightly at the sight of her, he had never seen her look so beautiful before, her blonde hair and slender frame robed in white made her seem almost angelic and it took him a while to recover himself and return the smile which had made its way onto her fair features, “you look beautiful.” Smiles were one thing Lilith had lacked, ever since the curses had begun and it had become evident that Mallos was to return. He often played with the idea of talking to her about her father, in a lot of ways he could relate, for he had never met Uther Pendragon in his last life, and the man had been an unpopular tyrant in his later years, so the similarities were not all that hard to detect. Something however stopped him, if a war was coming, against Mallos, then it would be more difficult to mount a campaign against someone he saw as his girlfriend’s, hopefully wife’s father. In that respect it worried him that he was being selfish, but the young King knew enough of war, and enough of his own soul to know that that was the way it would have to be.
“Hungry?” Arthur asked her with a smile, walking around to the chair beside him and holding it out for to sit in, whilst gesturing at the table, where two meals stood on silver platters, steam rising skywards due to the heat. Once she was seated, he too took his place at the table; it was a long time since they had eaten together like this, usually they both ate on the go. He therefore did not know what her reaction would be to what he knew he must do next, and cast her a glance and a smile, before clasping his hands together and lowering his head slightly, his mouth forming the words of a prayer, thanking his own God for the food they were about to consume as Pen watched on from his place on the flag pole.
They chatted as they ate, the candles which he had lit before she arrived burning low, in the darkness of late evening they cast a warm glow on the cold stonework of the walls. When Arthur had finished his meal, he glanced over at Lilith to check that she had finished to, and began to play with something in his pocket, a small wooden box which contained a ring, before pouring them each some more wine. Arthur however, did not return to his seat, but moved round towards Lilith and took her hands, raising her into a standing position and leading her further towards the window so that they might look up at the moon through the glass.
The boy released her hands, his wise grey eyes not leaving hers as he pulled the box from his pockets, holding it still for a while without any clue of what was in it. “The night is beautiful is it not?” he asked her with a smile, looking out into the darkness for a moment, before glancing back at her, “times are changing Lil, you know that better than anyone, and we need to find a way to weather it.” He sighed, smiling lightly, before looking at her once more and flicking up the lid of the box to reveal the ring. It took the shape of a silver dragon, its snout meeting with its tail as if it was clamped in its jaws, and a small red ruby set as the eye, “I was hoping...” he continued, “that we could weather it together.” With this he lifted the ring free of the purple cushion on which it sat, “will you marry me?”
ARTHUR & PENDRAGON
Through shadow, to the edge of night, until the stars are all alight
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