always and forever is forever young
your shadow on the pavement, the dark side of the sun
Mallos could have summed up Arthur’s complaints with a single word spoken in a derisive tone: work. The king seemed to harbour under the delusion that his father-in-law didn’t work very much, or at least avoided the work he deemed unpleasant; in reality, Mallos recognised the symptoms of being overburdened and demoralised with unusually high sympathy.

I now find I am wondering why you are here and why it should worry me. Mallos adopted an appropriately wounded expression which was quickly replaced with a grin as he followed the exchange between the king and the clerk. The conversation was so reminiscent of the one he’d had on the phone only moments ago with Jane that it was almost laughable. The only difference was that Mallos knew when to take a break.

Although, Arthur seemed to be learning. Mallos leant over a little, divinity sharpening his ears better than close proximity could, and bit back another grin when he heard the magic words. He restrained himself and studied the king’s face with concern instead.

“Oh no,” he sighed, loudly enough for the nearer guards to hear. “Petitionitis.”

A couple of them exchanged confused looks, and one looked as though he was about to ask what ‘petitionitis’ was, but an older fellow beat her to the punch. Grey-haired and wizened, probably approaching retirement, he frowned at Mallos with a knowing expression which indicated they might have crossed paths before.

“That’s not a thing,” he said firmly in a gruff voice. Mallos whipped around and stared him down.

“Are you questioning my medical expertise?” He demanded to know. The guard opened and closed his mouth once, then looked at Arthur for support. The others remained silent, waiting breathlessly, no doubt remembering previous occasions when Mallos had turned members of the court he didn’t like into furniture. “Why don’t you lot clear all this up while I get Grace here to the hospital wing?” Mallos told them, jabbing his thumb towards the door.

“Grace…?” The clerk spluttered, just as Mallos touched Arthur on the shoulder and teleported them both out.

He wasn’t really concentrating on where they were going. They re-materialised three feet above the surface of the water and promptly splashed down into it, temporarily submerged. The cold water folded over his head, sending a swift chill through his veins before divinity caught it and regulated his body temperature. His head broke the surface of the water a split-second before Arthur’s did, but almost immediately ducked under again to get a better sense of where they were.

The ocean stretched below them, deep and black. Even Mallos’ magic-assisted eyes couldn’t penetrate that darkness; they’d need light if they were going to dive, and Arthur might need a little help with the water pressure. He must have deposited them in the middle of the open ocean, since there was nothing else around, except… what was that?

He squinted. Below them, the darkness stirred.

With a couple of quick strokes, he broke the surface again and shook his head to clear the hair and water from his face.

“How strong is your heart?” He asked in a casual tone.

The black shape shifted below them again, moving closer to the surface. A second later, the water erupted into a fountain several feet high some distance to their left, followed by more eruptions further afield. The shape below them moved upward and forward, revealing a thick, wide tail. Moments later, the dark, arched back of an enormous whale crested the water beside them, sending a surge of salty liquid towards the heavens. It rained down over them, creating miniature rainbows in the light. Mallos started to laugh, but accidentally inhaled some of the water and pulled a face as he spat it back out again.

i can feel you in the silence saying, “let forever be,
love, and only love, will set you free.”