Leon removed his sword from Arthur’s neck, then quietly returned it to its sheath, before looking at his son with eyes devoid of any sympathy.
“Leave.
There’s no place for someone like you here, and you should be grateful I haven’t gotten rid of you yet.”
Arthur didn’t say a word.
He got up with difficulty, wiped his tears with the tip of his sleeve, then turned around and left the square with slow steps and his head low, as if every word he had heard moments earlier had weighed down his body.
Arthur!
Violet’s voice rose from behind him, but he did not turn around, did not slow down his steps, but continued walking silently.
She was about to catch up with him, but her father’s voice stopped her.
“Stop.”
She turned to him and saw his stern features, which held no room for discussion.
“Today I showed you the difference between him and us, and yet you still want to run after him?”
Violet lowered her gaze slightly, then said in a hesitant voice: “But, Dad…
He’s my brother.”
Leon frowned and interrupted her in a decisive tone: “Enough.
If you catch up with him, don’t come back here.”
There was a heavy silence in the square.
Violet kept staring at Arthur’s back as he gradually moved away, then lowered her head in surrender.
“Well…”
Leon sighed softly, then turned to the rest of his children as if nothing had happened.
“Let’s continue training.”
The arena is buzzing with conversations again.
Arthur returned to the tree under which he had been sitting a little while earlier, and sat in the same place, while the sounds of training were still reaching him from afar.
He looked up at the arena and saw his father and brothers continuing their training as if nothing had happened.
He did not dare to approach again, so he contented himself with watching them silently.
I’ve waited a long time…
I just waited for him to take care of me.
To call me by my name, or to talk to me as he does to my brothers.
He lowered his head, and his father’s words were reflected in his mind again.
But he treated me this way…
A tear slowly slid down his cheek, but, unexpectedly, a faint smile appeared on his lips that even he did not understand.
But…
Why?
Why do I feel happy…
Just because he talked to me?
He raised his hand and wiped away his tears, then laughed a short, faint laugh that seemed closer to mocking himself.
Arthur lowered his gaze to his little hands and looked at them silently.
Just minutes earlier, they were holding the sword for the first time in his life, but they were trembling with obvious helplessness.
He slowly clenched his fingers, as if trying to regain that feeling.
If you learn to use the sword…If you become strong…Will my father finally acknowledge me?
There was silence for a few moments, before another, more cruel thought crept into his mind.
…Or will he still treat me this way, no matter what I do?
He raised his hands and placed them on his face, closing his eyes tightly, while his restless breath mingled with his tangled thoughts.
I…
I don’t really know.
Arthur kept watching them from afar.
His brothers were dueling among themselves in an atmosphere full of laughter and enthusiasm, while King Leon stood moving among them, correcting the mistakes of this one, praising that one, and his smile rose whenever he saw one of them making progress.
Meanwhile, Violet turned to him.
Their eyes met for a moment, and he smiled a calm smile at her, trying to hide the heavy feeling that resided in his heart.
She smiled back at him and seemed more reassured, thinking that his condition had become better.
But as soon as she looked back at the training, his smile slowly disappeared.
He rested his chin in his hand, and kept contemplating his father as he talked to his brothers, laughing with them, and encouraging them, as if he were a completely different person from the man who had stood in front of him minutes earlier.
He lowered his head and whispered to himself in a voice he could barely hear.
I am his disappointment…
While they are the reason for his smile.
Arthur remained immersed in watching them, contemplating the laughter that filled the square and the warmth that brought his family members together, until he felt a shadow standing in front of him.
He raised his head slowly, and as soon as his eyes fell on the standing person, they widened in surprise.
“A…
Dad?”
King Leon was standing in front of him, but his features did not carry the coldness that Arthur had been accustomed to all his life.
He approached him quietly, then sat in front of him, put his hand on his head, and patted his hair tenderly while smiling a smile that Arthur had never seen on his face before.
“Why are you sitting here alone, son?
Everyone is waiting for you.”
Arthur froze, still looking at his father, unable to comprehend what was happening.
His lips moved with difficulty before he could get the words out.
“But…
Dad, you said I..
His words stopped in the middle of it, as Leon got up before letting him continue his speech, then extended his hand towards him confidently, and said in a calm voice completely devoid of the cruelty he knew about him:
“Come on, what are you waiting for?
Come with us.”
Arthur stared at the hand extended in front of him for long seconds, as if it were something that could never be real.
He felt his heart pounding violently, and he couldn’t get a single thought out of his head.
Do…
Am I dreaming?
Or is this the day I’ve wanted to come my whole life?
Arthur hesitated for a moment, then extended his hand towards his father.
Leon gently grabbed her and began walking with him through the royal garden.
Arthur kept looking at his father from time to time.
The smile never left his face, and he did not look like the man who had treated him harshly hours earlier.
“Dad?”
He called him in a low voice, but Leon did not answer him, but continued walking quietly with his eyes facing forward.
Arthur waited a moment, then smiled to himself and continued walking beside him without asking again.
Minutes later, Leon stopped.
Arthur raised his head and saw before him a huge statue of a man sticking his sword in the ground, topped with an aura of prestige.
The Novater statue was the founder of the Kingdom of Baldur, one of the eight heroes who defeated the abyss seven hundred years ago, and the first grandfather from whom the royal family descended.
Arthur stood silent, staring at the statue, while Leon continued to look at it with his calm smile.
But, for a reason Arthur could not explain, the statue was not just a stone.
His head moved slowly, then he turned towards them, his eyes resting directly on the boy.
Arthur’s eyes widened, so he quickly retreated and took shelter behind his father, while watching the statue with obvious fear.
Leon noticed this, bent down until he was at his son’s level, then smiled and patted his head gently and said: “Don’t worry, there is nothing to be afraid of”.
This is the knight who protected this kingdom, and protected its people…
There will come a day when you will protect her too.”
Arthur raised his head to him, his eyes filled with astonishment.
“Me?
But you said I wouldn’t become a knight.”
Leon smiled warmly, then hugged his son to his chest.
Arthur froze, unable to believe what was happening.
That hug was a dream he had since childhood, but he never thought he would really feel it.
Leon moved away a little, put his hands on Arthur’s shoulders, and then said in a calm tone: “I would never say anything like that to my son no matter what…
Because..
His words suddenly stopped.
His body began to fade before Arthur’s eyes, then the statue disappeared, and the garden around them faded, as if the whole world was turning into endless white light.
Arthur suddenly opened his eyes and quickly caught his breath.
He looked around and found himself still sitting under the same tree, as the sun was about to set and the sky was covered in evening colors.
He ran his hand over his head as he tried to comprehend what had happened, then looked at the place where he had seen the dream moments earlier and whispered to himself: “I feel something strange…
Was I dreaming?”
Arthur scratched his head as he tried to remember what he had seen a while earlier, but he couldn’t grasp any obvious detail, as if the dream was fading from his memory with every passing second.
“I don’t remember well…” He muttered to himself, then smiled a small smile he hadn’t felt in a long time.
“But…
“I felt so beautiful.”
He kept looking up at the sky for a moment, then sighed and got up.
As he prepared to return to the palace, his eyes fell on one of the wooden swords lying in the training ground after everyone had finished.
He hesitated a little, then walked towards him with calm steps.
He bent down and picked him up with both hands, but his weight made him lose his balance for a moment, so he tightened his grip on him until he stood up straight.
He looked at the sword silently, then slowly raised it in front of him, recalling in his mind the move his father had made hours earlier.
Try to imitate her…
But the sword swerved out of his hands, and he almost fell again.
“It’s so hard, how my dad is so good at it”
Arthur clenched his grip on the sword again, then took a deep breath and tried to imitate the move he had seen his father perform hours earlier.
He took a step forward and waved the sword with all his strength, but his body lost its balance at the same moment.
His feet slipped, and he fell to the ground while still holding the wooden sword.
“Akh…”
He groaned as he rubbed his elbow that hit the ground, then furrowed his eyebrows and said in distress, ” Uh…
“Damn
.”
Before he could try to get up, he heard a familiar voice calling him, and he was filled with anxiety as soon as he saw Arthur fall!