Chapter 46

He stared down at the first two words on the page for a moment before rolling it back up placing it in the box. He didn’t want to read words from a dead man he couldn’t remember right now. It felt highhanded and manipulative in some way to have a letter held together by what Arthur knew had been King Dean’s ring.

If the man had known he wouldn’t survive the battle, why not make sure his mother was safe and with Arthur and Alma? If he and Daphne ever had children, he would never let her come back to die with him when their children were too young to protect themselves.

He turned and found the woman offering him the key with a small smile.

“It is… yours after all.”

He nodded stiffly, thanked her, and took the key and the box with him back to his room. Daphne wasn’t there when he arrived, but her scent lingered in the air. He sunk onto the bed and opened the box carefully. It was strange to know that he had filled this box but did not remember any of it.

He set the ring and the letter aside before shuffling through the pages. Most of it seemed to be calligraphy practice. Arthur didn’t remember the last time he’d had to write anything. There were a few crude drawings of people with crowns among the pages. The smallest of the group, seemingly wrapped in a blanket had to be Alma.

From somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard the babbling of a baby.

I promise I’ll be the best king so Alma can be happy.

He swallowed closing the box and turning away from the box with a huff. What had the child version of him known about being a king? Arthur didn’t know anything about leading people or having people rely on him.

It was all ridiculous.

The door opened and he sat up looking at Daphne as she entered. She smiled at him.

“Hi, Arthur.”

He looked at her, searching her face as she came closer, “Hi.”

She frowned, “What’s wrong? You seem… troubled.”

She sat beside him on the couch and he looked at the box.

“One of the maids… showed me this.”

Daphne looked at the box and the papers inside. A child had done the writing. Had it been his sister’s or his? The sunlight gleamed on the edge of a golden ring with a scroll of paper through it.

“What’s that?”

Arthur pulled the scroll out and gave it to her silently and she gasped, recognizing it from the portrait of his father.

It was the royal seal.

“The box is mine… She said that I wanted a lockbox like my father had.”

Daphne tilted her head and took his hand, hoping to comfort him. It sounded as though he didn’t remember any of it. She couldn’t imagine how traumatic leaving the castle had been or if the years of abuse at Brown Valley had destroyed his memories.

“I… don’t remember anything.”

“You were very young.”

Arthur’s jaw clenched, “Not so young that I couldn’t write!”

He lowered his head, resting his head in his hands.

“I want to leave.”

Daphne pat his shoulder, “Okay.”

Adolph looked at her, “You’re… not going to convince me otherwise.”

“I told you I was on your side,” Daphne said. “Whatever you decide.”

“We can’t go back to Sharp Armor, just yet,” Arthur said softly. “I… I don’t want to see them.”

Daphne nodded in understanding and was a little relieved that he wasn’t asking to leave forever, just for a break. They had built quite a life together in Sharp Armor.

“Maybe… we could take a trip?”

Arthur tilted his head, “A trip where?”

Daphne hummed before grinning at an idea, “What about back to my cabin?”

Arthur frowned, parsing through his memories. He remembered them running from a cabin. Why would she want to go back there?

How far from Brown Valley was it? Would he run into them again?

“It would be a nice break,” Daphne said. “I haven’t visited my grandmother’s grave since then.”

“Your grandmother?”

Daphne nodded, leaning against him with a small sigh, “My mother died giving birth to me…and my father killed himself soon after.”

Arthur flinched at the wave of sorrow that came through their bond. An old, deep melancholy came through their bond quickly and left like a short breeze.

“I’m sorry.”

“My grandmother raised me. She died about three years before we met.”

Arthur pulled her closer and kissed her temple, “We should go then.”

Daphne shook her head and looked up at him, “We could go elsewhere.”

“We’ve spent enough time dealing with werewolves and my past,” Arthur shook his head. “It’s… my fault you had to leave. We should go back.”

Daphne smiled and kissed his cheek, “Sounds great.”

Daphne hustled around their room, packing a bag with everything they’d need as she chatted about the forest around her cabin and the meadow where they’d met.

“I don’t know what the state of the cabin is, but I’m sure between the two of us we’ll be able to make it livable again in no time!”

Arthur smiled, listening to her bounce around happily. It warmed him to see her so excited and Lucas was far more relaxed since they’d had sex.

When she was packed, they headed downstairs and left through the main gates. He shifted into his wolf form at the forest line and crouched so she could get on his back.

She chuckled a little as she climbed on, “The last time I was on your back like this… seems like so long ago.”

He nodded. It was practically a lifetime. She sighed, holding onto him tightly.

“You were covered in blood and dirt… I couldn’t even tell you were golden, you know?”

He chuckled, “Hold on tight.”

She tightened her grip feeling him gear up to run.

“Wait!” Tom called, hurrying towards them from out of the castle. Arthur growled in frustration and Daphne rubbed his head gently. “Y-You’re leaving? B-But—“

Daphne chuckled, “It’s just a trip. We’ll be back.”

Tom looked uncertain, but nodded eventually, “I see. Well, then we’ll organize a—”

“No,” Arthur growled. “No one else is coming.”

“But, Your Majesty—”

Arthur growled at him in a warning and Tom shut his mouth with a sharp click.

Rex approached and placed a hand on Tom’s shoulder, “I think we can manage everything here. After a battle like that, let the love birds have a vacation!”

Daphne flushed, but Arthur was almost grateful for Rex’s near obnoxious bluntness. For the most part, he always knew where he stood with Rex and that was refreshing.

“Hold on,” Arthur said again.

She tightened her grip around his neck as he started to run west. She watched the forest go by in a blur, relaxing in Arthur’s fluffy golden fur. She wondered for a moment if the sense of comfort and safety was how every mated woman felt with their partner.

“Are you okay, Daphne?” Arthur asked as he bounded over a fallen tree and the sound of rushing water came from ahead of them. “Do you need to take a break?”

She chuckled, “I haven’t done anything! I’m fine.”

Arthur walked through the trees towards the rushing river and stopped, looking up at the darkening sky.

“We should rest here for the night. There’s a cave nearby.” He crouched and allowed her to slide off his back. “I’ll go check it to be sure it’s safe.”

Daphne nodded, looking around to search for twigs and stones to build a fire in the cave as Arthur crossed the river and went to investigate.

She set her bag near the river before starting to collect twigs for kindling and fallen branches for the fire. When she felt like she had enough, she hiked up her skirt and waded into the water to search for stones. One stone was stubbornly wedged in the riverbed.

She yanked at it, but her grip slipped. The mud shifted beneath her feet, throwing her back into the river with a yelp.

Arthur heard her cry out as he reached the back of the cave and found it empty.

“Daphne?” He called, hurrying out, his heart leaped with fear only to find her sitting in the shallow river, soaked and pouting. “Are you…”

Daphne’s face turned red, “I’m fine! I just fell.”

Arthur nodded, barely hearing her as he approached, eyeing the way her clothes clung to her body. He shifted back into his human form, prowling closer as Daphne got to her feet and started wringing out her skirt.

“It’s a bit more nostalgic than I anticipated,” Daphne huffed. “At least, I haven’t injured myself yet!”

Daphne frowned as she felt a wall of heat approaching her though Arthur was completely silent. She turned and found him naked, standing just beside her. His eyes were intense and focused, staring down at her.

He looked the same way he had the night of the party.

“Arthur?”