"Drop the child, beast!" the leader of the men demanded of Morgana.
Ten of the soldiers charged Casper's little sister, who limped back up against the trees, dragging her crumpled leg.
His daughter was clutched desperately in her right paw while she used her left to swipe out at the soldiers. One of the humans threw their spear in a deadly line, and before Casper could react it was embedded in morgana's already-injured side, right between two ribs.
Her roar rang through the night and she collapsed, nearly crushing his daughter underneath her large body.
The humans' leader stepped forward, swinging his sword in an arch that would slice right through Morgana's neck.
This time, Casper's brain was quick enough to react.
He leaped forward, right between Morgana and the sword.
When he hit the ground, it took a moment for his brain to register what had happened.
His paw hurt in a way that he had never experienced, but when he blinked his eyes open to look at his leg, his paw was further away than he expected.
And it was no longer connected to his leg.
He blinked again to clear his vision and saw that his front right paw had been cleanly chopped off, halfway between the elbow and the wrist of his leg.
He whimpered and glared up at the human, whose gaze was locked on him smugly.
Casper's blood dripped from his broadsword.
Casper tried to rise, but another soldier swung his battle axe to land a blow in the back of Casper's head.
He observed in slow motion as the human bent down and lifted his daughter into his arms and kicked Morgana's head aside as she tried to bite his leg in one last feeble attempt.
The baby screams echoed distantly in Casper's ears and he met Morgana's eyes.
His sister's desperate gaze was the last thing he saw before the blackness took over.
Vaguely, as the darkness swallowed him, he heard the growl of a wolf.
King Gaius
My wife, the queen sat in her bed, sobbing softly as she held the limp form to her bréast.
"My little girl."
"Darling," I whispered into her auburn hair.
"You have to let her go."
"She is my baby, Gaius" Queen Hilda whispered as she looked into the pale face of our stillborn child.
"I know, love, but she is gone."
"She never got to see me....got to see us."
I said nothing.
I know there was nothing I could do to comfort my wife.
I hate seeing her despair.
I am the king.
There have to be something that I could do.
I ushered the maidservants from my wife's bedside to allow her to grieve, but there was very little else I was able to do for her.
This was the third baby we had lost.
It wasn't looking as though my wife would ever bear a living child.
"How are we going to tell the kingdom?"
Leave it to Hilda, my thoughtful, loving wife to worry about the feelings of the people at a time like this.
She knew how excited everyone was to greet the new prince or princess, and she had been even more excited and proud to be able to present the child to them.
And now that child was gone, and Hilda s arms were empty.
What should have been the happiest day of our lives was now filled with mourning for our little daughter.
The kingdom had been waiting for this day since it had been announced that the queen was with child.
I and my wife needed an heir for our kingdom of Athena, male or female, but once again, fate was playing against them.
"Don't you worry about that, love. Right now you need to rest."
"I'm not ready to give her up yet," Hilda said, clutching our daughter tighter to her chest.
Her tears dripped down her cheeks, dropping off to make tiny spots on the blanket that their baby was swaddled in.
"I know, I know. You hold on to her as long as you like," I smoothed Hilda's hair back and kissed her forehead, swallowing the lump in my throat as quietly as I could.
I glanced down at the pale face of the baby and nearly lost it.
That was a face that was supposed to pink and scrunched up, wailing at the unfairness of life.
Instead, my wife was clutching the pale, lifeless shell of what could have been.
I couldn't take it anymore.
"I will be back soon, darling, but I need some air."
"Gaius, don't be gone too long. I need you," Hilda whimpered.
I filled my gaze with as much affection as I could muster.
Our marriage was unlike most arranged ones, as it was filled with love.
Hilda is my better half and I would do anything for her.
Just as I was about to.
"I won't be gone long at all, Hilda. I will be back before you know it." I pecked her lips and swept out of the room.
"You rest, okay? I love you."
I was gone for two weeks.
But, in those two weeks, I accomplished quite a bit.
Tbc
King Gaius p.o.v
I was gone for two weeks.
But, in those two weeks, I accomplished quite a bit.
It started with my visit to a neighboring kingdom.
My relations with King Harry were tense, but Harry owed me.
I had gone on that journey with only a handful of my most trusted knights.
We needed to move quickly and efficiently to be back before anything drastic was done in the wake of my daughter's death.
I and my men were ushered into the large, dreary throne room in Harry's castle.
The throne room was nothing like my own, which was full of light and windows with a welcoming atmosphere.
No, Harry's gave the impression that he wanted his guests out of there as quickly as humanly possible.
Dark drapes closed part way over the windows, allowing only minimal light in, and the dark stone made everyone in the room feel as though we were trapped there.
Naturally, that made people anxious to leave and therefore out of Harry's hair.
"Harry, old friend," I greeted him politely, quite aware of the fact that my fellow king held all the power in our situation.
"I'd hardly call you that, Gaius. It isn't like you to visit without notice. What have you come for?"
So, we weren't wasting no time on niceties then?
All the better for me, as I was in a bit of a hurry.
"I need to cash in that favor."
"Good lord. You get saved by a man once and he thinks he can show up whenever he damn well pleases and 'cash in that favor'? I don't have time for this!" Harry slammed the end of his scepter into the ground.
The dark green wolf fur that adorned it and his green cape swinging behind him menacingly gave off a very intimidating and quite unnerving air.
I showed no hesitation as I stared into the cold, black eyes, looking for any sign that Harry planned to kill them.
It wouldn't go over well for Harry to kill his neighboring king, but I wouldn't put it past the unstable ruler.
I was encouraged by what I saw and continued.
"My wife has birthed yet another dead child. I need an heir, and it isn't likely that I'm going to get one the old fashioned way."
Harry paused for a second and then burst into laughter.
It was a strange barking laugh that sounded completely unnatural coming out of the thin mouth of the normally sulky king.
"What do you think I'm going to be able to do for you, Gaius? Impregnate your wife?"
I bite my tongue to keep back the response that was about to jump from it.
I took a deep breath and said my next words with as much confidence as man who has failed is able.
"No, Harry, I need you to give me a baby. An orphan that I can pass off as my own."
That truly stopped Harry in his tracks.
He cocked his head slightly, as though he was looking at me in a whole new light.
"You would lie to your people so that you could have an heir?"
"It would be better for them than to have my idiot brother take the throne because I had no children to take over."
Harry pondered this, tapping his pointed chin with long pale fingers.
I glanced around to see who was around to witness this interaction between kings and was surprised to see only two guards, both of which looked too terrified to care about what we were saying.
I knew my knights were loyal to me and would keep my secret, and the same went for my wife's ladies.
The only threat to my plan would be the way Hilda took it.
It was possible that she would consider taking in another baby as a betrayal to our daughter, to the royal bloodline, but I needed Hilda to be happy and this was the only way I could think of through my grief filled mind.
"Alright, Gaius, I will help you. But only because then you and I will be even. I hate owing people anything, especially someone with power such as yourself. Come with me."
I stepped forward, as did my men, but Harry held up his hand.
"The king only, gentleman. I won't help him if he doesn't accompany me alone."
The knights glanced from I to king Harry, but I gave them a look to stand down.
They did, but reluctantly.
"It's alright," I assured them.
I followed the dark king as Harry left the the throne room.
His castle was similar to his throne room; dark and unwelcoming.
I guess that Harry used his personality as a guide when decorating.
I and Harry had known one another since we were children.
Our fathers had been allies and good friends, but we the sons had never been able to see eye to eye. We often argued over small things or threatened to beat one another to a pulp. Our adult lives weren't much different. I had saved Harry's life once during a battle against the wolves that had been threatening the two kingdoms for decades.
Our fathers had decided to handle what they referred to as "the pest problem" once and for all; they were going to attack the nest. We the princes had tagged along. Harry was engaging a rather large, nasty beast and would have been eaten had I not stabbed the creature in the heart before it had the chance.
I had been waiting ten years for the perfect moment to cash in my favor and this seemed appropriate: a life for a life.
"Where are we going?" I wondered as we traveled deeper and deeper into the fortress.
"Someplace hidden. One of my soldiers decided to play the hero and I have been looking for a way out of the problem. You are the perfect solution, Gaius."
He suddenly stopped in front of a stone wall and I shot passed him, not expecting the sudden change in speed.
I spun around and caught back up to the other king as Harry pushed a stone into the wall.
As the stone was pushed in, a part of the wall popped out.
"Fancy," I admired the secret passage.
"I'm sure there are secrets like this at your castle. You were just too much of a goodytwoshoes to find them," Harry scoffed and walked into the hidden room.
I rolled my eyes and followed him into the surprisingly cozy space.
It was filled with the soft glowing light of candles and a crackling fire in the fireplace.
A large bear rug took up the center of the floor and a simple bed resided in the corner.
What drew my attention was the cradle beside the bed.
The room was devoid of life except for we the two kings and whatever was squawking in the cradle.
"This is one of the servant's rooms. There is usually someone here watching over the thing. I have no ideas where she is now."
I walked over to the cradle and peered in, not knowing what to expect.
I blinked in mild surprise at what I found.
With the way Harry had been talking I was expecting a monster, not a tiny baby.
Tbc
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