Love, Faith and Family

Chapter 3

"I'm sorry, but, did I just hear you say that it was too dangerous for women to fight?" Miriam asked Arthur as he walked away from Gwen and Morgana.

"Mira-"

"Don't. Only people I consider friends call me that. You'll have wasted your time and your life coming here if you don't allow women to fight. And if it was too dangerous then why was I fighting the tyrant who's terrorising us while you were taking on some lowly henchmen? And why did Morgana save you from said henchmen?"

"I -"

"Open your eyes, Arthur. Or else a village will be wiped out and Camelot will have lost its ward and Crown Prince."

Miriam marched off after that, Gwen and Morgana impressed with her little speech that left the prince speechless.

But Arthur didn't heed her words when Matthew's horse rode into the village the next day, with Matthew's dead body on top.

Arthur had sent him to be a sentry, to be on the lookout for Kanen's men and alert them of an attack, except his widow's screams alerted them to this.

"Matthew!" Miriam called as she ran for him, two men already helping him down from the horse.

But he was long dead as Miriam crashed beside him, his widow standing near as she wept, Hunith hugging her.

"It was painless. Straight through the heart. He didn't suffer," Miriam promised as she observed the wound, trying to keep her eyes from watering.

Arthur then knelt next to her, a supportive hand on her shoulder before he ripped off the note that had been attached to Matthew's body by the arrow.

"What does it say?" Merlin asked.

"Make the most of this day. It will be your last," Arthur read before Matthew's widow crashed to the floor, weeping over his body as Arthur moved away.

"You did this. Look what you've done! You've killed him!" Will accused Arthur as he pushed through the crowd.

"It wasn't his fault," Merlin and Miriam said in unison before looking at each other strangely.

"If he hadn't been strutting around, treating this like his own personal army, it's never have happened!"

"These men are brave enough to fight for what they believe in, even if you aren't," Arthur bellowed.

"You're sending them to their graves!" Will persisted and Arthur's head fell. "You've killed one man. How many more need to die before you realize that this is a battle that can't be won? When Kanen comes you're going to be slaughtered. You don't stand a chance."

As Will marched off, Miriam grabbed Merlin's arm.

"Go and talk to your friend before I blood this sword early."

Merlin nodded as he ran off after Will, while Miriam turned to the crowd.

"Matthew made his own choice to fight for his freedom than to live in slavery, and you all made the same choice. Just because one man is scared of what's to come, doesn't mean you should be. We don't have the numbers or the strength, but we have the intelligence and teamwork that Kanen doesn't have. And that will be his downfall. Matthew died to protect you all. And I plan on not letting his death be in vain. I hope you do the same."

And the crowd began to disperse slightly, the men going back to training as Morgana, Gwen and Hunith helped Matthew's widow tend to him.

"Come with me," she said simply to Arthur as she walked off, not stopping to see if the prince followed, which he did. "Sit," she instructed as she pointed to a tree stump and handed him a small whetstone to sharpen his blade.

"Why am I doing this?" Arthur asked as Miriam sat opposite him on an overturned bucket.

"It distracts the mind from overthinking, focusing on a small task that you are capable of doing."

Arthur ran the whetstone along the blade.

"You're a natural leader. These people listen to you," he pointed out and she gave him a small smile as she began to sharpen her own blade.

"Most of them, but only because I've known them all my life. I have their respect. Not Will's though."

"He's right though," Arthur admitted. "You and Merlin should get everyone to leave the village before Kanen comes."

Miriam laughed.

"Now that is not the prince Merlin wrote about in his letters."

Arthur raised a brow.

"And what did he write?"

"Irrelevant. Arthur, I don't know you very well, but you're here risking your life because this village means the world to my brother, and that says a lot."

"Not enough to win this battle," he quipped and Miriam shook her head.

"The battle is already lost if you have no hope going into it. And I have hope because without it I'd be a slave to Kanen, though probably worse off considering how I treated him."

Arthur gave a small chuckle.

"Merlin would never let anything happen to you. He cares a lot for you. And for that you're welcome in Camelot anytime."

Miriam smirked.

"An invitation from the Crown Prince himself, what will people say?" she joked, and he let loose a smile. "Arthur, we are more capable than you think. And I'm not just talking about the men you're training. And if you believe we can win, then I don't see why other people won't see that. I have faith in you."

"That's a high expectation for someone you just met."

Miriam's words stopped as she spotted Merlin walk over to them.

"Think about it Arthur. I'll leave you in my brother's very capable hands," she said as she stood, and Arthur scoffed.

"The only thing his hands are capable of is lifting a mug of mead to his lips."

And Miriam laughed a harmonic sound before walking off, leaving Merlin confused and Arthur with a small smile on her face.

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"Tomorrow, the women will join us as we stand to fight," Arthur announced as he walked around a fire, the men sitting around it while the women leaned on the walls of the small house they'd gathered in.

Miriam gave Arthur a proud smile as he addressed them, Will sulking in the corner.

"This is your home. If you want to fight to defend it, that's your choice. I'd be honoured to stand alongside you."

Gwen and Morgana exchanged pleased looks, as did most of the other women in the room.

"Kanen attacks tomorrow. Kanen is brutal. He fights only to kill, which is why he'll never defeat us. Look around. In this circle, we're all equals. You're not fighting because someone's ordering you to. You're fighting for so much more than that. You fight for your homes. You fight for your family. You fight for your friends. You fight for the right to grow crops in peace. And if you fall, you fall fighting for the noblest of causes - fighting for your very right to survive. When you're old and grey, you'll look back on this day and you'll know that you earned the right to live every day in between. So you fight for your family, for your friends, for Ealdor!"

And as Arthur thrust his sword into the air, the masses rose to their feet as they raised their weapons and cheered, "For Ealdor!" and Miriam stepped up to Arthur's side.

"Now that's the prince Merlin wrote about," she whispered before she was lost in the fray and Arthur felt even better about the hope he'd instilled in these people.