King Henry

Chapter 54 - Lazarus

"We should probably take Henry's body to the Cathedral in London so Father Thomas can give him a proper burial," Merlin told Eleanor.

She nodded, still holding Henry's hand and sniffled before finally choking out the word, "Okay," with a weak voice. It didn't feel right saying that because this wasn't okay. None of it was. Henry should have been fighting for his throne and ruling over England, instead of laying there lifeless on that bed. All of this felt like a bad dream and she was numb and disoriented, feeling completely lost without him.

In the carriage on the way back to London, Eleanor sat with Henry's head in her lap again and his body sprawled across the seat, running her fingers through his hair. She looked down at him and studied his handsome face.

What was she going to do with the rest of her life without him? She couldn't even imagine marrying anyone else and she didn't want to. She would probably move back in with her parents and sisters and become an old spinster that never left her house. She would spend her days helping them tend to the farm, cooking and reading books while her sisters would meet men and get married and move away.

Eventually she would forget all about what it was like to live at the castle and be waited on hand and foot, but she would never forget Henry. She would hold the love she felt for him in her heart forever, and it would never fade. She would look back and remember their time together as the best time of her life, when she had felt happier than she even knew possible.

Even though her love story didn't have a happy ending, she'd never regret falling in love with Henry. Without him, she would have never known what true love felt like and even though it was short-lived, their romance was the kind fairy tales were made of. And she felt lucky to have experienced it, even though in the end it made her heart shatter into a million pieces.

She hung her head and sobbed, laying her cheek against Henry's with tears streaming down her face and dripping onto his. She felt like she might never stop crying and she would fill the entire carriage up with her tears. Eventually she lifted her head again and sniffled, wiping away her tears.

As she was looking down at Henry, she suddenly realized he looked a little less pale and there was some color returning to his cheeks. She blinked, and rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was imagining things. She felt his cheek with the back of her hand and he still felt cold to the touch so she decided she must have been imagining things.

She took a deep breath in and let it out, looking out of the window of the carriage at the dark, twisted, thorny trees of the forbidden forest they were passing by. Then she heard a low, deep rumbling sound and she looked around, trying to figure out where it could be coming from. It took her a few seconds to realize it was coming from Henry.

She leaned down and laid her ear close to his mouth and realized he was groaning, like someone would if they were in pain. She was stunned.

"Henry?" she whispered. "Are you in there?"

His mouth cracked open very slightly and in a faint whisper she heard him say, "Eleanor."

Her heart leaped and she couldn't believe it. It was a miracle!

"Henry it's me! It's Eleanor!" she cried, getting choked up as tears filled her eyes again, but this time they were happy tears. "Merlin! Henry's alive!" she shouted.

Merlin shouted, "Whoa!", pulling back on the reins and bringing the horses to a stop. He tied them to a tree before jumping down and opening the door of the carriage, looking at Henry who was laying there very still and silently now.

"He still looks very much dead to me," Merlin said with scrunched eyebrows, looking confused as he felt Henry's forehead.

"He's not! I swear he whispered my name. I didn't imagine it!" she said excitedly.