King Henry

Chapter 44 - Last Night Together

Merlin used his spell again to make the horses go even faster than before and it was a bumpy ride with the carriage going that fast, jostling all of them around. Eleanor tried to hang on to the walls to brace herself.

She kept pulling back the curtains to check how far away the guards on horseback were and this time they were right behind the carriage and there were five of them now instead of three. Right as she looked, an arrow was released by one of them, whizzing past Eleanor's head and sinking into the carriage wall right beside Joan's head with a springing sound. Joan's eyes widened, looking as stunned as Eleanor was.

"Hurry Merlin! They've almost caught up to us!" Eleanor shouted, closing the curtain.

"We're almost to the forbidden forest! They won't follow us in there, especially not at night!" he shouted back, trying to be heard over the loud sounds of the hooves pounding.

"Those bastards are so lucky I don't have my bow and arrow with me," Henry said, shaking his head with a tense jaw.

He looked over at Eleanor and seeing how worried she looked made his features soften and he let out an exhale. "We're going to be okay. I won't let anything happen to you," he whispered, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her up against his side.

She slipped her hand into his and laid her head down onto his shoulder, closing her eyes and trying to block out what was happening all around them. It felt so good to be with Henry again and she tried to focus on that to keep herself calm.

Eventually she heard Merlin shout, "We're entering the forbidden forest now!"

Eleanor sat up straight and pulled back the curtain again, watching the guard's horses rearing back and neighing as they turned away, despite the guards pulling on their reigns and kicking into their sides with their heels to get them to follow. The horses obviously weren't going to obey, refusing to enter the dark, creepy forest.

Eventually the guards and their horses disappeared off in the distance and she exhaled a sigh of relief, closing the curtain and sitting back.

"We lost them," she smiled.

Merlin slowed the horses down so that they were walking at a comfortable trot now and he said, "See, I told you they wouldn't follow us in here."

"Are these woods really haunted by bad spirits?" Joan asked him.

"No, but they are full of criminals and murderers and outlaws. There are different groups of them that live together out here in their own little communities and they'll rob or kill any outsiders that come onto their land. They don't bother me and I don't bother them. We're all just outcasts of society doing our best to survive and get by on our own."

Eventually the carriage came to a stop and Merlin climbed down and said, "We're here," smacking the side of the carriage.

They stretched and groaned before climbing out one by one, standing there looking at his house that had a couple burning lamps in front of it making the outside glow orange.

"Now I need to make a place for you all to stay," he told them as he slipped his wand out of his robe, muttering a series of words as he flicked it back and forth.

There was a creaking rumbling sound and then the ground beneath them began to shake, so Eleanor held on to Henry's arm to brace herself.

Slowly three trees starting sprouting up out of the ground, growing taller in front of their eyes until they were as tall as the tree Merlin's house was attached to. Then there were more creaking and cracking sounds as slivers of wood, metal and glass appeared out of the dirt and slowly merged together to form windows, doors and walls, until finally there were three separate houses covered in vines and ivy that looked just like Merlin's.