ARTHUR It was not easy for Arthur to put his heart out like this. He had never expressed his feelings like this. He felt raw, exposed. And despite what he was feeling, he was sure that Mila would reciprocate. Mila too loved him, he had seen it in her eyes, and he knew, Mila’s feeling were true. As Mila stared in his eyes, he felt an urge to bend down and kiss her, but even though she was quiet, her eyes were talking. They were surprised, then they turned horrified, and then a determination. Arthur knew all too well what they look said. Mila raised her hands to touch him, and as if on instinct, Arthur dropped his hands and pushed her back. “I cannot believe this,” Arthur growled. “I just laid down my feelings for you, my fear of losing you, and yet, you want to put a spell on me!” Mila blinked back in surprise. Clearly she had not anticipated this. “You were going to put me to sleep, isn’t it?” Arthur demanded. Mila didn’t reply. “Answer now,” Arthur barked. “Yes, I cannot le
MILA “Are you insane?” Grace shouted so loudly in Mila’s head that Mila suddenly stopped shaking her head. “He will leave you! Leave us!” “Arthur, I love you,” Mila started, “But we cannot be together.” “Don’t you dare utter Chloe’s name,” Arthur blinked back his tears. “I will deal with Chloe in due course, I will deal with the situation too. But first, I need to deal with us.” “You are with Chloe for some reason,” Mila started. “If it is war with Keplins pack then so be it!” Arthur shouted, “You think I care for it. What would happen? We would lose?” Mila snorted at this. “You cannot lose to anyone Arthur. I am with you!” she stressed. “I don’t want to treat you as a weapon,” Arthur shook his head. Mila gave him half exasperated half commiserated look. “He would never understand. He doesn’t treat you like Hanna did!” Grace stressed. “I cannot live in fear that you would charm me whenever things are not going your way,” Arthur spoke. “Not just my way, Arthur,” Mila tried to
MILA & ARTHUR With their ears peeled for any unnatural noises, Arthur and Mila walked slowly towards the citadel. “It is eerily quiet,” Arthur whispered. “It has been like this since we came here,” Mila replied. “Yes, but then we didn’t know that we have a host and a bunch of prisoners waiting for us. Now that we know, I am expecting some noise,” Arthur spoke, turning in all directions as he walked to ensure they were not ambushed from any side. “It is noon, I don’t think we will hear any noises yet,” Mila answered. “Plus, their citadel has deep underground prisons. Hanna got them made specially to keep prisoners from the wars we won. Up to a few years ago she used to keep them in the cells right behind the citadel, but the noises were too loud. Some prisoners used to scream in the night, and sometimes when they captured humans, you know like pure humans, they used to get scared to death by the presence of wolves around them. So, she built new ones in the tunnels. They are so dee
MILA & ARTHUR“What it the plan?” Arthur whispered as they climbed down the stairs. “It is getting darker,” he added as they descended.Mila whispered and her hands started to glow.Mila took off her gloves and Arthur added hastily, “Too bright.”And the glow softened suddenly, “Better,” Arthur nodded.They could only see a few feet ahead of them now.“Plan is -” Mila started as she drew Arthur’s sword and handed it to him. “I put shield on us separately. You can fight, and I can perform magic…”“Okay,” Arthur nodded, and Mila touched Arthur and placed a shield around him.“You too,” Arthur insisted.Mila rolled her eyes, whispered, “This is absolutely unnecessary,” and tapped her head too. An invisible barrier formed around her too.Arthur started to say something, but even before he could start, they took a turn and something came hurtling towards them and banged into them.Arthur and Mila tumbled by the shock of it, and their backs hit the wall behind them, but they were not hurt.
ARTHUR & MILA Mila started to moved ahead but Arthur hissed, “Wait up.” “What?” Mila asked, puzzled. She wanted to get over this nightmare as soon as possible. “Why don’t you move these burning bodies down first? What if some get caught in fire or scatter?” Arthur suggested. “That’s an idea,” and Mila repeated her gesture and pulled the bodies up ahead of her and dropped them down the stairs. They could hear the bodies get roll down the flight of stairs, and a loud screeching sound echoing all around them. “I think we got their attention,” Arthur spoke gruffly. Slowly, bumping into each other shields, they climbed down the stairs, ready to charge. But as they reached the bottom, no one was there to greet them – neither friendly nor foe. Remembering how one of the monster had jumped on Arthur from top, Mila looked up and shouted. At least a dozen bitten men were clinging to the roof, their teeth bare and eyes red. “Watch out,” Arthur shouted too as one by one bitten men turned
ARTHUR “Are you okay?” Arthur asked Mila. She was shaking now. Mila nodded and squeezing her eyes tightly, she hugged Arthur with all her might. Arthur too wrapped his hands around her to assure her that it was all okay. “Help please,” someone croaked from the prison. “What happened here?” Arthur demanded the people who were the cells. A few people looked at each other. “We will let you out,” Arthur spoke, still holding on to Mila tightly, “Just need to know what happened here.” “Your clan attacked us, and we lost,” one of the men spoke. “Then?” Arthur asked. “Hanna asked us to make for the citadel. She said that there were tunnels under there which led to a new city,” the man continued. “Okay,” Arthur insisted. “But as we came here, we were ambushed. There was pitch dark in here, and we could hear monsters growling. A hissing sound threatened to kill us if we didn’t obey and asked us to move. They gave us directions and shunted us one by one in these cells. We have been ke
ARTHUR & MILA “Are you hurt anywhere?” Mila asked as they climbed up. “Not much,” Arthur huffed as he pressed on his chest instinctively. “I can live with it.” “But you don’t have to, now do you?” Mila grinned and placing her hand on his chest, she muttered, “recuperate” under her breath and Arthur’s breath deepened. “What did you do?” Arthur asked, grinning. He had the most amused expressions on his face. “I healed you,” Mila caressed Arthur’s chest lovingly. “Till the time I am with you, you don’t have to worry about any injury, any illness. I hope I am allowed to heal you without your permission. Arthur looked around, they were alone. He pulled over her mask, grabbed her waist and kissed her fully. “You can do anything to me without my permission, if you know what I mean,” he grinned, pulling back. “Ah, does not align with what you said before,” Mila sighed. Arthur narrowed his eyes at this. “You know what I mean!” “I do, my lord,” Mila bowed dramatically, and laughing, th
ARTHUR & MILA It took Mila more than a week to heal everyone in the Keats clan. And by the end of it, Mila and Arthur were their prince and princess. Everyone in the kingdom was treating them as royalty and were bringing their woes to them. And though Arthur was doing the needful, he was worried. “If my father found out about me acting as their leader, he would behead me with his wolf’s teeth,” Arthur muttered to Mila one afternoon. Mila chuckled but didn’t respond. “Seriously,” Arthur stressed, “I know they have no leader at present, but I cannot be their leader for long.” “You can be if you accept them in Collins clan,” Mila replied simply. Arthur stared at her for a long while. “They have homes here, they have lives here,” Arthur shook his head. “I doubt they would come with us.” “Ask them first, before making any assumptions,” Mila smiled.