http://amaranthine-7.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] amaranthine-7.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] tamingthemuse2012-10-06 08:56 pm

Prompt#324 - Maelstorm - The night that never existed - amaranthine-7 - Original

Title: The night that never existed
Fandom: Original (based on the Arthurian Legends)
Prompt: Prompt 324 - Maelstorm
Warnings: Allusion to killing infants.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: The Arthurian Legends are in the public domain. I make no reference to any copyrighted work. So all is mine.
Beta: None, so any mistakes you see are mine.
Summary: The waves were hitting the hard rocks of the cliff with a bang.

The waves were hitting the hard rocks of the cliff with a bang. The sea was in a fury as if he was already punishing him for the act he was about to perform. Merlin had told him he didn't need to be present. Arthur knew his master was right. It was even a dangerous waste of time. He had many states affairs to attend to urgently but he needed to be here. He needed to see it through to the end, he needed to know he could do it. He wanted to bear the weight of the killings on his own shoulders. It was his responsibility.

"Sire..." The voice of the soldier was hesitant.

Arthur turned to him, forcing his gaze away from the water.

"The boat is ready."

Arthur nodded. "Thank you. You can go," he added after a pause.

The soldier stared at him uncertainly for a second before walking away. The king felt the eyes like an a poignant to his heart. No, he wasn't like that. He wasn't that man, that evil man. He only needed to do this one action, this one crime. It was for the good of the kingdom he was to build. If his dream - the dream of a nation - were to be realise he needed to be bad just this once.

He walked slowly to nearest the cost where the waves were licking the side of the small wooden boat. He forced his eyes to look down, look at the figures in the boat. A dozen babies were wailing. He couldn't hear their screams but he could see their erratic movements, their small limbs trying as hard as they could to make their bodies tumble out of the boat and be safe.

"I'm sorry," whispered the king, his voice strangled by the weight of guilt.

He kneeled to the ground, his legs hitting the soft wet earth with a loud thud. He looked up at the sky. The wind and the rain were still enraged, slapping him, slapping them. The sky was falling down on him.

"No," he whispered between gritted teeth. He couldn't let a simple thing such as bad weather change his mind. It wasn't a sign of the gods. Merlin had said he needed to do the in order to realise its dream. Merlin was always right. His jaw tightened harder, his fist clenched. He forced his eyes on the boat. The bodies were becoming a dark moving unknowable form. He lifted his right arm and pushed the boat as hard as he could into the sea. The wood glided easily on the wet earth, into the angry waves.

Arthur remained on his knees for a long time, following the boat into the abyss of the sea. It disappeared within a mere minute but Arthur waited until the rain stop, unit the sea calmed, until the world became normal again. Only then did he stand up. It was his world again as the sun was warming his skin and the boat was gone, into the deep end of the underwater world. His dream was alive.

He stood up and without a last glance walk away. That previous night had never existed. It was dead.