Chapter Text
(Y/n) = Your name (L/n) = Your last name (f/c) = favorite color (h/c) = hair color (h/t) = hair type (e/c) = eye color (s/c) = skin color
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Your life, for the most part, was quiet. You took care of the house, you read, you took care of you mom- really, in your eyes, this was the perfect life. You could keep to yourself, for the most part, and still be fine. Your father had joined the knights not long ago, his now missing presence something you missed but knew was sorely needed at the castle. Camelot was becoming an increasingly dangerous place to live, if the king was indeed being truthful about the events that transpired before he lost his wife. You didn't mistrust the king's words, per se, but the cruelty you'd heard him unleash was something that could not be ignored.
Oh, well. You didn't have time to worry about that right now. Currently, you were in the middle of a fencing match with your mom. While swordplay wasn't common among the young women who lived in the area, it was a family tradition in your family, one which you shared with anyone who wanted to join in. As your sword clashed with your mom's, three other women sat on the sidelines cheering both of you on, taking notes on your form and techniques as you fought. You ducked and parried with all your might, but alas, your mom was much more skilled than you, and you ended up lying on the floor in defeat, the blunt tip of the blade held menacingly above your throat. The three women clapped as your mom helped pull you up, both of you laughing together.
"That was a brilliant match! I would say you're starting to catch up to me, (y/n)," your mom complimented, ruffling your hair playfully. You swatted her hand away, giggling at your mom's antics.
"Thanks, Ma- but even I can admit that I have a long way to go before I'll reach your skill level," you protested with a smile.
"Nonsense! You just need more practice," one of the other women, the baker's wife, reassured you, placing a kind hand on your shoulder. You put your hand over hers, giving her a grateful smile. Your mom gave you a fond smile.
"You're truly growing into an amazing young lady, (y/n)," your mom said, gently cupping your cheek affectionately.
"Ma, not with everyone else around!" you protested, pulling away from her hand while all the other women in the room all laughed and teased you for being embarrassed. You huffed and turned away playfully, eventually joining in their laughter, joining the other women in cleaning up from their lesson while they all chatted and ate the bread that the bakers wife, Millie, brought you all.
"-and then I walked in and he had flour all over his face! I nearly fell over," Millie laughed, retelling the story of her son and the day she found him playing with the flour like it was snow. Everyone chuckled, imagining the sight of her little blonde boy drenched in flour and smiling with his two front teeth missing.
"He's always been a little troublemaker- I leave him alone for two minutes and suddenly there's frogs hopping all over the house!" another one of the women, Carissa, added, shaking her head with a fond smile on her face.
"Oh, you think watching him is bad? You should've seen (y/n) when she was his age- one minute she was there and the next she was gone! She was quite the little magician," your mom teased. You stuck your tongue out at her while the other women chuckled.
"At least I didn't leave the house," you shot back, giving your mom a pointed look with a grin, "all I wanted to do was read in peace. My mom, however..."
"Oh, you don't have to tell me. Me and your mother used to get into all kinds of trouble when we were younger," Carissa said, her eyes going out of focus for a moment as she reminisced.
"They sure did- I remember I always wanted to go join them, but I was so scared I would get in trouble I never did," Millie said, shaking her head with a soft sigh.
"Well, at least one of you actually cared about following the rules," the third woman, an older lady who had dubbed herself 'Sapphire', teased the group.
"We followed the rules most of the time!" Your mom protested while you, Millie, and Sapphire laughed.
"Well, at least they weren't as bad as your father," Sapphire said, twisting the ring on her finger in thought.
"Dad was a troublemaker?" you asked your mom, raising a brow at her.
"Your dad was a very big trouble maker. It's funny, your father and I actually met after he dumped a bunch of worms on Millie's head- he learned that day never to mess with Millie again after the verbal smackdown I gave him."
You laughed, shaking your head. "You guys were wild as kids," you said.
"Yeah, we were," your mom agreed, smiling around at the women around them. You found a similar smile creeping onto your face as the fondness grew in your chest. Yeah, life was quiet, but good.
Eventually, all the bread was eaten, the goodbye's were said, and the hugs were given. All the other women went home while you and your mom prepared for dinner, simply enjoying each other's company for a little while. The fire cast the small living room in a soft yellow glow, the gentle heat soothing any bites from the cold. Your father wouldn't be home for dinner, you knew, as knights stayed at the castle, but a part of you still wished he would walk through your front door so you could tackle him in a warm hug and know that he was doing okay.
"(Y/n), dear," your mom started after dinner was over, both of you lounging around the house reading. You looked over at your mom, a confused frown on your face. "You know that I'm very proud of you, right?"
You studied your mom for a moment, concern washing over you, replacing the gentle warmth that had settled in your chest from the day you'd been having before this moment. "Yes Ma, I know," you said, giving her the kindest smile you could offer. She smiled back at you.
"You're going to do wonderful things someday, my love. I can see it in your eyes," she said softly, so softly you wondered if you were even supposed to hear it.
But you did. "What do you mean?" you asked, closing you book after gently sliding a bookmark in to save your page. Your mom shook her head.
"It's nothing, dear. Nothing at all."
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As it turns out, it wasn't nothing at all.
It was a very big something.
Your mother was ill. So you set out to try and find a cure for her. At first you were very hopeful; your mother was a well known woman, and your father was a respected man, so many people offered to help you in your pursuit of finding a cure. The only issue was, well... no one was sure there even was one.
"It'll be alright, dear," Millie tried to soothe you as you sat in the bakery, her husband standing off to the side still running the shop so Millie could have some time to talk to her. You sighed.
"How... how can you be so sure?" you asked, standing up to be ready in case the current customer needed help balancing the goods she'd purchased. Millie simply smiled at you.
"Your mom's a tough woman. She's too stubborn to die just yet." You laughed a little at that, realizing that it was probably true. No one yet had managed to rival your mom's stubbornness.
"Millie, my love, if I may have a word with her," Millie's husband said, walking over and putting a gentle hand on his wife's shoulder reassuringly. Millie nodded, reaching up and giving her husband's hand a gentle, comforting squeeze, before going off to run the bakery in his place. You looked up at him, feeling a little nervous, not having spoken to Millie's husband too often, but she spoke of him as if he were a kind and honest man, so you'd simply have to trust that.
"...your mom and I were friends when we were children," he began slowly, staring off for a moment with a small fond smile. You found yourself smiling at that; it seems as though that was everyone's reactions to your mom when thinking back to their childhood. The fondness in you chest grew, a melancholic ache inside of you knowing that your mom seemed to have touched so many people's lives, yet she was close to losing her own. "I've known her for as long as I can remember, and I know... it must be tearing you up inside, what's happening right now." You nodded, biting your lip as your smile fell to make way for the slight tremble that came with the threat of tears. "I want to help you help her, (y/n). You and your mother have changed me and Millie's lives since we first met you, and I think it's high time I paid it forward." You ignored the sting in your eyes, taking a deep breath in and slowly letting it out.
"...do you know how to help my mother?" you asked quietly, shakily. You felt as though you were slowly turning to glass; one wrong move and you'd break, your hopeful attitude crumbling under the weight of the hopeless reality.
"I may know a way," he said, looking pained. "But I can't teach you how to do it."
"It? Do what?" you asked, feeling your heart begin to race in your chest. This could be your chance. This could be the answer you'd bee looking for. Maybe you could finally save your mom.
"If you go the the castle, you can find a man named Merlin. If what your mom says is true, then he will be able to teach you what you need to know."
"Merlin? You mean the wizard guy?" you asked, your brows scrunching in confusion, though that feeling of confusion did lessen the sting in your eyes as your worry slowly started to be replaced with determination.
"Yes, the wizard," Millie's husband agreed, grabbing your hand and holding it gently. "You can do this, (y/n). I have complete faith in you." You gave him a shaky smile, one he returned without hesitation.
"Thank you," you whispered, hugging him tightly. He hugged back hesitantly, Millie watching out of the corner of her eye with happy tears gathered in her eyes. He pulled away and gave you one last reassuring pat on the shoulder, before returning to the bakery front. Millie returned to your side, hugging you as well, her gentle aura enough to calm you down. It wasn't the same as your mother's hugs, but Millie had always been a huge part of your life; the kind blonde woman would be someone you would never forget.
"Good luck, (y/n). I know you can do it." She pressed a gentle kiss on your forehead and went to join her husband, leaving you to set off for the castle.
It was time for you to find Merlin and save your mom.