Title: A Once in a Life Love
Rating: Gen
Pairings: Hunith/Balinor
Characters: Hunith/Balinor
Summary: Sometimes you only love once in a lifetime
Warnings: None
Word Count: 762
Prompt: Love
Authors Notes:
Once in a lifetime Love
Hunith lay back, the pain slowly ebbing from her body, as she looked out of the window. It was on a night such as this, the snow falling and the wind howling that he’d appeared as if out of nowhere, exhausted and hurt. Matthew had found him in the barn when he’d gone to check the animals and brought him to her. As she tended his wounds he’d told them that he’d seen the smoke from the village and had come seeking shelter from the storm. He would not say where he’d come from, or how he’d come to be wounded. She was immediately drawn to this strange man. That he was noble she was sure of, despite his appearance, and found herself strangely nervous treating him while he watched her quietly. She found herself keeping silent vigil over him while he slept. Just... watching him.
Over the next few days she learnt his name was Balinor, but still, he wouldn’t say where he’d come from. She told him how it was that she’d come to Ealdor, her life that she’d run away from. Ealdor seemed to be made up of outsiders. It was a place where people could discard their past lifes and make a home. She discovered that he was also well-versed in healing arts and taught her much more than she’d ever dreamed of. She found her eyes meeting his frequently; he would touch her shoulder softly when he spoke to her. He came to tell her of his life, he came from a line of DragonLords, the last of his kind, possessing a type of magic; he was kin to the Dragons. Uther had tricked him into bringing the last dragon to his court, saying he wanted to show his trust. But Uther betrayed that trust, chaining the dragon – Kilgarrah, in the depths beneath Camelot and sentencing him to death. An old friend – Uthers very own court physician had helped him escape. He had feared for his life, and that of his dragons. They were so sure that Uther would not come looking for him in another Kingdom, but they were wrong. Months went by and they learnt each other’s secrets, hopes and deepest desires. She had never met anybody like him and told him so. He replied that he had never met anybody like her either. Life was good; they were living in perfect bliss together. It didn’t last. All it took was for Camelot's knights to be spotted in a nearby marketplace, asking of his whereabouts that their perfect life came crashing down. She hid him, once while the knights searched the village. It would not work a second time, no stone would remain unturned in the hunt. He had to leave and would not let her accompany him. They both knew it was goodbye, Uther was ruthless and would never stop searching for him.
When she felt the first signs of life stirring within her she was truly frightened for the first time in her life. Uther would not hesitate in killing her or the child. Matthew assured he that he and the other villagers would protect her. They were not loyal to Uther. As long as it stayed that way, she and her unborn child were safe, as much as she wanted to go and find him, she stayed, for their childs sake.
She vowed she would love and protect the child no matter what. It was all she had left of him, save a small wooden dragon he had carved for her, which she had hidden in her belongings.
The child could never know about the man she had come to love with all her heart. It was a once in a lifetime love, there would never be man such as Balinor again.
She was roused from her memories by the midwife, who was at her side, saying her name and looking frightened. She was unceremoniously handed the small bundle. She looked down at the tiny face with a shock of black hair and gold eyes looking up at her, and wept.