#that claudas felt a sense of purpose again when he found him

[ofglories]

LOST + claudas!

|| Glimpses of the Past prompts ; accepting! send LOST for a scene from my muse's past in which they felt lost, literally or figuratively

The castle had fallen without much of a fight.

His men were cheering, sitting down to eat in the great hall as if it were an ordinary day. And Claudas...could only stare, blankly, over the balcony. Far to the south his lands were still naught but a desolate wasteland, burned fields and forests and villages standing like stark reminders. Like memorials to the dead. And still the monster that started it all sat safe and secure in his palace across the sea. Rich and spoiled, like a pig ripe for the slaughter.

But what was he to do now?

Claudas had gone to war with the men his sisters had married for their failure to stop Uther Pendragon's march to his lands. What had once been the most beautiful kingdom in all of Gaul, so much so that even the Romans in their barbarity had loved it, was reduced to ashes and cinders. All thanks to their cowardice in mustering their armies! The most insulting part had been that they hadn't hesitated to raise arms against him later! So of course he'd had to crush them underfoot. If only Ban and Elaine hadn't escaped with their son in tow to the wilderness. It was a shame that the babe was likely as dead as they were now.

Which left... King Bors and Evaine's son.

Or sons, if the frightened maids were to be believed.

But where were they?

And...what was he to do if he did find them?

That made the fire die down for a moment, replaced with an icy wave of grief. His wife and sons would still not have the home he had built for them. One of his sisters was dead now, the other had abandoned her children and fled somewhere not even her maids knew. And Uther Pendragon, the wretch, was still alive.

It left him feeling...cold.

Claudas sighed softly, dully taking in the gardens beneath him, the shining lake in the distance just barely visible beyond the forest. What was there to do now...? Once more muster his men to this time invade Britain was the easy answer. But a sea crossing would take time to prepare for. And then there was the fact that he knew for certain that Camelot was not a sole island surrounded purely by enemies. No matter how foul the king's deeds, his predecessor had built a proper network of alliances. A hand raised, pinching between his brows.

Should he search for the children? Maybe so.

Maybe then he would know what he was to do next.