Chapter 1: Here is a Riddle, to Guess if You Can
Children were warned of the Monster that lived in the Dark Tower.
Arthur, from a young age, was warned time and again not to try and go into the tower for fear that the monster would eat him. Arthur wouldn't have tried anyway; not only had his father forbade him, but the entrance was hidden, secret. Arthur couldn't have accessed it if he tried. Not for lack of trying—he went through a rebellious stage when he was nine and attempted to follow his father as his father went to visit the creature.
Arthur never found the entrance. It gave him some small solace when his half-sister, Morgana, couldn't, either.
Arthur grew quickly, becoming head of the Knights of Camelot at the tender age of eighteen. Eager and willing to prove his leadership, he led his men on quests that always ended in victory. With encouragement from Morgana and Gaius, the Court Physician, as well as Morgana's maid and good friend, Gwen, Arthur nurtured his compassion and kindness until they were as sharp as the blades he wielded.
He often wondered if he'd have been a larger prat if his father had been in his life more consistently. But that wasn't so; Uther was busy at the Palace of Justice most days and only showed when he felt necessary.
Uther was lawyer, Judge and executioner. Anyone with magic (or affiliated with magic, for that matter) was swiftly sentenced to death.
Arthur first visited the Palace, when he was fifteen. His father led him down the shadowy halls where the screams reverberated, rattling around in Arthur's head until he could barely hear anything else. He watched a young boy, no older than twelve, mopping up the floor of sticky red liquid—which Arthur realized was blood. He'd seen it before, of course, but he felt sick to the stomach knowing that the person it had belonged to, had given life to, was no longer in this world.
Uther swept by the boy without a glance, but Arthur had shot the boy a small smile, in hopes of cheering him up. The boy smiled slightly in return from under unkempt dark hair. His skin was paler than any other Arthur had seen, and he wondered what the boy had done to deserve work in such a place.
Arthur watched as whips were snapped about in the air, as cranks stretched bone until they broke, as guards practiced with their bows and spears by hunting young teens down like wild boar, as women and children screamed as their eyes were gouged out . . .
"They're Sorcerers." Uther had said, "They aren't human."
"Yes, father." Arthur had said, his face blank as he watched a screaming woman, face wrinkled with time, lowered into a vat of boiling water.
Arthur never wanted to go back there again.
He left that placed sickened by what his father did. He swore that when he was king, the Palace of Justice would be torn down, stone by stone.
Morgana and Gwen agreed with him.
Since Uther was rarely around, the three of them would often go on trips out of the city—usually with Sir Leon to accompany them. Out of all of the knights, Sir Leon was the only one who was loyal to Arthur and Arthur alone.
He would never speak of what they did.
For though they said they were hunting trips—indeed, Arthur did do some hunting for show—they traveled throughout the kingdom, speaking with their people and helping them when they could. Morgana and Arthur were easily the best swordsmen in the land, though Sir Leon and Gwen were not bad and bandits and vagabonds that attacked villagers were swiftly dealt with.
(Arthur found that he could barely stomach hunting after his visit to the Palace of Justice. He preferred to fight and kill people who were doing the same to other, more defenseless people.)
The people loved Arthur and Morgana, calling them the Light of Camelot. Arthur tried not to let it go to his head.
Along their travels they met many people, but a few struck chords within. One was a man by the name of Lancelot, who was brave and had the heart of a knight. He was common born, however. Often Arthur would call him up and together they would go on quests. Arthur promised to one day knight him, when Arthur ruled these lands.
Another was Percival, a large man with a kind heart. He saved Gwen from falling off of a cliff when bandits had attacked them. Arthur pointed him in the direction of Lancelot and last he had heard the two had hit off and were traveling about the land, earning names for themselves as patrons of the people.
Elyan, Gwen's brother, was yet another. Arthur and Sir Leon had not known at the time who the man was, only that he had helped them in escaping the Slave Trader Jarl's lair. When they stumbled into Morgana and Gwen's camp, Gwen had gasped and flew into his arms. Then the story had come out, and Arthur kindly helped pay off Elyan's debts and welcome him back into Camelot. Arthur would sometimes go down to the blacksmith's shop and teach Elyan how to fight.
The last was a man by the name of Gwaine. Gwaine met Arthur in a bar brawl—and met him later in another brawl. In fact, almost every time Arthur met Gwaine, in was in some fight or another. Yet the man's talent with the sword rivaled even Arthur's. Gwaine was horrified to learn that Arthur was nobility—which he did after their third meeting. But Arthur's kindness to the people they had met the first two times were enough for Gwaine to give him a chance, and other the years Arthur had won Gwaine's trust.
From the darkness of the Tower, two bright blues eyes watched Arthur return to the city, grinning and golden. The sun shone off his armor, his smile aimed at his people and his friends. The eyes watched, jealously and longing lingering in their shadowed depths.
What I'd give just to live one day out there.
The eyes turned away from the light.