Arturia Pendragon
"Excuse me, Your Majesty." The melodious alto of Sir Bedivere caused the clashing of metal to pause. The circle of swordsman around the King of Britannia paused at the interruption then stepped backward, lowering their blades, at a gesture from the armored women in the middle of the circle.
"What is it, Bedivere?" The quiet voice of the Arturia Pendragon asked as she turned toward the woman who had interrupted sword practice. Arturia had taken to heart one important thing when it came to training: train like you're going to fight. So when it came time to train, she always found herself in the middle of a circle of her own warriors.
"Lucius has returned from the south." Bedivere explained calmly as her King's attention rested fully upon her. "I believe that he has confirmation of the landings reported in the south." She ignored the noise of the others leaving the courtyard so that the two of them alone. "Galenus is with him, Majesty."
King Arturia, whom history would record as King Arthur, nodded in response. "See the Round Table assembled. I will be there presently." Bedivere sketched a bow then disappeared as well, leaving Arturia alone with her thoughts.
If Lucius, later knows as Lancelot, had arrived from the south with Galenus, or Galahad as he would be renamed, then the news must be pressing indeed. She had sent Lucius south to scout the roman city of Londinium to see if the initial reports of Roman Legions landing was true. And to get an accurate count of how many troops to expect.
Arturia leaned on her sword, the sword that had been in the stone, absently as she continued to contemplate the matter. After a moment, she shook herself mentally and carefully sheathed Excalibur before leaving the training ground empty behind her. Purposefully, she crossed from the training grounds into Camelot proper, ascending the steps to both her fortress and the administrative center of her realm. So preoccupied was she that the barely acknowledged the respectful bows of her subjects that served her here.
The doors to the room which contained the Round Table were open, as they were when the council seated around it were not in meeting. The two guards present snapped to full attention as she approached, one hand resting on the sword each wore on his hip. She could hear murmurings with the chamber, which told her that at least some of her lords were already present. She gave a nod as she crossed the threshold into the chamber beyond. The murmuring died as she entered, making the soft clinking sound of her metal shod boots audible in the sudden silence. Those seated rose to their feet as she crossed the room to her own place at the far side of the table, facing the door.
Arturia settled into her seat, resting Excalibur in front of her with the point toward the center of the table. Those Lords who were present, including Sir Bedivere, settled into the own places. Those who were not already present sketched a respectful bow to their King as they arrived then took their seats. Arturia let the conversation, now muted a bit since her arrival, flow over her without really focusing on one particular discussion. It seemed that everyone knew why they had been called, however.
Not all of the Round Table was present, of course. Some few, primarily those who's lands were in the western-most part of the realm, were at home. Several years before, raids from the various tribes that lived in the northern lands had begun to peck at the coastline of Britannia. And had only grown in strength as time had gone on. As such, the bulk of her army and those of the lords not present, were preoccupied with the task of dealing with the varying marauders that she really could have done without.
The presence of Roman Legions arriving on her southern border was expected, as she had dealt with them for many years now. Those who's lands were in the south, such as Bedivere, were more concerned about this invasion then those further north.
Sir Lucius, who's lands technically included Londinium and the area thereabouts, was the last to arrive. With his son Galenus in tow, the two bowed gracefully to their sovereign and took their own seats. Lucius, who had been the Roman general who'd opposed her first concerted effort to unify Britannia nearly forty years before, cleared his throat before speaking. He was getting to be a bit in long in the tooth and would probably step down in a few years, leaving his son to rule in his place.
Galenus would hardly be the first to inherit a seat at the Round Table. Like Bedivere and others like her, he would take the place of his father. Truthfully, roughly a third of those who had a voice here were second generation themselves. One of the first things Arturia had done was to eliminate the laws requiring the eldest son to inherit both lands and title, opening up inheritance to whomever was qualified. It had taken a dozen years or so, and a few minor rebellions, before realization of how serious Arturia was sank in.
Given that inheritance of title and lands required HER consent as well that of the current Lord had done a fairly good job of shaking up the underlying structure. And had given her some frightfully efficient subordinates as a result.
With a certain amount of mental effort, Arturia yanked her stray strands of thought back on track then gestured for Lucius to speak. "Go ahead, Sir Lucius."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Lucius rose to his feet, glancing around the gathered members before continuing. "It is my estimate that we face no less that six legions, based on the number of ships that have recently arrived in port as well as the presence of six confirmed legion banners."
Arturia drummed the fingers of her left hand on the oaken table a few times as the news sank in. To draw on that much strength meant that the Empire had to have reduced either their northern or their western armies significantly. Possibly both. "Speak your peace, my lords." She spoke into the silence, opening the subject of response up for debate. Not surprisingly it was Bedivere, who's lands were based around Cadbury Castle and the original home of the royal court, who spoke up first urging the strongest possible response. It would ultimately be Arturia's decision as King of Britannia as to what happened, but as Merlin had taught her those many years ago, only a fool fails to listen to the council of her subordinates.
The news was more surprising than unsettling, it would hardly be the first time that the armies of Britannia faced such strength. However, with the bulk of the army of Camelot scattered along the western coast, it meant that this campaign would simply be more than gathering the necessary forces from garrisons and stomping the legions flat.
While Caerleon and Camelot Castle were in no danger of invasion, the same could not be said for the bulk of Britannia. Arturia let the conversation flow over and around her as the day progressed into evening. Dinner came and went with barely a pause in the debate. When servants were lighting the magical orbs that served as illumination for the castle during the night, Arturia decided that the debate had gone on long enough. Besides, people were starting to repeat themselves.
She rose to her feet, drawing every eye to her, and stilling the conversation finally. She picked up her sword, rapping the golden hilt on the wooden table to signal an end of the debate. "I will announce a decision upon the morrow shortly after breakfast in the throne room." She sheathed her sword before continuing. "I bid you good night, my lords."
With that, she walked around the table and left the chamber. She headed across the castle to the location where her own chambers were. She climbed the three steps that separated her private chambers from the rest of the castle, letting one of the guards both open and close the door behind her. She passed from the antechamber where she received any early morning visitors to the bedchamber. She paused in the entrance to whisper a few words of power. While she hardly considered herself a Magus of Merlin's skill, she hadn't exactly been slacking when he'd started teaching her magic. Her body glowed briefly then her armor morphed into what resembled a simple peasant smock. With Excalibur and her armor safely tucked into the nether-space that she stored it, which Merlin had sworn was completely safe to do, Arturia turned her attention to a much needed bath before bed.
Her maid appeared, probably alerted by the glow of her transformation. "Good evening, Your Majesty." The maid bowed respectfully then moved to follow her as she headed to the bath chamber beyond, so called the bath chamber because of the oversized tub that dominated the room which Arturia could sink into whenever whim struck.
The maid had been one of the few points of contention between her and her old mentor but in the end she'd given into Merlin's argument. While she'd certainly been doing all those things for herself while she was growing up, now that she was King she had better things to do than prepare meals and draw baths. He'd been right, of course, but it had taken some getting used to.
Arturia called a simple orb of light into existence as she crossed into the bathing chamber, absently undressing so she could climb into the inviting looking water. She left the orb hanging in midair as she settled into the lukewarm water. "I'm going to be up a while longer, Limwris." She told her maid, who stood attentively in the open space that served as a doorway. "Go ahead and get some sleep, as I'll probably be up early as well."
The maid sketched a respectful bow before speaking. "I'll lay out your night clothes then, Your Majesty. Sleep well." Limwris left the doorway to finish the last errand before heading to her own chambers next door to get some sleep.
Arturia murmured a quick spell that would heat up the water, one of the first that she'd learn half a century or so ago. She continued to concentrate on it until it reached the temperature she desired, then she released the spell, settling in all the way up to her neck. Her mind mulled over the various arguments that she'd heard from around the Round Table, and suddenly realized that she'd made this decision before.
In fact, it was the exact same situation as she'd encountered when she'd first faced off against Lucius and his roman legions. That had indeed been around forty years ago, which meant that she was approaching sixty. Yet she still barely looked or felt different than she had those many years ago. Wiser perhaps but that was all. Knowing what decision she was going to make, Arturia settled into the warm water for a long soaking.
In the morning, she'd gather forces composed primarily of those drawn from the lords of the round table near the city of Bath. Only this time, she intended to completely raze Londinium so that those Roman barbarians would no longer have a foothold into her realm. Humming to herself, Arturia slipped out of the tub and went to bed, extinguishing the orb of light behind her.
Just another day here in Camelot.