The dust settled, revealing the horrors of war but this is what he was born of, his entire life, why should he expect to see anything other than the mutilated bodies of his warriors, to see the destruction they had wrought through this once peaceful ground. He held no regret for what he had done, he felt no sorrow, in fact, he felt nothing. The wind swept across the ground clearing away all the dust, sweeping the smell of sweat and blood across the atmosphere, drowning them in its scent. In fact it was perhaps the most potent smell in that moment, something he adored in many ways, the smell of the oppositions blood. It was not long before the darkening sky had settled to the darkest shade of blue, scattered with diamonds, sparkling in a manner too beautiful for this scene, for something so precious did not belong over the grounds that had become little more than a graveyard. There was no sign of any moon, perhaps hidden behind the tree in the distance, swaying slightly in the breeze that settled over the blood saturated fields, the single sound of metal clinking as the few of his men that survived started to move, back towards their camp.
"ARTHUR!" A Woman screams broke across the silence, and he felt himself shudder at the sound of horror in her voice. He closed his eyes, and felt a human part of him return, he was a man of war, this is what he knew, but he was just a man. "Arthur, what... What happened?"
"Guinevere, I told you to remain behind!" Arthur gritted between his teeth, he looked at her face, a picture of terror, she looked so powerful, so proud, sitting atop a brilliant white stallion, her peaches and cream skin contrasting wonderfully against her long dark locks, flowing in ringlets in the breeze. "I told you to stay."
"You've told me many things Arthur, you'd be a fool to believe I'd start listening now," She looked around, still able to see the battlefield under the light of the stars, as minimal as it may be. Her face showed how much all this death hurt her, for she was not a warrior, she was and always had been of noble birth. "What happened?"
"I tried to reason with them Guinevere, you know I have, but these lands belong to us, this power is ours and for them to try and take it from us... We can't allow it, this Magic, it's too much to simply give away," Arthur looked torn as he watched the beauty before him look away to the night sky, a single tear falling from her eyes, she knew she wished it didn't have to be like this, but they fought fairly, and that's all that could be done to stop her leaving, because in truth it broke her heart.
"I understand Arthur; perhaps we can have order in time..." Her hand caressed her stomach, no true sign of her condition showed yet, but they knew. He looked once more over the grounds, before placing his sword into its scabbard a single ruby at it's hilt glinting blood red in the little light provide, the sword was blood stained with streaks of deep red ruining it's beauty. Both the man and the woman looked at for a long moment before sighing; it hadn't been intended for this. "It's found a meaning at the very least."
Arthur looked at the beautiful woman, her rose lips were turned down in a frown as she carefully lowered herself from the stallion and moved towards him, she reached out, a delicate hand resting against his chest before she pulled herself flush against his body, his own hands quickly finding their place around her waist and holding her close. He could easily feel the heat of her body and smell the scent of rose water in her ebony locks, she was in every sense the most beautiful thing in the world to him and as she stood with him, her deep blue eyes searching his, he could not help but realise that he needed her to understand and love him unconditionally.
"It's alright, I know, if they had this before they could handle the things we can do… I imagine chaos would ensue, I don't want that any more than you do, my love," her voice was regal and well educated, she spoke with definitive tones and sincerity, she doubted him for not a single moment. "For them this is dangerous, more so than anything they could ever imagine, as much for us we have to stop them from finding our people for them."
"It will forever be like this, won't it?" Arthur asked, his own larger hand falling softly over that of his partners, she smiled at him gently letting him know that they would make it work, but how he did not know. "We'll have to do something. Something drastic, I think it's time we create a council to deal with this," he looked to a trusted friend, a tall dark a brooding man who was helping loads horses with their surviving wounded. "Gather the elders, spread the word, we need to convene."
The man Arthur had spoken to stood and nodded his head, he knew instinctively what Arthur meant, he simply knew Arthur. Neither of them wanted this, on both sides too much had been lost… Some had taken it harder than others, a lot of people wanted revenge, but Arthur knew better and having listened to his trusted friend Lancelot also knew better. They'd always lived by rules, ones that ensured their safety and that they didn't abuse what they had, to do so would have been the greatest sin.
It was only a matter of days before Arthur found himself heading towards large oak doors, he pushed them open and marvelled for a moment, before him was a great room of magnificent beauty. Large and open it was decorated with painting of those that mattered in this world, or in this room, large burning torches shone around the room, sending a fantastic golden glow over everything, and in the middle of the room was the most beautiful item, a large round table, it was thick and heavy looking, polished and smooth looking and in the centre a large red dragon, it looked something like a rare creature Arthur had only seen once or twice, but fascinated him greatly. Around the table were twelve matching thrones, each standing majestically, empty and brilliant.
"Sire, the lords, they are here," Arthur nodded at the young boy who had spoken, he sent him away and took a deep breath preparing himself.
"ARTHUR!" A male voice roared, hands slamming his hands down on the round table, barley making it shake with its solidarity. "They slaughtered Le Fey! Left his wife behind with babe, what do you expect from us? To die for those worthless-"
"Be quiet Ethereld!" Guinevere snapped from her position beside Arthur, the man was useless, and easily offended. The audacity of him stomping into their home like this was beyond anything she witnessed before. "We took action as we said we would, there should be a calm for a while."
Ethereld, an aging noble man glared in Guinevere's direction, she had always been outspoken, pregnancy had not helped the situation. She looked to Lancelot's lover, a beautiful dark haired woman, not unlike herself, named Elaine, she had however the most stunning blue eyes. She like Guinevere was pregnant.
Arthur looked around the able and sighed heavily, the constant acts of deranged wizard and human alike was growing uncontrollable.
"I will declare a council, my knight and an elected committee, the council will discuss the issues that each may hold with current events, however we will equally punish those who act out of hand," Arthur declared as the flash of thought hit him like lightning. "We will do this fairly Ethereld, if you have an issue with our ways dealing with the problems we suffer, join the council, and voice your opinions where things can be voted upon fairly."
Arthur looked at his knights, all of them sat around the table, some had wives and children by their sides, it was true that this continual battle could not be allowed to go on forever unsupervised in some manner. His father King Uther had run council to oversee many different sectors of his kingdom, and Arthur could not see a reason not to do so with his lands and powers.
"Are we agreed."
"Agreed."
"Ethereld, we will act as council over all things magic, summon the users, we have much to discuss."
