This is the first chapter of my contribution to this year's Captain Swan Big Bang. If you don't know them, please check them out on tumblr, you might find many other stories that you like :D
A huge thanks to my wonderful beta onceuponadisneypotter, feel free to check out her blog on tumblr or AO3 (same name).
Also, thisisartyanna made an amazing artwork for this particular scene, you can find her on tumblr, as well! Oh, and the cover is also her work :)
Anyway, enough talk. Everything is said. Here goes.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, I just like playing with them.
The throne room of Camelot was bursting with people. The Knights of the Round Table were guarding the king and the prisoner while ordinary guardsmen were struggling to hold off the ferocious mob. Peasants, clerics and lords, they all had come to see the downfall of Morgana le Fay, half-sister to their king.
Arthur himself sat on the throne, raised above the common people, Excalibur placed on his lap and his head held high. There was a royal dignity in his posture that radiated power and pride. His face betrayed no emotion but for the sadness in his eyes as looked down on his sister.
He was guarded by Sir Lancelot and Sir Gawain, two of his most trusted knights. Gawain, his loyal cousin, stood to his right, and Lancelot, his oldest friend, to his left.
Morgana was guarded by Sir Percival and Sir Kay. They held her down on her knees, where she had to lift her head to look upon the king. She seemed unaffected by all the insulting screams from the mob, not even looking up when a decayed egg was thrown at her. Her long, dark hair screened her face from them, and her eyes were fixed on her brother as she waited for the trial to begin.
Just once her gaze flickered to the queen, Guinevere, who sat at Arthur's side, a little further behind. The pity on the queen's beautiful face was plain, and she tensed at every insult thrown at the prisoner.
Only one knight guarded her, only Sir Tristan. Rumor had it Arthur never let any man near his queen but the loyal knights whose heart belonged to another.
"People of Camelot", Arthur began. "We have gathered here today to decide the fate of Morgana Jones née le Fay. Morgana, you have been accused of witchery by your husband. Do you deny the crime?"
Morgana hesitated for a moment."No", she answered, her voice loud and clear.
The screams in the mob got louder.
'She doesn't even deny it!'
'Witch!'
'Burn her!'
"You are aware that witchery is forbidden by the law of Camelot, and punishable by death?" Arthur continued, his iron voice cutting through the noise like a sword.
"I am", Morgana replied, her eyes locked with his.
"Then that be your fate", Arthur said, quietly and yet well audible.
The shouts reached their peak at these words.
'Burn her! She has to die!'
"NO!" A boy of maybe twelve screamed on the other side of the hall, reserved for the family of the accused. The dark haired man next to him held him back as he tried to get to his mother. The boy yanked his arm free, but remained silent.
Morgana, who had observed the scene with a slight turn of her head, closed her eyes for a moment.
Lancelot stirred. He turned to the king.
"She is your sister, my liege", he whispered in his deep, calm voice.
Arthur sighed as he watched all manner of things being thrown at her, eggs, vegetables, insults.
"I know. But what can I do? I told her not to use magic", he answered, only for Lancelot to hear.
"Silence!" he demanded loudly.
A few last tomatoes were thrown. Morgana, as well as the guards holding her, was covered in decayed food from head to toe. Someone, it seemed, had even thrown horse dung.
"Your execution will be set for the next sunrise, the holy time of day. You will die by fire. You can spend the night praying that God has mercy with your soul."
Morgana didn't answer.
The crowd cheered.
'She'll burn! The witch will burn!'
"She never harmed anyone!" her son screamed, tears running down his cheeks.
"Don't", his father said quietly.
'Burn her spawn, too!', the crowd demanded.
"Quiet!" Arthur shouted. "Law demands that all female offspring of a witch be burned with her. Do you have a daughter?"
Morgana looked at him in horror, eyes wide open, pleading. Lancelot slightly turned his head, looking at Arthur from the corner of his eyes.
"DO YOU?" Arthur yelled.
"Y-Yes", her husband answered.
"Father!" the son exclaimed.
Morgana flinched.
"Where is she?" the king asked.
The man looked down.
"My king, I thought she was too young to…"
"Bring her in. Bring ALL her children in!"
The door opened, and two guards entered. One dragged a girl of maybe ten years with him; the other one held an even younger boy.
"No, no, please!" Morgana was crying now. "I beg you! You can kill me, but don't harm my children!"
She swallowed hard.
"I always obeyed your law", she declared. "I never used magic since it was passed. I burned all my books and spells, I lived a normal life. But I had no choice! My younger son played with a knife and cut his face. The wound was infected. He would have died if I hadn't used magic to save him. To heal him! Which is what I only ever used my magic for. To heal people!"
She turned to the mob, her face covered in tears.
"You know that! I helped some of you. I saved your lives! Is this how you repay me?"
Some people looked away, clearly embarrassed, but someone threw another handful of dung and hit her right in the face.
The crowd burst into laughter, and more things were thrown.
'100 points if you hit that whore's face! 150 if you get one between her tits!', someone shouted.
Morgana turned away. Her hands were bound behind her back, and she couldn't wipe her face clean.
"Leave her alone!" the older son demanded again. A tomato was thrown at him then, too, and the guards placed themselves in front of him.
Arthur turned to see the younger son. He had a fresh scar on his cheek and was fighting to break free from the guard that held him.
His gaze lingered on the boy for a second or two, and the corner of his mouth twitched when he watched him fight.
Then he turned back to the prisoner.
Morgana took a deep breath to calm her sobs.
"To by no means be cruel but to give mercy unto him who asks for mercy. Isn't that part of the Code of Chivalry? And I am begging you for mercy! Not for myself, but for my daughter! She is eleven years old!"
Arthur considered it for a while and finally rose from his throne.
"The girl may live. But the witch must die!" he announced.
Shouts of protest came from the crowd.
Arthur thrust Excalibur in the granite stone by his feet.
"I AM THE KING!" he thundered. "AND WHEN I SAY THE GIRL LIVES, SHE LIVES!"
He gestured for the guards to bring Morgana to her cell.
In that moment the younger boy forcefully stepped on the guard's foot and broke free. He ran towards Arthur and grabbed the only weapon he could see, the sword Excalibur.
With one swift movement, he pulled it from the stone and tried to point it at Arthur, not quite able to hold its weight.
"Let her go!" he screeched, unaware of the shocked gasps around him.
Morgana inhaled sharply.
"Killian!" his father hissed. "Get back here!"
"Put down the sword, boy", Arthur said tensed.
Lancelot came up behind the boy and lifted him off his feet, holding him tight while Arthur took the sword from his grip.
The guards took the boy again, this time two of them.
Arthur stared at the sword, then at the boy, and last of all at Morgana.
The people around were silent, still not able to grasp what had just happened.
Suddenly there were murmurs.
'Fraud!'
'There ain't no magic sword!'
They turned into angry shouts.
"QUIET", Arthur screamed. "Tomorrow, the witch and her daughter will burn. Her husband and sons will attend the execution to see what happens to those who disobey me. And if they are ever seen in Camelot after sundown, they will be killed. I hereby exile them! Now EVERYBODY OUT!"
One by one, the common people left the hall, followed by the guards who dragged the prisoner and her family with them. When the door closed, the only ones left in the hall were Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere, who had remained silent throughout the trial.
Now she rose to her feet.
"How could you!" she said, her voice trembling with anger. "You sentenced your sister and a child to death!"
"I am well aware, thank you!" Arthur answered through gritted teeth.
He thrust Excalibur back into the stone and braced himself on the throne. Suddenly he kicked it with a scream of rage.
"Pull it out!" he said to Lancelot. "The sword! Pull it out of the stone!"
Lancelot exchanged a look with Guinevere.
"My liege, you know as well as I do that…"
"PULL IT OUT!"
Lancelot slowly walked towards Excalibur and grabbed it. He pulled, but nothing happened.
"PULL HARDER!"
Lancelot obeyed, but the sword would still not move.
"YOU'RE BLUFFING!" he yelled, coming up next to him and roughly pulling at his arm. When the sword still didn't come free, he let go.
He sank onto his throne, exhausted.
"I'm sorry", he whispered, covering his face with his hands. "I'm sorry."
For a moment Lancelot thought he was crying.
"There is still time to save them", he suggested. "Exile them, together with the boys."
"No. I can't do that. The boy pulled out Excalibur in front of all these people! They laugh at me! I had to do something to regain their respect!"
"And killing a little girl is the way?" Guinevere hissed.
"Morgana shouldn't have used magic. The moment she did, and her husband betrayed her, there was nothing I could do for her. I am the king, and I can't even save my sister!"
"So you would have preferred it if she let your son die?" Lancelot asked quietly.
Arthur jerked his head up and pointed a finger at him. "Careful, Lancelot. Don't make me regret I trusted you with that secret."
"Soon it won't be a secret anymore. Not now, after he pulled out the sword. Rumors spread faster than diseases. He does look a lot like you."
"He also looks a lot like his mother, let's hope they fall for that. His stepfather did."
He sighed.
"If Kay hadn't been there when her husband reported her, none of this would've happened. If I had been alone, I could have made it subtle."
"No!" Guinevere crossed her arms. "If you hadn't slept with your sister, none of this would have happened!"
"It was eight years ago, we weren't even engaged and you're still angry at me. It was a mistake! But I can't take it out on the boy, can I?"
Lancelot knelt before Arthur.
"My king, let me help her. Morgana helped me when no one else would. I wouldn't be standing here if it wasn't for her. I owe everything to her! Let me free her, and the girl. I can leave Camelot today, we will be far away by sunrise. You can tell them I betrayed you. We could go to Misthaven, nobody would find us. I can make sure her family is fine, including your son!"
Arthur shook his head.
"No. It's too risky. We can't save her. But we could still save the girl, I suppose. Burn a peasant child in her place, nobody would know the difference."
"That you would even suggest that!" Guinevere gasped.
"Do you have a better idea? There is nothing we can do for them!" Arthur rose from his throne.
"If we could prove that magic can be used for good…", Lancelot started, but Arthur yanked up his left sleeve, exposing the big ugly scar that began somewhere under his glove and went up his arm.
"Don't praise the dragon that burns your foe, it could turn its head and kill you the same. My father knew what he was doing when he passed that law. Or have you forgotten what happened in Dumnonia?"
His piercing blue eyes burned into the other man.
"I won't allow the same thing to happen to Camelot."
Without another word, he left the hall.
Guinevere looked at Lancelot. She came forward and gently touched his arm.
"Can you save them?" she asked pleadingly.
The knight nodded.
"I will try. But I think I will need the help of an old friend."