Chapter Seven:
"Guinevere, I need to ask a favour."
Gwen glanced back at her mistress. Morgana slept fitfully, soaked in sweat and shivering, plagued by nightmares and sickness both. Gwen was reluctant to leave her side, but she obediently stepped out into the corridor and closed the door partway behind her. "What is it, Arthur?"
"I need access to your forge. And…perhaps your help in using the equipment."
Gwen frowned a little. She wouldn't deny Arthur anything, but she had to admit that it was an unusual request. "Okay…?"
Arthur looked past her shoulder and checked the corridor behind him before he pulled a crystal from his pocket. "I need to destroy this."
"Isn't that-?"
"Yes. And if my father finds out I've melted it down there will be hell to pay, so I can't order you to help me…"
"I'll do it." Gwen didn't need to think twice. Morgana was dying, the people of Camelot were dying, and if this could help in some small part then she was more than willing to take the risk.
"Good. The sooner the better, though I may need to retrieve my cloak first. I'm afraid it is not terribly safe for me to be seen in public at the moment…"
"I heard what happened," Gwen said. Arthur was usually so well-loved by the people of Camelot; it was a sign of how desperate the situation had become that they would turn on their prince. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
"What about Merlin?"
Arthur grimaced. "Not so much." His fist clenched unconsciously around the crystal, almost as though he wanted to crush it into powder with his bare hands. "But he will be."
Gwen's gaze flicked to the crystal and back to Arthur's face. She thought she understood but she wouldn't dare to speak her suspicions out loud.
"Let me take it," she offered. "No one will look twice at me and this way you can focus on bigger problems."
Arthur's lips curved into the smile that was reserved only for her. "Thank you, Guinevere." He placed the crystal in her hand and let his touch linger for a few moments longer than necessary before he reluctantly withdrew. "Be careful."
"I will."
ooOOoo
Getting rid of the crystal pendant was the easy part. Strangely, Arthur felt lighter without it around his neck, as if it had been weighing him down without him even realising. But now he had a much bigger task ahead of him.
He donned a hooded cloak and slipped out into the quiet streets of the city. He kept to the shadows, wary of guards and civilians both, keeping a hand on his sword and an eye out for any sign of trouble. He skirted around the scene of the mob attack, knowing that Leon and the other knights would still be in the process of transporting the unconscious attackers to the dungeons. Hopefully once the device was destroyed the anger of the people would fade, but Arthur did not know how he was going to convince Uther to let the prisoners go free. He would not understand that they were only trying to save their families; all he would see were traitors who had tried to murder his son.
But Arthur could only address one problem at a time. He approached the outer walls of the city and, rather than face the guard on the stairs, scaled the wall with the use of a grappling hook. He crept along the parapet but paused a few yards from the first node. There were six knights, not the three that he had expected. With all the civil unrest Uther must have increased the guard.
Arthur drew back to consider his options. He was on his own; he couldn't cause a diversion and knock them out at the same time. It was possible he could best all six of them but in an all-out fight he couldn't be sure that he wouldn't hurt them, and too much of a commotion would alert the guards at the next node. If someone rang the warning bell his mission would be over before it began.
Making his decision, Arthur removed his cloak and stepped boldly into the light of the torches.
The knights had half-drawn their swords before they recognised him.
"Sire?"
"It's me," Arthur confirmed. "I have come to shut down the node."
"On the king's orders?" Sir Endrel asked.
Arthur wouldn't lie to them. "No. But the device is harming Camelot and I intend to see it destroyed."
He could read the shock on their faces. He waited for someone to challenge him, but though they still grasped their weapons none drew their swords on him.
"I will fight you if I must," he said. "But I would rather I didn't have to. I am doing this for the good of our city and her people. You have seen how they suffer. I would put an end to it."
The knights hesitated.
"My wife is pregnant," Endrel said finally. "She has become gravely ill since this device was activated and the midwife says that we are almost certain to lose the baby. I want my child to have a chance at life. If you want to destroy the device, Prince Arthur, I will not stand in your way."
"My grandmother died last week," Sir Bredan said. "She should have had many years ahead of her. I will not fight you, sire."
"The King ordered me to arrest a twelve-year-old boy yesterday," Sir Dwain said. "I will not oppose you."
"The people of this city are starving," Sir Calenor said. "If you think you can help them, I will not hinder your efforts."
"Nor I," Sir Gregen said.
"Nor I," Sir Kalon echoed.
"When my father learns of this there will be a steep price to pay," Arthur warned.
"Understood, sire," Endrel said.
"We have made our choice," Sir Kalon assured him.
Arthur nodded. They parted for him and offered no objection as he flipped the level that would power down the node. It stopped humming and Arthur found that he could think more clearly, as though the sound had been an irritation in the back of his mind without him being consciously aware of it. For good measure he pulled the device apart and retrieved the crystal. With a burst of strength, he cast it violently to the ground and it shattered into a thousand pieces.
"One down," Arthur said. He could only hope that the others would be as easy.
Sirs Calenor and Brendan found two large stones and set about grinding the crystal fragments into dust, while the other four knights accompanied Arthur to the next node.
"What is this?" Sir Yrig demanded.
Before Arthur could respond, Endrel had drawn his sword and stepped in front of him. "Stand down, Yrig. The prince has urgent business here and you would do well not to hinder him."
"Sire?"
"We are shutting down the device," Arthur explained, "before this entire city crumbles to ruin."
"But the Sentinel is all that protects our city from magic."
Arthur thought about Merlin, and the magic that he had used to save his life. "Magic is not the problem right now. Camelot was strong and flourishing before the device was activated; now look at it."
"But King Uther…"
Arthur knew he was asking a lot. These men had sworn fealty to their king and to go against him in such a blatant manner was an act of treason. "These actions are my own. I cannot order you to abandon your post, but I would not be doing this if I did not believe that it was the best thing for the kingdom."
Yrig seemed unsure, but his sword dipped towards the ground.
"If it makes it easier for you, we can knock you out," Endrel offered. "You can claim to have no memory of your attackers."
"You say… this is for the good of Camelot?"
"Yes."
Yrig stepped aside and his fellow guardsmen did likewise. "Do what you must, sire."
"Thank you, Sir Yrig."
Arthur destroyed the crystal as he had the last.
By the time he reached the fifth node he had gained quite a following. It was reassuring to know that he had the trust of his knights still, even after everything that had happened. So many soldiers marching along the walls together gained the attention of the townsfolk; they started out peering through windows and then gathering in the streets to watch them. When Arthur dropped the fifth crystal off the edge of the wall the crowd of onlookers cheered as it shattered against the cobblestones.
"Ar-thur! Ar-thur! Ar-thur!"
The restoration of the people's faith in him would have been heartening, if not for the fact that Arthur knew that word would undoubtedly get back to the king.
It was with a huge crowd at his back that Arthur marched on the citadel. He had meant for this to be an undercover operation but there was no chance for secrecy now.
He reached the courtyard to find that a wall of armed soldiers barred his way.
Uther stood at the top of the steps, sword drawn, eyes hard, fury etched into his features.
"What have you done?"
ooOOoo
