The light flickered as the summoning circle glowed; the shape of the summoned Servant taking form.
There was another flicker, and the Servant took on the shape of a man, dressed in garments of leather as well as armor tinted blue. Noteworthy was also the quiver he carried, identifying him of the Archer Class.
There was a calm silence, as both parties composed themselves.
Archer took a deep breath, sighing once, before he righted himself.
"I am Servant Archer. Upon your summoning, I have come forth, Master."
After a short pause, he nodded in the direction of the petite blonde, "Mistress."
"Likewise, Archer." His Master gave a nod of acknowledgement, the girl following suit.
She seemed rather tense, Archer mused. His musings were cut short however, by the introduction of his Master.
"My name is Emiya Shirou; its a pleasure meeting you, and I hope that we'll be able to work together."
Archer raised an eyebrow at the wording of his Master - Mister Emiya - but took his outstretched hand nonetheless.
He had a firm grip, at the very least. It seemed that his Master was not some incompetent magus and actually had a backbone.
Archer also noted the calluses on it, not unlike his own.
He raised his eyebrow.
Turning to the other occupant of the room, he spoke.
"… And who might you be, fair lady?"
There was a short, tense second of silence, until she answered, her voice wavering.
"…you may call me Saber."
He blinked. A Servant…? No, she was not. Perhaps a pet name or the likes? "Excuse me my inquiry, but that is the name of one of the participating classes; if I might ask you for your actual name? I would not wish for a situation to arise where you might be put in danger, which would undoubtedly occur with such a name."
Another second of silence, at which she shot his Master an indefinable look, before answering; dejectedly, almost.
"Artoria…" there was a second of pause, again (and Archer started to wonder if she might be under shock or denial, with how little she spoke until now) after which she added - whilst sporting a slight blush - "…Emiya."
Archer smiled a soft smile. It seemed that his Masters were wed. And by the affection clearly spoken in those words, either freshly or still very much in love.
It reminded him of his own wife, somewhat.
"My blessings."
He watched her blush again, seemingly lost in thoughts; so his attention turned to his Master.
And to his former train of thoughts.
"You practice archery yourself, do you not?"
There was a spark of surprise in those golden-brown eyes. "Yes."
A simple answer; just as Archer liked. "How come a magus would practice something as 'barbaric'?" There was a silent sneer to the last words, Archer thinking back to his encounters with Morgan or the likes.
Shirou snorted. "I excelled at archery before I did at magecraft; I learned from quite a young age." he smirked, "I also know quite some swordsmanship, Sir Knight."
Ah. The way he worded those words, there was no mistaking it: they knew who he was.
Archer gave a humored sigh. "A shame. I would've liked to introduce myself grandly."
Shirou shrugged. "Not everything's fair in life, would you not agree, Sir Tristan?"
The way Shirou spoke Archers name sent shivers down his spine, the lady muttering something under her breath.
"…I beg you pardon, Master?"
"'The King does not understand human emotions'."
Archer paled. How…?
Golden eyes locked his gaze, flashing dangerously. "Has it ever occurred to one of you that there was more to it? Has it ever crossed your mind to try to actually see the King's point of view once?" his voice turned into a whisper, "has it ever occurred to you to understand the Kings-"
"Shirou."
A soft hand was placed onto his arm, and he relented, releasing Archer from his bonds.
Understanding the view from Arthur's side…?
His voice croaked. "How do you-?"
Lady Artoria turned to him, her eyes flaring with emotion. "Tristan."
That one word. That single word broke the spell.
Archer stared in shock at the blonde.
"K-king Arthur?!"
She smiled a sad smile.
"How— what?!" Archers mind slowed to a halt.
It was true that he said that Arthur did not understand the emotions of the people, but!
But!
"A woman?!" That was simply absurd on so many levels Archer got a headache thinking about it.
King Arthur, the King of Knights; a paragon of chivalry, a beacon of stability - a man who was such a perfect king that he ceased to be a human being in the eyes of many.
A man Archer had looked up to, fought beside, and left at last because he could not agree with him anymore.
"…was a woman." He looked blankly at the slightly worried looking, mostly sad looking face.
And while he looked at her -her face, he glanced at his Master again, who had a stony gaze.
Now the comment of 'I hope' also made much more sense.
Archer swallowed thickly, glancing at the …King. "You always were a w-woman?"
She sighed and massaged her forehead in a painfully familiar gesture.
"Yes. Britain needed a ruler to stabilize the country, but no person worth their time would have accepted a woman as king. Thusly, I became king by hiding my gender."
"But that's-" Absurd. Impossible. It completely breaks away from reality. How could one go and hide their gender for a lifetime? That—
Archer gave a shaky laugh. "I truly never considered- I never would've though… That - it-"
He never would have considered Arthur to be…
A whisper, "No wonder Master Emiya said that we never understood you… How could we-?"
He inhaled once, closed his eyes and composed himself.
Exhaling, his gaze met that of his king.
"I truly never considered your objectives or actions for your, well, actions. Not many of us did, it seems."
She smiled softly.
"We hid behind your rule and left you at once when it turned out not to be how we imagined it."
A shaky sigh. "I even said those words…"
Still, even if Archer regretted saying that she was no human — for how could he see, truly see her view, if not only rank stood between them - and thus, responsibility - but the matter of her gender as well - which must have been hard to conceal — he still did not fully accept her choices.
There could have been better ones, with less sacrifices-!
She must have noticed his discomfort, as she shook her head slowly, that sad smile still present. "I forgive you, Tristan, as I understand your reasoning. And I also wish to apologize for not trusting you with the truth."
"Do not apologize." The words were more venomous than Archer intended, and he stopped himself, before elaborating in a much calmer tone. "You… you always were just and would forgive us, but at the same time were unrelenting and cold to most. It drove many knights mad. I… it almost was as if you wished for closeness, but would never allow anyone near you."
He sighed again. "In hindsight, if I would have kept my mouth shut on some …matters, maybe you would have trusted me more."
He smiled slightly; it was a strained thing. "My view on women and their role in-," he searched for the right word, "-the society of our times might not have been too encouraging."
She grinned slightly, despite herself. "I'd say. It truly filled my heart with rainbows and butterflies."
"Sarcasm does not suit you, Milady."
She raised her eyebrow. "Who said I was sarcastic?"
Still, the tension was broken, somewhat, and his Master choose to become part of their discussion once again, changing the subject.
"Saber, you really aren't good at this whole 'joking' thing. Anyways-" His gaze turned to Archer, clearly conveying the thoughts of 'We'll talk later'. "How about a small tournament? I'd like to find out how good you are, Archer."
Archer blinked, understanding the silent warning.
Even if his King forgave him - or was at least open to the idea of mending what was broken - her husband did not.
…the thought was still strange, though.
At last, a mischievous smirk crossed his features. "Gladly. A game in favor of Lady Emiya?"
In hindsight Archer would admit that it might have been to soon to tease them, but the rare blush that spread across his- no, the former King's and his Master's face was worth it.
Definitely.
Look! She actually managed to keep her word and update! Yeah, I did- but the cover's still not finished. There's still things missing. XD
(Puny Gemstone is Puny)
And I am happy that so many liked the Kerry chapter, so do not worry, for all of those who wished for our bubbly homunculus, she will be featured as well!
And now, Review time:
Vhosek: I don't think that I'll let them summon Archer, if I would,only after I'm through with the knights ^^
Polar Wolfstar: Hmm... it seems that quite a lot actually want me to write Morgan... I don't really know about that. But it definitely would be interesting.
Dragonjek: MHX? Hilarity ensues xD Maybe I'll actually write Alter and Lily, but I'm not too sure yet
Darth Vicious: Brave Sir Robin from Monty Python? I sincerely doubt it. As an Omake maybe XD
OBSERVER01: Blackmail, my dear friend. The art of blackmail is truly vicious; it has brought even the greatest heroes to their knees!
Evanemelga: Be my guest :) as long as I'm PMed about it, I'll allow others to continue them ^^
SilverWhiteDragon: That was the reaction I was hoping to create ;D Also, yup, the irony is not lost (well, maybe to Kerry)
CG-3m1y4: Ah, I wasn't sure anymore, so I went wit Otou-san. Shout-Out to Prillya. I couldn't resist xD Though, the Energy Corona is new to me.
I doubt that I'll include Robin Hood(s), but thanks for the Stones
idea. getthe: Alright then; though I didn't catch the reference, since I don't watch Gintama. I also was aware of the conditions of Kerry's and Saber's animosity, but the part with the Innate Time Control is new to me. Always good to learn new things xD
DrewB1442: Pearl sounds good, considering I don't have anything for him yet. The second, I dunno. Probably also, if I don't find anything better
E.R Man (Guest): I understand, and I know the feeling quite well. And I'm happy that I didn't dissapoint, and that you liked his 'Father Mode' xD
Iri is surely a part of it, but I don't know about Diarmuid. I actually already broke my formula of 'only knights' with Kerry (and soon Iri) so maybe.
I'm happy that you liked it, and hope that you'll like the next ones too ^^
Guest : Well, considering that the concept of this is 'Shirou and Saber summon the Knights' I won't let them summon others that they – like you said – don't know, so sorry.
ADdude:Thank you :)
HikariNoTenshi-San: *cackles evilly with thunder in the backgroung* Thank you
MBenz4286: I'll use the stone, thanks :)
marduk-report: Then he and I have accomplished our goals! XD
Telron: The irony is delicious xD
7thManiac: I think them being in-laws without anything as distracting as a Grail War would be disastrous xD
Delca: Since you were the one who told me to be careful, I hope I did him justice. On Agravain: I actually have him headcannon-ed as a spy who in the end switched sides and only revealed the affair because he honestly thought it was the good thing to do. Which it wasn't, so yeah. He seems to have a Lancer's luck in that regard xD
And do not worry, for Ector shall be a part of it too, as well as Merlin, once I bypassed the whole 'not dead' thing!
Noah Thomson: I'm happy that you like it, thank you! Lily and Alter will probably be featured. Maybe at the same time. Maybe in the same relationship like in Other Sabers *smiles Tohsaka-Rin-style :D
AlphaXH: I doubt that I'll include her
Also, E.R Man (Guest) is my 100th reviewer! I can barely believe it! As a 'special-100th-Reviewer-celebration' you can choose one Servant (that either of them knows, of course) and I'll write a chapter about them to the best of my abilities! :D
And remember, Iri will already be written :)
Till next chapter! And as always, read, review and suggest a gemstone for Ector, Agravain or Merlin