The Most Powerful Position
Author's Note:
I have found a real life EMIYA/Archer, his name is Lars Anderson! You know all that rapid fire archery that looked crazy unrealistic, HE CAN DO IT IN REAL LIFE! YouTube "Lars Andersen: A new Level of Archery", he's amazing! He can catch arrows shot at him and fire them back, he also split an incoming arrow shot at him! He can shoot at a blade and the arrow will be split in half!
I have family coming over for a week, so updates might be speratic if they happen at all until May 6th, so this might have to tide you over for the time being.
Despite all the whining I'm getting about this story, I wrote this for me, not anyone else but me, and it just got popular for reasons I still don't understand.
I'll continue to write this story and if you want "originality", you might want to leave, because this quest their going on is based on Culhwch and Olwen, and it's an obscure King Arthur story.
I get frustrated with my reader base, because I do a lot of research (that I don't have to do) and put a lot of historical facts in this story that has apparently flown over a lot of people's heads. I really don't want to treat readers like Viewers Are Morons (you can TV tropes it for reference) but man, the moment I start putting historical facts into this story, people throw fits. Get over it; this is still what I want to write. I am now going to discuss in story, something nobody thinks about, but needed to be addressed without the easy solution of "Merlin can use magic to make it go away". Please don't squick out, I've handled it tastefully, I hope. I guess this came from me being a woman. And now I discovered why Saber can eat so much food, of course I knew she could eat because she ate at feasts, but I discovered how long they were, SEVEN HOURS of eating! Avalon keeps her skinny as a twig! The food for the banquet makes me hungry!
The servant knelt before the king. "We have been searching for Olwen, the daughter of Ysbaddaden Penkawr, but we may never found a woman matching his description of her."
"I see," Arthur replied. "Send out more messengers, we must keep trying to find Olwen."
"Of course your highness," the servant replied, standing up, he left to fulfill the king's orders.
"My Lord, we ask you to attend the trial of Aglat, the minter. He was caught defacing the king's mint."
Defacing the king's mint was making the currency smaller than it should be, and they had also found coins in his house.
King Arthur had been generous, she paid many craftsmen for their work, it was unheard of as most craftsmen were not paid for their work, their food and board was their pay.
Still, her subjects were ungrateful. It troubled her that no matter how hard she tried to make their lives better, they still resented her. She had tried to be a just, fair king, but she'd made difficult decisions, including when she sacrificed a village to win a battle against her enemies, perhaps they never forgiven her for that.
Still, she had her duty; she went to the court to preside over the trial.
She listened carefully to all the witnesses and they turned to her.
"I declare that Aglat is guilty of defacing the king's mint. His punishment shall be what is written in the law. Cut off his hand and nail it to the door of the mint as a deterrent."
The guards dragged Aglat out to enforce his punishment.
Arthur got up and made her way outside, needing to stretch her legs after hours of sitting down. She wandered around outside.
She found Shirou Emiya in the practice range. He was using the bow that he had made after completing the Fletcher and was testing it out.
Arthur saw the young mage casually tossing his bow into the air, he caught it and quickly grabbed arrows from a quiver, strapped to his side, he fired three of them in rapid succession.
He grabbed three more arrows and held them in his draw hand; he began moving around the field, firing them so fast she could barely see them leave his draw hand.
Shirou hit the center ring of the target.
Shirou called to one of the archers, "Fire an arrow at me!"
"Have you gone mad, Wrought-Iron mage?" the archer asked.
"No, I have not gone mad, just fire at me," Shirou instructed. The mage turned around, away from the archer.
The archer fired at him. Shirou turned around and caught the arrow in his hand; he effortlessly shot the arrow into the target. He hit the bull's-eye dead center.
Arthur clapped her hands, Shirou turned to her, bowing formally.
"I didn't know I had an audience," the mage said to the king.
"'I've heard stories of skilled archers who can catch the enemy's arrows and fire them back, but I thought it was a myth," Arthur told him.
"In my era there are many myths, you are one of them," Shirou smiled at her.
"Me, a myth?" the king laughed. "You flatter me, Wrought-Iron Mage."
"Yes, a thousand years from now, they still tell stories of King Arthur."
"I have never seen myself as someone worthy of a legend. I'm only doing my duty to my people."
Shirou decided to change the subject.
"Are you going to watch the tournament tomorrow?"
"I will participate," Arthur told him proudly.
"Then I look forward to it even more," Shirou gathered his bow and arrow up, and left.
Shirou Emiya was up late at night again, vigorously searching through Merlin's books for anything regarding time travel and how to return to his era when he heard footsteps coming down the hall. He was reading using his emergency electric lap, powered by a hand crank. He should be resting, preparing for the archery tournament, but he wasn't tired.
Shirou glanced out the glass window, the moon was bright and he knew he should go to sleep, but he wasn't ready.
He saw Arthur carrying something, and unfortunately, he could smell it too.
Then he realized just what she was doing. And it had never occurred to him before.
Arturia didn't have a Groom of the Stool. Someone to help her relieve herself, and clean her up afterwards, or empty the stool for her after it was over. This wasn't the 21st century where you could just pull a lever and it all goes down into the sewers, he'd been trying to construct a functional lavatory, but it wasn't going well, because there was no way he could build a functional drainpipe in a castle. It just wasn't going to happen, he'd rigged up a shower, but he still had to take the water in and out by hand.
The Groom of the Stool was the most coveted position in the royal household because it meant you would learn the king's private secrets. And with her gender being such a secret, she didn't trust anyone enough to appoint someone to the position.
Shirou picked up his lamp and walked over. He put a hand on her shoulder, "Your highness, let me take that."
"I can handle it, Shirou; I've taken care of my private needs all my life."
He reached for the bucket and handed her the lamp.
"Arturia, you're the king of Britain, not a gong farmer; you shouldn't have to carry out your own shit!"
With that, he gently removed the bucket from her hand and carried it away. Shirou grabbed another clean bucket on his way outside.
Arthur noted for the first time that Shirou called her by her real name.
The fact that he knew her real name made her wonder just how intimate they had been when she had been summoned to his era; it seemed to be more than Master and Servant.
She gazed at the lamp Shirou had given her. It was a marvel to say the least, she could not see flames, and was puzzled by how it did not need a candle to function.
He "This lamp of yours is strange, where's the candle?" Arthur asked.
"It's that little round glass inside there, called a bulb, once it burns out, this will no longer work."
"You come from a world of strange marvels, Shirou," the king shook her head.
"Each era has its own marvels," the mage smiled as they walked together.
She followed him "Does it bother you, Shirou?"
"Well, this isn't your job, someone else is supposed to do it for you," Shirou reminded her.
"Well, I don't trust anyone to be that physically intimate with me."
"It make sense, you are a woman after all, time of the month and all that," Shirou set down the bucket and rubbed the back of his head.
"I handle that myself, and how do you know about it?" Arthur was surprised.
"I am very well educated, but can't Merlin use his magic to make that, you know, go away?"
"I refuse to have him tamper with my body any more, I send out Gawain during the end of the month and I stay home, simple as that."
"I see," Shirou dumped the contents of the bucket into the moat. Shirou went down to the well and drew water to wash his hands. He headed back inside.
"I have no Groom of the Stool, because there people who would use my private life and my gender against me, I do not want someone to expose my gender to be given intimate, physical access to me. I don't trust the noblemen here to keep that a secret."
Yes, wiping the king's butt after the "call of nature" was one of the worst jobs in history, thank you Tony Robinson for showing him that, but the gong farmer took the cake in sucky job department, still, it was the most powerful position in the royal household, but yeah, bathroom duty sucked.
It was a humiliating job, even though they didn't treat it that way, the Groom of the Stool could become very wealthy and powerful, and know all the king's secrets, but still, not a pleasant job at all.
"I'm not worthy of such a prestigious position," Shirou told her. He could not accept the position, people would talk. Despite his public penance, members of Arthur's court refused to trust him, it was understandable, but they spread rumors that he used his magecraft to enchant the food, to bend the mind of the king to favor him more.
Besides that, even if he took the position, it would mean that the kitchen would need a new Master Cook, he was going to have to take an Apprentice, someone to succeed his position, he did not want to go back to Food Hell.
"As king I appoint positions to whom I will," Arthur told him. "I would appoint you because I know that you know about me, and yet you have not spoken a word of it to anyone."
"The king's gender does not matter, you are the King of Britain, and Caliburn chose you, but at the moment I can't accept your offer to be your Groom of the Stool."
"Then why do you hesitate?" Arthur asked curiously.
"I cannot accept it, not until I take an Apprentice to replace me as Master Cook," Shirou explained.
"I see, at least now the courtiers will stop trying to make me appoint someone to the position."
"The courtiers will gossip, they already say I use magecraft on the food I cook for you," Shirou smiled.
"Is it so hard for them to believe I enjoy good food?" she asked him. "I am curious; who would you choose as your Apprentice?"
"Alf," Shirou replied. "He's an excellent Cook, in reality, he needs no training from me, but I merely need to appoint him as my successor. How long has Alf been here?"
"He has been here a long time, but I have known him since I was a child."
"Did you meet him when you were being tutored by Merlin?" Shirou queried.
"Yes, he came to Merlin's house and spoke to me, he is very good, very kind, but I know little about him."
"I see, but it will be good for me to take an Apprentice, I have heard Camelot has a festival in the wintertime, and a Feast of Good Children. I've never baked a Great Cake before."
"If it is as good as your cooking, I am sure the children will love it," Arthur smiled.
"Thank you, Shirou, and you should go rest; you're part of the archery tournament. We travel to Finsbury Field tomorrow."
"As you wish, your highness," Shirou bowed and left her alone.
They both lay down and slept; it would be a busy day tomorrow.
Saber stood in the beautiful golden fields of Avalon, still waiting for Shirou Emiya. It was the impossible miracle, awaiting his arrival for eternity while he chased her for eternity. She would always wait for him.
Suddenly, a figure appeared before her. She bowed deeply. Saber had not expected to see him.
"Who am I that the King of Fairy should visit me here?" Saber asked quietly.
"To offer you a boon, you wish to see him again," the King of Fairy told her.
"But why?"
"You have been a friend to Fairy all your life, should I not reward you?" he asked.
"But, such a reunion would be impossible!" Saber exclaimed.
"Not for me, I shall give him a way to pass into Avalon, and you will see him for a time, but he will have to give it up, eventually," he told her.
"I understand, but I will see him soon?" Saber was shaking with joy, expectation, and excitement. This wasn't like her past self, who admired him, but she loved him so much. Arthur's feelings had not grown into love, she knew that Arthur was conflicted by her emotions regarding Shirou, but she knew she would love him, she just wished it was sooner rather than later.
She awaited his arrival, keeping her gaze out at the golden fields as far as the eye could see. She would see Shirou again, and it filled her with unspeakable joy to see him in more than just his dreams.
The king and her courtiers prepared for the journey to Finsbury Field, in London, where they were to hold the tournament was to be held.
Arriving at Finsbury Field, they stayed in a nearby castle and prepared for the tournament.
Shirou looked up as Arthur approached him.
"Shirou will you join us?" Arthur asked.
"As a guest?"
"Yes, yes, my friend, join us, I insist!" she seized his hand.
"As you wish, I'll join you," Shirou followed her inside the banquet hall. They stopped at the hall entrance so he could wash his hands. The king bid a servant to usher him to a seat, he noted that Guinevere was already seated.
After bidding the priest to pray, they began to eat.
Shirou braced himself; this feast was going to push his stomach beyond its limit. People in the 21st century didn't eat a six course meal, every night for a week. Not that he would feast this way for the entire week, but he was so gaining weight after it was over.
The first course was a civet of hare, quarter of stag, a stuffed chicken, and a loin of veal.
He ate a little bit of everything; everyone did stare at him funny.
"Are you not hungry Shirou?" Arthur asked.
"No, no, it's just, where I come from, we don't eat nearly this much food. So I'm pacing myself."
"Ah," Arthur grabbed another piece of chicken. She'd already eaten the equivalent of an entire meal he prepared for her when she was with him in Fuyuki. Looking at her now, he realized she'd eaten him out of house and home ten times over!
The second course was an enormous pair of meat pies, surrounded by other smaller meat pies, it resembled a crown. He'd heard of this recipe for this pie. It contained a whole roe deer, a gosling, three capons, six chickens, ten pigeons, and one rabbit.
Between the courses, minstrels played music and told stories.
Shirou sighed, If only I were like Milly Thompson and had a second stomach.
There was also a stuffing made from minced loin of veal, two pounds of fat, 26 hard boiled eggs covered with saffron, flavored with cloves.
If he ate the same amounts they all took, Shirou felt his stomach would explode, even with his small portions; he might not make it through the six course meal.
Shirou came to the only logical conclusion his brain could come up with, Saber ate more than Luffy and Goku!
Rest in peace, my valiant stomach! Shirou mourned, even though this food was totally worth it.
The third course was a roe deer, a pig, a sturgeon cooked in parsley and vinegar and covered with powdered ginger.
The fourth course was four chickens covered with egg yolks and sprinkled with spice, a wild boar, and wafers.
The food was excellent, his compliments to the many chefs.
There was a jelly, part white and part red, representing the crests of the honored guests.
There was a cream covered with fennel seeds and preserved in sugar, a white cream, cheese in slices and strawberries and the plums stewed in rose-water tasted good.
Then the wines and the parties were served, and Shirou managed to eat just a little more, he decided that that settling his stomach with wine was the better idea and drank enough to make him feel good.
After the feast was over, Arthur said, "I shall thank Lord Quentin for this excellent feast, and tomorrow night after the jousting and the tourney, we'll have another feast!"
"Here! Here!" they shouted.
Now Shirou knew being fat was a sign of wealth, and he could easily see how that was possible. But he smiled and said nothing, Arthur had seemed very happy, and he wondered if she experienced fleeting moments of happiness all throughout her life.
The conversations had been interesting, but he had a difficult time explaining things to them, about modern technology, as those were foreign fantastic things to them. Still, everyone had enjoyed themselves.
Shirou headed off to bed, tomorrow was the jousting, and he would enjoy watching Saber show her skills, as he'd never seen her joust before, as she was a Saber class Servant and he had not summoned her as a Rider Class Servant.
He slept well, and eagerly awaited the tournament.
Shirou took his place in the stands, eagerly waiting for the joust with the rest of the crowd.
Jousting was a dangerous sport. Knights and even a king had died participating in it, and part of his was worried about Arturia because of that. King Henry II of France died when a lance splintered in his eye and he died in agony days later.
The tournament started. The herald began reading the rules of the tournament.
"Five knights will accept all challengers. Second, a knight shall choose his opponent by touching the opponents spear with his lance. Third, touching the shield with the blunt point is a courtesy match; touching it with the sharp point is a fight to the death."
So the jousts started, Shirou noted that Arthur watched at her seat for a long time.
He saw her get up to leave and she was apparently going to get ready to participate in the jousting herself.
The king returned on a horse. The crowd cheered.
Suddenly, a challenger appeared. He rode up to the king, he touched his lance to her shield with the sharp point.
The crowd was astonished, was this knight insane, that he would try to slay their king in a joust?
Shirou suddenly recognized that armor. It was Accolon.
"Very well, I Arthur Pendragon accept your challenge!" Arthur got up on her horse.
They charged each other with their lances, and both riders were unseated.
Scrambling to her feet, Arthur unsheathed her sword. The two knights began attacking each other furiously.
Shirou realized it immediately; Arthur did not have Excalibur in her hand. Accolon had it in his.
Arthur knew this would be a difficult fight; she could not use her sword to its full potential with so many people around. But she was a master of the sword, so she should be able to beat him handily.
At least she thought so, but this knight she did not recognize was a strong fighter.
Arthur leapt at him with a burst of speed. Slashing left to right, and then right to left, she engaged him with a series of quick blows.
Accolon kept slashing at her feet and Arthur kept jumping away.
Suddenly, the knight slammed his blade into the ground, Arthur put all her weight in her foot on the sword, pinning it.
She swung her sword, in order to decapitate him.
Shirou knew that Accolon did not have Berserker's quick reflexes, but he managed to save his neck from being severed, by lurching backward, he did manage to elbow the king in the side of the head, causing her to stagger, her helmet and visor took the impact of the blow, but she felt her ears ringing.
The sword in Accolon's hand found the weak places in her armor. His blow drew blood.
Arthur battled him for a long time, she slashed him across the shoulder blade, but the blade had no bite to it. She was growing angry, was something wrong with the sword?
Shirou knew how the story went, that Morgan Le Fay had stolen Excalibur and replaced it with a fake, but there had been no messenger giving the sword to the king, she must have had the same person who stole Avalon take it away in secret, but how come no one saw that Excalibur was in Accolon's hand? Was it Le Fay's magic?
This is not my sword! Who could have taken it? Arthur asked in her mind.
She was bleeding and breathing hard, she stepped back to catch her breath. She was bleeding badly and the pain was so intense, Arthur had to block it out of her mind, just to continue fighting.
"Now is not the time for me to suffer you to rest!" Accolon screamed. "Now Sir, I am going to hit you again!"
"You go to your own rest, you bastard!" Arthur whirled her sword up and slammed it so hard into his helmet, he fell over.
The sword broke to pieces leaving only the cross guard and hilt.
"Now you'll die!" Accolon shouted.
"I will not!" For though I lack a weapon I shall not lack honor, and if you slay me weaponless, you shall be shamed!"
"I'll take the risk of that! Run away now, you are a corpse already!"
He rushed at her with Excalibur, she defended with her shield, slashing him with her broken sword hilt, she kicked him away from her and she saw her sword suddenly twist and fall out of his hand.
She caught up her own blade, "Long have you been away from me, and you've done me much damage."
She looked at Accolon. "It is you who stand near death—for it is my own sword that will reward you for the pain I have endured and the blood I have lost!"
Leaping high, she brought her sword slamming down his head; the impact caused blood to burst out of his mouth, nose and ears.
"Slay me, I will never yield, and I will not die dishonored," Accolon told her.
"Who are you?" Arthur asked. She knew his voice from somewhere.
"I am Accolon of the Court of King Arthur; Morgan Le Fay bid me to slay an evil knight at this tournament. She told me I would be king if I conquered in this battle. She is the one who gave me the sword. It is an unlucky sword; it has brought me my death. But who are you that she would want me to kill you?"
"Ah, Accolon," Arthur sighed, "Do you not know that I am the king?" She touched his face gently. She remembered him as a decent, honorable man, and this is what Morgan Le Fay did to him.
Accolon gasped and coughed up blood. "Fair, sweet Lord King Arthur! Have mercy on me! I didn't recognize you."
"Mercy you shall have," Arthur said, realizing this man was in the exact same plight as Shirou. She felt the pang of guilt, remembering how she had treated the young mage. "This battle was not your doing but my sister's. This is not the first time she has sent someone against me through force or deception."
Hs squire helped him out of the lists and Gawain and Lancelot rushed to the king's side. He moved to her quickly.
"Send…the physicians to attend to Accolon," she ordered them. They nodded, even when severely wounded, the king still thought of others.
"I can tend to the king's wounds, I can do that," Shirou reassured them.
They helped the king to a tent first.
Shirou grabbed his bag and pulled out an Advanced Trauma Care First Aid Kit. He removed her armor and helped her remove her shirt, Shirou quickly used alcohol wipes to clean the wounds. "That stings!" Arthur hissing as she sweated through the pain. Shirou began bandaging her wounds. "That'll hold you."
"That's a fairly far-end field dressing for the soldier, of my era," Shirou explained. "It adheres as well as closes the wound with an antibacterial adhesive agent, bacteria causes wounds to become infected…Stops the bleeding cold."
"The marvels of your era never cease to amaze me; I thank you for these things."
He helped the king dress herself.
"Shirou, I must thank you for this, is there a boon I can grant you? Whatever you may ask of me, I will grant it, if it is within my power."
"I…have nothing I want from you, your highness," Shirou told her quietly. She knew he didn't mean it.
"It is unbecoming of a man to lie, tell me, what do you want from me, I will give it to you gladly."
"There is only one thing I would ask of you, Arturia Pendragon," he leaned in closer to her, lightly grabbing her shoulders.
"What is it?" Arthur asked.
"A kiss," Shirou replied gently.
Arthur was astonished. He could ask for anything of her, and that was what he wanted. He was truly a strange man.
"Very well, I shall give you one," Arthur leaned over to him.
"Arturia," he murmured against her lips.
She kissed him.
Arthur expected it to be chaste and gentle.
An image flashed in her head. She was walking away from him in a strange house.
He reached out and held her from behind, turning her to face him in an embrace.
"I'd rather you didn't make this difficult for me," Saber told him. "Being treated like this makes me feel uncomfortable."
"Push me away, then," he told her.
"This is unfair of you, Shirou," she said, glancing up at him. "You know my past, and you have been inside my mind many times. You must know full well what my answer will be. You know the grave sins I have committed!"
What she heard next stunned her completely.
"I can't help it; I fell in love with you. I can't leave you like this!"
"Though I was unworthy, the country was entrusted to me as her king," Saber said, glancing down at his Command Seal on his hand.
"As someone who did not fulfill that duty, I am no permitted such liberty," she said sadly.
There were tears in Saber's eyes.
He tried to lean in to kiss her. "Don't…" she whispered in half hearted denial. "Shirou, I…"
He kissed her gently as he held her by the shoulders.
This kiss was not chaste, not gentle; it was hungry, passionate, and desperate. He was so eager and enthusiastic about it, as if this made him the happiest man on earth.
He ran his fingers through her hair and stroked her cheek.
She should push him away, strike him across the face, she was married after all, but something wouldn't let her, some part of herself that wanted this, had craved his physical kiss and touch since she'd first laid eyes on him on the battlefield. Was it the Saber from her dreams that loved him so?
His tongue begged entrance to her mouth, and she wondered if someone else played her body like a puppet. She granted him that intimate permission and he deepened his kiss.
Their tongues danced together as he pulled her into an embrace.
He gently let her go. He was not the earnest, desperate Shirou Emiya she'd seen in her dreams; he was once again, the formal polite young mage that stood before her.
"Thank you. I will ask nothing more of you," he helped her to her feet and led her out back to the tournament.
She was deeply troubled and despite enjoying the rest of the day's jousts and the tourney, his words still lingered on in her head, repeating themselves in her head.
"I can't help it; I fell in love h you. I can't leave you like this!"
"Though I was unworthy, the country was entrusted to me as her king," Saber said, glancing down at his Command Seal on his hand.
"As someone who did not fulfill that duty, I am no permitted such liberty," she said sadly.
Why would she have regrets as king? Why had she not fulfilled her duty and feel satisfaction from her rule? All these things swirled around and disturbed her deeply.
"You know my past, and you have been inside my mind many times. You must know full well what my answer will be. You know the grave sins I have committed!"
He knew everything about her, and yet he kept it all to himself, he could set himself up to be a great lord or baron, using his knowledge to blackmail her for some great status or wealth, he could have given Le Fay all sorts of knowledge about her, but he did not.
How could he love her? Really, she thought it was just something she made up, some secret fantasy every young girl had about a handsome young man that rescued them from some deep distress.
"Shirou Emiya, you vex me deeply," Arthur sighed. Surely what she'd seen couldn't be real. It was just her imagination playing games with her because he kissed her. No one really loved her, not romantically anyway. They loved the ideal of her, and what she represented, but they did not love her as a person.
She couldn't understand someone like him, but she wanted to try.