Out of the brightly-lit summoning circle, an imposing figure came forth.
The Servant was dressed in dark armor and wore a blue mantle draped over his shoulders, looking around grimly.
He was Servant Assassin. How fitting.
Clenching his hands, the silent Servant looked into the direction he could feel his Master being, not even once considering showing any decorum of companionship.
He would only follow his Master if Assassin determines it to be worth his time and patience — trust was something that was to be given warily.
He was, after all, summoned in the least desirable class, as opposed to, say, Saber, for which he was also classified.
Assassin would actually be disappointed, in truth, if his Master were to trust him impeccably without a shred of doubt.
He looked the red haired young man over, only glancing dismissively at the blonde girl next to him.
Even if her presence reminded him of someone he followed in his life.
His Master had sharp, wary eyes, the color of molten gold. If Assassin didn't know it better, he thought he was standing before that good-for-nothing archer of His Majesties' army.
"…" His Master stared him in the eyes, only glancing for a moment at his companion, eyes steel. "Are you certain that he is trustworthy, Saber?"
There was, however, no hostility in the voice, only inquiry.
Well, it seemed that they knew his identity. Another point in his Masters favor.
Assassin choose not to speak, merely waiting for the scene to play out. He was grasped by morbid curiosity as to how they would treat him, considering he was a villain in the retelling of their legend.
Not that it mattered to him if he was a saint or the devil, anyhow. What mattered was the wellbeing of the country, not the wellbeing of the individual - and that such scheming witches like his mother never became the executive power.
"Yes." It was a simple answer from the girl, but that one word had Assassin stiffen in shock.
Whole body rigid, he forced his head to turn into the previously dismissed blonde's direction, actually looking at her.
He was frozen as green eyes smiled at him, softly, and she continued.
"Agravain was always hardworking and did what was best for the country, of that I am sure."
Then a small frown marred her features, and Assassin wished nothing more than to wipe it off, but he remained unmoving, glued to her very words.
How he wished to hear her thoughts, now; because the dark knight could say with a surety that surprised even himself, that this person —this waif of a girl— had to be the King.
The King who, last he saw of her, more or less ordered a silent execution of yours truly.
His throat was dry, and for the first time in forever, Assassin found himself unable to speak.
'The Queen has an affair with the Knight of the Lake,' he remembers whispering, spreading word of her unfaithfulness. 'She betrayed the trust her husband had in them,' he remembers growling, taken over at a sudden fury at the woman who, in truth, was the best Queen the country could've had.
The woman who, in his opinion, was no better for her adultery than his mother for her obsessiveness.
"However, we may have parted on a rather… sour note." The King's voice was low, and her eyes sought out his, but Assassin averted them, still unable to speak.
A sour note was an understatement.
Assassin still didn't know, to this day, how he found out the King's secret — maybe it was fate, or that witch's machinations, he didn't know — what he knew was that it had shattered his belief.
All women he knew (with the notable exception of Gareth), had held a position of power and abused it; the Queen betrayed the King and country, his mother did everything unholy he could think about, and Mordred -really, the only knight he got along with somewhat due to their shared origins - Mordred was raised to be nothing more than a puppet to the witch, and her moral code was questionable at best.
And the King was a woman- the king he should have killed, would have killed, if she didn't turn out to be everything the country needed. Instead, Assassin pledged his loyalty to the presumed man, and did everything in his might to aide him.
Returning to the present with a shake of his head, the dark knight was finally shaken our of his reverie by the almost unnatural silence between himself, the King and his Master.
(And Assassin wondered how they knew each other.)
"You…why would you wish to summon me, Your Highness?"
It was his first spoken sentence since his summon, and one whose answer Assassin dreaded as much as awaited.
And while she paused shortly, to collect her answer, Assassin was struck with the need to know what happened, after his death. Utilizing the knowledge granted by the Grail, he flicked through the unmeasurable catalogue of information, memorizing everything that could grant him insight.
"…why should I not wish to summon you, Agravain?" Her brow was wrinkled. "Everything you did, you did in hope for the progress and wellbeing of the country - more than any of us, even."
Assassin raised his own eyebrow - the only outward sign that he was surprised at the King's utter belief in his motives, but let her continue, wordlessly.
"I could not fault you for your belief, even if it led to the outcome it did."
And then the information was progressed, and Assassins frame trembled once again, from suppressed rage.
To think that Lancelot-!
To think, so many of them would leave-!
To think, that Mordred would be such a fool; he should have told her not to listen to that witch-!
To think…
"Everything fell apart after the affair was exposed, and yet you do not fault me?"
His tone was a cold fury, and the King looked forlorn, shaking her head.
"It was only a matter of time before the downfall of my reign- something I have been aware of since I first pulled Caliburn from the stone, thanks to Merlin."
Assassin bit down a retort, remembering some of the words Kay had said, once.
The King was way too forgiving.
Instead he sighed. "I see. As it would be undoubtedly foolish to talk over this matter with you, as of yet-" he saw her flinch slightly, and Assassin knew that he was right, "- I would like to return to matters at hand."
His focus shifted to the silent Master.
"Firstly, I will say that your wariness has its merit, boy. Never underestimate a person. Secondly, who are you?"
The redhead blinked, but answered nonetheless.
"My name is Shirou Emiya."
There was a noticeable lack of pleasantries, and Assassin took notice of the fact that his Master seemed less than ready to forgive him, unlike the King.
That was fine by him. On to the next question.
"Thirdly, in what way are you affiliated with the King?"
If Assassin deemed their connection unsavory, he saw no qualms with killing the boy and making the King his Master - he knew, for a fact, about the massive amount of mana she possessed, so it should prove no problem.
He heard a startled breath from the blonde, as she no doubt figured his reasoning, as the boy answered—
"We're married."
Assassin froze.
And after a longer break, I'm back with Akkun's chapter! I admit that between school and his interesting personality, it took me longer than I would've liked to write him, but here it is! I hope I did him justice, and didn't write him too OOC.
(And I found out that writing him and Mordred was the most interesting experience – Morgana really has a lot of bad influence on people.)
A question regarding the ages, though; Morgan had Akkun, Gawain, Gaheris, Gareth and Mordred. I imagine that none is older than Saber, since Morgan is her older sister, but that puts to question how old Morgan had to be to have children that look as old (if not older, in Akkun's case) as Saber. It's one of those questions that simply won't leave my mind anymore, so maybe some of you have an idea/explanation? Because it would make Morgan at least twice the age of Saber, if we go by the Knight's ages.
Well, onto the reviews!
kboomerjr: Believe me when I say that I never even thought about including Uther – I somehow don't think that Saber's too fond of the man that practically abandoned/gave her away as a babe, but he might become one of the extras, since it seems that many actually want to see him ;)
Polar Wolfstar: Eeh, nope. XD And no other Emiyas either, sorry
etheral-23: Jup, I know xD
Cefaye: I know that – it's why I wrote "and only one spoke so with caution" I think Artoria only called Ector 'Father' when it was an incredibly personal reason/rare occasion, so her calling him 'Father' now equals 'letting go of the burden of King' and returning to 'being the girl'. But maybe it wasn't as obvious as I thought.
No worries about hard feelings, all's good and well :D
Spudcommando: As an extra, maybe :3
CG-3m1y4: Hehe, glad that I did him justice x3. And thanks for the feedback about the pic!
Something like that, with Morgan last, yup. And old SNES-era style would be interesting too, but it really works best as a VN, I guess. Fate/Knight Rhapsody is cool tho, and I totally did not base my Kay off of their design *gets shot in the head *
Oh god, a Sitcom with the Knights and the Fate cast would be incredibly hilarious and entertaining xD
Time Hollow: See the first and fifth reviews, please :D
Dragojek: Thanky you xD
Delca: You're welcome! And I think Shirou would at least try, for a given amount of time, before things go downhill xD
dcalebh: ...and by granddaughter you mean Mordred? Or some yet-to-be-born/written kid from a certain redhead?
ReyKingKaiser: Maybe :)
Nitramy: No alternatives besides regular Alter, as of yet, sorry ;3
Vhosek: Then my intention worked, yay! I don't think it matters that he's not her blood dad, what matters is that he was there for her and raised her and took care of her as his own :)
warrof: thank you :D
GhostXavier: Thank you that you decided to review! It makes my heart go 'Yaaay!' xD
Fire Emblem x Fate, a shame that it'll never happen, huh?
E.R Man: I'm simply happy that you're still around, I actually was getting worried after you stopped reviewing shortly after I posted that 'celebration' chapter, so I'm glad to see (read?) that you're still around and I hope that whatever happened will get better :)
Warrior Moon Okiro Zangetsu: That it is, my dear reviewer, that it is xD
A Rose By Any Other Name279: Queen Shirou for the next election! XD I'm happy that you like them, and I hope that you'll continue to read them :D
Morgan(a) is a hard one, because I didn't want to write her initially, but she's such an important character in Arthurian Lore that insistent reviewers talked me into writing her in the end xD And I will admit that out of all of them I'm the most worried about her characterization, but I'll write her – in what way, I still don't know yet. And Iri is one of the Extra chapters, together with Alter (and Uther, apparently)
joaco14jc: Er, nope, 'cause the format of this series is 'Shirou and Saber summon people from her past'. And they're not interconnected, they're 'what if's.
And another afterthought (or more like, a question) have we heard anything about Morgause in the Nasuverse? I don't really remember anything, and I somehow imagine her as this 'older sister who kept out of the family scuffle because she thought it childish and thusly decided to leave them be, rather than be caught up in the Game for the Throne' character.
So, was she mentioned somewhere?
Until next time!