We're back in Camelot for this chapter! Hope you like it, reviews much appreciated :)

Chapter 21

The Letter M

Uther sat on his throne, looking down at the trembling figure before him, frustration clear in his eyes as he thought through the past few days events.

His Knights had reached the Druid camp and destroyed it, but there had been no sign of Morgana. It was Uther's last hope, he didn't know where to search after that, but he was not ready to give up on Morgana yet. He knew what his people thought of this strange behaviour, the concerned and judging eyes of servants he passed, the silence from his advisors, the switching of glances between Knights. But he didn't care, he wasn't going to give up on finding Morgana, not yet.

However, there was now something else that had come to the fore-front of Uther's mind.

There had been one more survivor at the camp other than Mordred. A much older Druid who had begged Uther's army not to kill him because he had something vitally important to the King, something to warn him.

Uther wasn't impressed when instead of Morgana being brought back into Camelot, it was a lean Druid, with a pale, nervous, clean-shaven face and a bald head. His grey eyes spoke of fear as he bowed down in front of the King, in his torn red Druid clothing. Apparently what this Druid had to say was more important than the men trying to find Morgana. Uther was already losing his patience with the young man before he even spoke.

"I have come to warn you, my Lord." Said the Druid, shaking a little with fear, he found it hard to look up into the King's face.

"Why would someone like you, help someone like me?" Uther muttered. He was fed up with strange, mistrusting people coming into his castle to give him news he should already know.

The Druid glanced up into Uther's eyes, and then back down at the floor. "I am a Seer, my Lord. I can predict the future-"

"I know what a Seer is. And you should know that I don't approve of people like you. So why have been brought before me?"

"Because I have seen something in my mind's eye, something that came to me in a dream. I did not predict your men coming to our home, but when I saw them I begged them not to kill me and to take me to you instead, so I can warn you of what I have seen."

Uther leaned a little further forward on his throne, "In that case, it better be worth my while."

The Druid took a deep breath. "There is a threat to you, my Lord. A danger approaching, growing, brewing miles away. I do not know who this person is, but I see their eyes and they are filled with hatred for you. As time passes the eyes turn colder, eyes prepared to kill. You have an unknown enemy, I don't even think the enemy knows yet that you are the one they hate. But the time is approaching and you will face a deadly threat. This person may well be the cause of your downfall, unless you do something."

Uther paused, thinking about these words. "But you don't know who this person is? Your 'mind's eye' that you see this threat, you cannot see who it is?" He asked.

"Nothing, just their eyes. But I see a letter, Sire. That's all I see, a letter that is connected to them. The letter M." Replied the Druid.

Silence descended into the Hall, making the Druid feel even more afraid. He had not foreseen his fate in coming here, but he knew he had to do the right thing, and he just hoped that the King knew that, and would let him go in peace.

Uther thought long and hard about what the Druid had just told him. So there was a threat to his life, but the Druid didn't know who this person was, why, or when they would do it. But they would create is 'downfall'. All the Druid knew is the letter M, which hardly narrowed down anything.

He didn't know why the Druid had come to tell him this, because this was a King who didn't think that people of magic had a motive of kindness, even towards the enemy. But he didn't doubt that the Druid was telling the truth. Perhaps it was a Druid who was planning to kill him, a whole group of them who called them a name under the initial 'M', and this was one who decided he would try and benefit himself from abandoning the group and telling the King of their plans, but not giving enough away so his fellows could be caught.

Uther was a King. He was used to having threats on his life, this message would make no difference to him. He was aware the danger he lived in, that some people had their eyes filled with hatred towards him. But no one had stopped him ruling Camelot yet, and they wouldn't any time soon.

So now he just had to decide what to do with the Druid, who was taking deep, steady breaths, trying to keep calm.

He glanced to the guards who stood scattered around the Great Hall.

"I appreciate you coming and telling me this news, Druid." Uther spoke into the silence. "But it is of no use to a King who is used to facing unknown enemies every day. If you cannot give me sufficient information about who this person is, then you cannot help me."

"I'm sorry Sire," the Druid began, "every Seer is limited with what they see, and I have never been a powerful one. But-"

"However, the attention must now be drawn to you." Uther interrupted, his voice suddenly harsh. "A person of magic walking through my Kingdom. I will not have it."

The Druid trembled at these words. "Forgive me Sire, but I felt I had to tell you what I knew. I can leave Camelot by tonight, you won't see me again-"

"That's not good enough. How am I to know you are not this mysterious 'M' who has come into the Kingdom to plea with me, and then cut me down? A cunning plan indeed, but one that will not work with me. You should know the penalty of coming into Camelot, you should not have come here. What happens next is your fault."

With a nod of his head, the guards advanced towards the Druid, who was now beginning to panic.

"But Sire, I beg of you! I meant to harm, I wouldn't risk coming into Camelot if it wasn't anything important. I just wanted to help you-"

"You may say that you mean no harm, but any person with magic who enters my Kingdom is a traitor and a threat, and the punishment for being a traitor is death." Uther's eyes were as hard and cold as stone as he spoke. "Take him away."

The Druid's eyes widened with terror as the guard's advanced. "But Sire, I meant no harm! I didn't do anything wrong, I wanted to help! I am a peaceful person! Please, I can leave Camelot and never return-"

"If I bend the rules for one man, then the rules will weaken, and I will have to bend it more and more, and before you know it anarchy will return to my Kingdom. I will not take such a risk." Uther said, standing as he watched with cold eyes the Druid being dragged off by the guards to the dungeons. He was still sobbing and begging for his life, but they fell on deaf ears. When magic was involved, Uther's heart turned to ice.

The great Hall doors slammed behind the Druid as he was taken out the room by the guards, too shocked and distressed to stand up by himself. Uther tried to block out his cries as they echoed around the Hall and slowly died away.

There was a brief silence, when the doors opened again, and this time Arthur marched in, his face filled with confusion. "What just happened?"

Uther shrugged, as if it was nothing. "A Druid had been brought to me to tell me of some great doom, a load of nonsense by the sounds of it, he didn't realise Kings face such threats every day. I've just had him taken down to the dungeons, he'll be executed tomorrow."

"Why?"

"He is a person of magic, you should know the law better than anyone."

Arthur stared at his father, eyes wide. "And you decided not to include me in this?"

The great King shrugged again. "I didn't think it would be any of your concern."

"But clearly he meant no harm Sire, if he came to the Kingdom just to warn you." Arthur said, trying to find his way around an execution of a seemingly innocent person, he felt as if he deserved to have a say in this man's life. "You should have seen his face. I passed him in the corridor, the Druid was close to fainting, begging for his life. Don't you think execution is too harsh?"

"Maybe, but I have to keep the law the same for all." Uther said, his voice void of emotion.

There was a pause. "Did you even know his name?" Arthur said, his voice a dangerously low pitch.

"No." Uther admitted, he hadn't even considered it as he sat back down on his throne. He gave a small smile. "Maybe it began with M."

Arthur didn't reply to the joke only Uther could understand. He was too astounded to say anything, and anger bubbled in his veins. He turned and stormed out the Hall, not looking back.