Chapter 26 : REQUIESCANT IN PACE
Rupert, Martin, Leon and Humphrey lifted Edmund's body onto a litter and arranged his cloak over him. Humphrey realised that it was actually Arthur's as it has the little dragon embroidered on the inside of the collar. Following two guards, the litter bearers carried Arthur's friend through the corridors to Gaius's.
A servant brought some lunch to the library. By mid afternoon, the stairs were clean but still damp. Romney was keeping Arthur company as Gaius and Geoffrey discussed plans for the next couple of days.
Gaius looked over at Arthur who was alert and listening to Romney and Gielbert, who had arrived with Leon. They were hoping to accompany Arthur up the first flight of stairs, from there it should be easier. Surely surrounded by friends, he could walk out of the library and up the stairs. Gaius had work to do and then he planned to spend the night in Arthur's chamber. He wouldn't leave him alone.
Arthur turned to Gaius and said, "I think I'm ready to go back to my room, will you walk with me?"
Gaius smiled kindly and said, "Come on, Arthur."
So, the little procession made their way into the corridor, Romney and Gielbert leading, then Arthur with Gaius and Leon on either side. He faltered as he put his foot on the first step and by the time he had reached the place where he had knelt with Edmund, tears were streaming down his face and he was sniffing. Everybody ignored it. Arthur slipped his hand into Gaius' and squeezed it, Gaius squeezed back and they kept climbing.
Humphrey and Gaius walked into his chamber with him, Gaius suggesting that he change into his night clothes and sit by the fire. "Can I have Romney with me, please?"
Gaius said quietly, "Romney and Humphrey will stay with you but, Arthur, I have to go to my chambers now, I'll be back later this evening."
If Arthur knew why Gaius had to go, he never made any comment. He just nodded.
Humphrey went into the corridor and called Romney back to the room. He then helped Arthur disrobe and got him into his warm dressing gown, giving him his fur lined blanket to wrap around himself and went to the antechamber leaving the boys alone in front of the fire.
"Why did he have to die?"
"I don't know?"
"But he was fine, he was going to get my books and come back here and once Humphrey left we were going to fool around and have a great time...and now he won't be back ever again."
Humphrey could hear the conversation.
"He'd never fallen down seriously before just little trips like we all do on the training field. Do you think he was sick or something?"
"Maybe Gaius will be able to tell us more once he has checked him out."
Arthur started to sob and the almost knight, held in his arms, the young man whom he had supervised and accompanied on camping trips and excursions for more than nine years and whispered to him, "Be strong Arthur, you can do it, I know you can and so does Edmund."
Humphrey wiped away a tear, marveling at the caring and intelligence of a twenty year old!
Gaius had Leon help him undress Edmund and lie the body out straight. His skull had been severely damaged.
His neck, his collar bone and left arm were broken. His left hip had been dislocated but it was the unexplained thin line of contusions midway up his shins that interested Gaius. There was an even finer line through them on the right leg where the skin had actually been broken and dried blood was evident. If he had been in boots it wouldn't have been apparent but as the squires were inside, many of them had on house shoes. Had he been hurt training, he would have had on boots and why were the bruises so fresh and so even?
Gaius caught Leon's eye, "Not a word, beyond this room but I have the awful feeling that this might not have been an accident. I can't explain the bruising, yet it looks familiar."
Gaius rubbed his head, he went to the table and handed Leon a sheet of parchment and a quill pen, "Jot down what I tell you." Gaius went over the boy's body and Leon made a list of all the injuries. Gaius covered him up saying, "Go and get his best set of clothes and cloak and also have someone find Sir Rupert and send him here. Don't use a squire, find Gielbert as he knows the situation."
Gielbert and Rupert arrived first. Gaius moved the sheet up to Edmund's knees and showed them the lines on his legs and Rupert said, "I've seen that on a village kid who was running in the woods and was brought down by a trip-wire."
"Exactly!" said Gaius. "This is not death due to a straightforward fall. We won't bother the family but..."
Leon walked in with the clothes. They lay the squire's cloak on the bed then shifted the body onto it. Once he was fully clothed, Gaius cleaned his face of blood and fixed his hair, trying to cover the damaged side of his face. He folded his hands on his stomach and pulled his cloak over his shoulders, clasping it at the neck leaving it open down the front.
"I'd prefer if Sir Bevan saw him first, so he can decide if his wife should see him. Gielbert went to notify Sir Bevan that Gaius wished to see him.
He walked in and took one look at his son and said, "Thank you, Gaius. He looks as if he is fast asleep. I would like my wife to see him but only from this side as his head..." and he was unable to go on.
Gaius assured him that by moving the furniture, Lady Madge could only view him from one side. They set about and by the time Sir Bevan returned with his wife, only Sir Rupert and Gaius were present. They moved away allowing the couple time to say goodbye to their son.
Lady Madge said nothing but she clasped Gaius's hands before leaving the chambers.
Gaius drew the sheet back over the body and collapsed in a chair at the table. Rupert said, "You need something to eat. Let me order some food and wine."
They sat at the table eating and trying to figure out what had happened on the library stairs that morning.
Gaius finally stood up, the night sentry called out that it was two hours before midnight, he needed to get to Arthur. Rupert walked with him to Arthur's door, he said, "Good Night, it's been a busy day but tomorrow will be even busier."
"Good Night, Rupert, and thanks!" Gaius walked into the room knowing that many of the questions Arthur was going to ask, he would be unwilling or unable to answer.
Two days later, the weather was beautiful; the sun was shining and for once it seemed warm. Squires and knights lined the courtyard and a bier with Edmund's body on it was placed at the bottom of the stairs. Arthur stood beside his father. He had refused to wear his Ceremonial Armour but had opted for his squire's uniform. Humphrey had tried to substitute another cloak but he insisted on wearing his own, blood stained as it was.
Uther had spoken and then the sixteen year old friend of the dead squire had told the assembled people, why he was so proud to have been considered his friend. He concluded with, "Good friends are hard to find and it is even harder when one is lost to you!"
The king turned and put his hand on his son's shoulder and then Rupert moved forward unsheathed his sword and holding it high announced, "For the Love of Camelot!" At the sound of the response from the assembled knights and squires, crows rose over Camelot.
The senior squires raised the bier on their shoulders and followed the Master of the Squires and the Crown Prince to the cemetery outside the walls of Camelot.
Most of the younger squires had never been present at the funeral of a squire. There were many sad and serious faces. Following the internment, the boys were allowed to return from the cemetery in small groups and Arthur noticed Spenser, lost in thought wandering along by himself. He walked over to him and put his arm around his shoulders and Spenser looked up at his friend's face and said, "Arthur..."
Arthur looked at him and said, "Come on. Don't be afraid, I would never let anything like that happen to you."
"We won't forget him, will we?"
"No, I have plenty of memories that we will be able to talk about for a long time."
"That's a good thing, isn't it?"
The almost seventeen year old, Crown Prince flanked by two knights, walked up the steps with Spenser.
Axil had kept to himself over the last few days. Training had been cancelled until after the burial. Then he planned to slip away. There was nothing for him here. He had no friends. He'd botched the whole revenge thing. He'd killed someone who had never, well apart from being his enemy's best friend, done him any harm.
The reaction from the other squires and their masters on Edmund's death had surprised him. They were actually caring people. He felt little remorse but he could see that their sorrow was genuine. He feared retribution from the prince should he ever find out. He'd kill him given the chance and he realised that it was his right.
He packed a few things in a knapsack, folded his squire uniform and left it under his cot and crept off to the stables. He had to take his horse as it belonged to his family. He would return home and then decide what to do with his life, he was already seventeen and a half, he could survive by himself.
Nine hours later, in the dusk, he was crossing a boulder strewn path above a rushing river. He kept seeing Edmund's face as he concentrated on spearing a ring, he had been hopeless. He wasn't paying attention and his horse stumbled, throwing him forward and then it regained its balance but he was thrown over its withers and fell, slipping in slow motion over the cliff and into the river. As he fought to get to the surface, he was swept into a rock and his back was broken, his last thought was of forgiveness.
At dawn the next morning, the sentries saw a riderless horse walking slowly toward them from the lower town. It came up to them and stood waiting. It looked exhausted. One of the guards motioned for a castle worker to return it to the stables.
Sir Leon was determined to find out what had happened at the top of the stairs, Squires were taught to roll when they were unhorsed. Edmund's mind would have reacted in the same way, he would have been bruised but the chances of suffering a fatal injury would have been unexpected.
He kept thinking of the trip-wire scenario and slowly walked down the steps shining the lantern in each direction but there was nowhere to anchor a wire, there were no holes for screwing in hooks. He shook his head, turned and walked back up. He sat in the heavy chair at the top of the stairs, placing the lantern at his feet. He glanced across the first step and saw something shiny under the chest opposite. He got up and walked across to pick it up and he felt sick...
Some time later, Gaius bent over and felt the wire. He now knew how Edmund had ended up dead. He had been murdered.
Leon used his dagger and managed to loosen the wire. He walked back across the stairs and examined the chair, sure enough there was some damage on the leg above the cross support. He checked behind the chair, noticing knee and foot prints in the dust. Someone had hidden here.
Leon was conscious of Gaius's gasp and he turned to see the court physician put his hand to his head; he moved over and helped him sit in the chair. Finally, he raised his eyes to Leon's and said in an unbelieving voice, "Arthur was the intended victim. Edmund came instead of him, it was dark and the killer made a mistake!"
Together, they slowly walked back to Gaius's. Leon listed all the information which they had and the general timeline. Until, they were completely sure, the information would stay with them, Rupert and Geoffrey.
Later that day, it was announced that there was a squire missing from the castle and a horse had returned riderless. The news went through the squire quarters like wildfire. The Head Groom acknowledged that the loose horse belonged to the missing squire.
Martin came to Arthur's chambers with books and his lessons were held there. Arthur's eyes retained a haunted look but he was able to cope.
Gaius and he had had long conversations and Arthur mentioned his guilt as it was in getting books for him, that Edmund had fallen and died. He felt responsible. Gaius wondered how well he would take the news, that it had been murder.
Arthur wasn't interested in returning to training so Gaius was able to keep all the rumours away from him. Romney still spent time with him but he could be trusted not to tell him anything and Gaius wanted to keep it that way until all the loose ends were tied up.
Gaius got the proof he needed. Blood on Axil's house slippers, his horse's return, his dislike of Arthur and his behaviour during the jousting, lead to his being the main suspect.
Finally, the verdict was murder, the guilty party was never located or charged.
Spring came to Camelot and Arthur was back training. Slowly, the haunted look was replaced by one of acceptance. Gaius had told him some of what was believed to have happened, he was shocked.
One day, Gaius was dining with him and once Humphrey had served them and been dismissed, Arthur turned to him and said, "I'm not very lucky with friends am I? I really like them and they seem to like me and we are happy and have fun and then a third person breaks up the friendship. Sir Talbot finished Rudd's life here and now Axil had taken Edmund away from me and from his parents. Why are some people so nasty? They can't be happy if they act that way."
Arthur was miles away and then he suddenly said, "It was my own fault that Piers left."
"That was basically an accident."
"Are there many people in the world who only have associates and no friends?"
"I wouldn't rule out never having another best friend. There is probably someone somewhere who will one day arrive in your life and you will after a while realise that you have a special friend."
"Yes, and then someone will come along and do something and we will be friends no more! I'm not going to leave myself open to that again. I won't spend my life looking for a friend, Gaius. I have you and Geoffrey. As you say, if it's to be, it will be. I'm in no hurry to encourage another friendship, it always seems to end sadly."
Gaius smiled, "Take your time, enjoy your life as it is. I think you have the right idea."
"Do you think that Edmund realised as he fell that he was going to die? Did he try to save himself?"
They had been over this before but Gaius had decided that as long as Arthur needed to discuss it, he would listen and try to help. "I think it happened so fast that he probably only had time to think, 'Oh, Oh!' Once he hit his head, he would feel no more pain."
"I'd kill him if I could find him. You know that Gaius! He always was nasty to me but to take my best friend's life was the lowest of the low."
Maybe now was the time, "Arthur, come sit down. We think that Axil wasn't after Edmund, he had set his sights on you. First he slashed Ash, then he 'accidently' hit you in the head at the jousting and then he...was going to either seriously hurt you or kill you. He lay in wait for you on the library steps, he expected you to be at the top of the stairs when he pulled the trip-wire. It happened so fast and Edmund was dressed as a squire as you would have been and by then Edmund had already fallen."
Arthur was shocked to hear Gaius actually admit that he was the target. He'd wondered about it but he was the Crown Prince, why would Axil want to kill him, hurt him again maybe, but kill him?
Gaius had already had this conversation with Uther who was shocked and intended to put twenty-four hour protection on Arthur, forbid him from training with the squires or ever leaving Camelot again. Carefully, Gaius had shot down all those ideas and tried to encourage Uther to let Arthur pace himself as he wanted and allow him to resume as normal a life as possible.
Arthur spoke again, "I should have killed him first and then Edmund would still be here!"
"Killing him would accomplish nothing and as he hasn't turned up at home and no one here has heard from him. Chances are that he is dead." Gaius sincerely hoped that this was the truth for the idea of a suspected murderer stalking Arthur was too much for him to consider.
Arthur resumed as normal a life as possible as his father insisted that he had guards. He continued training and the only difference was that he was more than often alone when he was in his chamber. His found the continual presence of the guards draining. Romney was often with him, keeping an eye on him and Arthur knew that and gratefully accepted Romney's being there.
Sieur Thierry had decided that he wanted his younger daughter back in Camelot so Marie-Soleil returned and Arthur occasionally had company in class. They often went riding together but always Romney was present. She was now almost fifteen so it was suitable that she had a chaperone even if it were a twenty year old squire. More often than not, Spenser also tagged along.
If they went further afield, knights usually accompanied them. Uther was taking no chances, he had witnessed the grief of Lord Bevan and Lady Marge. He knew, he had lost Arthur once and after all the intervening years of hard work building a relationship, he didn't intend to let it happen again.
One day, when Uther and Gaius had lunch in his private chambers. Gaius mentioned the continual guard that was being kept on Arthur. "He needs to be allowed freedom in the castle and the surroundings. It's not good for him to suddenly be under twenty-four hour surveillance.
"If anything happens to him, I will never forgive myself." Uther had used these very words, over the last three weeks, as he had tried to convince himself that he was being reasonable.
"But that isn't the life he is used to or wants. He needs his freedom again. He seemed to rebound after Edmund's death but more recently, he seems unwilling to get out and about. I asked him why and he said he felt suffocated by the guards always at this elbows. They continually remind him of what happened."
"But if anyone was intent on killing him, they could."
"Uther, Camelot is very well protected. Put word out to the knights to be especially vigilant but I think that guards on his chamber doors, continually is overkill. There are regular corridor patrols. Having then waiting outside the library to escort him back to his chambers has him feeling like a nine years old again when Romney used to meet him to bring him back from Geoffrey's. Give him his old freedom back and in three weeks reconsider the situation."
Then the conversation slipped into general matters.
About two weeks later, Gaius dined with Arthur in his chambers. "You spoke to him didn't you Gaius? I tried and he wouldn't listen to anything I said."
"He experienced the grief which Edmund's parents suffered and he didn't want to be in the same situation. So he became a little overprotective. It was his love which made him do it, just as it is his love that has him pulling back and letting go. He can't help it, he loves you and even if you never feel the same way, that love is there even if in some circumstances in seems overbearing."
Arthur made no comment, just shrugged,
"Arthur, if he loves you one third as much as I love you, that love is very strong."
"Sure has a strange way of showing it."
"...just be reasonable and acknowledge his love in return."
"I understand Gaius but I'd rather return your two-thirds than his one third." He looked up and flashed Gaius a cheeky smile.
Gaius smiled and shook his head thinking, 'Whoever said teenagers were easy!'