It All Started In King Arthur's Court

It All Started In King Arthur's Court

By: Loonybin

It was hot and I was wearing four layers. My throne was hard and uncomfortable. In five minutes I'd have to go get dressed for a ball. And I was sitting here listen to people complain. There are down sides to being the queen of Camelot.

The last villager left and Josh wandered into the throne room looking worried. I dismissed my three servants telling them to wait out side the doors. As soon as they left Josh came closer.

"Well?" I asked urgently.

"I can't find dad, but I found Merton and Cally." Josh reported.

"Where're Merton and Cally?"

"Merton is man servant to Merlin and loving it." He said. "Cally has been assigned as one of you ladies in waiting. She's being outfitted right now, but she'll be here soon."

"Find your father." I ordered. "I need to talk to him. We've been here for two days now and I can't find him anywhere."

"I can't now." He said apologetically. "The king has said the prince must be at the ball. I've got to get ready."

"You're nine, you don't need to be at a ball." I felt my eyes glowing. "I need to find your dad."

"I'll search again after I'm ready." He promised. "I'll see you later."

~

'That damned orb' I thought to myself. 'Wouldn't be in this mess if it would've turned off.'

The orb that had brought us here had vanished, or trust me, we would've high tailed it outa here by now. But we had to find it to get away. I, personally had thought the blue glowing orb had looked suspicious sitting out side my flat's door in London. But not Merton. He decided to tinker with it, but then he couldn't turn it off. It turned out to be a time/dimension traveler and it had taken us here, to King Arthur's court. Here everything was different than what all the stories said. Some how, I was queen, Josh was prince, Merton worked with Merlin, and Cally had been born into a noble family and was lady in waiting. Of course the worst part was I had no idea where Tommy was.

"Cass!" some one jerked me out of thought. I turned to my chamber door. Cally was standing there looking as uncomfortable as I felt.

"Cally!" She came over and we hugged. "where…?"

"I've been training to be your lady in waiting." She blushed as she said this. "I haven't seen Merton since we've been here. And imagine…I'm betrothed!"

"I'm married to King Arthur!" I grimaced. "Whom are you betrothed to?"

"I don't know." She said. "The letter came from my so called 'father' today."

I stood up. "Can you help me with this corset? I'm going to a ball tonight."

"Me too." Cally said sullenly. She started to pull the strings of the corset. "I can't believe this, we both have almost no rights."

"Well this is old England." I grabbed the four petticoats I had to wear. "My biggest worry right now though is finding Tommy."

"You haven't seen him?" She said sympathetically.

"I've got Josh looking for him."

"How's Josh doing?" she asked. "I mean what role has he assumed?"

"He's the prince." I sighed. "He's fine, I think he wants to get out of here as much as the rest of us."

"Prince?" she smiled a bit. "Well at least you can see him."

"Any thoughts on where that orb might be?" I asked.

"D'know. Maybe Merlin's got his hands on it?" she suggested.

"He is the head wizard around here." I looked at her remembering her own brand of magic. "Are your powers working?"

"Little things, no big magic." She looked thoughtful. "It's weaker, I can tell. Really the only thing keeping any type of magic aura around me is Merlin, and he doesn't know he's supplying me with it. If he finds out he-he, could take it away." Cally looked worried.

"We'll just have to make sure he doesn't find out." We both stood up. By this time I was finished dressing. "I want to go find my husband, and you yours, lets go."

~

According to one of the serfs scrubbing the stone floors, Merlin was advising King Arthur about something so it was safe to see Merton. It would have been safe anytime probably, but it was out of habit that we decided to sneak into Merlin's chambers.

Cally relaxed a little as we entered Merlin's rooms. "My magic's coming back some." She explained. Merton was clad in a make shift shirt and leather pants (a/n- yum!). He was over a cauldron looking in and stirring when we approached.

"Merton." I startled him with my voice. He jumped about a mile up and came back down with a thump.

"Cally, Cass!" he said after calming. "Josh said you might be coming."

Cally kissed Merton quickly so we could talk.

"We can't stay long." She said, while admiring his leather pants.

"Going to the ball?" he asked.

"Yes." We both answered.

"I won't be there." He grinned ruefully. "Merlin says there's to much to do. He won't be attending either."

"Has Merlin found the orb?" I became serious for a minute.

"He hasn't said anything, and I haven't seen it. Trust me, I'm on the look out."

I glanced out the small window. The sun was going down telling me it was around 5:00. Unfortunately Cally and I had a ball to attend.

~

The dance was being held at a neighboring castle five miles down the road. While exiting the castle I kept Cally at my side; our eyes were both sweeping the land trying to catch a glimpse of Tommy. No such luck. Cally was made to ride in another carriage with the other Ladies. The king and Josh accompanied me to my carriage.

Inside the coach, Josh nudged me and mouthed 'I found him' quickly so King Arthur wouldn't see. I hugged him closer and grinned.

"He works in the stable, and should be driving one of these horses. He'll be out side at he dance." He said all of this almost silently.

"What was that?" Arthur looked at Josh.

"Nothing father." He said sweetly.

Ah hah, another thing I just couldn't figure out. See, here's the deal, I'm African American. And I know good and well that there were hardly any black people in Europe during this time, much less a queen. Most blacks were servants, albeit I should be serving, not being, the queen. They were also thought to be evil witches and were burned at the stake, ergo I should be being burned. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I mean I'm in the best position I could possibly be in, but it just doesn't make much sense. Which brings me to my next point, how could King Arthur possibly think Josh was his son? He looks like Tommy, and nothing like King Arthur.

My conclusion: Time travel makes no freakin' sense!

"We're there my queen." The coach had stopped and King Arthur had stepped out, he held out his hand for me. I put on a forced smile and accepted the help. Josh jumped out next. I knew I was probably being very over protective, but I held that kid's hand until we got inside the castle, and even then I wouldn't let him go until I found Cally.

"Josh found him." I told her. "watch Josh please. I'm going out to the stables."

"Yes Your Highness." She added the last part so the people around her wouldn't think she was disrespectful towards her 'queen'.

"Josh, stay with Lady Cally." I said firmly, adding the 'Lady' for onlookers.

He nodded as I left. I ignored the people asking where I was off to, and hurried out the front doors. A boy told me where the stables were and I walked as quickly as I could in my dress to the back of the castle. They ball didn't officially start for another two hours. People were still arriving; we were just early.

The horse stables welcomed me with the scent of horse manure and hey. There was only on human among the horses. Luckily for me that human was Tommy.

"Hello your majesty." He must have heard me come in. a mock bow followed his words.

"When one bows to the queen, their face must touch the ground." I quoted jokingly.

"Skip it." He walked over and kissed me. I let the normal wolf out come with out controlling it.

"You haven't done that in a while." He commented.

"What?"

"Wolf out at a kiss." He grinned lopsidedly.

"I'm happy to see you." I returned the smile. "And trust me, I wish it were you up in that castle instead of King Arthur. When we get back to our castle I'll send or order Merton to come down and see you. He's a bit obsessed with his work right now."

"So Josh said." Tommy raised an eyebrow. "So where's Cally?"

"She's one of my ladies." I explained. "Oh God, you don't know how worried I was about you."

"I didn't know where you were either until some of the servants came in talking about Queen Cassandra." He said.

"don't tease me!" I pretended to be hurt. "Listen, I've got to go back to the castle. Josh probably thinks I'm being really over protective, but I've gotta watch him."

"You might want to wolf down first, or your gonna get some really weird looks." He held back a laugh.

I nodded and took a few breaths.

"thanks." I said. I kissed him once more and left to go back up to the castle.

~

True to my word, the next day I ordered Merton down to the stables to see Tommy. Then Cally and I returned to my chamber to talk and speculate on how to get our asses back to our own time. But then Cally brought up something very interesting that I hadn't thought of.

"I think I know who might have the orb." She said.

"Yes?" I looked at her expectantly.

"Morgan Le' Fey." She said seriously. "One of the other ladies said that she's arriving to see King Arthur today, and then it just hit me. If anyone has it, it's probably her. She claims to be the worlds greatest sorceress and if she had that orb, then she probably could be."

"Legends say she was evil." I recalled.

"Yes, I can feel it." Cally started to pace my room. "if she did have it, she'd either keep it for her self, or present it to the King as a gift so she could lift her social standing higher. I think she'd keep it for herself though. That's the kind of person she is."

"I'll see if I can worm it out of her subtlety when I meet her."

"Oh!" Cally shook her head. "you're supposed to be dressing. Here, aciss."

Cally's spell changed my dress and petticoats in a matter of seconds.

"And, Cass." Said Cally as we walked out. "Morgan's crimes range from larceny to murder don't get too sharp with her."

Cally's warning stayed in my mind as I entered the dining hall. I expected that meeting Morgan would be like meeting Satan. But true, I was eager to meet her. A servant pulled a chair for me next to Arthur. Josh sat on the other side of him. Merlin came and sat next to me, and Merton next to him. Cally and my six other ladies were further down.

"Morgan Le' Fey, your highnesses." Some one announced her as she entered the hall.

She swept over to us in the most graceful manner. It was pretty hard to imagine that she was evil. She was beautiful, and she knew it too. King Arthur stood up, kissed her hand, and offered her a seat.

"And how's my nephew?" she looked at Josh.

"I'm fairing." He said shortly.

"and the queen?" she asked.

"I'm doing quite well thank you." I smiled nicely.

She sat down, and the meal began. I didn't eat much (I'm just not a big fan of bear meat, sorry), and I noticed Merton, Josh and Cally didn't either. Morgan trilled away through the whole meal, striking up conversation with everyone, most of all Merlin. She seemed much interested in him. The last course was being served when she asked me to walk with her in the court yard. I was quite startled by the request but accepted. Cally looked at me and mouthed 'be careful'.

"Lady Cally," I turned to her. "come please."

A shadow passed over Morgan's face, but it quickly vanished and a smile replaced it.

"Of course Your Highness." Cally stood and followed us out of the hall.

The court-yard wasn't very far from the dining hall, so we came to it quickly. I dismissed the two gardeners so nothing would be over heard.

"Was there anything you wanted to talk about?" I asked her.

"I'll go straight to the point." She said. "I aspire to be the greatest sorceress in this world. At the moment there're two things preventing that. You, and my brother Arthur."

"how are we preventing this?" I folded my arms.

"Not you nessesarily. It's your lady in waiting. She's eating up magical energy. I need her to give me her powers." She gave us a cold look that dared us to disobey. "And you Cassandra, you can get rid of my brother for me. In return, I have something of yours…"

Cally and I gave each other looks. "Sorry, we're not interested." I said.

Morgan narrowed her eyes. "It matters not if you're interested. It matters what I want, and I want this done. If you don't I'll tell all that know about you."

"There's nothing to know." Cally kept cool.

"Nothing?" she laughed. "there's pleanty. For a start, you two and the prince aren't from here. And the prince has a condition."

"Aye, and how would you know?" I let Cally do the talking. I knew if I started up, something would slip out that proved we weren't from this time. Cally knew exactly what to say, and of course she had a British accent. "And, what of ours do you have?"

"I saw the little prince when I arrived. He hit his toe on something and seemed to transform." A smug look crossed her face. "And I've a small blue sphere that I assume belongs to you."

"You're right. The sphere is ours." I steered clear of the Josh subject. "I don't suppose you'd return it to us?"

"What are its gifts?"

"None of your concern." I said. "we'd just like it back."

"It shall be returned to your possession when I get what I want." She fixed another cold glare on us. "you shall kill my brother and give me your powers. Not until then will you receive your orb."

"then you should plan to keep the orb." Cally's voice was strong. "Because we shan't commit acts of murder and I for one will not be giving a drop of my magical blood."

I winked at her. "We've said our piece. Come on Cally."

We left the yard trying to look confident, but in truth we didn't feel anything like it. My heart was thumping like mad, and Cally's legs were jello. Worst of all we could both feel Morgan Le Fey's eyes boring into our backs as we walked.

"What now?" I asked once we were far enough away.

"I-I don't rightly know." She seemed scared. "I've just argued with one of the greatest witches of all time, and she's after my blood."

"that's what giving your powers entails?" I walked into the bright sunshine of Camelot with Cally at my side. We were headed towards the stables.

"Yes. It's sort of like becoming blood sisters. We each slice a finger and then mix the blood in a bowl. A spell is said over it then we have to each drink the blood. Then my powers are hers."

"Ugh!" I made a face. "that sounds barbaric. You wouldn't actually do that?"

"No of course not!" she said haughtily. "The women in my family have been witches since the thirteen hundreds and have faced threats larger than this. I'm not going to buckle under strain this small. No, I'll keep my powers thank you very much."

I just nodded, a bit taken aback.

"Cass, I'm sorry." She rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"S'ok." I clasped her hand. "Wasn't that bad. Just stress."

"Stress." She repeated, staring at the stable in front of us.

"And you were great back there," I continued. "I would've ended up cursing her out. You knew exactly how to speak and what to say."

"Thanks." I pulled open the stable doors while listening to her. She took a breath to calm down before entering. Her face had been flushed like she'd been running for miles. I tried to stop the glowing eyes which I knew had started as soon as we'd exited the castle.

"Hi mom." Josh greeted us from the rafters. He jumped down, and landed at in the hay. Somewhere, he'd found the jeans he'd been wearing when we'd first arrived; they looked worse for the wear.

"What if someone comes in here, and sees you like that?" I asked.

He just shrugged in typical kid style. "I hate those other clothes. Merton found me these."

"Where's Tommy?" Cally sat down on a bench.

"Dad? He'll be back in a few minutes. I'm just here to get away from that lady, Morgan." His brow furrowed. "she kicked me in the shins on purpose when she first arrived."

"Did you wolf out?" I already knew the answer.

"Mom I'm sorry, but I couldn't help it. It was a hard kick, and she's wearing really pointy shoes." To prove his point he lifted up his pants leg to show a cut that was scabbing over.

"Damn." I examined the cut. "She did that?"

"Uh huh, and then she was threatening me n' stuff." He said. "I don't think she likes you two very much."

"we noticed." Said Cally dryly.

"Dad's coming." Josh announced.

"Did she just out-and-out kick you, or did you provoke her?" asked Cally.

"She mistook me for a servant boy. I guess she thought I wasn't doing my job." He admitted.

"you were traipsing around in those jeans, weren't you?" I glanced away from Tommy and back to him.

"Yeah he was." Tommy walked up behind us carrying some wood. "But you can't blame him."

"Have you met Morgan yet?" I asked.

"Just changed the wood in her room, why?" He sat down.

"She's got the orb." I said bluntly.

"I know. It's sitting on a stand by her bed."

"So we could just loot it from her." I stood up and grinned. "If you'll excuse me, I've to pay a visit to Merton."

~

(A/n- so what do you think? Please R/R!)