"Alright, Crowley, what is so important that you had to summon me here? And stop pacing, you're giving me a headache!"

Crowley turned to face Halt. "I can't help it, Halt. It's what I do when I'm worried."

Halt rolled his eyes. "Then stop worrying."

"I can't just stop worrying like that! Do you know how much I have to worry about?"

"Yes, and I'm sure that the entire kingdom would collapse if you weren't around to worry about every little thing. Now sit down and tell me what's going on."

Crowley collapsed into his chair. "Well, we've received a few disturbing reports from the ranger in Dacton Fief."

Halt frowned. "Who's the ranger there?"

"Kevyn Daltwile."

Halt nodded. "He's a good ranger. Trustworthy. Experienced. What's he say?"

"You remember a few years ago when we were getting reports about sorcery and Malkallam?"

Halt raised his eyebrow at Crowley. "It's rather difficult to forget."

"Right, well, Kevyn says that Baron Linwood, the baron at fief Dacton, has been researching . . . magic."

Halt stared at him. "Magic."

"Yes."

"Well, what type of magic? If he's researching how to magically create bunnies and rainbows, then it's not really anything to worry about, is it."

Crowley shook his head, his face grim. "He's not researching bunnies and rainbows. He's looking for stories and legends about Camelot. And King Arthur."

Halt snorted. "Really? Children's stories? And we're getting involved in this, why?"

"He's trying to find the legends that describe how to resurrect King Arthur."

Halt frowned. "You know, I don't think that's the correct way to phrase that. I mean, according to the stories, King Arthur was put into an enchanted sleep. So he'd be awoken, not resurrected." His mouth twitched. "Perhaps Linwood should try kissing King Arthur. I've heard that that works with fair maidens, it might work with kings as well."

"Halt, come on now, this is serious. It doesn't matter if Arthur was a real person and the magic spells to awaken him are real; what matters is if that Baron Linwood can get someone to convincingly pretend to be King Arthur, then people will flock to him. The story of Camelot and King Arthur is a story that everyone knows. It's told on every holiday. Every child knows it. If they could get enough people to follow them, then they could potentially overthrow Duncan."

"Are you sure you're not exaggerating there, Crowley?"

"Linwood is already recruiting men to 'restore the true king to the throne'. Kevyn infiltrated a recruitment meeting."

Halt snorted. "Well, if you have that information, then why don't you just arrest Linwood and be done with it?"

Crowley shook his head. "If I could, then I would have arrested already, but he wasn't actually at the meeting. We have no real proof that he is supporting this, other than the fact that he is researching legends about Camelot. It's all just supposition. And, as you've said before, it is part of our brief to deal with cases where there's insufficient evidence for a conviction."

Halt glared at him. "There's no need to quote myself. And that's not formally acknowledged, as you well know. So what are you planning on doing about Linwood?"

"I was thinking about using Will."

"You know, whenever there's a potentially vital mission, you always seem to turn to Will. Are you sure that you're not depending on him too much? Maybe you should give someone else a chance to be a hero."

Crowley sighed. "That was just a suggestion. But if you think that Will can't handle it . . ."

"There's no need to insult him like that."

"Well, I just thought that Will would be a good choice for this since he's dealt with a situation similar to this one."

Halt grumbled. "I suppose that makes sense. Did you already contact Will?"

Crowley nodded. "He's on his way. He should be here in about two days."

Halt brightened almost imperceptible. "It'd be nice to see him again. But he better not bring that lute of his," he grumbled.


Baron Linwood sat at a desk in his office, flipping through books dispiritedly. "Have you found anything yet, Natalie?" he asked his wife.

"Not yet, darling, but we're bound to find something sooner or later," she responded.

"Good," he said. "The men are getting restless. If we don't come up with something conclusive in the next couple of days, then I don't think I'll able to control them anymore."

"You know," Lady Natalie said hesitantly. "We could just find someone who can pretend to be King Arthur. Finding an actual spell to wake him is taking too long, and it's doubtful if it'll work."

"No," he shook his head determinedly. "My grandmother swore that the spell was in her books. She said that we are descended from a sorceress who was the disciple of Arthur's half-sister, and lived the same time as Arthur and even knew him. I've told you this before. And just think, if we can manage to return King Arthur, the King Arthur, just think what else we could do! With him at my right hand, I could become king! And you would be my queen."

"It sounds lovely, Lin, but is it even possible? I mean, they are just legends. No one knows if there's any truth to them!"

He didn't respond. She turned to him, frowning. "Linwood? What is it?"

"This is it," he whispered.

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Speak up, I can't hear you."

"I've found it," he gasped.

"The spell?"

"Yes! It is just as Grandmother said it would be! The spell to awaken King Arthur."

Natalie threw the books she was holding down onto the table. "Wonderful! That means that I don't need to keep reading these."

"Natalie, when is the new moon?"

Lady Natalie frowned. "I believe it is sometime next week. Why? Is it important for the spell?"

He nodded. "The ritual must be completed on the new moon, as close to the sky as possible, in a stone chamber ringed by the blood of the innocents."

Natalie wrinkled her nose. "Sounds messy. Why 'as close to the sky as possible'? And what does that even mean?"

Linwood shuffled through the papers. "Judging from the illustration, the ritual is meant to be completed in a high tower. I believe it is meant to be the opposite of the circumstances when Camelot was lost. In the sky, not near the sea. The blood of innocents, not the blood of the wicked. The new moon, not the full moon."

Natalie nodded thoughtfully. "I suppose that makes sense. What else do we need?" She stood and moved behind him, leaning down to read over his shoulder.

"Nothing too complicated. We should be ready by the new moon next week. I'll go tell the men to start getting ready."


Will rode up to the cabin, jumping off Tug in front of the porch. Halt was sitting at a table on the porch, going through paperwork. "Hey, Halt!" Will said cheerily. Halt just glared at him. "Will, I just saw you last week. There's no need to act as if you haven't seen me in ages."

Will laughed. "Ah, come on Halt, don't be so gloomy. I know you've missed me too."

Halt cleared his throat. "Crowley!" he called. "Will's here! Get out here!"

A few moments later Crowley shuffled out of the cabin, a sleepy expression in his eyes. "Did you have to yell, Halt? I was asleep."

Halt snorted. "Of course you were. But now that Will's here, how about we give him his assignment so you can go back to sleep and waste the rest of the day!"

"Ignore him," Crowley told Will. "His dinner with Pauline was interrupted by a robbery gone bad. He's still mad about it."

Will chuckled. "So what's the situation?"

"Ah." Crowley grew serious. "Do you recall that situation a few years ago in Macindaw?"

Will just stared at him.

Crowley cleared his throat. "Yes, well, I'm sure you do. Well, we seem to have a somewhat similar situation where another Baron might be dabbling in magic."

"So . . ." Will said uncertainly. "Is this mumbo jumbo, mind domination, mass hallucination, or the last one percent?"

Halt and Crowley looked at each other. "We don't know yet. As far as we know, Baron Linwood has never actually attempted any magic. But we do know that his secretary has been leading seditious meetings and recruiting men in preparation for a rebellion."

Will frowned. "So where does the magic come in?"

"He is trying to find spells that will raise King Arthur from the dead in order to lead a rebellion in his name."

"You mean 'wake' King Arthur. Not raise him from the dead. We've been through this before," Halt said.

Crowley waved a hand at him, dismissing the statement. "It doesn't matter which impossible thing he's attempting to do."

"Is he actually serious about finding the actual Arthur, or is he just going to get someone to pretend to be Arthur?" Will asked.

Halt shook his head. "We don't know, but it doesn't matter which one; both could potentially be dangerous."

"You know," Will mused. "The Camelot stories were always my favorite when I was growing up."

Crowley grinned. "They were? Then do you know that, according to legends, the Rangers were based on a member of King Arthur's court?"

Will stared at him. "Really? I didn't know that."

"It's just a legend," Halt interrupted. "Likely there's no truth in it at all."

"But still, it would be interesting to know if it were true," Will mused.

"Can we get back to the matter at hand?" Halt said grumpily. "You two can compare stories and legends later."

"Right," Will nodded. "So what's the plan?"