AN: Hello everybody. This chapter is all about Leon, who was left in Camelot. I hope you enjoy and I'm sorry for the slight cliff-hanger at the end, but you know how much I love writing cliff-hangers, but hate receiving them. It's 1,168 words long and I really hope you enjoy. Thanks you to NC, bubzchoc, Lya200 (love the fun fact), morningstar115, Juliana Bandagamba and fastreader12 for reviewing the recent Chapter 10. Thanks to shadowswithouthope, Ladyliz2, AnneMary, LillyBellule and Guest for reviewing the deleted Chapter 10. Sorry if that confused you. On with the chapter!
Camelot was in pandemonium. Patrols were being ordered left and right. Shifts were being doubled and squires were being knighted all over the place. Uther Pendragon was the eye of the storm and clearly not to be messed with. He called all the Knights that weren't on duty to the Throne Room and sent them to off on patrols, regardless of the fact that most were only just off a patrol or guard duty themselves.
Any knight who Arthur was friendly with was questioned and Gaius was asked for his input on the situation. Kolby was brought before the King and thrown in the dungeons when he couldn't answer where they could have gone. This was the turning point for Sir Leon. He had been questioned especially harshly as he was part of the 'Round Table' knights and had trained Arthur himself. Leon wasn't very upset about this, because he would have done the same in the king's place. What he didn't condone, nor understand, was the imprisonment of the boy, Kolby.
Kolby committed the crime of not knowing where a person he'd never met had gone to. Yes, he was the one who brought allegations about the possibility of Arthur having magic forward. But that does not mean that he knows where Arthur and the Knights went. Yet the King would punish him for not having the right information at the right time? No, Sir Leon decided. This is wrong. The King is wrong. Uther is wrong. Leon may have sworn allegiance to the King, but he no longer thinks of Uther as his King. Arthur may have been disinherited for accusations of magic (which Leon believes were entirely false; Arthur testified against having magic) but nonetheless, he is Leon's king. Especially after he pulled that sword out a solid piece of rock. Arthur is the rightful King and Leon was going to help his friend and brother.
So when a servant stopped him and told him that the King was holding a council meeting and all available Knights were required to attend, Leon waked to the Throne Room with a new resolve.
Three hours and countless arguments later, the council still hadn't decided the best course of action. Uther had wanted to send all the Knights and all the guards on patrols to find the 'fugitives' but the council argued that Camelot needed its protectors to keep it safe from invaders and sorcerers. Uther conceded to the fact that if Cenred or, Albion forbid, Morgana caught word of Camelot's plight, they'd be facing an immediate attack, perhaps another immortal army if they weren't careful. Uther then wanted to send half the Knights and half the guards, but the council shot this down, saying that as long as they didn't know where the 'fugitives' went, they couldn't very well send Knights after them. This lead to the debate about where they actually went.
Sir Kay posed the idea that they would have gone somewhere that they are comfortable and are familiar with, like their childhood home, or to see their family. Merlin is dismissed as he is a servant and, in Uther's opinion, had an apparent mental deficiency. Very little is known about the Knights' background as they were commoners, but Gwen is brought in for questioning about Elyan, though she is quickly dismissed as the family had lived in Camelot all their lives and Gwen neglected to tell them about Elyan's rebellious period. Gaius proposes that Arthur might have gone to visit his uncle, Agravaine, but Uther decided that since Agravaine hadn't been to visit Arthur since he his fifth birthday, which Arthur may not even remember, it's unlikely that Arthur would go there.
Lord Rubeus argued that since Arthur had magic and it was either him or another one of the fugitives who locked them all inside the Throne Room, they would have gone to a place of magic. This lead to leaving guards near all known sacred magical places: The Isle of the Blessed, the Disir cave, the Lake of Avalon and many well-known Druidic Shrines.
Lord Eoin mentions that Arthur could have gone to stay with the Druids. They were a peaceful people and would help anyone in need. It's debated and decided to be true. Thus Uther ordered the rest of the Knights, and there weren't many at this point, to scour the forest to find all Druid camps and information about the fugitives. He also set a reward (2,000 gold pieces*) to anyone who brings forward useful information about the whereabouts of Arthur and his band of criminals. A reward and 5,000 for the servant, dead or alive, 10,000 gold pieces was offered for the capture of each of the knights, alive. 20,000 gold pieces for the capture of Arthur, as Uther wanted the 'pleasure' of killing Arthur and his Knight's himself, so they had to be alive. Uther didn't really care about Merlin, so he didn't really matter.
Uther also sent the four remaining Knights, Sirs Leon, Aaron, Jerald and Gregory to deliver the message about the rewards and gain any information they could about the Druids. And so the council said good evening and the four Knights rode out into the forest in search of the Druids.
They made camp an hour after sun down in an old clearing just off the edge of the lower town. It had a fire pit in the centre and they assumed that travellers had stayed the night there. They bid each other good night and settled down. Leon was the first on watch.
When the sun poked its golden head above the treetops, the Knights rode out. Sir Jerald had noticed six pairs of footsteps leading off in a north-east direction and had decided to follow them, on the off chance they were the 'fugitives' footsteps. Leon was getting very tired of hearing his brothers being called 'fugitives', but said nothing.
They rode for about an hour, following the footsteps, when they disappeared into a cave. In front of the cave stands three trees, side-by-side, as though they are guarding the cave. Sir Aaron dismounts and attempts to walk through, but cannot as the trees are too thick. He then walks around to the side of the trees to see if he can see into the cave, but its impossible to see through the trees, they're too thick.
He remounts and is about the ride away when Sir Jerald asks him why he gave up. Sir Aaron replies. "The trees are too thick. I couldn't get through." This gives Leon an idea. He dismounts, ignoring the questions from his fellow Knights and walks up to the trees. He whispers to them, quiet enough so that the Knights cannot hear. "I mean you no harm." He closes his eyes, takes in a deep breath, solidifying his resolveā¦and steps straight through the trees, with no problem whatsoever.
He opens his eyes on the other side, and sees six people he'd hoped for, but never really believed he'd see again. Eyes bulging out of their sockets he whispers.
"Arthur!"
*To put this into perspective, the reward for winning the tournament in Valiant was 1,000 gold pieces. This appeared to be quite a lot, so I'm going on a basis of 1 gold piece=$5, therefore if they won the tournament, they received $5,000. So they get $10,000 for information, $50,000 for the capture of each of the Knights, $25,000 for Merlin and $100,000 for Arthur. So if someone caught three of the Knights and had information about Arthur and caught Merlin, do the math. Or I can do it for you. They would be rewarded $50,000.
There you go! Thank you so much for reviewing and enjoying, it really does mean heaps to me. I doubt you thought the next one would be up so soon, but as I said last time, I have nothing to do for the next two weeks except write this and some homework that I will procrastinate about. Did you know that the three Knights were named after my dad and uncles? Obviously you didn't, but now you do. Just a fun fact. Thanks to NC, Lya200, morningstar115, Juliana Brandagamba and fastreader12 for answering the Question of the Chapter. My favourite villain is Morgana, but Nimueh was great too. Question of the Chapter: Which is your favourite dragon, Kilgharrah or Aithusa.
See you in another life, ScruffydaDruid.
PS. Anyone catch the Harry Potter reference? Leave it in your review
