Arthur

Before going to bed that night, King Arthur told his queen about his conversation with the knight.

"As a friend, I want to help Percival, of course," he declared, "but I think I also want to look into the matter about Drea and her caretakers. Apparently she wasn't very happy there."

"That's a good idea," Gwen replied. Then, as an afterthought, she added, "you have such a good heart, Arthur."

She had said that many times, especially since they married, but he knew that there was a time when he had not deserved those words. When he was younger, he had been somewhat of an arrogant brat, who did not think much further than the reach of his own nose.

"Because of you," he replied.

The next day he postponed some of his other duties and took sir Leon with him to the lower town. First he spoke with the basket maker. She did not have much to say and Arthur could only figure why. Then he talked to a few of her customers after they were leaving her shop. At first they did not want to say much about Drea either, but when he assured them that they would not get in any kind of trouble, they told him what they had seen whenever they had come to the workshop lately. That Drea was always working and Gertie was never there, but somewhere else in town. Arthur made a note of everything he heard and followed the leads to more people who might have seen or heard something of Gertie's treatment of her apprentice. Slowly he had a fuller and fuller picture of the girl's conditions.

In the end, after conferring with Sir Leon, who had come to all the same conclusions as himself, he went back to the workshop and confronted the basket maker with all of the information they had managed to piece together. When pressed, she admitted to it all: Drea working overtime for a payment so low it was outrageous, using her as a servant to herself and her husband, leaving her in charge of the shop and much more. Then Arthur asked to see Drea's room. Compared to the rest of the house, it was little better than a cell in the castle dungeons.

Before he left, Arthur said to the basket maker, "You have been paying only a third of the standard wages to your apprentice for almost four years."

"Yes, sire. That was only because business was so poorly. I explained to her that I would pay everything I owed her when things got better. She did not complain about it sire."

"So you say, even though I find it hard to believe."

Sadly, the shop owners of Camelot were not required to keep a record of income and expenses, so he could not prove that the woman was lying. "But as I hear in town and as I can see with my own eyes, your business is very good now. Within six months you are to fulfil your debt to your former apprentice. Expect a visit from the head tax collector. He will collect a rate each month and see that it is paid to Drea. Oh, and if he experiences any trouble regarding your payments, he will report directly to me."

"Yes, Sire."

The King signalled for Sir Leon to follow him and went back out onto the street.

"Outrageous," Sir Leon said with a regretful shake of the head. "That girl had no family or friends to turn to. It's beyond me how those people could take advantage of a poor girl like that. And on top of everything, the husband tried to have his way with her!"

"I can hardly believe it either," Arthur said darkly, "but what pains me the most is how everyone we talked to today seemed to know about it, but did not speak up. If it wasn't for Percival, she might still have been there."

In the evening, when he finally had time to speak to Gwen again, he told his wife what he had discovered regarding Drea.

"Poor girl! I bet she could use a good friend or two," Gwen said.

Arthur could only agree.

"Maybe I should go and see her … " Gwen continued, but then she checked herself. Arthur could see that some big idea had formed in her head. "Arthur," she began, "You feel guilty over Drea, don't you?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do," the King answered. As he had been thinking this afternoon, all it would have taken was to check up on the girl from time to time. But he had never thought of an arrangement like that for the apprentices of the town.

"And you said that you wanted to help her and Percival with their wedding, didn't you?"

"Yes, of course. He's one of my most trusted men. Not to say a very good friend."

"Well, then I have a suggestion. You might think it's over the top, but just hear me out. Then you can do what you want."

"Alright, lets hear it." He always enjoyed listening to her take on the situation.