A/N: Hello fellow fanfic readers! Here is the next chapter of Nightmares. We had a day off school today, so I got to write! Whoohoo! Updates should definitely be closer together than that last wait, I'm still sorry about it. Hopefully this fast update makes up for it! Possibly? Ok, I guess not. Anyway, thank you soooooooooooooo much to the reviews and follows and favorites! Do you think you could maybe help me get to 100 reviews? Please? If not, I still hope you enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: What do you think?
Nightmares
King Arthur was furious. Did that old man really think he could defeat him? He, the great King Arthur, would no longer be fooled by Gaius's stories. He was a traitor and should be dealt with as such.
The king stormed down the hallway to the physician's chambers, a score of guards behind him. "Careful, he said to them, "Gaius could be more dangerous than we first believed."
Arthur first knocked on the physician's door and called out, "Gaius, can I have a word with you for a minute?"
"Sure Sire, just give me a second." Gaius called from inside the room.
"I don't exactly have a second, Gaius. We need to talk. Now." Arthur said angrily, his voice rising.
"Sire, I will be there momentarily, just-" But Gaius was unable to finish his sentence as Arthur decided to take it upon himself to enter the room by kicking down the door.
Gaius was leaning over a patient lying on the bed in the middle of his room. He was administering some sort of medicine that should cure the patient's seemingly deadly illness, but he straightened up immediately when the furious King stormed into his chambers.
"Sire, I am saving this man's life. Let me finish and I will be right with you."
"That patient doesn't what anything from you, filthy sorcerer." Arthur sneered. "Take him away!" he ordered his guards.
The men leapt into action, grabbing Gaius and dragging him out the door to the dungeons, ignoring the old man's protests.
Arthur knelt by the dying man's bed. "Gaius is a sorcerer and therefore has been conspiring against his kingdom. Nothing from him will help."
"Thank you Sire." said the man, as fearful of sorcery as he should be. "The whole kingdom thanks you."
The man then closed his eyes and leaned his head back, breathing his last breath, before he finally let go.
Arthur was momentarily saddened by another citizen's death, but then realized that at least he had died in peace and not by the hands of an evil sorcerer.
He walked out of the room as someone else came in to dispose of the body. The king made his way to his chambers to prepare for Gaius's trial. He was positive the man was guilty, but stood by his belief that all people deserve a fair trial.
He entered his room and saw Guinevere looking over at him, worried. "What happened, Arthur?"
His wonderful wife, always putting others before herself. "I just discovered proof of what we have suspected all this time. Gaius is still practicing sorcery."
Guinevere gasped. "No, he can't be! Not Gaius!"
"I'm afraid so." Arthur said, sitting down in a chair dejectedly.
"Did you arrest him?" Gwen asked.
"Yes, yes he has been detained. His trial is in an hour, although I don't know what he is going to say to the evidence against him. It's pretty solid."
"Good." Gwen said. "The last thing we need is another sorcerer inside the palace. I don't know how I could sleep at night, knowing the evil of sorcery is still alive and thriving inside our beloved kingdom."
Arthur stood up and put his arms around her. "He will be executed in the morning, and we will be one step closer to eradicating sorcery once and for all." Arthur knew he would do whatever it takes to keep his queen and his people safe.
After a few minutes Arthur pulled away, and rubbed her arms with his hands. "I now must get ready for the trial. Please go gather the councilmen."
Gwen nodded, kissed her husband on the cheek, and made her way out of the room.
Arthur watched her go and let his servant begin to dress him for the event, ignoring the pang in his chest and her echoing voice in his head.
The last thing we need is another sorcerer inside the palace.
XXX
Queen Guinevere rushed out of the room as Arthur began to get dressed for the trial, and a few minutes later stopped the first servant she saw walking through the castle.
"Go inform the councilmen that King Arthur wishes them to be present for the physician's trial, and if they could please be in the throne room in half an hour."
"Yes, milady." The servant bowed her head then went off down the corridor to send the message.
The Queen knew that Arthur meant for Guinevere to send that message herself, but at the moment she had more pressing matters to attend to.
Guinevere hurried down the hall and out the front door of the castle, walking down the steep white steps and across the courtyard. She brought the hood of her cloak up as she walked out of the castle grounds and into the Lower Town. It would seem odd if the Queen herself were to visit the Lower Town all alone, and the last thing she wanted was to be seen as out-of-place. Her current mission required the upmost secrecy.
She finally walked through the gates of Camelot and was able to journey to the forest unseen. There, she took the route that had been ingrained her head these past couple of months, walking over fallen trees and leaves to get to her destination.
Her destination was a hidden cave, located about five minutes outside Camelot's borders. She quickly and quietly made her way to the entrance and after briefly checking behind her shoulder to make sure no one had followed her, she made her way inside.
XXX
Everything had been going fine. The raid of Gaius's chambers, which Arthur had decided to conduct before the trial, had proved successful in finding many different pieces of evidence concerning Gaius's continuing allegiance to sorcery. Yes, it had all been going fantastic until a guard came out of what used to be Mer-his room, carrying a book that Arthur was almost positive did not belong to Gaius.
The guard passed it to Arthur as everyone continued to search the room, yet Arthur couldn't bring himself to keep going. "Everyone, that's enough! I think I have what I need."
Obediently the guards filed out of the room, passing the king on their way out. One knight by the name of Kay, who had helped out with the search, stopped and looked at the magic book in Arthur's hands. "Would you like for me to take that to the throne room Sire?" he asked.
"No!" Arthur said, a little more forcefully than he intended.
When Sir Kay looked taken aback, Arthur quickly recovered and said, "No, I think I need to examine it more, just in case."
Sir Kay gave him a wary look, but being a loyal knight and not wanting to anger his king, Sir Kay simply nodded and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Arthur sat down in a chair and looked at the book in his hands. Timidly he opened it and was astonished at the pure magic and knowledge that radiated from it. It reminded him, oh how it reminded him, of that person who Arthur had given everything and gotten nothing but a broken spirit in return.
He could still remember it, that day. That day when he discovered what truly lay in his seemingly best friend's heart. He had banished Mer-him, then returned to Camelot a new person.
He had seen the evils of sorcery and now knew what his father always tried to teach him. Upon his return he had begun to see things he hadn't seen before. It was little things, here and there, but they were present.
These things were signs of sorcery. Signs of sorcery in the heart of Camelot.
That was when it had dawned on him. He had kept Arthur blind. His servant, who Arthur thought he owed so much to by showing him how to be a great king, had really just kept him blind to the hearts of his people. He had corrupted him.
Now Arthur knew better. Now Arthur knew how to be the King his father would be proud of. He knew how to be the King Camelot deserved.
After he told everyone in the castle about Merlin's betrayal, he set out to stop sorcery, using the methods that were so common to him, thanks to his father. Thankfully, he had not met with much resistance from those who were loyal to him or loyal to his father. Some even seemed relieved that the so called "Glory days" had returned.
Arthur hadn't completely changed though. He still kept some of that caring and understanding sovereign part of him, although he now refused to let his heart dictate his mind when it came to making decisions.
There were some times when Arthur thought he realized a change in the demeanor of his kingdom. It seemed as though people were sadder and more fearful than they used to be. Arthur would quickly brush it off as fear of sorcery, knowing that his kingdom would surely go back to its old happy ways after sorcery was taken care of.
Right?
Arthur dwelled on this thought as he leafed through the pages of the book in his hands. The feeling it gave off was the same as whenever Arthur used to laugh with…him…and it was bringing back old feelings and doubts.
Was he really right about all this?
SLAM! He closed the book quickly as those thoughts began to enter his mind. It would do no good for him to constantly doubt himself. Just another trait to thank that traitor for instilling in him.
Arthur knew after what happened two months ago he could never fully be the king Camelot needed, but he was sure as hell going to try. He had finally been shown what was best for his kingdom, and he would carry it out to the best of his ability.
Suddenly a knock at the door brought him out of his reverie.
"Who is it?" Arthur asked.
The door opened to reveal Sir Leon, standing there in his flowing red cape. "The councilmen are in the throne room Sire. It is time for Gaius's trial to begin."
"Alright, lead the way."
Arthur followed Sir Leon to the throne room where the councilmen, knights, guards, Guinevere, and Gaius were found waiting for him. He made his way up to his throne and sat down in it. He looked down at Gaius with disapproval and disappointment in his eyes.
"Gaius, court physician of Camelot, you are being accused of practicing witchcraft and sorcery recently when you know such practices are outlawed in this kingdom. What do you have to say for yourself?" Arthur said, looking at the physician on the ground in front of him.
"Sire, I would never intentionally break the laws of this kingdom. I love Camelot, it is my home, and to break such a law would be a disgrace to my home. I-"
"Were you practicing sorcery recently or not?" Arthur asked menacingly.
"Sire, I am loyal to you and to your father. I would never do anything to harm you. You have trusted me all these years and I have never once let you down or given you reason to cause me harm." Gaius said.
"You didn't answer the question." Arthur stated. Behind him he could hear Gwen put her head to her mouth in surprise. This was almost better proof than any evidence they had collected.
"Sire, I have told you, I-"
"Gaius, do you realize the evidence stacked up against you. I assure you, it is high, and if you would like me to show it to you, I would be more than happy to. Your situation seems to be becoming graver and graver by the second."
Gaius opened his mouth to protest but was cut off by the sound of screams coming from the courtyard below.
Immediately, Arthur and his knights rose from their chairs and made their way out the door, as guards grabbed Gaius and brought him to the dungeons. The trial could wait, whatever was going on in the courtyard seemed to be much more urgent.
The sight that greeted the King and his knights in the courtyard was not a happy sight. Three teenagers and two adults were in the middle of what was now becoming a large crowd of people, almost all the citizens of Camelot, and they were yelling at the top of their lungs.
"YOU KING ARTHUR ARE A BLOODY FOOL AND SHOULD BE TREATED AS SUCH! YOU HAVE TURNED YOUR BACK ON YOUR FRIENDS AND ARE BLIND TO THE SUFFERING OF YOUR PEOPLE! YOU SHOULD BE KILLED!" the 5 people in the middle yelled, and suddenly began to shoot spells wildly throughout the air.
The people of Camelot screamed louder as fireballs and energy began to shoot chaotically throughout the air. Riots began to ensue as people rushed away to save their lives.
These people are out of their minds, Arthur thought to himself as he pushed through the crowd to capture those treasonous citizens. However, trying to get through a crowd of scared people is not an easy feat, even if you're the King, and Arthur was soon felled by a women rushing to get away.
"Mirabelle!" another woman called out after her, but was soon thrown to the ground by a punch from a man trying to save his own skin.
Arthur struggled to get up but suddenly there was a face hovering above him. It was one of the five sorcerers that had caused this riot, and she was looking down at him with a look of disgust.
"Who are you?" Arthur asked, staring up at her.
"We are the Resistance, the group of people destined to take down your rule." She said, hatred in her eyes.
"Just the 5 of you?" Arthur said, then saw one of his knights suddenly take one of the teenage sorcerers out by sneaking up behind him and torching his head. "I mean 4."
"We may be few, but we are powerful. Powerful enough to take down you! You have begun the Purge anew, shrouding your people in misery, and have now even turned your back on one of your closest friends."
"Wh-What?" Arthur asked, stalling as he saw Sir Leon begin to come near his position, hopefully getting here in time to kill this evil witch.
"You are soon going to condemn Gaius, the person at the very heart of Old Camelot, to death." At Arthur's look of surprise, she continued, "Oh yes, we know about your so called 'trial'. Although it's not really much of a trial is it? You'll hear what he has to say, and then condemn him anyway. You're nothing but a hypocrite and a liar and you should-"
Arthur would never know how she would finish that sentence, although he had a pretty good guess, because at that moment Sir Leon reached them and swiftly chopped the women's head off.
Sir Leon offered a hand to his king to help him up. As he pulled Arthur up, the king hurriedly whispered in his ear. "These people know about Gaius's trial. I don't know if Gaius is incorporated into this Resistance or not, but I cannot take any chances. I need him executed. Go to the dungeons now, before more madness ensues."
Sir Leon nodded quickly before hurrying off, away from the still rioting and screaming crowd in the courtyard. Arthur watched him sneak into the castle and take the turn to the dungeons.
What Arthur did not see however, after he turned his back and went on to defeat the sorcerers, was the brown-jacketed, red neckerchiefed warlock who followed Leon into the dungeons.
A/N: So what do you think? And what do you think Gwen was up too? Please let me know what you thought and ways I can make this better!
Also, can you please check out my short one-shot of an alternate ending of the finale and tell me what you think? It's pretty short, it won't take long! It would mean the world!