Chapter 24 - Accusations Addressed
Even as the hall's occupants began to slowly vacate the room in small groups, the clamoring all around him never seemed to cease, nor did the gazes on him ever seem to relent.
The worst ones were the ones from the people he'd personally known; Agravain's accusing glare, Gareth's uncertain gaze, Arthur's emotionless eyes... even the way Lancelot glanced at him guiltily, never quite able to meet his eyes before he too shuffled out of the great hall...
Jaune wasn't sure if he'd ever wished for the ground to open up and swallow him whole nearly as much as he did in that moment (maybe just after he'd snapped at Pyr for her offer to help and then found out that Cardin had overheard him admitting that he'd falsified his transcripts), but unfortunately all he could do was remain where he stood, enduring the looks and the whispers directed at him with what little stoicism he could muster while fighting down the overwhelming terror and absolute confusion growing within him as he tried to process the whole situation.
Seriously, what in Oum's name had just happened?!
The day had been going so well, too; he'd managed to convince Sir Mordred to accompany him for Gareth's knighting ceremony (it'd been surprisingly easy, to be honest; his mentor had agreed to go with him (with much grumbling and griping, of course) as soon as he'd mentioned that he was going), nobody had shown up drunk (or at least, too drunk), everyone had remembered their vows, and Lancelot had even managed to keep his calm while right in front of the guy whose wife he'd been having an affair with.
... and then Agravain had barged in...
...
Jaune forcibly ignored the continued commotion surrounding him as he instead focused on trying to review Agravain's words.
Unfortunately, even with the supposed benefit of hindsight (and especially of not being caught off guard and subjected to a public interrogation all of a sudden), Jaune found himself no closer to figuring out what exactly had just happened, let alone how he could have handled that situation better.
Fortunately, before Jaune could give himself a migraine trying to figure out how in the name of the Lord that Camelot worshipped Agravain had apparently decided that he was some sort of extradimensional super spy sent to fraternize with Arthur (okay, the extradimensional part was accurate, and to be fair he probably could have been more open about that...), the last members of the crowd finally made their way out of the hall, followed closely behind by a growling Mordred as she escorted them to the doors.
Once they'd crossed the threshold of the room, Mordred quickly proceeded to close the thick doors and bar it for extra measure, only taking pause to give the few brave souls who'd elected to wait around the entrance scathing glares (the intensity of her gaze being palpable even despite her eyes being hidden behind her helmet along with the rest of her face, such was the strength of her emotions) until they'd left, before she finally allowed herself to furiously plead: "Father! There has to be some misunderstanding!"
"Mordred..." Artoria tiredly called out.
"Agravain must be mistaken, I'm sure of it!" Mordred continued rambling on, stepping between Arthur and her squire as she approached the former.
"Mordred..." Artoria tried again, louder this time.
"There is just no way that Jaune would ever betray you or the Kingdom!" Mordred insisted relentlessly. "I am fully willing to testify before the Lord against Agravain if I must-"
"Calm yourself, Mordred; I will not ask again," Artoria firmly instructed Mordred, and though her voice barely rose above conversational levels it still seemed to echo throughout the hall.
Between that and Jaune grabbing his mentor's shoulder to get her attention, Mordred finally and belatedly realized that her father had spoken, and immediately complied, though she never moved from where she stood defensively over Jaune.
"Thank you for collecting yourself, Mordred," Artoria nodded with weary gratitude to her child, before continuing: "Now, if you will permit me to inquire - were you ever, at any point up until a few hours ago, aware that your squire was from another world?"
"I-"
"I never told Sir Mordred, or anybody else, about it," Jaune quickly interjected through gritted teeth before Mordred could even begin to answer. Ultimately, regardless of his reasons, regardless of how Agravain had chosen to frame things, and regardless of what Arthur chose to believe, nothing changed the fact that he had made the decision to keep quiet on Remnant being another world entirely; no matter what happened, he would not allow his mentor and friend to take any further risks for his actions.
"I see," Artoria simply nodded, directing her critical gaze towards him in turn. "And I trust you know why that is a problem?"
"I know, I know, it's just... I didn't even know how to say it, alright?," Jaune repeated desperately, his hands gesticulating wildly in frustration. "How would I even begin to explain something like that; sorry for the late update, but I just realized I'm actually from another world, you don't have to help me look for a way home anymore?"
"It would have at least been better than nothing," Artoria pointed out matter-of-factly.
Jaune's shoulders slumped as he hung his head defeatedly and clenched his fists, preparing himself for the worst, and even Sir Mordred visibly tensed up under all his armor.
"If you had at least told any of us of your true origins beforehand," Artoria continued to rebuke him, "we would have been able to vouch for you when Sir Agravain accused you of deliberately concealing it. As things now stand, however, your apparent attempts to conceal the truth made you seem far more suspect than you would have otherwise been, and greatly complicated any attempts at defending your name."
Jaune blinked as he looked up, wondering if he'd misheard Arthur's words.
"Regardless, what's done is done," Artoria concluded wearily, leaning back into her throne. "I pray you learn well from this incident, and I beseech that you comply with the terms set out for you earlier, lest my hand be further forced, until such time that Merlin can come to deliver his verdict. Furthermore, should you have anything else that you have thus far failed to disclose, now would be an appropriate time to inform me."
"I'm not hiding anything else," Jaune immediately defended himself, before shaking his head. "No, wait, I mean... is that all?"
"Were you expecting more?" Artoria raised an eyebrow as she leaned forward, looking down at him.
"Uh, well..." Jaune rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, before finally admitting: "Yeah, I kind of was."
"What are you doing, Jaune?" Mordred hissed at him as she turned towards him, appalled by his apparent lack of gratitude towards the King's grace.
"I mean, Your Majesty-" Jaune ignored his mentor.
"Dispense with the formalities, Jaune," Artoria waved her hand dismissively. "The day has been long and trying enough for us both, I'm sure."
"Then, Arthur..." Jaune nodded, though he couldn't help but glance at his mentor's figure as he did so. Never before had he been asked to speak casually with Arthur while other people were present, but either Sir Mordred got a pass for being the King's son, or Arthur was really just too tired to care. "What about all that stuff about me being some sort of alien spy, or an otherworldly pawn, or something?"
"Considering that I was the one who pronounced your presumed innocence, and even provided counter-arguments in your defense against Sir Agravain's accusations, did you think I believed you suspect of those charges?" Artoria pointed out bemusedly.
"Well..." Jaune had honestly thought Arthur had only given him such a verdict because Agravain's failure to conclusively prove his guilt had meant that, under Camelot's own laws and standards, he would have to be presumed innocent, but when Arthur laid it out like that he honestly felt kind of dumb (admittedly that wasn't an unfamiliar feeling to him).
Of course, that didn't explain why Arthur seemed convinced of his innocence, but before he could voice his questions Arthur simply continued on: "Do not get me wrong, I would certainly like Merlin to take a look at you, just to be safe, but if I believed there was any risk that you had somehow compromised my free will, then I most certainly would not have allowed for you to be escorted by Mordred, who you have spent even more time with alone, and who would have been even more compromised than I.
"But you have had ample opportunity to cause harm to the Kingdom, especially with the happenings of the past two weeks, and yet you have made no attempt to lead me astray. In light of that, I believe you can understand why I am inclined towards lenience for you and skepticism towards Sir Agravain's claims."
"I see..." Jaune could only nod, too stunned for any other words. After Lancelot had sided with Agravain against him, and after Arthur had allowed it, he'd genuinely believed that the only person in Camelot that was on his side was Sir Mordred. Evidently, however, he'd been wrong.
Then he suddenly felt himself being crushed by strong metallic arms as Sir Mordred embraced him without warning, apparently overcome with relief as he cheered: "Hear that, Jaune! Even Father knows you're innocent!"
"Presumedly innocent, Mordred," Artoria emphasized, though a part of her couldn't help but smile (internally, of course) at the absolute joy her only child was radiating as she swung her friend around (of course, Mordred's feelings hadn't been a factor in her final decision; it had been made on the basis of logic as always). Then she shoved those feelings down, banishing them away as she did with her other emotions, and gently reminded the pair: "And I pray you do not bear a grudge against Sir Agravain for this matter; his cautious nature stems from his upbringing under my half-sister, and it has admittedly served the Kingdom well many times."
Mordred's good cheer evaporated immediately at the mention of both her brother and her mother, and she merely replied to her father with a click of her tongue.
Jaune didn't do much better either, having genuinely respected Agravain before the events of that day, and it was with no small amount of reluctance that he finally conceded: "... I'll try."
"I thank you for your understanding," Artoria accepted his answer, knowing that hoping for more, especially with the event so recent, was utterly unrealistic. "If there is nothing else, the two of you are free to leave, though I shall remind you once more to follow my instructions, and endeavor not to give Sir Agravain further cause for suspicion."
"Got it," Jaune gulped.
"Of course, Father," Mordred reassured Artoria, before grabbing Jaune's arm as she offered: "Then, shall I bring you to your room now, Jaune?"
"Sure, thanks," Jaune smiled at his mentor before the pair set off.
As they departed from the room Artoria could just barely make out her child beginning to pester Jaune for more information about his original world, but decided to pay it little heed, instead allowing herself to relax once the doors had been closed behind them, and contemplating the events of that day and its consequences in the immediate future.
Agravain would surely soon realize the problems with allowing Mordred to guard Jaune if he hadn't already spotted it (which was why she'd immediately ordered everyone to clear the hall after pronouncing her judgement - she hadn't wanted to give him time to voice additional concerns), but she doubted her child would allow any other save herself to escort Jaune... which also likely meant that she would have to endure Agravain constantly seeking her out, petitioning for her intervention in assigning a new escort for Jaune.
Gareth would also surely be in a poor mood, considering the outcome of her knighting and that Jaune was a close friend of her niece, and if Gareth was unhappy that typically made others unhappy (not that Gareth would intentionally make others unhappy, of course, but she greatly underestimated the influence she had over others with her seemingly-endless optimism and cheerful demeanor).
And she still hadn't resolved the matter of Guinevere's and Lancelot's affair...
She'd been planning on confronting them either that night or sometime the next day, but considering Lancelot's actions that day she felt that such a discussion would have to be postponed for the foreseeable future, both on grounds that there were more pressing matters to attend to, and that she doubted in her ability to be objective or non-confrontational towards Lancelot after he had essentially caused the public interrogation of Jaune, the one person in Camelot she'd trusted to aid her in discussing their affair.
"You had best return post-haste, Merlin," Artoria grumbled under her breath as she slumped into the backrest of her throne, already dreading how the next few days would go.
Author's Notes: Apologies for the lateness and length of the chapter; regarding the former I was drowning in work, and then I got into accident, and regarding the latter I was originally considering combining this chapter and the next one into one chapter, but I eventually decided against it on grounds that this was a suitable point to end the chapter, and if I'd added more it wouldn't have flowed quite as smoothly. By the way, that does also mean that the next chapter will also probably be quite short as well.
Anyway, there's really not much to say that I haven't said in the previous chapter; Artoria, the judge presiding over Jaune's case, was absolutely fucking batting for Jaune in what would presumably be a gross violation of judicial ethics if such a thing had been invented yet (and if you think that's out-of-character please remember she gave Lancelot an official pardon after he got caught sleeping with Guinevere and killed Agravain and other knights), Mordred's loyalty to Jaune has been on full display this whole time, and Artoria's sentence to Jaune was pretty much just a slap on the wrist.
I do, however, feel the need to remind people of a few things, namely:
1) Quite a few people are grossly overestimating Camelot's legal system (yes, the Roman Empire introduced presumption of innocence in the first or second century AD, but it also fell about a century before this story takes place, and by now most places have pretty much descended into simple character witnesses as standards (i.e. if X accuses Y of Z, then Y has to find a bunch of people who would testify that Y would never perform Z, and of course more weight is given to a testimony depending on the status of the witness delivering it). Camelot may be a shining beacon of justice in the Dark Ages, but that is also by the standards of the Dark Ages.
2) A lot of people are severely underestimating Agravain's paranoia (cut the man some slack, he was raised by Morgan specifically to be a spy and an assassin) and his fanatical loyalty to Artoria (he essentially betrayed Morgan and faithfully served Artoria).
3) People are overestimating how much knowledge the individual characters have. For example, Artoria would have no reason to even know that Lancelot was being blackmailed (she stated in Chapter 20 (less than two weeks earlier in-universe) that "I doubt time to be a concern, considering I only found out about their affair because I walked into my private chambers at a misfortunate time, and they will doubtlessly be more careful following that close call"), and in fact Lancelot would have every reason to defend Jaune considering he'd been the first one to recommend him to Camelot.
4) Morgan isn't necessarily hinging her bets on a single outcome. Who knows, maybe she and Britain just really don't like the Foreigner and wanted to see him gone by any means necessary. Maybe she just hates her sister so much she wants to remove Jaune from her presence. Maybe she can't fathom that her sister would get close to a lowly foreign squire of no name, and had to have been bewitched. Maybe she was counting on Agravain succeeding, or maybe she was counting on Agravain's failure, as Artoria favoring Jaune over her own nephew and spymaster would not go over well with most of the nobles allied to Morgan. Or maybe I'm just making all of this up, by the seat of my pants as always.
Other than all that... don't expect the next chapter anytime soon, as always.