Chapter 25 - Developing Denouements
It had been two weeks since Agravain had publicly dropped his bombshell of a revelation regarding Jaune's origins and suspected purpose for entering Camelot, and in that time the commotion around the castle hadn't died down even the slightest bit.
Or at least, that was true, as far as Jaune could tell.
Admittedly, though, that wasn't saying much; he'd hardly left his quarters since Agravain had accused him of plotting to cause harm to Camelot (and utterly ruined Gareth's knighting ceremony, but that was neither here nor there), having no interest in wanting to trouble his mentor and friend and further than necessary, and even less in dealing with the stares and whispers that were sure to follow him around if he was spotted.
Of course, while he was doing his best at staying out of trouble, there was nothing stopping trouble from finding him.
Nobody had tried to take matters into their own hands, fortunately (the King's verdict had been absolute), but Agravain had dropped by three times since he'd holed himself in his room, and it had only been because of Sir Mordred's loyalty to Arthur and his commands, as well as his stubbornness (and no small amount of violent threats), that Agravain had backed down each time, with him having given up on convincing his secret brother on the last time and having instead promised to bring it up to the King personally.
Considering that the third and last time (so far) had been about ten days ago, Jaune couldn't help but feel both extremely grateful to Arthur, as well as extremely guilty.
Hopefully Arthur had still managed to find the time to talk to Guinevere and Lancelot as he'd planned, even with all the additional problems that had been piled onto his plate...
A sigh escaped Jaune's lips as the thought of Lancelot reminded him of how the man had essentially sided with Agravain against him, back during the ceremony. Even now, he still couldn't understand why the senior knight had done so, and even with what he knew of Lancelot's private affairs he personally didn't think that Lancelot would have sided with Agravain unless he'd genuinely thought the situation was really that serious.
(Sir Mordred, of course, disagreed, and had been more than happy to come up with more and more insulting reasons as to why he'd done so, which made Jaune extremely thankful for the fact that he wasn't aware of the fact that Lancelot was sleeping with his father's wife; he was already furious enough on Jaune's behalf over the perceived betrayal, and Jaune didn't want to imagine what he'd do to Lancelot if he found out about that...)
What he did know, of course, was that it had made his friendship with Gareth extremely awkward, and in the past two weeks she'd dropped by in a grand total of only two times, the first time to ask for clarification on what in her Lord's name had just happened and how much of what Agravain had accused him of was true (Sir Mordred had not been pleased about that) and the second to say that she would trust him and the King's judgement for the time being, as well as to wish him luck when Merlin came to give his verdict.
He didn't blame her; it wasn't exactly a secret that they were friends, and he'd been first brought to Camelot by her mentor, and her brother had tried to arrest him, with the eventual backing of her other brothers and said mentor, based on the testimony of her mother.
Of course, things could be much, much, much worse; even discounting the fact that he'd been officially presumed innocent and still technically had his freedom, he'd really underestimated how much of a favor Arthur had done him by assigning Sir Mordred to be his guard. Besides keeping him safe, his friend had been just as attentive of an escort as he had a mentor, bringing him meals, ensuring he kept up with his training as a prospective knight (though for obvious reasons the intensity had been scaled down), as well as bombarding him with questions about his world (he especially seemed to love hearing about the stories Jaune had grown up hearing, and Jaune in turn had been more than happy to regale him with the tales of his great-great-grandfather during the Great War and his great-grandfather's exploits as a Huntsman; it was also a lot easier to explain concepts like Dust and motorized vehicles and powered flight now that he could just handwave it all as just "things from another world"), and in general just keeping him distracted from thinking too much about the whole situation.
And speaking of Sir Mordred...
The familiar sound of heavy footfalls caught his attention, and he turned his head away from the peaceful morning sky he'd been watching.
Sure, there was always the chance that the owner of the footsteps heading his way wasn't his friend, but between his newfound reputation and the way the noises coming from the corridor indicated that only a single person was approaching, as well as taking into account the time of day, Jaune felt reasonably confident in his assessment that it was Sir Mordred who was coming to perform the same duty that morning that he had for the past two weeks.
(Initially, Sir Mordred had offered to remain with him at all times, even staying overnight as well, but while he didn't have any issue bunking with his mentor (they'd shared a tent while travelling through the countryside for a month, after all) he'd firmly rejected the idea on grounds that he refused to cause his friend any more trouble than he already had.)
Then the door was flung open, revealing a fully-armored figure standing at its threshold.
Jaune simply waved at his friend as he greeted him: "Morning, Sir Mordred."
"Good morning, Jaune," Mordred hurriedly returned the greeting before immediately cutting to the chase, wasting no time on pleasantries: "Come on, let's get moving!"
"Did something happen, Mordred?" Jaune cautiously asked as he jumped up from his seat. Considering his mentor didn't sound concerned at all, he probably wasn't in big trouble, but at the same time he couldn't think of much else that would warrant such a response from Sir Mordred, at least not without getting his hopes up.
"One of the guards just spotted Bedivere returning!" Mordred informed him, barely taking any pauses between individual words in her haste.
Jaune's eyes widened at Mordred's statement, before he found his arm being gripped tightly as his friend excitedly continued: "We've got to go see Father and clear your name, quickly!"
He couldn't help it, couldn't help but smile as a palpable sense of relief washed over him (though that may have just been the wind brushing past him as his friend began pulling him along).
As comfortable as Arthur and Sir Mordred had tried to make the whole situation, it couldn't change the fact that Jaune was, to put it bluntly, sick and tired of it all. He may not have minded the company, but he was sick and tired of being stuck in his room, sick and tired of being unable to do anything, and most of all he was sick and tired of feeling like the burden he undoubtedly was on the two men.
He'd run away from home to be a hero, to help people, but until the situation was resolved his friends would face issues just because of their association with him.
Fortunately, all that would change today.
Then he and Mordred turned a corner, and his good cheer evaporated as they ran into a group of knights walking down the hall.
Unlike previously, Jaune was now acutely aware of their suspicious gazes and hushed whispers, and even as they parted to the sides, allowing Mordred to continue dragging him along, Jaune had absolutely no illusions about what they were talking about as he passed by them.
His suspicions had been right.
The commotion hadn't died down one bit.
Jaune grit his teeth and did his best to ignore it all as he carried on, instead focusing on following in his mentor's footsteps.
After several minutes of making their way through the castle (which had never felt so large to Jaune as in that morning), however, they suddenly heard Gawain's booming voice as it thundered from around a corner: "... is not up for negotiation, Gareth."
"And for the last time, Gawain, I am of age, and a full Knight of the Round Table in my own right as well!" Gareth's voice snapped back from the same direction, as the pair turned the corner to find a trio of blonde siblings absorbed in a heated discussion even as they approached from the other end. "You can hardly forbid me from speaking to my friend."
"Gareth, I think you should heed our eldest brother's words on this matter," Gaheris advised, doing his best to mediate as he stood between the two. "You know he only means well-"
"Yes, but that does not mean he's right," Gareth retorted.
"Do you believe Mother and Agravain would have acted had they not been sure?" Gawain questioned rhetorically. "Even Lancelot sided wit-"
"I am well aware," Gareth cut him off sharply, though Jaune could also hear the tiredness in his friend's voice. "But the King has also pronounced that he be considered innocent."
"Presumed innocent, pending Merlin's investigation, and-" Gawain emphasized, even as Gaheris let loose a long-suffering sigh of exasperation, before the trio finally noticed the presence of Mordred and Jaune and halted. "... Sir Mordred. Jaune."
"Gawain," Mordred growled, while Jaune did his best to hide his discomfort as he nodded towards the three of them, a gesture only returned by Gareth.
An uncomfortable silence followed, as Mordred attempted to glare a hole into Gawain, before Gawain finally spoke: "Please permit us to excuse ourselves, Sir Mordred; I have a journey to prepare for. Gaheris, Gareth, let us depart."
Mordred remained silent even as she simply took a step to the side, her eyes continuing to bore a hole into Gawain as he walked past, followed by Gaheris, who stiffly nodded at the pair, and Gareth, who gave Jaune an apologetic look before she too left.
"Tch," Mordred clicked her tongue in irritation once the trio was gone. "Stupid Gawain..."
Jaune didn't say anything; he wasn't so thick that he couldn't tell the siblings had been arguing about Gareth's friendship with him.
Mordred noticed his silence, and squeezed his hand clumsily to get his attention as she quickly suggested: "Come on, squire. Let's just go see Father."
Jaune forced a smile as he quietly nodded his assent, and the rest of their journey was fortunately uneventful as they continued on, until they eventually made their way to the throne room where the King held court, and after a few moments were allowed to enter.
Jaune hadn't seen Arthur since Gareth's knighting ceremony, but as he and Mordred approached the throne and knelt before its occupant (and the rest of the room was cleared to give them privacy) he couldn't help but feel like Arthur looked more worn out now than he had when Jaune had last seen him.
... it wasn't just his imagination, was it?
Before he could give it any more though, however, Arthur spoke first; "You may rise, Mordred, Jaune. It has been a while since we have last met; I pray the both of you have been well?"
"We have been, Father," Mordred replied as she stood back up.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Jaune followed suit.
"That is good to hear," Artoria nodded with a tired smile as she looked them over. "And now, what brings the two of you here this morning?"
"We heard that Bedivere returned, Father," Mordred quickly answered with a smile. "So we figured that it would be best to bring Jaune here quickly, and allow Merlin to clear him."
"..." Artoria couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as Mordred began looking around the room, as if Merlin would suddenly reveal himself. "... have you not also heard, Mordred?"
"Heard what, Father?" Mordred cocked her head to the side.
"Sir Bedivere's search was unsuccessful," Artoria carefully explained. "No trace of Merlin could be found, nor could any response be elicited, not even on the channels we developed specifically to be used in cases of emergencies; as far as we have been able to determine, it is as if he has disappeared entirely from this realm."
Mordred only managed to hide the shock on her face because it was concealed by her helmet; behind her, Jaune had no such thing to hide his face.
"I am certain that Merlin is well, of course, if for no other reason save that this is Merlin we speak of," Artoria quickly reassured them. "Furthermore, I have already assigned Sir Gawain to continue the search for Merlin, a task that he will do his best to successfully accomplish, of that I have no doubt."
"..." Mordred resisted the urge to click her tongue in irritation again, as the mention of Gawain reminded her of her confrontation with him earlier that morning. The idea of being reliant on him was not one she found particularly palatable, though for her squire's sake she would do her best to bear it.
Jaune, on the other hand, was far less optimistic than Arthur, and it was with no small amount of trepidation that he spoke up: "... Your Majesty, may I ask a question?"
"You may, indeed," Artoria allowed.
"What if Gawain fails?" Jaune questioned bluntly. "What if he can't find Merlin?"
Artoria took a moment to meet Jaune's eyes, before she answered: "I understand your fears, Squire Jaune, but do not worry. Should the worst come to pass, and Merlin continue to prove absent, I will proceed with lifting your restrictions at the end of the season. After all, it would hardly be just for your sentence to be continued indefinitely, not when your guilt was never conclusively proven in the first place."
Mordred nodded in agreement, though Jaune couldn't help but be skeptical: "Are you sure that'll be enough to convince people?"
"It is hence why I specified the end of the season; by then, most of the suspicion or outrage directed at you will have likely been forgotten after months without incident, if not replaced by sympathy towards your plight," Artoria did her best to assuage his fears, though she did concede: "Of course, there will naturally be some who will be dissatisfied with such an outcome, which is why it would be best to allow the Royal Court Wizard to pronounce an official verdict, but even should the worst come to pass you can trust that I will not allow baseless accusations to overrule the fairness and justice that has marked my reign."
Jaune frowned as his mind immediately conjured an image of Agravain at the mention of people refusing to accept such an outcome, but at the same time there wasn't exactly much he could do.
After all, it wasn't like he could just go looking for Merlin on his own, and he doubted there was any other way he could clear his name convincingly; if there was, he was pretty sure Arthur would've told him about it by now.
Though the thought of just sitting around and waiting even more grated on him, he knew it wasn't the fault of the man sitting in front of him, and so there wasn't anything he could do beyond accepting it: "I'll... take your word for it then, Your Majesty."
"I am pleased to see that I still have your confidence," Artoria nodded at him, before turning to Mordred: "Mordred, do you have any objections with continuing your role as your squire's escort?"
"Definitely not, Father!" Mordred answered without any hesitation whatsoever.
"You have my gratitude for your selfless service, Mordred," Artoria favored her only child with a smile, before turning back to Jaune and continuing: "As do you for your understanding, Jaune; I am sure that these must be trying times for you."
Jaune simply nodded, though he couldn't help but think back to the earlier encounter with Gawain, Gaheris, and Gareth, to say nothing of what Arthur and Mordred had done for him.
With all the trouble he was causing, and considering he'd barely done anything about it in the past two weeks, how was he supposed to react to being told things were "trying" for him?
Artoria didn't miss his response, but she also knew that she lacked the time needed to properly address the matter, and after quickly weighing the risks she decided it best to simply end their talk for the time being: "Now, I do apologize, but I am afraid that we will have to draw this discussion to a close; I do believe I am expecting other visitors soon, unless there is something else that you wish to speak to me about?"
"No, I'm good," Jaune quickly replied, shaking his head. "Thanks, Your Majesty."
"Thank you for your time, Father," Mordred nodded, glancing at Jaune from behind her helmet.
"Then, I wish the both of you a pleasant day," Artoria dismissed them with a gesture, hoping her instincts were wrong.
After a final bow the two of them quietly made their way out of the throne room, closing the large doors behind them as they exited.
As Jaune began to mentally prepare himself for the journey back to his room, however, Mordred spoke up: "... are you really okay, Jaune?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" Jaune answered, just a bit too quickly.
"..." Mordred bit her lower lip behind her helmet, wondering whether she should try to place a hand on her friend's shoulder to comfort him as he always had with her,
Before she could come to a decision, however, footsteps caught their attention, and they looked up to see Agravain approaching, before he came to a stop as he noticed their presence as well.
A tense silence ensued, as Mordred fixed Agravain with the fiercest glare she could manage, while Agravain's lips curled with distaste at the sight of the suspected traitor in the presence of his King (and Jaune, in turn, did his best to ignore Agravain's look).
Eventually, however, Agravain broke the silence first, stiffly greeting his youngest sister with a simple: "Good morning, Sir Mordred."
Mordred refrained from returning it, instead responding with a huff as she took a step back towards Jaune, her glare never relenting in the slightest.
Agravain managed to hide his wince (he'd grown up raised by King Lot of Orkney and Queen Morgan le Fay, after all, and spent a fair bit of his life in King Arthur's court), but the blatant rejection still stung him, and after a moment of hesitation he cautiously tried again: "Sir Mordred, listen..."
"I'm not interested in anything you have to say," Mordred growled warningly, before curtly dismissing him: "Goodbye, Agravain."
"Damn it, Mordred!" Agravain swore in exasperation, before grabbing her arm as she began to walk past him as he asked impatiently: "Do you truly bear such a grudge against me simply for doing my duty to the King?"
Mordred immediately wheeled around at the sudden contact, such that the two were face-to-face (or face-to-visor, in this case), and snapped: "How the hell was almost ruining Jaune's name and honor in Camelot part of your duty to the King, Agravain?!"
"His actions were suspect, his origins dubious and intentionally concealed; what I did, I did for the King's sake, and my conscience remains clear" Agravain defended himself firmly, before rhetorically asking: "What would you rather I did instead, Mordred? Should I have ignored the fact that a stranger's story and had enough holes for an ox cart to pass through, all while he meets with the King for private talks? Next you would have me believe that Merlin's failure to return is but an unrelated coincidence!"
Behind Mordred, Jaune couldn't help but blink as he tried to process what he'd just heard.
Agravain thought he was also behind Merlin's disappearance?
How did that even make sense?
Sir Mordred evidently shared his thoughts, because he scoffed: "Why would Jaune want to stop himself from being proven innocent?"
"Or perhaps he knows he would be proven guilty," Agravain suggested, shaking his head at his sister's naivety.
"He is innocent," Mordred insisted firmly with a snarl. "The King has already decreed that."
"Presumed innocent," Agravain corrected her. "And that was contingent on Merlin's verdict; considering Merlin's disappearance, a new decision will have to be made."
"We already spoke to the King about it," Mordred informed him. "He already made a decision - should Merlin not return before the season's end, that all charges against Jaune would simply be dropped."
"He what?" Agravain blinked, before quickly recovering his composure. "Then I must speak to him at once, appeal that decision-"
"You would rather doubt the King's judgement than even consider that Jaune might be innocent?" Mordred asked incredulously, unable to understand where her brother was coming from at all.
"Do not ever doubt my loyalty, Mordred," Agravain snapped, being unable to interpret her words charitably any longer. "I know my oaths, and the foes the King faces; I will not be found wanting in protecting him. Perhaps it is you who needs a reminder of your duty to your King, Mordred."
"What are you talking about?" Mordred demanded.
"Do you think this is service to the King, Mordred?" Agravain asked rhetorically. "Shielding a suspected traitor daily for two weeks? What have you done for the realm in the mean time? Do you believe that the conduct of a proper knight? Have you already forgotten what you set out to do when you came to Camelot, Mordred?"
Jaune's jaw dropped at the low blow; he'd been trying to stay out of what was clearly a sibling's quarrel (he knew better than to get involved, thank you very much), but he also knew just how much it bothered his mentor, that there were some aspects of knighthood that Sir Mordred struggled with.
Meanwhile, the sound of metal screeching was audible as Mordred's gauntleted fist clenched with enough force to crush armor, but fortunately for Agravain, before she could react, Jaune spoke up first, unable to help himself any longer: "Hey, that's-"
"You stay out of this, liar," Agravain spat, interrupting him. "This doesn't concern you."
The two men briefly locked glares for a heartbeat.
Then, the next thing Agravain knew was that he was being yanked forward, the front of his tunic in Mordred's left hand.
"Sir Mordred?!" Jaune yelped in shock, as his mentor began to raise his right fist.
Mordred didn't hear her friend's words (nor did she hear her half-brother's protests), as her temper, which had been simmering throughout the conversation, finally boiled over explosively.
How dare he!
Not only had he implied that she'd failed her liege and father, and for fulfilling the instructions her father had been forced to give because of him no less, and not only had he caused all the problems they were now facing because he'd suspected her squire, but he'd then proceeded to insult him!
Didn't he know everything Jaune had done for her and for their King?!
Before she could do anything, however, she found herself being held by her arm, as a familiar voice hurriedly whispered: "Sir Mordred, don't! It's not worth it!"
The sound of Jaune's voice was like a splash of cold water to the face, and helped cut through the haze of anger enough for her to rethink her course of action.
Jaune was right - Agravain wasn't worth it.
With a huff she allowed her hand to be lowered, before reluctantly releasing Agravain's collar.
As Agravain regarded her warily, she simply turned to her squire, and said: "Come on, Jaune. Let's just go back."
"I will speak to the King," Agravain swore, as he too turned away from Mordred. "Both about his decision, and your unknightly conduct."
As Agravain left, Jaune couldn't help but think about what had just happened, as well as everything Agravain had said.
Sure, Agravain had definitely been out of line targeting Mordred's insecurities like that...
... but what if he was right?
He already knew he was causing Sir Mordred problems thanks to everything his mentor had to do for him; was he also costing him his dream just by being here?
And what about his relationship with his half-brother, the only one who knew that Sir Mordred shared the same mother?
And all because he'd-
Before he could think too much about it, however, he found something gently grabbing his arm, and he looked up to find his friend looking up at him.
"Is everything alright?" Mordred couldn't help the concern that entered her tone, as she saw her friend's expression.
"... of course," Jaune nodded.
"Just ignore what Agravain said, alright?" Mordred instructed him firmly. "He doesn't know what he's talking about."
"... I will, Sir Mordred," Jaune answered after a pause.
Mordred looked back at him, wondering if she should continue saying anything else; for some reason, she couldn't help but feel that something was... off, about his response.
In the end, though, she decided against it, her trust in her friend winning out over her doubts again.
After all, surely he'd tell her if something was wrong; instead, he'd said that everything was alright, and he'd never go back on his word.
Author's Notes: Well, as I said in the last chapter, it was best not to expect this chapter any time soon; it's been a long and busy month, to put it lightly, and also the Muse keeps trying to get to continue writing more 30k stuff...
I did also say this chapter would be quite short; ironically, this chapter was originally much, much, much longer, but I decided to split it again.
(Also, something something hate dialogue something something loathe dialogue something something.)
Anyway, back to the chapter... yes, it's another time-skip, and yes, I have once again declined to detail the utter depths of despair that Jaune has descended into, not only at the suspicions directed at him but also at all the trouble being redirected towards his friends. Look, as allergic as I am at apparently writing happy slice-of-life chapters, I also really do not want to go into that kind of detail, for that kind of emotion, especially since the best way for me to do that would be to go into detail on how everybody is suffering, and at that point it feels like I'm just kicking a box of puppies.
Also, as is apparently customary at this point, I'm going to go into how many rewrites this took, and how much this chapter changed from its initial draft:
Firstly, the Gareth-Gaheris-Gawain trio - that one only took one rewrite, and it was more me reworking their meeting with Mordred and Jaune so as to make things seem less awkward (surprising, I know), and there really isn't too much to say about it. Gareth continues to be torn between her family and mentor on one hand, and her friendship with Jaune, her interpretation of her oaths and chivalry, and her King's words on the other.
Next, the Artoria-Mordred-Jaune meeting - two rewrites. Mordred and Artoria were initially a bit more argumentative towards each other, owing in part to the strain on their relationship. But that was almost a month ago in-universe, and Artoria's regained some of her standing in Mordred's eyes due to her defense of Jaune (and it helps she actually explained to Mordred in the last chapter what she did and how it helped Jaune), though of course it will likely never return to the blind admiration that once tinged Mordred's view of Artoria.
Lastly, the Mordred-Agravain confrontation - YES rewrites. Good fucking god. Mordred and Agravain were initially a LOT more hostile and confrontational towards each other, but as I wrote it I couldn't help but feel something was off, and it was only from re-reading how I'd written their earlier interactions that I decided to play more into the sibling angle, tone down Agravain's cold biting sarcastic remarks (or at least move them more to the end of the conversation), and try to show that at some level, despite his paranoia and zealous fanaticism to Artoria, he does still care about Mordred (he knew Mordred was also sent to Camelot as Morgan's agent, after all, and yet even in canon he never did anything about it), even if he'll always put his duty first.
After that, I then toned down Mordred's reactions, since, well... you can literally count the number of people who actually know Mordred with only one hand, and the other three are Jaune, Morgan, and Artoria; as much as Mordred is mad at Agravain for what he did (and I hope I did at least portray it as much as a childlike temper as an emotional reaction, because Mordred is still a child), he is still one of the only people that she listened to... until that got defenestrated after he pressed her button, and after all of that, I then added in Jaune's reaction and his attempts at defending his mentor (because he felt too passive initially, and while I did handwave it with "not getting involved in a sibling fight", there is a limit to that), which then required me to rework some of the other interactions in order to make things flow right...
Anyway, I'm pretty sure this is not going to be a well-received chapter, and to that all I can say is keep those pitchforks sharpened and torches lit, because the next one is going to be even more controversial (which is also why I split it from this one, by the way)...