13. King's Court
Arthur swept another gaze across the room, believing to be mistaken. But no, Merlin remained at the end of the nobleman's accusing finger.
"Are you incriminating my own manservant of sorcery?"
"Yes!" he shouted, though his face blanched white. "He is the one who murdered King Sarrum! I saw it with my own eyes!"
"Forget the servant, Lord Peredur," Sulien said, eyes narrowed. "Perhaps, it is King Arthur who owes this court an explanation. After all, if it was his servant who murdered Sarrum, then it would have been under the order of his king. Or am I wrong to assume this, my lord?"
Arthur's face was carved from stone as he bit back every curse word on the tip of his tongue. He had been a fool to allow Merlin to accompany them. He had never even once considered that someone from Sarrum's court would recognize him.
"If there is one thing that I can say about Merlin," Arthur said gravely, "it is that he is no sorcerer. You know the law of our land. There is no place for sorcery in Camelot, but unlike Sarrum, we do not keep them imprisoned. I believe you are mistaking him for one of the escaped sorcerers."
The resulting silence was thick enough to cut with a sword, tension creeping upon every noble as they turned expectantly to Lord Peredur, awaiting his rebuttal. But Peredur was no better, eyes shifting, hands trembling and clutching his robes. "I…" His throat bobbed as he swallowed thickly. "It was dark out," he admitted, no longer sounding sure, "but it was him."
"Then you are confusing Merlin with someone who held somewhat of a resemblance to him," Elyan cut in, voice firm. "As far as I can see, you have no other witnesses to back you. But both Sir Gwaine and myself can confirm that Merlin couldn't have possibly traveled all across the land and back without neglecting his duties at home. The life of a servant is not a kind one and there would have been consequences to his sudden disappearance."
"Yes," Gwaine agreed stiffly, "Merlin is a mere servant. He does not have the intelligence nor the resources to commit the treachery you accuse him of."
Arthur could see it, how it grated on Gwaine to speak so lowly of Merlin. But it was the best way to keep him out of trouble; a method that had yet to fail him. And it certainly said something about Merlin that he always needed to be talked out of such deranged situations. The fact that it had escalated to the stability of their nation's peace should've been of no surprise to Arthur.
And only for the fact that Merlin had done this for the sake of Aithusa, was Arthur willing to look past it.
Peredur looked properly cowed, but Sulien's expression remained full of mocking doubt. "You say that you would have noticed if he'd gone missing, but I happened to have heard rumors that the troops across your land were sent out in search of a single man. Curiously enough, the time of that coincided with the attack against the citadel."
Arthur stared at him blankly. "You believe I sent out my armies to search for a servant?"
In this, the nobles murmured in agreement. Of course, no king in their right mind would put that much worth in a peasant. It worked beautifully to Arthur's advantage.
Sulien frowned, unable to completely hide his disappointment.
"Lord Cronag, because you have been so hospitable," Arthur said, turning to the large man in question, "I trust that you can show my knights to the treasury?"
"Ah, y-yes, of course," Cronag stammered. "This way, if you please."
Once Gwaine and Elyan disappeared with Cronag, Arthur cast a critical eye over the remainder of Sarrum's court. "Now that that has been settled…"
It did not take long for the court to fall back into their classic roles. They approached Arthur, one by one, introducing themselves in their most dignified manner. Some were more conniving than others, but it was hardly any different from the court Arthur had grown up in. The only real difference seemed to be that the noblemen closest to Sarrum were perhaps the most corrupt Arthur had seen in a while, worse than even the time of his father's reign.
When the sun had reached its highest peak, they began to move as one towards the banquet hall nearest the throne room. Arthur grimaced, but followed all the same, knowing that their daily feast had begun to be prepared long before he'd even arrived. There would be no sense in wasting it, but under no circumstances would Arthur allow this to continue.
"Merlin," he said quietly as they moved out into the corridor, "go to the kitchens and take charge. Grab Gwaine or Elyan if you have to. But make sure the people of this castle get something to eat."
"Understood, sire," he said grimly, but continued walking at Arthur's side, hesitating to break away from their party.
Arthur eyed Merlin's pale, drawn face. "Is something the matter?"
"About what you said earlier…"
"Don't look so offended, Merlin," Arthur huffed. "You know why we said those things. I'm sure Gwaine will make it up to you later."
"Not about me. About…did you mean what you said?" he asked, voice subdued. "Is there really no place for sorcery in Camelot?"
Arthur paused in his steps, heart clenching painfully, the image of Aithusa's small face painting across his mind's eye. "I don't know, Merlin," he murmured, "I don't know."
The changes made throughout the citadel were not well received by the nobility, but when the armies of both Camelot and Mercia converged on all sides, engulfing the city and its surrounding land, there was nothing to be done about it. With no king to lead them and no heir to take over, Sarrum's knights had fractured and separated based on their personal loyalties; any insurgency would have been met with a swift and fatal blow.
Bayard's arrival was immensely welcomed by Arthur. Though prideful, he was a just and fair man, and their dialogue proved fruitful. They and their most trusted men gathered together in Sarrum's council rooms, along with a portion of Amata's nobility, to discuss the state of the land in broader detail. Arthur had chosen for himself Merlin, Elyan, and Gwaine, along with Leon, who had been dispatched from the Northern Fortress and called to join the march forward through to Amata. Backed by these men, Arthur felt confident in their combined strength and intelligence.
It was as they were considering how much monetary support some of the villages would need that Sulien cut in.
"My lord," he said, addressing Bayard, "it might interest you to know that upon his arrival, King Arthur took inventory of King Sarrum's treasury. If you have question of our wealth, it would behoove you to ask him."
Arthur smiled wryly. "I know it troubles you that we have laid claim to your king's treasure, but have no worry, Lord Sulien. That money is intended to be fed into this land, and I of course, planned to offer a portion of it to Bayard's own treasuries."
Bayard was frowning, staring Sulien down with distaste. "I have no need for any such thing. East Amata is now a part of Mercia and I will do well to fund my own land."
"O-of course, sire," Sulien murmured, eyes cast down in defeat.
The talks continued for days to come. And when an official border had been decided upon, a line that followed the length of the Ander River as its agreed upon boundary, Bayard graciously gifted one of the nobleman of his court with this new land. Subsequent to this, they turned to look upon Arthur expectantly, but he hesitated.
He could think of plenty of loyal men who would deserve the honor of being gifted a portion of land, none more deserving than the men at his side. But how was he meant to choose so swiftly without more time for consideration?
In the end, Arthur did what he normally would in such situations and turned to the man standing at his right. "Merlin, what do you think?"
"You ask the opinion of a common servant?" Sulien scoffed.
"You question me?" Arthur said flatly.
When no one further protested, Merlin grinned and said, "Well, my lord, I will remind you that it is customary to distribute new land within the family."
Arthur quickly caught on and smiled triumphantly, grateful for Merlin's invaluable council. "Ah, yes. You are correct." He turned to the loyal knight standing to his left. "Sir Elyan, by law, you are my brother and it is past time you should have a portion of land to oversee. With this in mind, I grant to you all of West Amata."
Arthur's grin broadened as his men erupted into cheers, moving to congratulate Elyan and clapping him on the back. It was a moment worth celebrating indeed.
A/N: Cute knights are cute. But not as cute as Aithusa. Sorry she's been gone so long, but she'll be returning next chapter!
Also, you can thank the bestie for this chapter. I wanted to work on my other fic, but she wanted me to update this first x)
Thank you for reading! :)