Chapter 21: Arthur's Life

It had been a few weeks since their assault on the castle of Fyrien. The time came for him to go on a quest to prove himself as a prince worthy of the throne. His quest, he decided, was to retrieve the Fisher King's golden trident. He was to go alone and unaided. Such were the rules. It felt odd, as it was the first time he had not been in Aredian's presence in years.

So, he had understandably felt rattled when a magical dwarf popped up near the bridge to the perilous lands. He, of course, immediately tried to kill him. The sorcerer tried some spell on his sword in response, but it had no effect. He would always remember the horrified look on the face of the sorcerer when he saw the markings on his sword displaying that it was one forged in a dragon's breath. He then had no trouble cutting down the evil sorcerer.

When he arrived at the Fisher King's castle, he was about to be attacked by Wyverns, but they turned away in fear of the sword forged by one of their cousins, the dragons. He then made his way to the throne room, where he expected to find the trident lying somewhere. But what he saw was the trident, not on the floor or on a showcase, but rather in the hand of the still-living Fisher King. Apparently, the sorcerer king still lived, but if he had his way, it wouldn't be for long.

He then approached the man. The Fisher King said, "I have been waiting for so long, Courage." Arthur asked, "What do you mean, sorcerer?" unsheathing his sword. He replied, "It has long been prophesied that you would come." Arthur said, "I don't subscribe to your magical prophecies." He retorted, "Yet your life is governed by them regardless." Arthur asked mockingly, "What is this prophecy, then?"

The Fisher King explained, "There were two prophecies regarding this. One where you arrive alongside Magic and Strength. And another where you arrive alone. This prophecy appears to be the one taking place. You will now finally end my suffering." Arthur gripped his sword tighter and said, "That I will." The Fisher King said, "Before you do, take this," holding out a glass vial full of water.

Arthur didn't take it, so he said, "It contains water from the lake of Avalon. You will need it in Albion's time of need. It will show you out of the dark path that you must be on, since you arrived alone." Arthur considered it for but a moment. But then he asked himself why he was doing so. This was a sorcerer, and a sorcerer could never be trusted. His father, Aredian, and most of all, experience, had taught him that.

So he ran Excalibur through the glass vial, shattering it, and then directly into the immortal sorcerer king's heart, where the power of Excalibur finally relieved him of his eternal life. The Fisher King exploded into a gale of dust and wind. The trident fell from his hand onto the floor, whence he picked it up. He then rode back to Camelot, to be greeted with cheers from his people and even from his father.

His entire quest was only possible due to Excalibur. What a fool Merlin was! He had basically handed him the sword. Did Merlin really think he could beat him in a sword fight? How stupid was he? But then again, it was still Merlin, a clumsy fool even still. But that didn't matter anymore. Excalibur was his sword, not Merlin's.

Weeks later, Aredian arrived in his chambers one morning and entered without knocking. It had been long since that was unexpected. He said without any greeting, "I've caught two sorcerers." Arthur had heard that so many times that he didn't even flinch for a moment before following Aredian down the hall. There, he saw the two sorcerers tied up in chains. One was a poor woman in ragged clothes, no older than thirty. Beside her was a young girl in barely better clothes, no older than seven.

He heard the older woman exclaim, "Please, spare my daughter! She's done nothing!" Arthur didn't even acknowledge her cries, instead turning to Aredian, who said, "I'm not sure about these two. They might have magic, but ..." Arthur interrupted him, saying dismissively, "Just take them to the pyre." Aredian nodded and signaled the guards to take them away.

As they were dragged away, Arthur could hear the desperate pleas from the mother to spare her child. He had heard such pleas for years now. And he always managed to justify it to himself. It was necessary, and the fight against sorcery is not without sacrifice. But when he heard those pleas, a small primal part of him that cared about his fellow man more than the war against magic, couldn't help but wish for him to stop what he was doing and save those most likely innocent (because if Aredian had doubts, then they almost certainly were) souls from the pyre.

But, of course, he had to fight that wish, lest he succumb to it like Gaius did. However, he couldn't bear to hear such pleas anymore. It just chipped away at what he feared was already his meager heart. So he said, "Aredian, don't bring them to me anymore. I trust your judgment. Just throw any you suspect onto the pyre under my authority." He would, of course, still watch them as they went up in flames. That was his duty, but he would no longer listen to their pleas for mercy.

Aredian asked, "But what about your father?" Arthur said, "Oh, he doesn't matter. He can't exactly oppose an execution after it's carried out. And I can handle his anger when he expresses it afterwards, privately." His father had long since not scared him. Of course, he still technically held absolute authority, but Arthur had the loyalty of the castle guards, the knights, and, most importantly, the people. His father was not going to be a thorn in his side for much longer.

Many weeks had passed since he granted Aredian the power to order executions. Before the witchfinder arrived in Camelot, there were two to three executions a week, mostly for stealing food, banditry, and desertion. Rarely were there executions for sorcerers, as most were thought to be rooted out decades prior. However, after Arthur and Aredian began their investigations, now more than two years ago, that number was now the average per day, all for sorcery or for associating with sorcerers, mostly the latter.

He had hoped that number wouldn't change when he handed over the reins to Aredian. But he trusted Aredian, and the number stayed consistent. Arthur was thinking about this in his chambers when Aredian suddenly opened the door and said, "I've caught the sorceress healing people in the lower town." Arthur looked confused and asked, "And why are you telling me instead of putting her on the pyre?"

Aredian held out a box and said, "The sorceress had this. It is a portal. No mortal weapon can destroy it." Arthur quickly took out Excalibur. It was the only weapon in all of Albion that could eliminate such powerful magic. Boy, was he glad to have it! He quickly cut through the portal like butter with Excalibur, and it was torn to pieces.

The next morning, he went to see the executions. There were 17 pyres. Arthur looked somewhat worried at the quantity, so Aredian, who was standing next to him, said, "Four are those who had used her magic to heal themselves. Seven had done so for their loved ones. And five had witnessed her magic and said nothing. And of course, the seventeenth is the sorceress herself. I've pardoned those who weren't aware that magic had healed them." Arthur was glad to hear Aredian's words. His trust was truly not misplaced. He had shown just the right amount of justice and mercy, exactly as he would've done. The two enjoyed themselves as the pyres were lit.

Months had passed by relatively calmly. It had been almost half a year since the attack on the castle of Fyrien, and not a word had been heard from Merlin and Morgana since. It was as if they had given up. Arthur and Aredian were discussing all this when Arthur said, "I have to go prepare for the tournament." Aredian asked, "Who even came up with a tournament with no rules? That's just stupid."

Arthur replied, "It's tradition, Aredian. The tournament's been held every ten years for centuries. Nothing to worry about." Aredian retorted, "It had also been tradition for centuries to have a court sorcerer and a court seer, to hold magical contests, and to celebrate certain holidays purely for magic users." Arthur merely said, "Don't be like that. This is just some pure harmless fun."

Aredian joined Uther, Arthur and Elena for dinner. Uther boasted, "You know I have won this tournament three times." Aredian said, "Well, I suppose this time you will be passing it down to Arthur." Uther asked, "Who said I'm not competing?" Arthur said, "You've grown too old for that, father." Uther said, "I could still beat you, Arthur." Arthur laughed and said sarcastically, "Good luck!" Uther said, "We'll see about that."

The next morning, the tournament began. Arthur was presented alongside all the other contestants. Aredian watched from the stands. Princess Elena came to the head and announced, "It is my pleasure to welcome you all to Camelot. This is a contest like no other. It is open to all comers. Including our reigning champion, the King." and the king walked forward, but she continued, "There are no rules; no weapons are banned. The last man standing takes the prize. Let the tournament begin."

Both Arthur and Uther beat their first few opponents with ease. But for the second to last match, he faced a thin young man by the name of Gilli. As he was preparing, Aredian came to his tent and said, "Gilli is a sorcerer. The ring he wears contains the symbol of the old religion." Arthur thought for a second. He should probably put him up on the pyre. But then he would be called a coward, so he said, "Excalibur will make sure he faces justice."

He then went out into the tournament grounds before Aredian could retort. Gilli did as well, and they fought. At first, it was easy, but then suddenly, it became much more of a struggle. Clearly, the sorcerer had used his power. But it wouldn't matter. Excalibur protected him from all the magic in the world. With one swift blow from just the hilt of his sword to the sorcerer's ring, it was smashed in two. After that, the fight was nothing more than an execution.

But then, in the finale, he faced his father. Although his father put up a considerable fight, much more than he had expected, he was still no match for Arthur. In less than a minute, his father was relieved of his sword. He pressed his father down on the ground, who yielded with no resistance. And he knew that he could become king with ease—just a slight push of his right hand, and he would have everything he ever dreamed of.

But he couldn't do it. He hated to think he was a coward, but that's what he was. He had sacrificed countless innocents in the fight against sorcery. But he couldn't do away with one measly old coward, and just because he was his own father. He was disgusted by his own hypocrisy. And the seeds of an idea came rushing to his mind as he pushed his father harder still on the ground.

Finally, he released his sword and offered a hand to his father, at which the crowd cheered. He avoided the heavy glare his father gave him, even after saving his life. How ungrateful he was! He moved swiftly to talk to Aredian, "We need to make a slight adjustment to the plan, regarding my father." Aredian nodded.

After discussing with Aredian, he made his way back to his chambers, where his wife greeted him eagerly. As he walked over to her, he wondered why he had ever opposed the marriage. Elena had been nothing but supportive of him since their marriage more than half a year ago. It was nice to have someone to talk to other than the rather single-minded Aredian, even if she was way too soft on sorcery, daring sometimes even to say that some sorcerers were victims of certain circumstances.

Regardless, he went into a friendly chat with her, but eventually he decided to trust her with something he never thought he would—the plan. As soon as he did, she looked horrified for a second. However, she smiled, although Arthur could see it was fake. She said she supported him fully in his plans, even if she didn't agree with them.

Arthur knew why she did so, to maintain Camelot's alliance with her father. He didn't like that being her only reason, but he was willing to accept it because her support for the plan was much more critical than her agreement with it. He smiled, thinking of Merlin and Morgana burning on the pyre as he drifted off to sleep.

A/N: I know this one chapter spanned over 3 episodes of the show and over 6 months. But, 2 of those episodes would've been extremely tiny without Gaius and Merlin. And as for the Fisher King episode, I probably could've split that off into another chapter. But it really wouldn't've been that much more interesting than what is written here so I hope this is fine. Anyway, thanks for reading. Please review if you have any thoughts, positive or negative.