Chapter 20 - Affair Articulation

It was a quiet and peaceful morning, just like countless others Camelot had met since the fairies had helped rebuild it from the ruins of Londinium, after the legendary clash between the Red Dragon and the White Dragon.

The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes hadn't been able to truly threaten their lands for decades, and their latest invasion had been beaten back into the sea by the King and his Knights months ago.

The Picts had been quiet this year, and with Sir Percival in Listenoise with King Pellinore there were few who worried of a full-scale assault breaching the Old Imperial Walls.

The lands of Logres remained blessed, with the Britonnic people living a life free from the worry of failed harvests or enemy attacks.

And yet, even in these times, rumors spread in hurried whispers and hushed tones throughout the kingdom like wildfire.

No small number of them were positive, of course; the lands bordering Snowdonia had all heard of the Slaying of the Addanc (and of course everyone knew someone who'd sworn they'd personally seen the body of that great water demon) and all across the realm was it being told that the mysterious and passionate Sir Mordred the Silent had picked up an equally-mysterious squire, a giant of a man who could heal with a touch and take down a rampaging bear with his bare hands (far from implausible when one considered the feats the Knights of the Round Table had achieved in the past two decades), just to name a few examples.

But at the same time, no small number of them were negative.

The Knight of Lamentation's open rebuke of the King and his subsequent departure from Camelot's halls was by now public knowledge, and it was said that the King's influence was beginning to wane as a few local lords and kings had been swayed by Sir Tristan's words, with perhaps one or two having even gone so far as to rebel against the inhumanly perfect King (or so the subsequent retellings always seemed to grow).

The sudden quakes that had shaken the castle (and required Sir Agravain and Squire Gareth to block off access to an entire wing of the fortress) before ending just as quickly and mysteriously as they'd begun were still on the minds of the people of Camelot even two days later.

The heirlessness of the King of Knights, even a decade into his marriage with Queen Guinivere, was a topic that remained constantly discussed even despite its age (though few truly believed that impotence or infidelity plagued the royal couple).

And nowhere did more rumors fly around, did more loosened lips exchange whispers, than in the barracks and dining halls of Camelot itself, the heart of the Kingdom; after all, it was they who'd witnessed firsthand the accusations Sir Tristan had thrown at the King, and it was they who'd watched the Knights of the Round Table as they'd ridden out to the various lands that had pledged to follow King Arthur, and it was they who'd noticed that the King and the Queen seemed increasingly distant of late.

Considering recent events (and some not-so-recent), it was thus only natural for the castle's communal dining hall to be buzzing with conversation that morning, as its numerous and varied occupants shared and discussed the latest news.

Except that it wasn't.

Oh, there was still conversation, of course; even a protracted siege wouldn't have been enough to silence the men of Camelot.

However, where the hall should have been filled with hundreds of individual lively voices, there was instead a tense low buzzing, as confused and spooked occupants whispered among one another, each theory both wilder and more plausible than the last, even as they kept their attention fixed on a particular pair of men all the while, wondering just what words were being shared between the two.

"And since Sir Lancelot's been giving her a lot of free time now that he thinks she's ready to be knighted and doesn't need any more training, Gareth's offered to join us for a few of my training sessions, give me additional experience in dealing with different weapons and fighting styles, that sort of thing," Jaune concluded eagerly, completely inured to the constant gazes he'd been receiving by now. "What do you think, Sir Mordred?"

There was a moment of silence, as his mentor considered his words, and Jaune's hopes (already optimistic over the fact that Sir Mordred hadn't immediately shot down his suggestion as soon as he'd mentioned Gareth's name) further grew.

Finally, Mordred took a spoonfull of stew and, completely ignorant to the constant gazes she'd been receiving, flatly rejected him: "Not interested, squire."

"... fair enough," Jaune simply conceded with a resigned sigh, unable to find it within him to actually be disappointed. After all, he knew his mentor, and he'd honestly expected this outcome the whole time even despite his earlier hopes.

Despite having initially felt like she'd already indulged him just by hearing him out until he'd finished, the sight of her squire's expression made her chest feel uncomfortably tight, and it was with a frown that she asked: "Did... do you really want to train with Gareth that much?"

The notion that her sister would've been a better mentor for Jaune than her was one that had weighed heavily on her since Lancelot had initially suggested it when her squire had first come to Camelot, but after Jaune had rejected the idea all those months ago when she'd offered him a choice she'd stopped paying it any heed.

So why had this topic suddenly come up?

And why was she feeling even more upset over the thought now than before?

Then another thought struck her, and she swallowed uncomfortably.

Could what had happened two days ago still be weighing on his mind?

... no, but he'd told her it wasn't a big deal, right?

... of course, there was no way that what she'd done to him wasn't a big deal!

... at the same time, it was Jaune...

... but he'd also understood her when she'd talked about her difficulties in forgiving Father...

Even though Mordred implicitly trusted Jaune, she still found herself pressing: "I-is this about what happened two days ago?"

Jaune blinked, his reply to his mentor's previous question dying on his lips at the unexpected question as he instead assured him: "I already told you, Sir Mordred, it wasn't a big- I mean, I've had worse, alright?"

Mordred's only response was a skeptical hum, prompting Jaune to quickly continue: "I just thought that it might be a good way to, you know, kill a few birds with one stone; I get more experience with other fighting styles, Gareth gets something to do to help keep her sharp, and... well..."

"..." Mordred could only sigh, her prior concerns washed away as she realized her friend's true aim. While she hadn't exactly expected it, she just couldn't find it in herself to be surprised, and it was with exasperation she groaned: "Jaune..."

"I just thought it'd be nice if you had more people you could talk to!" Jaune quickly defended himself. Sure, he kind of understood why Sir Mordred didn't really like Gareth (something about wanting to prove himself over his perfect older sister, if Jaune recalled correctly), but considering recent events Jaune couldn't help but feel that it'd probably do his mentor some good to have more people he could trust and confide in.

As King Arthur had pointed out to him, when Sir Mordred had needed someone, anyone, the only person who'd been able to get through to him was... well... him.

The screw-up trainee Huntsman who wasn't even from their dimension.

While he had faith in Sir Mordred and King Arthur he'd also had the misfortune of meeting his mentor's mother; if something similar were to happen again he wasn't sure if he could calm him down another time.

"I don't want more people to talk to," Mordred insisted with a huff. "I've got Agravain, and I've got Father, and I've got you."

Jaune blinked, but before he could truly process that last part Mordred continued accusingly: "Besides, you already meet Gareth most days after we finish our training sessions. Don't the two of you also do some training then?"

"We do," Jaune admitted, "but Gareth's not really experienced at giving pointers about swordsmanship to someone in the middle of a spar, and there definitely isn't any advice I can give her; with just the two of us there isn't much we can do to improve each others' skills beyond some light combat practice."

Mordred's frown deepened behind her helmet. As she herself had brought up, she'd known from the start that Jaune and Gareth spent a fair bit of time together alone, but hearing her squire confirm it made her feel oddly uneasy, for some reason.

Even though her squire was also confirming that Gareth wasn't as good of a trainer as she was...

... was she just displeased that her squire's time was being wasted?

Finally, after a brief struggle, Mordred reluctantly offered: "... then, would it help if I went with you, the next time you and Gareth had another sparring session?"

"That'd be great!" Jaune's face immediately brightened. "Thanks, Sir Mordred!"

"Tch, just remember I'm only doing this for you," Mordred reminded him with a click of her tongue, before warningly adding: "And don't even think about trying to get me to talk to Gareth more than necessary, alright?"

"Of course, of course," Jaune held up his hands placatingly, before placing one on his chest. "Arc's word."

Mordred simply stared at him, unconvinced, knowing full well the quality of his character.

But, at the end of the day, she couldn't bring herself to hate his meddlesome nature, and it was with fond exasperation that she merely snorted in response.

"Come on!" Jaune protested with a whine, easily detecting his mentor's skepticism. "An Arc never goes back on his word!"

Mordred rolled her eyes, though she did mentally concede the point. He'd given her his word, so he probably wouldn't do anything too overt this time...

Before she could reply, however, the sound of footsteps echoing throughout the suddenly-silenced room caught their attention, and they both turned to see a cloaked figure approaching them.

"Fa-" Mordred excitedly began, before immediately correcting herself: "My King."

"Your Majesty," Jaune followed suit, before blinking as he got a closer look at King Arthur.

... wasn't that the same cloak and set of robes that King Arthur had been wearing when he'd talked to him yesterday?

"Sir Mordred, Squire Jaune," Artoria quickly returned the pleasantries with a nod, before fixing her eyes on Jaune. "Pardon the interruption, but I require Squire Jaune's services for a moment."

Jaune didn't miss the seriousness in the King's tone, and he exchanged a confused glance with his mentor (or at least, his confused eyes looked briefly at the visor of his mentor's helmet) before he shrugged and got up.

Mordred, for her part, merely remained seated, feeling completely lost as she watched her squire follow her father out of the hall.

Then the pair crossed the room's threshold, with Jaune closing the doors behind him, and the room exploded with noise all around Mordred.

-JAUNE'S QUARTERS, FIVE MINUTES LATER-

"... so..." Jaune awkwardly began, once the King had taken a seat in the chair by his bedside, and he'd closed the door behind him after making sure the corridor was clear. "... is everything alright, Your Majesty?"

Artoria simply looked up at him, before sighing and exhaling, allowing her usual facade to be relaxed by a fraction.

Jaune was immediately struck by just how exhausted the King looked as Artoria tiredly admitted: "Truthfully... no,. No, I do not believe everything is alright, Jaune."

Jaune's instincts began screaming at him to get out of the room as soon as physically possible.

"Also, in the interest of time and candidness, I would like to request another suspension of formalities for this conversation, Jaune," Artoria added off-handedly, leaning forward in her chair with her elbows resting on her thighs and her fingers steepled together.

"... of course," Jaune answered with a gulp, his instincts now telling him that diving out of his room's windows would be preferable to remaining in the same room as the King, but he forced himself to remain where he was as he inquired: "Are... are things really that bad again, Arthur?"

"..." Artoria looked up at him, and wordlessly looked back down (an action which did little to calm Jaune's nerves and instincts), before she bluntly spoke: "Guinivere has been having an affair."

Jaune blinked, as he processed what he'd just heard.

The silence stretched on, and Jaune blinked again, wondering if he'd perhaps misheard Arthur

Finally, he found his voice, and incredulously asked: "A-are you sure, Arthur?"

"Quite," Artoria spat sharply, and the venom in her tone didn't let up in the slightest as she elaborated: "Just last night I had the displeasure of walking into our chambers to find Lancelot laying with her on our bed."

"Oh," Jaune winced, even as a part of him couldn't help but wonder just when in his afterlife he'd become an interdimensional family and marriage counsellor.

Seriously, what was he supposed to do about this?!

He'd at least been able to wing it when helping Arthur with Sir Mordred thanks to his experience with his sisters, but his parents were happily married, Pyr hadn't really talked about her family, Ren and Nora were orphans, and Ruby's and Yang's mom was dead; he was just as qualified to be a marriage counsellor as he was a Huntsman!

Also, Lancelot?! Really?!

"... have you talked to the queen about this already?" Jaune inquired, as much to fill the silence as to try and get a clearer view of things.

Artoria's scowl deepened, but she confessed: "... no, I haven't confronted either of them yet. They don't know that I know."

Specifically, while they'd definitely noticed the door being opened (despite failing to uphold his oaths and being rather occupied, Lancelot was still a Knight of the Round Table), Carnwennan's magic and her reflexes had allowed her to prevent herself from being discovered by the pair.

Jaune hummed noncommittally, not knowing how else he was supposed to respond to that (or anything else he'd just heard, for that matter).

Artoria simply rested her forehead against her knuckles as she let loose another deep sigh.

Finally, sensing that Arthur had nothing more to say, Jaune awkwardly asked: "And... uh, how are you feeling, Arthur?"

"... how am I feeling?" Artoria echoed in bemusement, not having expected that question.

"... yeah, I guess that was a dumb question," Jaune rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, mentally kicking himself for asking something so obvious.

"No, I just hadn't really thought about it," Artoria defended him from his self-recrimination, and raised her head and cupped her chin thoughtfully before slowly giving voice to her thoughts: "I... suppose there is no small amount of hurt... pain... anger..."

"That's all to be expected," Jaune remarked quietly, not wanting to interrupt Arthur's introspection (not when they seemed to finally be getting somewhere).

"Indeed, but there is also something else," Artoria noted with a furrowed brow as she continued searching herself. and after a moment of hesitation continued: "I... it is complicated, but there is a small part of me that is... almost happy, for Guinivere."

"Happy?" Jaune prompted with a raised eyebrow, wondering if there was something about Arthur that he didn't know about (and definitely didn't want to know about).

"Our marriage was purely political, and there is no romance between us," Artoria elaborated, "but I still love Guinivere as my closest friend, just as I love Lancelot as the pride of the Round Table."

"..." Jaune hummed thoughtfully, before he tried to summarize Arthur's thoughts: "So... you're happy, that your... closest friend, has managed to find love?"

"That would be an accurate enough summation, if perhaps oversimplified," Artoria affirmed, before her tone hardened: "Do not be mistaken, though; I am not in the least bit pleased that the two of them have been engaging in intimacy behind my back."

"Of course," Jaune gulped, eyeing the window once more.

"For goodness sake, if they'd only discussed things with me, I would have given their relationship my blessing!" Artoria continued to fume. "I understand Guinivere's dissatisfcation with our marriage, the sacrifices she's made and the burdens she bears for the sake of the Kingdom, and I trust that Lancelot with his Gaulish upbringing would be able to make her happy; did they not trust that I would be if not supportive at least understanding of her finding comfort in his arms?"

Jaune did his best to refrain from pointing out that being supportive of your wife cheating on you with your favored subordinate was probably not the expected response to finding out that your wife was cheating on you with your favored subordinate, and instead settled for simply enduring the increasing awkwardness he felt as Arthur continued to vent and grumble, occasionally injecting sympathetic noises into the conversation whenever he felt was appropriate (namely, whenever Arthur paused for breath).

Eventually, Artoria's rant wound down, and Jaune seized the chance to progress the conversation: "So... what will you do now, Arthur?"

"Now?" Artoria mused, stroking her chin idly. "I suppose all I can do is turn a blind eye to their activities, to give them my tacit support by simply allowing them to continue their affair."

"Are you... sure that's wise?" Jaune raised an eyebrow at that.

"What would you have me do, publicly give them my blessing?" Artoria offered rhetorically, before her voice softened as she patiently explained: "I know that you are not familiar with monarchies, Jaune; an affair with the royal consort is no mere scandal but equivalent to high treason. My reign is built on a foundation of justice, fairness, and equality, and in this situation that binds my hands; even the Queen and the First of the Round Table must be held accountable to the laws of the land, lest others begin also selectively applying it."

"Well, obviously not that, of course," Jaune clarified, "I meant... can't you just talk to Guinivere and Lancelot, work something out?"

"... I would not know how to even begin that conversation," Artoria admitted, almost helplessly. "Especially not now, with the sting of betrayal still being raw. How am I to tell my wife that I know of her infidelity, without coming across as confrontational or accusing?

"Moreover, even if I should succeed in simply conveying my understanding, what then? Am I to knowingly encourage Guinivere to continue ignoring her oaths of matrimony, for Lancelot to continue breaking his oaths of loyalty? To encourage the members of my court to continue breaking our laws and customs? Make no mistake, despite current events I shall not ever call into question either of their loyalties, not after all both have sacrificed for the sake of the Kingdom.

"And it is especially because of that loyalty that, as things are currently, I cannot be the one to initiate this conversation, Jaune. Were I to ignore our laws from the start, that would make me a hypocrite. Their actions would turn me into a hypocrite. And that knowledge, that I would have been found lacking in performing my duties as King because of them, that would break them.

"At least, should they bring the matter up to me, to acknowledge their actions first, I could then pardon them in my role as the ultimate arbiter of justice in the land, condemning their actions while acknowledging that there was just cause behind it, and from there reach an understanding with them,"

"I... see..." Jaune answered lamely, after Arthur concluded his statement. In all honesty, he really didn't, but his eyes were already spinning in different directions like he'd sat through a lecture by a Professor Oobleck hopped up on coffee, and he decided to simply trust that Arthur knew better than him in this regard.

Much to Jaune's dismay, however, Artoria wasn't finished, and she instead fixed him with a critical look before acknowledging: "However... waiting for them to confess their actions to me first is also probably unrealistic. Would you mind if I ask for more of your help in the future, Jaune? I'd like to rehearse initiating a potential confrontation with them..."

"You want... my help?" Jaune couldn't keep the disbelief from his voice. "With all due respect, Arthur, are you sure that's a good idea? I don't know Guinivere or Lancelot well enough to know how they'd react, and I'm definitely not familiar with how things work in Camelot!"

"That is all true," Artoria agreed with a nod, "but you're also the only person I can trust with this right now."

"Me?!" Jaune's eyes were boggling now.

"Make no mistake, my trust in my Knights is not lacking in the slightest," Artoria elaborated. "But I am also aware of their unyielding codes of chivalry; if they were to find out about this affair, their honor would demand that they confront Lancelot or Guinivere despite my wishes, privately or publicly, and from there things would spiral out of control.

"You, on the other hand... as you have so fervently pointed out earlier, you are not as familiar with things in this land as the others. This is not a slight against you, Jaune, but your code of honor is just different enough from theirs that I can have faith that you will not break my confidence... unless I am mistaken in my assumption?"

"No, no, I won't tell anyone else or go looking for Lancelot," Jaune quickly reassured him, before taking a deep breath and explaining: "I mean... well, you told me what's going on, why you don't want this getting out. I pledged my loyalty to you, Arthur; I'd be breaking my word if I didn't keep it a secret now, and an Arc never goes back on his word."

Also, it wasn't like he had any room to point fingers about keeping secrets, considering how he'd gotten into Beacon and all (not to mention his friend's teammate also having been a former terrorist).

"You have my gratitude once again, Jaune," Artoria gave him a gentle smile even as her shoulders sagged slightly in relief.

"But that doesn't change the fact that I'm not sure how much I'd actually be able to help you, Arthur," Jaune didn't hesitate to point out.

"Just your honest opinion regarding any statements I wish to make would be enough, Jaune," Artoria assured him. "And 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."

"Well..." Jaune stalled, still struggling internally with his doubts, his fears, his self-deprecating nature.

Then he looked up, and his eyes met Arthur's.

Once again, he remembered the lonely green eyes of someone else.

Even if Arthur hadn't helped him out by accepting him as a squire of Camelot, even if he hadn't pledged his loyalty to the man, even if he wasn't basically the worst person for the job...

Someone needed his help.

Had he run away from home with the family sword, endured two semesters of torturous training at Beacon, died, and suffered through even tougher training in another dimension... just to walk away when he was the only one who could help?

What would his parents say?

What would Ruby say?

What would Nora say?

What would Ren say?

What would Pyrrha say?

He still had misgivings, of course, but this time he didn't let it stop him from saying: "When you put it that way, how can I say 'no', Arthur?"

There wasn't any hesitation when he gripped and shook Arthur's proffered hand, either.

Author's Notes: Despair, for I finally live again, and with my resurrection I bring yet another dialogue-filled chapter.

Jokes aside, apologies for how long this chapter took; all I can say is I've had to clock a lot of overtime at work due to manpower issues and sudden emergencies.

Also, once again, this chapter is horribly complicated, with the first half of this chapter continuing to deal with the fallout of the First Mordred Incident (especially from the perspective of the Kingdom in general and the knights of Camelot in particular), Mordred's newfound... awkwardness around Jaune, and Jaune's continued self-deprecating and oblivious nature in general, while the second half... the second half makes me absolutely loathe the concept of dialogue and conversation.

Also, just a reminder, Artoria's thoughts and actions are pretty much in canon with FATE lore (unless there's been another goddamned retcon or some new material that's changed that), where she basically kept her knowledge of Lancelot's affair a secret until it was exposed by Agravain (who gets cut down by Lancelot along with a bunch of other knights), after which she tried to defuse things by writing a letter of pardon for the pair saying that she trusted the justness of their actions... which just made Lancelot feel even more guilty.

As for why Artoria never simply talked to either of them, assuaged their guilt and tried to come to an understanding with them, but instead merely tacitly supported it until she was forced to take a public stance? I haven't really been able to find a canonical source (and trying to find one would probably delay this chapter by another month, seriously I was bashing my head against the wall trying to figure it out), and so I can instead only present this Artoria's thoughts as an alternative answer (as much of a goddamned stretch as it is).

Now, regarding Jaune... I mean, he isn't actually doing that much to change canon this time, when you think about it? All he's doing is asking Artoria a few questions, giving her a few prompts to help her think about the situation, and agreeing to be a sounding board for her (as opposed to her just apparently never talking about it ever) while wondering just when on Remnant he became the counsellor to Camelot's royal family (like I said earlier, those are, as far as I've been able to tell, her canonical thoughts and canonical actions).

And, perhaps, that's the true tragedy of things, isn't it? That all that was needed to give Artoria the slightest bit of comfort was a person that could see her not as a King but as a human, a person that she could talk to freely and openly, but thanks to Sir Tristan she was denied even that (accusing her of being unable to understand the hearts of men alienated her from just about everybody, which in turn caused Lancelot to seek Guinivere out to discuss lessening the King's growing burdens, which then started their mutual attraction and eventual affair, which then caused Guinivere to become "a tormented and ignored woman who continually wept each day", and basically removed Artoria's last and closest confidants).