Morgana stepped into the main common room. Her eyes roamed over the room. It was a modest sized room, taking up half of the bottom floor of the Queen’s Tower. When she first designed this part of the tower, she had in mind that the Eldest Living Queen didn’t need to take up an entire floor because by the time, she had moved to the bottom floor, her children were old enough to find their own residents somewhere else. During the worst times in Camelot’s history where the Kings seemed to be dropping like flies, the Queen’s Tower housed not only the former High Queens but her young children who were not old enough to live their mother’s residence.
On Morgana’s right, a large fireplace sat with hot coals from the dying fire. The She-mage knew on the other side of that fireplace was Queen Vivien’s fireplace. She did that to save time and resources during the construction of the Queen’s Tower. The walls were covered by tapestries representing each house living in the Queen’s Tower. Most of them belong to the House of Drake, but there were a couple tapestries that were different due to the Ruling King at the time.
The Black Mage of Camelot strolled over to one of the many couches in the common room. The skirt of her light purple dress kicked out as she walked to her favorite couch by the window and sat down, waiting. It was not long before someone say her name. She looked up to see the High Queen standing in the doorway of the Queen’s Tower.
Kalliope wore a spring green dress with budding roses along the hem. It was cut low, revealing a good amount of cleavage and the necklace she wore. The necklace had a blue dolphin. The torso of the dress hugged Kalliope’s frame before it flared out at her hips, flowing down like rolling green hills. She crossed the room and took a seat across from Morgana, asking, “How are you holding up, Morgana?”
“I’m fine,” Morgana replied before she made the comment, “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”
Kalliope’s eyes fell to her skirt. She gulped. She looked at Morgana with a shaky smile. She spoke in a voice that held a nervous note to it, “I never thought I would be greeting an important foreign like the Pope by myself.”
“You won’t be by yourself,” Morgana comforted the young Queen. However, the mage got the feeling that Kalliope had meant that she would be greeting the Pope without Uther at her side. She watched as Kalliope nodded in agreement. “You will have all of us with you.” She paused. “Belladonna demanded it, remember?”
Kalliope’s lips twitched into a smile, briefly, before she replied, “Yeah, I remember.” She paused, “There are times where I think Belladonna does what she does for the right reasons.”
Morgana let out a soft chuckle before she agreed. The Warrior Queen did try to have the best intentions, but as the saying goes, the road to Hell was covered by Best Intentions.
“Oh, Kalliope!” Marie’s voice drifted from the staircase, “You look simply wonderful, dear.”
The High Queen and the Black Mage looked up to see Marie, Darien, Isabelle, Susan, and Elsa standing in the stair well. They stepped into the common room and spread out. It was not long before conversations filled the room as the other queens drifted into the common room one by one or in groups. They spread out, talking to the others in soft tones.
Standing in a sea of bright colors, Morgana watched over the chattering Queens and their visiting family members. She noticed Belladonna had crept into the room and stood close to the front door. The Warrior Queen didn’t say or do anything to announced herself. However, Morgana ran her eyes over the familiar faces before she frowned. There was one missing. The Eldest Living Queen Vivien hadn’t left her rooms, yet.
The Black Mage smoothly stood and walked around the far edge of the room, making her way over to the Door leading into Vivien’s personal chambers. She knocked on the door. She didn’t hear a reply before she opened the door and walked in, closing the door behind her.
Her eyes fell onto Vivien. The Eldest Queen looked too pale for Morgana’s likening as she struggled to raise from her chair by the fire with the help of a cane. The black mage rushed over and helped Vivien to raise.
It was a simple white dress by the standards of the Ruling Royal Family. It was loose on Vivien, but it was still stunning.
“Thank you, Morgana,” Vivien said in a low tone, “And I’m sorry.”
“What for?” Morgana asked, “You didn’t do anything wrong, Vivi.”
“I feel old, older then my years, today,” Vivien confessed. Her eyes met Morgana, sorrowfully, “This whole situation has taken a lot out of me.”
“It does,” Morgana agreed. She knew she would be going through her own time of feeling old, soon, but this was not the first time nor it would be the last since Morgana was half Fae and would be living another few centuries at least from her understanding. Merlin was the same way and he had lived three centuries before he walked into Camelot, becoming a permanent fixture in Morgana’s life. “I feel the same way, every time someone close to me passes on.”
Vivien gave her an understanding smile. With Morgana’s help, she walked over to the door, leading to the common room. Once in the common room, Morgana noticed there were a group of Knights standing in the room, waiting. They were there to escort the Queens who need an escort down to the docks. She spotted the Prince among them.
“Prince Arthur,” Morgana rose her voice over the chatter of the room. He turned to face her. “Could you, please, be a dear and escort your great grandma down to the docks?”
Vivien squeezed Morgana’s arm in thanks as Arthur stepped away from the group and bowed to the two women, stating, “It would be my honor, Grandmother-Queen, if you would allow me to escort you down to the docks.”
“Thank you, grandson-prince,” Vivien smiled at Arthur. He offered an arm for the Eldest Queen and she took it. He led her over to the door.
It was the signal for the rest of them to pair up. Morgana knew Darien would be escorting his mother down to the docks. She took note of Sir Jack approaching Kalliope and offered his arm to her. She took it. They walked over to the door, taking the head of the line. That was a surprise. She had thought one of the younger knights would try to escort Kalliope.
Morgana waited, watching the Knights pair up with the Queens who needed escort, but she saw Lord James pair up with his Great Aunt Belladonna. As one of the Magi of Camelot, Morgana didn’t get an escort because Merlin who should have been there, was the one going to be escorting her. She let out a sigh. He was running late. That alone would earn him Belladonna’s ire. She shook her head. Being long lived creatures, they had to keep themselves entertain somehow. She giggled under her breath.
Belladonna noticed her lack of escort and opened her mouth to say something about it when Lord James almost dragged her out the door before she could. Thank God for small miracles and Lord James was starting to prove himself as one.
Morgana waited until the last of the Queens and their escort had left the Tower before she followed behind. However, soon, the formalities drifted away and Queen Elsa, one of Belladonna’s Daughters, somehow ended up by Morgana with her escort, Sir Frollo.
Former High Queen Elsa’s dress was an icy blue. It was almost a sharp contrast compared to the other dresses the former High Queens and the Princesses wore. It didn’t dip on the chest area as far as Kalliope’s did, but it was still a modest cut. The dress fitted her form, neither too tight or too loose and flowed over her wide hips. The hem of the dress brushed against the carpet.
Sir Frollo stood at her side. He was a serious looking, tall man with dark brown hair. His piercing hazel eyes didn’t miss a detail as he stared around the room as the party left the Queen’s Tower Common Room. He wore his court attire which was a richly blue dyed shirt with a black jacket and black pants. Over his shoulders, his cloak in his house colors draped over him and clasped at the bottom of his throat with the symbol of his house.
“I’m sorry for any trouble I caused the other night by not showing up on time, Lady Morgana,” Elsa apologized. “I was dealing with a matter involving House of Hamilton and couldn’t leave on time.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Morgana waved her apology off, “I know Life can get in the way.”
Elsa sent her a smile. Morgana knew Elsa was probably forced to apologize for being late by her mother, despite the fact Elsa was an adult. She went on, “There has been so much stuff going on near the Dead End Forest of late. It has gotten a lot of the local villagers all twisted up.” Morgana gave her a look. She, personally, hadn’t heard anything about the Dead End Forest of late.
“What happened?” The black mage asked. Curiosity laced her voice as she finally got some information on what happened.
“You didn’t see or hear about that Fireball the other day?” Elsa questioned. When Morgana shook her head, she went on, “There was a major explosion the other day. It burnt a good portion of the forest, on my husband’s lands. When we sent men out there to see what had happened, one of the men reported that General Genesis with Lieutenant General Reno was there, doing something, but they were able to capture a Fawn, severely injured, but still alive.”
Morgana frowned, thinking. There was a report about a similar event the other day, coming from the General, but what information she had was second hand. She replied, “I did hear something about that, but not much. There is an ongoing investigation over it.”
“The General didn’t provide my men with any information at the time,” Elsa commented with a tone of annoyance. “I was hoping you would have heard something about it.” She sighed, “Oh well. I will eventually learn of it. However, there has been other reports coming from that area.”
“Like what?” Morgana cocked her head to the side.
“The non-humans are moving about in the Forest,” Elsa stated, “My husband and I have dealt with numerous reports about stolen goods from the local farmers who live near the forest. It has been mainly supplies, just random supplies. We haven’t been able to figure out a connection between them, yet.”
Morgana nodded, listening. If the non-humans were doing that, now, of all times, it was obviously that they were trying to prepare to do something. She glanced up toward Belladonna who was deep in conversation with Lord James. Her eyes darted over to Kalliope who was listening to her escort. Belladonna would be pushing for quick action, trying to get rid of any of the non-humans as fast as possible.
“So” Elsa drew Morgana’s attention again, “Has there been any of the Knights who managed to withdrew the Holy Sword, yet?”
Morgana shook her head, “No, not yet.” The black mage paused, “There could be a public choosing soon. Possible the day after tomorrow.”
“I think Lucian would want to give it a try,” Elsa commented, dryly, “He would have been here, but he is out on a quest given to him by his father. He already been gone for a month. He sends me letters when he can. You probably can guess what I did when that darling husband of mine informed me that our son was going on a quest.”
Morgana had to sniffled a laugh. Elsa probably thumped her husband, hard, for doing that. However, Morgana said, “I am sure all of the Queens have family who wants to try to pull the Holy Sword out of the Stone. Arthur already tried, but the Holy Sword has found him unworthy.”
“I wonder why,” Elsa said in a mysterious tone.
“The way the spell was designed is simply,” Morgana explained, “Whoever is best suited to make sure Camelot will continue as a Kingdom, for the good or the bad of the people, will be allowed to sit on the Throne of Camelot and rule her people.”
Elsa nodded, hearing the spells description several times before and asked the one question most of the Ruling Family wondered, “What will happen to the Members of House of Drake here in Camelot if none of the Knights pull the Holy Sword out of its sheath?”
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“It all depends on the new King,” Morgana stated, “He will be able to say if they will live or not, if they will be allowed to live in the Castle or not, etc. Their lives will be in his hands.”
“Now, that’s a scary thought,” Elsa confessed. Morgana nodded her head in agreement.
“Yes, it is,” Sir Frollo stated, “However, I am sure whoever pulls the Holy Sword out will be reasoned with. If not, the House of Drake still has allies around the Kingdom and will house the members if it becomes necessary.”
Elsa sent him a thankful look. Morgana, meanwhile, knew the next few months would be rough, no matter who ends up as King of Camelot. Her eyes roamed ahead and landed on Merlin who waited for the welcoming party near the archway leading to the Western Courtyard.
Merlin mentally cursed. He was running late. He was supposed to meet up with the Knights and the Members of the Ruling Family at the Queen’s Tower to escort the living Queens down to the docks. He rose a hand, covering his mouth, trying to hid a yawn.
He should have expected that he would be still exhausted after the high demand of magic when he and the Lady Morgana powered the protective spells. He couldn’t believe majority of the spells had drained to the point of nearly breaking. He shook his head. Those protective spells were the only defense they had against the Death Mage, assuming the woman was still alive. They - meaning himself and Morgana - couldn’t take the chance of letting the spells expire and break. If the Death Mage was dead and long gone, there were other enemies who had the magical means to make Camelot suffer.
Merlin paused, watching over the villagers running around, setting up for the day, and it was not long before the streets become crowded. There were a lot of people who counted on those spells, unknowingly, for protection, not just the Ruling Family.
He rubbed his burning eyes. He should really go back to bed after the Pope arrived, he mused. It was the best way to recover as much magic as possible before tonight’s and tomorrow’s events. He struggled against another yawn. He turned away from watching the villagers and started to head toward the Queen’s Tower when he spotted the High Queen Kalliope being escorted by Sir Jack followed by Prince Arthur and Queen Vivien. He decided to wait there until Lady Morgana walked by before he joined the welcoming party.
To his surprise, Belladonna didn’t say a word to him about him being late as she passed him with her grand nephew at her side, acting as her escort. He rose an eyebrow at her back after she passed. However, Merlin turned to face Morgana and she immediately said, “You are late.”
“You should know after many years of knowing me, my Lady Morgana,” Merlin started, “I arrive exactly when I want to, not a moment sooner or later then that.” He gave her a teasing smirk. She rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm. He fell into step beside her.
“That doesn’t mean you should be late,” Morgana argued, “You never know when you will be needed.”
Merlin opened his mouth to reply back to that when Queen Brenna stepped beside him and spoke up, “Mage Merlin, do you have a moment?”
Merlin turned his attention to the former Queen and replied, “I do have a few moment available for you, my lady.” Morgana slapped his arm, playfully.
“Someone woke up in a playful mood,” the she-mage commented.
“No,” Merlin confessed, “I am trying to stay awake.” He gave Morgana a look. She probably knew why he was having trouble to keep to their usually schedule. She was no doubt having the same problem at some extent. She didn’t have the same deep magic well as his. She nodded in understanding.
“How come?” Brenna asked in a curiosities tone.
“Lady Morgana and I had to re-powered the protection spells surrounding the castle and the town, the other day,” Merlin explained, “It was a huge magical drain on us and we still haven’t recovered, yet.”
Brenna nodded, slowly, commenting, “Yes, I remembered you saying something like that during my time as High Queen.” She paused. A thoughtful expression colored her face.
“How has life been treating you since you left the castle,” The Battle Mage asked, changing the subject.
“Life has been interesting,” Brenna admitted, “I have been able to move on from my husband.” She paused as mournful expression colored her face for a moment or two, “However, I have meet someone during my travels. He is from the Georgian Kingdom. He is one of the high lords there.” That cause the mournful expression to fade as another one took its place, “He wants to get married by the end of the year and I don’t know how I feel about it just yet.” Merlin waited for her to continue as he started to read in between what she said and what she didn’t say. It was almost sounded like she has meet another one of her kind, an elf from the Georgian Kingdom.
The Georgian Kingdom, Merlin knew, back in the Golden Age of Camelot was an ally due to a marriage arrangement between Sir Thomas and Princess Flora. It had led to a fruitful trade agreement. The King at the time only allowed the arranged marriage to happen if the Knight had agreed to tie his life to the Princess’ which the Knight did, in a way to prevent the Princess from experiencing the Fade. However, the last thing Merlin had heard about the Knight, he had enjoyed a life span lasting nearly three times a regular humans before he ended dying with his lady love. He was pretty sure that their eldest son, Legolas, was still ruling over the Georgian Kingdom to this day with the line of secession secured for at least four generations. However, through the generations of different Ruling Families of Camelot, that alliance fell apart, especially when laws were created to prevent the non-humans to have the basic rights.
“I know it may have felt like what happen to your husband feels like it happen yesterday,” Merlin started to say, “Trust me, I know that feeling.” He did. He too once loved someone enough where he thought about tying his life to hers, no matter how short it was. “That pain will fade once you find another to love and you will heal. It will be hard, no matter what you do, but remember you will heal.” The Battle Mage knew when Brenna was High Queen, she had debated on tying her life to her husband’s, near the end. Fate had taken that choice away from her before she could make it.
Brenna’s face still had the same confused, uncertain expression as she appeared to be thinking over what he had said. Merlin decided to change the subject, asking, “Do you need the glamor potion?”
Brenna blinked in surprise. Her eyes darted around. Merlin hid a sigh. He really wished that the non-humans had the same rights as the humans, instead of hiding certain features like pointed ears. The glamor potion helped when magic couldn’t be done or the user couldn’t use magic, like Brenna. She replied, “Yes, I do.” She paused, “Thank you.”
“Your welcome, My lady,” Merlin said, thinking that he wouldn’t be able to get any sleep until after the mass that night. The Potion, once made, had a grand total of 5 doses, lasting at least 5 hours. That was better then the hourly glamor spell. He guesstimated he would have to make the potion at least four to six times before he would feel comfortable enough to stop making it. “How long are you planning to stay?”
“I think no more then a week,” Brenna commented, “I fear if I stayed any longer then that, Lord Harold would be making his way here, personally, to make sure I was still alive and able to leave on my own free will.”
“Alright,” Merlin nodded, already planning out to see how many potions he would have make. Lucky for him, the potion was easy enough to make. “Please come by my study after the noon meal.”
He watched her walk away to rejoin her escort. He turned to Morgana who raised an eyebrow. He lend and whispered, “Apparently, she needs a glamor potion.”
Tristan narrowed his eyes, stepping the shadows of the Knight’s Tower. He knew a large unit of Knights already left, heading to the Queen’s Tower to escort the Queens who needed an escort down to the docks to greet the Pope. Once his eyes had adjusted, he saw the courtyard was a flurry of activity.
Servants rushed around, carrying items they needed to use or restock the various rooms they were in charge of, entering some kind of dance they were familiar with as at least half a dozen carriages were arriving through the Castle gate. A few stable hands hurried over to the new carriages, taking the bridals for the horses while a series of butlers descended, taking the trunks of clothes, the boxes of hats, and other items the newly arrived visitors had brought with them. The Castle Footmen, originally waiting for the Ruling Family to arrive for the open top carriages to take them down to the docks, strolled over to help the visitors out of their carriages.
Tristan spotted a couple of House symbols he personally knew because he had grown up in the same area as the heir of those houses did. However, when he saw the symbol for the Floral House, a White Rose, he could have sworn his heart stopped. She was here. He gulped. The woman, the Heiress of the Floral House, he had loved once before he had been chased out of his hometown due to his family’s unique ability. He turned away before he could spot her and stepped behind a column. He was not hiding, he told himself, he didn’t want to draw attention to himself.
It would make it harder for him to search for Tina, if she was nearby, and heard the commotion over the Heiress of the Floral House seeing him, again, after 6 to 7 years. He needed to make sure she was okay and that her back was healing alright. He peered around the column to see the Generals and their seconds marching through the courtyard, heading to the Western Castle Gate, with an unit from each branch of the military. They blocked any chance of the Heiress seeing Tristan.
The Violent Knight let out a sigh of relief before a deep voice rang out behind him. He recognized it. It was Gawain, coming back from his night patrol. He turned around to see Leon and Bors with him.
“Hiding, are we?” Gawain asked, with an amused note in his voice.
“No,” Tristan said in an even tone, “I am not.” He blinked, hearing the lie in his own voice and saw the knowing look on Gawain’s face. Tristan decided to change the subject before the other knight could pick on him more. “Getting back from the night patrol?”
“Yeah,” Leon replied with a tired sigh, “Last night wasn’t interesting.”
“Except for that Lady in Blue,” Bors commented in a tone that caught Tristan’s attention. Bors almost sounded like his interest had been caught. “One moment, we were talking to her then the next she had vanished around the corner like she didn’t exists.”
“Don’t mind him,” Gawain waved a hand through the air. “He has been like this nearly all night since we had seen his mysterious Lady in Blue.”
“Lady in Blue?” Tristan quoted with a frown.
“Yeah,” Bors said in a sigh, a far off look in his eyes, “her green eyes reminded me over a forest in the middle of the day, her voice the smoothest song, her dress the sparkling blue gems from the Sapphire mines. I long to run into her in the castle.”
Tristan blinked. He glanced at Gawain and Leon. They looked amused as Bors went on, forming some sort of poetry about his Mysterious Lady in Blue. Tristan shook his head. Apparently, Bors had finally been bite by the Love Bug.
The Activity in the Court yard paused as Tristan heard the chorus ringing off the castle walls, “Your highness!”
The Violent Knight turned to see the Ruling Welcoming Party arrived in the Court yard. He watched as Sir Jack escorted the High Queen over to the first carriage and helped her up into the carriage. Sir Jack stood by watching the rest of the Queens climb into the carriages before he spotted Tristan, and the other three knights. He walked over to them. The Four knights saluted him when he stopped in front of them.
“I thought you three would be in bed, already,” Jack addressed the Night Shift Knights.
“We were on our way back to the Knight’s Tower, sir,” Gawain explained, “When we stopped to speak with Sir Tristan, discussing a mysterious Lady in Blue we ran into, last night.”
“Mysterious Lady in Blue?” Jack raised an eyebrow. Bors immediately lunched into another poetry like speech about his mysterious lady in blue. Jack watched him until he had enough and informed Bors, “Get a hold of yourself, Sir Bors!” Bors snapped his mouth shut. “Go to bed. Take the night off. I think you may need it.”
Tristan resisted the urge to snicker. Bors looked like his puppy got kicked. He turned around and walked toward to the Knight’s Tower. “Sir Gawain, Sir Leon, head to bed. I will find a replacement for you for the Night Shift patrol.”
“Sir,” The two knights saluted before they followed Bors over the Knight’s Tower. Tristan and Jack was silent until the other two knights disappeared around the corner before Jack turned to the Violent Knight, “Sir Tristan, I am assigning you to patrol the halls of the Castle.” Tristan nodded. “I got a report about a meeting between the Kings of Frank and Mercy, this morning from one of the Castle Messengers.”
Tristan’s expression changed from a serious one to a shocked one. He knew in the past that the Kings of the nearby kingdoms were on wonderful terms with each other, just like they were on wonderful terms with Camelot. That was saying much if they were meeting each other.
“Where did they meet,” Tristan asked.
“30 miles East of our border,” Jack explained, “They had meet to discuss the possibility of going to War with Camelot.”
Tristan knew there was a chance of the other kingdoms wanting to destroy Camelot. He shouldn’t be surprised. In fact, every time the Holy Sword changed hands from a Ruling Family to a new one, there was bloodshed. It just depended on how much. He let out a breath. It didn’t matter the reason behind the possibility of war, it sill could happen.
“As a result of that and the Pope’s arrival, I managed to get permission of the Queens to tighten security within the castle walls,” Jack explained, “The Military will be doing the same for the lower town.” He paused as he looked around the court yard. His eyes landed on the new arrivals in the court yard. “We need to show that Camelot isn’t weak.”
Tristan knew what he was talking about. No body wanted to experience another era of the Kingless Kingdom. He changed the subject, asking, “Does it matter where I patrol?”
“Yes,” Jack said, “I need you to patrol the Western Upper Halls, Sir Tristan.”
Tristan nodded. The Western Upper Halls housed few of the Ancient and Noble Houses, including the White Hall House including their vessels houses. He didn’t know if Tina managed to find her way up there, giving the fact that the Armstrong House was considered a vessel house of the White Hall Family. The Violent Knight saluted and Sir Jack turned, heading back to the led Carriage where the High Queen sat. Tristan watched as the head Ruling Carriage rolled out of the Court Yard followed by the Eldest Living Queens, Vivien and Belladonna, with their escort and so on. It took a couple minutes until the carriages left the court yard before it exploded with activity.
Tristan watched the activity, for a long moment. He wasn’t expecting Sir Jack to help him out like that. He was half expected he would have to patrol the Northern Wing of the Castle. He wasn’t going to question his luck. He moved from his place at the column, heading toward the Western Wing.
His thoughts went back to Tina. He wondered how long she had planned to stay in Camelot. He personally thought she should stay in the Castle for a long while. However, if he did managed to find her, he would like to know her plans for the next few days and help her anyway he could.
Maybe he could talk to her into staying and get to know her family before she made her decision. Plus, it didn’t help that he was somewhat worried that the ninja who kidnapped her from her mother’s home, would show up and forced her to travel to the White Hall Estate. It would look poorly on him if she decided to drop his name in a conversation with someone higher rank then him and rumors spread.
That was something he didn’t need. Summer was just around the corner and many knights like himself will want to have a quest to complete from a Lady of the Court.
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