His Mage

Six

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When they arrived back at the resistance's camp The Mage swung off her horse. Without looking back at the others she marched straight up to Bedivere where he and Bill were waiting at the mouth of the cave.

She followed their gaze, back to where Rubio and Percival were helping the Born King down. Despite still being bound, he stood calmly in the face of so many strangers, his shrewd blue eyes taking in every detail. She turned back and looked up into the old knight's face. "It will not come easily," she warned him. "He has control of his temper, and is...difficult."

"I think we can manage," Goosefat Bill promised her with a sly smile. "You could say it's my specialty, pissing people off."

"See that you do," she pushed. "We need him to use the sword and connect with the magic." She shrugged the strap of the scabbard over her head and held Excalibur out to them. "I doubt he will do it because you ask nicely. He is not what you think he is," she advised them grimly.

"I think he's Uther's son," Bill said flippantly, flashing a confident smile.

Bedivere took Excalibur from her with a certain amount of reverence and though The Mage knew Goosefat Bill liked to pretend otherwise, she watched pain flicker in his eyes at the sight of the sword. Both of them had served in Uther's court and had been his trusted friends and advisors. They had protected his family, likely even Arthur as a boy. If it would pain them to manipulate him now, despite their history, they didn't show it.

"You rest," Bedivere suggested. 'We'll handle this."

The Mage shook her head, "I want to see it, I need to see it," she told them and she moved into the open communal space outside the room where they would bring Arthur to wait.

~<>~

There were no raised voices. Although that didn't surprise her. In all their time on the road the only raised voice had been Rubio. Everything the Born King did had been controlled and measured. After spending two days with him, she was not convinced it would be as easy to push him into doing what they wanted as Bill seemed to think.

Bedivere walked out of the room, looking exhausted by Arthur less than five minutes after going in. It made the Mage feel better about her own patience to know that the accerbic Born King had already shaken the normally unwavering knight.  Bedivere walked out into the main area, leaving the door open behind him. He glanced up towards Percival and nodded once. Percival's hand dropped to his belt and the Mage quickly recognized Excalibur on his hip. Percival shifted, turning his sword hip towards the center of the room.

There was a crack of flesh on flesh, and the Mage jerked towards the noise in surprise.

"Now that would have hurt a lot more if I had left the ring on!" Goosefat Bill called back over his shoulder as he sauntered into the main area, taking up position opposite Percival.

The Mage tipped her head in wonder at the man who decided to slap the Born King. Looking through the door, she could see his profile in shadow. The Born King held himself perfectly still for a moment, as though he were composing himself. She felt a small smirk tug at her lips. She hid the expression deeper within her hood. Perhaps the old friends had managed to shake Arthur up after all. She tried not to show how pleased that made her.

Arthur prowled out of the room. "I see what you're doing," he said, his voice deceptively light despite the danger in his posture.

Maybe she wouldn't have known Goosefat had succeeded if she hadn't seen the look in his eyes on the riverbank. He had shown his true self there for a moment, and now she could see some of it in the way he held his shoulders. She remembered how fast he had been when he escaped her ropes the night before and briefly wondered if Goosefat was prepared for what he had brought down on himself.