She Who is King

13 | sharp as blade

England

THE RIDE TO the palace was an uneventful one. The coachman did not stop during the journey, and we arrived at the castle overnight.

I had never been so grateful to see the tall, obnoxious towers of my home.

Merlin had fallen asleep some hours before, but he somehow seemed to know we arrived at our destination, waking up right on time.

When we exited the carriage, my limbs popped and groaned, and my muscles were so stiff I forgot how to walk.

I would be avoiding carriage rides for a while.

Excalibur was safely in its sheath, protected in one of the better trunks we had packed. I was still dressed in a man's clothes, but I couldn't help thinking about what Nimue had said.

"Why is it you hide your power in the constraints of a man's clothes?"

The words had impacted me deeply. I had paraded around all my life as a boy. Would my childhood have been better if I had been able to live as a girl? 

Would it have been worse?

The stony courtyard had been cleaned since yesterday, and just like the first time I arrived, all of the staff were lined up. I tried to smile or wave at all of them, but there were a lot, and it was hard to get around to everybody with Alfred waiting impatiently at the end of the line.

"Majesty," he whispered into my ear when I got to him, "there has been a development."

Alfred's tone was dark, and his face was somber.

"Who died, Alfred?" I asked, bracing for the impact.

"Several people, Majesty. We are at war, what do you expect? But that is not the news. I shall debrief you once we are in a secure location once more."

Alfred hurried down the hall, and my apprehension grew.

Merlin was right behind me as we followed Alfred through hallways, around twists, and through meeting rooms.

I was beginning to wonder where in the palace there was left to take us when Alfred stopped in front of a candelabra.

"Have you ever wondered why this one never burns?" Alfred asked, looking at Merlin and I in turn. Alfred pulled the candle stick down and suddenly the wall was spinning, moving, opening a tunnel lit by torches.

"After you!" Merlin shouted gleefully, mirth written all over his face.

I walked hesitantly into the tunnel, feeling relieved when Alfred scooted past me to lead the way. 

The information he was about to bestow upon us must be super important and spectacularly sensitive.

The tunnel was damp, dark, and eerie. Condensation gathered on the walls, and patches of moss grew every so often between the stones. The tunnel was at a slope, and I had a suspicion to where we were going, or at least what we would be near.

The infamous dungeons of Camelot Castle.

Alfred's pace didn't slow, and he was a surprisingly fast walker when there were developments. Merlin and I were jogging to keep up.

Well, I was jogging. He was doing some sort of weird floating thing that I was completely envious of, but I couldn't let him know that.

When Alfred slowed his pace, I let out a relieved puff of breath. The temperature of the passage had gone steadily towards frosty, and I was thankful to have arrived at the destination.

Alfred pulled on a torch, and this time the wall opened into a room. The hearth was lit with a fire and there were fresh blankets strewn about. Obviously Alfred had known Merlin and I would need a warm place to recover from our travels, even if we were learning about mysterious developments.