Ancient Help (A Harry Potter and Merlin Crossover)

Chapter Forty-One: Arrival of the True King

Arthur thoughtfully looked at Sir Leon and Sir Pericval and couldn't help himself but to frown. Beside both of them stood Isolde and Tristan, the latter reluctantly listening to the conversation Arthur and his Knights were having.

"How about the drawbridge?" the king then asked.

Sir Leon grimly shook his head. "It is well manned," he replied. "I've seen a lot of Southrons lurking around, inspecting every person that passes by."

"As are the northern gates," Sir Percival added.

"How about the southern side of the castle?" Arthur asked, a tinge of hopefulness in his voice. "Will we be able to pass by with the lesser chance of having any casualties?"

He could tell that his knights were amused by his wishful thinking. Even Tristan's eyes widened, perhaps thinking of how he could ask such an obvious thing. He slightly grew annoyed at the looks that they were giving him.

"Arthur, wherever we pass, Morgana still has an army inside," Sir Percival said.

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "And what do we have?" he asked. "A hundred or so?"

"But, they still outnumber us," Sir Leon pointed out. "We are talking about the Southrons here, sire, and they are notoriously known for being, for lack of a better word, too many."

The king stubbornly raised his chin, his eyes glinting determinedly under the sunlight. "Yeah," he replied, "but only three to one."

How confident he sounded! Even he was flabbergasted by the determination and confidence that he was feeling. But really, ever since he had pulled out the legendary sword from the stone, Arthur was suddenly fuelled with a newfound determination to reclaim Camelot from Morgana and the Southrons once and for all.

Sir Leon chuckled at his words, seemingly amused by Arthur.

"And, do you think they will still fight?" Isolde then asked, speaking for the first time. Her wary eyes gazed at the other survivors of Camelot and frowned. "Most of them are civilians. Some had never even held a sword before."

"Well, they will fight for Arthur," Sir Leon plainly said.

Arthur, on the other hand, shook his head. "No," he interjected. "They will do this for Camelot."

"No, Arthur," Leon said, completely disagreeing. "It is you that the people will fight for. Many of them would even lay down their lives for you." Sir Leon puffed out his chest and proudly declared, "Even I would ride into the mouth of hell just for you."

"And I," Sir Percival concurred.

Arthur's heart swelled, disbelieving of the words that he currently was hearing. Sure, he had doubts before, and that was because he was in the throes of grief and pain. Agravaine had just ultimately betrayed him and Morgana was able to capture Camelot. It did not help that he was travelling with a band of smugglers, who loathed his very presence in this world. For him to really hear those words from his knights, from his people... Arthur's determination to save Camelot from Morgana's clutches increased a hundred-fold.

His eyes then accidentally landed on a strangely silent Tristan. The smuggler's eyes were widened and awed, clearly surprised by the words uttered by the knights. Briefly, his eyes met Arthur's and the king could see, albeit subtle and small, that there was a newfound respect in Tristan's eyes.

Somehow, he started to accept Arthur as his king.

Arthur then looked at everyone in the campsite while slowly pulling out his new sword.

"Into the mouth of hell it is," Arthur announced, determinedly grinning at everyone.

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