Chapter 5

Artoria

Establishing myself as the future king—check. Getting a few knights under my command—check. Now came the hard part, okay, the part of actually making the countryside fall to my command, which was going to take time. At least I had a good idea of what I was dealing with now.

The local lords who'd shown up to try and claim the rightful ownership of the sword and thus the kingdom gave me a good idea of what actual powers were playing in my realm.

An invader from the north in the form of the Picts threatening to conquer what was left of the kingdom for themselves.

An invader in Wales who had established himself as the king of Wales.

Various knightly lords who had various reasons not to fall under my command, most likely because of my father's errors to them in the past.

And a mayor of a town that was getting a little bit too big for its own good, justfrom the sounds of it.

As far as I was aware, York could never become a major power controlling England, besides being under the control of the Vikings a few hundred years ago. But even then, that was different—an invaded city turned into a capital of an invading force. It's not exactly a homegrown power.

These were the four main issues I would probably have to deal with before I could gain control over the countryside and deal with the big problem that was Vertigon.

And his Anglo-Saxon mercenaries.

The question was where to start on how to deal with the situation.

That was actually a lot easier to handle, though. I could discount Wales for now. Yes, they were in a very dependable position if I could bring them into my control, but I didn't have the resources to do that yet, and they were to the south, while the local lords in this region, York, were all here, not too far away from this area I was currently inhabiting.

Not to mention, this would be the front lines for the invasion of the Picts within a few months.

I needed my power base to be strong here, and so trying to bring the Welsh in now would be counterproductive. Same for the Cornish. I probably could reach out to them and get a few more troops; they were related to me, their leadership, at the very least, and had given maybe the ability to hide out in their lands for most of my life. There was some loyalty there. But again, they were so far away. Calling up their troops now would probably not do me well.

Besides, I doubted the self-styled king would be pleased to have his forces called upon by a relative who didn't have much power. It would be better to call upon Cornwall once I had established a more firm control over this region.

So, I could put those two regions aside for now and figure out how I was going to gain the support of this northern area. Something told me that unless I offered the man in control of York quite a substantial reason, aka lots of loot and money, I doubt he would be that interested in pledging himself to my new kingdom, especially with the Picts' invasion on the horizon from the north. Being a way to pay them off, perhaps, or the eventual cleaning up that Vertigon would attempt in this region. It would be better to have no ties to the heir apparent.

So, I had to look at the local lords. Which local lord I should go after? That was a bit unsure. The one who had come to this meeting was from the more southern region, so I didn't have to worry about him. ThusI would have to talk to the lord who refused to even show up to this crowning ceremony.

Which meant dealing with ones who probably were just trying to keep their heads down and not get involved in the politics of this region. Now that the politics were dangerous.

Shaking my head, I looked around the wreck that my father owned, looking for the library. The place had been put to flame, everything that could be burnt was burnt it looked like. But I was hopeful that there'd be a map or something there I could use to try and make my plans.

I turned a corner and saw Lord Argan Bosser, the leader of the knights who were still loyal to my father's family, with a torch in his hand, looking at some of the older stones that appeared to have been carved with history of some form or another.

He turned and bowed, saying, "My king, good to see you."

"Good to see you too, Lord Argan Bosser," I said, with an odd walking forward as I looked at what he was looking at. "Very brief history, but from the looks of it, not even sure I understood what the indications were." There was an interesting image of a dragon digging at the ocean as if they were trying to carve a way down into the world. And the back of said dragon looked a lot like the British Isles.

"Lot of old memories in this place," he said, shaking his head, before saying, "Lot of bad memories too. Do you plan to rebuild it?"

I shrugged, looking at the wall before saying, "This is, I'm going to guess, an ancestral home of our family. I'll probably dedicate some funds to rebuild it to some extent, but we'll probably build a new capital somewhere else once we have better control over the kingdom. Somewhere more central than this northern hold. This place, though, will probably serve as a very good mustering point in case we have any more invasions from the Picts in the future."

"Good, good. This old castle deserves to have some life in it, even if it will be abandoned for some time," Lord Argan Bosser said with a nod before turning towards me. "I imagine you're trying to figure out what the first move should be after all, Sir Hector. I wouldn't know much about what's going on up here in the north, being a Cornish fellow."

I nodded my head in agreement, saying, "True, but I think I've figured out that the first thing on my agenda should be to find more local lords that would be willing to submit. Until I have enough to push for the city of York to submit. This will give me enough resources to bring the north into my control and theoretically give us the forces needed to stop the Picts' invasion."

"Hah, I don't know about that. Those naked bastards are practically unstoppable when they get their blood up. But better to try something than nothing at all. And I imagine that Merlin will help out in this, at least. Damnable wizard better help out considering this is all his fault."

"No reason I brought that buddy," he shook his hands at me, saying, "You don't want to know

the opinions of that damnable wizard that many of your father's court held. 'Child snatcher' being the most pronounced comment by those who were around the night he gave an ultimatum."

I nodded my head, saying, "I'm not really familiar with all the details of what happened while I was away from court, but I assume it was something particularly drastic that led to the situation."

"Ha, yeah, you can say that. The wizard didn't like Luther being a king of his time. Instead, thought he should be more noble. And what was that term used... chivalric, something like that. His opinion. But I think the king did a good job for what he was. He knew how to fight the enemy, he knew how to govern, and he knew when to pick a fight. And he nearly won that battle against Vertigon. You would have won that battle if Gun wasn't a cheating bastard using magic that he should not have been available to use. And if Merlin had been around, I think we would have won that fight."

"But he wasn't at the time. He was making sure that I was trained up in the powers necessary to defend this kingdom," I commented, looking at the stonework.

"Hmm, the good point. A very good point, I guess... Still, the world would be a better place if your father was still here, in my opinion. And I hold Merlin responsible for that."

"Understandable, but being locked into the past will do us nothing good now," I said, turning to him. "You said you had some thoughts, I assume. After all, you wouldn't have brought up the other local lords unless you had some thoughts."

"I have some thoughts. There is a local lord that is in need of a bit of help, though he's small in power. It is, after all, a bit of building pebbles to stack the rocks, in this case, is it not?"

I nodded my head in agreement, confirming that he should continue.

"The local lord Lanig Ar Gall has recently come into a bit of a problem. His daughter eloped with a knight of his. Now, your father didn't give a damn about that situation because, well, you know. Should a knight be denied the chance to find the one they love? I don't know. But also, he wasn't that interested in the situation because the local lord Lanig Ar Gall is an asshole and has betrayed him in the past."

I nodded my head before asking, "So we find out this eloped couple, return to the local lord, and set the world right, securing his oath to my sword?"

"That would be the plan. Though one thing to consider is the local lord only has one child, that daughter. So if he were to be removed from control, you could secure her place on the throne and her control over the local forces."

"Hmm, that could work," I said, though causing that kind of problem between a family could be bad as well. "Perhaps there is a way to work out this disagreement. Actually, there might be a thought starting to prick in the back of my brain, one that could genuinely help out in this situation."

"I think we will engage in a little bit of looking for this lost princess," Lord Argan Bosser nodded his head before saying, "I have a few other sources here. I'll have them open their ears and see if there are any other minor lords like that we can get to start working for us. I know most of them won't do it unless we can provide them something, but well, it's the least we can do. Find the chinks in the lords' armor and make them consider what happens if they don't get our help."

"Could probably apply a little bit of pressure that way," I said, getting Lord Argan Bosser to look at me with a raised eyebrow.

"The Picts' general, king, whatever you want to call him, claims he's going to invade these lands and put himself in control. If these lords do not realize that they're threatened as much as me, then they're foolish. And we should remind them that they are threatened as much as me, that their lands will be seized and redistributed to savages and barbarians from the north."

"Hmmm, the proper use of the fear of the unknown. I don't think that's something Merlin would have taught you," Lord Argan Bosser said, scratching his chin, confused.

"Merlin taught me a lot of things, but I did studying on my own as well. I know about a lot of other things that Merlin probably doesn't realize I know about."

"Haha, I see a bit of Luther in you after all," Lord Argan Bosser said, putting his hand on my shoulder, patting it as he started to walk past me. "I'll put out some word to my men to shake up a few of the local lords with the knowledge that the Picts are coming within the next few months. See if that doesn't warm the reception of you to our neighbors."

"Good luck, Lord Argan Bosser," I said, whether or not.

"Thank you, King Arthur," Lord Argan Bosser said, giving a bow before walking away, leaving me in front of the wall art to think for myself for a bit.

"Telling stories," they said, a voice coming out of the shadows. I looked to my left, from a different direction than where Lord Argan Bosser had gone.

"Merlin," I said with an odd smile as he approached, looking at the wall art before shaking his head. As much as I enjoy people telling stories, sometimes about how great I am, in fact, the matter was I could not help your father defeat Vertigon even if I tried. The only way you or anyone is going to defeat Vertigon is to be better than a common brute, and your father... well, he tended to be a favor of the common brutality of the world."

"Harsh," I said.

"But fair," he replied, chuckling before continuing on, "It's not to say that he wasn't a good man. It's just that committing wrongs for an ultimate good dulls your sharpened blade, and you need a very sharp blade to deal with Vertigon because he has committed wrongs for the common bad and has sharpened his blades in the other direction quite a bit."

I raised an eyebrow at that, muttering, "What is this, a fallout karma system?"

"What?"

Merlin asked, confused.

Clearing my throat, I said, "I said, is this a karma system? The better you are as a person, the stronger your outcome of good is. The worst you are as a person, the stronger of evil outcome it is."

"Pretty much, yes. Of course, the world is more of a difference between order and chaos, but in some cases, chaos means bad, order means good. Other times it's the other way around. But for the most part, chaos leads to more chaos, and chaos is never good."

"Interesting point of view," I said before turning towards him and asking, "Well, wise wizard, do you have any other ideas on how to raise the forces necessary to defeat the Picts that will be coming from the north?"

"I assume you were listening after all," my ass which got a nod from him.

"Of course. Though my plans aren't exactly well thought out on this matter. There are a few other lords in the area that I think can be brought to our control through simple asking them for support. Some of them are a bit unwieldy and tend to believe in the magic of the world a bit too strongly, but that's will be key to our success."

"I thought the ones that would believe strongly in the magics of the world would be more likely to support Vertigon. After all, isn't he trying to bring back the magic?"

Merlin shook his head before saying, "Most of them are smart enough to realize that whatever magic he brings back will be too chaotic for them to control. For those who are acquainted with magic, they know when things are not fully available for them. They will see these magic for what it is—a trap that will bring chaos to their homeland and leave them turned into something unnatural."

"Good old self-preservation instincts," I commented before shaking my head in amusement.

Turning to the wizard, I asked another question, "The Picts, how bad of a situation is that really going to be? After all, they can raise an army, I'm sure. But you've also taught me a few spells that could even the field when it comes to a military force. Do I have to worry about magic from them?"

Merlin looked at the wall again before saying, "I would worry about magic from everyone. Everyone says that they don't use magic, and then when you turn your back on them, they just use a different name for it, different comments about what it is, or some other foolhardy effort to discriminate what they're using from what it really is."

"Got it. So, they will be using magic. Well, that'll make for an interesting fight," I said, turning to Merlin. "Not it has had before, tilting it to the right thing. There are ways to fight fire with fire, but we would need to launch an invasion of the Pictish lands. And I'm not sure you'd be willing to do that."

"What do you mean?" I said, turning to Merlin, probably.

"Some druids have used some underhanded tactics to defeat invaders in the past. Those tactics have, well, left opportunities. If we were to break them up and, but there is a concern. Breaking open old, forgotten tombs tend to unleash unexpected consequences."

"No, I did. If we're desperate enough, I will take that option into consideration. After all, I can't run a kingdom if I lose the fight for the kingdom. And if I have to suffer some unexpected consequences, so be it."

"Hmm, yes... Also, there were some things I didn't get to mention directly to you when you pulled the sword earlier."

"Like what?" I said, turning towards him.

"Well, you're now ageless, as it were. The sword will keep you in your current speech condition as you are meant to be the king of England until either you die or another magic interferes with that."

"...Are you saying I'm permanently 15?" I asked, telling him I had to look at him.

"Yes, you are permanently 15, unfortunately. I mean, there are there in magic that allow you to change that in the future, but well, I wouldn't worry too deeply about that. Growing older would just make it harder to hide the fact that you're not male."

I shook my head. That may be true, but I wasn't exactly a fan of that idea. "Sorry," and I turned from the stonewall and said, "All right, well, I'll have to just adjust to that on the fly. I got a kingdom to start putting back together. Any other comments you want to give, Merlin, before I'm off?"

"Good luck and be careful with your use of magic. You'll draw the notice of the enemy if you use it too much."

"Good to know. Later, Merlin."

"Goodbye, Arturia."

Well, this was either going to be the most wonderful plan I had ever come up with or a complete disaster. Hard to say, as I sat at a table that Merlin had set up in the countryside of England. Reaching out, I grabbed the glass and sipped tea. I'm not sure if this was proper tea, but it was as close to proper as I was going to get at this time. I would prefer caffeine directly, coffee black and heavy, but wow, what could you do? Global trade was not exactly as sophisticated as it would be in 1400 years, let alone very well working right now, with the Roman Empire going through a series of bad times after bad times, and trade being disrupted across the entire area.

Oh well, sipping the tea, I watched the area around the fields we'd set up on a hillside—green and beautiful, really, with a vast vision of the wonders around. My newly acquired knights were holding a perimeter around said field. Sir Kay and Hector were off doing my bidding at this moment while we waited for guests to arrive.

Merlin was busy themselves, producing more of the tea and other non-essential things. I think they were screwing around with various spells. I believed, by the way they looked off into the distance. Either that or they were as bored as me, waiting for our guests to arrive—hard to say.

I did sense one thing though; something was off.

In my dreams, Merlin had been an old man, now he was a young man. Obviously, he was hiding things, but something else was off. I'd noticed it over the past few hours. Whenever they reached for the tea, their hands seemed to reach a bit further than necessary, as if their arms were shorter than what was displayed before me. Were they hiding themselves again? Had they grown younger? Or were they not telling the truth in some other way?

That was hard to say, and I wasn't sure if it was really a major issue I needed to be concerned about. Merlin appeared to be loyal and willing to help me. If they had a few secrets, did it really matter?

Some would say yes. Some, particularly in my party, would be quite annoyed with him considering their opinions on Merlin and the relationship he had had with my father. But does that mean I should be concerned?

For now, it would not be a concern, but something I keep in the back of my mind. Perhaps I'd find an opportunity to use some sort of spell to dispel his magic that was hiding his form. And under the right circumstances, it might be worth doing simply to settle my own interests.

After all, he's supposedly fae from some reports, not exactly human, so curiosity about if he had pointed ears was up there in my mind.

Shaking my head, I focused on the fields around the hill—rolling green bluffs giving us a good sight of anyone who was trying to sneak up on our location. And as I watched, I saw two parties approaching—one from the west and one from the East.

I quickly determined who was who. From the East approached Sir Kay's party. I could tell because he had most of Hector's retainers and was flying the banners of them. Among that party were also two individuals who were most likely the lovebirds who caused the problem in the first place. Off to the West approached Sir Hector himself, with a party of men that obviously belonged to Lord Lanig Ar Gall. Based on their slow approach, they were worried about being attacked out here in the open plains. Understandable, you couldn't trust many people in this day and age.

Standing up, I moved to the edge of the hill, holding up a hand to shield my eyes so I could get a good look at the man I would be having a very long conversation with, I believed.

Lord Lanig Ar Gall appeared older than I was expecting but not as old as Lord Hector. He was riding heavily on his horse and looked annoyed to be there.

"Here come the troublemakers," Merlin said, standing up to stand next to me, looking out as the two parties approached.

"I'm quite curious how you're going to solve this dispute. I mean, marriage? A knight versus one lower than this never ends well, at least not in my mind. Usually, when they do, it's always with one side killing the other, and the girl caught in the middle, broken-hearted."

"Yes, that's usually how these things end," I said with a nod before smiling. "And looking at him and saying, unless, of course, you think through your options and provide something that's most likely to make everyone happy."

"And what will make everyone happy?" Merlin asked, leaning in conspiratorially.

"For that, we need to have a conversation," I said, wagging my finger at Merlin before adding, "That is the most important part of making a deal. Conversation. You need to know what they want so you can make sure to give them what they need."

"Hmm."

"Well, this shall be interesting," Merlin said, stepping away to go sit back at the table. I watched for a bit more before coming to stand at the point where the Eastern path would lead up to the hill. The Western path would take a bit longer, I noted.

As I waited, Sir Hector and Lord Lanig Ar Gall soon arrived at the top of the hill, this mountain, along with their guards.

Sir Lanig Ar Gall looked over at me before saying, "You're a bit small for the new king."

I smiled back before replying, "Probably. I may be on the shorter side, but I'm not unskilled in my new role."

"We'll see about that. You brought my daughter here, and the bastard kidnapped her."

I smiled before replying, "I've been informed that they eloped and that there's no kidnapping. But yes, they are on their way here. We're going to have a nice long discussion over a glass of local tea and hammer out exactly what everyone wants out of this situation."

"What I want, what I want is my daughter back, and that bastard murdered for drawing her away into some affair. The relationship he has no right. He is lowborn, his nightly career barely worth talking about, and he's just after her for her money because he knows once I die, she inherits it all."

"Hmm, there we go. I know the first parts of the situation a lot better now. Let's find out his point of view on the matter then."

"Ah, oh, that'll do anyone any good," Lord Lanig Ar Gall said, but as I indicated for him to take a step towards the table, he sighed and did so, marching towards the table and taking a seat as his men dispersed out on the east side of the ring.

I walked to the western side, watching as the young couple took the last few steps, smiling as they arrived.

"Good afternoon," I said, giving him a bow before indicating they should take a seat. "Welcome to the negotiations. I believe you are the so-called kidnapper, at least according to your father over there, miss."

"He didn't kidnap me, Dad. I'm in love," she called out, passing me towards her father, my eye catching him looking extremely grumpy at that statement.

The knight who looked like he was lost nodded his head and said, "I really hope that this is worth all the trouble of coming out of hiding. We've been avoiding problems for 4 months, and then your knight here pops up at our little home to inquire about possibly bringing an end to this whole situation. But I just don't see how that can be. He will never, never accept our love," the knight said, pointing towards Lord Lanig Ar Gall. "The only reason I allowed this whole thing to go down is your knight promised we would be safe during this meeting. I hope you're telling the truth."

"You have my word, young sir. You and your dear will be safe during this meeting, and we will escort you and your dear's father in two separate directions and make sure you do not follow each other. Assuming that this fails, I though have some feeling that I can work this situation out for the better of everyone here."

"Fat chance," Lord Lanig Ar Gall coughed. I gave him a look before walking towards the middle of the table, taking a seat with the other two taking the seat at the other end.

I took a moment before taking a breath and saying, "So the young couple says they're in love. You say you are worried that your daughter is going to be taken advantage of. Is that correct, Lord Lanig Ar Gall?"

"That's very correct. I don't trust this man. He doesn't have a knight's history worth a damn. He doesn't have noble blood, and he doesn't have a chance of improving his lot in the world. He is a jumped-up farmer."

Turning to the jumped-up farmer and his girl, I said, "And I'm going to assume that if I could create a situation that would improve the lot and this dispute, you two would be happy, no matter what the implications of this lot would be."

The knight gave me a squinted eye before saying, "I think so."

Smiling, I said, "To make it more clear, if I were to present a situation that would remove Lord Blank's concerns, would you jump at it right away?"

"Yes," the girl said, smacking him on the shoulder. "Yes, we would jump at the opportunity to have a normal life with my father accepting us."

"Wonderful, and I think I shall present a possibility that could be useful." Looking at the knight, I said, "Swear enough of allegiance to me. Join me in my crusade to rebuild the kingdom of England, and you will have a stipend of cash that will no longer consider you a penniless farmer. You'll also be given the chance to build a legend, which would, in my opinion, handle all your concerns, Lord Lanig Ar Gall, would it not?"

Lord Lanig Ar Gall looked at me with a raised eyebrow before saying, "Yeah, that would handle my concerns a bit, but he's a coward, I'm telling you. He'll run away. Ran away with my daughter, now didn't he?"

"That is true, though I'm going to have to say that just puts him back at square one. Except instead of just you going after him," I looked directly into the knight's eye, "you'll have all of my knights coming for you too. To run away from your duty is a grave offense, so consider your options. You can either continue to hide out in the woods and hope your wife's father never tracks you down, or you could sign on with my crusade to rebuild this kingdom and save England, and have a chance to prove yourself to your wife's father."

The knight looked confused before finally nodding his head, "I'm in. I'll prove myself to you, Lord Lanig Ar Gall."

"Ha, doubt it, but hey, if I get the support of her hunting you down if you show yourself to be nothing but a goddamn coward, that's fine enough for me. And I assume that my daughter will be moving back into the castle."

"As long as the marriage is respected, yes, I think I will," she said.

"Wonderful," I said with a smile, turning to look at Lord Lanig Ar Gall, "Then I must assume that you would also swear your allegiance to me for helping solve this issue."

"Yeah, yeah, you have my oath. My men will fight for you against the Pictish hordes that are coming, and I'll see what hands I could grease into changing sides on this conflict."

"Wonderful," I said with a smile, seeing that communication was the most ultimate tool of humanity, and it had worked wonderfully today.