Capítulo 4: Not monster nor fey
The silence that filled the room was deafening, and Artie felt her eyes widened. The sigh that left her body felt soul weary, and she raised her hands, running them over her face. She'd fucked up. "I am so sorry. Not only did I say that wrong, I shouldn't have said it." The one she thought was Sir Lancelot glared at her.
"What do you mean by that?" He demanded and Merlin quickly stepped in front of her, waving his hands in a placating gesture.
"Now now gentlemen. We expected something like this. Let her speak, and truthfully, my dear. They probably don't want to hear anything false." Artie shifted uncomfortably on her feet, unsure how she should go about this and Sir Percy frowned.
"Do you need to sit? Does your wound hurt?" He asked, and Artie laughed softly.
"If I sit I will only embarrass myself. I am fine standing, but thank you." She bit her lip, an old bad habit. "Um, about what I said earlier-" The door burst open and would have taken Artie out if the man closest to her at the round table hadn't jumped from his seat and dragged her to safety.
"How dare you hold a meeting of the round table without inviting me! He's barely 5 days in the ground and this is how you treat me?" And then she stormed in, with her almost adult son in tow. Artie felt her jaw drop as she looked over the woman she had read about over and over. She had a large bust, stuffed into a dress that slimmed her figure. Her mountain of curly brown hair was on top of her head and pinned with delicate pearl pins. Her blue eyes were steamy and when her eyes fell on Artie who was held by a knight of the round table, her eyes widened. "This isn't Guinevere! Who is she?" Artie floundered a little before she was able to close her mouth. She turned her gaze to the younger man who was almost an exact copy of his Mother. The same hair, same height, but it was his eyes that gave away his origin. He had the crystal clear grey eyes of his Father. Artie could feel a panic attack coming on. This could not be real. There was no fucking way this was real. She had to be living out an elaborate final moment since she could now recognise people from ancient legends.
Artie smiled and detangled herself from the knight who'd rescued her with a nod of thanks.
"Ah, so Lady Guinevere exists already? Silly me, of course she exists already." Merlin watched Artie as her gaze danced around the room. Artie noticed as the one she thought was Sir Lancelot jerked. "I feel like this conversation just got ten times longer. You two will probably want to have a seat." Sir Mordred, who was already on his way to his spot, froze when his Mother grabbed his arm. She narrowed her eyes at Artie.
"And who are you to boss me around? You have no title, no authority over me." She sneered and Artie blinked.
"That's true, Lady Morgan, but I know that for whatever reason, your son isn't able to pull the holy sword out of the stone, right? And I know why he can't." All colour left her face, and it was a very telling and amateur mistake. But Artie couldn't hold it against her. She doubted anyone else had the balls to say anything to Morgan's face, so Morgan must have thought she was safe. Who would question the sister of the King? No one to her face.
"How dare you say that. Are you implying something?" Artie met Lady Morgan's heated gaze head on.
"When was Sir Mordred born, Lady Morgan?" Sir Percy's jaw dropped, while Lady Morgan raised her hand to slap Artie. Merlin stepped in.
"Alright young lady, please refrain from saying anything else that would antagonize Lady Morgan, hmm?" Merlin suggested, a different kind of glint in his gaze. Artie sighed, while Lady Morgan fumed. "We should also probably invite Lady Guinevere here as well. Wouldn't want her to have a similar issue as Lady Morgan, would we?" Merlin gestured for a knight against the wall to go fetch her, and the knight rushed out. Artie felt a grin cross her face as excitement brewed inside of her. She was going to see all of them in one space? This was insane. Sir Mordred went to his seat at the round table, while Lady Morgan glared at Artie as she went to stand behind him. Merlin sighed, shaking his head. He was putting on a great show of pretending to be upset with her, when in reality his eyes were dancing even more than before. He seemed ecstatic.
"Despite what I said, I actually look up to Lady Morgan as a role model. I did for a large part of my life, actually, and what I said are just facts." Lady Morgan's eyes narrowed and the knights in the room, and at the table, shifted uncomfortably.
"Facts? How dare you say these are facts? And how do you claim that you have this kind of knowledge?" She demanded. Artie opened her mouth to answer, but Merlin covered it.
"It would be wise to wait for Lady Guinevere before we hear any more of her words. But it is a shame that the other seats aren't filled right now." Merlin let out a chuckle while still holding his hand against Artie's mouth. She didn't mind. She felt like she'd lost all control of herself in the last few hours. It made sense. She'd had a terribly stressful final moment, and now she was in a fantasy/historical play. Anyone who didn't cut her some slack clearly had no idea what she was going through.
They waited for Lady Guinevere to arrive after that, and Artie dealt with the severe, and angered glaring that Lady Morgan was giving her. All the while, Artie wanted to sit and observe her. If she was honest with herself, she just wanted to be a fly on the wall of this room. She just wanted to sit and listen in on their chatter, and banter. But every so often she'd glance at the empty chair and a chill would run down her spine. Why was that chair empty? And for the love of everything holy, do not let it be the reason she was worried it was. Everyone in this room was too young if that was the case.
Eventually, the doors opened again. The previous knight that Merlin had sent off came back, along with a slender woman dressed completely in black. Her eyes were swollen, making the blue pop, and the black also made her blonde hair shine. She seemed quite distressed about being called, and made it clear a few moments later.
"Why was I summoned, Merlin? I asked for several days to grieve. Alone." Merlin pointed to Artie and Lady Guinevere's eyes widened. "She is awake? Has she said where she's come from yet? Who is she?" She asked. Artie chuckled at how they were behaving as if she was here, but unable to understand them.
"That is why I summoned you my dear. I believe she is about to tell us. Find a seat." Merlin's tone was soft, as if he was dealing with a fragile bird. Artie knew of Lady Guinevere, and knew that was only partially true. The woman could be as delicate as a bird when she wanted to, and as vicious as a snake when needed. But considering her current state, Artie didn't think she had it in her to flip so quickly. Unlike Lady Morgan, who was taking out her anger on everyone, Lady Guinevere was spending her time crying alone. Who the hell were they mourning so seriously?
"I agree with Merlin, everyone should find a seat. Including you, Merlin. Before I tell you anything about myself." She felt like she was being a bit over-dramatic, but at the same time, she also felt like she was playing a part in a dramatic scene. Everyone should be seated when she revealed she was from the future. She could already predict the look of shock on their faces. Honestly, she was a little excited for it. "So, I know you've all been wondering about my weird clothes and uh, short sword, that I arrived with. Plus, there is also my slip up. Well, the truth is, I'm from the future." Lady Morgan threw her head back and laughed in Artie's face while Merlin gasped and got to his feet.
"You? From the future? Ha! Who would ever believe you! Merlin, do you believe her?" Merlin shrugged, his expression bright while the rest of the room was reeling.
"I am afraid, my dear, that I have to agree with Lady Morgan. We need some proof." Artie wanted to snort. No, what he wanted was chaos. She could see from his eyes that he believed her, but he wanted to watch the room squirm.
"Are you sure?" Artie asked, confirming and Lady Morgan snorted.
"Are you afraid that your lies will be called out? How do we know you aren't some witch from a neighbouring kingdom sent here to sow discord in a troubling time. For all we know, you could be involved with the assassination plot." Artie's eyes widened. Assassination? Who the fuck was assassinated? Artie glanced around the room, not exactly comfortable with saying what she was about to, but they were asking for it.
"Lady Guinevere was basically sold/forced into marrying Arthur so that he could have an army to back him up after his Uncle was suddenly killed. He then used that army to prevent the invasion of the saxons on his own. When Lady Guinevere first met him, she didn't view Arthur as worthy of a lady of her status." Lady's Guinevere's face flushed a deep red. "Lady Morgan, your Mother was never in love with your brother's Father. She was tricked/forced by a wizard to drink a potion and you've long speculated that it was Merlin." Lady Morgan's face went white. "It wasn't Merlin, but the wizard is already dead. He was killed so that no one else knew about it, since dead men tell no tales." Artie knew that to be false, since dead men said a lot of things in her line of work, but she wasn't going to split hairs with them. She turned to Merlin. "Merlin, in my time no one really knows what you are. In most tales you are portrayed as a wise man who aids Arthur by his side, but as soon as he dies, you disappear." Artie cleared her throat, looking out at the men who filled the space with a harsh look on her face before she smiled softly. "Beyond that, I am not going to speak more on what I know. It isn't good to reveal other's futures, and I'm probably changing things by even being here. Even if I think this is a wild final moment, that might not be the case for you. But I will say one thing. Those who want to overthrow the throne who reside in this room? You will fail. Your endings have been recorded in the future, in many, many different iterations." Artie inhaled a deep breath, before releasing it. "You guys are legends from my time. Your stories have been passed around so many times, people have even wondered if you actually existed." Lady Morgan was flustered.
"S-So what you said could be untrue?" Artie slid her gaze towards the woman, and smiled. It was a warm one, filled with kindness, and pity.
"Did you doubt my words, Lady Morgan?" Her face was red, and she seemed as if she wanted to blow up, and Artie chuckled. "Or did you want me to reveal more of your past that you've no doubt hidden from others?" Artie asked, teasing the other woman. If she was honest, she'd always enjoyed Morgan's stories the most. Depending on who told the story, Morgan was either someone to sympathize with, or a complete villain. Someone who was pulling the strings from the back, making everyone into her puppet. Artie was actually pleased to see that the Lady Morgan she was currently meeting was haughty, full of herself, and also insecure. It made the readings where Lady Morgan wasn't a monster feel real. Like she'd always wanted.
"You never answered my question back in your rooms. You are human, right dear?" Merlin asked, and Artie shrugged, then winced when it pulled at her wound again. She clearly forgot it had hurt her before.
"I would assume so? Where I come from magic isn't really a thing. Like, we have all the stories where magic does exist, but we mostly have science and faith now. Most of the things considered magic have been proven with science not to be." Artie chuckled. "I know this sounds hard to believe, but the world is far bigger than you can imagine. England, or Britain or whatever you want to call it, can fit several thousand times inside the size of some countries. It's pretty overwhelming if you think too hard about it." Artie knew she probably looked insane, especially from the way the others were staring at her. Only Merlin seemed to be having a great time.
"My dear, I would like you to try and pull the sword out." Lady Morgan was the first to protest Merlin's words. She stormed around the side of the table to confront the wizard.
"Absolutely not! She is clearly not human! She can't attempt it! It's against our laws!" She protested. Artie blinked. Lady Morgan still thought she wasn't human?
"Uh, not because I want to do what Merlin is suggesting, but is there a test to prove I'm not a monster? I am finding it alarming that you're questioning my humanity." Granted, Artie did think that this was a final moment of hers, but she wasn't a ghost yet, damn it, and she hated being considered one. Sir Percy tossed her a dagger, and fumbling, she caught it.
"Monsters and fey don't bleed the same colour as we do. Plus, if you were fey, you wouldn't even be able to hold that dagger." Sir Percy offered, and Artie, not one to hesitate once she'd made up her mind, cut her hand. She winced at the pain, before showing her cut to the others. Merlin laughed.
"She's human enough to quench your concerns, yes Lady Morgan?" Merlin's tone was gleeful. Lady Morgan crossed her arms before she tsked and looked away, clearly upset that she had lost the argument.
"Hey, I also want to make something clear. I do not want to try to pull the sword out. None of you like me, and isn't the King normally a man?" Artie protested and Merlin threw his head back and laughed.
"My dear, the sword chooses who it chooses. We are just the fools who follow it."
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