Fate/Fallen Prince

9 - Unveiled

The sun was up and Terran had grown tired of sitting around. They were two days march from Ravenhill and everyone was preparing for a seige. A seige that would be impossible. The dark gray walls had never been breached. It isn't likely that anything would change just because Terran himself was involved.

"My lord, you should rest an hour more." Gerald had been nagging him about his health. An annoyance for sure, but he was glad someone was worried for him.

"I'm fine. I can move perfectly. My energy is restored and I can fight again." Terran responded.

Gerald sighed in defeat. There was no point in arguing with someone who was being as stubborn as Terran. The prince disliked the idea of sitting around, especially when he needed to speak with king Arthur.

"My lord... Prince Terran... Everyone who knows you appreciates your selflessness, but aren't you going a bit to far?" The archer asked.

"I have no idea what you mean." Terran put on his boots.

Gerald, frustrated with his actions, decided to confront Terran directly.

"There is no reason to argue that point. You always forsake yourself, yet tell others to worry for themselves. The way you live is hypocritical."

Terran looked at his loyal friend. One of the few people who could still remember the old Ravenhill. Someone who had been with him since Ravenhill fell. He trusted this man more than most. Yet he couldn't accept what he was being told.

"Hypocritical? I protect people and get paid. How is that hypocritical of me?" He asked.

"Because that isn't who you are. I know you hardly keep a coin of what we earn. You need to care for yourself. Or you'll die in the end." Gerald stressed, "Can't you see, if you do things the way you are, the outcome won't be good. You can't sacrifice yourself for everyone else."

"I can do as I please. It's easier to protect them then myself." Terran replied, "If I can save others, what right do I have to be selfish?"

"Isn't that the argument you had with Arhtur? Aren't you the one who can't stand him?" Gerald desperately tried to point out the obvious, "Yet you can't even see that the two of you are exactly the same. Please, see the inconsistency of your life style and save yourself."

Terran sat back down to think about what he had been told.

"Think about this, will you? I care for you. The others care for you." He said, "We don't want to see you die."

Gerald left the tent, leaving Terran alone to think.

It was difficult to admit to himself that Gerald was ultimately right. How is it he was exactly the kind of person he didn't want to be. The kind of person King Arthur is. The kind of person his father was.

All this was dawning on him. All of it crashing down on him and crushing him beneath the weight of its truth. All this time, he had criticized the king for being the same as him. He thought that he was angry with Arthur, but even that led back to the state that the people of Ravenhill were in.

Who was he supposed to be? That was to difficult to answer. How was he supposed to act? That too, was difficult. Maybe the question he needed to answer hadn't even come up yet.

All he knew was that he needed to speak to Arthur.

-------

When Terran arrived at the kings tent, Lancelot stood infront of the tent flap. He was blocking entrance from everybody.

Terran approached the knight, hoping he'd make an exception. The purple haired knight looked at him as he approached.

"I need through. It's rather urgent." Terran spoke calmly despite his racing heart.

"No one is to enter until King Arthur permits it." The knight said back.

"This is urgent. It has to do with the layout of Ravenhill. That's more important than whatever is going on inside, is it not?" The lion knight lied.

Lancelot seemed to falter for a moment before he went back to being indifferent.

"The king will not be disturbed. Those are my orders."

He seemed hard pressed to remain where he was. He hadn't been a man who seemed unreasonable before, yet now Terran found himself glaring past him at the blocked off tent. He was hiding something. Arthur hadn't done this before, and there was no way he was asleep at this hour.

"Let me through." Terran's voice was deeper, showing his disdain for the situation, "The lives of the people within Ravenhill is surely more important than whatever is going on inside."

He tries to step around Lancelot, only to be stopped by his outstretched arm.

"I have my orders, no one is to enter."

The lion knight grabbed hold of the knight of the lakes wrist. He pushed his arm up, placed his shoulder into Lancelot's ribs and shoved him through the tent flaps.

The purple haired knight stumbled to the ground inside. Terran walked through shortly after him to witness the secret of the king.

Inside the tent was Merlin and... Arthur. Though 'his' armor was removed to show that 'he' was actually a she. He suspected something was off with this king.

"I thought it was odd, but I hadn't believed the thoughts in the back of my head. Or maybe it's that I ignored them." He looked at the woman in front of him, "This was what you were hiding. Something that was eating away at me since the moment we met."

Merlin looked at him oddly. A serious look that Terran had never seen grace his features. Yet neither the mage nor the king spoke up.

"My king... I..." Lancelot tried to speak but was silenced when his king waved a hand at him.

The knight looked down in shame. Terran watched them all closely until Merlin spoke up.

"I hope you under..." But he was interrupted.

"You have nothing to fear from me. I don't plan on telling anyone. You have my word." Terran took a deep breath, "I came to apologize."

The king looked at him shocked.

"I wasn't fair with you before. I hadn't yet realized my own frustration and I took that out on you. I hope I didn't seem to harsh." He said, "You're helping me. I should be more grateful."

His eyes were downcast as he thought of his own foolishness.

"If we both survive, I will serve Camelot." He waited a moment before speaking again, "It matters not to me if you are a man or a woman, only that you are king."

The king looked at him, suprised by this sudden turn of events.

"Very well then." The king replied.

"I have but one request." He said, "I wish to know the true name of who I will serve."

The king looked to her mage, who nodded his head with a smile.

"Artoria."

-------

Austis sat in his windowsill, looking out the window at smoke pillars in the distance. A hand gripped the back of his skull, forcing him to look outside.

"You see that boy?" Callum said, "Those are the last embers of hope. Your saviours coming to kill me."

Austis shifted uncomfortably, trying to shake this mans hand from his head.

"Soon those embers will be nothing but ash. Their time will end." The tyrant said, "and when their time ends, so will yours."

The young prince had a strang fearlessness about him, an unwavering conviction that stood like an indestructible wall.

"Or maybe those embers will catch fire." The brave prince said.

Callum chuckled darkly, his eyes filled with a terrifyingly blatant desire for blood.

"Did your mother teach you to be this rude." His hand squeezed down on Austis's head, causing his face to scrunch up in pain.

Austis hoped that this king of knights would be all he was said to be. He needed that perfect king. That perfect hero. He so desperately didn't want to die.