Once and Future King: RP

[spirit_queen]

"I was going to when you turned eighteen," Ector replied quietly. "No one expected the king to die so suddenly."

"So why was I raised by you if I'm the king's son? I don't understand it. I don't understand anything," Arthur shouted.

"Arthur- I- please, can we discuss this somewhere else?"

Arthur finally relented and nodded.

[Cheshire1996]

Merlin coughed awkwardly. "There shall have to be a celebration tonight, some sort of dance or feast. The official ceremony can take place tommorow. If that's alright with the new King?"

[spirit_queen]

"Hmm? Oh, yes, of course," Arthur said a little absently.

[Cheshire1996]

Merlin looked around at Uther's council. "Perhaps if you could organize something, let everyone know".

The crowd of peasants were starting to move now, there wouldn't be enough space for them to be invited to any feats or dances in the castle and they'd no doubt throw their own celebrations the next day, when Arthur was actually crowned.

Guine waited, and when she finally caught sight of Arthur, Ector, Kay and Merlin, her insides dropped a little. She had just begun to take her and Arthur's conversations for granted, and now that he was King things were sure to change.

[spirit_queen]

Arthur looked a mix of glum and livid, which was an odd mix, indeed. When people began to filter away, chattering excitedly about the upcoming events, Arthur said. "Can you explain now, fath- I man, Lord Ector?"

Ector looked immensely sad. "Arthur, to me, it doesn't matter that I am not your biological father... I raised you as my own..."

"But why? Did Uther not want me?"

"No, no... it goes like this... about seventeen years ago, King Uther... had an affair. As far as I'm aware, your birth mother is still living... but she couldn't keep you, she was married to another. She sent you here, to the king, who originally intended to raise you as his heir. Now I'm a little behind on the details, but supposedly Merlin thought it be best you be raised away form palace life and the complications of politics..."

"But what about mo- I mean, your first wife? She definitely had a baby; kay even remembers her being pregnant," Arthur protested.

Ector smiled ruefully. "I was getting to that... it's actually what made me the number one candidate as your foster father... As you pointed out, my second wife was pregnant, but when she had the baby, it was stillborn. She was, of course, devastated... coincidentally, the king came himself at that point to meet with some people on his list of potential foster fathers for you. Thus, he found out about our situation, and offered you to us... we could have said no, for the king didn't want you to be raised by someone unwilling to take you. My wife, her face still red from teas, said yes; she wanted a baby, Arthur. To her mind form that moment on, you were hers; it's a shame she didn't live to see you grow up into a young man."

[Cheshire1996]

Meanwhile several members of the council were spreading the official word to the rest of the towns people and the nobles. By now, nearly everyone knew of Arthur's success retrieving the sword from the stone. Several other members had returned to the castle to organize that night's celebration. Since it was such a big all of the nobles were to be invited, even the poorer ones, such as Ector.

[spirit_queen]

Even if Ector hadn't originally been invited, Arthur would have invited him; Arthur's resentment was now directed at the dead king for dumping him on someone else.

But as it was, Arthur did not feel like celebrating.

[Cheshire1996]

Unfortunately the rest of the kingdom did. The main hall of the castle had been filled with expensive food and wine and most of the nobles had made an effort to dig out their best clothes. In addition to this the music was lively and many were dancing. As usual Guine felt out of place, talking to Arthur would feel strange now, and she wanted to work out what she would say before she saw him.

[spirit_queen]

"Well, I guess I should change, huh? Can't be late for my own party," Arthur said, smiling insincerely.

[Cheshire1996]

Of course as soon as Arthur would arrive, a flock of young men and women would instantly crowd him. The celebration wasn't one of Merlin's better ideas.