Chapter Text
Striding into the throne room Sir Leon called,
“Sire! We have found someone who appears to be magical,” and pausing added, “the guards caught them sticking their hand in a lit torch and then noticed something even more unusual.” He hesitated, eyes flicking to the direction he’d come from where sounds of a disturbance were growing closer.
Clearly perturbed, King Uther straightened in his throne and declared “Bring them in then. ”
The guards and Prince Arthur's hands drifted to their swords as Sir Leon beckoned behind him and a cloaked figure rounded the corner with a guard on either side.
“I told you there is no need for dragging or anything. I'm here because I want to be!”
The outburst didn't deter the guards and only increased the tension in the room as they brought the mysterious figure before the king.
“They were unharmed from touching the flames, sire, and look!” the over eager guard on the right said as he reached over and pulled the hood of the cloak down. The room took a sharp inhale as all saw what was so concerning. The face was unremarkable if a bit odd, angular with short messy hair, but then there were the eyes. Bright silver eyes shining, almost luminescent, and unwavering as they stared back at the king.
“What is your business in Camelot?” Uther asked, “Do you suffer from a magical malady or are you a sorcerer that means us harm?”
“To the latter question, neither.” The figure straightened as they began to speak, their unflinching gaze not showing a trace of fear before the king. “As for my business… for the benefit of Camelot, I am sent by Magic itself with a warning and an oath.”
At the word “magic”, especially spoken as if it were an entity, a stir of unease went through the room. Sir Leon had interrupted a report from scouts that were investigating a series of unusual occurrences coming from the southwest. Most of the council was present along with a handful of knights and servants, Prince Arthur, Lady Morgana, Merlin, Gwen, and Gaius. It was beginning to appear as if this was the cause of the reports. One had mentioned, after all, bright silver eyes.
“I will not tolerate any talk of Magic here!” Uther jumped to his feet in an attempt to threaten the silver eyes. Unaffected, they merely blinked back at him, as though expecting this outburst.
“You may do what you like with me, or at least try, but first, I would like to say my piece. I ask that you let me, as it will do you no harm and may even help prevent terrible events in the future.” Scoffing slightly they added, “after all, I don't think you have a crime to accuse me of yet.”
Uther took a moment to consider what the stranger had said. Warily, he signaled the guards to let them go, but to still be at the ready for if anything happened. He then gestured to the conundrum at hand. “Very well then, but I warn you not to threaten me.”
“Wonderful!” They clapped their hands loudly, unsettling a few of the watchers nearby, “I shall begin with the oath then, in the hopes that you won't disregard my warning.” Stretching their arms up dramatically they declared “I swear that I shall neither harm nor deceive any citizen of Camelot. Let Magic hear and bind my oath!”
A beam of sunlight focused on them for a second, and those more attuned to magic in the room felt a confirmation as Magic sealed the oath with an audible hum of energy.
“You dare work magic here!” Uther raged. Responding to the light and the king’s reaction, the guards stepped forward again readying themselves for a command to restrain the stranger. The rest of the room was also on edge, unaccustomed to seeing such simple pure magic in the open.
“No,” was the calm response interrupting his tirade. “I did not work any magic, in fact I cannot cast magic, I simply asked Magic to seal my oath and it did.”
Settling uncomfortably back down, Uther realized that they hadn't actually done anything threatening or illegal if what they claimed was true. He glared, barely restraining himself and gesturing for the guards to step back again.
“You may give your warning but then I want you out of my kingdom.”
Taking a breath, the silver eyed stranger met Uther’s harsh eyes and proclaimed: “Your fear and hatred of magic have condemned your kingdom, Uther Pendragon. The enemies that you are so paranoid about are of your own making.” Faces of shock and fear lined the room at the blunt declaration, but all remained still as the speech continued, almost spellbound, though there was no spell. “There is always hope for this kingdom, and perhaps things can change,” the silver gaze turned from Uther for the first time, as they studied Arthur for a moment before continuing, “but I fear that hope is lost for you, Uther. Therefore, this kingdom's days of glory must wait until your time has passed. I can only hope that events can still be changed from how you've set them in motion.”
Uther stood up immediately.
“Treason! Guards!”
Uther cried, breaking the near trance everyone had fallen into, and the guards lept into action. Unfortunately, they found the stranger much less compliant than before. Looking like it was no effort to resist the guards’ attempts to drag them away, the stranger smirked.
“Oh, and a couple more things; I'll be sticking around Camelot, and there's nothing much you can do about it seeing as you cannot harm me.” Turning towards Arthur and Merlin with a wink they added: “by the way you can call me Arjen,” and then exploded into a flock of starlings.
The birds swooped around the room once before darting out the windows, leaving the occupants silent and stunned. Uther rallied quickly though, he was always prone to rash action when provoked.
“Search the city I want that sorcerer found!” He demanded, and the guards lept into action. quickly complied
“Father, do you think that will do any good?” Arthur questioned, “from the looks of things they never did anything they didn't want to and escaped easily when they were done. I’m afraid that such a person won’t be found unless they want to be.”
Uther deflated a little but held his resolve, “you must find out if they had any accomplices then, and find them that way.”
“Yes father,” Arthur replied. Sensing a dismissal the nervous councilmen edged towards the doors, already muttering among themselves, and Uther waved his permission to leave.
As the group dispersed Merlin followed Arthur down the hallway, buzzing with excitement from the event.
“Well that was different don't you think?”
“No Merlin, that was just a sorcerer threatening the king. It does happen every now and again you know,” Arthur replied.
Merlin shook his head as he jogged to catch up, “no but they didn't exactly threaten him did they? Instead they promised not to harm anyone.”
“Look Merlin, it's not our job to work out the ramblings of a sorcerer, it's my job to catch them and it's your job to fetch my armor.”
“Right,” Merlin sighed and hurried off to his duties.