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jackyfalahees · 10 months

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And here is my second snippet for the fic I decided to write to give myself a break from sword fic, aka Library Fic, currently untitled:

“If you- you would like to spend more time here, yes?” He asked, his mouth slightly open, as if he wanted to say something more, but cut himself off. Was he waiting for her to follow? To lead?

Time with you?

“In the library?” She went in the opposite, unwanted direction.

“Yes.”

He walked down the opposite path, and she fell.

“Yes,” she swallowed her pride, and wished she could swallow the uncomfortable swell in her throat. “Very much.”

He smiled.

She couldn’t be angry with him.

Not when he smiled.

Not when he looked at her, not when he walked into a room and tried to make her feel comfortable, not when he didn’t leave.

And not when he was standing in front of her, leaning against the bookshelf and holding his favorite poem, wearing black but bringing light and vibrancy into the entire room. No stone walls between them. No dark corners.

“I am sorry, but you will have to endure more of our English stories.” He feigned a disappointed sigh, but he failed, the corner of his mouth turning upwards. He ran his free hand through his hair. “I swear, we have some fine works-”

“I will read them,” she said. “Do not worry, Your Majesty. I want to learn all I can.”

“And you will.”

His voice, so deep and full of confidence, so sudden, hitting her in the chest like a punch. Confidence and- faith? Faith in her?

“You’ll never be able to hide your intelligence, Guinevere.”

Another punch, a stronger strike, a blow to the knee.

“Not with you?”

God, her voice was small, but she swore the question echoed on the stone walls, throwing the shards of vulnerability back in her face. Hits and cuts.

“No,” he shook his head, “not with me.”

Actions, she thought.

Actions, not words.

“A fine compensation for having no French.”

She waited for a laugh. “There can be no books in French, my Queen, because we were at war with them.” A false chide, different from her father’s favorite tone— if he went down the wrong path, they could still see each other across the way. Pray for a fork in the road.

Arthur didn’t laugh.

He glanced at the shelves.

He nodded, to himself.

“You did not bring any of your own books with you?” He asked.

#this takes place about two weeks into their relationship lol #very EARLY on #you know. after Merlyn had to be a dick and DIE.#is this one close to be done? also no but I swear it’ll be WORTH IT #I wrote the ending and my betas FREAKED OUT over it #they’re both sad and they like books. just like me fr.#camelot musical #camelot fic #arthur x guinevere #guenarthur #amandalot #amanda writes (kind of)

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thebrokenroads · 11 months

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The Archer and the Prey

Arthur knew immediately that something was wrong.

Her touches were fleeting, soft brushes of her palm against his arm or chest. She hardly looked at him, either. Usually, they shared secret glances during their meetings and court events. She went to bed early, and she was asleep by the time he retired for the night. She let him hold her, but did not hold him back.

When he fell asleep that night, his chest felt tight. The feeling usually went away when he saw the raven hair splayed across the pristine white sheets, but that was no longer the case. Still, exhausted from the day, he fell into a troubled sleep.

His dreams were disjointed, twisted things like age old tree roots crawling over a trail in the forest. He saw flashes. Mordred coughing up blood, holding his own throat while the thick red substance trickled between his stumpy fingers. You failed me, he said. Morgan’s face, a face that once brought him such joy, morphed into a furious, angry expression before she struck a young Mordred across the face. Merlin’s disappointed, cold stare. Genny in a battlefield. Unarmed, wearing the pristine white dress she wore the night they wed. His legs won’t move, he can’t get to her. She screamed for him. Arthur. Arthur.

“Arthur!”

He sat up with a gasp, drenched in sweat. Genny hovered over him with a frightened look. “It’s all right,” she said, her tone comforting as if she was speaking to an upset child. He gently moved her aside so he could sit over the side of the bed, his legs over the edge. He caught his breath, his palm resting over his chest as he did so.

The sheets rustled. He prepared and willed himself not to wince before she wrapped herself around him, arms wrapping around his neck from behind. She pressed a long kiss to the top of his damp hair, her breath hitching. “Arthur,” she said, and he heard the tears in her voice.

“I’m okay,” he said, but even to his own ears, it sounded unconvincing and weak. He cleared his throat. “I’m fine,” he took one of her hands. He still couldn’t face her, not yet.

“Look at me, please,” she said. She spoke softly, cupping his jaw in effort to turn his head.

“No,” he said roughly, and it was perhaps the first time he said that word to her. His wife’s hand froze on his face.

“Arthur,” she tried again, and she attempted to get into his lap so he would have to look at her.

He stood instantly. “I’m going to take a walk,” he said, his voice a strangled noise he hardly recognized.

“I’ll go with you,” she said, and Arthur imagined the way she scrambled to her feet.

The thought of her overwhelming presence as he tried to calm his racing heartbeat.

“Stay here,” he barked, already halfway to the door. He slammed it so hard behind him that the wood paneling shook.

It took ages to get outside. He purposefully asked that the Queen’s corridors be prepared towards the top of the castle, back then because it was the furthest he could place her when the prospect of marriage frightened him. Now, he simply felt grateful that it would take the intruders the longest to find her.

Once he was outside, he gasped for air. He hunched over on his knees for a moment, attempting to fill his lungs with the fresh air.

It was clean, not filled with the slightly lavender, floral scent of his wife. His wife. He loved her, god he loved her. He couldn’t bear it if anything happened to her.

“Your majesty?”

Arthur stood up rigidly. “Who goes there?”

Henry, the stable boy, stepped into the dim light of the courtyard that was lit by a few torches.

He softened, his trembling hand wiping away his tears quickly. “Henry. What are you doing?”

The little boy looked at him skeptically. “My job, sir.”

Arthur then noticed the sun barely rising in the sky.

“It’s not even— they have you rising this early?”

“I help the kitchen, sir. I collect the eggs,” he held up the empty basket in his hands.

Arthur knew that. The kitchen maid had asked permission to uptake the little boy’s salary. “Right,” he said, and he cleared his throat. He could breathe again. “The knights rise too early, I suppose.”

Henry’s skeptic gaze continued. “Are you all right, sir?”

“I’m fine,” he lied.

Henry stiffened and bowed rather quickly, and Arthur turned to see his Queen rushing down the steps. She wore her trousers and one of his shirts, cloak hung around her arm.

“Genny,” he said, and he swallowed his anger at the prospect of her leaving before dawn without telling a soul. She was going after him, he reminded himself.

She halted quickly, and her face dropped in relief. “I thought you’d left,” she said, her hands moving to his chest. His hands moved naturally to her waist, forgetting they were in the presence of a child. “Never run out on me like that again,” she scolded before she noticed Henry.

“Hello,” she said, and the royal couple dropped their hands.

Henry smiled, a nervous smile that was reserved for a young boy with a desperate crush on a pretty woman, and he started back on his way. Arthur couldn’t help but chuckle, but Henry stopped on his path. He faced his King and Queen. “I get them, too,” he said solemnly, looking at Arthur.

Arthur felt like someone had just thrown him into a cold bath. He swallowed. “Best be on your way,” he said, taking Genny’s hand in his, already pulling her back towards the doors to the castle.

“What did that mean?” She demanded as soon as they were inside.

He dropped her hand. “I don’t know.”

“Hey,” she stopped in her tracks at the bottom of the stairs. Arthur looked to her warily. She took both of his hands. “You’ve never spoken to me like that before.”

He softened. “I apologize, I didn’t mean—”

“Do not do that. Do not push me away,” she said again urgently. “If I did that to you, you’d never forgive me.”

He dropped one of her hands, using the other to pull her up the stairs. “It’s different. I’m supposed to take care of you.”

“We’re supposed to take care of each other,” she pulled her hand from his grip. “Please tell me you understand that by now.”

Frustration built in his chest. “You’ve barely looked at me for weeks, Genny. I don’t know the last time we’ve spoken alone— “

“There’s been no time. You come upstairs late, and you are gone by the time I wake. And need I remind you, the time you did sleep in, you were quite happy with the way I woke you—”

“Guenevere,” he hissed, grabbing her wrist to pull her along again.

She scoffed. “Please grow up, Arthur, no one around us thinks that we’re celibate,” she grumbled but she followed up on their trek up the stairs.

“I hope that no one thinks about our lives in that regard. Why would they?”

“We are a married couple.”

“That means nothing in an arrangement.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, and the severity in her voice caused him to pause and look at her. She looked close to tears. “I didn’t mean to make you feel alone. The last thing I want you to feel is alone in this. I’m just… frightened.”

His heart ached. This thing in him frightened her. “I’m sorry I frightened you.”

“No, Arthur, it’s not that,” she quickly corrected him. “It’s not you. It’s Mordred, it is… I hate how this threat is hanging over our heads.”

His chest tightened again. “He will not harm you, I promise.”

“He has already harmed you,” Genny said. “That is what I’m concerned about.”

Arthur couldn’t lie to her. He knew that. “When we first met, when he was ten. He… he came to me, and he had been beaten. He told me that his mother hit him,” he said, his heart heavy in his chest as he spoke about his and Mordred’s first meeting. “I don’t know if that’s true, if it was Morgan, or if it was— “

“It wasn’t.”

He sighed. “How do you know that?”

“What parent would harm their children?”

“My father did,” he said. He never spoke about Uther Pendragon.

Genny stared at him, and the familiar pool of pity flooded her eyes. He patted her hand.

“It’s all right. I was a boy, then. It has been…I can’t even recall the last time I saw him.”

“That’s why you feel so guilty about Mordred,” she realized. “You didn’t save your son from what you endured.”

Arthur couldn’t have put it into words so perfectly. That’s exactly what Genny did for him since the beginning of their relationship. The creation of the round table, the next steps that seemed so hopelessly lost after Merlyn’s sudden death. Everything he accomplished in this brief period of peace, it was all because of her. He loved her, he loved her. He couldn’t lose her. He loved her.

He cleared his throat. “Yes,” he said. “He’s an imbecile. I know that. I just can’t help but wonder if he would have turned out differently if I—”

“If you what, Arthur?” Genny stepped forward so she was closer to him, her hands came to rest on his chest. “You didn’t know. You tried to take care of him when you knew. It’s not your fault that Morgan never attempted to contact you, or anything else. You did the best you could. You have nothing to feel guilty about.”

Arthur stared at her pleading eyes. She wanted him to be okay. He wanted to be okay. He wanted to believe her, but there was just something there that hounded him. He should have checked on Morgan. He should have written to her much earlier. He should have, should have, should have.

His hands on Genny’s hips gently pushed her away. “I need to dress for the day. I have a meeting with Dinadan.”

He climbed the remainder of the stairs and pretended he didn’t feel her burning gaze.

#snippet of the fic i'm working on #everyone else has shared such beautiful work and I wanted to share mine!#camelot revival #camelot musical #guenarthur #camelot fic #king arthur has anxiety

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reegis · 1 year

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✨mechanisms character designs!!✨

lyf gets to be blue because i said so

who else should i draw!!!!

#galahad my beloved #i read exactly one (1) fic where lyf had a tail & immediately decided that was canon #the mechanisms #the mechs #hnoc #galahad hnoc #high noon over camelot #lyfrassir edda #lyf tbi #the bifrost incident #rose red #once upon a time in space #ouatis #ouatis cinders #galahad slander is Not allowed thats my baby girl #short king rights abdkgkgkd #my art

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saym0-0 · 5 months

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i love fanfiction because sometimes you'll stumble across gems such as: santa claus is an avatar of the eye

#and tim is terrified #fic is we go to camelot on ao3 :3 #tma #the magnus archives #fanfic

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justaz · 19 days

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semi-dark king merlin au, someone from ealdor tells king cenred about merlin and he is captured and held as a slave in essetir. since merlin despises captivity and servitude, he’d rather be dead and free than alive and in chains so he acts out and pisses people (especially the king) off so they’ll think him too much trouble and kill him. at first they stick to beatings until merlin manages to get his chains around a few necks and now has a body count so they kill him…..only he wakes back up a few hours later and king cenred is Intrigued and keeps him close. merlin keeps acting out but no matter how many times they kill him, he won’t stay dead. merlin has this moment after waking up perfectly fine after his twenty seventh death where he is hopeless and believes there to be no escape, not even thru death. a few other sorcerers in chains come and help him clean up and give him a lil peptalk, realizing him to be emrys, and then they revolt and take over the kingdom and crown merlin as king and now uther is like “wtf” bc his neighboring kingdom who was kinda sorta on his wavelength about sorcery, though uther did not approve of keeping them alive, is now a kingdom ruled by magic. he goes to war with them but with magic running free and fucking emrys on the throne, they don’t make a lot of headway. anyways merthur meet on the battlefield, enemies to lovers, you get it

#bbc merlin #merlin emrys #king merlin #arthur pendragon #merthur #fanfic #fanfiction #fic idea #writing prompt #king merlin of essetir #the angst is crazy #merthur despising each other bc to arthur merlin is an evil sorcerer while to merlin arthur is just like his father who is just like cenred #slowly learning more about each other and seeing their kindness #slowly earning respect between the other #lmao those silly episodes where the hero and the villain come to a truce to fight a common enemy and then go right back to fighting after #morganas ‘betrayal’ to camelot is just joining essetir’s side #she learns to control her magic and finds people like her #uhhh #druids flock to essetir while the antimagic people of essetir flee to camelot #essetir kinda just becomes a magic kingdom lmao #THEY SNEAK INTO CAMELOT AND SET THE DRAGON FREE SO ESSETIR JUST HAS A FUCKING DRAGON #camelot is shitting their pants #when arthur becomes king hes just like ‘we gotta sign a treaty atp theres no way were winning #and i refuse to send more of my men to their deaths’#tense political situation where theyre signing a treaty - one wrong move and everything goes to shit #now that the kingdoms can live in relative peace arthur can see the good magic can do for a kingdom as essetir thrives #since theyre on sorta good terms there can be feasts held w merlin in camelot or arthur is essetir #slowburn babey

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motherofoompaloompas · 18 days

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Merlin genderswap au where when the gang is hiding Mordred, Merlin gets caught with him by Leon and the knights. They're all "Look! A dark haired child we have never seen before! that must be the druid boy" And Merlin panics and goes full on mama bear. "No! This is my son. I birthed him myself. Don't you dare try to execute him"

So the cover story would probably be something like when Merlin was 11/12 she got SAed by a bandit or a passing knight and gave birth to him young. She left him with Hunith when she first came to Camelot because she didn't know what to expect, but once things stabilized, she wrote home for her son to join her. It was only bad luck that he arrived the day they were looking for the druid boy.

And Mordred's just like "guess I have a mom now" and goes along with it.

Merlin takes Mordred everywhere with her including to work with Arthur. Mordred learns how to handle Arthur and do chores around the castle under Merlin's instruction. When he gets old enough, he starts training to become a knight.

He now gets to accompany his mom and Arthur. And while he is a knight of Camelot, he still has to answer to his mom. So it's just Merlin bossing him around the campsite and making him help with dinner. And he does it because it's his mom and he has been doing this stuff his whole life anyway.

The knights try to make fun of him for it but he's just like "???????? Of course I'm helping with dinner and setting up bed rolls. In fact, why aren't you?"

And Merlin is just so proud of her boy

#I haven't decided if Arthur is also gender swapped in this au #so I tried not to use any pronouns #also at some point it is revealed the Mordred is not actually Merlin's son and Leon refuses to believe it #his argument is that Merlin went way too mama bear for Mordred to not be hers #she was really scary #merlin #mordred #arthur #merlin bbc #knights of camelot #there are not nearly enough fics about merlin and mordred having a good relationship #they could have been such a good duo #lmk if you have any fic recs please

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flight-of-fantasy · 1 year

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Ok Merlin fans, are we all aware that “Essetir” is not a canon name?

To start, this is not a complaint. I think it’s a perfectly good name for the kingdom Merlin grew up in, and I will probably continue to use it since there is actually no canon name for the kingdom.

However, I am constantly talking to fans shocked it isn’t a canon name! The wiki page states it is a fan name, and has since been updated to make this more clear. You can check the transcripts and “Essetir” is nowhere to be found. Nowhere in the show is the name “Essetir” mentioned and it isn’t on the maps the show released--it is always referred to simply as “Cenred’s kingdom.” There is no canon name for the kingdom, just like there is no canon name for Olaf’s kingdom or Caerleon’s kingdom. They kept it very vague, probably on purpose.

There is, however, the “Ridge of Ascetir” in Camelot’s land. There is also the “Forest of Ascetir” in Camelot’s land. Both of these are mentioned in the show and are on the maps released by the show itself. I believe “Ascetir” translates roughly to “high land.” Uther says that Ealdor resides “beyond the Ridge of Ascetir” in The Moment of Truth and on the map the show released, that ridge determines the border between the two kingdoms, as does the Forest of Ascetir. This is, however, not the name of the kingdom, and both the forest and ridge are within Camelot’s territory.

“Essetir” is a fine name! From what I can tell, it roughly translates to “I Am The Land” using Welsh and Latin. I quite like it. I will continue to use it. However, WHERE ARE YOU, DEAR FAN THAT HAS GASLIT US ALL? I commend thee

That is all lol. Other than don’t necessarily take fan wikis at face value

#bbcm #bbc merlin #merlin meta #essetir #merlin emrys #arthur #arthur pendragon #merlin fic #king arthur #camelot #merlin analysis #merlin #bbcmerlin #in true Arthuriana fashion someone has added their lore

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katieheyy · 1 year

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smoking merlin in modern AUs? boring, uninventive, has been done before

smoking merlin in the canon timeline? now this is what i’m talking about

(i can’t decide what’s funnier - merlin not having magic & his huge secret being SMOKING or merlin having magic but using his smoking (after arthur busts him & finds out) as a cover up for his magic?? thoughts??

#pls write me a fic with merlin smoking in camelot #it could be soo funnyyy #merlin bbc #merlin #merlin fanart #merthur #arthur pendragon #merlin fanfic #bbc merlin

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giulzart · 5 months

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*throws a Mordred sketch at you and runs away*

#the bastard of camelot #tboc #interactive fic #interactive fiction #mordred #tboc mordred #she mean and unhinged #I love her and I should draw her more #illustration #my art #happy new year too!

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arthurpendragonsass · 1 year

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yk there's a lot of talk about the way merlin is practically a god but lives as an unassuming servant, and seeing this surprises druids/other magic users. i wanna see kind of the same thing happen to arthur with the people of his kingdom. we know arthur so intimately, from merlin's pov, but i wanna see him as a living legend. stories of his valor spreading across land, blown out of proportion and missing details. “the prince slayed the great dragon and gifted its head to the king!” “some say the goddess blessed him when he was born, when she took the queen back. how else does one survive an attack by a questing beast?” “he held out his hand and the sword stuck in solid stone flew to him! iwan says meredith’s aunt saw it herself!” “the word has come, king arthur defeated annis’ champion—a giant of a man!” old men discussing arthur’s policies, comparing them with those of previous rulers, and being glad that it's him on the throne “finally, a good fucking king.” people having faith that their ruler is generous and fair and can be approached in times of need, and having the comforting knowledge that he would do his best to help because that's what he did with the other village last year! young boys dreaming to join his army and young girls daydreaming about a fairy tale ending with him (or vice versa, obv). just... arthur of his people.

what I'm saying is i want an outsider pov character study of arthur pendragon king of camelot. hope that helps

#like give me a kid from one of those outlying villages #they've heard so much about their king and fiercely adore him #they come to camelot..for trading purposes? bringing arthur a gift? or simply for a chance to see him #and when they do‚ they realise arthur is flesh and bone just like the rest of them #except his golden heart that is‚ in liz’s gorgeous words‚ big enough to fit his entire kingdom.#and for that person arthur goes from a disembodied idol to a real hero #and their love for him *solidifies*#sigh idk man #i just want to see the world sing his praises #(while he's busy tracking down his idiot manservant bc does he expect him to dress himself??!?)#arthur pendragon #aka the loml #bbc merlin #also if there are fics like this already you know what to do<3

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merlinemrys · 11 months

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sometimes u just have to think about how gwen is thee it girl in camelot 😌 favoured heavily by morgana, courted by arthur and then became queen (not to mention that arthur was willing to forsake his entire kingdom just to be with her), lancelot loved her at first sight and he carried that flame of his affection until he died, gwaine stopped in the middle of the street to flirt with her, leon basically goes and shoots his shot while arthur’s dying, merlin’s willing to disguise himself AND die for her at any turn… nobody does it like thee babygirl ever <3

#shows #bbc merlin #guinevere pendragon #gwen #text #tais toi lys #i NEED to make more everybody loves gwen fics #ONE ISNT ENOUGH #merlin needs to head like a Gwen Love Club (open to the public) and u get the usual suspects (arthur/lancelot/gwaine/leon/morgana) but then #u just get a SLEW of random citizens of camelot who barge in and they all speak very earnestly abt gwen #and one day gwen pops in and sees this odd group and when arthur comes to kiss her hello (they all STARE AT HIM WITH ENVY) and she’s just #like ‘am i missing a meeting? open audience?’ and everyone murmurs ‘no my lady’ and merlin winks at her and says ‘we all gather here every #week to discuss our love for you of course.’ and bc it’s MERLIN and he looks like he’s JOKING gwen just rolls her eyes and takes her leave #arthur then turns to merlin as is like ‘HOW DID YOU DO THAT?’ and merlin shrugs ‘she doesn’t take compliments like that very well it’s easy #for her to think we’re kidding than actually contemplating the idea that i may be telling the truth!’#*

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jackyfalahees · 10 months

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I am still writing sword fic and yes it is still a monster, but here’s a snippet from the new opening scene of (I Just Died) In Your Arms:

He was gullible as a boy, too trustworthy, dangerous flaws, but at least he had the potential to outgrow them. He thought the tournament was special because his cousin was newly knighted, and he was now one step closer to becoming something, something besides a ward. A squire. Or maybe it was because of the crowd, the sheer size of the roster, the nobleman and the knights and the clergy. Or maybe it was because Sir Ector wanted him to have a nice time. Show him something besides home.

But he- he remembered how his family talked in whispers, and Kay’s eagerness. What did he want? To win. To prove himself. What any young man wanted.

You didn’t know what you wanted, though.

Kay wanted to win, but he was forgetful, a little impulsive. “Damn it,” he’d muttered, looking over his shoulder, his visor raised. Arthur held the reins to his horse. God, what had he done wrong? He’d spent the entire night polishing his armor, sharpening his-

“I forgot the bloody sword,” Kay had said.

Arthur didn’t go to his first tournament.

He had to find a weapon for his knight.

He walked through the empty London streets. All of the buildings seemed so tall, the streets so vast, and the church spires were like stars. Could he climb them, like the trees back home? He spent his afternoons hiding in the leaves. He was too old, but they blocked out noise. They let him be alone.

It was still snowing when he reached the stone.

Alone in the churchyard, a silent sanctuary-- the sounds of the tournament didn’t follow him there. No one did.

Arthur didn’t go to his first tournament.

Instead, he stood in front of a stone, holding a sword too big in his hands.

He never liked tournaments.

#he is SOOOOOOO UNSTABLE #he is SOOOOOOOOO SAD.#he didn’t ASK for THIS #but he TOOK IT #anyways as you know I had to start a new beginning which will probably be a new CHAPTER yep this thing is gonna be insane insane insane #anyways uh #here lol #camelot musical #camelot fic #for the five camelot fans I love you all #amandalot #amanda writes (kind of)

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