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CHP 19: Unacceptable King
🕑 Added 2023-03-10 19:10:04 +0000 UTCBazett Fraga McRemitz was in a bit of a conundrum.
She'd returned to her temporary quarters earlier and after giving Aston permission to go do his own thing, went to sleep hoping that when she woke up next it would allow her to think about all she'd seen with a cool head.
That was a rather simple course of action right?
So,
"Where am I?" Bazett muttered to herself, scrutinising her surroundings for anything that might've given her a hint.
Here she was, standing in what looked to be a town centre from the dark ages.
Plainly dressed common folk were gathered enmasse, their apprehensive yet both fearful and respectful gazes fixed on a beautiful woman on her knees, her dull eyes seemed to long have run out of tears and her gaze didn't move from the ground right since the start.
Bazett had tried calling out, touching others to see if they would notice her but it failed. Her limbs would phase right through them and her voice would fall on deaf ears. After much trying, she took to simply watching the scene play out.
Armoured knights stood here and there, armed with lances and swords, most certainly there for security reasons. Soldiers were stationed atop walls, bows drawn and ready to fire at any enemy that had the stupid idea of interrupting what Bazett had concluded was a public execution.
Two knights stood by either of the woman's sides.
One was a young girl with short golden hair wearing simple garments, consisting of a plain tunic and a skirt. It was strange that she was completely unarmed, her eyes mostly unresponsive and sorrowful perhaps at the situation. Two tufts of dark hair stuck out from either side, standing out quite a lot in her golden hair. She seemed to raise her gaze time and time again, as if searching for someone.
The other one however was in full dark plate armour, standing a few heads taller than the young girl, clearly a man.
If this was a memory of Aston's, which all things were pointing to, what had changed?
This was not the way the execution of the unfaithful Queen Guinevere had played out in the story.
At least Bazett thought so.
She was right too, Agravain's machinations extended to Aston as well. This was just one among the many things the former had done to test and ruin the latter's loyalty and life respectively because a PERFECT ruler could not desire someone.
Grey clouds covered the blue sky that one sorrowful day and when Bazett found herself distracted by a sudden shout from elsewhere, all hell broke loose.
Multiple shockwaves threw about the gathered civilians as steel covered the sky and many started shouting at the sudden attack.
"Agravain! Merlin! You bleeding sons of-"
Bazett's head shot to the side where a section of the wall had been blown apart by a seemingly invisible force. That voice was Aston's it was hard to miss anyway but it was a first for her to see him curse in such a crude way.
He soon came into view, with nothing but a plain metal spear in his hand, strange considering this should have happened long after he obtained his jagged spear. He wasn't even wearing armour, only a simple tunic and pants, his hair was a dull red, turning grey here and there.
What stood out the most however was his frantic, almost desperate expression as he pushed away civilians and ran for Guinevere, "Lancelot, don't you- Gareth won't fight! She won't so please, don't!"
Bazett looked past the hectic crowd and noticed another knight rushing for the Queen, his long dark purple hair swaying in the mind. His movements seemed desperate in their own but more barbaric and rageful. He killed and tore apart any that tried to stop him, ripping open chests and decapitating soldiers and knights alike.
"Lord Aston, what do I-" Gareth's face seemed to light up but her words were cut off by Lancelot leaping for her.
"Come on, please!"
Bazett noticed that while the Knight of Atrocity was moving far faster than anyone else, it wasn't anywhere near the speed he'd shown her. He also seemed to be bleeding profusely from one arm but ignored that and tried to cut off the other knight, Lancelot.
He failed.
Bazett was forced to avert her gaze as Lancelot crushed Gareth's head into a bloody mess with his bare hands, the knight next to her was the next to fall to the traitor who proceeded to rip off Guinevere's restraints.
That didn't matter to the Enforcer though, her gaze was instead fixed on her own servant. She couldn't understand the sudden expressionlessness, nor how he stopped running and started calmly making his way forward with widening eyes.
Having read his legend, it wasn't hard to understand why it was so.
Gareth had been Aston's squire, had been trained by him and knighted by him. She was one of the few knights who almost always accompanied the Knight of Atrocity despite his terrible reputation.
Oh and the reputation, Bazett felt they had REALLY toned down the fear of the masses.
The people around him didn't dare look back as they ran away, afraid of what would happen to them if they got in his way while some were too fearful to breathe and others begged to be spared.
All of them went ignored by the Knight of Atrocity who broke the ground under him as he shot forward, releasing a shockwave that knocked back many a man.
Why hadn't he done that earlier?
Care for collateral damage? Hesitance about having to fight someone who was like his brother? Hope that the man wouldn't do just what he feared? Or something else entirely?
Bazett's questions were answered when she noticed a pale haired woman with a veiled face disappearing into the shadows and at the same time, a spell being broken.
"Gareth.."
The fact that Lancelot was about to make off with Guinevere seemed lost on Aston and Bazett felt great annoyance when KING Arthur found HIS way into the area but only stared at the chaos in complete silence, with not a hint of emotion on his face.
Aston knelt down next to the corpse and nudged it in silence, "Gareth.." He put his spear down to his right and nudged the corpse again, "Hey Lancelot, you.. Gareth... I said she wasn't going to fight."
The rampaging knight seemed to regain clarity at those words, first looking at his surroundings and then at his own bloody hands, "Sir Aston..I.." His eyes widened in shock as they landed on Aston's kneeling figure, his face paling further than it already had.
Bazett saw the regret and sorrow in his eyes but frankly, it didn't matter to her.
"M..My King, Gareth died." The Knight of Atrocity slightly trembled, putting a hand on his spear.
He slowly rose to his full height, a few tears streaming from his closed dull blue eyes. It was unlike him to express sorrow so visibly, an understanding everyone there seemed to share in that one moment, even Bazett who was but a witness to something that had already passed.
"Sir Gareth served splendidly." KING Arthur expressed his condolences as a King would, having neared the two standing knights earlier and ordered others from approaching or trying to fight.
Gareth was undeserving of her grim fate, she was a loyal, cheerful and upright knight always ready to help those in need and fight for them. She'd worked hard for her position, trained hard to attain the approval of the knight she'd been squiring for and worked even after becoming a knight herself, to gain his attention, respect and approval.
"My brother died too."
King Arthur closed his eyes, "I understand." It meant that he, she, would not interfere in what was about to transpire before her. It meant that she would not stop Aston from passing judgement on a man that was his brother in all but blood.
Lancelot lowered his head in shame, brandishing a massive sword he'd picked up from the ground, "I am..sorry." He apologised in earnest but it didn't matter, "Aston, the Queen does no-" He was forced to stop speaking and block a lance almost blowing through his chest.
"This was her execution, and the show must go on."
The ground cracked under them as the two knights exchanged blows, shockwaves pushed away any foolish enough to approach. They fought through the city, bringing down buildings and ruining infrastructure as they passed through, abandoning their weapons for their fists somewhere along the way.
The conclusion to that fight was one Bazett didn't get to see as her vision shifted and a sight that almost made her puke came into view.
She stood in a field of corpses, limited not only to men in armour but also of beasts used for travel like horses and mythical creatures like giants. Detached limbs lay here and there, the few patches of grass were dyed red by blood.
Some corpses seemed to be burnt.
The pungent smell of rotten flesh forced Bazett to pinch her nose, her other hand over her stomach.
It was a disgusting sight.
She didn't know how many there were but corpses were all she could make out in any direction she looked.
It was amidst this that she spotted a single knight with broken armour and a bleeding body forging through with a jagged spear as his crutch, a hand on his ribs. One of his eyes was closed, his colourless hair dirtied by blood and he walked, with a dull gaze deprived of any and all emotion.
And of course, Bazett Fraga McRemitz recognised him.
It was the Knight of Atrocity and she, pitied him.
And, she no longer held respect for King Arthur.
* * *
Feedback please, really need to know what you think of this chapter..Please?
That's Gareth.
This memory isn't over yet, it'll show Bazett and you guys just why he actually wept for her.
Comments
Kreep
Love how at least someone is picking up on things that aren't thrown right at you
SaffireSpirit13
Also there must be massive Fear-mongering being done with the Masses to be so Terrified of Aston, while The Knights of the Round and King Arthur hold him in Complete respect. Merlin “Disliking” Sir Aston, (as Much as an Incubus can truly Dislike anything) must play some role. While Aggravain must be doing Shadowy shit. Not sure Aston’s and Morgan’s relationship tho. He said something about Complimenting her and she gave him a Cursed spear but I’m not sure to trust that cause Morgan be Crazy.
ArdaPendragon
Really... I hope he killed Lancelot.
