Chapter Text
"Once upon a time," Leon begins, "a very long time ago, there was a great king. His mantle was fiery red with a golden dragon emblazoned on it, and the king's name was…" He looks down at the small boy on his lap and raises his eyebrows.
A grin crosses the boy's face. "Arthur!"
Leon nods emphatically. "Spot on. His name was Arthur, just like yours."
This makes Arthur so excited he slides to the floor and capers about the room, flapping an invisible cloak. "Was he a good king?"
"He was a good and wise king," says Leon gravely. "But before he was a king, he was a prince, and I'm afraid the prince wasn't always wise. That was something he had to learn how to be. He had to learn how to fight, too, and he was just about your age when he began training with swords."
"I'm six," says Arthur, stopping. He wants to hear about swords. "Can I have a sword?"
"Well — we could make you one, perhaps. If we find a good piece of wood."
Arthur ponders this. "I'd like to have a sword."
"No promises, I'm afraid," says Leon. "I'll have to check with your dad first. He might not want you to... Anyway, Prince Arthur grew up and learned kindness and wisdom…"
"How did he do that?" Arthur understands how you can learn to fight with swords, but how do you learn to be wise?
Leon looks thoughtful. "A lot of difficult things happened to him, things he had to handle. And he met many good people who taught him to think everything through and reach good conclusions."
"What's a conk…?"
"It's when you look at something, a problem, very carefully. You look at every part of it, and you listen to everything that everyone has to say about it, and from all of that, you decide what you think, and what all this adds up to. That's the conclusion."
Arthur doesn't quite understand, but nods. "Was there anyone named Leon?"
This seems to surprise Leon, but after a second he smiles. The smile looks a little sad, Arthur thinks. "As a matter of fact, yes — there was a knight named Leon. He was some years older than Arthur and worked for Arthur's father."
"Uther?"
Leon nods. "Yes, indeed. Uther was the king's name."
"Did he live at Cavalon Farm?"
"He didn't. As befits a king, he lived in a castle — a beautiful castle named Camelot."
"That sounds almost the same as Cavalon!"
"It does indeed." Leon turns and grins at Morgana, who is sitting at the other end of the bench with her knees drawn up under her chin and her hair covering her face like a curtain while she pretends not to be listening. "And, of course, there was the Lady Morgana, Prince Arthur's half-sister."
She looks up at that, tucks her hair behind her ear and gives Leon a smile.
"She was very beautiful," he says. After a pause, he adds in a low voice: "And brave. Yes, she was very brave." He straightens up and returns Morgana's smile. "And good with the sword, just like her brother."
Arthur sits down on the floor at Leon's feet, Morgana surreptitiously scoots closer on the bench, and they listen to Leon's stories about brave knights and sword-fighting ladies in armour until the lamps go out and the fridge stops humming. Ygraine puts aside the shirt she's been sewing new buttons onto and gets up from her chair to switch the fridge over to solar battery.
"Bedtime," she says to the children.
They know they have to go to bed when the magic mains switch off for the night, but they usually protest. Tonight, however, there's only a token grumble from Arthur, because he's so tired he can barely keep his eyes open. It's been a long day. He spent most of it in the fields with Dad and Leon and Morgana, learning how to sow — how to grab fistfuls of grain and throw them out in a semi-circle, spreading them evenly over the soil, because that's how you get a good crop. Then they had a dinner of watery soup with a slice of bread to dunk in it, and even a little of the last plum preserves for dessert. They don't often have dessert except in summer when there are berries, but now that they have a guest, there has to be dessert.
Leon always protests that he isn't a guest, he's a plain old wanderer and farm worker who is grateful for anything they can offer, but Ygraine insists on serving him the best they have — which usually isn't much, particularly at this time of the year when the pantry is nearly empty and the land has yet to yield anything but grass.
"We wouldn't know what to do without you, Leon," she says. "You come here so faithfully every spring and for every harvest, and we're truly grateful for your help. It makes a world of difference to us."
Not one to waste words, Uther only nods in agreement.
Even though Leon works hard in the fields he always makes time to play with Arthur and Morgana and tell them stories. He tells them of the kings of old, of knights in armour and jousting tournaments. He tells them of the more recent time when people used the riches of the earth so carelessly that they wasted it all and made the weather change, until floods and wildfire killed millions of people and destroyed everything they'd built. Leon tells Arthur and Morgana about the world as it was before the Disasters, about huge cities with unimaginably tall buildings, of trains running underground and aeroplanes soaring like enormous metal birds in the sky — but that world is in ruins now, all gone. They can't quite picture it, but the thought still awes them.
This evening, after Leon's stories of swordfighting, Ygraine sits on the edge of Arthur's bed. She pulls the quilt up to his chin and smoothes it down over his body before she sings the song she sings to him every night:
All the sheep are in now,
All the horses,
All the chickens,
All the cows are in.
All the pigs are in their pen,
The geese are in their shed again.
Birds are safe within their nests,
Humans, too, will get their rest.
All the sheep are in now,
All the cows are in.
Like he always does, Arthur asks: "But what about the goats? And the cats?"
They don't have either sheep, cows or pigs at their farm, but they do have goats and cats, and it seems unfair that they're not in the song at all. They, too, need a safe place to sleep.
Ygraine smiles and changes the last two lines: "All the goats are in now, all the cats are in."
Arthur gives a happy sigh at the completed ritual, and when his mother leans down to kiss him goodnight, he throws his arms around her neck.
She kisses him and straightens her back.
"You know the rules, Arthur," she says, skimming a hand over his hair. "We keep Leon's stories to ourselves. We don't go around telling them to anyone else. We don't talk about swords or knights or princes with anyone — only here, at home, within the family."
Arthur nods gravely. He knows this very well. "Only at home."
Ygraine goes to tuck Morgana in, and on the other side of the thin partition wall, Arthur hears her repeat the rules about Leon's stories.
When Ygraine has left, Morgana knocks softly on the wall. "Arthur?"
"Mmm?"
"I hope Leon gets us those swords."
"Me too," Arthur murmurs, and proceeds to dream of galloping horses and vast, sweeping skies.
***
It doesn’t occur to either Arthur or Morgana to wonder how Leon knows so much about past times and what the world was like before the floods and fires. Most people don't know much about that at all. In school, which Morgana has started but Arthur won't until the autumn, history lessons mostly stress the superiority of the world they live in today — a world swept clean of wasteful technology, a world where the balance has been restored and magic has taken its rightful place. A world where there's order and peace. Where everyone knows their place.
***
The day of her first history lesson, Morgana comes home bubbling with enthusiasm, enchanted by the glory of magic.
"Magic is superior!" she shouts, dancing around the room. "The rulers of the world have magic, and they are superior!"
Apparently that's the word of the day. Arthur doesn't know what it means, but he senses it can't be good — not for him.
Uther, who's just come in from the stables and is washing his hands at the sink, turns around and scowls at Morgana. She takes no notice.
"I have magic!" she crows in triumph, skipping around Arthur. They have always known about her magic, but she hasn't realised its true significance until today. "I have magic, and magical people are the ruling class! That's what Miss Sefa told us today. I belong to the ruling class! And you don't," she adds to her brother, sticking her tongue out.
Uther's eyes turn hard. He takes a swift step towards Morgana and raises his hand, but when she shrinks away from him, he turns around sharply and stomps out.
There's a furrow between Ygraine's eyebrows as she stares at the slammed door, and then at her daughter.
"Morgana," she says sternly. "You just proved you're no better than anyone. You've offended your whole family and hurt your father — is that any way to behave? Bad behaviour is bad behaviour whether you have magic or not."
Morgana's eyes flash. "You don't have magic either. And magic is the only thing that counts!"
Arthur's eyes widen. They don't often defy their parents, and never in this way.
Ygraine watches her daughter coolly. "That's quite enough, Morgana. We all deserve to be treated with respect, regardless of who we are, and you know that very well. What do you think Freya would say if she heard you now?"
Freya is their neighbour to the north, on the other side of The Burh, and the only farmer with magic they have ever heard of. Morgana worships her.
"I'm sorry," Morgana says at long last.
"Thank you." Ygraine turns away from her. "Would you set the table, please, Arthur? We'll eat as soon as your father is back."
Later that night, long after the magic mains have switched off, Morgana knocks on the partition wall.
"Arthur?" Her voice is a tiny whisper. "Are you asleep?"
Almost but not quite. "No."
Morgana comes tiptoeing in and sits cautiously on the edge of her brother's bed. "Arthur…" There's a pause in which she swings her legs, rocking the bed. "I'm sorry about what I said to you before." Another pause. "You know. About magic."
Arthur tries to fight off his sleepiness. This is important, he senses that. Morgana doesn't often apologise or admit that she's wrong. "Okay."
It's so dark he can't see her face, but he feels a small bounce.
"Friends?" she asks.
He sits up and hugs her. "Friends."
She hugs him close and he inhales the scent of soap and the lavender water Ygraine uses to rinse Morgana's long, black hair.
"Friends forever," Morgana whispers. "We'll always look out for each other. Promise."
Arthur nods.
They have made each other this promise many times, but it's still comforting to hear her say it tonight of all nights. It doesn't matter who has magic and who hasn't. Morgana is his sister and they'll protect each other, always.
***
Yule is the best time of the year, Arthur thinks as he looks up and down the table. There's plenty to eat, even if he heard his parents whisper in worried tones about the weeks to come, and there are gifts for the children.
Arthur grins to himself. He loves having lots of people around, especially with everyone happy like now, talking and laughing. With his father on one side and Leon on the other, he feels grown up and important, and the fact that Leon is here is like a Yule gift in itself. Their neighbours have come as well — the DuLac family from Joyous Gard, the farm to their west, and Freya from Lake Farm to the north. Gaius, the herb doctor from town and a friend of the family, has just arrived.
Everyone has brought food. Arthur has never seen a table this laden in his life. There's winter kale, red winter apples, and dried, cured meat from the DuLacs. Freya, who runs an aquaponics farm and has access to the shops that only cater to magic users, has brought fresh fish, bakery bread, oranges and chocolate. Last Yule, Arthur tasted chocolate for the first time in his life and has lived on the memory since. His eyes keep going to the cupboard where he knows the chocolate is stashed. Gaius lives in the village and only has his tiny kitchen garden and a couple of beehives to sustain him, apart from whatever meager fees his clients can afford to pay, but he's brought what he could muster up - salt, dried herbs for infusions, and a jar of honey. The Pendragons supply fresh poultry, goat's cheese, root vegetables and fruit preserves. It's a feast indeed.
When Gaius produces a bottle of white liquor and places it on the table with a flourish, there's cheering all around. Arthur sniffs the liquid in his father's glass and pulls back sharply, coughing and grimacing. How can the grown-ups enjoy something so foul? But it seems to make them happy. It turns their faces warm and red and makes them laugh and sing.
"There can be too much of a good thing, of course," Leon says to Arthur underneath the noise. "A little liquor is good for the soul. Too much makes people say and do stupid things."
"What kind of things?"
"They argue. They're unkind to each other and say things they don't mean and get upset about nothing, which gets them into bad fights sometimes. This bottle that Gaius brought, that we're all sharing — that's perfect. There's only just enough to make us merry. But it's not for children."
"Can I have some when I'm twelve? Twelve is big."
Leon smiles down at him. "Twelve is big, but liquor isn't good for you while you're still growing. Eighteen would be nearer the mark."
Eighteen! That's an eternity away.
"I'd rather have chocolate," says Arthur firmly, and Leon laughs.
"You're a wise man, Arthur. Chocolate is definitely good for the soul."
When they've eaten, it's time for the gifts. Last year, Arthur's best gift was a stuffed toy — a cat that his mother had made him from soft, blue fabric, with eyes, nose and whiskers embroidered on. This year, the gift with the most interesting shape is from Leon.
Arthur unwraps it eagerly and finds something so wonderful it takes his breath away: a sword, a beautiful sword made of wood, with a flat, well-sanded and polished blade and a carved grip. Morgana and Lance DuLac have got swords, too, and they all hold them up to the light to admire them. Leon teaches them how to hold the swords correctly so the blade is well balanced in their hands, and promises he'll teach them how to attack and defend.
"I'll be here for three more days," he says, "and you're quick learners. You'll get good in no time at all."
Arthur falls asleep that night with Blue Cat on his left side and the sword on his right.
