-"Ehem."-Merlin brought us back to reality.-"I suggest you first handle the current issue."
Artoria and I quickly collected ourselves. While drawing this sword should be all one needs to be king, we weren't so naïve as to believe that would be enough. We were alone, with no allies or even a few sympathizers; meanwhile, our enemies were numerous, along with countless vultures waiting to pick up scraps.
We needed Artoria to be recognized as the king by both people and nobles. While the Sword would be enough for the populace to choose her, nobles needed profit to stand behind her. And this is without considering the greatest issue at hand: Artoria was a woman. This world was still highly patriarchal; a woman becoming king, while not unheard of, was not something common. With our weak position, everything will be used against us.
-"Don't keep us in suspense, Merlin."-I spoke up.-"Knowing you, you already have some plans ready."
-"I do."-Merlin agreed readily.-"First, I will help you leave this city, after which I will announce that the king was chosen and he will arrive in the capital in a year."
-"Vortigern will rise up in rebellion as soon as you announce that, but that must be part of your plan."-I commented.
-"Yes. As things stand, we have no chance to oppose him, but by destabilizing the situation, we might be able to gain some footing."
-"But our situation would be dangerous for the duration of that plan. Killing a king is different than killing a candidate for the crown."
-"You will manage."-Merlin waved off my concerns.-"For now, this is the best choice."
I kept silent, knowing that he was right.
-"Artoria's identity as Arthur will be quickly discovered, but few know that you are in truth a woman, so we can use this to keep you safe, but you Eno..."-Merlin didn't need to finish as I know what he meant.
-"So I need to disappear for that year?"
Merlin nodded.
-"Continue your explanation."-I decided to listen to the whole plan first.
-"I will follow Artoria with Kay while disguised. In a year, we will meet in Cornwall, where the first court will be held. As it's the territory of Artoria's mother, many loyalists still remain there."
-"Then what is my place in your plan?"
-"Seek allies."
-"Oh? A tough nut to crack. Britons might follow her due to loyalty to Artoria's father and mother, but everyone else doesn't care about that. Romans are out of question, still fighting barbarians and France, while guarding their backs against the chaos of the holy lands. France is obviously not our ally. The Nords are already our enemies. Rus might not be against an alliance, as they focus on the Far East, but with their tsar's reputation, we can't trust them easily. The Far East is too far."-I started listing.
-"Well..."-Merlin choked.
-"But there might be some chance with Greece, Scots, and Irish. The barbarians in central Europe might also be potential allies, but this might put us against the rest of the continent in the future."
-"I believe you will be able to handle this."
-"Sure."-I rolled my eyes.-"Merlin, I have a certain, somewhat despicable idea."
-"Interesting. What is it?"
-"How's the current situation with the Holy Church?"
-"Internal disagreement and external oppression. Most European countries recognize them, but internally they compete by backing different cardinals. Outside of Europe, they are basically the big bad of any conflict."
-"Then what would happen if an angel acted as witness to this ceremony?"-I asked with a smile.
-"If we prove no magic was involved, the Church will have to take it seriously, making other countries less likely to meddle. The added recognition will also go a long way. Brilliant, my friend."
-"Then help me, I need armor that looks more angelic."-I pointed to my Carian armor.
-"Give me a minute, I'll have Fae prepare it for you."
-"Won't Church deny you, Eno?"-Artoria asked worriedly.
-"Not at first, as they need to know who I am and if I can be brought to their side, but later they will definitely brand me a heretic and act against us. We need to be ready by then."
-"Where will you go after leaving here?"-She asked, still worried about my safety.
-"North. Scots and Irish are our best shot right now. Tensions there are high, but the situation is still salvageable."
-"Please, be safe."
-"You too. Don't let Merlin and Kay drag you into some trouble."
Two of us continued some small talk until Merlin returned with two sets of armor in hand, one for me, one for Artoria. Artoria's armor was a white battle skirt blooming like a lily, accenting Artoria's feminine side even further. At first, she was somewhat shy after putting on women's clothes for the first time in years, but after assuring her she was beautiful, she accepted her new image.
My new armor was also white, but looked much more solemn. It had full-plated chestplate graves and gauntlets, with the rest of my body covered with enchanted cloth. It was covered with a white cloak with armored shoulder pads over it. The cloak also had a hood that would cover my face when worn, leaving only darkness underneath it.
After changing into it, I also adjusted my wings to be bigger and more imposing by manipulating my Originium Glintstone. I hid my sword and Royal Scepter with Arion, as they were unique enough to recognize me by them. To not be weaponless, I created a Crystal Spear that would fit my current appearance.
-"What do you think?"-I asked Artoria.
She looked me up and down before approaching, while taking off the blue ribbon from her hair. She motioned me to lower my head, and I did so. She took the old cloth I used to bind my messy ponytail and used her ribbon to style my hair into a much tidier one. After smoothing some wrinkles she noticed she stepped back and nodded.
-"Perfect."
-"Leave the flirting for later. We have to get moving."-Merlin reminded us.
Artoria's face reddened after hearing Merlin, but she didn't reject his words; she just lowered her head.
-"Give me a minute to prepare, and we can start."-I spoke and walked a few steps away to prepare the miracle I wanted to use.
Using miracles without seals was much harder, but I was able to sidestep this issue by doing something I previously only theorized about. But to do so, I needed one more item from Arion's bags: Golden Seed. I knelt in a prayer position and planted it in the ground before a swordless stone and started to chant an incantation I learned from Melina.
She told me that this was a gift from her mother, the last and only one she truly treasured. It had no connection to the Golden Order, nor any doctrine that branched from it, but was a pure miracle representing what made her choose her destiny. There was no better sign than this to represent the journey to come.
As I was chanting, the golden fire inside me started to respond, slowly emerging from my clenched hands and falling to the ground. Soon, my surroundings were burning golden, but there was no destruction, only a healing warmth. Merlin, noticing the changes, slowly receded his illusions, making me visible to those outside. Cooperating with him, I spoke aloud, my voice specially amplified to resound through the whole of Britain.
-"Rejoice, o children of men. A king has been chosen, a mourning bell of an area sounded. May the light guide his path."-I played my role.
-"The king will hold court in a year's time, in Cornwall."-Merlin's voice sounded after mine.-"Long live the King."
When his blessing echoed, I also stood up, my right hand now extended forward, where all the golden flame started to gather, soon forming a holy golden tree that continued to grow. Before anyone recovered from the shock, the tens of meters high three towered over the whole city, despite looking like it was made from light, one could touch it and feel its warmth.
Waving my other hand, I created a crystalline cross, imbuing it with one sentence intent.
[Here, King took the cross of man upon his back; may the light guide his path.]
With this done, I picked up the Crystal Spear that was next to me and flew away, disappearing from the eyes of the public that now slowly recovered from their surprise. Some knelt and prayed, some observed me warily, but none could or tried to stop me.
As I was flying north, the appearance of an angel started to reverberate through the whole city, causing many powers to reevaluate the new king. Among them, two groups reacted the most intensely: the Church and Vampires. The Church quickly checked the tree that I left behind and confirmed it wasn't magic; they quickly announced it as a miracle. Vampires, on the other hand, were much more cautious in their approach.
-"Your majesty, what should we do with that?"-A noble vampire knelt before a blond woman sitting on a throne.
-"Nothing."-The woman smiled.-"I was present there. He might be an angel, but he definitely isn't the angel the Church believes in."
-"Your Majesty?"-The vampires present were puzzled by her assessment.
-"He is someone I want. Those eyes, they were pure but didn't carry that sickly holiness of the Church."-The woman held a small crystal orb depicting me and my actions in the city.
-"Then we will..."
-"No, leave him alone and don't approach him or people around."-She interrupted some noble who was about to speak.-"He will come to me on his own. I have time to spare."
The woman's smile turned into something terrifying.
-"And then, he will belong to me."-The woman creased the crystal orb.
At the same time, in the cold castle, a woman sat on the throne, a familiar Stormhawk waiting nearby for a letter. She held the letter I wrote before our trip for Sword in Stone, reading it with a smile.
-"Mother."-Agravain entered the room and knelt in front of the woman.
-"Are you here about that angel matter?"-She didn't look up from the letter in her hands.
-"Yes."
-"There is no need for that."
-"Why, Mother?"
She just waved her hand. As she did that, the air in front of her rippled like a water surface, revealing an image of me flying over a forest.
-"It would seem that your intuition about him was correct."-The woman motioned with the letter in her hands.-"Prepare the castle for the guests. Make sure everything is presentable."
-"Yes, Mother."
As Agravain left the room, the woman finished reading the letter and looked at me flying in the image.
-"Oh, sister, my dear little sister. I wonder what you will choose."-Her eyes revealed a predatory gleam as she started to write a reply.-"And you, my dear Eno, let's see if you can swallow the truth."
I flew for a whole day, landing only after the sun set, but even then, I didn't stop, just called out Arion and continued traveling north. It took me a week to ride past all the lands belonging to different British lords and smaller kings, leaving the domain that now followed Vortigern's will, arriving at the territory of the Picts and Scots.
Since ancient times, even before the Romans came to these lands, the British Celts were in on-and-off conflict against the Scottish and Pictish groups. King Uther was the first to finally establish a lasting peace, even sending his firstborn daughter to show goodwill.
But it was exactly that daughter who would start the next war, denouncing Vortigern and rising in rebellion against his tyranny. And this rebellion was not covert, like those of the Welsh lords and Uther's loyalists, but an open and above-ground conflict.
Their forces would clash regularly along the domain's borders, leading Vortigern to bring Angle-Saxons as mercenaries, which led to the current situation. So now, while Morgan and Vortigern agreed to a ceasefire, focusing on restraining the Anglo-Saxons, this peace was fragile, even more so now after Artoria's ascension to the throne pushed Vortigern toward the Anglo-Saxons once again.
Even though I heard about Morgan's resentment toward her father and sister, her actions always showed her loyalty and care for Britain, and she was one of the few aware of Artoria's gender and identity, yet it was never disclosed. This led me to believe that the rumors were extravagated if not an outright slander.
With this conviction in mind, my plan was to seek out Princess Morgan and cooperate with her to put pressure on this front, giving Artoria breathing room and time to act. The only thing that troubled me was whenever Princess Morgan would believe me, as I had no legitimate proof of identity as Artoria's knight, and even if I possessed such proof, as Artoria isn't the Ling yet, she didn't possess the authority to call other lords to arms, let alone order them directly to fight on her behalf.
All those thoughts mixed in my mind as I stood before a stone castle in faraway Orkney. The castle was cold and bare, devoid of any decorations, fully showing that this was a war fortress and not some palace. At the doors, I could see a small regiment of knights, led by a tall and stern man.
-"Sir Eno."-He greeted me.-"I'm Agravain, Knight Commander under Princess Morgan."
-"Eno, Knight of Crown Prince Arthur."-I replied to his greeting.-"I'm here to meet her highness Morgan."
-"Princess already expects you, please this way."-He motioned me to follow him.
I nodded and went with him, sending Arion back to wherever he returns every time. As we walked, I took a closer look at Agravain. From the outside, he looked like a normal man, but I felt that something was off with him; his essence seemed inhuman. It would be impolite to snoop, so I didn't dwell on that, just remembered it silently.
When we entered that main hall, my eyes instantly noticed the woman sitting in the middle. She was strikingly similar to Artoria, but compared to her brilliance, Morgan was like a mountain lake, silent and cold, hiding everything deep inside. She silently looked at me, showing no outward reaction, but I felt that her feelings weren't truly that calm.
I could feel that she was happy seeing me, a little expectant, but at the same time, angry and disappointed, like I had let her down somewhat. This strange mix surprised me, especially as this was our first meeting. It was as if she knew me quite well at that. As I was thinking if we had med somewhere, she spoke to me.
-"I awaited our first meeting for a long time, Eno. As you know, I'm Morgan, Princess of this falling kingdom, but to you, I'm also someone else, Vivian."-She smiled, her eyes never leaving mine.