Morgan wasn’t done with her. Not yet. She couldn’t be. She had to do things right. She couldn’t be like him!
She couldn’t just throw her away.
No one questioned when the queen locked herself within her castle. Rather, no one questioned Arthur’s remaining knights who swore themselves not only to the knight, but her queen. After two weeks, however, even the knights, who received no word from her, began to become concerned. After a month, not even the servants within the castle had seen the queen in quite some time.
Soon, they realized that the queen wasn’t locked away somewhere in the castle but gone without a trace. They searched fervently for any sign of kidnapping or foul play, but she had simply vanished as though she never existed.
The kingdom was, of course, distraught. First, they lose their greatest knight, and then, their queen disappears without a successor or magic sword to choose one. The nobility soon devolved into the same bickering as had started when Uther had perished, continuing only to grow and further divide them into several factions all vying for the throne.
During this time, Kay asked Merlin as he had the day Artoria swore fealty to Morgan how he could have been so wrong in his predictions. Not only was his prophesied king dead, but the country looked as though it was heading for certain destruction. Despite it all, the Magus of Flowers simply smiled calmly even as it crumbled.
“It seems I was a bit mistaken.”
Two months after the queen’s disappearance, Britain was closer to destruction than ever before. Shadow wars and political unrest abounded while the kingdom and its people suffered under their uncaring desires. This vulnerability was something Lucius Tiberius, Sword Emperor of the Roman Empire, was more than happy to use.
Their armies in disarray, Lucius would have likely found an easy victory against Britain had it not been for both the knights Artoria left behind and those who came after, hearing of her exploits or with nowhere else to go. Together, they were able to hold back the enemy forces, but not even Lancelot, one of the newer knights who somehow still managed to distinguish himself among those who fought alongside Artoria, could not defeat Lucius himself.
They were continually beaten back by the emperor, losing more and more ground with each passing day. Even when the nobles began finally marshalling their forces to drive them back as one, it was almost certainly too late. Any hope for victory seemed out of reach.
Until a knight bearing a familiar golden sword appeared.
This knight, calling himself Mordred, swept through the battlefield like a torrent of power, rallying the Briton forces and congratulating the other powerful knights for their ability to hold the line. Mordred never removed his helmet, but many still wondered about the identity of the man that held Excalibur, the sword thought lost to them alongside Arthur.
There were dissenters among the knights of this Mordred’s appearance. Lancelot had come to Britain to meet Arthur and see the so-called “ideal knight” for himself only to find Arthur dead. Bedivere, one of the first knights to follow Arthur, was angered to see another wielding Excalibur, believing them to be trying to replace Arthur. Kay, being the most vocal of them all, outright refused Mordred’s aid on several occasions, more than once almost being his demise.
However, those like Percival, who surprised everyone with his support of the knight, and the newly arrived Tristan stood beside Mordred, even beginning to travel with the knight to each battle.
While they began pushing the Romans back, Morgan reappeared in the castle as though not a day had tolled by. She acted swiftly in cowing those vying for her throne and replacement, reinstating her own rule through force on some occasions. She refused any questions as to her whereabouts the last three months, saying that all would soon be revealed, but only after the current threat was dealt with.
Lucius, both angered and interested by the knight that had seemingly turned the tide, decided to cut down the knight before he could further halt his conquering and challenged Mordred to a duel.
Mordred accepted the challenge and faced the Sword Emperor alone, their battle echoing out as both sides watched in anticipation. When the grueling battle had finally ended, Mordred was the one who remained standing. However, his helmet had been shattered by a blow from Florent, and his face was revealed.
It was Arthur. Neither Kay, Bedivere, or Percival could deny it. Even if the man was more brash and excitable, the face was none other than Arthur’s.
I could have put such a huge twist here, but decided I was already taking this story pretty far, and knew I would be agonizing over the details of it for a couple days. Luckily, I'm almost 100% positive no one will see this.
Once the Roman forces were expelled and people were free to focus on the implications of Mordred’s appearance, Morgan was more than happy to explain. She said that, in Arthur’s final moments, she was told of a son of the knight that lived beyond the boundaries of Camelot’s influence. For the last three months, she had searched for him, having finally found him only recently and alerted him of his parentage.
Mordred confirmed Morgan’s story, promising to serve the kingdom and its queen as his father did. Kay, of course, saw through the deception in an instant, but could not begin to understand who Mordred truly was. When he watched Mordred fight, it was like an unrestrained version of Artoria that still tried to limit the damage to those around him. Even his actions, while more reckless than his adoptive sister, still had a familiarly genuine core to them. One that still placed the safety of others above himself.
While the others celebrated their victory, Kay found Merlin close by and asked him who Mordred really was. Merlin just laughed.
“Didn’t you hear her? He’s Arthur’s son! The real question you should be asking is ‘Who’s the mother?’”