Shortly, Gawain returns, smiling. “Merlin will be here shortly. They’re the reason that we knights were able to return alongside you, as well as adjust so easily to this new Britain. The world we knew has changed quite drastically, Your Majesty.”

  I nod. “I can see that. The buildings we passed on our journey were so tall, they could put even the parapets of Camelot to shame. Such wonders, and yet… If I have returned in Britain’s hour of need, then something must be awry.”

  Gawain nods. “For all that has been gained since your first death, Sire, much more has been lost. The poor are even more downtrodden than before, with those they call politicians leading the country towards the brink of ruin. There is high taxation, poverty, and constant threat of war on a scale we could never have imagined in our time. The armies of each major nation throughout the world has weapons which can cause untold levels of destruction, on par with even the mightiest magics. Merlin will be able to show you all this and more. They’re eager to see you again.”

  I sigh, looking down at my new body. It’s soft, and cks muscle. I raise my gaze to Gawain’s. “I need to exercise. This body is too weak. Not enough muscle. Even standing up tires me. I get that I’ve been injured, but… I shouldn’t have this little strength.”

  Gawain smiles. “I can help with that. I have been employed as a personal trainer over the st few month while waiting for your return, and I must admit to being very popur. Although mostly with men, for some reason.”

  A knock at the door draws our attention, and Gawain makes her way to answer it. The figure that steps into the room is short and slim, with long, dark hair. She’s wearing some kind of outfit that looks quite formal. She curtseys.

  “Your Majesty, I, Merlin, have sped to your side as soon as I could. While my form has changed, it really is me.”

  She waves a hand, and a small fireball appears in midair, which she extinguishes with another casual wave.

  “I am gd to see you, Merlin!” I sigh in relief, then wince. “The potion you gave to me helped, but the pain from my injuries is starting to return. What of our current situation?”

  Merlin skips across the room and perches on a desk, her legs swinging. “Sooo, let me expin. My spell to save you worked, but not EXACTLY as I’d hoped. As such, we had to keep watch for you. While those of your loyal knights who survived the battle of Camnn slept, I chose another path that of reincarnation. That way, I could regain my spent power and be aware of the changing world. This is my twenty-second incarnation.”

  She reaches out and touches my head, her dark eyes starting to flicker with pale blue light. “Hold still, Arthur. Let me adjust your perception of time for this. You will see the world change, and it will take only moments to us. But you will receive a crash-course of humanity’s advancement in what feels like hours. It will not hurt, though you may feel a little overwhelmed for a bit afterwards.”

  I nod. “Do it, Merlin. Show me what happened.”

  So much information floods into my mind, steadily expanding my understanding of this bizarre and incredible new age of ‘technology’ and ‘science’. Cars, aeropnes, guns… cellphones and videogames. McDonald’s. and so much more. The age of knights on horseback, dragons, and magic… is gone.

  Suddenly, I’m thrust back into my new body, blinking and gasping for breath, as Merlin’s hand pulls away from my temple, her eyes glowing with that unsettling blue light. She speaks again, and I can FEEL the weight of her many lifetimes pressing down on my shoulders.

  “Arthur, High King of Britain, your purpose has only grown. Now…It is no longer only Britain that needs you… but the whole world.”

  I sigh. “I wish I was ready for this purpose. Gods above, I wish I was. But I am unarmed and frail. I need time to build up my strength, and to find Excalibur. I cannot sense it nearby, though… there is a faint tugging.”

  True enough, I can feel a fraction of my being somewhere distant. I can tell which direction, but not the location, not like this.

  Gawain brings me a gss of water, and I greedily drain it, looking at the faces of my attendants. Picking up Emily’s driver’s license, I study it. “She was nineteen. Only four years older than I when I became king…. So young…”

  Putting it aside, I straighten. “I need to find Excalibur, as well as its lost scabbard. But first… there is another, more pressing matter. I wish to know what the people remember of me. Is there a gallery or museum of repute nearby?”

  Merlin nods. “I went there st week on a school trip. I’ll take you. But… you may not like the knowledge you gain. But… Not today. You are still hurt, and you need to rest. I’ll make something for you to eat, and then, you WILL sleep.”

  The young girl’s tone brooks no argument, and I sit back on the bed in Emily’s- no, MY- room, as the miniature mage darts out of the door and down to where the kitchen must be. Gawain stands by the door, watching me. She runs a hand through her dark hair, and then grins. “It’s good to have you back, Your Majesty. Even in such circumstances.”

  I stretch my legs out, groaning slightly at the ever-present aches and twinges. It’s a wonder this body wasn’t completely shattered upon being run over, but I am grateful it can host me. Being a woman is going to take some getting used to, but I’ll make do.

  I think about how I could be addressed in this form, then smile. “Gawain? From this moment, I wish to be called Artoria. Arthur suits me less now that I have this form, after all.”

  “As you command, Your Majesty.” Gawain’s immediate response warms my heart, and Merlin, having been busy for the st thirty minutes, returns, carrying a bowl of soup. “Here, eat this. It will help you recover your strength.”

  I let her spoonfeed me, still too week to do much of anything but barely move unaided. The soup tastes grassy, but Merlin has always been skilled with simple remedies, and I obediently swallow each sludgy mouthful, feeling whatever she’d made begin working its way through my veins.

  Once I’m finished, the young girl sets the bowl down. “Close your eyes and lie back. I’m going to put you to sleep with magic. It’ll help speed your recovery up considerably.”

  I nod, and slide downwards in the bed, shutting my eyes and slowing my breathing. Merlin’s soft voice begins chanting in my ear, and a powerful wave of lethargy washes over me. I barely have time to yawn once before I’m under the dark waters of sleep…

  When I wake, Gawain isn’t there, but another figure. A tall, well-built man with a shock of golden hair. He grins. “Your Majesty! Can you guess my name?”

  I sit up, leaning back on my pillows. “Sir Pellinore! It’s been a long time, I’ve been told. Just short of 1,500 years. You look hale and hearty, you rascal.”

  Pellinore approaches. Dropping to one knee, he bows his head. “Gawain already beat me to it, but anyway. All Hail Artoria, High King of Britain! Once more, I pledge myself, as a knight of Camelot, to your service!”

  I raise a hand. “Welcome, Pellinore, Knight of the Round Table. Now, Merlin has filled me in on what has occurred while I slumbered. While I am unarmed, I wish to move carefully. The first step is getting into shape. I am quite diminished in this body, and I need to build up my strength.”

  Pellinore grunts in approval. “Good, we have a pn, then. However, while I wish we could take you to our base of operations, Your Majesty, you are not yet well enough to make the trip by magic, and using vehicles would be too easy to track. We have reason to believe that an old enemy would rather you stayed dead.”

  I feel a chill run down my spine. “Morgana Le Fay. Of course she found some way to survive too. Let me guess… Stealing others’ bodies and discarding them once they are of no more use to her?”

  Pellinore shrugs. “No idea. I always did hate magic. Merlin’s alright, but that witch…” He shudders in disgust.

  I swivel my legs out of bed, and slowly find my bance. A wooden staff is leaning against the wall within reach, and I grasp it, steadying myself with the smooth, gnarled length of wood. Leaning on it, I limp out of the room and find my way to the toilet.

  Once the matter of my comfort has been attended to, I carefully make my way downstairs, to find Gawain, Merlin, and another as-yet-unfamiliar face at the table. A girl around the same age as my current body, with her hair coloured in rainbow streaks. She beams, bounding from her chair and taking a knee. “All hail Artoria, High King of Britain! I, Sir Gahad, do humbly pledge myself to you once again!”

  I smile and take a seat as Pellinore joins us, a bnket in one hand. He drapes it around me as Gahad takes her seat once again. Leaning against the kitchen counter, the stout blonde knight rumbles, “So. We’ve started to gather, and as far as we know, Morgana hasn’t realised her nemesis lives again. What’s our pn? We can’t move the King by magic, she’s still wounded.”

  Gawain nods. “I know. And we can’t keep popping in and out by magic, or the witch will become aware of us. There’s risk in either way…”

  Gahad holds up one hand. “I can stay here! I’m sure I can protect you, Your Majesty!” she blurts, as excitable as her new form would suggest, her eyes wide and pleading. I can’t help but smile.

  “I think that would work. I apologize for my frailty. I’m being a burden on you all…”

  “Not at all, Artoria.” Merlin shakes her head. Her eyes aren’t alight, but they’re fixed on me. “Your wounds are nearly healed. The real problem is your physical weakness. Without Excalibur, you haven’t a hundredth of the might you once possessed. But before we find your lost bde… we need to find the scabbard. And I have an inkling where it is.”

  A brief uproar arises, and Merlin holds up a small hand for silence. Once we’ve all quieted down, she continues.

  “During my pursuit of Morgana during her attempted theft, she fled far and wide, well beyond the borders of Camelot, across seas and mountains, in a heartbeat’s span. For the st few of my incarnations’ lifespans, I’ve travelled all over the world, seeking those pces where she might have dropped the scabbard. I remember it fell from her grasp into a ke, so I focussed on towns, vilges, and inhabited pces around as many of them as I could, hoping someone might have recovered it and either kept it or sold it on.”

  She leans forward, steepling her fingers. “And now… I believe I have found it. There’s an auction house here, in London, called Sotheby’s. They pn to hold an auction here, soon. And one of the items, the big prize, is a magnificent, gold-and-jewelled scabbard, missing its sword.”

  I freeze. “Show me. Is there a picture?!”

  Flipping a catalogue towards me, Merlin opens it to the centre page. There, spread out across the pages, is a glorious sheathe. Capped in gold, with sapphires, emeralds, and rubies adorning the gold, sleek bck leather chased in delicate, silvery Avalonian script. I feel my heart in my mouth.

  “That… is either an exceptional forgery… Or we are looking at proof positive that someone has found my scabbard, long lost thanks to the witch’s machinations.”