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He waved back cheerfully, trying to ignore the nerves fluttering underneath his confident smile. His subjects depended on him, and now he understood why his father had always projected strength and self-assurance. Apparently it wasn’t as easy as he had made it seem.
“This way,” said Merlin when they were inside the castle proper, where the great hall was also teeming with people lying in bedrolls and hay. The castle’s lord chamberlain rushed to meet them. He bowed to Ben and whispered in Merlin’s ear.
“They have prepared rooms for you in the east wing,” Merlin said. “Arthur apologizes that he is not here to welcome you, but he is still out in the countryside, urging his people to head to the safety of Camelot, and expects to be delayed for quite some time. He hopes that in his place, you shall meet with his knights, who are aware of the latest developments in the situation.”
“Thank you,” said Ben. “Please tell Arthur no apologies are necessary and I look forward to speaking with his men.”
“Sire, shall I go ahead and unpack and prepare your wardrobe?” asked Lumiere, who was traveling with Ben as his personal valet. The old Frenchman looked askance at the unwashed hordes and was probably wishing they were all back in Auradon’s much more comfortable palace right now.
“Please do,” said Ben as Merlin and Artie took their leave.
“Shall I set out the royal armor, Sire?” asked Lumiere, meaning the old-fashioned metal one that was once his father’s. “We brought it out of storage, it’s polished and oiled.”
“No need, I think,” said Ben, inwardly grimacing at the thought of putting on the tin-can suit. “I might be in Camel
ot, but I am the king of this century, not the twelfth.”
“Very good, Sire,” said Lumiere with a smile as bright as candlesticks in the dark.
Ben chose to wear the same royal-blue suit he’d worn to his Coronation, with the gold epaulets and Auradon’s crest on the sleeves. Lumiere had polished his traveling crown, so he looked and felt very much the King of Auradon as he was welcomed to the legendary Round Table, where Camelot’s knights had gathered. The room itself was rather plain, with unadorned stone walls and dim lighting, but Ben couldn’t help but feel excited when he pulled up a heavy wooden chair at one of the most famous tables in history.
The knights were a good-natured, chivalrous bunch, and Ben felt right at home in their company as they chatted about the latest pro-tourney scores. But the discussion took a serious turn when Merlin called the meeting to order and talk soon became heated as they argued about how best to deal with the creature plaguing their land.
“Yesterday the thing set fire to the forest, creating such a blaze that it almost reached Sherwood!” a young knight said indignantly. “We need to destroy it before it destroys anything else!”
“Too many people have lost their farms and houses to this thing,” said another. “Good that Merlin is back, he can use his magic to capture it.”
“Ahem,” said Merlin, polishing his glasses with the edge of his long sleeve. “Unfortunately, we don’t have permission from the king do to so. King Ben, I mean.”
Ben looked around the table at their distressed faces and cleared his throat. “As you know, it is our belief that the use of magic at this level can be dangerous, and so I’m here to observe the situation before we decide to change the policies that have kept Auradon safe and peaceful so long.”
“You know what’s dangerous? The creature! That’s dangerous!” cried a knight. “Sneaks around in the dark of night, taking livestock and setting fire to everything before disappearing in a cloud of smoke!”
“Merlin tells me that no one in Camelot has actually seen this creature?” Ben asked. “Is that still true?”
The knights shuffled in their seats and glanced at each other nervously. “Well…sort of,” said the knight on Ben’s left.
“It’s dark….” was one excuse. “It’s fast….” was another.
“But if we don’t know what we’re fighting, how can we prepare to fight against it?” Ben said. “We can’t chase after shadows and smoke. We have to know exactly what it is that’s attacking your lands. You have my deepest sympathies and every resource I can offer from Auradon, but before I can allow Merlin to use magic, I need to know exactly what we’re up against.”
Heads nodded around the table as the knights digested Ben’s words. Merlin had Archimedes perched on his shoulder and the owl trained its bright eyes on Ben as it whispered in the wizard’s ear. “The king makes a fair point,” said Merlin, at last. “We must lay eyes on this creature before we can conceive of how to stop it.”
Artie, who had been quietly listening in the corner until now, spoke up. “Dad said he saw a bunch of tracks in the forest by the river’s edge near Eden,” he said. “Maybe we should set up camp there tonight and see if we can spot it.”
“Excellent idea,” said Ben, who admired the boy’s pluck. “We will camp tonight.”
The royal entourage, along with Ben, Merlin, Artie, and a handful of knights, established temporary barracks in a clearing by the shore. Every night they waited for any sign of the creature, but two days passed and they didn’t see smoke or fire, let alone any sort of mysterious beast emerging from the woods.
On the third evening, Ben scoured the river’s shoreline, hoping that the creature would finally make an appearance. He was still unsure about allowing Merlin to use magic, and he knew the old wizard was growing impatient. King Arthur was still abroad, warning his people to find shelter, although he couldn’t be too pleased to have his castle overrun by his subjects.
But Camelot’s monster wasn’t Ben’s only problem. It was Castlecoming on Saturday at Auradon Prep and he really wanted to play the tourney game and take Mal to the dance, and he was disappointed that it looked like he wouldn’t make it back in time. But that was the boy in him speaking. The king’s place was here in Camelot, at the edge of the forest, waiting for a creature to appear from the shadows.
In the wee hours of the morning, Ben was asleep in his tent when he heard a boy scream.
“It’s here! It’s here!” cried Artie. “It’s a dragon!”
Ben dashed out of his tent and looked up at the sky, where, sure enough, a huge purple dragon was roaring, sending massive fireballs down to their camp and setting trees ablaze.
