No one knew exactly what Kay said in that room, only that when Morgana came out, she was back to being Kay's agreeable woman, completely obedient to him, as if the person who had been throwing a tantrum earlier wasn't her at all.
Arthur looked at Kay with pure admiration. He had always thought his sister was the most terrifying woman in the world; when she decided to be tough, she was tougher than any man. But in Kay's hands, she had practically no defenses, instantly switching from stormy to sunny, changing her mood faster than flipping a pancake.
"I agree to let you go this time, but remember, your safety is the most important thing, understand? If anything happens, let Arthur and Perinore handle it; you need to stay out of the direct line of fire."
Girls tend to mature earlier than boys, and since Morgana was a little older than Arthur, she could beat him up when they were kids. But that didn't mean she was stronger than Arthur now. In fact, Morgana's fighting ability could, at most, handle one or two low-level thugs; she'd be in serious trouble against a trained soldier. Since she was naturally competitive, she was the one he worried about most in the group.
What about Merlin and Gwen?
Merlin has magic, so why bother worrying about him? As for Gwen... he felt a little bad saying this, but in Kay's mind, Gwen was just the attendant who accompanies the lady, a background character with hardly any lines. Why should he worry about her? Besides, Kay thought Gwen was plain—no figure, no outstanding looks. If she just blended in with the villagers in Ealdor, who would know she wasn't a local country girl? So what danger could she possibly be in?
It's a shame Kay didn't know that this "plain maid" would one day manage to become the Queen of Camelot. (At least, that's how the Merlin show ends.)
---
Kay stood on the palace battlements, watching Arthur's group ride their horses until they disappeared over the distant horizon.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" King Uther had silently walked up behind Kay.
Kay turned to look at the worried King Uther and smiled.
"Do you have a better plan, sire? Like I said before, they're grown up now. We can't make every decision for them anymore. Even if we tried to stop them, they'd just sneak out anyway. Given that, it's better to arrange everything ahead of time. At least that way, we can still keep things under control."
Kay, of course, had to inform Uther about letting them go, as he was their father. Uther had tacitly agreed. While Uther was stern, he wasn't as cold-blooded as people thought. To be honest, he sympathized with Ealdor's plight, but as king, he had to prioritize his own people and not meddle in the affairs of other nations.
But now that Arthur and the others were actually gone, Uther started to worry.
"But it's not safe out there. Too many enemies are eyeing Camelot. I'm afraid that..." The various Celtic kingdoms were never peaceful; on the contrary, mutual conflict was the norm. It had taken years of war and effort for Uther to bring peace to the regions around Camelot. But even so, there were plenty of lords and kings coveting Camelot, not to mention the sorcerers and magic-users who deeply resented the kingdom.
To say the situation was fraught with danger was an understatement.
Kay looked at Uther with amusement. He didn't look like a tyrant right now; he looked exactly like an overly anxious, rambling old dad.
"Don't worry, I've already made arrangements. I sent Sir Leon and the others ahead of time to the Ascent Ridge—it's not far from Ealdor. If anything happens that Arthur's group can't handle, they'll be there immediately."
Kay would never actually allow a few hotheaded kids to just blindly charge into someone else's territory looking for trouble. To guarantee their safety, Kay had a backup plan.
"But I still don't feel right about it," Uther said, suddenly becoming sentimental.
Catching Kay's surprised look, Uther's old face flushed. He wasn't used to showing his emotions like this. He quickly corrected himself: "I'm not worried about Arthur's safety. I'm just worried they'll stir up trouble that's beyond imagination. Especially Arthur—he's so impulsive."
Kay thought about it. He really couldn't imagine what kind of trouble Arthur could cause in a poverty-stricken backwater like Ealdor, a place even their own king couldn't be bothered with.
He immediately dismissed it as Uther overthinking things.
But what neither he nor Uther knew was that the moment Uther spoke those words, something changed in the unseen currents of fate. The change was imperceptible, but it had definitely happened.
---
After riding hard for a day and a night, Arthur, Merlin, and the others finally arrived at Merlin's hometown village, Ealdor.
Ealdor wasn't a famous village; it couldn't even be found on the most detailed maps. Like most villages in the Celtic kingdoms, it was backward, poor, and ignorant.
When Arthur and his group arrived, the bandit Kanen and a few of his men were robbing the village. This group of bandits clearly wasn't the sophisticated type; which made sense—why would major thieves target a poor village like Ealdor?
What made it worse was that these crude thugs were even stealing the seeds the village needed to plant for the coming year's harvest... Anyone with half a brain understands the concept of killing the golden goose, even bandits. If they starve everyone in the village to death, who will they rob next year?
But these fools? They did it without hesitation.
Maybe the concept of "next year's plans" simply didn't exist in their small minds.
In any case, their extreme oppression had pushed the villagers past their breaking point, so someone finally stepped up... to negotiate with the bandits.
These honest, hardworking farmers didn't actually want a bloody conflict.
Unfortunately, the brainless bandits weren't having it. Kanen, in particular, saw only resistance. He believed he was the master of these peasants and that they should give him whatever he wanted, not stand up and negotiate terms.
So, Kanen decided he needed to use blood to remind these foolish, low-class peasants of his power.
He intended to kill the man who had stepped forward to negotiate.
It was at that very moment that Arthur's group arrived. Arthur shot an arrow, saving the negotiating man's life.
After that, the fight was a no-brainer. Arthur had three knights, and Kanen's group had only five people total. The fighting strength was completely mismatched. In less than two minutes, Kanen and his crew were routed, with Kanen barely escaping himself.
The arrival of Arthur and his people gave all the villagers hope. Especially when Hunith stepped forward and told them that these were the people she had brought from Camelot to help them, the villagers erupted in cheers. They felt their village was finally saved.