Fate/Fallen Prince

13 - Castle Ravenhill

Haven had seen the thousands of men marching towards their position. Norden had arrived and her crows had let her know.

"How long do you intend to wait before using seige weapons?" The blond haired knight named Gawain directed this question to Artoria.

"We'll begin soon. There is no longer a need to rush." She said, "Any advantage they had disappeared the second Austis Dean left the castle."

"I'll inform the men." The knight said.

"Very well." The king replied.

As always, Gawain proves to have everlasting loyalty. The king appreciated the efforts of all her knights.

"Herald Cross approaches with two thousand men." Haven said.

Lady Haven and Artoria hadn't spoken in a few days, not since their conversation about Terran. The king had been purposely avoiding her.

"My dear Artoria, is it not a good thing to care?" Haven seemed to taunt her with these words, "He cares for you. Though, he too, refuses to act."

"Leave me." The king commanded.

"Now you fear what you feel." Haven left the tent to go who knows where.

The king was left alone again. Until the mage, Ashton, appeared that is.

"Terran has made all the necessary preparations." He said, "We can begin at any time, my king."

"Very well. I'll meet with Terran now." She responded, "and we'll begin."

-------

Gerald stared at the walls of Ravenhill. A place where his destiny once presided. A place where he was knighted. He had made a vow that day. A vow to protect the innocent and uphold justice. As far as he could tell, he failed to uphold either of these vows.

Yet he still stood here, the place of his haunting failure, in search of a redemption that he wasn't sure was possible.

"How have things been on the front lines?" Herald Cross approached, "personally, I've been rather bored sitting around in Camelot."

"Perhaps you should have been more careful then." Gerald joked, "I thought someone would finally manage to kill you this time."

"Hahahaha! Not yet." He howled, "My senses did seem rather lacking at that time. I wonder if my old age has something to do with that."

That was Geralds initial thoughts as well. Herald Cross was one of the strongest warriors he had ever heard of or seen, yet he was taken out by rotting corpses.

That was something else that had been stuck on the archers mind. The black clad soldiers who had attacked Camelot were reanimated bodies. Some more recent then others. If the corpse army attacked Camelot, where was the necromancer?

"Don't think to hard boy. We have one problem in front of us. The rest can be taken care of later." Sir Herald said.

"I'm not a boy anymore." Gerald said, "that time has long passed."

"Perhaps." Herald shrugged, "But you'll always be that foolish, young knight in my eyes."

Yes, the knight who escaped Ravenhill with the young Prince Terran was non other than Gerald. He was unable to save the other princes, nor the queen, nor princesses. A daunting tragedy that stuck with him the rest of his life.

"My lord." A squire called, "We're preparing to use seige weapons."

"Very well. Thank you for informing me." Herald Cross closed his eyes for a moment in thought. Perhaps he too had regrets from back then. "Let's go, Sir Gerald."