The Throne with Two Kings
Summary: The Holy Grail was as twisted as it was omnipotent, and it definitely has a penchant for warping people's wishes. The King of Knights didn't exactly get what he wished for, nope, not at all. But as he stared at the mad red eyes which met his gaze defiantly, he found that he could probably live with that. Male!Saber X Fem!Gilgamesh.
This takes place after Saber wins the Holy Grail War. Let me explain something first, in the fourth Holy Grail War the, Grail was destroyed by Saber. But when it came back in the fifth Holy Grail War, it came back as a half purified and half corrupt omnipotent wish granting device.
I have too much feels for this couple! They really need more love.
Disclaimer: I do not own FSN.
"What do you desire, o, King of Knights?" A voice that could only be described as a distorted voice of a young child asked as a man in shining silver armor glared at the glowing orb of light.
"Grail, you know I only have one desire and that is to change the fate of Britain. My wish is to save my country from the tragedy that I allowed to happen while I was king."
"Ah, so you wish to overturn fate… Well, that can be arranged…" The voice answered before it making a disturbing sound, very similar to gurgling, and for some reason, the man was sure that the Grail was laughing.
"Do not worry; your majesty. I will definitely grant your wish." Was the final thing he heard before a blindingly bright light started to come from the Grail and the man's consciousness faded to black before his body itself seem to vanish.
"Of course, it will all be on my terms…"
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty." Someone was calling him, he couldn't exactly recognize to whom the voice belonged to, but it was familiar. He had definitely heard this voice before; that much he was certain of. But where had he heard it before? As he wondered this, he was vaguely aware of someone's hand on his shoulder, gently shaking him awake. While he was quite comfortable where he was right now, well, he didn't know where he was right now, but that's beside the point.
He could feel the sun's warmth on him, he could feel himself leaning on something and he could smell wildflowers and the distinct scent of early morning dew on grass. If he moved his fingers even just a bit, he could feel the leaves and twigs underneath them. "My King, it's time to wake up." Another voice said gently, and Arthur tried to muster the strength to open his eyes. When he did he immediately regretted it as his eyes were assaulted by the rays of early morning light.
His instantaneous reaction to this was to raise his hand to block the light. A man then stood in front of him, which provided him with some shade so he lowered his hand. The man's back was to the source of light and as of now, he towered over his figure which he found out was leaning on an old oak tree. The light seemed to wrap around the man's frame, making it seem that he had an aura of shining light, which was quite fitting when he realized who was standing in front of him. "Sir Gawain." It was none other than the Knight of the Sun, himself.
"Your Majesty." He answered back before kneeling in front of him. One sideward glance showed him Bedivere, who was also kneeling by his right side. He gave them a nod before he slowly stood with grace. "Rise." He said and they obeyed as both got up from their kneeling positions. While on the outside, he was his usual calm and collected self, on the inside he was in complete turmoil. What had happened? Why was he back in Britain, and with his memories of the Holy Grail War intact, no less?
But most importantly, had the Grail granted his wish? "Your Majesty," Bedivere called out to him and when he turned to face the knight the fair haired man continued. "It is best that we leave now, sire, in order to get back to the kingdom on time." Arthur blinked, completely confused at what the man was referring to. In time for what? But it seemed that the man was referring to something out of the normal courtly matters and in his mind he thought about the special occasions that took place once before during his reign as King of Britain.
It couldn't be a war. Both of his knights seemed completely relaxed and even seemed to be quite happy, so that was out. The next thing he thought of was that it was his birthday. It could be considered as a special day and perhaps the reason for his companions' happy dispositions was because of the festival that was held yearly in honor of his birthday? But he ruled it out when he thought about it more. If that were the case, he wouldn't have been able to leave the castle like he was now.
The only other things that could be considered as his special days were his coronation ceremony and his wedding ceremony. But this was when he got stuck as he had no other clues to go on. Though, he was fairly certain that it was probably one of the two. He remained deep in thought as he followed his knights down to the spring where their horses were drinking water, and after mounting their respective horses, they had set off back to Camelot.
The scenery that he saw while they were on their way back to the kingdom made Arthur feel nothing but nostalgic. The memories of passing this way countless times for reasons like going off to war, returning from war, and even to just have an early morning trip into the woods with his closest knights, flashed through his mind. They rode in silence, but it was a comfortable silence. It was broken though, once they arrived at the castle.
"Why are the training grounds empty?" Arthur asked as he saw the area that was almost always bustling with activity looking so unusually desolate. "The other Knights of the Round Table have been roped into helping out with the preparations with your wedding, sire. Not only them, but so have some of the younger Knights-in-training as well." Gawain answered and one of the king's brows raised. "All of them?" He asked, his tone betraying the incredulity he was feeling right now.
But that was to be expected. After all, it was not common for all the knights to just leave their post to help out with wedding preparations, even if it was their king's wedding. "There are a few who had stayed behind, sire. They must be out doing their rounds or they could be in the castle, but I assure Your Majesty that the castle has not been left defenseless." Bedivere answered which assuaged the King of Knight's worries. But with this he established three things.
The first was that today was his wedding day. The second was that while the Grail had sent him back to his time, he has yet to see any signs of his wish being granted. Just the fact that he was king again spoke volumes. This meant that the Grail didn't want to follow through with his original plan to have someone else, someone more suitable for the throne, to be king in his stead. Finally, he established that while he may still have memory of his original life, some things and some details were different.
He remembered that on his wedding day with Guinevere, he hadn't gone out to go to the woods that day. Instead he had spent the morning getting ready for the wedding. Another thing that was different was the training grounds being empty. He was sure that didn't happen back then as well. But that made no sense to him. What on earth could be causing discrepancies in the natural flow of events? He felt a foreboding feeling as he thought back to his conversation with the Holy Grail.
He remembered the ominous words it had spoken in its high pitched voice. "Ah, so you wish to overturn fate… Well, that can be arranged…" That was what it had said, wasn't it? So this current reality was a product made from overturning fate, or something, which explained the slight differences in what he remembered and what was happening right now. But what, no, which fate had the Grail overturned in this world? Surely overturning fate didn't mean just sending him back with memories of the past.
He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Bedivere speak. "Sire, I will wait here for you while you get ready." Arthur merely nodded to him before entering his chambers. He had been so lost in thought, he barely noticed their arrival. The last thing he remembered after dismounting from his stallion was following Bedivere into the castle after giving Gawain permission to leave so he could help out with the wedding preparations as well.
Once in his chambers, he saw his clothes already set out for him on his bed and he quickly changed into them. Once he was finished, he left his chambers and met up once again with Bedivere. After Arthur confirmed the venue and time of the wedding would be the same as he remembered it would be, the two of them quickly set off to the church. While they were on the way, he decided to strike up a conversation. "So how on earth did almost all of my knights get convinced to help out with wedding preparations?"
Bedivere chuckled before answering. "Well, Lady Guinevere can be quite persuasive when necessary. That and the lady herself, was quite adamant on making this wedding perfect." Arthur almost let go of the reins of his horse when he heard that. That, he was quite sure, did not happen in his original life. What he remembered was Guinevere's family members helping out with the last minute preparations. But the bride herself doing those when she had to prepare herself for the wedding as well? Unlikely.
That made Arthur quite suspicious of things, so he decided to test the waters. "Really now? But I'm sure she should be busy with her own preparations for the wedding. Surely, there are others who could be doing that." He said. "Yes, but it is not everyday that her only sister gets married, and to the King of Britain, no less." The King of Knights fought hard not to gape at his knight. Did he just? "But certainly this is a very good year for King Leodegrance, his youngest has wed this spring and his oldest will be wed today."
That cleared some things up for the king. He was to be marrying a daughter of King Leodegrance like before, but not Guinevere. Now that he thought about it, she had a sister didn't she? Gwenhwyfach, was it? But that was when he realized the full implication of what Bedivere just said, that meant Guinevere was married. The question was to whom? So he tried to get more information. "What of Lady Guinevere's husband, is he not helping her when she is so busy?"
At the question, the fair haired man had a small yet, hearty laugh. "Sire, Sir Lancelot was the first to be recruited into Lady Guinevere's cause." He answered, amusement shining in his eyes. "I see…" But really, he didn't quite see or understand how this could have come to be. But the Grail was supposedly omnipotent after all, so this kind of outcome wasn't impossible. While he would be marrying a stranger, on the bright side, this would spare him, Lancelot, Guinevere and so many others from the pain that was caused by the events that happened once before.
He had always regretted not being able to give Guinevere happiness, he loved her, yes. But it was in a platonic way; to him she was like a sister and he knew that the feeling was mutual with her. They had been betrothed since they were young by an agreement made by their fathers. But even though he married her, he hadn't really been a very good husband to her. Despite this, she still stayed by his side nonetheless and she always supported him. Not once had he heard her complain about how he was often away from home and never had she spoken about her loneliness.
But he knew about it though. He could see it in her eyes, no matter how much she tried to keep it from him so that he wouldn't have to feel guilty about leaving. Then there was his dear friend and knight, Sir Lancelot. How much he must have suffered trying to control his feelings for Guinevere and how much inner turmoil must he have felt when he realized he had fallen for his king's wife. It must have been such torture for the both of them to be so near, yet so far to the one they loved. If only he knew about their feelings for each other, then perhaps he could have helped them somehow to find happiness together.
Perhaps if found out about it even a little bit sooner then maybe things didn't need to end the way it did. Perhaps he would have never been forced to have Guinevere burned at the stake, perhaps Sir Lancelot would have never killed Sir Gaheris and Sir Gareth in his attempt to save Guinevere's life, and perhaps Gawain would have never had to experience the death of his brothers at the hands of a man he had once called his comrade and friend. The Grail had altered fate so that this time, that tragedy will not repeat again, and for that he can be thankful to it.
But as they neared the church a sudden thought popped out in his mind. What about Mordred, his bastard child with his half sister, Morgan. From what he could remember, Mordred wasn't a member of the Knights of the Round Table yet. He was pretty sure he didn't even exist yet. But that child would one day have a large role in the fall of this country. So what would he do when they meet again, no what could he do? It was easy to slay the boy to prevent the Battle of Camlann, but he would be spilling innocent blood.
It was not the child's fault he was born into this world for the sake of his ambitious mother who thirsted for power. It wasn't that he hated the child either; it was more on the fact that he was not suitable to be King, in his opinion. But looking back, the Grail had told him that it would overturn fate, perhaps it would do something about the boy, or better yet, his mother. He wondered if it was possible for the Grail to make Morgan less power hungry, but he somehow doubted it.
That would be too simple, easy and practical for a still tainted Grail to do. But it wouldn't hurt to hope. As they finally reached the church grounds they dismounted from their horses and began to walk towards the familiar structure of the church. Before entering the church, Bedivere gave him a final piece of advice for later. "Sire, please do not forget to complement your bride later. Nothing will please a woman more than being told she looks beautiful on her wedding day."
As he stood by the altar, waiting for his bride to make an appearance, he observed the people moving about and the flurry of activities. Ladies-in-waiting, servants and even his Knights were busy with last minute preparations. By the doorway of the church he could see Sir Lancelot and Guinevere converse for a few minutes before she begins to head out, presumably to fetch the bride, well, his bride. As he looks at the guests that have already gathered he notices something, no, someone missing in attendance.
His sister was not where he remembered she would be at the front pew. Which was strange, why would she miss her own brother's wedding? They weren't close by any means, but they did keep up appearances in public. Not to mention it was strange that her husband, King Lot, was here but she wasn't. An uneasy feeling settled into his gut when he went back to his previous thoughts. Did the Grail do something to her? Then his eyes widened. Surely he wouldn't be marrying his own sister today...
But the more he thought about it, the more it would make sense. The Grail, while not completely tainted, was twisted enough to pull a stunt like this. Things would just fall into place if he really did marry Morgan. If he married her, it would give her access to the throne she covets so much and she would no longer have a reason to keep trying to find ways to ruin him in order to seize the kingdom. Even Mordred would be his legitimate heir and all he needed to do was to train him into becoming suitable heir for the crown and there would be no more reason for the battle of Calmann.
Arthur tried not to shudder when that reasoning made perfect sense. But before he could continue with his train of thoughts, he forced himself to calm down and think about things one more time. While one part of his mind told him that would be impossible for reasons that Morgan was married to King Lot and Gawain and his brothers were the children that came from that marriage, and not to mention there was also the fact that incest was against the law of the land.
But a more traitorous part of his mind told him how it could have been possible for the Grail to alter fate so that King Lot married someone else, with Gawain and his other knights coming from that union instead. It would also be a simple thing for the Grail to alter the laws so that there was nothing wrong with monarchs practicing incest. Arthur felt his blood run cold as a shiver went up his spine at the thought. That was entirely too possible, the Grail had both the motive and the means to do it.
It could easily warp his wish and turn it into something sick. If it really came down to it, he would do it to save his kingdom. But marrying his own sister, even if the Grail made it so that she wasn't his sister by blood, it would just be the greatest height of depravity. He was brought back to reality though, when he heard the large wooden doors of the church open at the exact same time the musicians started to play their instruments. He knew he had to expect the worst and hope for the best, because really, in that situation that was all he could do. But when the bride entered he almost cursed in front of the priest.
It was at that moment when his bride began walking down the aisle that he felt nothing but hatred and contempt for the old tradition of brides having a veil to cover their faces, so that their future husbands would be the first to see them. As he looked at the figure that was getting closer to where he was, he tried to see if there was anything that would indicate the identity of the woman, but there was no such luck. Then all too soon, she had already made her way to the front and was now standing right in front of him.
She stood facing him, with her back to the guests and he knew that was his cue to lift the veil. Arthur swallowed as he decided to face this dilemma; in the same manner he would treat a war, he would face this head on. He brought his hands to the bottom of the veil and slowly lifted it. His emerald green eyes met with a familiar piercing ruby gaze. It was as if a great weight was taken from his shoulders, and he could have almost sagged in relief.
"What's wrong your majesty, not happy to see me?" Arthur didn't answer at first, choosing to take his bride's hand and leading her to stand next to him; and all around him he could hear gasps from the guests. These reactions were probably brought about by the beguiling beauty that the ruby eyed woman possessed. While the priest wasn't looking, he spoke in a voice that was so soft, only she would be able to hear what he would say. "Of course, I'm happy to see you…" He told her and after belatedly remembering Bedivere's advice, added. "You look lovely, by the way."
The corner of the woman's mouth twitched upward. "Just lovely? What a disappointment, King of Knights. Surely you could do better than that." She answered back in a teasing tone in a voice as soft as his. Arthur thought about it, before stealing a glance at the golden haired woman who was clad in white. It only took a few seconds for him to find his words. "Your beauty would put the goddess Ishtar's to shame. Better?" He asked as he looked at her from the corner of his eye.
A small genuine smile appeared on her face, and it just took the breath of the Proud High Knight-King away. But it was gone as quickly as it appeared and he quickly brought his eyes back on the priest before the woman could make eye contact with him. He was sure that if she did, his face that was already tinted with red, would color even more. Thankfully, she made no comment about the coloring of his face, and instead answered his previous question. "Much better."
The wedding went off without a hitch, no pun intended, and afterwards the next few hours were spent on the wedding feast. There was an abundance of music, food and dancing and Arthur had to hand it to his new queen who handled everything with a grace that befits her new title. But then again, when was the proud woman anything but dignified and regal? Unfortunately, he had no chance to ask her about what was going on, in between people congratulating them and wishing them the best.
He finally got his chance to leave the wedding feast though when he excused both himself and his bride to retire to their room for the night. He got a few whistles from the men when he said that, and after a final toast to him and his new bride, they both left with the party still going strong. It was only when they entered his chambers that he found himself able to relax, and he immediately sank down onto the bed. "Tired?" Was the only thing she said before the woman sat down on his bed.
"It's been a long day." Was his only answer, before he rolled over to his side to face her. "I honestly thought that I might be marrying my sister today." He confessed and an elegant brow arched at that. "That would be more than a little disturbing... Why would you think of that?" She asked. "Because I know the Grail loves messing with people, that's why. Like I said, it's been a long day. But enough about that; tell me, how on earth did you become Guinevere's sister?" He asked, but the woman just shrugged.
"I haven't got a clue. The last thing I remember was dying in your arms and suddenly I'm here." The woman then glanced at the man that was contently half-sprawled on the bed and an idea instantly came to her. Without warning, Arthur suddenly found himself trapped beneath her as she had just decided to go on top of him. "G-Gilgamesh-" He spluttered and he could feel his face grow hot again. "What?" She asked innocently enough, like she had no idea what she had just done.
"Get off of me." He bluntly told her, but the woman made no attempt to even move. "No, you're comfy. Besides, you've got my name wrong. It's Gwendolyn now, apparently." She said sounding quite miffed. "Gwendolyn, not Gwenhwyfach?" He asked as he raised his hand to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear, and at that point he knew she wouldn't be getting off of him anytime soon and instead, resigned himself to his fate of being her pillow. "I'm quite sure that was what they were calling me, and I most probably replaced that other woman's existence."
"Gwendolyn, huh?" He said as her eyes locked onto his. "What's wrong with it?" She asked as Arthur shook his head. "Nothing. Just thought it was quite fitting name for you." He answered and a look that could only be described as a medley of amusement and curiosity appeared in her eyes. "How so?" Arthur hummed before answering. "The Gwen in Gwendolyn means "white, fair or blessed"; suitable for one such as you, my dear king of heroes."
"It also happens to be the name of a mythical queen of Briton, quite fitting considering you're quite mythical yourself. You've come straights from legends, you, who are two parts divine and one part mortal. But ironically enough, the same Gwendolyn defeated her husband in battle." At that Gilgamesh or Gwendolyn couldn't help but to laugh. "This must be part of the Grail's sense of humor, because I've beaten you in battles more than once, Saber." She told him and Arthur sighed.
"Yes, you have. But now that we're married, I do hope that rather than doing that, you'll support me and this country instead. After all, you are now Britain's queen." He told her and an unfamiliar look appeared in her eyes for a brief moment before it disappeared as she sat up. "Yes, that's right. I'm your queen now, aren't I?" She asked in a soft voice, but the way she had spoken, it was in a tone that was daring someone to try to say otherwise.
For the second time that day, Arthur sighed. "Yes, yes you are." He answered in such a gentle and warm voice that it seemed to surprise even the King of Heroes, herself. She was even more surprised when he reached out a hand to touch her face. But while the gesture had been completely unexpected, that didn't stop her from putting her hand over his to hold it in place. He saw how her eyes hardened and he couldn't help but to chuckle to himself before he too sat up and with his other hand, held her close to him.
"I'm not going anywhere. The Holy Grail War is over, and this is now our reality. I am once again king of Britain and you, will rule by my side as queen of Britain." She said nothing, but she let go of his hand before slowly wrapping her own arms around him. "Shame, I can no longer be called king. But since I can be your queen, I guess I won't mind it too much…" She replied as Arthur laughed before setting his head on top of hers. "Well, if it's any consolation, you'll always be my king." He told her as he kissed the top of her head.
There was a moment of silence as he felt her tense against him for a second, before she relaxed in his hold again. "As will you." Arthur blinked, surely something was wrong with his hearing because did the proud King of Heroes really just say what he thinks she said? But before he could comment on it or ask her to repeat what she said, he suddenly found his back to his bed again with Gilgamesh looming over him with a look on her face that could only be described as the expression of a predator who managed to corner her prey.
"What are you doing?" He asked and a smirk that was somehow both arrogant and endearing appeared on her face. "I'm planning on enjoying my wedding night. Surely a gentleman like you knows how to treat a lady right." She whispered in his ear before licking the said appendage. "Should a proper lady be doing things like these?" He shot back as she laughed. "But where would the fun be in acting like a proper lady when we're behind closed doors? Besides, right now I'm doing my duty as the queen of this kingdom. Isn't that what queens do, they bare the heirs of their Kings?"
Suddenly without warning, they switched positions with Arthur being on top of Gilgamesh. "Such an eager and dutiful queen, I have." He murmured into the hollow of her throat which sent pleasant shivers down the queen's spine. "And of course, I know how to treat a lady right." He replied and as if to prove his point he leaned down and began planting butterfly kisses on her neck. "So you do." The woman all but purred as she began to play with the soft strands of her new husband's hair.
"If this was all you wanted, you should have just asked." He told her before moving downwards and nipping and sucking at her exposed collar bone. "A-and you would have given me what I wanted, just like that?" She asked as her breath hitched when he bit at the junction of her shoulder and neck. "Why not? You're my lovely bride after all, not an enemy servant." He replied as he stopped his ministrations to look at her. Her face was slightly flushed and her long golden hair was fanned out over the pillows. "Besides, what makes you think I wouldn't want to enjoy my wedding night too?" Was the last thing he said before descending down on her again.
Hours later, Gilgamesh found herself caressing her husband's cheek as he slept. Briefly she wondered what she had done to deserve such luck. She thought that she had used up all of her good fortune when she was able to die in his arms after their final battle. But it seemed that fate, er, the Grail had other plans for her. She had awoken in a strange and unfamiliar room, and just this morning she was close to slaying the servants that had entered her chambers to help her prepare for her so-called 'wedding'.
The only thing that made her stay her hand was when one of them had mentioned that her soon to be husband; was none other than King Arthur. While she just wanted to return to her country, she couldn't pass up on the chance to be Saber's bride either. Which is why, she tolerated getting dressed up and made up like a doll for a good portion in the morning, her mind planning and plotting all the while. If the King Arthur in the church was not her king Arthur, well then, she would just use her Gate of Babylon to kill everyone there.
If it was not her Saber then what was the point in getting married, or for what reason did she endure all that preparation? It was perfectly justifiable to take all of those mongrel's lives for the grave insult they had given her by lying and attempting to trick her with a fake. But imagine to her surprise that from the slightly see-through material of her veil, she saw her King of Knights waiting for her at the altar, albeit looking slightly pale at the time. But she knew the reason for that now.
But things just kept getting better for her when she realized that he had memories of the Holy Grail Wars as well. She had already been prepared to marry him, even if he didn't remember her, just as long as he was the same King Arthur who managed to win her over in the fourth Holy Grail War. Gilgamesh smiled as she looked at the gold ring that was now on her left ring finger. It had taken some time, but he was finally hers and she would make sure it would stay that way.
She's read King Arthur's legend before, though she will never admit it. She found the book in Tokiomi's library, and at the time she had been overcome with a strange urge to learn more about the man who had spoken of his ideals with such firmness in his tone, and with resolve shining bright in his emerald colored eyes during the night of the imposter King's Grail Dialogue. So she also knew of what had caused his downfall. One of the reasons had already been addressed when Guinevere, who was apparently her sister in this life, married that rabid dog from the fourth Holy Grail War.
As for the other, well, she was more than willing to use her entire treasury just to make sure that witch, stays far away from what was hers. Uruk could wait for its king's return. But for now, she was content to stay here in Camelot with her Saber. Britain will be a great nation; it will be as great as her Uruk. She will personally make sure of that. But for tonight, she is more than happy to just spend it in Arthur's arms. Gilgamesh chuckled softly to herself before snuggling with her husband. She then gave him one last kiss on the lips, before she too, allowed herself to enter into the realm of dreams. Britain should be ready, because while her title was officially queen now; it does absolutely nothing to change reality.
Britain was going to be a country that would have two Kings on its throne.
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