set in stone, page 19
part #15 of Twisted Tales (Disney) Series
Mim raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued despite herself. "A game?" she asked. "What sort of game?"
Arthur puffed out his chest, facing down his fake self. Guinevere held her breath.
"Isn't it obvious?" he asked. "We're going to play who can pull the sword from the stone."
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
ARTHUR
Arthur could hear the collective gasp from the crowd in the great hall. But he refused to turn around, keeping hi* eyes locked on the imposter before him, trying to read the expression on her face. For a moment he wondered if she was just planning to arrest him and throw away the key - or maybe even kill him outright - without giving I im a chance to clear his name.
But instead, an amused smile slipped across her face. "That sounds fun!" she agreed with a giggle. She turned to the crowd, clapping her hands in delight. "What do you think? Shall we play this game?"
The crowd burst into nervous conversation - clearly conflicted about who was telling the truth. Once again,
mari mancusi
Arthur would have to prove himself in front of his subjects. Fortunately, this time it wasn't a fight to the death. Just a simple task that had been no problem for him before.
"All right, then" Mim declared. "Off to the churchyard we go!"
The crowd poured out of the great hall and through the courtyard towards the old church down the road, eager to secure a good spot to watch the fun. Mim sauntered past Arthur, escorted by Arthur's own guards, throwing him a smug look as she passed.
Once she was gone, Guinevere appeared back at his side. "That was great!" she exclaimed. "Good work!"
" Thanks" he said, feeling his face flush with pride. "But that was the easy part. Now I have to go pull the sword from the stone again "
Guinevere placed a hand on his arm. "You can do this," she said. "And remember, you're not alone. You've got Merlin out there. And you have me, too."
His heart warmed at her words. He met her eyes with his own. "That means a lot," he said softly. "Thank you."
She reached out and slipped her hand into his. It was so warm, contrasting with his own, which felt half-frozen with fear. And when she squeezed it tight—
"Ahem! Are vou lovebirds going to get on with saving
the realm anytime soon? I mean, don't let me interrupt or anything!"
They whirled around, startled. Archimedes hooted from his cage. Arthur's face broke out into a big grin. He turned to Guin.
"Can you free Archimedes?" he asked. "Mim's waiting for me."
She nodded. "I'll meet you in the churchyard." She smiled. "Go teach her a lesson!"
When Arthur arrived in the courtyard, he found Mim already holding court in front of the stone and anvil, along with what felt like half the kingdom standing around, watching eagerly. He felt an involuntary shiver spin down his spine.
When Mim saw Arthur, she clapped her hands excitedly. "There you are!" she exclaimed. "I was hoping you weren't going to chicken out!" She giggled. "Then the game would be over before it even began."
"Of course not," Arthur replied, trying to sound sure of himself. She certainly seemed confident. Did she know something he didn't? But no. Merlin assured him she couldn't manipulate the stone's magic. This was going to work. "Sir Pellinore!" Mim cried. "Bring me Excalibur." The old knight stepped through the crowd, carrying Arthur's sheathed sword. He made a great show of presenting it to both Arthurs as well as the crowd, and even Arthur saw
there could be no doubt that this was his sword. It even had the little ding on it that it'd received during his fight with Kav. He watched as Sir Pellinore slid the sword into the anvil just as it had been on that fateful day. It slipped in easily, as if it were loose. But when Pellinore tugged on it once it was in place, it was stuck fast, just as before.
Arthur felt his confidence rise. This was going to work, he was sure of it.
"All right, then," Mim declared, circling the stone like a vulture to its prey. She looked much too comfortable for Arthur's comfort. "You say you can pull it out. Well, let's see you do it."
"You don't want to go first?" Arthur asked, rather surprised.
Mim giggled. "I'm feeling generous this evening. I'll let you have the first try."
Arthur pursed his lips. He wasn't sure why, but suddenly this was feeling a little like a trap. But how could it be? It was the same sword, he scolded himself; the same stone, the same anvil. Which meant it had the same magic. Magic Mim couldn't manipulate.
He stepped up to the stone. He could feel the eyes of half the kingdom on him, watching breathlessly. Even more breathlessly, he realised, than on the first day he'd done it, when the sky had opened up and a ray of beautiful light
s 1t i 1 stone
had shone down on him with the sound of angels singing int he air.
Of course, there was a lot more at stake this time.
Arthur looked out into the excited crowd, catching sight of Guinevere, who had now appeared at the back row. He gave her a questioning look, and she nodded, ever so slightly, causing him to let out a breath of relief. Archimedes was safe. And Merlin was somewhere nearby. He wasn't alone.
He turned back to the sword. This was it; the moment of the truth. He wrapped his hands around the hilt, then gave the blade a tug. Gently at first - the last time he'd done it, the sword had slid out like a knife from hot butter, and he didn't want to fall backwards from using too much force. But this time it didn't give as easily, and so he put more strength into the attempt, yanking on it with all his might.
The heavens did not open with holy light.
There was no sound of angelic music.
The sword did not budge.
The crowd gasped. Arthur felt his face turn red. He pulled a third time, but it was no different. The sword was stuck fast. He glanced over at Guinevere, who gave him a helpless gesture. What was going on here?
He tried again.
Still nothing.
A fifth time!
mari mancusi
Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing.
The sword - his precious sword - was stuck in the stone. Just as it had been all those years before he'd acquired it.
The crowd seemed to deflate. They'd been rooting for him, he realised. On some level they seemed to believe his claim. Which was good, but not enough, if he couldn't prove it to them.
"M-maybe something's wrong," he stammered. "Maybe it's been too long. Or the magic has gone, since it already worked once."
"Maybe," Mim said, stepping forwards. "But do you mind if I give it a try?"
"Go ahead," Arthur said, feeling deflated. He tried to remind himself of what Merlin had said about the stone's magic - Mim wouldn't be able to manipulate it with her own. But he was starting to feel less confident about that. What if Merlin was wrong? Or Mim's power was actually greater than they knew?
Mim grandly stepped up to the stone and anvil, making a great show of the whole thing by waving her arms in the air. She turned to her audience and bowed low, giggled a little as she straightened, and then turned, reached down,
SET f Nf STONE
and dramatically wrapped her hands around the hilt She drew in a breath, then pulled on the sword.
The heavens opened.
Light shone down.
Heavenly music started to play.
And the sword easily slipped from the stone.
Arthur watched, horrified, hardly able to believe his eyes. She'd done it. Somehow she'd done it. She'd pulled the sword from the stone as if she had been born to do it.
As if she were truly England's destined king.
Mim raised the sword above her head in triumph. A few people in the crowd began clapping hesitantly, still not quite sure what they'd just witnessed. Arthur began to back away, but he was quickly stopped by two guards.
Mim's eyes settled on him. Her lips curled to a smile, i
"Seize this traitor," she told the guards. "And send him to the dungeon."
The guards made a move towards Arthur. He scrambled away, trying to put distance between them, but was stopped by the thick crowd behind him, who inadvertently prevented his. escape. His eyes darted around the churchyard with desperation. Where was Merlin? Now would be a good time for the wizard to show himself. To save the day! To poof Arthur to safety.
But the wizard was nowhere to be seen. Instead, it was
MAR I MANC US I
Guin who suddenly burst from the crowd, her hair flying behind her and her eyes wild. "No!" she cried. "No, please!"
"Guin—" Arthur protested in panic. He didn't want her to be arrested, too.
But Guin ignored him, stopping just in front ofArthur-Mim and crossing her arms in front of her chest. She glowered at the wizard. If looks could Mim, Arthur thought wildly, Mim would be nothing more than a puddle on the ground.
"This needs to stop, Mother!" Guin cried. "Now!"
Wait, what? Arthur did a double take.
Mother? Had she just said... mother?
Suddenly everything froze, just as it had that day in the great hall when Mim had first come: to Arthur as Morgan le Fay. Everyone in the audience - every commoner, noble and guard - completely stuck in place. The only other person still moving, Arthur realised, was Guinevere. ;
Mim laughed heartily. As Arthur watched in horror, her disguise seemed to melt away, revealing her old wild-purple-haired self. She strode over to Guinevere. When she reached her, she patted her lovingly on the arm. "Oh, my sweet girl," she clucked. "There's no need to pretend any more. It's all over now. You can rest. You did your job, and you did it marvellously. Better than I could have ever dreamt!" She grinned, showing off crooked grey teeth. "I'm so proud of you, my dear. I can't even begin to explain."
S e t (f' N - s TON e
"W-wait, what?" Arthur stammered. "What is she talking about, Guin?"
Guin stumbled backwards, almost tripping over a gravestone in the process. Mim cackled loudly, sheathing Excalibur and setting it on the ground. Then she turned to Arthur.
"Oh, my poor little sparrow. Did you think she was on your side this whole time? How adorable is that? She really is a good actress, isn't she? Those pretty, wide brown eyes. Those long lashes. That sweet smile. You'd never know in a million years she was working for me." | "No." Arthur shook his head vehemently. "I don't believe it. You turned me into a slug. She saved me."
"All part of the plan. You would have never left the castle with her otherwise. Which was quite considerate of you, hv the way - just walking away like that and handing me the keys to the kingdom?" She grinned toothily. "Though you probably shouldn't have come back. Then I wouldn't have had to kill you."
Arthur looked from her to Guinevere, his heart feeling as if it were about to shatter in his chest. "Is this true?" he demanded, his voice cracking on the words. "Is Mim really your foster mother? Did you befriend me only to try to take me down?"
He waited with bated breath, his eyes locked on her,
MARI MANCUSI
begging her to deny it all. To call Mini a liar of the worst sort. To assure him she would never betray his trust. She cared about him. She'd kissed him on the beach. That had to mean something, right?
But instead of denying it, her face only crumpled. The light seemed to die in her deep brown eyes.
"Guinevere?" Arthur tried again, his voice hitching on her name. "Please... tell me the truths -Ji
"I'm sorry," she blurted out. "Mim lied to me. She told me you weren't meant to be on the throner That it was Merlin's evil plan to destroy England." She trailed off staring at the ground. "I thought I was doing;a good thing."
Arthur staggered backwards, as if he'd been struck by a blade. And maybe that would have been better. Maybe that wouldn't have hurt half as much as Guinevere's words. The girl he'd trusted. The girl he'd shared everything with. The girl he'd fallen in love with.
And she had betrayed him utterly. "Oh, don't look so glum!" Mim scolded, wagging a finger at Arthur. "She really is quite fond of you. She told me so herself. But that makes no difference now. For I'm afraid you're not going to live long enough to ever see her again."
"What are you going 'to with me?" he asked, trying not to despair. At the moment, he wasn't sure if he even
cared. He'd lost his kingdom, and he'd lost Guinevere What did he have left?
"Throw you in the dungeon, of course," Mim replied breezily. "Weren't you listening earlier? And then we're going to throw a marvellous party and execute you in front of the entire kingdom in the morning. Won't that be lovely?" She nodded to herself. "Why, we can even have that Saxon king of yours done at the same time! Two for one! That's bound to sell a lot of tickets. Especially if we serve slug soup. This kingdom is woefully short of slug soup, don't you think, darling?" she asked, slinging her arm around Guinevere. The girl shrugged her off, storming to the other side of the churchyard. Mim watched her go for a moment, then giggled again.
"Anyway, this has been fun! But I really must go. I have a kingdom to run into the ground. Toodles!"
She snapped her fingers, shifting herself back into Arthur's twin. Then, turning to the crowd, she waved her arms, unfreezing them. Her guards burst to life and charged I towards Arthur.
"Take this imposter away," Mim crowed as the two men grabbed Arthur's arms, pinning them behind him. "Throw him in the dungeon where he belongs!"
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
GUINEVERE
"Did I mention how proud of you I am, my pet?" Mim asked after the sword and the stone performance, dragging Guin back to Arthur's chambers, where they could be alone. Once she'd shut and locked the door, she poofed back into her old purple self, walked over to a nearby chair, kicked off her boots, and placed them on the table. The sweaty shoe smell made Guinevere's stomach turn. Which was quite a feat, considering how nauseated Guin already was from what had just transpired in the churchyard.»
Her mind flashed back to Arthur's face. The look of betrayal deep in his blue eyes. The way he had gazed at her - as if she were some kind of monster. But then, was he really wrong? Because of her, he was about to lose everything - including his life. What monster could do worse than that?
"This is what you were planning from the start, wasn't it, Mother?" she accused, her voice still shaky as she planted her hands on her hips. "Merlin never wanted the throne to begin with. It was you all along. You wanted the power for yourself."
"Power? Don't be silly, my pet. Since when have I ever cared about power?" Mim spit out dismissively. "I much prefer chaos! Sweet, beautiful chaos! And thanks to you, I have it in spades! Arthur was so stuck on his law and order, and peace, and rules, and juries of his peers - such nonsense! So boring! But now! Now everything is so pleasantly unpleasant! And who knows what fun will happen next? Something truly gruesome and grim, if we're lucky! And I'll have a front-row seat to it all." She beamed at Guin. "And I couldn't have done it without you! Why, my dear, whatever can I do to repay you? Do you want a pony? I remember when you were little, all you wanted was a cute little polka-dotted pony."
"I don't want a pony," Guinevere snapped. "I want the truth. You've been lying to me my entire life, haven't you? Not just about this, but about everything. Even my parents!"
"Your parents?" Mim's smile faltered. "What about your parents?"
mari mancu si
Guinevere clamped her mouth shut, realising perhaps she'd said too much. The only way she could have known about her parents was through Merlin, and Mim didn't know Merlin was back. If Guin had any hope for Arthur to be saved, she had to keep it that way. The truth about her parents would have to wait - Arthur's life depended on it.
"Nothing! It doesn't matter! Just stop these games! Let Arthur be king like he's meant to be!"
Mim laughed - actually laughed. "Oh! You're so cute when you're angry!" She reached out and tweaked Guin's cheek, as if she were a baby. "But I promise you, I'm not as terrible as you seem to think. Maybe I did make up the whole Merlin-putting-Arthur-on-the-throne thing. But that doesn't mean he's the destined king of legends, either. Why, in fact, he's nothing more than a random boy who happened to be in the wrong place at the right time."
"What?" Guinevere frowned, suddenly uneasy. "What are you talking about? Only the rightful king could pull the sword from the stone." But even as she said the words, she wondered. Arthur hadn't been able to pull the sword from the stone a second time. Which meant something wasn't right.
"The real sword in the stone, perhaps," Mim agreed cheerfully. "But I swapped that out ages ago. After all, we couldn't just have anyone become king of England. It's far too important of a job." Her eyes rested on Guin, bright and shiny. She looked far too pleased with herself. "I needed someone completely unqualified. Someone I could easily control. Someone like your dear sweet Arthur." She cackled
So that's how she'd done it. Mim couldn't overpower the magic in the stone, so she'd replaced it entirely with a stone of her own. One with her own magic at its heart.
Guin remembered how angry she'd been when Mim had first told her about Merlin's alleged trickery. So indignant that anyone would try to twist the strands of fate to their favour. But it hadn't been Merlin. It had been Mim from the start.
"I don't understand," she said, her voice quavering. "If you somehow made Arthur king in the first place, why did you want to take him down?"
"Oh." Mim's mouth dipped to a frown. "Well, that was a bit of a miscalculation, you see. I had no idea at the time Arthur was Merlin's protégé and that he would have all sorts of ridiculous ideas in his head because of it. Of course, by then, it was far too late to pick someone else, so I had to get creative."
Guinevere squeezed her hands into fists. "Creative? You tried to kill him!"
"I did nothing of the sort!" Mim blustered, looking offended. "He could have happily lived out his life as a giant slug. Slugs can live about six years, you know.
m a ru'. m a n c u s i
