There was no way we were coming this far and not going any further, but I wanted us to be cautious. The tunnel was narrow and we had to walk in single file, but it also grew more cramped and shorter as we wound down until both of us were crouching, not wanting to even brush the dirt ceiling.

I carried the torn again and kept an eye on the ground for signs that any of the walls or ceiling were slowly collapsing, any piles of dirt building up where it could be trickling down.

While there was the smallest hint here and there, nothing made me worry that it was naturally coming down anywhere around us. We were safe enough.

The tunnel seemed to go in a large circle, possibly passing underneath itself after a while, but it was hard to tell and even I couldn't be sure what direction it was going in when we reached the bottom. As soon as the floor evened out, we had stone slabs again and the walls were solid stone as if they were carved and not built.

I felt a lot safer going deeper under something so much more solid. Whatever we were finding down here, it was far more natural, but had been here far longer.

"This is beginning to feel familiar," Arthur said as we walked together.

"Only beginning to?" I asked, not sure what to make of his statement. If he hadn't recognised everything that came before, how had he known where he was going?

We were still going deeper, however, the tunnel bending back and forth as if it had a mind of its own. Finally it seemed to stop and I looked around, not sure what to do with a dead end.

When I shone the light near Arthur I noticed that he was smirking.

"Up," he said, pointing above my head. I shone the light upward and there was a strange carving marked on there as well as what looked like buttons.

"That doesn't look like a door." I frowned, not sure I could even reach it. Of course, it was just about the right height that Arthur could stride along. He studied it a moment, asking me to move the light a couple of times so he could get a better look.

Finally, he pushed buttons on the front and in a particular order. I wasn't sure what to make of it, but he was muttering as he did so, as if he was remembering something or working something out as he went.

I waited until he'd pushed a pattern of ten, pressing some of them twice. It was a strange system but as soon as he hit the tenth there was a pop sound somewhere and then he looked down at the wall at the end of the tunnel.

"Crap," he said two seconds later. "I think it's broken."

"That was meant to open it?" I asked, looking at him and then where his gaze lay.

"Yeah, that was meant to release the door and it's meant to swing open."

I took a deep breath, wondering if any part of this process would go according to plan or if we would be forced to do all of this the hard way each time.

Not sure what else to do, I reached out and pushed on the stone. To my surprise it gave and shifted inward a little. At the same time there was the sound of something scuffing across the floor on the other side of it.

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"It's moving," I said, although it grew more resistant and I had to lean even harder to get it to move. Arthur leaned on it beside me and made it easier for me to get it open. Almost immediately we could see what was getting in the way, something inside the room had fallen over, something made of stone and it had crumbled.

We were simply pushing it out of the way, nothing else there to stop it being a problem. I moved forward with him and into the room.

My mouth fell open at the view before us. We had finally found one of Arthur's treasure chambers. A heap of gold and precious gemstones sat at one end, piled almost as tall as me. Among them were gold plates, cups and boxes that possibly contained even more of the same. To my right was another pile, this one other metals, possibly silver and more wooden chests and crates and to my left, on the other side of Arthur was what appeared to be crates and glass containers of other precious things, fine particles and strange patterned objects.

"Okay, now we can start a revolution," Arthur said as he grinned. I didn't dare move at first, not sure where to begin, but Arthur knew what mattered to him most and made his way to one particular box standing on its own on a small stone pedestal. He opened it, no key needed, and it revealed two crowns. One was smaller than the other and ornately delicate. The other was larger, more gemstone studded and looked heavy.

Arthur pulled out the larger one and set it on his head before turning to me.

"What do you think?" He smiled and I stopped, the light shining just enough to light him up and make it clear it fit him very well and had probably been made for him.

"You really are King Arthur, aren't you?" I stepped closer, feeling my heart race.

It was almost as if he had transformed and become the king he was claiming to be. I knew I hadn't truly believed him until this moment. This was King Arthur and I hadn't been fooled or taken for an idiot. I had actually helped the once king of England and the future king. Not sure what else to do, I curtsied.

He laughed and reached out a hand to me.

"Come here. I'd like to try something, if you'll humour me." I wasn't sure what he meant, but it was the most natural response in the world for me to slip my hand into his and let him pull me over to his side.

Within a second of having me there he had let go and reached into the box again. He pulled out the second, smaller crown, this one with a different color scheme. Silver with lots of blue and purple gemstones, one very large one set in the centre.

Before I could object he placed it on my head. It was heavy and I frowned, not sure what the make of it, but his face lit up once more as he gazed down at me.

"It fits you as well as I thought it would."

"Is it... hers?" I asked, not able to bring myself to say Guinevere.

"It was. But she's gone now. Merlin didn't have the magic to preserve her too, and..." Arthur looked away, suddenly lost in some far off memory. "Her heart took her in a different direction to mine. I loved my country and its people and she... didn't."

"Our versions of the story sometimes tell of her falling in love with another. That as much as she loved you, you weren't the only one who touched her heart."

"That is a good way of thinking about it." Arthur looked at me and smiled again.

Not sure I felt so comfortable with it on my head when it reminded him of a sad memory, I reached up and took it off. He reached his hands out for it again and I gladly handed it over.

"Thank you for letting me try it on. I hope that one day, you get to put it on the head of someone whose heart remains yours and yours alone."

"That would be a wonderful place for it to be."

He took his own off as well and slipped it back into the box before shutting it. He then opened the rucksack we had packed for him and removed a bunch of stuff to put it in at the bottom.

"Right," he said as soon as he was done. "Shall we gather whatever else we can to sell or trade so we can get my campaign to be king started?"

I nodded, having no idea where to begin.