He smiled and kissed her lips. “I love it when you act like a bossy wife.”
Together they stepped out of the sliding glass doors and onto the elaborately designed balcony that overlooked the town square filled to bursting with Camelot’s citizens. People stood in windows of surrounding buildings, hovered in crafts above the ground and waited in ships idling in the air. Nearly every person was there. Those who could not fit watched the giant glowing screen where Igrain and Uther were magnified to royal proportions.
Uther held his hand out and the audience quieted even more. He stepped up to the silver com-unit mounted on a structure much like a pulpit. He breathed and heard it amplified a million times over. They were waiting.
“People of Camelot,” he began. He stopped when he heard it echo around the city of Pendragon like a speech made by kings long ago in the old days before wars. His voice rang out, bigger than he had thought. He had to go on now. There was no stopping this.
“You traveled many galaxies and spent hundreds of years of your life on a ship my ancestors built to take us from a synthetic life to a real home.” He waited for the echo to die down. He tried to calm himself and use all the charm he could. He needed them to believe his words. And somewhere in his heart, he wanted to believe his words. “You have waited a long time for a new start. Some of you have never set foot on real dirt before. I know this is not our native planet, but we will do our duty to make it home. This land is ours. But every planet is governed by laws. Laws of gravity and physics; of nature and man. This palace is where our laws start. I have brought this Palace of Justice to you and I only ask that you follow me and the laws I will give you.”
At this, small verbal replies arose.
“I know. I am one man and have no claim to make myself lord over you. But I promise to listen to you, the people, and do right by you. The ones who council me will be elected from your own homes. Your people will be in my halls.
“So, first, I give us two lunar cycles to establish homes and city boundaries. The laws for homesteading have been already written and I think you will find them fair. Go out into this world and create your own homes, cities. My D.R.U.I.D army is for the people and you may use them to build.” He smiled and raised his hands above his head. “I give you this land and bless your efforts! Do what you will with it. Take as much as you need, but do not result to violence to stake your claim. My soldiers will act as law enforcement until more can be trained and schooled in the new laws.”
He sighed and smiled. “This land is ours. Let us not waste it. Go out and use this earth!”
With that, a new cry arose but this one of joy and enthusiasm. A single word began to rise above the tumult of cheers. The people were happy. They were given land and safety. Someone to watch over them and make sure they got what they deserved. They chanted the name of the man they loved now.
“Uther! Uther! Uther!” they screamed in unison.
Igrain couldn’t help but sigh in resignation and squeeze her new husband’s hand. “Well done. Your father and brother would be so proud.”
The weight of everything left him as the crowd roared its approval. He wished Vortigern were still alive to see this. That old man could have never been king this easily. And Constans would not have been king. He would have stepped down to become a farmer or something of the sort and installed a democracy instead. Yes, Uther was sure he was the only one who could have pulled the whole planet behind him.
“Uther, King of Camelot!” Pellinore called and then again in his own tongue so that the other planets watching would know.
“And will he be a merciful king?” Merlin whispered in Uther’s ear.
“You should not fear, Merlin. You have been my friend too long for me to enslave you. And soon, your people will be free as well.”
Merlin stood next to Uther and looked out over the cheering people. He had seen the way Uther treated his life-long friends and he was not determined to go the same way Galois had.
15
The Children
The engine hummed to life with a great roar. Everyone outside the massive ship had protection over their ears. The ceiling to the hangar had been altered to now open with majesty into the late afternoon sun with two great double doors for aircraft to vertically take off and land. Inside, energy ran just as high as that which combusted in the quad-core engine.
“Stabilized,” Merlin said from his control panel. The bridge in the new ship was round with an elevated platform where Uther sat. The front of the bridge was all open window that could double as screens. A crew of all D.R.U.I.D engineers filled every seat except a few. Ector stood to the side as navigator and one of Pellinore’s sons, Aglovale, had elected to be linguistics.
“A truly great ship, you have had created,” Vivian said behind Uther. He had demanded she come along since all of her people were now under his command. “I thought you wouldn’t amount to anything. Now I see how wrong I was. You’ve become the greatest dictator we Avalonians have ever seen.”
Uther ignored her as the system’s check made its blinking round around the ship. Each section began to check off.
“The hangar is secure and all units secure,” Nimueh informed him. A hanger full of tanks, vehicles, and best of all Avalonian mecha waited in the lower decks. All but Excalibur, who wasted away, trapped
