Tony flew just below the clouds, his pace slow and steady, his suits scanners taking in the topography of the land and matching it to the maps of the kingdom he had just taken over. He moved out in an ever widening spiral from Camelot, taking special note of each road and villages as it passed beneath him.

To be perfectly honest, the maps were horrible. The distances were spotty, the landmarks often over or under emphasized, only the high roads were marked, quite frankly the entire thing was shameful on the part of the map makers.

Tony sighed within his armor. From what he and Jarvis had been able to discern, the kingdom of Camelot was based largely out of Hampshire, but contained Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire and parts of Sussex, Surrey and Somerset as well. The Kingdom of Nemeth along the northern border would later become Oxford according to Jarvis databases, while Mercia comprised most of the countryside typically associated with England. Kent, Essex and the remainder of Sussex and Surrey were ruled by a man called Cenred and supposedly Devon and Cornwall was the kingdom to the west.

The whole thing gave him a headache and he was using this time to relax and listen to the Black Sabbath. He'd return do Camelot by dinner he thought with a shrug. Honestly, how much could have gone wrong in a day?

~! #$%^&*()_+

Kilgharrah stared at Emrys incredulously. "The red sorcerer won, but Uther still lives?" he demanded, spluttering. It was inconceivable! All members of the old religion hated Uther and wouldn't have hesitated to kill him given the chance, what was going on here? What was he not seeing?

"Yes," Merlin said enthusiastically "the entire stadium heard it. He said for the love of a son and then instead of killing them both, he pushed Arthur out of the way and crushed the king's sword arm. He proved to the knighthood and city of Camelot that he had mercy for his enemies that Uther did not and then made friends further by lowering everyone's taxes and telling the knights to use the money to strengthen Camelot instead."

"And the old ways, what of them?" the great dragon asked, crossing his claws and resting his head on them.

"Well, he hasn't welcomed them back, but he's made all who can prove magic into wards of the kingdom and invited them to Camelot. Given his power and recent actions I think he means to have us treated as any other commoner."

The dragon's brows knitted at this. "We shall see." He said finally. "You've not made any indication that he's come to you or Gaius yet, any ideas why?"

"I don't known, but he was going over the maps with Geoffrey of Monmouth this morning and then left the castle by air."

By air? Ah, yes, Merlin claimed he could fly; a rare skill among wizards to be certain. "A curious choice of actions, so soon after claiming a kingdom, though I shall admit to the joy of flight…" he commented with a carefully crafted wistful sigh. He did truly miss flying free, but he needed more information and he'd already learned that the boy offered more if he thought it was his idea than if he was told to do something.

"I think he was disappointed with the skills of the map makers. He was talking as if he wanted to make his own and I heard him tell Geoffrey that he needed accurate maps of all the cities and villages if he was going to reform the land properly."

Kilgharrah raised his head at that and looked directly at Merlin. Could this sorcerer really reform lands to his will? This would certainly be interesting. Perhaps it would be in his best interests to get a meeting with the man sooner rather than later…

~! #$%^&*()_+

Cenred grinned broadly as his spy reported Uther's predicament. So the sorcerer had won had he? And through strength of arms rather than magic too. A dangerous opponent to be certain…

"Haunthur!" He barked, calling his favored Lieutenant to the foot of his throne. "You and Lot shall summon the army and be ready to mount a full scale attack across Camelot's borders, I will take a retinue of two score knights and ride for Camelot under diplomatic banners." He said, standing and pacing. "If I do not send a raven within the week, invade and be sure to kill anyone who resists. Let's go test the mettle of the Witch king of Camelot!"

~! #$%^&*()_+

Nimueh smiled kindly at Faroth, as the head of the druid camp inclined his head to her. Things were going well so far .The red knights' decree that Sorcery as free to practice had made their movements far easier and already the scattered tribes were coming together. The fortress of Daelbeth would be a fine place to observe the events in Camelot until they were sure it was safe to return under the new kings' rule. It was near Camelot and if repaired, a feat easily done, would be easily defensible should the un-gifted rabble attack.

The entire community was talking about it of course; how the armored sorcerer king had offered them a place of safety within his fortress and encouraged teachers to come forward as his royal wards. Still, when things change in an instant it was best to be cautious. While crippled, Uther was not entirely neutered. The knights of Camelot were known for many things, but one of their more admirable traits was loyalty, something they more than likely still felt for their old king, and yet reserved from the new one.

Feeling a tug on her robe the high priestess looked down into the blue gray eyes of a child. 'Be careful, lady priestess.' The child's voice rang in her head. 'Emrys and Kilgharrah are agitated and Gaius doesn't trust you anymore. If you do what you're planning the IronMan will kill you.'

'The IronMan, child?' Nimueh returned smiling. It was rare to meet a child with such a strong gift and such talents were not to be overlooked or wasted… even if he was a boy.

'I dream, lady priestess. The powerful man it red armor, he calls himself the IronMan and he is no friend of the old religion. Do not do what you are planning.'

She knelt down and stroked the boys cheek, "What do you mean, child? Worried as I am this might be destined for a short reprieve, why would a sorcerer, especially a powerful one, not want to revive the old religion?"

'Because he does not believe' the boy returned. 'He has been touched by two gods and still denies them. His power comes from wit and learning rather than faith and he will refuse to bow to you.'

Wit and learning… Nimueh's mind spun through a hundred different scenarios. There were still ways she could work this, but she would need more information, it seemed that her reluctance to simply enter Camelot and claim her rightful place were far more prudent than she had believed. "But he is genuine in his acceptance of us and ours?" she asked the young boy.

'Yes. In my dreams of his homeland there were many with power. He ruled beside some, but fought many others. Those he deemed criminals. Don't try to make him bow to you, it won't end well.'

She smiled indulgently "yes, child, that much was obvious, but for whom?"

'For you.'

~! #$%^&*()_+

"Jarvis, where are we?" Tony asked, looking down and pausing to hover in midair.

"By my calculation and appointment of recent landmarks I would postulate that we are just over the border to Cenred's kingdom, sir."

"So that large group of men on horses probably isn't going to take orders from me."

"Not likely, sir, enhancing, identifying, sir, the crest on their cloaks is indeed black serpent of Essetir."

"Jarvis, correlate existing data, I want to know where they're headed. I have my suspicions, but data is always better."

"They are on the main road between the kingdom of Essetir and your new lands, sir. At their current pace they should reach the calculated border area in an hour's time. There are forty-three men in total and they bear banners strapped to the side of the aft most mounts. If I may, sir, this could be a diplomatic entourage."

"Well then, I guess it's time to greet the neighbors!" Tony said before diving down. Choosing an angle that would land him well in front of the galloping horses he stopped his landing with a blast from his repulsers, causing a crater in the weak stone of the road and sending up a cloud of dust around him.

"Sir, I must caution you, this is ill-advised. While the border at this point is ambiguous it is not wise to antagonize countries you do not intend to immediately conquer."

"And a show of strength before opening friendly negotiations is a long-held business practice. In fact, given what you've told me that seems to be precisely what he's doing. I'm just showing him I'm not impressed."

Tony stood there as the dust and dirt quickly cleared, arms crossed over his chest and eyes glowing in the early evening. Before him the horses had stopped in a semicircle around him, though some were still prancing or rearing nervously.

"Hail, Witch King!" called a man with long hair, black leather armor and twin swords strapped to his back. The rider slowly clopped forward, his arm raised above his head to block out the setting sun. "I had planned to meet you in a few days at your castle, but I suppose here might do as well as any other. It is the border after all…" There was a laugh in his voice and tony cocked his head to the side a little.

Activating his boot repulsers he lifted off slowly and floated closer to the man who had ridden forward. "Am I to take it you're king Cenred of Essetir?"

"You've heard of me, Witch King?" the man asked, still grinning even as his horse danced in fear.

"Only in passing," Tony replied, "I'm new here. I decided I didn't like the maps my record keeper had so I thought I'd make my own. Been flying around the five kingdoms all day judging distances."

"I could offer you the services of my own cartographers, Witch King." Cenred offered "in the spirit of friendship between our two lands."

"I'd be willing to form some sort of alliance with you, but just to be clear, forty knights is not a diplomatic retainer, it's an attack. Send half of them home before you meet me at in Camelot."

"And if I don't agree to your terms?" the man asked, tone belligerent. "What's to say you won't just kill me when I get there without a proper guard?"

"Would it make you more comfortable if I killed you now," Tony asked, raising his hands and making the repulsers glow "on more familiar ground?" Tony smirked as he quoted Laura Croft: Tomb Raider. Got to love the classics.

The entire retinue began shifting warily, looking at Tony's hands in obvious fear and fury, but Cenred just laughed. "I like you, Witch King, what is your name?"

"Stark," he replied "Tony Stark."

~! #$%^&*()_+

When Tony landed in the courtyard to a circle of crossbowmen he sighed. It never rained, it poured. He'd just finished two separate conquests, met with a marauding warrior king and was about to update an entire map, topography and all and now this… "Uther, I spared your life last time for your son's sake, now, why don't you get your sorry mass murdering ass back down to the cells before I find a more permanent method of making you my bitch?"

"Archers," Uther rasped as loudly as he could manage "open fire."

Tony bowed his head as the vastly inferior metal and velocity of the bolts rained down on him scoring small scratches in his paint job. "Jarvis, give me targeting solutions, it seems we need to make an example here."

"Of course, sir, scanning, targets locked. Fire when ready sir."

Tony looked around through his HUD and watched as Jarvis calculated the power, angle and spread for his repulser blasts, including lethal versus not lethal power estimates for various targets on the body and nodded. Moving quickly Tony braced himself and began to dance. Blast after blast tony struck down the archers, shattering rib cages, pulping skulls and sending bow stocks through their users in a gory spray of blood and viscera. Nearly two thirds of them were dead when Tony noticed a charge of seven knights and Uther, a mace in his left hand and a shield strapped to his broken right arm.

Tony scowled, he took no pleasure in this massacre and ignored the archers as they fled, turning his attention instead on the knights. Stepping forward into the first with a snap kick Jarvis sensors informed him that the man's rib cage was collapsed and organ punctures were likely. He probably wouldn't survive, but hell, the king's court physician was a metahuman; maybe the man had healing powers? He'd seen a few mutants with such potential. Wolverine had even been considered for inclusion in the avenger's initiative, but his loyalty to Xavier meant that they'd have to wait a little while. Tony briefly wondered if they'd bring the man in to replace him when he didn't make it back quickly. 'This is probably killing Pepper' he thought as he clapped his hands forcefully over one knight's ears. The man staggered away and went down, alive but with bleeding ears and a massive concussion.

Uther was howling something at him as he placed an uppercut into the chain-mail covered stomach of another knight and Tony rolled his eyes. A sweeping backhand caught the man across the jaw, breaking it in two places and nearly snapping his neck. Turning again he back-stepped inside the sword arc of one of the knights still ineffectually beating on him with a sword and drove his elbow into the side of the man's head. Grabbing the final knight's sword in one hand he ripped it out of the olive-skinned man's hand and slammed the butt of the weapon into the man's nose, just above the bridge, breaking it, but not shoving any splinters up into the man's brain. As he staggered away Jarvis informed him that with treatment the knight would eventually heal.

Tony bent over and picked up the former king by the back of his plate armor and started walking toward the tower that was leaking cosmic radiation. He was assuming the tower belonged to Gaius, as Merlin didn't seem to have arrived yet. As he kicked open the door Tony pondered that. The story of Le Morte D'Arthur was one he'd been vaguely familiar with for a while, having read it once when he was five and sulking over the failure of his fourth engine, a project he would complete several months later. In the story Uther Pendragon and Lady Igraine had died shortly after Arthur's birth, though he couldn't remember any good explanations for the event. Upon his families death Arthur was taken by Merlin to live with Arthur's uncle sir Ector until his early teens when Merlin reappeared to lead him to Excalibur and guide him in uniting England under a single banner.

That hadn't happened here.

Instead of being long-standing royalty the Pendragons were a noble family of knights that, according to the court historian Geoffrey of Monmouth, had fallen in and out of kingship for centuries before Uther had forged the five smaller kingdoms into the land of Camelot. Then, instead of dying shortly after Arthurs birth in an unnamed and apparently unimportant conflict, this Uther had sacrificed his wife to the old religion to bear his son Arthur and then used her death as an excuse to wage genocide on all metahumans. How the devil the old codger survived such a war was beyond him, Tony had faced his fair share of Meta's before coming here and damn if any normal human could survive such a battle without special equipment and boatloads of luck. Hawkeye and Widow at least had decades of Special Forces training under their belt and a healthy sense of self-preservation to ride them through such conflicts, but a fanatically pro-human king from ye olde England?

Tony shook off his musings as he reached the top of the stairs and banged on a thick wooden door. There was a yelp from inside and a crash before the door was opened by a small boy he'd noted earlier on the tournament field. The boy was looking up at him in shock and awe, and under Tony's sensor net, literally overflowing with cosmic radiation. "Hey, little wizard, fetch your master, would you?"

The boy shook himself and stepped aside revealing a large circular room that looked more like an apothecary than any sort of living quarters.

"Good lord, what have you done?" came a voice from the far side of the room. Tony looked over to see the old physician from the parade ground hustling over in what looked like a maroon nightgown. "Sire, I thought you intended to keep the old king alive, not kill him!"

"Sorry old man, but this idiot decided it would be a good idea to stage a coup. I've never done well with hostile takeovers." He tossed Uther to the floor and smiled as the man groaned. "Besides, he's not dead, just a little roughed up. He'll need a neck brace and someone to wire his jaw straight. Soft foods and immobilization for a few weeks he should be good." He sent a mental command to his helmet, causing it to fold and stow itself within his armor. "Though I've got to wonder how often he's going to try this, my pity for the boy notwithstanding, I'm not a particularly patient man."

~! #$%^&*()_+

Merlin watched in awe as the man in red armor who had changed so much of the landscape of the kingdom in a single week vanished his helmet. The fiery rectangular eyes, the golden faceplate and the red hood just melted away, folding and flowing into the back of his surprisingly thick armor. The man was handsome, Merlin thought with a small twinge of envy, with high cheekbones, pale skin and deep black hair, cut short and without sweat despite the battle he had suggested just occurred. Merlin grinned at Gaius's vocal consternation and stepped forward from his previous deer in the headlights position beside the door, offering his hand.

"Hello, I'm Master Gaius's new apprentice. It's great to meet such a master sorcerer." He said with a grin.

The cold metal of the man's hand closed against his and Merlin could feel the river of raw power that coursed through the gem on the gloves palm. "Thanks, and I'm not a sorcerer."

Merlin and Gaius froze, looking at him in shock. "But… the dragon said… I can feel your power! You must be a sorcerer, how else could you fly?"

The man looked at him with a smug grin on his face. "There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy." The man replied. "I'm a scientist. Anyone could do what I did if they were clever enough."

"Sire," offered the old man hesitantly "if I may, there is a great deal of magical power flowing out of that talisman on your breastplate. Even if it is not your own, surely you must understand that you are, in fact, using magic."

Tony nodded at him and gestured to Uther. "Start patching him up and we'll talk." He said, sitting down on one of the benches. Tony watched as Gaius directed Merlin, who he only called 'boy', to move to clear off one of the tables and lay the old king out on it, which the boy did with his eyes burning gold. Tony watched all of this with amusement as the old man puttered over Uthar's unconscious body, constantly sending his apprentice scurrying off in one direction or another. "So, can either of you tell me where Arthur was? Not that I mind leaving the kid alive, but with the coup and everything I'm kind of surprised he didn't come out and attack me with the others? I was beating his family and subjects black and blue after all, which is another point... Gaius, once you're done with this old rag you should probably go down to the court yard with your apprentice. It's a bloody mess, but I'm sure some of them survived and would like to see tomorrow as well."

"You… you… bloody bugger it all, man! Things like that are exactly why people fear sorcerers in Camelot!" Gaius cried, shuffling over to Tony, the white haired man's crooked brow and bulging eyes giving him a markedly insane countenance.

"Yes, well, that's your problem now isn't it? You see, I'm a man of science, I build tools to harness energy for my own means, while you are a metahuman, a sorcerer, who uses their bodies to conduct and channel energy for often far more complicated purposes. But here's the thing. You are apparently a court physician as well as a healer. Where I have harmed, you can heal, winning points for your side of things by… repairing damages shall we say. And with your abilities, and the freedom to use them publicly, you and this little powerhouse beside you can do so much more." Tony stood up from the table and clapped his hands together. "Now, if you could tell me where I might find Arthur, I can let the two of you get to publicly using magic to heal people. Bit of a Public Relations stunt if you will. Big bad sorcerer takes over their kingdom and quells rebellion, then trusted adviser of the old king moves around, miraculously healing anyone with so much as a headache."

"Why do you want to know where Arthur is?" Merlin asked, suddenly finding his voice. "You're not going to kill him too are you?"

Tony looked at him. "No, kid, I'm not going to kill your friend. I was just sort of curious why he wasn't part of Uther's coup. Seems like the kind of thing he might have tried to charge in and get involved with."

Merlin nodded before coming to a decision. "Arthur and the Lady Morgana are locked in their rooms, m'lord sorcerer. Uther was unsure of their loyalties and didn't want either of them getting hurt while he took you down. I heard him talking to the knights as they were taking him out of the dungeon." Merlin paused a moment before speaking again. "I'm not entirely sure what it means, but he wanted extra guards to be placed on the Lady Morgana, two inside the room as well as the ones beyond."

Merlin watched as the IronMan flinched slightly. "Damn." He heard the man hiss. "By the way, if you want a proper sorcerer, you might want to find out what happened to and old man named Merlin. The books I read about this place said he was supposed to have been Arthur's guide and guard after his parents died at a young age. Wise old fellow, long white hair, very powerful. Though considering the differences between the Camelot of… ah, prophesy and the Camelot I find myself in… well, let's just say I'm finding it hard to trust those books." The red hood and gold faceplate slid out to cover the man's head as he walked out the door. "Still worth a look though."

Merlin listened to the red armored boots clatter their way down the steps before rounding on Gaius. "What did he mean by that!?" the boys said, facing Gaius over Uther's unconscious body. "Gaius, what books?"

"Well, first, since the change of rulers means magic is an option again; put your hand on my shoulder and say: hrotir f'la nosguinth." When Merlin did Gaius began chanting over the king, both of their eyes glowing brightly as his master healed Uther. "There's that should do it. Now, believe it or not, this is not the first time Arthur has lived in Albion." He watched as the old man shuffled over to his bookshelf and began sorting through several books, opening them up and placing them back on the shelves several times before settling on one, which Gaius handed to him. "Arthur is known in old prophesies as the once and future king. The ancient poets write that upon his first death, in the height of the old religion, the king swore a blood oath, in which he would return whenever his land most had need of him. And so he has, twice before. Each time Arthur is born he loses both of his parents shortly thereafter and grows up to unite the land of Albion, saving it from strife and protecting it both for and from magic."

Merlin nodded distractedly as he read the book Gaius had given him. "And each time he has an elderly wizard there to guide and to guard him. The Great Dragon said something similar. But why is it different this time? According to this Uther was supposed to have died years ago and given our ages, you should have been his wizard, what changed everything?"

"I don't know, Merlin, I don't know."

~! #$%^&*()_+

Morgana sat by the window in her room, silent tears tracking down her cheeks as she contemplated throwing herself out of it. She had never been particularly fond of Uther, not since he had sent her father too his death, but the revulsion she had seen in his eyes when he ordered the guards to lock her in here, and the fear that had lurked within the guards… was this what it was like for all of the other magic users? To be constantly under this sort of scrutiny, every day of your life for something you couldn't control would be a horrible way to have to live.

And then what the red armored mage had done in the courtyard. Morgana shuddered, there had been so much blood, even now as it slowly drained away down the castle sewer system she could see the fountains of the stuff as it had erupted from the men who had tried to ambush the new king. He had been so brutal on the battlefield… 'but then' a little voice said in the back of her head 'so had Uther.' If the new king's words were true Uther had slaughtered children on the simple chance that they might have been magical.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a commotion outside of her door causing the guards in the room with her to tense. Suddenly the door banged open against the wall, its lock splintering under the force of the blow that had opened it. One of the guards who had been posted to keep watch outside slid in on his back, sparks flying off his armored back and purple bruises forming around his neck. One of the standing guards drew a sword and the other grabbed a dagger and rushed over to grab hold of her, dragging her up and wrapping her in a deadly hug, dagger point shaking dangerously beneath her chin.

The reason for the pair's terror, as if it wasn't immediately apparent, stalked slowly into the room, eyes and hands glowing menacingly. In the low light of the entryway he looked positively sinister. Was this what it was like before Uther had brought war to the magic users her traitorous brain whispered in terror at her situation. While she couldn't ever bring herself to agree with what either man had or was doing it wasn't a terribly difficult rationalization, the man was scary.

"Put the knife down and I'll let you live." The crimson and gold sorcerers voice echoed ethereally. "I understand that you were just following orders and to run this kingdom I'm going to need fine guards like you three," the armored magician continued calmly "but if you hurt the girl, I'll see that your last moments are far from pleasant. Let. Her. Go."

Morgana gave a sigh of relief as the dagger dropped from her jailers nerveless fingers and the light died in the armored sorcerers hands. "Thank you, sire," Morgana said, massaging her throat as the pair of guards cowered away from the armored mans approach "will you truly let them live?"

"Of course." The man's hollow voice echoed momentarily before with a sudden movement the helmet folded up revealing a handsome face and dark blue eyes. "They know how to follow orders and so long as they don't harm anyone under my care they're valuable assets to the company… country. Come on now, let's go fetch your brother. With Uther locking him up like that, he's probably had a full rage on most of the day and it's likely only gotten worse given recent events."

Morgana followed the armored Witch King in a daze. She was still having a hard time getting over the mans assertion that she an Arthur were siblings through Uthar. If true, it would mean that her long-held resentment of the man, while not unfounded, was misplaced. She was barely a year older than her half-brother which meant that Uthar had defiled her parents marriage before his own wife was even dead. Her death was the entire justification for his war against her kind and the tool he had used to kill the man she considered her true father.

Morgana was broken from her contemplation's by the ludicrous image of King Stark defeating another two guardsmen by taking the pairs heads, one in each hand, and clapping them together.

"M'lord, if I may be so bold..." Tony looked back at her, his helmet retracting again.

"I rarely say no to a pretty girl," the man said with a grin that made her blush "but just so you know, you're too young for me."

Morgana's mouth fell open, scandalized. She recovered quickly though and continued as the new king ripped open the doors before him, not even bothering to search for the key on the guards belts. "I'm trying to come to grips with your... temperament, m'lord. You seem to do things by masterful subtlety and barbarous levels of brute force in equal measure. You have no holds against slaughtering yourself a path through opposition, but do so for the sake of children and try to help people with every other breath. Simply put, you are a contradiction as you live and breathe. How does such a man come to be?"

The armored figure before her seemed to consider the question for a moment before answering in the most logical and nonsensical way possible. "You grow up in California."

~! #$%^&*()_+

Arthur prowled his room, acting very much like the dragon his last name proclaimed him to be. How could his father possibly have been so rash? The red knight had halted an execution covered by a wall of crossbowmen and stormed through the streets of the town and castle defeating everything that came within sight. And his father expected an ambush with a few score crossbowmen and a handful of knights to do anything? While he could understand the mans goals and even sympathize with his motives, it was crushing for him to realize that his father was most definitely not the wise and brilliant leader he had long believed him to be.

In the tournament at least, dishonorable as it may have been, there had been a plan... Enchanted items to counter a wizard who'd agreed to handicap himself and forgo enchantments himself. To Arthur though, it only served to highlight the Hypocrisy the crimson warlock accused his father of. What could the man possibly know that would make Uthar willing to agree to such a duel? What was it about Arthur's birth that had rattled him so? All these questions and more continued to eat at him as he watched the men lay bleeding in the courtyard after the armored wizard had dragged his father off in the direction of Gaius tower.

Speaking of which, he could see Gaius now, moving at a swift hobble, Merlin carrying a large basket of jars in one arm and steadying both himself and his master in the other. He watched with mingled relief and depression as the pair performed miracles at a steady pace. If his father had won at the end, despite it all, then those men down there would be left either crippled or dead. They'd be hailed as heroes perhaps, but it wouldn't mean much to their families. He'd learned that young when following his father as he gave condolences to various families of knights and soldiers he'd lost in one conflict of another. Under the Witch King though, as badly as he had injured them, he also allowed Gaius to use magic and heal that which would take months, years or even be a final sentence for most.

He didn't even turn around as there was a commotion by his door. His muscles tensed, ready to fight, regardless of how futile it would be. His father had rebelled and the Red Knight had promised that Arthur would pay the price for his fathers rebellion. If he had learned anything about the man so far it was that he kept his promises... Still, there was no reason to make it easy for him. As the door cracked and splintered behind him, the locking bolt tearing out through expensive molded hardwood Arthur turned to face his doom.

"Have you come to kill me?" he asked defiantly.

The red armored man, who's helmet was gone this time, seemed to stop short at that and Arthur took the time to observe him. His hair was cropped relatively short, only a few inches long as opposed to the male norm of shoulder length manes. It was black as pitch and looked slightly messy, sticking up in strands that moved every which way. On his face was a close cropped beard, another oddity, most men either shaved it completely or let it grow to full extension. There was a shadow of recent growth across his jaw and cheeks, but for the most part it looked as it it was regularly shaved save for a small patch around his mouth. The sorcerers eyes were a sharp, brilliant blue, like chips of ice and held a piercing quality to match. The rest of his features were classical of English highborn. Small sharp nose, high cheekbones, squarish face, strong jaw. It wasn't how he'd imagined the man behind the mask, given the constant glowing eyes and featureless gold faceplate.

"That depends a lot on you princess." The new king said, a smirk on his face that didn't reach those cold eyes. Arthur suppressed a shiver.

"That's prince, sorcerer, or Lord now that you've dethroned my family. And what does my life depend on?"

"Whether or not you had any hand in planning that idiocy downstairs." the crimson and gold clad monster answered with a negligent shrug. "So?"

Arthur relaxed slightly, but scowled even deeper. "No" he said finally "Father didn't want me to get in his way." He snorted before starting violently as his tormentor smacked him in the shoulder grinning brightly.

"Then you've got nothing to worry about." Then he turned away. "You're still a political prisoner of course, the kingdom likes you too much for me to simply toss you out on the streets. I'm gonna have to break your fathers other arm and both of his legs though. Can't just let things go without a response of some sort, the neighbors are already getting pushy."

"Neighbors, pushy?" He and, surprisingly, Morgana asked.

The Witch King nodded. "Met a man named Cenred mustering an army on the border. I told him he could meet me with a small honor guard, but if he brought too many I'd kill them on general principle. He'll be here in a day or two. Should be interesting."

Arthur and his... half-sister he reminded himself, stared at the man. Then Arthur swore. "We're doomed." He groaned, walking over to the closest piece of furniture and flopping down in it. "We're all going to die, this is the end of Camelot."

The Sorcerer laughed. "What's got you so gloomy all of a sudden? It's just one man! If worst comes to worst, I'll just conquer another kingdom, this one bigger than the last!"

"Arthur looked at him, incredulous. "Morgana, you explain it to him, please?"

"Yes," the King said, amusement still coloring his voice "please do."

Morgana sighed and took a seat herself. "For as along as I can remember Cenred's family have been our most aggressive and dangerous neighbors. It was only because of Uthar's strength and the loyalty of my father and the other knights that we've been able to hold them at bay. Now that you have taken control the armies of Camelot will be slow to answer. They and their leaders are disloyal to you and Cenred smells blood. It was bad enough when his men would form mercenary bands to raid everyone's boarders even under peace treaties, now he's going to be actively trying to conquer us. And then, everyone else. " She shook her head.

Tony however just grinned. A chance to take out a marauding bandit and perform another Hostile Takeover... it was like the nineties all over again!

"Sounds fun!" Tony said as he marched out of the room, leaving the two siblings together. All Arthur could do was stare after him.