Chapter Text
This was all Sophie’s fault.
A phrase that Tedros got used to saying after a while. The witch had derailed his fairy tale far too many times to count. Right when everything seemed at peace, she had to start something.
Tedros looked in the mirror in his bedroom, running his fingers through his hair over and over again. It was the only way he could calm himself down when he couldn’t do his morning workout. Perhaps if Sophie didn’t plan a meeting at 6 in the morning (and if Agatha hadn’t kept him in bed until 5:30, but who can blame her?), he would be more relaxed. If only he could just…
“Could you plan Sophie’s death a little quieter, dear?” Agatha called from inside the bathroom. “You could wake up the castle with how brashly you think of her.”
Tedros smiled. How could he not relax with such a wonderful queen by his side? Suddenly all his tense muscles released, as if Agatha had commanded as such and he had no choice but to obey.
“But what if I really want to?” Tedros asked. He had moved away from the mirror and sunk back into his bed. He had called off all their servants for the morning so that he and Agatha would have time to discuss what they were about to go through. Having complete privacy with his queen tended to be a challenge. Much of his time was spent on his kingly duties, which involves a lot more paperwork than he would care to admit. Even when he was with her during the day, it was always about work and appearances, and trying to run a kingdom. Tedros was grateful for this, since the kingdom of Camelot seemed to be flourishing. But, he still wished for more private time with Agatha.
“Just try to not do it in front of people.” Agatha then stepped out of the bathroom, and Tedros turned pink. She was wearing a long white dress lined with gold and small diamonds. Her crown was also decorated with similar diamonds with blue accents sprinkled throughout. “It’s a bit more of a simple look, but a lot of my dresses are being refitted…”
Tedros walked up to Agatha and kissed her, long and slow. One would think he would get somewhat used to seeing his wife in pretty dresses, but whenever Tedros saw Agatha in a new one, he felt like he was falling in love with her all over again. A feeling he never wanted to shake.
“How do you become more beautiful everyday?”
“The lady maids try a new style every minute it seems. Though, I guess I always brighten up when I am around you.” Agatha then links her arm with his. “Come Tedros, Sophie might kill you soon.”
Tedros ignored the last part for his own sanity. It was fine. It was going to be a good day as long as he could look into Agatha’s eyes.
…
For the briefest of moments, Tedros was able to forget where he was going in the first place. But, of course, a certain someone had to ruin it.
“My darlings!” Sophie stood in the middle of the throne room when Tedros and Agatha stepped in. She was wearing a sparkly red dress with different black gems strewn about. She was also wearing a fish net over the top of her dress, with black earrings shaped like swords. At least she looked like something that had crawled out of hell.
Agatha flew from his arms to greet her friend. The two of them squealed as they embraced, paying no mind to any royal guard who thought the Queen of Camelot shouldn’t bear hug a random villain who enters the palace. But Sophie and Agatha still acted like school girls seeing each other after a long summer.
“Oh, Aggie, my darling,” Sophie let go for the briefest of seconds. “That dress just looks absolutely scrumptious on you! I might just have to borrow it sometime!”
“Oh please,” Agatha teased. “This dress is not your style at all.”
“It is. I just didn’t feel like giving you fashion advice.”
The girls giggled some more and Tedros felt a rush of love. He may not be able to stand Sophie at times, but seeing the love of his life so happy that he could have invited Sophie to stay for life. Despite his best efforts, he still calls her a friend, and it was hard to hate her all the time.
“Lady Sophie,” Tedros announced. “You have requested this meeting with me. I think that it is only fair to proceed at once.”
“Oh, don’t be so formal Teddy!” Sophie came up to him and tried to fix his shirt collar, which Tedros immediately backed away from. “You can forget about the formalities for being king for one hour, can you Teddy?”
“I was talking more about the gentlemen that seem to be cowering in fear at the table over there.” Tedros pointed to two men that Sophie had brought with her. “Would you introduce them to me at once?”
“Of course!” Sophie pointed to the shorter of the two men. “That right there is Alan Jay Lerner of Maidenvale and the one over there is Frederick Loewe of Roch Briar. I met them while I was traveling to visit the Coven. They were writing and singing songs for every kingdom they came across. And they were actually working on a story that intrigued me. In fact, they were making a musical…”
“Sophie! Some of us are already bored.” Agatha teased. “Now, what is this surprise?”
“Well, I know that Camelot needs to raise money for the construction of a new healing clinic. So with that in mind, I was coming up with a few fundraising ideas. But those were all thrown out the window when these two guys told me they were writing a musical about King Arthur! I know. I know. You are both as excited as I was. But when I took a look at their draft. I realized that it was too… boring, if you may.”
“Boring?” Tedros asked. His blood was still boiling a little from the mention of a musical about his father, but he was just trying to get this over with, “What about it seemed… boring?”
“Well…” Sophie started. “It just seemed like it had been told before. I mean, you were already an open book back at school. Not to mention that the whole kingdom was all up in your business. So I made a few changes to make it seem more lively!”
“First off, I don’t think Camelot is going to perform a musical anytime soon…”
“Well, of course not! We need to cast people, and then we need rehearsals. Oh so many rehearsals! And then we need to sell tickets and then…”
“No!” Tedros shouted. “We aren’t doing a musical!”
“Teddy, please?” Sophie asked. “I worked so hard at this. You don’t want to know the hours I have given up on my beauty sleep just to get this perfect.”
“A musical… about my father!” Tedros argued, letting that finally sink in. “My father, who brought this land into ruin! Why would anyone want to see that?”
“He didn’t just bring Camelot into ruin! He also brought it up out of nothingness and into something glorious! Plus, these rewrites shave off the more unappealing parts!.” Sophie turned to Agatha. “You understand this vision, right?”
Tedros also turned to his wife. “Yes, Agatha, tell her that this is all stupid and that she should be laughed out of here at once!”
Agatha smiled, as if watching the two loves of her life arguing somehow brought peace to her. “Sophie,” she started, “If we don’t perform your musical at Camelot, will you perform it elsewhere?”
“Of course!” Sophie laughed. “I’m sorry, but I already put in all of that effort. Why would I just go ahead and waste it?”
“She does have a point.” Agatha said, turning to Tedros.
“Oh no!” Tedros barked, holding up his hands. “There is no way you are going to agree with this!”
“Tedros, she is going to perform it anyway, and probably not in a way you are going to like it.” She reached up and grabbed his hands, interlocking their fingers and slowly bringing them down to his sides. “At least if she does it here, you might have some control over whatever she had concocted.”
Tedros felt his heart thundering in his chest. Not only from the touch of his wife, but the thought that she was actually convincing him to do this.
“Agatha, please, we can think of another fundraiser!”
“But I can’t think of a better sense of pride for Camelot other than a whole musical based on it!” Agatha’s hands crept up Tedros’s hips, which made his knees buckle slightly. “I promise, Camelot is in a better place. All the kingdom acknowledges Arthur’s mistakes, and knows that you won’t make the same ones. You are much better than your father.” Her hands crept up to his face, where she pulled Tedros down to whisper in his ear. “You can always talk to me if something is too much. But please, I want to see this.” Agatha leaned in closer. “Also, I’ll give you whatever you would like at the end of long night rehearsals…”
Tedros turned his head and kissed Agatha softly. Mostly because he couldn’t think of why he was actually considering this. All his life, he tried not to think of his father’s actions. It had always been a point of shame. But, he had to admit that it was still a part of his life, and it was a story that everyone already knew and learned all the lessons from. Maybe this was harmless, even if it made Tedros nervous.
“Fine,” Tedros said, gently separating from Agatha. “You may hold this little musical as a fundraiser.” He paused while Sophie and Agatha squealed, and the two men gave each other high fives. “But, promise me one thing! The person you cast as my father cannot be hotter than me!”
Sophie stopped. “Well, actually…” She held up a stack of papers. “I think I’ve found my Arthur already.”
…
“Sophie!” Tedros yelled, sprinting across the castle. Sure, he agreed to have this stupid as a fundraiser. And sure, he was somehow convinced that he would play King Arthur (which Tedros still needed to find time to be both an actual king and be a king in a musical. And not just a king but HIS OWN FATHER). But this, this just couldn’t be it.
“Yes, Teddy?” Sophie said. It was the dead of night, and Sophie was still wearing that hellish dress. A setting that might look suspicious if not for the fact that the Queen was sitting at the table, looking at a bunch of costumes which included very old royal wear. “Do you approve of the changes made in the script?”
Tedros was already fuming at that point. “I, for some god forsaken reason, thought you were going to be reasonable. But this… what is this? First off, my parents met at school, not in the middle of the woods where my mother was already betrothed to him. Second, where is England and France, and why is there a war between them? And who the hell is Mordred? And… And…”
“Ah yes,” Sophie said. “Well, I told you I made some major changes…”
“Changes!” Tedros yelled. “This is practically a different story with the same names! And… there is not even a mention of me!”
“Oh, that was the first thing I cut. I want this show to actually be good after all!” Sophie then grabbed a script for herself. “Also, some of these changes do make sense. All of these people know what school is like, thanks to me and Agatha’s fairy tale… and the previous ones that were not as good as ours. And I would say that Camelot knows at least some of the story of its founding. Plus, have you ever heard of symbolism? The entire character of Mordred is obviously an amalgamation of those awful twin boys Rhian and Japeth, while also adding the intrigue of Chaddick. Maybe if you actually had a brain, you would have figured that out by now. Oh, and England and France? Well, that’s just my little secret.”
“Sophie! You promised that you would tell the authentic story of Camelot, not whatever this is!”
“Please, all the other major story beats are in there. A few different scenes here and there to spice things up.”
“Agatha!” Tedros called. Agatha immediately looked up from all the costumes. He took a second to appreciate her beauty before speaking again. “Have you read this abomination?”
“Wait until you look at the cast list.” Agatha giggled. Sophie then handed him a scroll and Tedros took a look at the people Sophie picked out:
Cast List:
Arthur________________Tedros
Guenevere_____________Agatha
Lancelot_______________Hort
Pelinore _______________ Sophie
Mordred_______________Hester
Merlyn________________William
Nimue________________Kiko
Morgen Le Fay___________Reena
Sir Sagramore___________Anadil
Sir Dinadan_____________Beatrix
Sir Lionel_______________Bogden
Clarius________________Bodhi
Lady Anne______________Valentina
Lady Sybil________________Laralisa
Tom___________________Dot
Squire Dap_______________Laithan
A Knight_________________Nicola
A Knight_________________Vex
A Page__________________Raven
Lords and Ladies____________ Priyanka, Bert, Beckett, Aja, Bossam, Devan, Brone, Mona, Yoshi, Jeevan, Other School Members.
Tedros was appalled. “I- I- How are you going to get all of those people together?”
“I’ve got my ways…” Sophie smiled and walked over by Agatha. “You know, I am surprised that you didn’t cast yourself as Guenievere.” Agatha said, finishing up sewing a dress. “You always like being the lead.”
“And risk kissing Tedros? I’d rather sit this one out. Then I thought I should be Lancelot. While funny, I think Tedros would kill me if I kissed you. Everyone else just fit into place after that.”
“Brightside, Tedros!” Agatha said, “You are not the one that has to pretend to be in love with Hort.”
Tedros had many thoughts about his casting. Almost enough to yell until his lungs give out. But then he looked at Agatha, and saw the excitement in her eyes. Sometimes she would tell him that it is hard to live in Sophie’s shadow. Being the Queen of Camelot still hasn’t changed that for her. Something told Tedros that Agatha wasn’t just doing this for her friend, but she was also doing it for herself. And if Tedros had to dress up as his father and sing a little song to make that happen for her, he would do it in an instant.
And the whole thing with Hort being Lancelot? He would have to think about that later.
“Sophie,” He sighed. “When do rehearsals start?”