Of Pride and Power - 8. Chapter 8: “Infection: Avoid the unhappy and unlucky.”

Before we reached the fair folk’s Coven, there was a major commotion. We had entered the city of Bath, which was renowned for its natural hot springs since the Roman era. While public bathhouses were outlawed due to their implied connection with the plague, the hot spring would always be active. I was still a modern person with a desire to maintain a bit of cleanliness, especially after several days in the woods with traces of dirt, animal blood, sweat, and semen. The slight detour to a minor city in western England was dangerous, but discovery was unlikely, due to the loss in tourism and population around Bath that anyone would recognize me.

At an inn near the hot springs, we overheard the conversations of several tradesmen from London. They described a major turn of fortune for the Seymore family. Lord Admiral Thomas Seymore and Duke of Somerset, Edward Seymore, were executed for the crime of treason against the royal family. The evidence was provided by Lord Eli, who had eliminated some of their conspirators at the village of Benington. The newly created Duke of Northumberland, John Dudley, had sent his men to apprehend Edward Seymore under the orders of King Edward VI. Royal soldiers were also sent to Thomas Seymore’s residence to retrieve Queen Dowager Parr and Lady Jane Grey. The Queen Dowager’s heart failed before the soldiers arrived, she died at the residence. One trader mentioned seeing Lady Jane with men with Seymore family banners heading down another road heading to Berry Pomeroy Castle in Devon, where Edward Seymore’s eldest son, John Seymore, had a stronghold and forces.

None of my companions spoke openly about what we heard until we reached the safety of our private room.

Glancing at Francis, he shook his head, in affirmation, “John Dudley was likely planning to betray Edward Seymore and used your letters of a plot by Thomas Denny as support for a treason charge. I confirmed this news with the death of the two Seymore brothers. Queen Dowager Parr died of a heart attack upon hearing of their charges. Lady Jane had received an advanced warning from Guildford Dudley of incoming troops to seize and kill her, so she left with men loyal to the Seymore family.”

The three triplets scratched their heads, then Pippen asked, “What does that mean for everyone, who doesn’t understand the backstabbing amongst the nobles?”

Organizing the web of history and hereditary titles was a mess, but I tried to simplify it as much as possible, “Lady Jane Grey is a descendant of Henry VII through his eldest daughter Mary Tudor. If history continues as it did in my world, she was the first claimant to the throne after Edward’s death due to him having no children, since both the remaining children of Henry VIII, Mary and I, were taken out of the line of succession. Her capture and death would have made it easier to take the throne of England and improve Mary’s public image without killing her on unpopular charges.”

Prudence sighed at my sober analysis, “I am so confused with all these connections.”

I laughed at his comment, “I haven’t even brought up Mary of Guse, the Queen of Scotland, and her daughter Mary Stuart, betrothed to the heir of France, who would be making a rival claim through Margaret Tudor, Henry VII’s sister.”

Peter squirmed and pleaded, “Please Lord Eli, there are simply too many Marys of this and that. It’s too confusing.”

The triplet’s confusion was understandable as most people in modern times can’t understand the spider-web concept of hereditary succession. The salic law of medieval France, where only males could inherit the throne was dying out, so right now there was a mess with multiple female lineages. Since daughters were often married off to opposing nations, like Scotland and France, to secure peace treaties or territorial rights, the situation became even worse. The good thing is that due to these rival claimants, including three from Catholic-backed nations, it meant that the forces of the Church wouldn’t put all their support into one claim with how history has shifted. Mary, the sister of Edward, was the first in line to support, but her barren womb would pose an issue later unless modern medicine was used or Phillip II, her future husband and king of Spain used their marriage to make a claim, which would in itself be a dangerous precedent and its failure had ended that line of logic.

I noticed Francis and Puck discussing something off to the side as I was explaining the succession battles for the English throne. I didn’t think they could do anything against the various Marys or other minor claims from the Stuart family in Scotland. Poisons and assassins could only kill one person at a time.

As the conversation settled down, Francis asked, “What would you like to do about Lady Jane Grey? According to you, she was merely a tool of various powerful men and had no ambitions on the throne. She’s also the lover of Guildford Dudley, the brother of Robert Dudley.”

In comparison to ordering the deaths of soldiers or kids pressed into service, this was a far harder choice to make. I knew Jane was innocent, I knew she and Guildford Dudley were just kids trapped in a web of fate. Thinking of them, I thought about myself and Robert, which, in turn, made me think of myself and Jack. As a romantic, I wanted to help them and make it a fairy tale ending. However, being a ruler, I can’t afford fairy tale endings for other people without considering its risk to those I care about. Jane was a devout Protestant and Guildford was under his father’s thumb, just like Robert. If she rose to power, she wouldn’t be any better than Edward or Mary. John Dudley’s delusions of grandeur and plots so far had already sealed his fate. All I could do was try to protect some of the Dudley brothers like Robert and Ambrose, who were further removed from their father.

I made my decision, “Leave her to what fate will come. The remaining Seymore forces cannot withstand John Dudley, who had made inroads with King Edward and Mary’s factions. We cannot join Jane and the Seymore with the likelihood of imminent collapse. John Dudley will likely keep her alive as a future puppet ruler due to the love his son and her share.”

That was the end of our discussion on Lady Jane Grey and we went to the hot springs. Despite the somber nature of the earlier discussion, the bath was fun and lively. We had the hot springs to ourselves as very few people would openly expose their naked bodies, so there was a fair bit of horseplay between everyone. It was not sexual, simply a group of people splashing and wrestling in the water. Puck, being the youngest and smallest of our group, took turns being tossed around by the triplets. Francis and I shared the moments with an underwater exercise, each of us testing our limits at how long we could hold our breaths. When one of us fails to surface after a certain count, we would come to the rescue of the other. I started this off and showed him how to perform respiratory aid if needed. It became a trust exercise as well between us, Francis trusted that I knew his limits and I trusted he knew my limits. It was something I had picked up in the books from my world with Dom/sub training. I didn’t know the context until I had my current abilities. The training exercise in those books came from swimming lessons for beginners to increase confidence and trust in being in the water. With a person like Francis, it would reinforce confidence in our roles even though we were not actively engaged in any play. As I said, Dom/sub stuff is a lot of work, Jack and I could roleplay it, but we were not in the right mental or personality dynamic to maintain the non-sexual activities with each other. I didn’t know how long I could maintain this role with Francis at the time, either.

After the hot spring bath and a good night of sleep in the nearly empty inn, we continued our journey into the lands of Somerset. We reached our destination, a hill with what appeared to be the ruins of several stone walls. The entire area was strewn with ruins of buildings of various sizes and states of decay. After half an hour of viewing these surroundings, my ability allowed me to estimate the age of these structures to be around eight hundred years old. It also appeared not all the decay was natural. Several buildings were being ripped apart and I could see hammers and pickaxes. From my world’s history, I knew that the stones and materials found here would likely be raided by later generations, leaving only the rare object buried beneath the ground.

We circled the hill until we found a stone ruin with a collapsed roof and gutted appearance. Francis and Puck led us through the ancient building to a set of stairs that appeared to be better maintained than the building’s exterior appearance with torchlight near the bottom. As we descended into the basement, which appeared to have nothing except a barren limestone wall that jutted out slightly, Francis brought out a bronze plate from his satchel. There was a small opening in the shadows of the wall that would not be noticed if you did not know what you were looking for. Francis inserted the bronze plate and waved for the triplets to join him. Two people were pushing on one side and two people pulling on the other, slowly causing the doorway to a dimly lit cavern to be revealed.

Francis called out, “Puck, go on ahead, tell Oberon to send out another team.”

After Puck went down the dark cavern, the doorway was partially closed.

I asked Francis, “Does this secret doorway always require four people to open or close?”

He nodded, “We only send out small teams from our stronghold, limiting our exposure. Only those fair folk the coven trusts can know about this place.”

I was shocked at that, “So, I am assuming I will be facing a lot of questions and tests from your friends to verify that I am who you guys think I am.”

“You are the promised ruler. We can all vouch for that after everything we did together. We would defend you if the coven doesn’t accept you in any case.”

The triplets nodded, but I didn’t want to start this meeting with internal conflict or an internal power struggle. I assumed Oberon was the leader of the Fair Folk, if I recall Midsummer Night’s Dream, he was a fair-minded leader, who could make rash judgments to pursue his goals. I also knew that there were other legends in my world about Oberon from French mythology, where he is an elvish king who helps a hero find penance for the wrongs he did. Fairies and Elven legends were intertwined with one another, so I wasn’t surprised to meet a tall handsome androgynous thirtysomething man with a vague resemblance to Orlando Bloom.

After leaving a team of four on the surface, Oberon personally escorted us down the cavern. I identified the glow of artificial lighting with copper wiring along the wall. The sight of this simple modern convenience gave me a large deal of hope for what I might find below the surface since it indicated a rudimentary understanding of electricity and magnetism. Then, I saw the bunker-like rooms hidden within and I laughed at my naïvete. I was hoping for an LGBTQIA+ version of Wakanda in England, but I had to be honest about the limitations of the era.

They were quite advanced with electric lighting systems, along with piping for water and what appeared to be simple turn-type wired telephone communications. However, the loud sounds of pumps, the heat of steam vents as we entered, and the narrowness of the hallways we traversed, all were signs of various limits, including total population. In my mind, I knew this place could house no more than a hundred people.

When we reached a conference room, Oberon and I chatted over tea and some toast about my experiences and abilities. He was curious about my adaptive knowledge base offering a few points about chemical reactions with explosive compounds. It took me a few minutes to understand what he was drawing my attention toward, but I was able to offer him answers on the nature of the nitration process with both nitro-cellulose and the future development of nitroglycerin, a core ingredient in dynamite. He attempted to fool me with a few false points or counters concerning the explosive potential of traditional gunpowder mixtures with saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur. However, I did not answer him immediately on technical questions until my mind was able to process things. It became easier as our conversation went on, just like my conversations about history with Francis or toxins with Puck. However, unlike those who possess those specific areas of knowledge, I could recall our discussions on them and use that knowledge without having to concentrate on a particular object or subject. I guess that was part of the memory portion of my ability.

At some point, various people joined us in the conference room, including the famous future wife of Oberon, Titania. I must admit that she was attractive, and I could understand why people would fall in love with her beauty based on the story. She did not have the big breasts or small petite frame that heterosexual men in the Western world consider beautiful. She was tall, slender, short red-haired, and dressed in elegant turquoise tones. Her speech was comforting, but she was not above punching Oberon for pushing me too hard. While they were not a couple yet in this reality, I could tell they could be compatible, plus the story did indicate they were in an open relationship which seemed to be acceptable amongst fair folk.

As Francis had guessed, it didn’t take long for them to verify my ability and accept me as one of their own. Oberon was more circumspect though about the prophetic words of “The last shall be the first”, avoiding the subject somewhat when I brought it up at first, I pressed on with several other fair folks gathered in the room.

I reassured Oberon, “I can accept anything that you might say. Your facility is quite advanced and your people do not seem to be easily fooled by ancient prophecies or deities. Can you tell me at least how you heard those words?”

He sighed with insecurity, but Titania jumped in, “My sweet Eli, do you know where we stand right now?”

I shrugged my shoulders, “Somewhere in the lands of the former Duke of Somerset.”

She asked gingerly, “In your world, does the name Camelot mean anything?”

In shock, I choked on the tea I was drinking, “What? Are you saying King Arthur and Merlin were real?”

She nodded, “The fair folks are the last remnants of the ancient kingdom. This stronghold was built below the old castle fortress on Cadbury hill near the River of Cam by Queen Guinevere, Lancelot, and Merlin after the Battle of Camden, where Arthur and his knights died.”

Arthurian legends abound in modern times, some historians do believe King Arthur did exist in my world, but no one has ever found ruins of Camelot or even a tomb. However, if the legends were real, along with the fact that those inhabitants were fair folk, then it would explain some of the amazing magical feats in the stories. I wish I could access the history of this world like I could of my own, but unlike Francis, whenever I try to focus on this world’s past, it always comes out blank.

Curious about this revelation, I asked my original question again, “So, how did that lead to the words “the last shall be the first” being tied to a prophecy about someone like me.”

Oberon cleared his throat, “What very few people know beyond the fair folk of Camelot was that Merlin wasn’t from our time. It is written and remembered by those with Francis’ gift that his real name was Jack. He said that he came back too early to help someone he loved. He described a ruler greater than Arthur would come with the knowledge of all things and the ability to create a new line of humans. His original last words were “The Omega shall rule”, which became “the last shall be first” as we interpret his final message today.”

At that moment, I had a Charlton Heston moment, this was fucking my world all along. Somehow, I was sent back in time, or I was sent to an alternate timeline in the body of Eli Tudor, the first true human hermaphrodite or in modern terms, an Omega. I knew there was neither coincidence, nor mercy of some deity at work. Jack had done something in the past or future that allowed me to be here in this body. I knew he loved me, but he transcended the bounds of life and death to be with me. What he did was reckless and epic, I was proud and horrified, so I knew it was his actions. However, Jack and I weren’t the only ones to make the journey to the past. There must be a deeper story behind why all of this happened and why I am here with such a weight on my shoulders.

At that moment, I wanted to find Jack to strangle him and kiss him. He did everything for me, but I thought I would never have the chance to show him how much it meant.