CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST PART TWO ( ii. )

It isn't long after word spreads of Arthur's actions in the low town when the King summons the entire royal court to the council chambers. To no one's surprise, he is still determined to enforce the tax, and this gathering is no doubt to make an example of people who try to defy him and Catrina. Calliope only hopes the potion switch will reveal the troll's true form before too much damage is done.

The assassin watches as everyone speaks amongst themselves, awaiting the arrival of the Prince. Beside her, Sir Leon shifts his weight nervously, and from the look on his face, Calliope knows whatever the King has planned for his son is worse than she originally thought, and when the double doors are pulled open, revealing the Prince, Calliope's stomach churns with concern for him.

He glances at everyone gathered in the room, "Father," he says, addressing the King.

Uther glances from the scroll in his hand to his son while Catrina sits on her throne, smug and confident, "I'm relaxing your duties, revoking your title."

Gasps resound through the room, but no one looks as shocked as Arthur himself, "What?"

"We live in dangerous times. I cannot allow you to undermine my authority."

"You've always welcomed my council in the past—"

"You stood against me for all the people to see," Uther says in a loud, and daunting voice, anger in his eyes.

With pinched brows, Arthur sighs, "I'm sorry. Any further grievances I have will be held in private."

"It's too late for that," Uther turns away, and Arthur steps after him.

"Father—"

"You are to be disinherited with immediate effect," Calliope wishes she could step in. She wants to voice how ridiculous and horrible this is, but she knows Uther is under Catrina's enchantment, so all her feelings should be directed at the troll. "You are no longer Crown Prince of Camelot."

"Sire, Arthur is your son, your natural heir," Gaius tries to reason with the King, but he's too far gone.

The Prince looks over his shoulder, "Gaius," he says, stopping the physician from interceding any further. His eyes fall back to his father, who underneath the enchantment, has a small glimmer of hesitation that cannot break through the powerful magic. Arthur takes a step closer to his father in one final attempt to change his closed mind. "You've always taught me to be true to my heart, and that's all I've ever tried to do—to be the man you wanted me to be. Someone you were proud to call your son."

A flicker of silence encompasses the room before Uther speaks, "My decision is final," and with utter unbelief and pain flashing across his face, Arthur turns and walks out of the room. "Queen Catrina will be named as rightful heir to the throne. The ceremony will begin forthwith."

After a small moment of hesitation from everyone present, people around Calliope begin clapping, but she can't bring herself to join in. Her eyes are trained on the doors where Arthur had stormed out, and then she turns her head to Catrina, whose skin is still clear and human. How long will it take for her true form to break through? Would killing her break the enchantment if Merlin's plan doesn't work?

She doesn't have much time to contemplate a new plan or how to console Arthur for the loss of his title. Before she can even go after him, everyone is gathering in the Throne Room with Uther and Catrina at the front, awaiting the ceremony to begin. Arthur comes back into the room, his head hanging low. He can't even look at his father, and Calliope wants to tell him everything, but letting it slip that Catrina is a troll won't be believable without proof. Plus, Merlin has already tried to tell Arthur, and he didn't take it seriously.

Calliope's fingers twitch near her dagger as Geoffery, the court genealogist, holds a large scroll in his hands, but all the assassin can look at is the troll, sitting there with a smug grin, thinking she's won this battle. Across from her, Arthur stands with the knights, his face downcast as he tries to withhold his emotions. Morgana and Gwen offer Calliope a concerned glance, and it takes all her self control to stay in her spot in the crowd—to keep her dagger from launching at Catrina's head. After everything they've been through in Camelot, a troll can't be what bests them. Although the idea of Uther being married to Catrina started out as an amusing joke for Calliope, as soon as Arthur was brought into it and hurt, she began to care a lot more about breaking up the happy couple.

Geoffery clears his throat, silencing the murmuring crowd, "We are gathered here to bear witness to the naming of Queen Catrina as the rightful heir to Camelot," he turns to where Catrina kneels on a pillow, awaiting her crowning. "Are you willing to take the oath?"

"I am," she replies in the most posh voice she can muster while Uther stares at her as if she is the very center of the earth. Calliope curls her lip in disgust.

"Do you solemnly swear to govern the people of Camelot, to uphold the laws and customs of the land?"

It's barely noticeable to most, but Calliope sees Catrina's brow twitch ever so slightly. The assassin stands up straighter, her eyes flickering to where the troll scratches her arm, "I do." It's working.

"Will you, to your power, cause law and justice in mercy to be executed in all your judgements?"

"I will," she tries to keep her voice steady as she scratches at the material of her gown. Calliope coughs through a laugh, causing a few heads to turn to her.

"Will you, to the utmost of your powers maintain the laws—"

Catrina turns to him, "Yes, yes."

"I'm sorry, you must let me finish. The wording must be exactly right to be binding."

"Well, get on with it then!" As several shocked gasps reverberate through the people gathered, Catrina turns to her husband. "I mean, really, where did you dig up this old crone from?"

Disbelief appears on Geoffery's face, and he's not alone as the crowd looks to each other in confusion, but Uther, in his dazed state, simply says, "She's right. Get on with it."

Geoffery can only nod, "Will you to the utmost of your powers—"

"Yes, Yes."

"—Maintain the laws and customs—"

"I will."

"—of the land and serve the people of Camelot—"

"Yes! Just shut up and give me the crown!"

Calliope raises her eyebrows as even more shocked gasps echo around her. She covers her mouth with her hand and bites on her cheek.

The crown is passed to Geoffery, and he turns to Catrina.

She reaches out, grasping for the crown, "Will you just hurry up?!"

Startled, Geoffery loosens his grip. Catrina places the crown on her head, and she runs from the hall.

"Catrina!" Uther calls out, a wide smile lifting his glazed eyes as he follows his bride.

She's changing into a troll right now, Calliope jumps into action, "We should go after her!" Arthur meets her gaze, and Morgana nods.

"Perhaps she's fallen ill."

"Right, come on!"

They run through the corridors, letting Uther's voice as he calls for Catrina guide their steps. Calliope has her dagger ready in case the troll tries something once the King sees her true form.

She hears their voices from the council chambers, and when she runs into the room with the Prince right on her heels, Catrina is hiding her hands behind her back.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me. I just suddenly felt so hot. I think I need to be on my own," she says, backing away until she reaches the closed door, but when she tries to escape, something keeps the door from budging. Merlin, is he here somewhere?

Morgana steps forward, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, yes! I'm fine, really, thank you."

Calliope moves closer to her as she tries to open the door, "Come on, come on, come on! Open!"

"Let me," Arthur says, but when he goes over to help her, he suddenly takes several retreating steps. "What's that?"

Catrina jumps, her hand, fully purple and full of the gross whelps on full display, and before she can mutter even some kind of explanation, her face begins warping.

"What's happening? Somebody help her!" Morgana exclaims.

Along with her new skin tone, a horrible, truly awful smell comes from the troll. A smell Calliope never wanted to experience ever again. She waves her hand in front of her nose as Arthur's face pinches up in disgust and disbelief. His eyes are wide as Catrina's transformation continues. Everyone is speechless for a few, short moments. The terrible sounds of her morphing figure drones on, and Calliope wonders if it will ever end. Her stomach twists, and she wants to flee the room herself.

"This is a waste of time. Can someone just let me kill it already?"

"You're a troll!" Arthur exclaims once her transformation finally ends.

Then, Uther turns to his son, "How dare you speak about her like that?"

"What?" Calliope lets out in a loud breath.

"What is wrong with you?" Arthur asks as he motions to the frantic troll looking for an escape. "Look at the state of her!"

"And the smell," Calliope adds.

But Uther's eyes are only full of awe for his troll bride, "I can't believe it," Morgana says as Catrina finally just rips one of the doors off its hinges, and it lands near Calliope's feet.

"She just ripped a door off its hinges. Doesn't that tell you something?"

"Enough!"

"She's a troll!" Arthur yells. "A giant, grey—"

"Stinking," Morgana adds.

"—Stinking troll!"

The King marches towards the door, "Stop it," he commands, leaning down to pick up her discarded crown and silver heels. "Haven't you hurt her feelings enough?" When he stands, he glances between all three of them. "Insult my wife again, and it'll be the last thing you ever do."

He storms out of the council chambers, stepping over the door his wife destroyed. Morgana can only scoff in unbelief while Arthur runs his hands through his hair.

Calliope simply leans against a pillar, crossing her arms over her chest and looking to the Prince, "Well, I guess now when I feel bad about myself, I can think 'hey, at least my step mom isn't a fucking troll'." She shakes her head with a laugh as he sends her a look of daggers. "I'll never let your father forget this one, Pendragon."

♛ ♛ ♛

All attempts to show Uther the reality that his wife is indeed, a troll, fail miserably, and Gaius comes to the quick conclusion that Catrina has enchanted him. Unfortunately, troll magic is extremely powerful and difficult to interfere with, so Merlin and Calliope have spent hours pouring over ancient texts and scrolls that could have any small clue as to how to break this spell. Despite Calliope's plan to just kill the troll, Gaius convinced her it would be unwise, considering they don't know for sure if that would even break the enchantment.

Her other free time has been consumed with Lady Victoria, who has been beside herself trying to figure out if her engagement to Arthur is even still on the table considering he's been disinherited, and Calliope had to be the one to convince her not to write her father about how his friend had married a troll. She just spit out some bullshit about preserving Victoria's love for Arthur, and it worked.

But as she walks the hall with Arthur's betrothed, she can't help the small pinch in her chest at the promise she broke. Is Calliope selfish? When it comes to the Prince of Camelot, yes. She couldn't keep herself away. She couldn't end things between them. She couldn't put away her emotions this time. They're too strong and consuming and powerful. Calliope's feelings for Arthur seem to completely shut off the reasonable side of her brain, and his touch makes all thoughts cease completely.

She chews on her lip as Victoria rambles on about her upcoming birthday and the party Morgana has been helping her plan.

"...And you, of course, were going to be in charge of setting up guard duty, but," Victoria comes to a halt at the end of the hallway, snapping Calliope out of her thoughts, "I suppose Sir Leon can step in. I want the party to be fun, and even though I wouldn't consider you a friend, word does get around that you know how to have a pleasant time."

Calliope quirks an eyebrow, "So, are you inviting me as a guest?"

She laces her hands in front of her sapphire gown, "Yes."

"Has like, hell frozen over or something?"

A scoff leaves her lips, "I suppose it has." Calliope contemplates her first assessment of Lady Victoria. How she concluded she was vain, without much individual thought, and nothing more than a pawn in a political move. But the slight curve of her lip, the spark in her eyes she tries to hide, it's almost...calculating. She has her own moves to make. There's a plot orchestrating in her mind that all started with her olive branch to end the hostility between them. In a way, Calliope respects her more for it, even if it only makes her distrust the Lady much deeper than before. "Perhaps you could go check."

"Touché," Calliope shifts her weight as she looks at Victoria. "Glad to see you've finally grown a backbone."

Victoria smirks and she takes a step closer, "I've learned much since I first arrived in Camelot, but not from who I expected. You know, you really could do some serious damage in a Court. Perhaps it's better for everyone that you're low born."

The assassin nods, "I'm not really that surprised about this new personality you've suddenly developed." The Lady raises her eyebrows expectantly as Calliope leans in. "I always knew you were a snake."

Victoria scoffs, "I guess that's the best compliment I'll ever get from you" she steps back, still having that small, scheming glimmer in her eyes. "The theme of the party is bright colors, by the way."

As Calliope walks down the corridor, she looks over her shoulder, "Can't wait."

Then, she scours the castle for Quinn Everly, finally finding the servant walking with a tray of fruit. She raises her eyebrows, but she doesn't even have the chance to speak before Calliope puts her hands on her shoulders.

"Quinn, I need you to help me make a dress."

"Okay...? Can I ask why?"

Calliope smirks, "I want Lady Victoria to have a birthday to remember."

"Oh, yes, her party! Everyone is wearing bright colors."

The assassin grabs the fruit tray from Quinn, "Well, not everyone."

"Cal, you can't possibly mean—"

"Yes, Quinn," Calliope links her arm through Quinn's. "That's exactly what I mean."

♛ ♛ ♛

It isn't until hours later when Merlin finds Calliope and explains the plan to snap Uther out of the troll's strong enchantment, which is only growing stronger by the minute. She paces in Arthur's room as Merlin and Gaius try to get the Prince on board, but all she can think about is the thousands of ways this plan can go wrong.

Just in case, she has her sword hanging from her belt and various daggers if a plan B is necessary.

"So, your great plan is to kill me?" Arthur asks.

"No...Well, yes," Merlin says from across the room. "Not exactly. Gaius has made a potion that gives the appearance of death without the actual dying bit." Even though Merlin has a confident grin on his face, Prince Arthur looks to the physician with pinched eyebrows and uncertainty. "Its fine. There's nothing to worry about. It'll only bring you to the brink of death."

"Oh, only to the brink."

Calliope has to admit this is one of their craziest plans to date, but in order for the spell clenching the King's mind to be shattered, he must cry tears of true remorse.

"We haven't got a choice," The young sorcerer assures.

"Yes, everything will work out great, except for the risk of him actually dying," Calliope says as she twiddles with her dagger to keep her anxieties about the plan at bay.

"We haven't got a choice," Merlin says.

Gaius nods, "We have to make his father cry."

The Prince throws his hands out, "He doesn't care about me anymore."

"Nonsense. That's Catrina's influence."

The doubt on his face is strong as Arthur paces, and Calliope reaches out, placing a gentle hand on his arm. These small, delicate touches she only reserves for him. His gaze softens as he looks at her.

"I may not like your father, but one thing I know for certain is that no enchantment in the world is strong enough to make him not care about you."

Arthur covers her hand with his own for a short moment, earning a curious and suspicious glance from Gaius as he holds out the potion, "Besides, this is completely safe. A single drop of the antidote will reverse the effects immediately."

"Antidote? What antidote?" His eyes shift to Merlin. "You didn't say anything about an antidote!"

"Uh...I didn't think it was important."

Calliope pinches the bridge of her nose, and Gaius steps forward, "The potion will lower your heart rate and breathing. For all intents and purposes, you will be dead."

"And the antidote reverses the effects."

"Yes," Arthur's shoulders relax. "If it's administered in time."

The assassin pushes herself off the wall, "And if it isn't?"

Gaius looks to Arthur, "You will be dead."

A scoff of unbelief leaves his lips, the Prince yelling out to his servant with a small glare, "You just said it wasn't important!"

Merlin turns around, "Um, yeah, I suppose it is a bit important."

"No, no, give it to Cal," Arthur says, motioning to the assassin.

"Merlin will have the antidote. Cal has to be ready to fight the troll once she realizes the enchantment is gone in case something goes wrong," Arthur sighs, shaking his head in frustration. "Once I have administered the poison—uh, the potion, he'll have half an hour to get it to you.

As Calliope chews on her lip nervously, Arthur looks at Merlin, "Don't be late."

"Am I ever?"

Calliope raises an eyebrow, "Well—"

"Shut up, Cal."

The Prince heaves one final sigh before he extends his hands towards the potion, but Gaius's hand retreats, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"It's the only way to save Camelot," he says, grabbing the small bottle.

Calliope holds her breath. He raises the bottle to all three of them, his blue eyes catching the assassin's before he finally tilts his head back and drinks the clear potion. His face scrunches at the taste, and he shakes his head. Nothing happens. For a few seconds, he just glances at the three people before him, shrugging his shoulders, and right as Calliope is about to ask Gaius if it was a strong enough dose, the Prince begins to sway.

They catch him before he falls on his face, gently lowering him to the floor.

When Gaius straightens his back, he looks to Merlin and Calliope, "Time to break the bad news to Uther."

Merlin has to leave the Prince's chambers. He can't risk being spotted by Catrina before the spell has been broken, so Calliope is left alone, standing above the unconscious Pendragon. His chest doesn't rise and fall, his face is pale. To anyone unaware of their plan, Arthur does look dead.

Her heart sinks to her stomach when the possibility that Gaius could be wrong about the timing for the antidote or the safety of this potion strikes her, but Gaius has always proven to know what he's talking about. She assures herself everything will work out. Soon, Arthur will be awake again, and hopefully, the troll will be out of their lives for good.

She restrains her body from leaning done to stroke his forehead. Uther and Catrina could come bursting into the room any second, but all she wants to do is reach down and silently let him know that everything will be alright.

The sound of hurried footsteps echoing through the outside corridor has Calliope straightening her back. The double doors fly open, and Uther steps through, his chest heaving and his eyes wide when he spots Arthur unmoving on the cold, stone floor. Calliope has her weapons ready as the King falls to his knees.

"My boy," his lip quivers. The King grips the material of Arthur's shirt. "It was my fault. I pushed you away. My son," the sound—the smell of Catrina coming into the room puts Calliope on alert. As Uther brings Arthur's body to his chest, tears rolling down his cheeks, Catrina reaches for her husband.

"Come away. There's nothing you can do for him now."

Calliope's sword is on her back, "Back up, tusk face."

"I killed him! I killed my only son!"

"No, no, no, no!"

Then, as Uther turns back to Catrina, the fog which has been set over his eyes these past few days finally fades and reality collides with him—the reality that his wife is a fucking troll.

"C-Catrina? What kind of trickery is this?"

As Calliope brings back her sword, the troll slams into the assassin with all her might, throwing her across the room. Calliope grunts in pain as her back collides with the wall, her vision blurring.

"How I've suffered these last weeks," the troll says. "Allowing you to touch me! Having to share a bed with you!"

Calliope struggles to push herself up, she sees two of Catrina as she shakes her head to straighten her vision, "I think hearing that is more painful than the rib I just cracked."

"It's repulsive!"

"I know the feeling," Uther says through a small gag.

"Oh, I've been looking forward to this!"

"Guards!" As Calliope finally gets back to her feet, Uther points to the troll. "Seize...it!"

The two guards that enter the room are brought down quickly by Catrina as Calliope notices Merlin slinking into the room. She rushes to him as he leans down beside Arthur with nothing more than a damp cloth. Calliope gasps.

"Where's the antidote?!"

"Jonas, he—it's not important. This will have to work!"

He positions the rag over Arthur's mouth and rings it out.

"Come on. Come on." Then, two small drops of the antidote fall from the cloth and touch Arthur's lips.

Calliope breathes in relief when the Prince's eyes open. He's still in a daze as she helps him to his feet, but the troll has knocked out the guards defending the King, leaving him helpless and with no weapon as it sets its eyes on him, ready to inflict a killing blow.

Before Calliope can move, Arthur is launching himself at the troll, but in his weak state, he barely makes her budge.

"Is that any way to treat your dear old stepmother?"

The troll throws Arthur across the room just as Jonas runs in, glancing around the chaos. Some of the guards have come to and are struggling with Catrina again. Uther swings his sword near her head, but she's too strong to overpower. Calliope's ribs ache when she moves, but as she spots Jonas approaching Arthur, who is still getting himself up from being thrown at the wall, se spots the shine of a small dagger coming from his cloak.

Jonas brings his elbow back, and Calliope tosses her sword, "Arthur!"

The Prince's hand closes around the handle, catching the assassin's sword just in time to shove it into Jonas's stomach.

And as Catrina comes up to the Prince while his back is turned, Calliope hears Merlin utter a quiet spell which causes the rug underneath her to slip out from her feet. The troll falls, flat on her back, catching Arthur's attention, and he doesn't hesitate to bring Calliope's sword right into the troll's chest.

The sounds of the troll dying are extremely unpleasant, and the stench that flows throughout the chambers causes Calliope's eyes to water as she stifles a gag.

"You know what," she says, panting and holding her ribs, "have that sword cleaned several times before you think about giving it back to me."

Arthur nods, a small, relieved smile on his lips.

♛ ♛ ♛

Calliope did, in fact, crack a rib when the troll launched her into the wall. Her right side is a nasty shade of purple and yellow underneath the bandage Gaius carefully wrapped. He strictly instructed for her to not return to training this week, even though she needs all the distractions she can get from everything plaguing her mind.

So, after two short days, she decides that she's had enough of her bed rest. Calliope pulls herself up, hissing in pain as she opens her dresser and tries to reach for a dark grey tunic. When her fingertips close around the material, she yanks it towards her, but she finds that reaching down to pull her loose, night shirt over her head is a far more excruciating experience.

But, she's far too stubborn to let changing clothes be a task that bests her. Finally, she gets the shirt over her head, but she yells out in pain.

When there's a knock at the door, she breathes an aggravated breath and looks over her shoulder, "Go away!" Another knock, more adamant this time. "Are you fucking deaf? I said go away." The door opens. "Hey, I'm indecent!"

"Oh, then I'm right on time."

"Arthur," Calliope shakes her head as he smirks and closes her door behind him. "How old are you again?"

When he notices her open dresser, he puts two-and-two together, "Didn't Gaius say no training this week?"

Calliope sighs, "Yeah, but—"

"No, no buts, Cal," Arthur walks across the floor until he's standing right in front of her. She huffs as he takes the gray tunic from her hands. "You need to rest." Arthur grabs her hand and leads her back towards her bed.

She gives in with a small eye roll, but Calliope breaks out into laughter—which hurts her ribs, by the way— as Arthur tugs her down onto the soft sheets.

"Ow, ow!" she slaps his shoulder as he places a hand behind his head, propping himself up to look at her. "Don't you have to get to training?"

He shrugs, "Yeah, well..." his blue eyes catch hers. "I missed you."

"I know. Your life is so boring without me."

Arthur kicks her shin playfully, grinning "You can be such an ass sometimes."

"It's part of my charm," she replies smugly. "You know you love it."

He sucks in a breath, a more serious glint in his eyes, "You're right. I do." His hand falls to brush a strand of hair behind her ear. "There's no one like you, Cal."

She leans up, even though it causes an ache in her ribs, and brushes her lips against his lightly. Calliope pulls back just enough to look into his eyes, feeling her own lightheartedness fading as she suddenly gets the urge to let words tumble from her lips—words she's wanted him to know for weeks, "For so many years, I've felt dead inside. Like I was drifting through moments and none of them were my own. Every good thing I ever had just crumbled," Arthur traces constellations on her arm, a comforting sensation that urges her to keep talking. "I had to kill so many parts of myself to survive, but now..."

"Now?" he asks, his eyes meeting hers again.

"Now, you make me feel alive," she replies in a quiet voice, her gaze never wavering. "And that's more than I ever thought I'd get."

His touch is reassuring as he brings her head to his chest.

And they lie there, underneath trickling sunlight from the awakening morning rays, in one another's arms. Their futures may still be uncertain, and there still might be darkness lurking in the corner, but together, they can chase it away.

Together, they can find a light in the storm.

♛ ♛ ♛

hey everyone! life is suuuper crazy right now. i have three research projects this semester and they're all due in april, so i am a ball of constant stress, lmao. anyways, from now until mid april, there may not be many updates because that's when my semester will be the most hectic. i also have some family stuff going on, not anything bad, just a lot of traveling and plans coming up, as well, so sorry if i go radio silent for a little bit.

anyways, i hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! also, of you didn't read the 100k celebration and haven't seen yet, soulofstaars made a ship video for calliope and arthur! i'm linking it again in this chapter, just because it's so freaking amazing

https://youtu.be/LBMo2teuqTU

if you have the time, go leave a like on the video and a nice comment for her!

as always, thanks for reading and remember to vote and leave your thoughts in the comments :) <3