The Great Purge

14. Disgraced

Nimueh thought that once the alcohol had worn off, and Uther had calmed down, he would come to find her, to make things right between them. But he didn't.
First thing the next morning, two Camelot gaurds came to escourt her to the great hall, which she assumed was because Uther wanted to apologise to her.
When she arrived, she found that the room was full of knights and members of the court, and unlike he usually did, he did not tell them to leave when she approached.
Instead of standing by the door like normal, the two guards stayed by Nimueh's side, as she walked towards the king, with the eyes of everyone in the room on her.
Deciding that it was best to show Uther respect in a room full of important people, Nimueh dropped to one knee when she reached him.
But as she moved to stand up, one of the guards placed his hand on her shoulder, pushing her back down to the floor.

Nimueh frowned, "Uther, what is the meaning of this?".
Uther rose out of of his throne, but instead of adressing Nimueh, he spoke to the other people in the room.
"I gave this sorcerer my trust, as you all know, and she has betrayed me. She is partially responsible for the death of the queen, for using dark magic during my sons birth" revealed Uther.
Whispers and murmers ran through the room, at this new news.
"Because of this, she will now suffer the consequences" continued Uther.
Uther nodded his head at one of the guards, who then slapped Nimueh across the face with the back of his hand, making those in the room gasp.

Nimueh spat blood on the floor before wiping her hand accross her face and raising her head up so that she could glare at Uther. She didn't like being called out in front of everyone like that, especially when what Uther said wasn't completely true.
"Uther, don't do this. You know that you cannot cope without me" reminded Nimueh.
"That's where you're wrong witch, Camelot will thrive without you and your kind polluting our great city" replied Uther.
"Then you're a fool, if you think that banishing magic will improve Camelot in any way"
"Magic isn't the only thing I will be banishing... You are banished from Camelot forever, and if you ever set foot here again, I will kill you".
Nimueh sighed sadly, as she knew that there was no way of convincing Uther to change his mind any time soon.

She stood to her feet, and shook off the hand of the guard who tried to restrain her.
"Fine. I'll go. But trust me Uther Pendragon, you will regret this" admitted Nimueh.
One of the knights who was standing near her removed his sword from his belt and pointed it at her.
"Did you just threaten the king?" He questioned.
"I'd lower the sword if I were you, or someone will get hurt. And no, I did not threaten the king, I was just telling him that no good will come from his actions" replied Nimueh.
"Sire, I don't think we should let the sorcerer go, she is a danger to Camelot"
"If the king wanted me dead, and thought I was a danger to his kingdom, don't you think he would have already ordered my execution?".

Nimueh turned her head back around to face Uther, and despite his anger, she could tell that he didn't actually want any harm to come to her. They had too much shared history, and they had spent too much time together, to want harm to come to one another.
"Go, and don't come back. Your kind are no longer welcome in Camelot. From this day forward, magic is banned in this land, and anyone who practices it, is comitting a crime, and will be treated accordingly" revealed Uther.
"What do you mean, 'treated accordingly'?" Questioned Nimueh.
"Magic is now against the law, and those who practice it, will be put to death. That is the only way we will be able to clense our city"
"You can't be serious. You can't kill people just for using magic, especially as it's not always a choice"
"I am the king, I can do what I like".

Nimueh turned to look at Gaius who was standing on the kings right hand side as usual.
"Gaius, how can you stand there and stay quiet? You can't let him do this, you yourself have dabbeled in magic" reminded Nimueh.
"I may have done in the past, but I wouldn't exactly call myself a sorcerer. And if the king has banned magic, then I shall not cast another spell ever again" announced Gaius.
"How can you say that?"
"My loyalty is to the king, and to Camelot"
"Why? You owe him nothing. He does not deserve your loyalty"
"He is the king"
"So you are just going to stand behind his evil actions, just because he is the king? You're going to betray all of our friends, for him?"
"Yes"
"Then you're dead to me".

She turned away from Gaius to stare at Uther one last time.
"So are you. If you outlaw magic, and kill my kin, I will never help you ever again. You will be on your own" warned Nimueh.
"I do not need your help anymore. Be gone witch" spat Uther.
"I still think we should kill her" said the knight, who's sword was still pointed at Nimueh.
She raised her eye, finding the knight's violent impulses humerous.
The worry in Uther's eyes also made her smile, because he knew that she could kill everyone in that room in one second if she felt like it. He also knew that she was a high priestess, so could not be killed by something as simple as a sword.

The knight jabbed his sword into Nimueh's back which did nothing more than irritate her.
She turned on him and flicked her wrist, causing his sword to clatter to the floor.
The other knights took this as a sign of resistance, so they all raised their own swords in unison.
This act caused Nimueh to roll her eyes.
After giving Uther one last death glare, she created a large mass of smoke to fill the room, covering her escape. And by the time it had faded she was gone.
"Sire, should we go after her?" Asked the knight.
"No, there's no point. Let her run" replied Uther, before turning around to sit back down in his throne, and begin explaining his plans for his great purge of magic from Camelot.