Author’s Note: Well, welcome to the end. Like I said, this would never be a happy story. Mordred was, at all points, a usurper, and rarely does a usurper succeed - especially not in stories akin to this one. The point of similar stories is to fable against revolution, against coups, so that no one gets any wise ideas. Even the worst of kings still maintain power through their unbroken legitimacy, so even modifying the ending to make Mordred successful didn't feel like a logical option to me. For those who have read the full story, thanks for sticking with me. This was extremely fun to write and I'm happy I've had the opportunity to bring exposition to one of my favorite "evil" characters of myth, and make him less one dimensional. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
All in all, I was happy to stick with a first person perspective, even as Mordred died and became a spectral witness to the final events of the Arthur legend. I did have to include Bedivere at the last minute, but it feels mostly fine to me - a dedicated retainer was all he was anyway. The story of Bedievere returning the blade comes from the primary report of the battle, Le Morte d'Arthur, where the jailing of the knights and propaganda campaign are my own designs.
Thank you for reading.
Bibliography: Le Morte d’Arthur