Author's Note: This idea popped into my head and wouldn't get out, so here you go! (By the way, Borgata supposedly means a mob family in mafia slang, so that's why the story is titled that) Read, review, and enjoy. Pretty pretty please let me know if you want any more of it. And I know that I should be updating my other stories first, but I can't help but post this one.
PS: By the way, there is actually a way to tell the time from the North Star, but I just didn't feel like putting the whole explanation. You should look it up though; it's pretty cool. And sorry if I get things about guns wrong. The only things I know about them are from books I've read, so let me know if I get it wrong, but bear in mind that I have no prior knowledge of them. And everything I know concerning the mob comes from Gotham, so that's not much better.
Disclaimer: IDOM
MMMMMM
Merlin had been standing on the balcony that overhung the garden when someone started knocking on the front door. She frowned to herself. There was no reason that someone would be visiting the mansion this late at night. She looked at the stars one last time to check that it was as late as she thought it was. The position of the North Star informed her that it was roughly two thirty in the morning. She frowned again. Her mother and father should have been home by now and there was no reason they would knock on the door to come in.
The only child of Balinor and Hunith Emrys shrugged to herself and walked down the stairs towards the door, carefully pulling the Colt 1908 Vest Pocket .25 ACP from where she had casually stuck it in the waistline of her pants. Merlin hated using guns, but wasn't above using them for protection. She was ashamed to admit that she had already killed people and she was only seventeen. She hadn't only killed them with guns either. Magic had saved her from more than one tight scrape.
The banging on the door started again, breaking Merlin from her line of thinking. She gently pulled open one of the secret peep holes her father had put in the door (Balinor always claimed that the normal peep holes on doors were a great way to get your eye shot out) and glanced quickly onto the porch. The black haired teen breathed a sigh of relief and pulled the door open for the silver haired man. Merlin's face broke into a grin, "Uncle Gaius! What brings you here so late at night, or should I say so early in the morning?"
Gaius didn't return the grin. Merlin's smile ran away from her face and she lead the elderly man to the parlor, seating him on one of the fluffier couches and putting her gun back into her waistband. As Merlin sat in one of the wicker chairs, she tried to remember if she had ever seen Gaius look so serious before.
Gaius Meddyg (the old man had explained that he had chosen the last name because it was Welsh for physician) was an old friend of Hunith and had no real relation to the family, but was faithful enough to be called uncle. He was the one who had delivered Merlin (his parents wanted to make sure that no one knew she had been born) and who had treated her parents if they ever got injured on the job. He was a permanent fixture in the Pendragon family; some people even went so far as to say that he was the second hand man in that mob family, but he also had connections in the Druid family and the Dragonlord family.
Merlin stood up and grabbed some warm tea and cakes from the kitchen, bringing them back and setting them in front of her mother's old friend. The teen's bright cerulean eyes stared at the doctor's hunched form for a moment before asking quietly, "What's happened Gaius?"
The older man sighed and straightened so he was looking Merlin in the eye, "Balinor and Hunith… were just found dead by the police. I came as quickly as I could without garnering suspicion. I'm afraid that all of the Dragonlords have been killed Merlin. You're the last Dragonlord."
The teen froze, letting shock color her features for a moment. This couldn't be true. It couldn't be happening! The Dragonlords were her family! To find out that they were all killed at the same time… it was almost too much. Then Merlin wrestled back control of her emotions and smoothed out her expression. Gaius was a friend, but he wasn't family and Dragonlords never showed weakness outside of family. When Merlin figured that she had her voice under control, she asked quietly, "Have my parent's identities been compromised?"
"No," Gaius answered quickly, swallowing a sip of tea, "The police can only say that they're the infamous leaders of one of the mob families. They're having the same problem with a lot of the other members of the Dragonlords, but some have been identified. Since the coroners aren't going to find any living members, Iseldir has announced that he would be more than willing to pay for the funerals and has already bought a large plot of cemetery land to bury them in. Balinor and Hunith are going to be buried as John and Jane Doe. So are a lot of the other members."
Merlin nodded slowly, thinking over everything. She knew that Gaius would tell her when the funeral was so she could slip in quietly and pay her respects. She would have to find a way to thank Iseldir without letting him know that she was alive. Iseldir was the head of the Druids and had worked closely with the Dragonlords against the much stronger Pendragons. The Pendragons abhorred the use of magic and had no magic users in their ranks. The Druids welcomed everyone and had a healthy mix of magic users and non-magic users. The Dragonlords had a strict magic users only law and the test to become a full-fledged member (which Merlin had passed when she was only thirteen much to the joy of her parents) was grueling and required powerful magic that had been cultivated for years.
After she had finished mulling it over, she looked up to see Gaius staring at her in concern. She gave the old physician a small smile and then asked, "Do you know who ordered the attack and how they found out about tonight's meeting?"
Gaius sighed and gave Merlin a sad look, "Merlin, please don't pursue this matter. It will only get you killed and you know that's the last thing your parents would have wanted." He paused for a moment and stared at Merlin, obviously hoping that his words would have some effect or another on the teen, but Merlin's face remained impassive. Gaius sighed again and finished, "No, I do not know who ordered the hit, or how they found out about the meeting. Merlin, what are you planning?"
The raven haired youth took a deep sip of her tea, closing her eyes briefly in what her mother calls – no, called – her thinking face. When she opened her eyes again, she had made her decision, "I'm going to join the Druids."
Merlin watched as Gaius floundered for words. She knew that the older man wouldn't be able to convince her to change her mind. Gaius had evidently reached that conclusion too because he chuckled tensely and sighed, "You're just like your mother, Merlin. You're so stubborn. What do you hope to gain from joining the Druids? If anything, it will destroy your family's greatest secret: the truth of your birth."
Merlin set down her tea cup and straightened her back. She had most of this figured out. Mainly. Sort of. A little bit. It was too late to turn back now, she told herself sternly. The raven haired beauty smiled at Gaius and said, "They won't find out. I'll cover my Dragonlord tattoo in foundation or putty or something and I know that their tattoos go in a different spot, so the tattoo won't be a problem. No one knows I exist, so no one can recognize me except for you and you wouldn't betray me, nor do you even work for the Druids, so that won't be a problem. I know enough about the mob business to be a formidable ally, so getting hired won't be a problem. My magic is strong and I have enough control to keep my strength hidden, so that won't be a problem. I'm used to the going-ons of people at the top of the mob family being as mom and dad are – were – the leaders of the Dragonlords, so I should be able to work my way up the social ladder pretty quickly. I don't see where the problem is." She grinned at him, showing that she wasn't afraid.
His jaw clenched and his eyebrow wormed its way up to his hairline, but eventually he nodded to her and said, "Good luck, then. I'll try to keep in contact and I'll set up the meeting between you and whoever hires for the Druids. You will wait here until I tell you the meeting is ready to go. I recommend you practice your skills because you're going to need them. Camelot's going to be a bad place for a while as the Druids and the Pendragons both fight for the now open territory." Merlin nodded solemnly to him and they finished their tea in silence.
When they were done, Merlin led Gaius out of the Emrys Mansion. She made a mental note to go to the former members' houses and get their stuff before the houses were repossessed due to non-payment, but for now, she just slid to the floor, leaning against the door.
Merlin Kaida Emrys had lost her entire family, her entire life. She was going to have to start over by betraying everything that the Dragonlords lived for: she was going to join an enemy mob, she was going to have to hide her magic, and she was going to start at the bottom rung of the mob and work her way up. But she was also doing things that her Dragonlord side cried out for her to do: she was going to find their killers, she was going to make people pay for what they had done, and she was going to keep the family business going.
Mind made up, she buried her face in her hands and sobbed.
MMMMMM
It had been a week since that fateful night. Since then, Merlin had gone to every house that had belonged to a Dragonlord. At each house she took their money (it was standard practice that if an entire family died out, the head of the mob group would take the money and split it up among the other families), their pictures, anything that would give the police hints about their names or their mob affiliations, and any item that she knew they had treasured. She would make sure that no one else would get the things they loved.
She had trained in everything from using a gun to politics to make-up techniques. She would keep training until she had avenged the Dragonlords.
Suddenly, her cell phone rang, filling the room with the sound of Mozart, one of Gaius' favorite composers. The blue-eyed teen smiled and grabbed the phone, clicking the answer button even as she was bringing it to her ear.
"Gaius! Did you set up a time?" Merlin started.
"Yes, they're ready to meet one Miss Merlin Emrys. I still don't think that you should have used your real name. They might track it back to the truth and that would not go well for anyone." Gaius answered back.
"Thanks for setting it up! And you shouldn't worry; everything is going to be fine. Who exactly am I meeting, where am I meeting them, and when?" Merlin inquired.
"You are meeting them at the Crystal Cave Café at seven pm on Thursday. You will be greeted by Nimueh and her two sons, Mordred and Frey, along with Isolde and her boyfriend Tristan. Do you remember those names?" Gaius asked.
"Yeah…" Merlin started, pausing before continuing, "Nimueh Blessed, now Nimueh de Bois, is Iseldir's second in command. She was married to Tristan de Bois who is the brother in law of Uther Pendragon. Together they had their two sons: Mordred and Frey like you said. Mordred is a year younger than me and Frey is my age. Tristan de Bois was killed by his brother, Agravaine de Bois. Isolde and Tristan are actually engaged; you were trying to trick me! They don't have any kids, but they are the ones who run the Crystal Cave Café. Have I satisfied you with my knowledge?" Merlin finished.
Gaius sighed over the phone and said, "Yes, you have satisfied me with your knowledge even though I still think this whole idea is ridiculous. I won't try to stop you though. I know that it will be in vain. I wish you luck and hope that you survive your visit with the Druids tomorrow night. Goodbye Merlin."
"Goodbye Gaius!" Merlin hung up the phone and turned to her wardrobe. What to wear, what to wear?
MMMMMM
In the end, Merlin settled on wearing a purple tunic that wrapped around her midsection and was held in place by a large flower pin that rested over her ribs. The sleeves were translucent but tight against her skin. The tunic fell to mid-thigh and lay over tight black leather pants. She wore tall silver heels with open toes and had her hair wrestled into its regular braid falling just past her hips. She topped the look off with some sophisticated silver earrings and dark purple lipstick, making sure that she had a layer of stage putty over her Dragonlord tattoo. She was ready.
Merlin decided on getting to the meeting via motorcycle. She made it there with ten minutes to spare, just like she planned. First she drove by it slightly slowly, making sure she could pick out viable exits and traffic patterns. Then she parked the motorcycle in an alleyway about a block away, making sure that the ride was covered with a canvas in a way that made it look like a pile of trash. She then walked quickly back to the store and made it there with three minutes left. The entire time she was aware that she was being watched and judged.
The black haired teenager walked into the café slowly, examining her surroundings one more time and making sure that none of the exits she had picked out were now blocked. An overly sweet voice called out to her, "Ah, you must be Merlin Emrys! Come here sweet child. It is a pleasure to finally meet you. Our… mutual friend speaks highly of you. I am Nimueh de Bois and these are my sons: Mordred and Frey de Bois."
Merlin smiled and shook Nimueh's hand first, taking in her too blue eyes and her too red smile as she nodded her head to the older woman. Then she reached out to take Mordred's hand, shaking it firmly and smiling at his adorable curly locks and sweet face. Finally, she turned to shake Frey's hand. To her surprise (and delight), he took her hand and raised it to his lips, kissing it lightly like a gentleman of old. Then their eyes met.
It was as if everything froze for a moment. All Merlin could see was Frey and all Frey could see was Merlin. He was beautiful. He had dark chocolate colored hair that was shorter on the sides and long on top, sweeping to the side across his forehead in waves and curls. His brown eyes were large and daring in his pale chiseled face. Frey was wearing a relatively nice suit that somehow showed off his muscular arms.
The moment was broken when the door jingled open and someone called out, "I swear we weren't late! And if we somehow were its Tristan's fault!" Merlin and Frey broke eye contact, both of them blushing furiously and trying to hide the fact.
The last Dragonlord could feel Nimueh's calculating gaze on her and tried to ignore it, choosing instead to listen to Tristan defend himself from his fiancé's accusations. Nimueh eventually cleared her throat and the two stopped, smiling to each other before they quickly shook hands with Merlin, introducing themselves as Isolde and Tristan. Nimueh, being the most senior member, motioned everyone to sit down and waited until the nervous waitress had brought the food to the table to start talking.
When the food had been dished out, Nimueh spoke up, "We look for very specific things when choosing our new members. You have already shown us that you are polite, punctual, and cultured, which are necessary components. You have shown that you are street smart with the way you handled your vehicle and entering a foreign place. You have shown that you understand the subtleties of manipulation by choosing to wear the colors of our… family. Over dinner, we'll be asking you questions and we expect you to answer as truthfully as possible." Merlin nodded to her seriously while dutifully eating her food.
Nimueh nodded back and said, "Alright, here's your first question: do your parents know of your mob affiliations in reference to our mutual friend."
"Yes ma'am. My parents are not affiliated with any particular mob group and, in fact do not participate in any illegal activity. They travel the world for their job and they come home about once a year." Merlin answered carefully. She had thought about how to answer that and decided that was the closest to the truth she could get.
Nimueh nodded again and this time Isolde asked a question, "What level of school are you in and what grade?"
Merlin responded, "I am taking an online college course and am in what would be my junior year if I was actually in college." The two women nodded to themselves and went back to eating. Merlin narrowed her eyes at them momentarily, not quite sure why they stopped asking questions.
After a few minutes of silence, Tristan spoke up, "When did you start learning magic?"
The raven haired teen answered quickly, sure that this was a test, and "Magic is a dangerous thing. What makes you think I've learned it at all?"
Tristan smiled thinly at her, "Good answer, but our mutual friend actually told me that you have magic. He didn't say when you started learning, though. I'm simply curious, that's all." He shrugged nonchalantly to show his seeming disinterest.
Merlin smiled gracefully back at him, "I started learning when I was thirteen." That was true in a way. She started learning the complicated spells when she was thirteen. They just didn't need to know that.
Mordred asked quietly, his voice completely serious, "How old are you?"
"Seventeen." Merlin answered just as solemnly before raising an eyebrow Gaius style. She noticed Frey's lips curl into a smile and ducked her head so no one would see her blush. Honestly. It was like he had turned her into a little middle school girl again, but she couldn't deny the way he made her heart pump whenever their eyes met.
Then Frey questioned, "Are you carrying a gun right now?" His voice was rich and perfectly accented and slightly incredulous as if it just occurred to him that she might be carrying.
This time it was her lips that curled into a smile and she tried her best not to blush as she looked in his general direction, "Yes, I am. I figured that most, if not all, of you would be carrying a gun or two of your own, so I should bring one as well." Merlin glanced pointedly at Nimueh's thigh, Isolde's arm, and Tristan's ankle. Thanks to her parents' training on identifying where people hid their guns, she had been able to pick out the weapons almost immediately upon setting eyes on each person. Strangely enough, Frey and Mordred were gunless.
Nimueh laughed a bright, tinkling laugh and smiled at Merlin, "You definitely are a special girl. We would be honored if you joined our family, Merlin Emrys. Now you must make a decision: do you want to go ahead and try for full membership right away tonight or wait a while. Either way is fine by us."
Merlin took a second to observe her body language and go over the fluctuations in her tone before answering. She knew that whatever she answered right now would decide what Nimueh thought of her for the rest of her time as a Druid. Merlin allowed herself a moment of exultation as she fully processed that she had just joined the Druids and it hadn't even been an hour. Finally, Merlin nodded to herself and answered Nimueh, "I think I'll wait a little bit before trying to achieve full membership. I'll try to get used to the lay of the land first." The raven haired girl added a grin at the end.
When Nimueh's face broke into a delighted smile, Merlin knew she had made the right choice. And when she happened to see the bright smile cross Frey's face it was a total accident. She totally wasn't looking for it. Not at all. Merlin sighed to herself. She was definitely crushing on this guy. Great.
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Merlin thought over the rest of the meeting as she rode away on her motorcycle. They had exchanged pleasantries throughout the rest of dinner and Merlin hadn't noticed until the end that the others had stayed in the background while Frey and Merlin talked. She normally wasn't so unobservant, but when it came to him, she just couldn't think straight. Evidently that was normal for girls her age, but she didn't get out much and the only boy her age who knew her was Will. Merlin thought on him for a second. She had never thought about him romantically before. They had grown up together and were more like brother and sister or maybe cousins. Merlin didn't know. The only family she had had was her mom and her dad. Now they were gone like Will and like every person who knew she existed other than Gaius.
Merlin dragged her mind away from those thoughts and went back to the meeting with the Druids. After the dinner, Nimueh had slid the teenage girl a packet of papers. Merlin had picked it up in confusion and asked, "What are these?"
Nimueh answered easily, "These are the employment forms that you have to sign in order to work here at the Crystal Cave Café." At Merlin's surprised look, Nimueh smirked and continued, "You will work here all day and continue to go through your online college course. When someone has a job, they'll be in that corner booth there." Nimueh pointed to it before starting again, "Isolde and Tristan will teach you a set of code phrases that will let you know what your assignment is. For now, you'll only be getting the easy ones. You'll let Isolde or Tristan know when you want to try for full membership. Is this all understood?"
The pitch black haired woman had purposefully changed from her motherly attitude to one of a pristine higher up in a mob family who knows what they're doing to intimidate Merlin, but she was ready for it. She had actually been waiting for that since the meal started. So when Nimueh did it then, Merlin was able to answer clearly, "Yes ma'am."
Nimueh sent another shark's grin at the newest part-time member of the Druids before commenting offhandedly, "Oh and its Iseldir's wish that no one from the Pendragons can know that you've joined the Druids. We're keeping all of our newest members a secret after what happened to the Dragonlords."
Merlin wasn't quite able to hide the expression of pain that came over her face when the Dragonlords were mentioned; it was too soon, but luckily Nimueh translated it as anxiety instead. She spoke soothingly to the raven haired teen, "I'm sure that Iseldir won't let something like that happen to us. We're being very careful and avoiding large meetings now. In fact, we're lucky it didn't happen to us. We used to have member wide meetings every month and we're only now realizing how dangerous that could have been. Anyway, we must go now. It has been a pleasure meeting you." And then they all shook her hand and said goodbye, except for Frey. He stopped in front of her, smiled, and then brought her hand to his lips again, looking deep into her eyes this time before turning and walking away again. Merlin left the café beet red.
A stray car alarm starting in the background broke Merlin out of her memories. She took a sharp right turn and continued to loop in circles for a while, making sure that no one could track her back to her home.
UUUUUU
Uther Pendragon stormed into his mansion room, startling the people there. They were all high up in his organization and he noted with a sense of pride his son standing in the room, talking seriously to the people there. They all turned to look at him and he lifted his chin, continuing to storm his way to the front of the room. He stood with his hands pressing down against the top of his chair, making sure to look each member in the eye, conveying the seriousness of this meeting. Then he asked very deliberately, "Did any of you order the hit on the Dragonlords one week ago?"
The men in the room glanced around at each other in fear, unsure of what to say. Uther felt his patience wearing thin and eventually shouted, "Did any of you order the hit on the Dragonlords one week ago?!" Several of the members of his mob group actually cringed back in fear. They started mumbling no, getting more courageous with each person who spoke, until the entire room had denied their aid in that event. He knew they were telling the truth because no one would dare lie to him and if they had ordered the hit, they would probably try to brag about it, thinking it some great feat for their lord. They would have been right.
Uther was glad that someone had managed to destroy the Dragonlords once and for all and only wished that he could have been there to see the scum wiped from his city. They were all vile magic users who were relentless in the control of their lands, unlike the Druids who were easily pushed around and forced out. All they want is peace. Uther internally scoffed at the idea. There would be no peace in this city until only the Pendragons were left. With no more Dragonlords to get in the way, Uther could finally begin his extermination of the magical community. He would bring down a plague on the evil devil worshipers in the form of hatred. Soon, Camelot would be known as the only city completely free of magic users.
Uther would hunt them all down and kill them one by one if he had to. The time was right and his people were ready. Soon, a Great Purge would begin!