Good Morrow
I didn't like how Tristan and Isolde went in the episode, so I'm writing this to "end" it differently. Also there is no such thing as too much Old Merlin! Spoilers for 4X13, so if you haven't seen it and don't want to know, stop here. On second thoughts, if you haven't seen 4X13, this won't make much sense so you might want to stop here anyway. Goes off canon almost from the start – well, obviously!
Normal disclaimers apply, don't own Merlin etc….
Warlock in hiding
Merlin was running with Gwen back to the throne room. He hoped that Helios hadn't come up with anything too sneaky and that Arthur's injuries hadn't stopped him from winning, and most importantly surviving. He knew that Gwen had the same fears as she sped through the halls. They burst into the throne room and stopped stunned! The briefest glance told them that though Arthur was alive and well, Isolde was beyond help. Merlin could see her still breathing but just barely. The way Tristan was holding her told him all he needed to know; if Tristan had given up hope there was none. Merlin didn't have time to think, he acted on instinct: he froze the others with a flash of gold from his eyes.
"What do I do, what can I do," Merlin tried to search his mind for something that he could use to heal her and damn the consequences, but there was nothing. He knew something about healing, how could he not after all these years with Gaius, but this was something you needed the Cup of Life for or… Or a Dragon! But he couldn't get Kilgarrah here now! And taking Isolde to him would take too much time… Unless… All these thoughts run through his mind in a matter of couple of seconds and suddenly he knew; he muttered a few words in the old tongue and unfroze everyone.
"What is this!" Tristan exclaimed as he saw a golden aura suddenly surrounding Isolde.
"Where did that come from?" Arthur pushed himself away from the pillar he had been leaning on and took a few steps closer.
"Is she…?" Gwen didn't dare finish her sentence as she got down on her knees next to Tristan.
"Not yet," Tristan replied. "She got wounded when she saved Arthur's life. I don't know what this glowing means."
"Let me see," Merlin said trying to sound confused and like a healer's apprentice at the same time.
"Merlin!" Arthur exclaimed as he suddenly realized that Merlin was back with Gwen. "Can you figure this out? Is it magic?"
"I can't imagine what else it could be," Merlin stated as he touched Isolde's lips to check if she was breathing, tried for a pulse and looked at her wound. "She seems to be breathing, though just barely. I can't find a pulse and her wound is not bleeding, but she isn't dead. I think she is in some kind of suspended state. She isn't dying but she isn't healing either. I need to consult Gaius or his books for this."
"But if it's magic, is it good or bad?" Gwen wanted to know.
"My guess would be that someone has given us time to figure out if there is anything we can do to save her," Merlin said.
"What could we possibly do to save her," Tristan cried. "You see the wound! Have you ever seen anyone recover from something like this? Have you ever even tried to treat a wound like this?"
"If this is what I think," Merlin replied cautiously. "Then I don't think I'm the one who is expected to treat this."
"You think Gaius could save her?" Gwen wondered.
"We don't even know if Gaius has survived Morgana's prison," Arthur sighed. "You mean someone else, don't you Merlin."
"I'd have to talk with Gaius," Merlin prevaricated as he stood up and stepped back. "But someone has already helped us. Somehow Morgana's powers were nullified for long enough for us to win; to get Camelot back. Someone is already helping us and I'm sure this, too, is his work."
"What if this Gaius hasn't survived?" Tristan asked barely allowing some hope rekindle in his heart.
"I'll have to think of something," Merlin said. "Unless there is already a plan in place."
"Merlin, you know the law," Arthur lowered his voice as he pulled Merlin a little to the side. "And I know Gaius trusts him, but I'm uneasy about this, about magic in general. You've seen what magic did to Morgana. And others. It corrupts! Think of Morgause! And what happened to Cendred."
"I understand sire," Merlin whispered back. "But since magic is outlawed in Camelot you haven't seen anything but dark magic, magical attacks against you, your Father and Camelot. But that is not all there is to magic. A king can use his power to benefit his people or to fatten his own purse. A skilled fighter can fight to protect or to destroy. Magic in itself if neither good nor bad, people choose for themselves how they use it. There are good people who use magic for good. If Gaius trusts him, then I believe so can we."
"He didn't do much good with my Father," Arthur reminded Merlin.
"I know," Merlin still felt the pain of his failure though he knew it was Agravaine and Morgana's doing. "But even magic can't save everyone."
"What makes him think he can save Isolde then?" Arthur insisted.
"I don't know," Merlin had to admit. "It's possible he can't. But he wouldn't have done this, risked being seen by you and being caught by either side of this battle if he wasn't sure there was something he could at least try."
"What are you two whispering about," Gwen called to them. "It looks like you are arguing about something."
"Just that I don't trust magic," Arthur admitted.
"So what do you suggest we do?" Tristan confronted him. "Can you lift this spell that is on Isolde? Or do you plan to put her on her funeral pyre even before she is dead? I don't know what the sorcerer who did this is planning to do, but I plan to stick by Isolde's side until I find out. And if I don't like his plans I will kill him. And if I don't like your plans…."
"You'll kill me," Arthur asked with a small smile.
"No," Tristan allowed. "She got wounded saving you. Whatever happens I will not let her sacrifice be in vain. But that doesn't mean I will let you decide her fate."
"Fair enough," Arthur accepted. "So what do we do?"
"We need to get the wounded together and treat them," Gwen stated. "I'll round up as many of the women I can and we set up an infirmary in the great hall. Isolde can rest there as well as anywhere. And Gaius will surely be there too, hopefully."
"No, I think it would be better if Isolde was taken to Gaius's chambers," Merlin inserted. "There is nothing we can do for her right now, so all she needs is a place where Tristan can watch over her. And where I can try and find some answers. Gaius was Uther's advisor on magic for years and he has a lot of books about magic in his library."
"I like that better," Tristan said. "Can you show me the way to the chambers?"
"Of course," Merlin replied turning to go.
"Wait, Merlin," Arthur stopped him. "What happened to Morgana?"
"We don't know," Gwen was the one to tell him. "I got into a fight with her and wasn't doing too well when the roof fell on her and when the dust settled she was gone."
"Just like last time!" Arthur exclaimed. "We won't even know if she is dead or alive."
"I think we better assume alive," Merlin sighed. "Just in case."
"Right," Arthur agreed wearily. "You take Tristan and Isolde to Gaius's rooms, Gwen will start organizing the infirmary and I'll round up the knights and we'll make sure we've got rid of all the intruders and see that all the wounded get to the women. And we need to find Gaius, who hopefully is still alive and well enough."
Everybody dispersed with their assigned tasks and Merlin led the way for Tristan who was carefully carrying Isolde. They made it to Gaius's chambers and Tristan lowered Isolde to the cot Gaius had there for patients. The place was something of a mess, but not as bad as Merlin had feared. Apparently Morgana had figured that Gaius's stores might come in handy so there had been no wanton destruction here.
"I'll go and see if I can find Gaius," Merlin said. "But it will probably be evening before he will come to see Isolde, unless he thinks there is something to be concerned about."
"I dare say there will be enough wounded men in need of immediate care for him to worry about," Tristan accepted. "Try to keep me posted."
"I will," Merlin said. "I'll try to come by as often as possible and I'm sure Gwen will come, too. We need to get to Gaius's remedies but neither will we forget about Isolde, I promise. Not after what she did."
"Good," Tristan moved a stool next to Isolde's cot and sat down. "I'll wait."
"The battle seems to be pretty much over, so I don't think there is any danger anymore, but have your sword at hand, just in case," Merlin cautioned before he left. "I'll let people know you're here, so they know what to expect if we need to send someone else for the supplies."
Merlin left Tristan to watch over Isolde and ran towards the great hall. He figured that Percival would have taken Gwaine, Elyan and Gaius there as soon as he got them out of the dungeons. With whatever other prisoners he might have found there. He just hoped they were all still alive and well. Or at least well enough given that Morgana would not have cared much for their well being, so any wounds they might have got during the invasion would not have been properly cared for. Merlin doubted she would have seen to their other needs either. That was no longer in her nature. And still, Merlin didn't believe it was her magic that had corrupted her; she had felt slighted and she had been afraid and all that had turned into bitterness and she had willingly given room for the darkness in her soul. Indeed, there was darkness in every man's soul, but there was light too and it was the light you needed to turn to and nurture. All these thoughts ran through his mind only half acknowledged as he made his way to the great hall. He didn't see any fighting on his way. Most corridors were empty and what soldiers he saw were mostly from Camelot and if there were any of Morgana's men around, they were prisoners or dead.
When Merlin reached the hall he saw Percival immediately and made his way to the cot he was standing over. As he got closer he found Gwaine and Elyan there as well, and as he had expected, Gaius was on the bed they were hovering over. Percival left them with a nod as soon as Merlin got to the bed; there were enough wounded around who needed to be moved and Gaius was now safe.
"Gaius!" Merlin exclaimed worriedly. "Gaius, how…"
"I'm fine," Gaius claimed though weakly. "Fresh air, some decent food and rest and I'll be right as rain in no time."
"That may be a little optimistic," Elyan muttered. "You were fading fast."
"But I'm out of the dungeons now and Gwen and Merlin will take good care of me," Gaius reassured him. "You and Gwaine kept me alive for long enough and I do thank you. But you can let others look after me now and get yourselves checked in turn. You two didn't do that much better under Morgana's care."
"I think you get much more co-operation from Gaius if you do as you're told and let Gwen check you out," Merlin told Gwaine and Elyan. "Gwaine especially looks like he has been in a tavern fight every night of the week and twice just yesterday."
"Morgana made him fight for our supper," Gaius told Merlin. "Or my supper, to be exact. Those two wouldn't eat. Mind you, it wasn't exactly a feast that she was giving us even then, but it was still food."
"So you were having the time of your life," Merlin observed dryly to Gwaine.
"Well, you must find what fun you can," Gwaine grinned at him. "And at least I was given a chance to fight back. Unlike Elyan." Gwaine's face turned grim as he remembered the state Elyan had been in when he was pushed into their cell.
"I suspected Elyan wouldn't have given our location to Morgana voluntarily," Merlin sighed searching Elyan's face with concerned eyes. "I'm glad you survived."
"I shouldn't have told her," Elyan felt ashamed for betraying his king.
"Elyan," Merlin turned to him and grabbed his shoulders. "Morgana knew that you knew where we were heading and she wanted that information. You never had a chance of keeping it to yourself because she would have stopped at nothing to get it out of you. I'm just glad you told her before she went too far. Though I do fear she went far enough as it was."
"Yes, she did," Gaius inserted. "I'm amazed Elyan lasted as long as he did, and survived it."
"You have nothing to be ashamed of," Gwaine insisted. "That snake or whatever it was she used on you sure was a vicious thing. You were barely alive and we feared for your sanity when they brought you to us."
"Stop blaming yourself," Merlin told Elyan. "You bought us enough time. We got to Ealdor, got a chance to rest and then we had an escape route through the caves nearby. Agravaine never had a chance of catching us."
"Yeah, that's a funny thing," Gwaine remembered something. "Agravaine and his men never came back from their hunt. I heard the guards whispering about it as I was being taken to Morgana the other evening. Most of the men had apparently been killed by a dragon, or so they assumed as they had all been burned to a crisp. And Agravaine and what few men had survived that attack were found in the caves dead. Without a mark on them, too. Just dead. There was talk about an even greater sorcerer than Morgana working against her."
"A dragon?" Elyan wondered. "Didn't Arthur kill the last dragon a few years ago? I'm sure I've heard Leon tell that story quite a few times. Even if there is another sorcerer who wants Camelot, where would he get a dragon from?"
"If Arthur killed a dragon, why isn't its head or hide on display somewhere in the castle?" Gwaine wanted to know. "Surely Uther at least would have wanted to do that. And I'm sure the Princess wouldn't have objected to the idea either. In fact, I'm surprised he didn't have boots made out of the hide!"
"The dragon didn't die immediately," Merlin said. "Arthur gave it a fatal wound and it managed to fly away to where ever it is dragons go to die."
"Are you sure it was a fatal wound?" Gwaine demanded. "What if it was just a bad wound and the dragon recovered?"
"Then why didn't the attacks resume," Gaius muttered from his bed. "The dragon was rather determined. Only a dragon lord could have kept him away and Balinor, the last dragon lord, died when he and Arthur and Merlin were attacked by bandits."
"Could a wyvern do something like that?" Elyan asked.
"It would need to be a pretty big wyvern," Gwaine said. "And they don't breathe fire, so no, not likely."
"As no eye witness survived," Gaius inserted his opinion. "It is unlikely we will find out what happened. Now, are you two going to get treatment for your injuries or do I have to spend what little strength I have left and make you?"
"We're going," Elyan accepted there was no help for it. "You just rest. We'll be back once Gwen has seen what she can do for us."
"Good," Gaius smiled at them. "Shoo and let Merlin take over for now."
Gwaine and Elyan finally left them alone. Merlin knelt down, next to Gaius and stared him in the eyes trying to see, if he had been lying when he said he would be fine.
"I didn't lie," Gaius told him. "I am weak. Dungeons are not the best places to spend a week in at my age and I am suffering from lack of food, but I will be fine. I promise."
"Good," Merlin accepted that Gaius was telling the truth. "I was afraid we wouldn't make it back in time."
"You did," Gaius reassured him. "Mind you, it did seem that we had outstayed our welcome, so it is a good thing you came when you did and not later."
"You mean Morgana had decided to execute you?" Merlin asked.
"That was what she implied the last time we saw her," Gaius nodded. "I think the people were less than willing to accept her as the queen, so she wanted to show them what happens to those who displease her."
"I still can't believe the change in her," Merlin mourned. "When I first came to Camelot, she would never have done anything like this. She would never have turned so completely against everyone who loved her."
"The seeds had to have been there even then," Gaius sighed. "I don't know what we could have done to change the outcome. Uther was the key and he was never going to dishonour Gorlois's memory by telling everyone that his beloved daughter wasn't his."
"Too bad he didn't honour his friend enough when he was alive," Merlin muttered.
"I agree with you there," Gaius said. "But what was done was done. We can't change that now."
"True," Merlin mused. "Some things just can't be remedied."
"Merlin?" Gaius narrowed his eyes at the boy. Something was going on with Merlin and if he knew the boy well, and he did, it wasn't something he was going to approve of. "What have you done now? And don't try to deny you have done something, because I've seen you like this before and I can read you like an open book. At least most of the time and this is definitely one of those times."
"Well," Merlin lowered his voice and looked around to make sure nobody was too close. "I did do something."
"Go on," Gaius prompted with trepidation.
"You see," Merlin wasn't quite sure how to explain this, but he decided to start from the beginning. "When we were running from Camelot, Arthur and I came across these smugglers who agreed to let us travel with them towards Ealdor."
"Smugglers?" Gaius raised his eyebrows at Merlin. "I'm sure Arthur had a thing or two to say about that."
"He did the next morning," Merlin revealed. "But when we came across them, he was still under the spell. And then the next morning we were attacked by Agravaine's men. Anyway, Arthur saved Isolde's life in the attack and she and Tristan agreed to come with us to Ealdor. Well, they didn't have any reason not to, as the goods were lost and most of their men were dead and the rest had just run away."
"Tristan and Isolde?" Gaius asked. "The smugglers were a couple then?"
"Yes. Anyway, long story short, they decided to join us in the battle against Morgana," Merlin went on. "I had bound Morgana's magic so she couldn't use it but there was still Helios. Morgana ran and Gwen and I went after her – she got away, by the way -, when we got back, Isolde was mortally wounded. She had saved Arthur but Helios got her with his last breath. I couldn't watch her just die so I…"
"You what?" Gaius narrowed his eyes at Merlin. And the dreaded eyebrow went up as well.
"I froze everyone for a second and then I put a spell on Isolde," Merlin confessed. "She is in stasis; suspended between living and dying."
"I see," Gaius glared at Merlin. "And what is your plan? Or do you have one? It is true that you can keep someone alive for days, even months in that state, but the longer it goes on the less likely it becomes that she will emerge from it intact. And it won't heal her. Once you remove the spell she will still be a few breaths away from dying. What did you think you were doing? Giving Tristan more time to get used to it?"
"No," Merlin tried to shush Gaius down because he was getting a bit too agitated for his present state of health. "Nothing like that. I just wanted a bit more time. I plan to take her to Kilgarrah tonight."
"What?" Gaius did a good job at yelling while keeping his voice nearly inaudible. "How do you plan to do that and still keep your secret. Any of your secrets."
"As you heard from Gwaine," Merlin stated. "There are already rumours about the dragon. Tristan and Isolde are in your rooms and I will take them to meet Kilgarrah tonight. Tristan is new here, so if an old man goes to him and tells him to bring Isolde outside for whatever herbs are too delicate to be preserved or whatever he has no reason to be overly suspicious. He will think it's you. If he proves difficult, I'll just use magic on him. As he won't know it's me, it won't matter."
"Might matter to me," Gaius growled. "If he accuses me of sorcery."
"Once he sees you he will know it wasn't you," Merlin pointed out. "We'll both be safe and Emrys will get the blame."
"And if Isolde is healed Tristan probably won't be too keen on retribution or law anyway," Gaius admitted. "It may work. Dragon's breath can cure almost anything. Or possibly absolutely anything. But will Kilgarrah do it?"
"I don't know," Merlin worried. "He knows the past and the prophesies and he can see some of the future, too. If he thinks healing Isolde is a bad idea, I won't make him. But I have to try this."
"You need a lot of luck to pull this off, you know," Gaius cautioned Merlin.
"I know," Merlin sighed. "But with the after battle chaos I have the best chance I can."
"I wish you luck in your endeavour," Gaius accepted that Merlin was going to do what he was going to do and there was nothing he could say to change the boy's mind. And he wasn't even sure he wanted to.
"Thank you," Merlin said. "Now I better start helping Gwen with the wounded and see to it that Tristan gets something to eat and won't feel we've forgotten about him. Arthur will probably need to be dragged in to have his injuries checked on, so I better see if I can find him, too."
"A servant's work is never done," Gaius smiled at Merlin.
"Don't I know that," Merlin smiled back. "Need to go now. And don't you move from there! I expect to be the bane of your life for a quite few more years."
"I expect you will be," Gaius declared as Merlin sped away from his bedside.
Merlin spent the rest of the day running around Camelot. He was helping with the wounded, both those brought to the great hall and those nobody wanted to move until Merlin – the stand in physician – had checked them. He looked in on Tristan and Isolde a couple of times and got, with great difficulty, Arthur to come and have his injuries treated. Finally all immediate tasks had been finished and he had time to think of his plan to heal Isolde. Though not that much time since it was early evening already and he needed to get Isolde to the glade soon, if he wanted to call Kilgarrah to her in the cover of the night. It was a moonlit night, too, but he knew that he could do something about that, as he didn't need to hide his magic once they got outside of the city walls.