The Castle of Éadbald - Chapter One
It had been a hot and uneventful summer for the knights of Camelot. Since the signing of the peace treaty there had been no border skirmishes or defence of the Kingdom to be made. There were no beasts bearing down on the good people of Camelot and sorcerers and Druids appeared to be taking a holiday. Arthur was going stir crazy. There were only so many hunting trips and drills a man could do. Merlin had been treading on eggs around Arthur for weeks. Any little thing drove him into a bad tempered bear and Merlin usually was the one to get bitten.
Merlin walked into Arthur's chambers. The Prince was standing by the fireplace and turned on him with a scowl.
"How many times Merlin must I tell you to knock before you walk in." Arthur's voice was steely and cold.
'Worse than being shouted at.' thought Merlin, giving the prince an apologetic bow. "Sorry Sire," Said Merlin with as much deference as he could muster.
"And don't put on that servile act Merlin," demanded Arthur, his anger warming up. "You of all people should know that does not impress me."
"Yes …Si…..Arthur." Merlin was feeling uncomfortable now.
Arthur usually gave full rein to his anger or else was easily persuaded out of it. This was something in between. "Is there anything I can do for you Arthur?" Said Merlin, wishing he were somewhere else.
"Only if you can change my entire nature Merlin." Arthur's tone had shifted again and there was a bitter sadness in his voice. Merlin. who had hardly moved into the room, moved closer.
"Why would you want that?" He asked gently.
Arthur turned to face Merlin, his arms outstretched and his eyes wild with frustration and annoyance.
"Look at me!"
"I'm looking." A smile crept onto Merlin's face. Arthur really did look comical when he was furious.
"And what's that smirk about Merlin? Take something seriously for once!"
"Yes Arthur….sorry Arthur…….What am I supposed to be looking at exactly?"
The prince glared at him scornfully.
"What am I Merlin?"
Merlin looked him up and down. He was tempted to insult him. He had put on a few pounds in the past few weeks.
"Prince?" He offered.
"Yes…." said Arthur impatiently.
"Unhappy….Prince?"
Arthur rolled his eyes skyward and levelled them again at his servant.
"I am a fighter Merlin," he seethed," A warrior! This peaceful alliance is driving me mad. I've become redundant, like an old horse put out to pasture." Arthur sat heavily in his chair.
"What will I do Merlin, in a peaceful Kingdom? Peace is what we want but when it comes I descend into this apathetic mess. I need problems to solve, something to fight. What will happen when sorcery is defeated and all is well in the kingdom. What will I do?"
Merlin saw that there was real distress in the warrior prince and he took on a more serious demeanour. He drew closer still and spoke in earnest. When he used that voice Arthur always listened, he took on that thoughtful air that lowered his guard and it was easy to see how much he respected Merlin.
"You will always have something to overcome Arthur, if not for your Kingdom then maybe in yourself. Why don't you find out what does need doing and do it?"
Arthur's face brightened. " You might have something there Merlin," he said, an eagerness returning to his eyes. "Go and find me something Merlin, a challenge, something big"
Arthur slapped Merlin on the shoulder and nodded towards the door as though he had was sending him down to the kitchen to fetch food. "Off you go now."
"Why on earth did you promise him that Merlin?" said Gaius, when Merlin told him of his orders.
"I didn't promise him anything. I made a suggestion and he just went ahead of himself."
Merlin started scanning the books that Gaius had piled up on his various tables. He cast a stream of questions
over his shoulder to Gaius who was still in the middle of an experiment. "How do I find something to keep an overactive Prince happy? Are there any beasts to kill? Damsels he could rescue? Dragons he could get himself knocked out by?"
"Don't you think Arthur has killed enough wild things both real and legendary?" retorted Gaius sharply. "We will be running out of myths before the century ends!"
What about the damsel in distress then? Asked Merlin hopefully.
"Do you really think Gwen will be happy with Arthur running off after some pampered princess. No we have to find something real for him to do."
Merlin chose a spell book, half tempted to conjure up some beast for Arthur to slay, but was put off by the thought that he might be turning into a kind of pimp for the 'hunting for pleasure' fraternity. Gaius abandoned his experiment; Merlin had interrupted him at a crucial point and the results would be compromised anyway. He cast a weary but indulgent look at his adopted son then reached for a book on a high shelf and blew the dust off it.
" How about this?" He said, handing Merlin a large leather bound book. "Open it about here." he added leaning over to find the page. He tapped it with his finger. "There….see"
Across a double page was an illustration of a dark castle, in the top left hand corner a diagram of a room and in the centre of the room an elaborately carved stone.
"What's that?" asked Merlin with interest.
"That is the stone of Twifeald."
"Magic?" asked Merlin.
"No, not that I'm aware of. It is made from a unique compound, which is said to repel destructive forces. The legend has it that whichever King owns the Twifeald stone will be protected against attack or evil deeds.
"Well Arthur won't believe that." Said Merlin.
"It is much more likely that it has some other purpose and anyway Arthur doesn't have to believe in it. I'm sure I don't, but nevertheless this stone has been the cause of countless deaths as men have fought over it for centuries. There was a King, Eadbald, who tried to destroy it but at the last moment he relented and hid it somewhere in his castle. If he had destroyed it a thousand lives would have been saved, as it was when the neighbouring Kingdoms heard he owned it they waged war with each other to win the right to fight him."
"What happened exactly." asked Merlin," enjoying what sounded more like a bedtime story than a serious proposition.
Gaius settled into a nearby chair, aware of the fact that his entire experiment had now been a waste of time.
"The problem with having something that protects you like this is that it also makes you invincible, at least it would in theory. One way or another Merlin, it was seen as a great source of power. Everyone assumed that whoever held it held sway over all the other Kingdoms. There was a terrible loss of life. Strong, noble men went mad with an all consuming lust, and poor weak Eadbald could still not bring himself to destroy it so he turned his hand on himself and ended his own life. His Kingdom fell into ruin and the stone was never found.
"So it didn't protect him from himself" said Merlin.
Gaius looked at his boy with admiration; he could be so astute, such a delight to teach.
"Sadly not Merlin, but then what can save us from ourselves? Not anything in this world, not even magic."
Gaius turned over several pages of the book and pulled out an old parchment, he unfolded it carefully and laid it out on the table. "This is a map to Eadbald's castle, just a pile of ruins now I'm sure, but I have kept it safe for 30 years and others have before me stretching back three centuries. Arthur would serve humanity itself if he were to find this stone and destroy it."
Merlin turned back to the page with the castle and traced the picture of the stone with his fingers. The drawing was fine and the pigments had been laid down in such a way that it seemed to be glowing and sitting just above the page. But Merlin could not feel any magic in it.
"But if it has not been found for three hundred years then why not just leave it hidden?"
"Ah, a good question." said Gaius raising his right eyebrow and smiling broadly. "That would appear to be the best policy, but there is more to it than that. Somewhere in the library there are prophecies about the stone and they tell of a future when the stone will cause the greatest war of all time. As long as the stone exists there will be power hungry men looking for it and killing for it"
"How far in the future Gaius?" Asked Merlin, his eyes narrowing.
"Oh," said Gaius, feigning indifference, "Well lets just say that you are unlikely to have a grey hair by the time it comes.
If this war happens it may come even before Arthur is King. But then again it may not happen at all!" said Gaius abruptly taking the book out of Merlin's hands as though he had suddenly thought better of it.
"Now run along Merlin." Said Gaius in a mock parental tone. "I have things to do."
Merlin stood up and cast a sidelong look at Gaius, the canny old man was up to something. 'Was this all some fantasy he had invented to wind him up?' He wouldn't be surprised if it was. Gaius was as bored by the lack of adventure as anyone else. As he descended the stairs with his usual pretence of purpose and haste, Merlin pondered on the behaviour of his two closest friends. 'Off you go? Run along? What was going on today? Had he suddenly grown a tail?' But his next thought made him grin ear to ear. Geoffrey of Monmouth was away visiting his sister. 'Just a little incantation.' thought Merlin 'and I'll be knee deep in books.'