Chapter 1
How many years has it been? She couldn't remember anymore. The years ran by, and still nobody had returned. It had been too long, too long to remember many of her friends that had died long ago.
Thank god she found them again.
For Merlin, Henry VIII was a lame king. For some reason Arthur came back as an advisor, one of the king's closest. His former half brother, Morgan, was also an advisor to the king, but he was surprisingly less violent than he once was. Lancelot was the third advisor Merlin knew, and he was by far the most level-headed. When King Henry announced he was going to marry Anne it was Lance who kept the other two in line.
Thank god he did, too. Recently, Henry made it known that his advisors had to renounce the Pope and Rome. This was a huge shock to everyone, servants included, but if they didn't do as the king commanded, they'd all be killed.
Most of this news Merlin heard through other servants. She remembered quite a few of them as former Knights, but of course none of the other girls would remember that happened so long ago. They hadn't changed a bit.
This morning was no different, really. The girls gossiped while getting ready for the day.
"So what'll happen if they don't sign? He won't really kill them, will he?" Glorianna asked absentmindedly.
"Of course he will! You heard about Sir Thomas More." Eleanor waved a comb at her friend as if to recall the whole incident.
"I heard that was all a ruse, that he's just testing them." Leon added to the conversation.
"That's the worst theory I've ever heard!"
It was mindless chatter between the servants. As usual, Merlin was mostly listening while making sly comments with Gwen, one of the king's main servants. Thankfully, Merlin was Arthur's servant again. She felt relieved almost every time one of the other girls complained about their advisor and how "demanding" or "strange" they were.
Finally Gwen reminded the other girls that they actually had jobs to attend to, "Alright, let's get a move on! Victoria, do not splash your tray, it looks horrendous. Eleanor, please do not try to carry everything with one hand again. And, Glorianna, why on earth haven't you left for the Lady Morgouse's room yet?!"
Glorianna looked around the small, almost empty room, confused. "I usually walk there with Moria. Where'd she go?"
Merlin stepped in. "Sir Morgan's been getting up earlier and earlier lately. Moria's already there."
Glorianna nodded quickly and popped out of the room.
Gwen smoothed out her dress and picked up her tray. "I'll see you later, Merlin. Good luck with Arthur."
"Thanks." The two left for their respective rooms.
To her surprise, Arthur was already awake and writing at his desk.
"Good morning, Sir," Merlin set the tray on the table. "Forgive me, I did not know you were already awake."
"Good morning, Merlin. It's quite alright, I just couldn't sleep." Arthur waves his hand as if to dispel the matter.
"Feeling ill, Sir?"
"Physically, no. Mentally, a little bit." The advisor begins pacing behind his desk. "You know the girl who has to take prisoners to be executed, right?"
She nods quickly. "Yes Sir. She doubles as Sir Morgan's servant."
"Tell me, Merlin, how many people were executed this past week?"
Merlin pauses, trying to remember all the people. "Around ten, I believe."
He sighs. "And I fear more executions will take place this week. This whole kingdom is being ripped apart. Warn the servants, will you? Tell them to tread lightly; I don't want any of them to die for our ridiculous squabble."
She nods again, then curtsies. "Yes, of course, Sir. Will that be all?"
"Yes, thank you."
Merlin had a break before she had to go back and assist Arthur every day when almost no one else did, so she usually talked to Moria. To say they didn't like each other in the last life would have been a huge understatement. In fact, it took Merlin a while to remind herself to not punch Moria in the face every time they saw each other. For some weird reason, however, they got along pretty well this time around. Merlin suspected it was because Moria had no reason to hate Arthur or want to kill him.
Today all they could talk about was the executions.
"Arthur warned me about servants being executed this morning. He suspected a lot of people would die this week."
"It looks like he's right, so far," Moria lowered her voice. "we've got one today, even. The girl couldn't keep her mouth shut about her opinions on the new queen, so her head's gone."
Merlin shook her head. "The underground execution sounds like a horrible way to go."
"Trust me, it is. All the doomed people want us to hear their official last words. They're usually horrible last words, too."
"Really? Like what?"
"Well, this one guy last week told us that for his dying request he wanted to hold a gold bar. Surprisingly, not an uncommon request. So Kaleb gives him a small one that we keep down there for that reason, and then this guy just throws it back at him!"
Merlin makes a confused face. "Why would he do that?"
"All he said was 'don't lose gold once you have it, boy'. And then he just walks into that horrid room with the utmost confidence and dies." Moria starts laughing a bit at the end of her story. Merlin doesn't join in.
"How is that funny? Those are a dead man's words."
"When you've been around the dead as long as I have, you learn to laugh at the little things."
Just then Kaleb, the servant that takes people to the underground execution room with Moria, pops in to the room.
"Hey, we gotta go, the execution's in ten minutes."
"Okay," she replies, almost cheery. "I'll be there soon."
He responds with a wink and disappears.
Merlin looks from the empty doorframe, to her friend, back to the doorframe. "Is there something going on between you two?"
Moria feigns surprise. "Why would you ever suggest such a thing?"
She shook her head and left after her friend had gone to execute the girl. One her way out, however, Merlin accidentally ran into Frederick, who then dropped the bucket of towels he was carrying.
"Oh gosh! Sorry, let me help." She immediately started refolding the towels with him.
"S'okay," he smiled a bit. "Never minded running into you anyway."
She blushes. Frederick was around in the other life, but not for long. When he was there, however, they were almost a thing.
The two finished clearing the hallway of the mess. "Thanks."
"No problem." She smiled.
"Uhm, so, some of the other servants told me that it's kind of nice to take walks in the gardens after dark when everyone is asleep. A lot of them like to go out and I was wondering if-"
"Yes. I-uh, I mean, I'd love to. Tonight?"
"If you'd like."
"Alright."
Morgan and Lance were debating with Arthur by the time Merlin got back.
"All I'm saying is if we don't want to lose our heads-"
"I don't care if I lose my head, Morgan. What will God say about us turning our backs on the Pope himself?" Lance interjected.
Morgan sighed heavily. "Will God be that upset if we make a minor religion change? It's the same God, for God's sake!"
Arthur stepped in. "Perhaps we should talk more after dinner. We need time to calm down and think about what we value more as officials."
Lance nodded. He made a nondescript waving motion to Victoria, who had been standing in a corner, and she promptly followed him out of the room.
With Lance gone, there were only four people left in the room, two of them being court officials. Morgan beckoned for the two servant girls, his eyes still fixed on Arthur. "Moria, Merlin," he began in an icy tone. "how many have died so far in the underground execution room alone?"
"I don't count the bodies, sir." Merlin replied quickly.
"Fifty-seven, I think." Moria looked a bit restless.
Morgan nodded slowly. "Right. A lot of these people being executed right under our feet are servants, too. People we trust and work with. We know they're doing no wrong. Yet here they are, dying."
"I understand that, but-" Arthur protested.
"But we shouldn't have to kill our own. Listen, this isn't a matter of religion, but rather a matter of politics. The sooner we square this whole thing away, the better. Just think about it." With that, Morgan snaps for Moria to follow him as he leaves the room.
Arthur watches his fellow advisor leave. "His heart's in the right place, I know it is. I just can't see a way to convince both him and Lance that there can be a compromise."
"You'll figure something out, sir," Merlin reassured him. "In my opinion. you're the wisest advisor here."
He laughs a bit and pats her on the shoulder. "Thank you, Merlin."
Just the Lady Morgouse burst through the door, unannounced. Gloriana trailed in behind her with much less flair. But when you're the former consort of the king, you could pretty much do anything unannounced.
"Arthur, dear, tell me the rumors aren't so!" She feigned shock and fell stylishly onto the loveseat.
Arthur sighed, clearly done with Morgouse already. "What rumors, dear Lady, plague you this week?"
Sitting up perfectly straight, she began her little story. "Well, I heard the king was seeing women on the side without Anne's knowing. But since he hadn't seen me in quite a while, I did some snooping through servants. Would you believe me if I told you he was attempting to seduce his servants?"
Glorianna shot a look at Merlin that basically screamed "this lady is venomous". Of course Morgouse's stories were almost never true, but she could tell them like they were.
"Well, I never thought I'd see the day a man rejects you!" Arthur indulged her momentarily.
"Other than you, of course."
"RIght, right, other than me. If you'd excuse me, dear Lady, I must away to the library."
Morgouse, satisfied with Arthur's response, flounced away. Once she was gone Arthur pulled Merlin close to him by her arm. "Talk to the other servants for me, will you? Make sure this little story isn't true."
"Alright," she replied uneasily. "But usually her stories are never true. Why check now?"
"I don't know, I just have this feeling. Talk to Gwen, make sure she's okay."
Merlin nodded. It was only a matter of time before Arthur's feelings for Gwen appeared again.
After the servants were relieved of their duties for the day, Merlin took Gwen aside.
"Arthur heard a rumor that the king was trying to make advances on his servants. You're not in any danger, are you?"
Gwen made a face. "He has been acting weirdly lately, but I'll be fine. Why does Arthur care so much about me?" She smiled.
Merlin shrugged in response. "If anything happens let me know, okay?"
Gwen nodded and left for bed.
Merlin found Frederick near a rosebush. "They're pretty, but there's a lot of thorns," he commented casually. "makes them hard for picking."
"Even if we could pick them, thornbushes are unkind to fingers. Even if they have pretty flowers." she replied, and he smiled.
They walked leisurely around the grounds, chatting lightly about different topics they knew about. One time Merlin thought they passed Moria and Kaleb, but they were speaking in forced whispers, almost like they were arguing about something. Frederick saw the scene and suddenly looked uneasy.
"Are you okay? I'm sure they'll work it out." she waved towards the less-than-happy couple.
"It's-it's not that. I do know why they're both so upset, though. God, I just wanted to wait longer to tell you." He nervously runs a hand through his hair.
"Tell me what? What's wrong?"
He leads her to a more secluded area of the grounds. "So, there's no easy way to say this: we got in a bad way. Kaleb and I, we were talking about the king, and what we thought of it, and someone overheard us. We're- we're in a bad way, Merlin. They're supposed to take us to the underground room later tonight."
She stood there in shock for a minute, and it clearly showed on her face. "I- I just wish I got more time with you, but… but I guess this is how it has to go."
Without warning, Merlin rushed forward and hugged him. "It's not right," she lamented quietly. "It's not right."
Most of the servants had already gone to bed by the time Moria got back from the underground room. Merlin had offered to go with her, but she declined, simply saying "this is my job". Merlin was waiting outside of the servants room for her, the night smelling of too-sweet roses and blood.
Her friend returned with the weight of the world showing on her face. "They didn't let me in," Moria said quietly. "I heard the blade twice, and still they didn't let me in."
Merlin said nothing, shock still settling. Her friend sat down on the cold floor with her back against the wall, racked with sobs. "It's not right."
"No," Merlin replied in a quiet voice. "It's not."
Although neither of them felt like it, the two girls had to go back to work the next morning. Morgan and Arthur had taken up early morning discussions lately, so Merlin was still waking up when Arthur confessed.
"I've tried to stay in the King's good graces without denying my faith," he confides in Morgan. "I'm not happy about this, but I did discover two servants blaspheming the King yesterday."
Merlin abruptly stops folding one of Arthur's shirts. Moria, who had been preparing their morning tea, freezes, cup suspended in her hand.
Morgan seems to notice the girls' sudden interest. "Um, Arthur, did you know these two servants?"
"I'd never seen them before. They were two young men, couldn't be over Merlin's age." He looks repentant.
Suddenly the cup Moria had been holding seems to shatter in midair. She quickly collects the pieces. "I am so sorry, sir. Let me fetch another one." She curtsies and exits quickly.
Uh-oh. Merlin recognized this as the part where everything fell to pieces, much like that teacup.
Fabricating a piece to match the others, Merlin makes her excuses to give it to her friend and leaves to catch up with her.
She finds Moria in the kitchen, alone, staring forlornly at the once-broken cup. Merlin hands her the extra piece to let her know she was there.
"Thanks," she absentmindedly reconstructs the now-perfect teacup. "It was chipped anyway."
"I know what you're thinking," Merlin started cautiously. "and I just want to remind you of one thing: It won't bring them back."
Slowly, Moria turns to face her friend. While Merlin thought she'd start crying again, another emotion had replaced sadness: a cold, bitter hatred seemed to radiate into the morning air. "Would you mind taking this cup back to Arthur? I have to go talk to someone."
Merlin turns as Moria quietly leaves the kitchen. "Wait- who?"
"Don't worry about it."
When she returned, Lance had joined the discussion.
The three were in the middle of a contemplative silence until Arthur saw his servant.
"Merlin," he nervously runs a hand through his hair. "Did Gwen ever tell you if she was alright or not?"
While Merlin shugs, Victoria pipes up. "Excuse me, sir, but did you mean the King? Gwen's told me that he's made advances on all the girls, herself included."
Arthur firmly hits his fist on the table. "I knew it. I knew he couldn't stay true to his own word!"
Morgan steps toward him. "Be careful what you say, please, you could-"
"No, Morgan, I don't care anymore. The King is no better than those he's executed!"
Morgan shoots Lance a look. "We all need to simmer down. Let's reconvene later."
Arthur walks back to his desk as Morgan leaves uneasily. Victoria let, expecting Lance to follow, but he quickly grabbed Merlin by the arm and spoke quietly to her.
"I can't say much right now," He sounded scared. "but I had a strange dream that I think might be reality. Arthur rose once, he will rise again past this time. I know you know, Emrys."
He quickly turned and left, leaving Merlin shaking in her boots.
The guards came for Arthur around lunchtime.
They had already gotten Morgan and Lance, as per request of Lady Morgouse. Victoria and Glorianna stopped Merlin from rushing to Arthur's side to defend him.
"I'm so sorry for what the Lady is doing," Glorianna pleaded. "She thinks it is what's right."
Victoria spoke on Merlin's behalf, seeing how her friend was too upset to ask questions. "How did she know Arthur said anything bad? How did she know either of the other two said anything bad?"
Glorianna shook her head in disbelief. "I saw Moria talking to her earlier today. I think she might've told her, but I don't know anything for sure."
Suddenly, everything around Merlin froze. She was certain it wasn't her magic doing it, and nobody else could conjure enough magic to sustain a total freeze. Lance walked out of Arthur's room, more confused than Merlin was.
"What's going on?" he asked, astounded.
She made a face, then looked at her frozen friends around her. "I think because Arthur's about to die, there's no point in the story continuing. They'll all be erased and moved to a different time."
As soon as she said it, everyone vanished. The halls were empty, almost eerily quiet.
"Now what?"
"I suggest we get out of here. We need to move on, wait for them to come again."
Lance smiled at her. "You want me to join you?"
"Of course," she smiled back. "Last time I had to do this alone. Now I have a friend."
He nodded. "Okay, let's get out of here."
How many years has it been? A lot, that's for sure.
Merlin didn't mind as much this time, however. She traveled around with Lance, usually posing as his sister. They waited anxiously for their friends to return for over 200 years. They even moved to a new country when it was discovered and colonized by Great Britain.
One morning, in the city of Boston, Merlin bumped into a familiar stranger, literally.
"Oh! Sorry," the familiar stranger helped Merlin collect the things she'd dropped. "I'm Gwen."
She couldn't believe it.
They'd found them again.