At last I've made it to S5. Whee! It's my least favorite season, but not because of the writing or acting- those were brilliant. Maybe because it's so necessarily dark or that we didn't get a Golden Age, magic returned or Merlin at the Round Table. But I digress. Here's Arthur's perspective on 5.1, Arthur's Bane.
It's time for a Round Table meeting, and Guinevere is nowhere to be found. She promised to meet me here, at this time. After waiting for ten minutes, I sent Merlin to search everywhere she might be. And that meant, literally, everywhere. She is the peoples' Queen, always putting them before herself. Fifteen minutes after he left, he ran back to me.
"Well?" I asked impatiently.
Still trying to catch his breath, he said, "I've looked all over."
"Merlin, I'm not the only one you're keeping waiting." I'm trying to keep my voice low.
"And it's my fault!?" He doesn't understand transference of blame to soothe negative emotions.
"The Queen can't simply vanish." Starting to lose my last shred of patience.
"Then where is she?" That's a stupid question!
"That's what I told you to figure out!" Patience gone.
"Do you know how large this palace is?" He's incensed?
"Insanely enough, I do."
"Then maybe you should take a look." Seriously?
Starting to get a headache now. "Merlin, are you actually capable of doing anything?"
"Tolerating you." I asked for that.
"Oh, well . . ."
From behind me, I heard an "Ahem." I looked up to see Guinevere descending the stairs, her maidservant, Sefa, following.
"Guinevere," I said, nearly forgetting my irritation.
"I apologize for my lateness," she said. Ah, she's never late; everyone else is just early.
"Late? Not a bit. Lots of time." I gave Merlin a look, letting him off the hook. I'm sure he wanted to roll his eyes, but wouldn't with Guinevere there. We walked into the throne room side by side, Merlin and Sefa behind us.
Once everyone was seated, I began the meeting. It would not be a pleasant one. "Noble Knights of Camelot, fellow citizens, friends. I welcome you to this gathering of the Round Table. We have been granted peace and prosperity for three long years. But now, it appears a dark cloud has spread across our lands. Sir Gwaine left for Ismere about six weeks ago. Three score of our best men went with him. No word has come from them since. At my behest, Sir Elyan headed a patrol to the wastelands in the north. He didn't find any trace of Gwaine or his men. It's as if they've disappeared off the face of the Earth."
Every face in the room was grim. I knew what I wanted to do, but several people would object. They'd be right to do so—after so many years of peace, whispers had begun to drift across the land. And they did not bring good news. After a good bit of debate, I dismissed the larger group and pulled my Privy Council into another room.
It was much quieter (and solemn) without Gwaine and Percival. Elyan spoke first, since he'd led the group to find them. Pointing to the map laid on the table, he began. "We saw that Gwaine and his men crossed the gap, here, at Isulfor. But after that, there was no trace. The trail went cold."
"What about this rumor that the fortress of Ismere has been inhabited again?" I asked. It was a chilling rumor, and not because Ismere was in the north and it was winter.
Elyan straightened. "I heard several rumors, Sire. Every one of them had a single name in common . . . Morgana." I think everyone in the room felt that chill.
"So we haven't any time to waste."
"But if the rumors are valid, Sire, you could be walking into a trap," Gaius stated.
"Knights of Camelot do not forsake their own," I reminded him.
"Morgana will be waiting for you. She knows that."
"Those men have fought for me, bled for me . . ."
Guinevere spoke up. "May I suggest something? Why don't you take a different route? Come at Ismere from the west."
She often surprised me with her tactical insight. "Through Caerleon?"
"That would definitely surprise Morgana," Gaius commented.
I turned to Leon. "Would Annis grant safe passage to so many armed men?"
"I believe she would, Sire," Leon replied.
I thought for a moment. "Send a messenger immediately. We'll follow at first light. Remember, if we want to succeed, nobody can know of our goal." Everyone nodded and Merlin opened the door so we could leave the room.
After a moment, there was a loud clatter from the corridor and we all smiled. As I left the room I saw Merlin and Sefa on the floor picking up fruit. He must have bumped into her on his way out. When I thought he'd had enough time with the girl I yelled, "Merlin!" Ugh, would he never learn? "MERLIN!" I yelled louder. What would it take?
xxxXxxx
We actually were ready to depart Camelot at dawn. That was a rare occurrence. After we'd been in the forest for a while, we slowed down so the foot soldiers could catch up. Merlin had worked his way up to ride next to me; I could tell he had something on his mind. After a minute, he came out with it: "Do you honestly believe Gwaine and Percival are still alive?"
That same thought had been plaguing me for almost a day. "I need to find out. They're Knights of the Round Table. It's a bond we cherish."
"I understand."
He seemed pretty down. Gwaine is a good friend of his, dollop head. So I employed my usual tactic to cheer him up. "If you had vanished, Merlin, I wouldn't go to the trouble."
He seemed to pick up a bit after that, but not enough to insult me back. Yeesh. I hoped he wasn't going to be like this the entire trip. Things were depressing enough already.
We kept riding toward Caerleon until late afternoon. A few of us rode ahead to the top of a rise to look ahead of us. "The gorge indicates the border of Annis' lands," I commented.
"It's major ambush country," Elyan added.
I agreed. "Take a couple men and ride along the ridge line," I told him, pointing. He left and the rest of us rode down the hill and into the gorge. We'd gone part way down the road into the gorge when Elyan and his group returned.
"We found something you should see," he said when he got close enough. I spurred my horse on faster, everyone behind me following suit.
Elyan led us to an abandoned village. Abandoned by the living, anyway. We dismounted and walked through the place, wordlessly splitting off to find survivors. People lay everywhere, looking as if they'd been trying to escape—spilled baskets laid next to them. I grew more and more disgusted the longer we stayed. This wasn't my kingdom, but no one deserved to be senselessly slaughtered like this.
After a while, we congregated in the center of the village. I looked around and noticed someone missing. Then again, he was usually missing. "Has anyone seen Merlin?"
Leon looked a little uneasy. "I saw him go into one of those cave openings." He pointed to the wall of the gorge closest to us.
"Great," I muttered and made my way over to the one Leon had indicated. It was quite dark inside, but there was Merlin staring into a pool of water. It looked like he'd been talking to the injured man next to him.
"Is he alive?" I asked him. He looked up at me surprised and distressed? That concerned me, and I started walking toward him. "What is it?" He looked back down at the water then shook his head. "Really, Merlin—you've seen a corpse before. After we've provided these people a decent burial, we're leaving." He still looked saddened, but followed me after I'd left.
The soldiers were gathering the bodies in a place well away from the dwellings. Others gathered wood. No one spoke much as we worked; there really wasn't a need. When the victims were all together, several pyres were built and lit. We stayed and watched for a few minutes until all the bodies were lit. Finally we climbed on our horses and rode off. We wouldn't get far before dark, but we all wanted to get away from this place of death.
xxxXxxx
The next morning, we packed up quickly to continue our journey to Caerleon's capital city. It took just a few hours but the overcast sky and chill of the season didn't help the somber mood. By the time we arrived, we were all ready for food and warm beds.
We were greeted in the palace's courtyard and escorted inside where the Queen was waiting. "Queen Annis," I greeted when I saw her.
She stood and said, "Arthur Pendragon."
"I'm very thankful that you've permitted us safe travel through your kingdom." I bowed my head in respect.
She walked over to us. "We are allies, Arthur, and these are difficult times," she said, and led us to her dining hall with a grand sweep of her arm.
We entered to find a table set and laden with a variety of foods. It looked wonderful. We were all escorted to seats and sat down gratefully. Merlin took his usual place behind me.
Once we began eating, Annis began a conversation. "What you observed at Asgorath is not surprising. A few months ago, Saxons started attacking our villages. They're collecting all the men they can and hauling them to Ismere."
Just men? That meant one thing. "To build an army?" I asked.
"Some say Morgana is tearing the keep apart."
Not an army then. "Why?"
"She seems to be looking for something. I don't dare imagine what."
Manpower to search? "So my men could still be alive?"
"Yes. There is a good possibility." Just then Merlin appeared at my left to refill our cups. Annis looked up at him and a sly smile crept onto her face. "I believe we're ready for some amusement. I would love to watch your fool perform. With all his faults, he should have some skills."
I looked up at him. "You'd assume so, wouldn't you?" To Merlin I said, "You heard the Queen—hop to it."
He bent down to whisper, "I'm not a fool."
"That's arguable." Leon, who'd heard, laughed quietly.
"And I have no skills!"
Now he was just trying to get out of it. I'm going to enjoy this. "I realize that. But we can't say no to the Queen when she's permitted us safe travel, can we?" I started clapping and it was picked up by several others. So now he'd look like a fool if he didn't do anything.
He gave me a look that was supposed to be threatening, but wasn't. Then he straightened and acknowledged the crowd with a smile. He turned his back briefly then walked to the end of the table where there was more space. Next he started the most amazing thing I'd ever seen him do; he juggled with one egg and progressed to three. After he threw one and caught it behind his back (What?!), he showed us four eggs. He juggled those before catching them and putting his hands behind his back. When he brought his hands back around, the eggs were gone. The crowd gasped and clapped enthusiastically while he turned 'round to prove they had vanished.
I had the feeling there was a rather bewildered look on my face, because I couldn't believe what he'd just done. He was way too uncoordinated to master something like that. Not to mention I didn't give him enough time to master something like that.
Later that night, we were escorted to comfortable chambers in Annis's castle. Merlin brought in our things and helped me take off my armor. When he was done he sat and stared at the fire; I sat on the bed to remove my boots. Normally he'd be chatting up a storm about now, but tonight he seemed too somber. I guess it was up to me to pick up the slack.
"When did you become skilled at juggling? Frankly, I didn't even know you could catch," I stated.
"Yes, I have many talents. You've just never noticed them, that's all," he replied. That sounded way too bitter for him. Something was definitely not right.
"So tell me. What's the matter?"
There was a pause. I looked up to see he'd turned toward me. "I don't think we should go to Ismere."
What? "Didn't you hear Annis? My men are alive."
"You can't be sure of that."
Why was he trying to talk me out of this? "Just keep juggling, Merlin. Let me handle the important things."
"But . . ."
"Here." I threw my boots at him. They went right through his hands and to the floor. "Now explain that."
"I wish I could." I flopped back onto the bed while he went back to brooding. This was going to be a long night, unless I went to bed right away. Where did cheerful Merlin go?
xxxXxxx
Merlin seemed a bit livelier in the morning. He talked a bit more, at least. After a nice, hot breakfast, Annis walked with me to the courtyard. The men mounted up and rode out; I walked with her out the gate. I was putting off the saddle for as long as I could.
"Morgana has been consumed by hate," she told me and put her hand on my shoulder. "Be cautious."
"I will," I said.
"Decent allies are difficult to find. I don't want to lose one." I nodded; I totally agreed with her.
It was harder than I thought it would be to leave the warmth and shelter of Caerleon. But I needed to find my men—they wouldn't give up on me and I would never give up on them.
It got colder the further north we rode. So everyone was relieved when we stopped for the night so they could bundle up in blankets and sit by the fire. Merlin made dinner and disappeared, not taking any food with him. Sadly, I didn't notice this until I was sitting comfortably at the fire eating and enjoying the fun around me. I glanced around the fire and noticed Merlin was missing, again. I saw a shadow sitting by the stream we'd set up next to. I guessed that he must still be upset.
I got up and walked over to him. "Merlin," I said when I was closer.
I stood next to him but sat when he started speaking. "How can they laugh and tease?" he asked. He sounded so despondent.
"Hmm?"
"Don't they realize what we'll find in Ismere?"
"Yeah, sure," I admitted, "but a soldier learns to savor every day as it happens." He knows this.
"Since he knows it could be his last."
I analyzed him for a moment; I wasn't used to this role reversal. "How come you're so worried?"
"Morgana is strong. She's deadly." I've never seen him scared like this.
"I know."
I must have sounded dismissive to him. "Don't you care?"
"Just about my men. They're more than friends or brothers. Regardless of what lies before me . . . I won't forsake them, as I know they would not forsake me."
"I understand. I don't want to, but I do." Something I said must have reassured him.
"Come have some dinner." I got up to walk back to the fire. Thankfully, he followed me; I don't think I'd have to worry about his depression anymore.
Our group took a bit more time getting ready to go in the morning. The increased cold made everyone more sluggish, I guess. Then we heard a horse neigh in the distance—ours were much closer. Most of us turned to look and drew our swords. We gazed through the mist and saw backlit figures stalking toward us.
"We're surrounded," Merlin said as he walked toward me.
"We cannot remain here," Leon added. We're on a hillside at a tactical disadvantage.
Just then I looked up and saw Morgana riding toward us. "Run!" I yelled as loudly as I could.
Everyone scattered, but there were Saxons everywhere, so we were forced to stand our ground. Soon every man was engaged by at least one foe. I heard Leon yell in pain and turned to see him fighting a man in black. He kicked Leon down and I ran uphill to help him, defeating three Saxons on the way. I engaged Leon's opponent and disarmed him. I turned to fight two other warriors when a blow to my back made me gasp and fall to the ground, stunned. Suddenly Merlin was there, lifting me and trying to drag me away. I dimly noticed Elyan take on the mystery warrior.
Merlin ran pretty quickly, especially considering he was lugging me. I heard horses behind us and he paused to look. A few seconds later I felt myself lowered against something hard- a tree? -and Merlin drew back. Then he was there again, picking me up and dragging me away again.
When I came back to my senses, I was lying on the ground, which was damp. Great. I also seemed to have lost my short-term memory. I lamented this unfortunate circumstance by groaning. When I finally looked up, I saw Merlin sitting in front of me and staring. Now I know something's wrong.
"What happened?" I asked him. Ugh; I hurt too.
"You can't remember?" he replied.
Hmm, we're alone. "Where's everyone else? Leon? Elyan?"
"I couldn't do anything. I needed to get you to safety."
I had to chuckle at this. "What really happened?"
"The usual—I saved your ass."
Oh that's a good one. "You saved me?"
"Yes. And I can juggle. I've told you, I have many talents." At first I thought he was trying to joke, but it came out rather bitter. He extended a hand to pull me up.
I decided to humor him. "So it seems."
"Let's go," he ordered. With that we started walking—toward Ismere, but I didn't tell him that.
xxxXxxx
We'd been walking for quite a while and the landscape just kept getting bleaker and bleaker. But we'd lost enough time, and now I had even more men to rescue. It seemed Merlin was quickly losing patience though. I don't blame him—it's cold.
"Could we rest a moment?" he asked.
"Only if it's short. I would like to make Ismere before dark."
"Ismere? We're going back to Camelot!" Aaaand there goes his patience.
"Navigation isn't your strong point, is it? Camelot is south. The sun comes up where?"
"The east."
"So what have we been walking toward all day long?"
"Our demise! Just the two of us facing Morgana, are you mad!?" He didn't appreciate my orienteering lesson.
"I told you—I will save my men." I didn't correct the "mad" insinuation. He could be right.
"No." He reached out and pulled me to a stop. Then he didn't say anything.
"If you're frightened . . . then go." He actually looked more concerned than scared.
"I'm concerned about you." Obviously.
I was touched, in an annoyed way. "Okay, so, I've tried to send you home. But if you won't do as I ask, the least you can do is shut up." To my surprise, he didn't argue. I started walking again, but he didn't move; I stopped to say, "Come on!"
I'd resumed walking when he said, "Hmm, maybe if Morgana doesn't kill you, I will." I'd finally gotten to him, good.
I could work with this. "Threatening a King is treason, Merlin."
"How about threatening an ass?" I heard behind me. Good one.
"I heard that!"
We didn't make my goal of reaching Ismere by nightfall, and I wasn't sure how close we were. So we had to take refuge in the forest, bunking down in a sheltered area on the side of a hill, back to back.
"Arthur?" he asked.
I'd been nearly asleep. "Mmm."
"I have to tell you something. The man . . . The old man in the village . . ." Was this about the odd daydream he'd apparently experienced there?
"Just imagine something else, Merlin."
"No. You have to listen to me. Before he died . . . he warned me . . . He said that you were in danger and that the danger was near."
He seemed serious, but . . . "He was dying, Merlin. Who could decipher what he was saying?"
"I believe he was a Druid seer." And that makes it more important?
"You think I'd listen to a sorcerer?"
"But why would say that? He had no idea that I actually knew you." He turned part way over. "We need to go home." He moved to sit up; he's very serious.
"I can't. Even if he spoke the truth, it changes nothing."
"Arthur, Camelot is nothing without you. Everything we've worked so hard to build. It will all be gone."
I turned around to lie on my elbows. He wasn't going to let this go. "Regardless of what challenges we run into, we hold to what is right. To betray our beliefs, Merlin, that's what would ruin everything we've worked for. I vow to rescue my men . . . or die trying."
That seemed to get through. "Then I vow I will protect you or die at your side." Of course you do. I jabbed him in the shoulder before turning over to lie on my side again. After a moment, he did the same.
We must have fallen asleep despite the cold, because I was woken by a familiar sound above us—hoof beats. Merlin woke a few seconds later and inhaled to speak, but I put a hand over his mouth. I didn't know if they were friend or foe, but I had my suspicions. Then a horribly familiar voice rang through the air:
"What are you waiting for—find them! I don't care how long it takes." Morgana. Sometimes I really hated being right. After a few minutes, they moved on.
We waited several more minutes before moving, just to be sure Morgana and her men were good and gone. Then we got up and started walking again. At least we had these lovely dormant trees to break up the scenery a bit.
A bit later I got tired of the silence. "If we just had a horse."
"Or a pig," Merlin commented. Now I knew where his mind was.
"You can't ride a pig!"
"No, but we could roast it with apples, carrots and parsnips." Impractical, but tasty.
He was starting to ramble like Guinevere used to. "Merlin."
"You're right, we shouldn't misuse the apples; we'll bake them in a pie." He mistook my reprimand, probably on purpose.
"Come off it."
"I need to eat something." Then, as if by, well, magic, "food" appeared on the ground in front of us. This was too good to be true. "Rabbits!" he said cheerily and walked over to the two dead rabbits.
As he bent down to grab them, I finally realized what was bothering me about this scenario—it's a trap. "Merlin!" I yelled, and lunged to try and pull him back. It was a futile effort—both of us were trapped in a net hanging in the air. I suddenly wished I hadn't tried to stop him, because then I could have stayed outside it and saved him.
I was furious, but he didn't seem to care. "I have them!" Stupid rabbits.
We tried several times to move around in the close confines of the net. It got tiring pretty quickly, so we took to shifting around for a bit then resting. That got us a whole lot of nowhere. We kept it up though, even after night fell.
Suddenly a new idea came to me; I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it earlier. Must be the hunger. "If I could reach my sword . . . we could cut the rope," I said. I shifted around a bit more.
"Oh! Don't set your knee there," Merlin replied, sounding a bit anxious.
"Where?" I had to move my knee someplace, and "there" isn't specific enough in this situation.
My knee touched something soft. Oh. "There! Arrgh!"
After a few more painful and frustrated grunts and groans, the sword dropped to the ground. "MERLIN! Dammit!" I was way past furious now; so much that I couldn't speak.
"It was your fault." What?!
"You! You!" That's all I could manage. The audacity!
"It was your fault!" Seriously?!
"Ahh! . . . Great. Just great." Now we were even more twisted up and the sword is gone!
"Where'd the other rabbit go?" AHHHHH! Stupid . . . rabbits!
I don't know how we managed it, but we'd somehow fallen asleep, only to be woken by a sudden falling sensation. Unlike what happens sometimes when one is just falling asleep, this was real. The next thing I knew, I was flat on my back on the ground, Merlin partially on top of me. We couldn't help but yell at the indignity. And the sudden stop.
As we lay there groaning, a man came from behind the tree. "I apologize. Did we wake you?" I rolled over to grab my sword, but the man stepped on it. "No you don't." He picked up my sword and chuckled. "The King of Camelot. You'll bring a considerable price." He pointed the sword at me. "Alive or dead. Any last wishes?"
By now we'd partially sat up. "Release my servant. He shouldn't die like this," I stated. I could feel Merlin looking at me. The creepy man laughed and stood while a couple of his thugs yanked Merlin up and started walking him away.
Of course Merlin chose then to open his big mouth. "If you want to kill him, you'll have to go through me first." He managed to free himself from their hold though.
"Merlin! Stand down," I ordered him. Like he would listen.
He didn't even look at me. "You know I never do as I'm told." The creepy guy moved toward him as I tried to get up.
"Stop!" a voice yelled from behind us. Merlin turned to look and he froze with an apprehensive look on his face. Footsteps approached; they belonged to a young man with dark, curly hair. "Shouldn't we let the Lady Morgana decide their future?"
The man who'd spoken first reluctantly agreed. He chuckled and walked away. The young man came over and helped me to my feet. Merlin stared at him with disbelief and mistrust; I didn't understand why. Who was this mystery man? To me he said, "You don't recall me, do you? You saved my life once, several years back."
"Mordred," Merlin said behind us. We turned to look at him.
Mordred looked back at me. "Hello, Arthur."
Was anyone else creeped out by the way Mordred said that last line? Ominous much? He he he, no foreshadowing going on here, no way. *evil laugh* Part 2 up soon. :)