Title: A Curse in E Flat
Category: Gen (Canon)
Characters: Merlin, Arthur, Gwaine, the Knights, pretty much everyone in Camelot
Rating: K
Summary: The Sidhe have decided the time has come to take back what is theirs
A/N: You can blame this on the Lego Movie theme song ("Everything is Awesome") and sarajm. Huge thanks to Excalibur Maiden, MoonFox and sarajm for their excellent suggestions. Without them, this story would have languished for eternity on my hard drive. Extra thanks to my awesome beta, sarajm!
Ladies, you're all wonderful!
A Curse in E Flat
The Sidhe Elder had assembled his comrades. "The time has come to take back what is ours," he snarled. "It was bad enough that Aulfric stole the Staff of Power when he and his daughter were banished, but then Sophia dared to try to return without it. That is unacceptable. We must find where the creature Merlin has hidden it, and return it to its rightful place on Avalon. I have a plan. Gather close and listen."
Arthur lay in his bed, eyes tightly shut, bed covers twisted about his legs and drooping halfway to the floor, hoping desperately that it was time to rise.
The Prince had not slept a wink since his return from an evening at The Rising Sun with Leon, Gwaine, Elyan and Percival. It had been a great evening, full of camaraderie, ale and singing. Oh, the singing! Why did there have to be singing? wondered the young man as he lay in his bed and ran his hands over his face and through his hair. All evening, during the walk back to his rooms, and even through his dreams, the refrain from one of the numerous drinking songs he'd heard played over and over and over through Arthur's head. And it was still there, an insidious little ditty that would not go away!
As he lay there contemplating suicide or a spear through the head or something equally drastic to rid himself of the menace that was running through his mind, a knock on the door and a bright "Good Morning, Arthur" heralded Merlin's entrance.
"What's so good about it?" moaned Arthur as he watched his servant make his way to the window and pull aside the heavy drapes. "I haven't slept a wink all night, and I swear it's your fault, Merlin".
"My fault?!" squawked Merlin as he placed a tray on the desk. "What did I do this time?"
"I was at the tavern last night and ever since then I've got this stupid tune running through my head. It invaded my dreams and I haven't slept a wink. I can't get it to stop," whined the Prince as he tried, rather unsuccessfully, to pull his tangled blankets over his head.
Merlin snorted in amusement at Arthur's antics. "Come on, you've got to get up," he said. "You're supposed to be in council in an hour and your Father has already warned you twice not to be late," Merlin added as he laid out the Prince's breakfast. "Besides, I can't see how you having a song stuck in your head is my fault. I wasn't even at the tavern last night," stated Merlin.
"For once," muttered Arthur as he rolled out of bed with a sigh and headed towards his desk. "I blame Gwaine for this."
"Hmmm? What was that?" murmured the young warlock as he picked up the clothes scattered across the floor and placed them in a laundry basket.
"Nothing. Nothing," answered Arthur as he sat down as his desk. "Listen up, Merlin," he added as he began eating, "there are several things that I need you to take care of while I'm trapped in council this morning."
Between bites of food, Arthur then proceeded to lay out Merlin's tasks for the day; but as Merlin was remaking the bed, Arthur stopped talking mid-sentence. At the sudden quiet, Merlin looked up and he saw Arthur sitting there with his head in hands and his shoulders slumped.
"Arthur!" asked Merlin as he hurried to his Prince's side. "What's wrong?"
"Ohhhh, why can't this music just stop? It's driving me crazy!" moaned Arthur as he banged the side of his head with his fist.
"Stop that," ordered Merlin. "You'll only give yourself a headache," and reaching out he gently lowered Arthur's hand back to settle on the table top. "You know," he added, "I've had the same thing happen to me and I've found that the best way to get rid of the song is to sing it through all the way to the end. Maybe you should give that a try."
Arthur gave his manservant a rather disdainful look at the suggestion that he sing, but the music was driving him crazy and by this point he was willing to try anything to get it to stop. "I suppose it couldn't hurt," said Arthur as he straightened up in his chair. The Prince took a deep breath and, as he wasn't sure of the words, instead sang, quite loudly and very off-key, da da dum dum dum da daaa; and then he sang it again twice more, not noticing his servant's wincing.
There was silence for a few seconds and then Merlin took a deep breath and said, "Um, I think you were wrong about it not hurting. Arthur, please don't take this the wrong way, but don't ever – and I mean ever – sing again! You were horrible! Because seriously, while I don't think I know whatever it was you were just singing, I'm pretty sure you were no way close to being right!"
"Stuff it, Merlin," growled Arthur, "I know I can't sing, but you said it would help."
"Well, what if you try humming it instead? Maybe it's not so much singing the words as vocalizing the tune that will help get it out of your head."
Arthur tried humming the notes instead. While Arthur still wasn't in key, it was quieter and slightly better-sounding than his previous attempt, so Merlin kept his comments to himself and simply said, "That's much better; but you may have to hum it through a couple of times for the trick to work. But there's no time for that now, you've got to get dressed or you're going to be late." With that comment, Merlin hustled Arthur into his clothes and shoved him out the door towards the council chambers.
As Arthur hurried along the hallways towards the council chambers, he began humming the tune again. Let's hope this works, thought the young man as he traversed the corridors of the castle, otherwise I'll be as crazy as a loon before the noon bell. And I certainly don't want anyone to hear me.
Unbeknownst to the young Prince, he was humming rather more loudly than he thought and, as he passed by various servants bustling to and fro on their duties, more than one heard the tune and smiled, thinking to themselves that their Prince was certainly in a good mood this morning. In fact, Arthur couldn't go more than four or five steps before he was greeted with a cheery "Good morning, My Lord!"
Arthur responded to each salutation with an absentminded wave and nod of his head and by the time he'd reached the council chambers' large double doors, he was convinced that there was something in the Castle's water supply. Never before had he seen everyone so cheerful! How odd.
The guards swung wide the doors and Arthur entered the chambers, still humming the annoying tune, albeit quietly. Looking about the room, he nodded to the gathered nobles, smiled at the Court Physician and, taking his seat to the right of the King, said "Good morning, Father."
"Ah, Arthur, so glad you're on time … for once," responded Uther as he graced his son with a small smile and a raised eyebrow. "Gentlemen, now that we are all present, let's get down to business."
The gathering had been going on for about twenty minutes when Gaius thought he heard something unusual. Was that humming? The physician tilted his head slightly to the left and listened intently to the quiet murmurings around him. Yes, that certainly was music of some sort he was hearing, and it seemed to be coming from Arthur!
A quick glance at the young Prince from under his eyebrows confirmed the physician's suspicion. And it was apparent Arthur did not realize he was even doing it. In fact, Arthur appeared to be engrossed in Lord Marhaus' dissertation on the state of his crops, but meanwhile the noise he was making was growing in volume!
Gaius quietly stretched out his leg under the table and tapped Arthur's foot. The young man quickly swung his gaze from Lord Marhaus to Gaius and raised his eyebrows in query. Gaius pinched his lips together and stared intently at the Prince, hoping that Arthur would understand what he was trying to tell him. Suddenly, Arthur's eyes widened and the humming was abruptly cut off. A visual "thank you" was directed at the physician before Arthur once again turned his attention to the discussion going on further down the table.
Arthur sat in his chair, looking for all the world like he was absorbed in the goings on around the table, but in actual fact, he was focused on the ridiculous tune that kept running through his brain. Thankful that Gaius had brought to his attention that he needed to be more aware of what he was doing, Arthur was trying to run through the song silently in his head. Unfortunately, he once again began humming aloud, but this time it was King Uther who caught him.
"Arthur! I'm sorry … are we boring you? So much so that you feel the need to entertain yourself with this incessant noise?" barked the King to his wayward son.
"Oh … no, Father. Not at all. It's just that I've got this song stuck in my head and I thought that maybe if I hummed …." Realizing that he was now the focus of everyone's attention, Arthur murmured, "My apologies. I'll stop," as he turned bright red and wished that a hole would open up underneath him so he could disappear.
"See that you do stop making that racket. It is quite distracting," responded the King with a sniff.
The meeting continued, and unfortunately so did the music in Arthur's head. It was becoming extremely disturbing, not only to Arthur, but especially to the King. Finally, Uther could stand it no longer.
"Arthur," he snapped.
"Ye … yes Sire?" answered the Prince as he looked up from the table and glanced at his father.
The poor Prince looked so frustrated and woe-begotten that the King took pity on him and instead of giving him a tongue-lashing, merely said, "I need you to go find Geoffrey. He should be in the Library doing some research for me. Please ask him to meet me in my chambers in approximately one hour. We're almost finished here, so once you've completed your task there will be no need for you to return. I'll speak with you later."
"Yes Sire," answered Arthur as he rose from his chair. The Prince hurried out of the council chamber, letting out a sigh of relief as soon as the doors closed behind him. He had been so sure that his father was going to berate and embarrass him for his continued distracted humming, but it looked like he'd managed to avoid his father's scorn, at least for the moment.
As Arthur quickly scurried off to find Geoffrey, he did not realize that everyone he passed, servant and knight alike, was humming or quietly singing the same tune that had been tormenting Arthur since he'd left the tavern the previous evening.
It did not take Arthur long to locate Geoffrey and pass on the King's request. As he left the Library intent on meeting Merlin at the Training Grounds to see if they couldn't come up with some other solution to stop the infernal racket swirling around in his brain, Prince Arthur didn't notice that Geoffrey had also started crooning under his breath.
After having pushed his Prince out the door and towards the council meeting, Merlin took a few moments to straighten up Arthur's rooms. While he re-hung clothing, smoothed out the bedclothes and picked up the laundry, Merlin couldn't help but giggle a bit. Arthur had looked so pathetic when he left his rooms, and his singing! Well, if it could be called singing. Whatever it was, it was absolutely atrocious! Honestly, thought Merlin with a smile, I don't think he even got one note right. Ah, well, hopefully the humming has served its purpose and Arthur has managed to banish the music from his head. I hate to think what kind of mood he'll be in if it hasn't worked.
Taking one last look to ensure that everything was in its proper place, Merlin picked up the basket of dirty clothes and headed towards the laundry. As he traversed the numerous halls heading lower and lower towards the heart of the castle, it seemed to Merlin like there was music in the air. It wasn't until he stopped at the entryway to the laundry rooms that he realized that there actually was music in the air … not only music, but specifically the music that Arthur had been moaning about in his rooms earlier.
The young servant stopped in his tracks, blocking the doorway, as he mentally re-traced his steps and pictured everyone he'd passed on his way through the castle. He was not mistaken – everyone had been humming.
"That's impossible," he said under his breath as he passed off his basket to one of the laundry maids.
"What did you say?" asked the young girl has she relieved Merlin of his burden.
"Oh, sorry, nothing. Everything's fine," answered the servant has he released his grip on the basket. As the girl headed through the steam towards one of the large cauldrons of boiling water, Merlin called after her, "Lyra, can I speak to you for a minute?"
"Of course. Just let me get these into the hot water and I'll be right with you." Lyra quickly dumped Arthur's laundry into the cauldron and weaved her way through the room back towards Merlin.
As she approached, Merlin could hear her singing "la la dum dum dum la daaa" in an absent tone. It was almost as if she didn't realize what she was doing.
"That's a pretty tune, Lyra," said the warlock as the girl came to a stop in front of him.
"Actually, Merlin, it's getting to be quite annoying. I've been singing it all morning, and I just can't seem to stop. No matter; now, what can I do for you?"
"You know what, Lyra, it's not important," answered the lad with a thoughtful look on his face as he turned to leave. "I'm sorry to have kept you. I'll see you later."
Lyra just gave the young man a quizzical look and, shrugging her shoulders, returned to her duties.
As Merlin headed down the castle halls towards the training grounds, his mind was whirring. Now why, he wondered, would everyone be singing the same song? It was possible that it was nothing more than happenstance, but Merlin had long since realized that where Camelot was concerned there was no such thing as coincidence. There had to be a logical explanation for what was going on, but as Merlin was now running late, he decided he'd worry about it later.
The young servant soon arrived at the main doors of the castle and stepping out into the sunshine, he took a deep breath and smiled. The sun was shining, the air was clear and the faint aroma of roses wafted by on the gentle breeze. With a grin and a nod to the two knights standing guard, Merlin raced down the stars, across the courtyard and soon found himself at the Training Grounds.
Usually, the large green swath of grass was a noisy, busy place full of knights, squires, servants and random passers-by stopping to watch the events going on around them. Today, however, it was a completely different scene. While there were plenty of bodies filling the area, it was strangely quiet. Well, not exactly quiet … but rather than the clang of swords and the sound of curses and calls, there was the rather disturbing sound of music.
Looking around the gathered figures, the young warlock suddenly realized that there was something strange going on in Camelot. It wasn't just that everyone seemed to be singing or humming, the odd thing was that Merlin did not seem to be afflicted. Worst of all, it seemed to have affected the Knights more strongly than anyone else. While the servants were still carrying on their duties, albeit at a much slower pace than normal, the Knights seemed distracted and some were even lost in their own world.
Merlin could see Sir Leon trying to explain to his squire the proper manner to grip a sword, but he had made the same motions and spoken the same words at least three times since Merlin started watching him. Then, over to the young servant's right, Percival and Elyan appeared to be carrying on a conversation that consisted entirely of them repeating the phrases: "Really, she said that?" and "Yes, crazy isn't it!"
Realizing that trouble was in the making, Merlin took off at a run to find Gaius. The young man took the Castle stairs two at a time, skidded around corners and finally slid to a stop in front of his and Gaius' chambers to find that the door was ajar and he could hear Gaius' light tenor as he hummed.
Oh, no, thought Merlin, not Gaius as well. He quickly entered the room and found Gaius puttering around at his worktable, humming away. As his young ward barged into the room, Gaius looked up. "Merlin," he barked, "is that any way to enter a room? What's gotten into you?"
"Gaius," he responded, between heaving breaths, "are you okay?"
"Why wouldn't I be, Merlin? Has something happened? Sit down, catch your breath and then tell me what's going on."
Sitting at his usual place at the table, Merlin laid out to Gaius all that had occurred that morning. "… and so it seems that everyone, including you, has caught whatever this is. Although, it seems that you're nowhere near as distracted as everyone else in the Castle. And, I don't seem to have been affected at all. Gaius, can you explain this?"
Gaius had taken a seat opposite Merlin while the young man put forth his tale and the more Merlin spoke, the more concerned Gaius became.
"Are you sure everyone is humming the same tune, Merlin?"
"Absolutely, Gaius," responded Merlin. "Besides, if you'd heard Arthur butchering it this morning, there's no way you'd easily forget it," he added with a small smile.
"Well, my boy, it certainly sounds to me like magic is at work here. I've never heard of this, but I'll start searching through my books to see if I can find any information to help us. In the meantime, Merlin, I think you should keep your ears and eyes open while you're at your duties. I fear nothing good can come from this." Gaius then reached over, pulled one of the tomes sitting at the end of the table towards him and began leafing through the pages in the hopes of finding an explanation for the odd occurrence.
"All right, Gaius. You'll let me know if you find anything?" asked Merlin as he headed towards the door and back to his duties. A negligent wave of a hand and some absent-minded humming was all the response he received from the physician.
Merlin headed down the stairs towards the Great Hall, greatly concerned. Gaius had obviously been touched by whatever it was that was running through Camelot like the plague, though fortunately it appeared the elderly man was still able to think clearly and keep on task. However, Merlin was worried that, sooner or later, the curse – and he now believed that it was a curse – would take hold of Gaius completely and he would be left to deal with the matter on his own. I think I need someone else's perspective on this, he thought, as he hurried down the Castle's entry stairs through the courtyard and out the main gates.
Merlin ran towards the greensward outside the castle walls, calling as he ran, "O drakon, e mala soi ftengometh tesd'hup anankes! Erkheo!" If anyone could explain what was happening in Camelot, surely it would be Kilgharrah.
Merlin stood in the center of the large green space as a gust of wind and the rattling of the leaves on the surrounding trees announced the Dragon's arrival.
"Young warlock, you summoned me? What do you require?"
"Thank you for coming, Kilgharrah. I need your help … Camelot needs your help," said Merlin with a slight bow to the Dragon. It only took a few moments for the lad to explain to the Great Dragon what was happening inside the Castle walls.
As Merlin finished his tale, the air was split with the sound of the Dragon's laughter. "It's not funny!" snapped Merlin. "There is something seriously wrong and I'm afraid of what it could mean."
"My apologies, Merlin," responded Kilgharrah, as he reined in his mirth. "There is magic at work here; dark magic. I sense the Sidhe are behind this, for you are correct and this is a curse designed to distract and confuse. They must be seeking something, to have put such a spell on Camelot. Do you have any idea what they may be searching for?"
"The Sidhe!" exclaimed Merlin. "But, there is nothing of theirs anywhere … in … Ca … oh, no! I think I know what they are after. The Staff that I took from Aulfric … I didn't know it belonged to the Sidhe; I thought he just used it to communicate with them."
"I believe you are correct, young warlock. The Staff is a powerful piece of Sidhe magic and now that they have somehow learned that it is hidden within the confines of Camelot, they will be determined to get it back."
"But if, as you say, anyone who nears Camelot will be afflicted by this curse, I don't understand why neither you nor I are affected, yet Gaius has been. After all, he has magic as well."
"Young warlock … the physician may have magic, but you and I are born of magic and that is why the Sidhe's curse cannot touch us. There is but one way to break the curse, Merlin. You must find someone of Camelot who knows the song yet has not come under the influence of the Sidhe's magic. That person must sing the song aloud before all those afflicted. Only that will break the enchantment. But you must be on your guard, for once the Sidhe know that they have been discovered, they will do their best to prevent anyone from interrupting their plans."
"And if there is no one in Camelot who knows the song?" queried Merlin in trepidation.
"Then Camelot will be lost, for you can be assured that as soon as the Staff is back in their possession, the Sidhe will show no mercy to Camelot or its inhabitants."
"I am sorry, Merlin, that I cannot be of further assistance. I wish you luck with your endeavours," and with those words, the Great Dragon took wing and flew away across the tree tops.
Merlin stood in silence for a few moments, racking his brain while he tried to figure out what to do. He now had a way to break the spell, but he needed to find someone who not only knew the song, but had not yet come under the curse's influence. And, on top of it all, he needed to find a way to protect this potential singer from the Sidhe.
Hoping that Gaius had been able to find something in one of his many books, Merlin squared his shoulders and turned towards the Castle intent on finding an answer to this dilemma. As he traversed the Lower Town and headed through the Castle hallways towards his chambers, Merlin thought: Is there anyone that hasn't been touched by this? And who would know the words to the song?
Suddenly, Arthur's words of that morning came back to him: 'I blame Gwaine for this' was what the Prince had said. Knowing the roguish knight as he did, Merlin was certain that Gwaine must have been at the tavern with Arthur the night before. And if he had been at the tavern, maybe he knew the song. And, best of all, Merlin realized that he hadn't seen Gwaine all day! Maybe, with a little bit of luck, the knight was still in his chambers recovering from an evening of drink.
With a smile on his face and a new lightness in his steps, Merlin quickly scampered up the stairs and into his chambers. Gaius was still seated at the table, scouring his many texts, and still humming, but he looked up as Merlin entered and said, "I'm sorry, but I've not been able to find anything yet."
"Not to worry, Gaius. I spoke with the Great Dragon and he said …" Merlin proceeded to tell Gaius all that Kilgharrah had told him, ending with his own suspicions about Gwaine. "So, I think that Gwaine may be able to help. After all, I believe he was at the tavern, and I know I haven't seen him today so if we're in luck, he's still okay and can help us lift the curse. What I need from you, though, is a way to protect Gwaine from the Sidhe while he's standing in the courtyard singing," the young man concluded.
"That is excellent news, Merlin. Let's hope that Gwaine can help. In the meantime, I know of a spell that should do the trick. You will need to envelope him in a protective bubble; it's difficult magic to be sure, but I know you've the talent to make it work." Gaius opened his book of spells and pointed to a page, "This is the one, Merlin. Memorize this; it will surely work."
Knowing that he did not have a great deal of time left before the eventual arrival of the Sidhe, Merlin studied the spell. Gaius was right; it was difficult magic, not only because of the advanced nature of the spell, but also because he'd have to ensure that the bubble was invisible. He'd be casting and maintaining two spells at once. The young man had never performed such magic before, and he looked up from the book over to his mentor, with fear in his eyes.
Gaius simply reached over and before Merlin could speak, he put his hand over Merlin's and said, "I know you can do this Merlin. You've power enough. Have faith."
At Gaius' words, Merlin calmed and he took a deep breath. "Thank you, Gaius," he murmured as he turned his attention back to the spells he'd need to master.
About thirty minutes later, after Merlin had successfully performed the spells several times and now felt confident in his abilities, he hurried towards Gwaine's rooms. As he traversed the hallways, he grew more and more concerned by what he saw. Now not only was everyone humming, they were all distracted and ignoring their duties. Servants could be seen leaning on doorways and walls, and the guards were all sitting on stairs or leaning against each other, totally oblivious to what was going on around them.
Knowing that there was not much time left, he ran the last few metres to the knight's door and on arrival he grasped the handle to push open the door, but found it was locked. Merlin hammered on the door, calling, "Gwaine! Gwaine! Are you there?"
"What do you want, Merlin? And stop that infernal pounding, I've already got a headache, thank you very much, and you're not helping it one bit!"
"Gwaine, I need you. There's trouble and you're the only one who can help."
"Go away, Merlin. I'm not leaving this room until Wednesday dinner time," came the response from behind the closed door.
"You don't understand …"
"No, Merlin, you don't understand," interrupted Gwaine. "I've got a bet going with Arthur. If can I stay out of the tavern and stay sober for 72 hours, I win and he's got to pay me 5 gold coins! Think of how much mead I can buy with that! So, to avoid temptation, I'm staying put, right here in my rooms, until Wednesday's dinner bell sounds. Take care, Merlin, and I'll see you then. Tell you what, I'll even stand you a drink as soon as Arthur coughs up what he'll owe me."
"Gwaine," said Merlin. "I'm sorry, but you've got to unlock the door and get out here. We've got big trouble brewing. Camelot has been put under a curse by the Sidhe and unless we can break the curse soon, I don't know what's going to happen. The Sidhe seem to think that something that belongs to them is hidden in the castle somewhere and they are determined to find it. You're the only one who can break the curse. Please Gwaine, I need your help," pleaded Merlin.
"But, Merlin," whined the knight, "five gold coins!"
Though he knew that Gwaine would never refuse to come to the aid of Camelot, Merlin figured it might be worth it to sweeten the pot, so to speak. So, crossing his fingers, he said, "Gwaine, I'm sure Arthur would be more than happy to pay you the gold for having saved Camelot. And, if you help, you'll have the coins tonight instead of two days from now," he added, hoping this would be enough to sway his friend's stubborn determination to avoid temptation.
A click and then the door to the chamber opened and Gwaine stood before Merlin, strapping on his sword. "All right, Merlin, tell me what you need me to do."
"Well," said Merlin with a smile, "first of all you won't need your sword." As the two men headed towards the courtyard, Merlin explained how to lift the curse.
"Yeah, I know that song," said Gwaine as he looked at his friend in puzzlement. "Wait a minute! You want me to sing? Out loud? In front of people?"
"I'm sorry, Gwaine, but it's the only way to break the curse. Just think of the money," added Merlin as he prodded his reluctant friend out the door and stopped at the top of the stairs.
"Fine Merlin, but you'd better make sure Arthur knows everything I had to go through, and he'd better pay up."
"Don't worry. You just wait there and when I give the signal, start singing."
Merlin left Gwaine fidgeting at the top of the stairs and hurried over to the large alarm bell standing at the edge of the paving stones. It was only supposed to be rung in case of a dire emergency, and Merlin decided this would definitely qualify. He grabbed the rope and pulled as hard as he could, for the bell was quite large and very heavy.
A loud peal sounded through the castle, followed by several more in succession. Despite being entrapped by the Sidhe's foul enchantment, Camelot's residents felt an almost visceral need to respond to the calling of the alarm and everyone rushed towards the sound, fear evident on their faces.
As more and more bodies crammed into the Courtyard, Merlin abandoned the bell and returned to Gwaine's side. Looking out over the mass of people, the knight swallowed and turned to look at Merlin.
"You'll do great, Gwaine. Now sing! Loud so everyone can hear you."
Gwaine took a breath and, turning back towards the people standing below him, he began to sing the drinking song that had been the cause of all the trouble. While Gwaine serenaded the masses in what proved to be a lovely baritone, Merlin stood behind his friend and quickly cast the spells that would protect him.
The more he sang, the more Gwaine actually began to enjoy himself. He knew that what he was doing was serious business, but when would he have such a captive audience to perform to again? Soon, he was strutting around, singing out in a loud voice, and shortly after that he decided to add some gesturing. Poor Merlin, having a difficult enough time trying to maintain the two spells protecting the man, now also had to make sure the protective bubble followed Gwaine as he strode to and fro across the landing.
Gwaine was almost at the end of the song, and nothing appeared to be happening. Everyone was silently watching the dark-haired knight when suddenly a voice joined him. And then another voice joined in, and another until soon everyone was singing along. It was beautiful, and a large grin split Merlin's face.
As the voices gained strength and the song rose up to the sky, Merlin heard a shriek, and saw what appeared to be blue flashes of light swirl around him and bounce off the spell encasing Gwaine. A further scream of despair sounded in Merlin's brain and then, suddenly, everything went quiet. As the last note of the song hung in the air, a gust of wind blew through the courtyard, sending the leaves dancing and stirring the people's clothing.
Merlin took a quick glance at Gwaine to make sure he was fine before looking at the people standing on the paving stones below them. They were all looking around in confusion … silently. "It worked!" crowed Merlin as he rushed to his friend's side. "You did it, Gwaine!"
"Ha!" laughed roguish knight. He grabbed Merlin's shoulders and lightly shaking him said, "It worked. I did it! Now, don't forget to tell Arthur how I saved Camelot."
Gwaine had hardly finished speaking when Arthur appeared before him and slapped him on his back. "Gwaine, thank you. I'm not sure how you did it, but you saved us. It was the oddest feeling, let me tell you. I knew something was wrong, and my mind kept telling me that I had to stop the music, somehow, but I couldn't. It was almost as if my brain was split in two and I wasn't the one in control."
Merlin jumped in to the conversation explaining, "That's exactly what had happened, Arthur. Gaius told me that someone had laid a curse on Camelot; it was designed to confuse and distract everyone. The only way to break the curse was to find someone who hadn't been affected and have them sing the song in front of everyone. The hope was that by joining in, the curse would be broken and everyone would be freed."
"Well, if that's the case Merlin, why weren't you and Gwaine caught in the spell?"
"Gwaine had locked himself in his rooms because of the bet he had going with you, and as for me … well, just lucky I guess," said Merlin.
"Either luck, or you're already so confused and distracted that the spell wouldn't make any difference," said Arthur with a laugh. Merlin quickly glanced at Arthur, but from the grin and wink sent in his direction, Merlin knew that Arthur was simply teasing him, so he just smiled back.
Later than evening, after Arthur had paid Gwaine the five gold coins – because he truly felt that the Knight had earned them for being brave enough to stand in front of a crowd and sing – Arthur, Merlin, Gwaine, Leon, Percival and Elyan stepped in to The Rising Sun. A loud cheer rose from the crowd and soon everyone began chanting "Gwaine! Gwaine! Gwaine!"
Always the showman, Gwaine bowed and waved to the gathered throng before heading over to a nearby table and planting himself down. As Arthur and the others joined him, a serving girl arrived and set down overflowing mugs of mead before the men. "In thanks, Sir Knight," she said with a saucy smile as she blew Gwaine a kiss and then headed back to the bar.
The men raised their mugs in a toast to Gwaine, and after everyone had taken a sip, Arthur stood up. "I have an announcement," he called. The room got very quiet and all eyes turned to the Prince. Glancing about the room with a steely-eyed gaze, the young Prince announced, "First person caught singing will spend the night in the dungeon!"