Chapter 2

The next morning Aislin was up bright and early, the hand maiden assigned to her had not shown up yet but she paid that no mind. She had always woken up before the servants came to tend to her, it was a habit that had been partially her own and partially trained into her. She sat on the edge of her bed reading a piece of parchment when there was a polite knock at the door.

"Come in." Aislin called setting down the parchment. The door opened and a timid looking serving girl stepped inside.

"Oh, I did not realize that I was so late! Forgive me Milady I will be on time tomorrow morning!" the girl said in a rush.

"You are not late, I just woke up early that's all. No need to fret." Aislin reassured the girl who visibly relaxed.

"Did you sleep well Milady?" the girl asked politely. She had come in with a breakfast tray, which she set down on the table and proceeded to go through the wardrobe and pick out a dress for Aislin. She helped Aislin dress in an rich emerald green velvet dress with an empire waist and loose three quarter sleeves. Once she was dressed and her hair combed and put in an elegant but relaxed braid Aislin kindly dismissed the girl and sat down to eat.

"Mind if I come in?" Cahir asked appearing in the door way. Aislin waved him in and turned back to the fruit on her tray.

"I'll say one thing about Camelot, the really know how to serve a good meal." Cahir said snitching a grape and popping it happily into his mouth.

"Mmmm, yes this is some of the best food I have had outside of our own kitchens." Aislin said taking a bite of a sweet roll.

"Breakfast aside, what are your plans for today?" Cahir asked.

"Today we begin the negotiations for the alliance." Aislin said nervously.

"Nego- what negotiations?! Everything has already been drawn out!" Cahir growled gesturing at the paper on the bed.

"You know that and I know that, but King Arthur does not. Also this is just the way things work, you negotiate, fuss, agree, and then sign the alliance. It's just the way it has to happen." Aislin sighed.

"Ok, so how do we get him to agree to the, magical, bit of the alliance?" Cahir asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I haven't gotten that far yet." Aislin admitted, "I'm working on it ok?" she huffed seeing her cousins eyes roll.

"If She were here this whole magic thing would have been half settled you know." Cahir said leaning back in his chair. Aislin narrowed her eyes at him but remained silent as there was no arguing with his statement.

Arthur was on his way to the council chambers to start the negotiations for the alliance, Merlin at his side as always.

"So what do you think of the visiting nobles from Eira?" Merlin asked casually.

"I barely met them yesterday Merlin." Arthur said with a roll of his eyes.

"What? No kingly instinct telling you that something is off about them or that this is the start of a beautiful friendship?" Merlin asked with a cheeky smile.

"I thought the funny feelings about people was your department Merlin." Arthur grumbled. He hated negotiations, they took forever. Steeling himself Arthur pushed open the large doors and strode majestically into the room. Merlin trotted alongside him and noticed that Aislin was already in the room, a piece of parchment lay in front of her.

"Are we ready to begin Arthur?" all heads turned as Morgana entered the room. She moved elegantly over to stand beside Merlin and her brother. Arthur nodded and took his seat, Aislin felt nerves start fluttering in her stomach as Arthur called the meeting to order. She hoped that Cahir was having a better day down on the training fields.

Cahir wondered how he got roped into this. He was currently on the training field sparring with Sir Leon. There was some satisfaction in the fact that he was trouncing the older knight with a fair amount of ease. With a flick of his wrist he disarmed Leon and a well-placed sweep of his leg sent him to the ground.

"It has been a long time since anyone but Arthur has been able to best me in sword fighting." Leon said with a smile. Cahir pulled him to his feet with a smirk, the older knight clapped him on the shoulder and they headed over to the bench to retrieve their water skins. Cahir paused mid stride as a dark brown snake slithered by.

'Well that was odd,' Cahir thought. He set his sword on the bench and jumped back as two more snakes slithered off the bench. He watched the snakes as they slithered off across the field, only to discover that the entire field was moving with snakes! The slithered purposefully across the field and headed for the castle.

"Um, Leon are snakes common in Camelot." Cahir asked slowly.

"Some, mostly they stay in the forest. The ones you will see around here are green or brown in color." The knight replied as he took off his armor. Most of the snakes slithering towards the castle were green or brown but that did little to ease Cahir's nerves. The sheer number of them was enough to tell Cahir that something was wrong, thanking the knight for the spar Cahir snatched up his sword and jogged towards the castle. He did not care if his cousin was in the middle of an intense meeting that would decide the fate of Camelot, something was wrong and they needed to find it before things got worse.

Aislin sat at the long table listening as Arthur and another Lord hashed things out. She fought down the urge to roll her eyes, the Lord was nothing more than a pompous idiot trying to get Arthur to agree with his ridiculous tax ideas. Had anyone actually listened to the lord's ideas and enforced them they would have a full rebellion from the common people on their hands.

Thanks to this worthless argument Aislin had been unable to talk to Arthur about the Alliance. She was about to clear her throat and redirect the conversation back to the paper in front of her when a soft hiss got her attention. Glancing down at the table in front of her Aislin felt her breath catch in her throat. A thick black snake with a beige diamond pattern on the end of its tail was making its way across the table.

"Where on earth did that come from!" Arthur exclaimed having caught sight of the snake.

"Your Majesty get back!" Aislin hissed standing up and moving away from the table. Soon all of the gathered council were following her lead as the snake dropped off the table and headed for the door. At that time the heavy doors were flung open.

"I am sorry to barge in but I need to speak with my cousin! I fear that something may be, Whoa!" Cahir was cut off as the snake slithered by his feet. Reaching down he snared the snake in a gauntleted hand and held it up to get a better look at it. The snake hissed at him and bared a pair of wicked looking fangs.

"Cahir!" Aislin shouted. Faster than most men could blink her hand darted up and whipped out one of the ornate pins in her hair. A flick of her wrist sent it whistling through the air only to embed its self in the snakes head, "You idiot that one was venomous!"

"I don't think its native to this land Aislin." Cahir said slowly. He was glaring at the dead snake in his fist, "Leon told me that the snakes of Camelot stay in the forest and are brown or green. This one is black with beige diamonds at the tail."

"But those snakes are only found…"Aislin trailed off. Her green eyes growing wide.

"Would you mind explaining what is going on here?" Arthur cut in sharply.

"Forgive us My Lord." Aislin said with a curtsy.

"Well I guess I should be thanking you for killing that snake. We would have been in serious trouble if it had bitten anyone." Arthur said with a grateful smile, "Let us continue with the signing of the Alliance shall we?"

"My Lord, I think you need to postpone the Alliance." Cahir said in a quiet voice.

"Why is that Sir Cahir?" Arthur asked. He was truly perplexed by the two nobles.

"Take a look at the court yard and I think you will agree with me when I say that we may be in trouble." Cahir said in a grave tone. Merlin and Morgana had joined Arthur as he moved to look out at the court yard. The king had to grit his teeth while Merlin stiffened beside him and Morgana's hand flew to her mouth. The entire court yard was alive with snakes of all sizes.

"What is going on? Where did all of these snakes come from?" Arthur asked.

"Why are they here?" Merlin asked softly.

"Get Geoffery out of that stuffy library and somebody find Giaus. I want answers now!" Arthur barked.

"My Lord, I do not mean to interrupt but I think we can all assume it was sorcery." A noble man dressed in green velvet and furs said in a smooth voice. Merlin glared, he hated this man he was about as trust worthy as a fox in a hen house. He knew Morgana felt the same as he did, a glance to his right made him smile. Aislin and her cousin were glaring icy daggers at the forked tongued man. At least he had someone in the court on his side.

"Sorcery?" Arthur asked in a low voice.

"Yes My Lord, and I suggest that you ask those two how it has happened!" the noble jabbed a finger at Aislin and Cahir.

"What? You think we did this?" Cahir growled.

"You just arrived yesterday evening, and the snakes arrived this afternoon. I hardly see that as a coincidence." The man sneered. Arthur was torn, on one hand it was highly suspicious but then again Aislin and Cahir had reacted in fear of the snakes.

"I can assure you my lord that we have nothing to do with these serpents. We do, however, know someone who specializes in uncovering spells, enchantments, curses, and can break them. This is a trusted confidant and advisor to our own kingdom. With your permission I would like to summon them here to help us before this gets out of hand." Aislin said. She spoke calmly and collectedly, hands clasped in front of her and head held high. Morgana smiled at Aislin, it was good to see another woman with a good head on her shoulders like herself and Gwen was in the area.

"And how do we know that this confidant of yours is to be trusted?" the fork tongued lord sneered. Merlin felt nerves gather in his stomach, he did not want to deal with another witch hunter especially now that Morgana was on his side. Protecting her, though she claimed he did not need to, and Arthur could land him on the head man's block.

"Many have come seeking their aid, not bothering to ask us but choosing to go straight to them. You would have to meet them yourself in order to deem them trustworthy. If it is any consultation, they have served our family for many generations and not one has used their knowledge to take my families throne." Aislin said remaining calm. Inside she was both terrified of King Arthurs judgement, and desperately wanting to throttle the noble in front of her. Cahir stood rigidly beside her and Aislin knew he was feeling the same as she did.

"You may send for this confidant of yours, but I will judge how trust worthy they are." Arthur said after a pregnant silence.

"That is all we ask My Lord, if you will excuse us we will go and send for her immediately." Aislin said feeling relieved. She and Cahir bowed deeply before heading for Aislins rooms.

"My Lord, are sure it is wise to trust them in doing this? For all we know they could be summoning a sorcerer!" the noble hissed.

"If they can ensure the safety of my kingdom and its people, then I will gladly except the help of a sorcerer." Arthur said casting a glance out at the courtyard. Merlin and Morgana shared a pleased smile at the kings words, it would make their lives that much easier if he was willing to allow magic to help. Excusing themselves Merlin and Morgana slipped away and made for Aislins chambers.

"If I ever see that fork tongued, troll begotten, pathetic dog of a man I will personally rip him to pieces!" Cahir thundered once they were in Aislins chambers.

"I'll stall King Arthur so that you have time to hide the body." Aislin seethed. She was writing furiously on a piece of parchment.

"Can you believe that he tried to blame this on us?" Cahir spat.

"Yes, actually I can." Aislin said with a pointed look at her cousin.

"Your magic told you didn't it? What did his weapon say?" Cahir asked. Aislin was gifted with a rare form of battle magic, she could hear the weapons held by someone and figure out what they were planning to do. She could also control weapons to an extent, she had sent swords chasing after more than one suitor in recent years. Cahir chuckled at the memory.

"Nothing good I can assure that, and they were words that would have my tongue scrubbed on a wash board." Aislin said with a shudder.

"I'll see his tongue nailed to a wall." Cahir growled.

"He'll have more than his tongue to worry about when She gets here." Aislin vowed, "Ok I have the message, I just need you to get a bat out of the pack and we'll be done."

"Right, which color bat do we send this time?" Cahir asked.

"A black one, it's the only way she will get here fast enough and I think that the situation calls for one." Aislin said with a cheeky smile.

"A black one?! I am not reaching my hand in there just to get it bitten off by one of those black devils!" Cahir said backing away from the pack. It squeaked angrily at him.

"Oh stop being such a baby, you are wearing armor!" Aislin said rolling her eyes.

"It just had to be a black one didn't it." Cahir grumbled. Cautiously he lifted up a corner of the pack's cover. Only for a vicious, pointed, black furry face to reach out and snap at him. Cahir quickly scruffed the offending bat and tugged it out of the pack, the bat shrieked and thrashed trying to bite the hand that held it.

"Knock it off you flying rat! Or I will stuff you and hang on the wall!" Cahir growled at the bat. With a twist it broke free and fluttered over to the table where it sat hissing.

"I apologize for my cousins rude behavior, but we need your help. We need you to take this to your mistress, it is urgent that she get this right away or the Alliance will not happen." Aislin said laying the roll of parchment on the table. The bat squeaked irritably before picking up the note and flying out the window, rapidly becoming a black speck on the horizon.

"You know you really should have been nicer to him." Aislin chided.

"Not when that thing tries to bite me!" Cahir snapped.

"Yes well, you are forgetting to whom he will be voicing his complaints to. And she is rather protective of her bats." Aislin reminded him. Cahir just grumbled and rolled his eyes. Aislin sat down on her bed and began casually levitating her daggers and spinning them in the air. Suddenly the door opened and Morgana and Merlin stepped into the room. They both eyed the floating daggers before slamming the doors shut, they starred wide eyed at Aislin and her cousins.

"You have magic?" Merlin asked in a rush. Cahir smiled at the warlock and sorcerous.

"Why don't you two come in and sit down? We have quite a bit to discuss?" Aislin said with a smile.