Alaia Skyhawk: Here's part 2! I'm slowing my updates down for the moment to 1 part every 2-3 days, since I'm working on finishing off the first draft of another of my books, The Criminal's Curse. I did it for NaNoWriMo last year but didn't get around to completing it, but I want to do book 2, The Criminal's Truth, for NaNo this year. So yeah, that means I have about a month and a half to finish it off, although that could actually be just 3-4 weeks. Because I want the first draft done before Season 4 starts, for obvious reasons XD
Oh, and on a side note, I've created a Facebook page under the name Alaia Skyhawk. I'm not sure what kind of announcements or blogging I might do on there, but I've kept the friend invites on open to all for the time being if you want to add me. BUT, you'll need to PM me your Facebook name through FFnet. I'll reject all friend invites that haven't been confirmed with a PM. This is just to stop random weirdos.
Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.
Music: N/A
"Whom History Won't Remember" Episode: N/A
~(-)~
Chapter 2: The Curse of Cornelius Sigan ~Part 2~
This was getting very annoying...
Merlin, practically storming, trudged his way through the castle towards the stables. He'd had his entire day planned out, what chores he would be doing and in what order, but that had all been thrown out the window the moment he'd stepped through Arthur's door with a plate of warm toasted bread, cheese, and a cup of hot herbal tea. The reason?
Cedric was already there, and had brought up what was practically a feast for Arthur. He was even going so far as to wait on the prince hand and foot, not letting him have to reach for anything more than his fork and his cup. Arthur, the idiot he was, was lapping up all that attention and boot-licking. Cedric was buttering him up thicker than a bread roll, and the prince seemed oblivious to the obvious protocol that was being breeched.
It's against the unspoken rules between masters and servants, to allow a new servant to undermine the established one on their first day on the job. Yes, competition is to be expected, but you're not supposed to practically dump the one that's served you loyally after saving your life, in order to bask in the sucking-up being done by the one you just hired even if you think they saved your life too.
Merlin caught a few sympathetic looks being directed his way by the other servants, who were aware of what was going on, not reacting but grateful all the same. They were unhappy about Cedric's 'intrusion' as well, and the chief of the castle staff was likely livid about having the man on the roster. Everyone knew what Merlin had put up with from the prince all winter, and for him to be sidelined in such a manner, and so casually, did not sit well.
After all, what motivation was there for servants to work hard and well, if their masters act with such disregard for their good service?
One servant in particular showed more sympathy than most, calling out to him and coming over when they crossed paths.
"Merlin!"
It was Bern, and he was wearing a bemused frown. After working for another of the knights for the past year, he'd come to realise just how he'd been put upon by the prince before Merlin had come along. He was something of a sometime ally now, passing on tips and information about goings on among the staff. Things that his one-time rival might not have heard yet.
Merlin frowned a little as well when he came over, knowing that Bern had something for him that would not improve his mood.
"What is it?"
Bern glanced furtively down the hallway, lowering his voice.
"It's about what happened in the courtyard yesterday. I have it from one of the other servants that they saw your friend, Cedric, hanging around near the prince's horse after you saddled it. No one actually saw him do it, but it's obvious he must have undone the girth. You've prepared Arthur's horse far too many times now to make a beginner's mistake like that."
Merlin's frown deepened.
"Yeah, it was just a bit too convenient that Cedric came over and starting boot-licking right after it happened. Thanks for telling me, Bern."
The other servant shrugged.
"It's fine, you'd do the same for me. So where are you off to now?"
Merlin's grimace was mixed with dislike.
"The stables, which Cedric conveniently hasn't mucked out, and it's still too early in the day for the stablehands to have done it."
Bern watched his fellow servant as Merlin set off again.
"Keep an eye on him, Merlin. He's trouble, or I didn't serve Prince Arthur for ten years."
"Believe me, I'm going to."
But it seemed it just wasn't to be. The machinations of Cedric were far from done with regards to him.
Merlin didn't see the man peering through the stable door, and didn't hear the soft thud of a smouldering 'sleep ball' being tossed to the floor behind him. It was lost amid the sounds of the horses fidgeting, and unfortunately as soon as one might identify the distinct smell from the item, you were already too late to stop it knocking you out.
He slumped to the stable floor, a smirking Cedric creeping in with a cloth over his mouth to grab the ball and throw it into a shadowed corner outside. He then moved across the stall, untethering each horse one-by-one and driving them towards the doors with shoves and slaps. Only one of the horses gave him any trouble, that being the brown gelding at the far end. He got it untethered just fine, despite its attempts to bite him, but when he tried to shoo it out he almost got a kick in the thigh for his trouble.
Cedric abandoned trying to get the last horse, Merlin's, to flee out into the stable yard and nearby streets. No, Bitan had moved and was stubbornly and defensively stood above his unconscious master, snorting angrily at the intruder.
That was where a very unhappy prince found his servant, in a stable empty of every horse but Merlin's own. After the incident with the saddle, he was in no mood for the farce of all his mounts sprinting out of the stables like a mass stampede.
The booted foot of the prince nudged the servant in the ribs, rousing him. Merlin was dotted with manure all down his right side, from face to knee, and he blinked fuzzily trying to get his bearings while above him Arthur spoke.
"What are you doing?"
The servant stumbled to his feet, swaying slightly in disorientation, unable to focus properly. Certainly not enough to come out with something convincing.
"Uh, Nothing?"
"I can see that"
Merlin made himself look at the prince, realising what it must have looked like he'd been doing. If he'd been unconscious on the floor.
"I wasn't sleeping…. I was just… bending down."
"Looking for something…" Arthur gestured around at the interior of the stable, and the lone animal still stood inside it. "The perhaps we're looking for the same thing... The horses!"
That jolted him more awake, to turn and stare at the almost empty stable. That was when the quickly becoming hated figure of Cedric slipped in through the door.
"Sire, don't be too hard on him. He's a good servant, he's just... tired."
Merlin practically slapped aside the man's 'friendly' hand on his shoulder.
"I'm not tired."
It was clear from Arthur's expression that he found that statement debatable, and Cedric, ignoring Merlin's protest, played along to it.
"Perhaps, Sire, if he had the evening off. A good night's rest-"
"I did not fall asleep!"
Merlin choked off what he might have said after, about the scent from a sleep ball still lingering in his nostrils. Without the ball itself, he had no proof, and Cedric was certain to have already hidden it.
If Cedric hadn't been playing the considerate fellow manservant, he would have looked especially smug.
"I'm more than happy to take over his duties for tonight."
Arthur started to nod.
"Perhaps you're right."
"No!"
"Shut up, Merlin."
The prince's condescending glance, his lack of trusting his established servant's words over those of the new one, pushed Merlin over the edge. His frustrated outburst leaving his mouth before he'd even considered properly his choice of words.
"Can't you see what he's doing? He's trying to get rid of me! And if you weren't such a clot pole you'd see that!"
Blue eyes narrowed.
"A what?"
Merlin froze, he knew that expression of irritated offence all too well, and from the tiny hint of a smirk from Cedric he knew he'd fallen right into it as the man spoke.
"Clot pole... He said clot pole"
Arthur, still glaring at Merlin, had clearly made up his mind.
"Cedric's right, he can look after me tonight. And you, can go home and think about whether you want to be my servant or not."
Merlin's expression melted into one of bewilderment and hurt. Was this really Arthur saying this, the man he'd declared to last autumn that he'd be happy to serve him until the day he died? Had he forgotten that already?
Arthur overrode his servant's protest, Cedric 'helpfully' picking up and offering Merlin his jacket. Merlin took it, almost snatched it in fact, and glared daggers at the man when he passed him. If Arthur couldn't, wouldn't, see what was really going on, then it wasn't worth the argument... Was it even worth protecting him at all?
"Loyalty earns respect."
The unhappy words were quiet, barely audible as Merlin passed out of the stable door, but they were enough to get at least a faint flicker of a frown out of Arthur. But the prince was quickly distracted from whatever musings those words had triggered, by the stablehands coming in with the first of the retrieved horses.
As for Merlin, he was trudging his way back to Gaius' chambers, not even bothering to stop by the servant's bathing rooms to get the manure off his face. He was too upset to care about anything like that right now.
Gaius regarded his ward in concern when he entered, far too early in the day.
"What's that on your face?"
Merlin didn't stop walking, he just headed straight for his room.
"It's nothing."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
The old man knew that muted tone, what had happened was far from nothing to Merlin's eyes. Rising to his feet, he wetted a cloth using the water in the barrel by the door, and followed his ward into the smaller room.
Merlin was sat there, looking dejected as he came over and started to wipe the dirt from his face.
"Here."
Merlin sighed as the manure came away.
"I am not an idiot."
"What happened?"
Gaius' voice was sympathetic, the young warlock beside him sighing again.
"I just want Arthur to trust me, and to see me for who I really am."
"One day he will."
"When?" Merlin looked up at him, Gaius ceasing his work with the cloth. "Everything I do is for him, and he just thinks I'm an idiot."
Gaius wiped one last bit of dirt free, the rest would require a basin of water.
"Not everyone thinks you're an idiot, and I know it's hard for you to live pretending that. You've a bright young mind, Merlin. Your studies over the winter prove it." He paused. "And speaking of ancient languages, I've translated the words from Sigan's tomb... 'He who breaks my heart, completes my work.'. Camelot is in grave peril."
The young warlock stiffened, the mention of a threat banishing his thoughts about his troubles.
"What does it mean?"
Gaius was grim.
"Remember how the stone on the tomb glowed? It's not a jewel, it's Sigan's soul. He is just a spirit, and to truly live he will need a body. If someone removes the stone, then Sigan will likely..."
Merlin now looked equally as concerned, but part of him felt a small amount of relief.
"Well it's just as well Arthur has the only key. No one can get in there without him knowing about it."
His mentor rose to his feet, heading for the door and pausing there.
"I will speak to the king again in the morning, and try to convince him to seal the tomb. Perhaps now that I have some evidence of magic being involved, he will listen to me."
But once again the easy path seemed not to be, as Merlin jolted awake in the early hours of the night to the silent scream of a raven, followed not long after by the alarm bells when the guards at the tomb awoke from their drugged slumber. Gaius was swiftly called down to inspect the 'damage' inside the chamber, Merlin accompanying him, and it was Merlin who noted that the door had not been forced and that the only way in was with Arthur's key.
What worried them was that the blue 'heart' in the centre of the coffin had been pried loose, and was now just a clear white crystal lying on the floor. But Arthur's arrival soon after confirmed the prince still had his key, meaning either it hadn't been taken... or it had been taken and replaced by the one person who had had access to it this night. A man currently conspicuously absent... Cedric.
The dawn light was streaming in through the castle windows when Merlin headed for Arthur's chambers the next morning, fully aware of just how insane he was going to sound. But insane or not the words had to be said, if only Arthur would believe him.
But the stare he got, when he accused Cedric of being possessed, made it clear that the conman in his conniving had played right into Sigan's hands... Because right now, at this point in time, Arthur was in no mood to believe a word his manservant said against the interloper.
"Merlin, have you been on the cider?"
Merlin gritted his teeth, trying to keep his tone calm and reasonable. Screaming at Arthur, like he so desired to right now, was not going to help.
"Please, you've got to believe me. Camelot is in mortal danger. Sigan is using Cedric's body to take his revenge, Gaius has translated the script from his tomb."
Arthur did not look impressed.
"This nonsense isn't going to help you keep your job."
Merlin's patience snapped, his voice rising to a shout. Why wouldn't Arthur trust him! After all he'd done for him even not counting what he'd done behind the scenes.
"You aren't listening to me!"
Arthur rose to his feet.
"Well if you're going to shout anyway... Cedric!" The other servant entered at the call, Arthur indicating Merlin. "It you would you escort Merlin out of the palace."
Those words chilled Merlin, as well as gave rise to a burning fury. Arthur was dismissing him?
He lunged at Cedric in that anger, if nothing else than to try provoke a magical reaction from the sorcerer possessing him. The two of them fell to the floor, scrabbling around and punching until the guards Arthur summoned dragged Merlin away and to the dungeons.
His impact with the cold, straw-strewn floor brought him to reality, one that was filled with a threat that was being ignored. Ignored just like his shout to the guards when he regained his feet and rushed to the bars of the cell.
"He's going to destroy Camelot!"
But the guards didn't listen, simply walking past their captain where he stood at the dungeon entrance. His eyes narrowing in concern at Merlin's frustrated cry.
~(-)~
The physician paced in his chambers, worried and powerless as outside the sky began to darken into night. He'd gone to the king a second time, and had again been told to stay quiet. He'd returned to his chambers only to hear along the way that Merlin had been thrown in the dungeon for 'attacking' Cedric in Arthur's chambers, and now an eerie chill in the air made him nervous.
Something was about to happen, something terrible, and he needed to do what he could to prepare.
Gaius turned away from his pacing, starting to pack salves and bandages into baskets. So that they could be quickly taken to the small meeting hall off the central courtyard, which was used as an infirmary whenever one was needed in an attack.
When that task was done, he sat. Sat and waited as night fell and the people of the city began to make their way to their homes. And when the first terrified screaming reaching his ears though his open window, Gaius rose to his feet and headed for where he knew the king would found.
The view from the windows was clear as he made that trip to the council chambers, the stone gargoyles that had dominated the tops of the battlements for centuries had come to life and taken wing. They were attacking the people, killing them!
He arrived at the council chambers on the heels of Prince Arthur, able to hear his report to his father.
"There's more than one, Father. I've had several reports. There's panic in the lower town. People are fleeing the city."
"Then you must hunt these creatures down and kill them."
"Yes, Sire."
Gaius paused and stepped aside to allow Arthur to pass, before taking his place at the doorway of the room. His expression was stern as he regarded his king, and the castle had begun to shake to an extent that dust rained down from the ceiling.
"It is as I warned you, Sire!"
Uther stared at him, still not wanting to believe.
"This cannot be Sigan."
"It is his revenge. He has come back from the dead."
The king scowled, refusing to be cowed.
"Then he will die again."
Gaius remained grim.
"You do not understand, Sire. You cannot kill a man who has conquered mortality."
"Do not tell me what I cannot be done! Camelot will not fall to a sorcerer while I am king!"
Whatever might have been said after that was silenced, as another violent shudder rocked the room and a crack snaked down part of one of the walls. When not even that seemed to make Uther see reason, Gaius turned and left with only the most fleeting of bows. If he could not get the king to take this seriously, then he would do the only other thing he could do.
Set up the infirmary, treat the wounded, and save as many souls as he could while praying for a miracle.
~(-)~
Hands grasped at the tiny iron grille in the window, the screams of people and shrieks of monsters echoing into the cell. He stared out into that nightmare, watching as one of the stone gargoyles was advanced upon by Arthur and the knights.
This couldn't be happening, it shouldn't be happening... If only that idiot had listened to him and trusted him!
Merlin let go of the grill, turning and going to the bars instead.
"Hello! Someone let me out!"
"Regroup!"
That came from behind him, Arthur's shout drawing Merlin back to the window. He watched as the remaining uninjured knights formed up around him, shields held forward as they advanced on the creature before them. But the warlock could tell it was a waste of time. He had only to look at the scattering of knights laid about, that had already been killed or knocked unconscious, to know that.
But Arthur clearly refused to see that, or maybe just refused to accept it, charging into danger to protect the people he'd sworn to... This was the Arthur worth defending.
Merlin flinched when he saw the prince be struck and flung to the ground, instinct screaming at him to do something as the knights grabbed Arthur and dragged him towards the door of the emergency infirmary. It was all he needed to see, as he turned and faced the cell door, raising his hand and readying the words that would blast it from its hinges.
His eyes had just gleamed gold in prelude when he was forced to choke the the spell off before he could utter it, the figure of the Captain of the Castle guard appearing in his view outside the cell.
Georg strode up to it, inserting a key into the lock and opening the door, Merlin staring at him in shock.
"You're letting me out? Why?"
The guardsman stepped aside to let him pass.
"Because this morning, when you were thrown in here, you were trying to warn us this would happen. I figure if anyone knows what is doing this, and how we can defend ourselves, it will be you and your mentor." He pointed towards the exit. "Go to him! And may there be mercy that the two of you can figure out how to stop this."
Merlin didn't need telling twice, sprinting out of the dungeons to take the back route to the infirmary. Arthur might be a complete idiot at times, but it was still his job to protect him.
~(-)~
Alaia Skyhawk: Yep, I had Georg let him out. Seriously, I know the castle was being shaken up a lot, but you'd think someone would still ask later why the door of Merlin's cell had clearly been BLOWN OFF. (shakes head) And yeah, I made Merlin not quite so stupid in the stable scene. Seriously, Arthur has used one of those smoking balls to knock out guards in the past. And Merlin, being Gaius' ward and having lived in Camelot for a year, should know by now how something like that is made and what it would smell like. If there's one thing I don't like about the writers' decisions for this opening ep of Season 2, it was that they let Arthur slide backwards too far in his attitude, and Merlin was just a bit too clueless in the first half of it. It was like half of their character development from Season 1 had vanished.
