A/N: The title "A Normal Day In Camelot" would be synonomous with the name of this chapter. Hehe. Anyways, I want to thank everyone who's been reviewing and favorite-ing (again), but really it does mean a lot to me to see that there are people who are enjoying this. =)
Chapter 3- In Which Uther is Paranoid, Gwen is Flustered, and Morgana Smirks
Morgana lowered the arm she'd raised to protect her eyes from the light and looked through the vent, anxious to see if Morgause's plan had worked. Her eyes widened when she saw that yes, indeed, the room where Arthur had been standing only moments before was completely empty.
But then a thought occurred to her: Merlin.
She leaped off the table she'd been crouching on and ran to the door to Arthur's chambers, flinging it open and rushing inside. She spun in a circle on her heel, searching the prince's bedroom.
And she cursed. Merlin was nowhere to be found. He'd vanished with Arthur, and the way that servant meddled in things, could he somehow bring this plan crashing down? But Morgause had been quite insistent: she'd assured her sister that, several thousand years in the future, Arthur would never be able to find his way back to Camelot. Surely the addition of one meddlesome servant wouldn't be able to change this!
Still, she'd bring it up to her sister tonight. She'd already seen the message left for her on her mirror informing her that Morgause wanted to meet her to hear how the plan had gone. Morgana would let her know that Merlin, too, had vanished with the spell and would leave it up to the older woman on whether or not the servant's disappearance with his prince would be something to be concerned about.
Morgana turned and walked quickly out of Arthur's bedchambers, closing the door behind her. She glanced up and down the hall that ran past the prince's rooms, making certain that no one had seen her enter or leave the quarters. Once she was satisfied that her entrance into Arthur's rooms had gone unseen, she turned and briskly began her walk in the direction of the council chambers. Uther had called for a council meeting today, and Morgana would have to play the part of the loving ward at sit at her guardian-but-actually-father's side and smile innocently at his words and do all those things that made her retch. But soon, maybe, it would all be over.
No, not maybe. It would be. Arthur was gone for good, and Uther would soon die. She'd take her rightful place as Queen of Camelot and finally bring magic back to the land.
And hopefully all before the end of the week. Morgana couldn't help but smirk, a habit she'd formed recently that she just couldn't abstain from. The future just seemed so bright.
The evil half-smile soon fell from her lips as she passed into the council chambers, the doors held open for her by two guards. She entered the long hall to see Uther standing before his throne, looking slightly distracted. He didn't even look up and give her the customary gushing greeting that he usually gave. Not that she missed it, of course.
She walked to his side and immediately painted a look of concern on her face, reaching gently out with a hand to touch his arm.
"My lord, is there something troubling you?" she asked, mentally retching at the sickeningly sweet sound of her voice. He glanced up at her, his face troubled but he made an effort to try to hide it.
"No, Morgana," he said, turning to her, smiling through his evident concern. Morgana inwardly smirked at his turmoil. Smirking was becoming quite the habit for her. "Only the fact that Arthur has not appeared yet."
"I am sure he has a reason," she said. "Perhaps that servant of his is late waking him."
"Of course. I'm sure you are right," Uther said, agreeing with his ward. "If Arthur is late, though, I'll have that idiot of a manservant of his put in the stocks. This is getting out of hand."
"I'm sure there is nothing to worry about," Morgana assured him, coaxing him to sit down on his throne as she sat on her own seat beside him. As he glanced away, she once more smirked, anxious to see how this day would unfold.
Morgana's words seemed to settle Uther's worries for a time, but when the prince had still not appeared by the start of the council meeting, the king quietly asked two of the guards to check Arthur's chambers and find out why his son was not here. The guards bowed and left quietly through the doors of the council room, or as quietly as two of Camelot's guards could leave. After all, Morgana reflected, they were not the brightest of men.
However, true to his characteristically callous and stern nature, Uther welcomed the members of the council and began his meeting, even without his son. Morgana sat back on her seat and listened to the king's unending talk of taxes, armies, food stores, and news from the outlying villages with thinly veiled boredom. She knew, however, that all this would be worth it just to see Uther's face when Arthur was found to be missing.
And sure enough, the news came.
One of the many knights whom Morgana hadn't bothered to learn the name of was standing and reporting to the king the status of the scouts that had returned from Cenred's kingdom when the doors to the council chambers burst open and the two knights Uther had sent to Arthur's chambers returned.
Uther's head whipped up, and momentarily had a look on his face rather of a startled sheep, which quickly turned to deep concern when he recognized the guards.
"Sire," one barked, stepping forward. "I regret to inform you that Prince Arthur was not in his quarters."
"What?" Uther demanded. "Where is he?"
"We're not certain, Your Majesty," the second guard put it. "But the Prince is nowhere to be found."
"Find him!" Uther barked, eyes turning hard and furious. "I don't care what it takes! Find my son!"
"Yes, Sire," the first guard consented and turned to depart back through the doors, followed by the second guard and the other guards that were also in the council chamber at that moment.
Uther turned away from his council, his brow wrinkled with confusion and anxiety. Morgana stood and hastened to her father's side.
Uther glanced back over his shoulder at the men who sat at the council table, all watching him with varying levels of interest and worry.
"Council dismissed," he said to them. He couldn't think of matters of state now when Arthur was missing, vanished from his chambers.
The councilors stood and quickly filed out of the council room, knowing better than to stick around when their king was in this kind of mood. Their parting left Morgana alone with the uther, and she touched his arm gently.
"My lord, I am sure that they will find him," she assured him. "Arthur can't be far."
Uther nodded firmly, too lost in his own dark thoughts to reply to her. He turned away, and, behind his back, Morgana smirked.
Guinevere walked briskly down the halls of the castle, a basket of laundry in her hands, with every intention of taking the articles of clothing back to Morgana's chambers to put away before doing some general tidying up to make sure her mistress's room was ready for her return from the council meeting. All in all, it was a fairly normal day for the dark-skinned girl.
That was, until the guards hustled past her, carrying spears, a look of intensity on their helmeted faces.
Guinevere paused and watched them stride past her, confusion wrinkling her young face. She wondered what on earth had gotten the guards so riled.
Just then, the warning bells began to ring. Guinevere gasped and glanced around, trying to find someone who may be able to tell her what was going on. To her relief, she saw Gaius turn the corner and she rushed to the old physician, hoping he could give her some answers.
"Gaius!" she called. The old man stopped and turned to face her, his eyebrows raised higher than usual, a look of concern on his face. She hesitated as she approached him.
"Why are the warning bells ringing?" she asked. "What's happened?"
"Arthur is missing," the physician informed her. "Uther has the guards searching the castle and all of Camelot."
"Missing?" Guinevere gasped. "But…where has he gone?"
"That is what I intend to find out," Gaius said, turning and walking in the direction of his own quarters. Guinevere followed him, glancing periodically over her shoulder as if she would be able to spot Arthur simply standing in a doorway or outside in the courtyard or someplace…normal. Surely he couldn't truly be gone?
Gaius took a detour near Arthur's chambers, but both girl and physician found that the prince's rooms were heavily guarded and they were not allowed to enter by order of the king. So the two had returned to Gaius's chambers, where Gwen hoped maybe the physician would have an idea about what was going on.
Gaius pushed the door open, and Gwen followed close behind.
"Merlin!" Gaius's call echoed off the walls of the physician's chamber, but there was no answer. Gwen watched with anxiety as the old man walked up the short flight of steps to his ward's small bedroom. He opened the partially-closed wooden door and looked inside to find the space empty. His face was anxious as he turned back to the servant girl waiting in the main chamber.
"Where's Merlin?" she asked, unable to keep the fear from her voice. Gaius shook his head.
"If something had happened to Arthur, I would have expected I'd have heard from him by now," Gaius was clearly troubled.
"Was he with Arthur this morning?" Gwen asked, beginning to think along the same lines as the physician. And she did not like where this train of thought was taking her.
"Yes, he was," Gaius said darkly. Gwen swallowed hard, and Gaius turned intense eyes towards her.
"I don't think the guards will find Arthur in Camelot," Gaius said darkly.
"Well, maybe Merlin's gone to find him," Gwen attempted to add some hope to the situation. "I'm sure he'll keep Arthur safe."
Gaius nodded gravely.
"Let us hope so."
A/N: I know, I'm horrible to you. A chapter just in Camelot. Although, this will probably be the only time you really see Gaius and Gwen, as I'm not planning to focus on them much. But do not fret, my friends! We will catch up with Arthur and Merlin in the next chapter. What has happened to Arthur? How will Merlin cope with automobile rides? And how many licks does it take to get to...Oh, wait, that's not in that chapter. Sorry. But, anyways, tune in next week for the next chapter!