Lady Anna's sleeping chambers.
"What happened here?"
Sir Gwaine and Sir Erec stepped aside, letting Arthur into Anna's room.
"My lord," began Gwaine, but Arthur raised his hand to silence him. Gwaine's brow furrowed in anger, but he didn't speak.
"Lady Anna, who did this to you?" Arthur implored.
She looked up at him and the steeliness of her gaze caught him off guard, but that wasn't the worst of it. Her face was covered in bruises and there was a neat cut on the upper right side of her mouth. Her eyes were red from crying and her hair hung like wet strings around her face.
"Lady Anna, I emplore you, who did this?"
Arthur took a couple of steps towards her.
"Please, Anna." He then ordered Erec and Gwaine to leave, but Gwaine hesitated. Arthur nodded to him as if saying, I'll take care of this.
Gwaine spoke his response out loud.
"My Lord, I don't doubt that you will. But if you do not, I'll take care of it the best way I know how. And with a little less propriety." And he left, closing the door after him.
"What do I do now?" Anna asked, turning to face him, her body still shaking.
Arthur sighed deeply. He should have taken care of this a long time ago, but there were so many variables to take into consideration.
"You won't have to do anything, Anna. I will have Merlin put an enchantment around your room so that he won't be able to get in."
"Halcyin is a very determined man, my lord. I know this well. He will figure out that magic is involved and will consider you a traitor, for fooling him...for keeping him away from his wife. He will break the alliance. And all of the West Village will suffer his wrath."
She looked away as another wave of sobs shook her body.
Arthur took her hands in his own.
"The last time you visited us, you told me things were getting better. You told me Halcyin had seen the error of his ways and was determined to be a better man. A better husband and father."
"What I told you, my Lord, was true at the time. He was trying so hard. And I believed in him. I love...I loved him so much back then that I was willing to believe that he would change over time. But he hasn't. He just has not. And I don't know how much else I can take."
She stopped to steady herself, inhaling a few times to gather her thoughts.
"My little ones - Elaine and Gareth - you remember them, my lord?
"I do," he replied.
She wiped her eyes.
"They are staying with their grandmama. If I live through this -"
"Anna, don't talk like that!"
She ignored him and continued, lowering her voice, which had taken on a desperate tone.
"If I live through this, I'll take them with me. I'll run away. He won't be able to find me. There are safe houses in the far corner of the West Village that we can take up in. If worst comes to worst, I can go and enquire for Claudius in the village of Mareth. Halcyin will never find us."
"There will be no need for that, Anna. Halcyin will never lay hands on you again." He took another look at her and inquired softly.
"Did you let him in last night?"
"He didn't force his way into my room if that's what you mean. In my foolishness, I let him in. In my foolishness and naiveté, I believed him when he told me he just wanted to talk. To see if I was alright. Then he began to accuse me of making him look like a fool at the feast. He thought I was faking my stomach cramps just so I didn't have to sit next to him. And when Gwaine followed me afterwards, he thought I might have been plotting against him. His paranoia has grown, King Arthur. He acts like a gentleman in public, but behind closed doors...well..."
She gestured to the bruises on her face which had turned a particular shade of purple.
"You can see with your own eyes what he's capable of."
"He won't hurt you again while you are under my roof, I assure you of that. The enchantment will prevent him. Only I, Merlin, Gwaine, and Guinevere will -"
She stopped him from continuing.
"Her ladyship, Guinevere! Does she know?"
There was a worried look on her face.
"No," replied Arthur. "As far as I can tell, Guinevere knows nothing about Halcyin's darker side."
"And you won't tell her will you?"
"I haven't told her yet. But Anna, if for some reason Guinevere can convince Halcyin to -"
"She won't be able to. I've tried, as did my father before his death. The entail belongs to Halcyin, son of King Baeth and Lady Clarine. He was their only child and heir. The West Village belongs to him alone."
Arthur almost spat. "Baeth was no true king."
"Aye, but in his own mind he was." She almost laughed. What a wretched scene we must make - the King of Camelot and I, with my face all black and blue, Anna thought to herself.
"But before I met I met him, Halcyin," Anna continued, "I had heard rumours and stores of Queen Guinevere's father, Thomas, having had...how do I put it...sowed his wild oats far and wide in his younger years. Halcyin and I have never had a conversation on the topic, but I assume he knew that I had some knowledge of his past."
"And he was ashamed of it. Ashamed of being the bastard child of a blacksmith and a princess," Arthur said.
"Ashamed, yes. I know Guinevere tried to make him stay with Thomas, so that he might have a real family; that he might know his real father. But he denied her request."
"And Baeth never knew the child wasn't his?"
"Oh, my Lord, Baeth knew alright. He just didn't care. Lady Clarine had been barren, or so he thought, and when Halcyin was born, he was beside himself with joy or at least that is what Lady Clarine told me."
"But the entail, suppose there is a way to pass the title of ruler on to you...would you accept it? You would be the sole guide of the West Village. You wouldn't have to flee the country you grew up in."
Anna's eyes widened.
"Our laws are set in stone my lord. How would you manage it?"
He steadied himself. He knew the day would come when someone other than him and Merlin would know the real importance of the West Village. Or what lay beneath it. For almost two centuries, the secret of the Cave of Angharad lay in the pages of the books of Camelot's library, known only to Merlin and Arthur's former physician, Gaius. With the passing of Gaius, Merlin took over and filled himself with the knowledge of history's greatest scientists, physicians, and sorcerers. When the time came to unite the kingdoms, Merlin told Arthur all that he knew. The Cave of Angharad was his greatest secret. A human offering conducted within the cave would grant the sacrificer the ultimate power. Enough to rival even Merlin's. The thought of that alone sickened Arthur. He knew what Merlin was capable of, and anyone with greater power than him...well...they would all be doomed.
The alliance was the only answer. Only then would Merlin get safe passage into the Village in order to destroy any remnants of the cave, preventing its power from going into the wrong hands. Did Halcyin know what lay below his own kingdom? Arthur was sure of it. Halcyin never left a stone unturned.
"Anna, have you heard of the Cave of Angharad?" He asked.
She turned to face him.
"Only in legends, my lord."
"It's not a legend Anna. And it might be your only hope."
And with that, he revealed all that he knew to her.
Anyone else missing baby Julian Pendragon? I know I am. The next chapter is on its way, and we'll get a sneak peak into the little tyke's world. Plus, Merlin! Wonder what he's been up to...As always, your comments are welcome.