Chapter 4: Emrys and Gaius
"Hello, Emrys," Gwen said breezily as she walked past Merlin, but he hardly heard her, his mind reeling from all the thoughts in his head and his lips still tingling from Morgana's kiss. "Emrys?" Gwen repeated. "Are you alright?"
"What? Oh, sorry, Gwen, I wasn't really ..." He shook his head. "Sorry."
"So, does that dazed look mean that I was right, and that Morgana did manage to persuade you to full duties last night?"
"Ah, what? No!" Merlin swallowed hard, trying to get into this world's mindset. "Your lady was very gracious to a young outsider exhausted from his travels and allowed me to sleep on her floor last night." He looked around then, remembering that everyone else needed to believe that he was now her established Night Servant. "I will, of course, be starting my duties this evening … apparently ..." His voice faded out on the last word, his uncertainty quite evident.
"Don't worry, Emrys, I told you yesterday, she'll be gentle with you, I promise, and .. well, she's very enthusiastic, is Morgana, so I'm sure you'll be getting as much benefit from the arrangement as she does soon enough."
"Ah, right ..." He found his eyes drawn to Gwen's bands, now noting that she wore Morgana's on her right and Arthur's on the left. He nodded, starting to make sense of this new form of identification.
"Well, I'd better be attending her myself now, and you'll need to see Arthur to discuss your duties for today," Gwen continued with a small frown at Merlin's hesitation.
"Yes, Morgana said," he replied with a nervous nod. "Ah, Gwen, do all servants wear these?" he asked pointing to his right arm.
"You'll see everyone who's not nobility wearing one on their right," she said. "In fact there are a several servants sporting Arthur's colours, as he has numerous Day Servants."
"I see ..."
"But not that many have the honour to wear anyone's Band on their left sleeve," she said with a hint of both pride and embarrassment in her voice, "as few of the nobility keep the same Night Servant for very long. They tend to become easily bored."
"Except Arthur?" he asked and she gave him a shy smile.
"I admit that I am very fortunate," she agreed as they parted company and swapped masters.
"Ah, there you are, Emrys," said Arthur as he entered the Prince's chambers. "How are you this morning? Not too tired?" There was a half smile on his face, but Merlin knew any Arthur well enough to know that he probably wasn't expecting any details.
"I'm ready to start my duties, Sire."
"Good. Well, go and have some breakfast and then, after that, you can check what needs doing at the stables and exercise my horse if you get a chance. Then the rest of the morning is yours – catch up on your sleep if you need to - and I'll meet up with you in the armoury after lunch to go over the details of next week's tournament and what you will need to do in preparation for that." There was a long pause as Merlin just stared at him. "Was there a problem?"
"Ah, I was waiting for the rest," Merlin explained.
"The rest of what?" The Prince asked.
"Exercise your horse, check his stable and tack and ... " Merlin took a deep breath, "... and then see you after lunch?"
"Yes? Is that really so difficult for you to understand?" Arthur said in a very familiar condescending tone.
"No, Sire … ah, thank you." Merlin walked off shaking his head in disbelief at his light work load as he made his way to the Prince's private stables.
xoxOxox
His duties were finished in a couple of hours and, even then, he'd probably been a little more thorough that he'd needed to be. Although the offer of 'catching up on his sleep' was a little tempting, Merlin had worked far harder on far fewer hours numerous times before and, right now, what he really needed was answers and he knew that there was only one place he was realistically going to get any. Taking a deep breath to steel himself for another potentially strange conversation, Merlin took the very familiar route up to the physician's chambers and knocked on the door.
"Come in." Gaius' familiar voice rang out and Merlin quickly realised this wasn't going to be another deja vu moment. Which, he decided, was probably just as well, seeing that he was quite certain he couldn't call on enough magic to pull off that particular introductory trick.
"Hello, Gaius," he said nervously as he entered.
"Ah, hello. I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met."
"Ah no. I'm … well, my name is Emrys but … I believe that you might know my family – and, ah, they tend to call me … Merlin."
"Merlin?" Gaius said brightly. "You're Hunith's son?"
"Yes, that's right."
"But, you're not meant to be here until Wednesday."
"Ah ..." What was that he was saying about deja vu? "This isn't Wednesday?"
"Next Wednesday," Gaius clarified, taking a piece of paper out of his pocket and waving it at him. "I've only just received your mother's letter asking me to expect you."
"Oh."Merlin was arriving here next week? That was likely to be ... interesting.
"You know, I can see the family resemblance, now I look at you more closely," Gaius said whilst Merlin's brain continued to work overtime, "but I was under the impression that you were a little younger."
"Were you?" Merlin asked brightly, sensing an answer to one of his numerous questions. "How old do you think I am then?"
"Nineteen summers," Gaius answered promptly, "but I have to admit that you look comfortably into your twenties."
"Yes, so people often say," Merlin answered absent-mindedly. This actually was five years ago. No wonder things here kept reminding him of his first days in Camelot.
"So, why are you here now?" Gaius asked suspiciously, "and why did you say that your name was Emrys?"
"Well, I'm Merlin's twin brother, obviously," he replied with a bright smile. Gaius' frown deepened.
"Merlin's an only child and I was there to help with the rather difficult birth," the old man replied suspiciously. "Trust me, I would have definitely remembered if there had been two of you."
"Right, so … Gaius, I think you'd better sit down. This is going to take quite a bit of explaining."
"This had better be important, I am rather busy, you know?"
"Well, it's like this …. I actually am Merlin, but I'm not that Merlin," he said pointing to the letter the old man was still holding.
"You're not?"
"No, I'm Merlin from ... another world." Gaius' eyebrow shot up in such a familiar gesture of surprise and disbelieve that the young man struggled not to laugh. "There are different universes you see, all caused by the various different decisions that ..."
"Yes, thank you, Merlin. I'm more than aware of the theory, but forgive me if I say that it is simply that … a theory ... and there is no way that someone of your age could even begin to grasp such a concept in the first place, let alone actually travel to another world, especially when there is no magic left here."
"Ah, but you see, there is magic where I come from. Well, what I mean to say is that there's more magic where I come from as it's not all gone from here, obviously."
"What are you talking about, boy? Of course it has. That's exactly what the Purge means. Twenty years ago, Uther caused the great Purge to happen when he cut off the world from all magic. It no longer exists."
"Ah, right … I see ..." Merlin nodded as another question was quickly answered. "Only you're wrong, I'm afraid, there is still some magic here … look .." He focused on the candle that was sitting between them and concentrated. "Forbærne," he chanted and a light immediately appeared at the wick, dancing happily. Gaius jumped up in shock.
"What did you just do?"
"Um ..."
"Tell me," he demanded.
"Magic?"
"I know what it was, I just want to know how you were able to do that?"
"Relax, Gaius, it's just I'm a bit different from most sorcerers … I'm Merlin … Emrys. Have you not heard that second name?"
"Emrys? Well, it does sound a little familiar, now you come to mention it, but I'm not sure ..."
"The ancient Druid prophecies speak of Emrys supporting the Once and Future King and bringing magic back to Albion. In my world that simply means allowing it to be practised legally as Uther has banned it, but here it seems as if it might have a rather more literal meaning."
"How old are you, Merlin?" Gaius asked, staring at him as if he was some especially strange creature.
"Twenty four."
"You're from the future and from a different world?"
"Yes, although I've only just realised that this is my past when you said how old you were expecting me to be."
"How did you get here?"
"An older version of me … sent me here," he answered, trailing off on the last word as he noted Gaius's disbelieving look. "It's true and that future me, in my world where magic is strong, certainly has enough power to do such a thing."
"Emrys?" Gaius pondered. "Honestly, we discarded all the magical books twenty years ago. They're in a secret chamber in the records office somewhere as we didn't think we'd ever need them again, not now that magic has gone."
"It's not gone, I told you, it's just ..." Merlin fought hard to describe what he'd been sensing this last day. "It's buried, stifled, so far away that it's struggling to have any influence on this world at all."
"But you can still access it?"
"Just barely. That spell was hard for me here, Gaius, and yet it's one of the first I learnt in my world and I can usually do it in my head nowadays."
"You can? What else have you learnt? You seem very young to have achieved such things, even in a world with full magic."
"I'll tell you more about that later, Gaius, but first, can you tell me more about Uther's Purge and also what this curse is that everyone's going on about?"
"You don't know?"
"I wouldn't be asking if I did." Gaius gave him another long, disbelieving look.
"Merlin, do you know me back in your world?"
"Yes, of course."
"For five years?"
"Yes. Why?"
"I suppose that explains why you're being rather over familiar with me for one so young."
"Oh, sorry," Merlin responded with a wince. "I tend to forget. It's a bit odd interacting with everyone I know here."
"I can imagine." The old man fell quiet for a moment before his look suddenly turned to one of concern. "Merlin what are your night time arrangements here? Only things are probably not the same where you come from and you might need to know about some of the Lords and Ladies here and ..."
"It's alright, Gaius. That I do know about. Almost as soon as I turned up yesterday, I was roped into service with Arthur and Morgana." He raised his eyes to the ceiling as he pointed to his sleeves.
"Really? How did you pull that one off?" the old man asked suspiciously, straining his eyes to make out the young man's Bands.
"Fate, probably," he answered with a sheepish grin. "I'm Arthur's personal servant in my world and Gwen's one of my best friends there so, I suppose it was inevitable those ties were going to have an effect when I arrived here."
"Sometimes you talk as if you're as old as me."
"Even Arthur's been known to call we wise, sometimes," Merlin replied with a smile. Then it dawned on him what it was that Gaius was seeing that was confusing him and quickly turned more serious. "My world is very different, but we do have severe problems of our own – also mostly caused by the Purge. Let's just say that the last five years have not been easy on me and … I suppose I've had to grow up much faster than any of us would have liked."
"Well then, I am sorry to hear that. Why did your older self send you here?"
"Well he didn't say in so many words, but he implied I was to fix your magic problem."
"Just like that?" Gaius asked sceptically.
"If I can work out exactly what Uther did to cause this to happen, I might be able to reverse it. If it's a simple spell then I might even be able to cast it, but there may be some other reason that I was sent here – some other knowledge that I have that can help you."
"Well, seeing how much you seem to know about such complex concepts, that could well be true, and I admit it will be very interesting working with you on this."
"You want to help me?"
"Of course. I used to have magic once, you know?"
"You still do," Merlin corrected him casually. "It's just a bit difficult for you to get hold of at the moment." Gaius gave a very genuine laugh before turning rather more serious. "What are you going to do when … the other Merlin arrives here?"
"I was hoping perhaps I might be able to solve this before then."
"That's all very well, but you'll be well known here by then, especially wearing those particular Bands and if he turns up looking just like you …?"
"Oh, I see ..." Merlin suddenly thought about this world's Morgana and how he would have coped with her advances five years previously and gasped. "Oh no, the poor boy's not going to know what's hit him!"
Gaius looked at him more closely and pointed to his left sleeve. "So, you are now Morgana's Night Servant?"
"Ah, yes," he turned pink and refused to look at the old man.
"And you have nothing like that in your world?"
"Nope," he said quickly, still not looking at him.
"I don't suppose it helps if I say that she's probably a much more gentle mistress than many you might have ended up with here?"
"Yes, I know. She let me sleep on her floor last night and didn't insist that I did … anything."
"Really? That was very generous of her."
"That's only a short term arrangement though," he said, pulling a face, "and I will have to try and work out what to do about Merlin in that regard."
"The other Merlin, you mean?"
"Yes, but that's exactly the reason why I'm calling myself Emrys here."
"Ah … I shall try to remember that, then."
"So, Uther and the Purge …?"
"Ah yes … of course, let me see …
"Uther and Ygraine had been married for a number of years and there was no sign of her ever being with child. About twenty-two years ago, concerned for the future of his Kingdom, Uther went to the sorceress Nimueh and asked if she could help his wife to conceive."
"Yes, exactly the same thing happened in our world."
"Well, Nimueh explained that there was one, fairly simple spell which would literally create a new life within Ygraine and give Uther the child he craved, however there was a problem with using that particular enchantment ..."
"A life for a life," Merlin quoted. "For a life to be created, another must be given. Uther made the deal with Nimueh and Ygraine lost her life as a result."
"Ah, not exactly. Is that what happened in your world?"
"Yes. What happened here?"
"Nimueh explained that part of the bargain and Uther said that was fine, as long as she could guarantee that the life given would not be his or Ygraine's. She told him that was not possible and that such a decision was not hers to make."
"Huh, our Uther didn't even bother to ask the question in the first place," Merlin grumbled.
"Well, then the King said that there was no deal and that she should choose another spell. Nimueh was still keen to help but struggled to find any other magic that could achieve that goal. Eventually she came back with an enchanted pendant which she said was made from an ancient magical stone."
"Okay, so this is going off in a different direction now," Merlin commented.
"Well, Nimueh cast a spell of fertility on the pendant and hung it around Ygraine's neck," Gaius continued. "With luck, the sorceress hoped that it would increase both their seeds and help the Queen to conceive. She gave careful warning to Uther though. She told him that the stone from which the pendant had been carved, was from one of the most magical places in existence and must be kept safe. He and Ygraine must ensure that it was not damaged in any way because its life force was now firmly bonded to mother, child and the world's magic, and a terrible fate would befall Camelot if any harm came to it."
"Oh dear, I think I can see where this is going," Merlin mumbled.
"Indeed. Anyway, within months of enchanting the pendant, the magic worked and Ygraine announced to the whole court that she was with child."
"Arthur."
"Yes. All seemed to be fine and the child was carried to full term and born healthy. Ygraine, however was not so lucky. Her life might not have been bargained directly with the Old Religion but it looks like some other gods must have had different ideas. She, like many other ladies, struggled though the birthing and died a few days after her son was born, due to loss of blood."
"So, Ygraine was destined to die, whatever happened." Merlin mused. "My Arthur might need to know that at some point in the future, it might help him overcome his mistrust of magic."
"It is banned in your world, you say?"
"On penalty of death."
"And yet you still practise?"
"It is my destiny to protect Arthur, apparently. I even saved this Arthur's life yesterday. It seems I can't escape that job description, whichever world I'm in."
"Ah, I heard about that incident. That was you, was it?"
"Yes, so, what did Uther do when Ygraine died?"
"Well, he was grief stricken, obviously, and he still blamed magic for her death, no matter how often he was told that there was no direct connection. He believed that Nimueh had deliberately deceived him and misunderstood her warning about the pendant being tied into magic. He smashed the stone, believing that it would Purge all magic from the world. Until today, I thought that he had been successful."
"So, what else happened here? What is this curse?"
"Have you not noticed what's missing here, Merlin?" Gaius shook his head. "Emrys … I need to remember that. You've been in the lower town, walked through the castle, have you not seen?"
"I've noticed the lack of magic, I've noticed the increase in … sexual appetite but ..."
"It's all linked," Gaius continued. "The spell that Nimueh weaved into that stone was very complex and very specific. It tied Ygraine's medical problem directly into the world's magical supply and fed her with its power so that she could be cured. However, when Uther broke that link he not only disconnected us from the magic, but he also disconnected the magic from our fertility."
"Fertility?" Merlin gasped. "Children! I'm not sure I've seen any children since I've been here ... perhaps one …?"
"There is currently one baby and an eight year old living in the castle. There are four children between the ages of three and twelve in the lower town. Just six children out of hundreds of citizens. In the nearby villages the odds of conceiving are very slightly higher, on our borders they are currently forty percent of what they used to be. The further away from Camelot you live, the less likely you are to be affected by the curse. The main reason that the adults here are so … generous with their favours, is that they are either consciously or subconsciously trying to improve their chances of having children.
"They're increasing the odds ..." Merlin quoted with a heavy sigh, remembering what Morgana had said last night.
"No-one cares about pure bloodlines in the nobility now," Gaius continued. "If a Lord or Lady can produce a child at all, that baby will be happily accepted by the whole family, even the spouse. Unmarried mothers here are no longer condemned - only revered and protected. There is no longer any shame – only congratulations."
"Oh, my … I can see why that might happen."
"Our appetites have increased as a result," Gaius continued. "I'm not sure if that's part of the curse, or our body's way of compensating for it." The physician looked at Merlin quizzically. "Ah, I'm sorry to be indelicate but, have you felt any difference in that regard since you arrived here?" Merlin pulled a face. "I only ask because I'm curious how much your magic might affect such things."
"No, no, I understand. In fact, I'm quickly realising that I need to get over my natural reticence about all of this if I'm going to work out how to solve the problem." He took a deep breath. "Well, I admit that I have noticed rather more … reaction since arriving here but then, considering the way that Morgana's been throwing herself at me and all the other things she's been saying and doing, I didn't think much of it."
"You would be attracted to her anyway?" Gaius asked before shaking his head. "Well, that's probably a silly question."
"It's certainly true that all men seem to be attracted to her in this world and mine but … I admit that I did believe myself to be in love with her when I first turned up in my Camelot five years ago."
Gaius must have heard something in his tone because he became suddenly curious. "But, not now?"
"Oh, here and now, yes. Much the same," he admitted, turning a little pink as he remembered that nightdress.
"But, your Morgana?" he pushed and Merlin winced.
"I probably shouldn't say. If I do manage to fix things here, it's possible that Merlin will find his life starts to mirror mine again and, it's probably best for you not to have too much knowledge of my future just in case it has a bad effect on yours."
"You're probably right, but you can hardly blame an old man for being curious?"
"No, I'd be much the same, I'm sure. So," Merlin continued. "What happened immediately after your Purge?"
"Well, despite loosing Ygraine, Uther was happy to have a son and heir and delighted that he'd managed to Purge the magic from the land. He decreed a week long celebration which, I have to say, got rather out of hand. I guess that curse-compensation we were just discussing started to kick in straight away because, well, let just say it was a very 'enthusiastic' party and, as the court physician, I braced myself for a sudden increase in births nine months after the event."
"Which didn't happen?" Merlin guessed.
"No, quite the reverse. The number of children born the following year decreased dramatically. Surprised, but not initially worried, I started to take more detailed notes and noticed a rapid decline, year after year. Your friend, Gwen, was one of the 'miracle babies' as they're called here, born almost two years after the Purge."
"Merlin would have been born afterwards too."
"Yes, but he was born in Ealdor and that is actually in Cenred's kingdom on the border ..."
"... yes, I know. I was born there too."
"Of course and so, as I said earlier, the effect were not so strongly felt further out. There has been a slight drop in fertility throughout the whole of Albion but it's not that significant away from Camelot and, just like here, there now seems to be a higher survival rate everywhere too. Far fewer babies and children die young."
"Interesting," Merlin commented. "Natural compensation again?"
"Possibly, or perhaps it's due to the fact that an expectant mother is now required to do far less and is automatically entitled to the very best food and drink, as is any young baby or child. With babies now being so rare and so precious, much more attention is given to them and their care, no matter whether they're noble or commoner."
"I see. So that increased survival rate could be due to either or both then," Merlin mused, "and probably nature's way of ensuring that the population doesn't die out altogether."
"You said that you are Arthur's servant in your world, Merlin," Gaius asked curiously, "and yet you seem very interested in medical and scientific issues. Do you also study with … me?"
"Yes, I live here … up in that room in fact," he said, pointing up the stairs.
"Yes, I was hoping to put Merlin up here when he arrived. Hoped I could somehow protect him without the need for a mistress."
"Yes, I'm worried about that one too," Merlin mused. "I'm sure I'll come up with something by then. Anyway, I live here and am your … part time apprentice, I suppose is the best way of describing it. Although working for Arthur is more than a full time job in my world. I have to do every servants' job for him … well, except the Night Servant bit, obviously." He pulled a face and Gaius laughed.
"Will you be alright with Morgana, tonight? I hear she is very fair compared to other Ladies of Court."
"So I'm beginning to understand," Merlin replied. "No, I'm sure I'll be fine. To be honest, all of this has helped explain her attitude a little more anyway. As Dragoon implied, I really am more than old enough to cope with anything she throws at me."
"Sorry? Dragoon?"
"Oh, it's a long story. Let's just say it's a name I made up for the old me, to stop this me from getting confused."
"And, is it working?" Gaius asked with a small smile.
"I'm not sure about that," Merlin replied with a grimace, "but I do believe it's starting to get easier."
xoxOxox
Next Time: Chapter 5: Everyone keeps tells Merlin he should do his duty, but it's an unpleasant encounter with a Lord that finally makes the decision for him.
A/N As I implied before, I like to think that I write 'M' rated fics because I have a serious, story to tell which might not be suitable for youngsters, rather than using it purely as an excuse for sexiness. So, this is a very important chapter and one I thoroughly enjoyed writing – I've loved Merlin's interactions with Gaius during series 4 when the poor old guy realises that his 'son' is seriously growing up.
Anyway, despite all of that, I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that chapter 5 is going to fully justify this fic's 'M' rating. Of course, as I said, it's all a part of this very serious plot I've got going on here – and there's absolutely no other reason at all for me to write such things! ;) Lol!
I've already had a request for an Arwen prequel chapter from this fic, which has already got me thinking about another 'Chronicles' set focusing on other aspects of the universe a la 'King Arthur's Ward'. Do let me know if you have any further thoughts on this idea.
29/12/11
