Hello again folks!
I will keep it short and sweet - Merlin was epic. But, it usually is. Specially loved the Arthur and Merlin bits - But, then again, I usually do. Rat stew - awesomeness in a bowl. Shan't give away spoilers cause.. well, if pointing out the obvious.. Spoilers spoil it. I thought though that maybe it was a bit rushed.. but they do only have 45 mins, they have to make do with the time they have. I won't go into it all in depth here cause well, we are all here to read this story below, no?
Snows clearing, will have to go back to school tomorrow -dammit-. And I like to update these things on Sundays, but stupid Catherine (yes, me..) had a mental spaz and totally thought today was Saturday for some reason, until a lovely person (thank you, Simona) kindly asked me why I hadn't put the chapter up. But it's all good now, my mental calender has been fixed.
Anywhoos, next chapter guys, and after that amazing, bamboozle your brains chapter last week, we find ourselves back in Camelot, with a thankfully not as pathetic King as we saw on TV.
And who to credit for this super chapter? Same homie as last time :)
Author: Eleanor
Rocky Relations
Uther swept along a corridor, Sir Leon and some of his faithfuls trotting at his heels, trying to keep up.
"Sir, we've sent out a patrol to assess the situation."
"Do you have any ideas what the disturbance might be?"
"None sire."
"Well then. Report to me immediately when you hear any news."
With this, Sir Leon bowed and left, taking two knights with him. Uther walked to the throne room and sat in his throne ponderously, hoping the bell was nothing too serious. True, their relations in the East had been a little rocky lately but still…
His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the court physician. Gaius walked up to Uther and bowed his head.
"Sire, I have news."
Uther gestured for him to go on.
"I know what's happened to Merlin."
The King looked confused, "Who's Merlin?"
"Prince Arthur's manservant, sire."
"Ah, yes. Him."
Gaius chose to ignore this somewhat ominous comment and kept going.
"Your son reported seeing him shot with an arrow. A pink arrow that somehow melted when it made contact with Merlin's heart. It is my belief that this was coated in a very strong love potion, hence the garish (but highly fashionable) colour and lack of wounds on Merlin."
Uther looked utterly bored and had in fact, been sleeping with one eye open when Gaius was talking. He jerked awake to politely listen to the end of Gaius' speech.
"A love arrow, you say?" Uther said, in a bored, sarcastic tone, "So what, this, Merlin character is going to fall in love?"
"I believe so, sire. But I don't know who with. It all depends on how the potion was brewed, so until then, all I can do is keep an eye on Merlin and make sure he doesn't do anything stu – well… unusually stupid."
Uther suddenly sat up straight, struck with a sudden epiphany. "Wait, this love potion arrow… whatever it is, you are suggesting that this is sorcery?"
Gaius faltered, "Y-yes, sire, I believe so." He was wary of restarting another Uther-style rampaging Purge upon Camelot.
"Well, then, this must be dealt with immediately," said Uther seriously, "Double the guards. Search the lower towns for anyone under suspicion of consorting with sorcerers or such."
He barked these orders at the pair of sentinels standing guard at the door, who nodded simultaneously and turned to leave however, they were intercepted as the heavy double doors were thrown open, and a party of Camelot knights entered. A particularly huge one carried a young woman in his arms. She was unconscious, but there was nothing else visibly wrong with her.
"There was an attack, my Lord." Said Sir Leon at the head of the group, "This young maiden was trying to enter Camelot when she was attacked by a band of rogues. They had magic, sire, and they attacked us when we intervened. They destroyed a few market stalls in the process. We managed to kill a few, but some escaped into the woods. We have patrols scouting for them now."
"Good work, Leon." Said Uther, nodding. "Take the maiden to Gaius' quarters until she recovers."
"Sire," said Sir Leon, as Gaius and the guard carrying the young woman left, "The rogues, they stole from the maiden. These were the only belongings we could salvage."
Another guard held out a split bag and a bow, snapped clean in half. However, there was no sign of a quiver of arrows.
"Must have been stolen by the bandits." Murmured Uther.
Merlin arrived at Gaius' chambers, panting and out of breath.
"Gaius, have you h-heard what's happened?" he gasped.
Gaius came into sight, mixing a few herbs with a mortar and pestle.
"Of course I have. The maiden is in my custody now."
"I have to get my bag. Then I'm going with Arthur to help find the attackers."
"Oh no you're not!" said Gaius, looking Merlin in the eyes, "All you ever do is go off on silly quests that nearly get you killed. You're supposed to be my apprentice, so act like it for a change. You are working with me today, understand?"
Merlin was surprised. Gaius was clearly very set on the matter
"Okay, okay." he said under his breath.
"Now pass me some rookweed. Under that book there." Ordered Gaius.
Merlin crossed the room to extricate a jar of rookweed from behind a heavy book, sighing. He craned his neck over to the invalid's bed where he saw a sleeping shape, but he could discern no more before Gaius cuffed him round the side of the head.
"Ow!" yelped Merlin, "What was that for?"
"Not paying attention!" said Gaius sharply.
An hour later, Merlin was still sulking and Gaius was still snapping at everything Merlin did wrong. Merlin kept getting under Gaius' feet and vice versa. However, the tedious routine of scolding and scowling was soon broken by a soft cough.
Merlin and Gaius' heads snapped round to look over at the woman. She was sitting up and looking around herself in astonishment.
Merlin looked at her in the eyes and rushed over to help her. Gaius was surprised. Merlin was usually, well, useless.
"Don't strain yourself, my Lady." Said Merlin softly, helping her out of bed.
The woman laughed, a chiming of bells. "Who says I am a lady?" she said scornfully, as she regained her balance. Her eyes narrowed in confusion for but a second, before they immediately resumed their docile watchfulness.
"But you are so fair and graceful, you must be a Lady." said Merlin, smiling.
Gaius snorted quietly to himself. Merlin was so strange sometimes. Maybe he was still recovering from his wound.
His wound.
His wound? His wound... HIS WOUND!
That's how I imagine Gaius thought about it. So guys... who the hell is this maiden, eh? Perhaps, we shall soon -as in next Sunday- soon see...
As always, thanks for reading, feel free to review, and Oh, least I forget, thank you to those who have reviewed that I can't reply to!
CM - Okay, first when I saw that.. I freaked. Those are my initials. Did I review myself? I can be such a noobasaurus sometimes I wouldn't have been suprised if it was. And I am glad you think it is fantabulous :) I love using weird words - hence the noobasaurus. Laira - Glad you like the idea! Yeah, with 3 people it can sometimes get a bit.. confusing to write. Hope the story starts to unravel for you! And as for that who calls themselves "It's me again" - Well, it is you. And you have awesome friends ;) And yes, it is definatly our awesome writing skills.. haha
Next Chapter: You're Unbelieveable
