Two years after Series 5
Merlin = 27.
Arthur = 28.
Chapter 3: Power and Control
The earth was still shaking and every knight was now awake and on their feet. Most had their swords in their hands as they looked around for the unknown threat. Several were now looking at the ground with the strange realisation that the trembling was coming from beneath their very feet.
"I've heard stories," said one older knight, fear evident in his voice. "Tales of places abroad where the ground shakes like this."
"They say there was a great city near Rome … many years ago … completely buried," said another.
"No, that was a mountain … spewing fire," Gwaine corrected him.
"Really? said a young knight nervously, looking at the nearby hill. A large one, certainly, but not as tall as the mountains Arthur had seen further to the west.
"Enough!" Arthur said firmly. "Volcanoes, earthquakes. Yes, I've heard such tales from abroad too, but never thought it would happen here. Still, it's over now and no real harm done." The knights all nodded, apparently reassured. "Look, it's almost light and we've lost the trail completely. It could have been a trick and ... I'm not prepared to give up on Merlin so easily. Let's retrace our steps and travel back towards Fyrien. Perhaps we'll have more luck there."
They didn't even bother to eat; simply packing up their supplies and heading quietly back the way they came. Arthur knew that the party's bleak mood had little to do with hunger or of fear after the earthquake. He wasn't the only one who had grown attached to Merlin. Gwaine was also one of his closest friends, and Leon had admitted to Arthur that he liked the boy, even before he knew about his magic. Even the younger knights, who didn't really know the man, or understand the unique relationship he shared with their new King, had taken an instant shine to him. Merlin was like that and, unless you were a 'prat of a prince,' you would be instantly drawn to him and become his friend. No, Arthur corrected himself, that wasn't true. Yes, he had been exactly that when he'd first met Merlin and hadn't fully appreciated him but, he had been instantly drawn to him and had been instantly impressed by him, no matter how hard he had tried to deny it.
He felt his eyes sting again. It had been a struggle to cope with the depression, anger and grief he'd felt on his father's death but, if Merlin was … if he … Arthur shook his head, unable to cope with that possibility. It was, quite frankly, inconceivable.
"Sire, look! Look at the castle," shouted a knight. Arthur was jolted out of his depression by the most incredible sight. The Castle of Fyrien now lay in ruins. Just one section remained above the first floor, the rest was just rubble with an occasional isolated wall standing up from the piles of grey stone.
"What the ..?" he asked, shocked at the sight.
"It must have been the earthquake," Leon commented beside him. The group found themselves unable to move for several long moments, simply staring at the shocking scene before them.
"Arthur! I'm here, I'm alright!" The voice made his heart leap … even as new tears threatened to fall and that didn't make any sense at all. He fought with the strange emotion and won … partially.
"Merlin, where the hell have you been?"
"I'm sorry, I ..." He ran up to the horse and Arthur frowned as he looked at his friend's face. Something wasn't right.
"What happened?"
"I'm sorry, I was an idiot." Arthur simply raised his eyebrows at the comment and Merlin gave an impression of his usual silly grin but … it didn't quite reach his eyes and so, for once, the young King decided not to tease him.
"Go on," he said instead and Merlin seemed surprised by his gentle comment.
"It was a trap, Arthur. They sent you off that way deliberately and … Morgause surprised me with a spell and ..." A brief look of annoyance crossed his face. "I really do need to learn how to counter that one - that's twice now."
"Merlin? Quit your babbling and tell me what happened."
"I'm not sure there's time, they've had to abandon the castle now it's collapsed and so, if you're very quick, you might just catch up with them. I'll stick with you this time - I've a serious score to settle with those two."
There was that voice again. Quiet, calm and deadly. He fought with the strange notion that he should perhaps take notes. If he could put half of that tone into his commands, no-one would ever dare cross him again. He gave a silent signal for his men to get ready and followed Merlin as he set off slightly north east of the now ruined castle.
"Merlin … talk. Tell me something," Arthur said as they rode in the direction he'd indicated.
"Morgause captured me. She saw you … saw that you were alive and assumed, quite rightly in fact, that I was my fault again but ... still she doesn't know I have magic."
"How? How can she not know?" They were riding hard but he was determined to keep his friend talking … he had to understand.
"I've told you my magic is different? Elemental."
"Yes, whatever that means." Merlin gave a humourless laugh.
"Well, she has suspected it before apparently, all those times when I defeated her but … she came right up to me, looked into my eyes, put her hand on my forehead and then announced that I had no magic."
"I thought she was a powerful sorceress?"
"So did I but … I think it must be some sort of protection. I've often wondered how so many sorcerers didn't realised when they met me and that it's only very occasionally that some have instantly seen me for who I am."
"Why?"
"I don't know. Perhaps they're extra powerful - some haven't been truly alive. I don't understand why most can't see me for what I am but, I am grateful for it."
"So?"
"Morgana came back and they ..." He stopped and Arthur glanced over to find the strangest look on Merlin's face. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen it before. Fear perhaps but … something different. Something unpleasant.
"What?"
"They decided to punish me. Use me for some strange ritual."
"What sort of ritual?" he pushed but Merlin simply pulled a face and shook his head.
"Doesn't matter," he muttered. There was that look again. No, it wasn't fear … not exactly.
"Merlin, What did they do to you? Did they hurt you?"
"Anyway, their whole plan backfired rather spectacularly," he continued brightly and Arthur frowned. The sudden change in the tone of his voice was … worrying.
"Merlin …?"
"Look! There they are!" Merlin pointed to about fifteen horses in the distance, two apparently ridden by women, the others by men. Suddenly the personal quest for revenge deserted Arthur and he surprised himself by calling out an order to his knights.
"After them, as fast as you can. Kill the soldiers and bring me the women alive. Do not fail me." Leon looked at Arthur wide eyed before nodding. Gwaine, actually turned to Merlin first, then back to Arthur before smiling slightly in gentle understanding. Then he too, rode off with the rest of them - after their prey.
"Arthur, what are you doing?"
"You don't fool me, Merlin, I can see it in your eyes. You're in no fit state to be tearing off after them and I can deal with the sisters better if I know all the facts. Now … off your horse. Sit … talk."
"What, like you've been so keen to talk to me these last few days?"
"Don't push me, Merlin. Just be grateful that all of this is taking my mind of ... that."
"Fair enough, but I don't know what else to say."
"How about the truth? Look, I know you've spend most of your life learning how to lie and evade but, those days are over." Arthur hesitated, suddenly reluctant to continue, despite his earlier promise to himself. "Look, this is probably going to shock you but … I am your friend, you do know that?" Merlin's face was unreadable and Arthur honestly couldn't say whether he was about to laugh or cry. Eventually, he nodded and dismounted, his shoulders slumped slightly, and Arthur quickly followed and sat down next to him on a nearby log.
"Alright, it's like when you admitted to me that you weren't fine but … asked me to give you time?" Merlin began.
"Yes?"
"Then can I tell you ... some of it … just what you need to know and then ask you," he grinned slightly, "... as a friend, to give me a little more time too?"
"It's a deal." Merlin nodded, his head down and took another few moments before he started to talk.
"I still don't fully understand this ritual but it ... it was for Morgana. Did you notice that she did nothing more than create a little fire to scare Uther? She didn't actually attack him?"
"As good as," the king growled.
"Arthur, please ..." Merlin sounded as if he was about to cry and Arthur felt suddenly ashamed. He nodded, hoping he'd accept that as an apology. "She has the potential to be a powerful sorceress, I've sensed that myself but ... something is apparently preventing her from accessing her full powers. It might be that she started learning so late, it might be the hatred for magic that Uther instilled into her that's holding her back. It might be ..." A faint, very brief smile crossed his face. He looked up at Arthur his face now much calmer. "How was Morgana at studying when she was younger?" Arthur was so surprised at the question he answered without thinking.
"Terrible. No patience at all. Spent most of her time shouting at her tutors and walking off in a strop. I'm surprised she even learnt to read and write to be honest." He hated the affectionate thoughts that flitted briefly through his mind but Merlin nodded, apparently finding his story amusing too.
"Yes, I thought as much. Some magic is instinctual, elemental. I could perform certain magic years before I learnt any spells. Morgana had prophetic dreams, even as a young child. When angry, when full of emotions, our magic takes over and reacts … often beyond our control."
"This is all very interesting Merlin but ... where are you going with this?"
"To truly master and control her magic, she has to learn spells. Hours of concentration, perseverance and study and, from what I could gather, her lessons have not being going well." He grinned again but there was no humour behind it and he appeared to be delighting in the thought. "This ritual was supposed to be a 'quick fix', a way of releasing her magic without all the hard work. An ancient Blood guard thing ..." There was that look again. Fear? Disgust perhaps? Arthur wanted to ask again what they had done to him but somehow his courage deserted him. He didn't think he could cope with the answer at the moment and, from what Merlin had said earlier, he doubted his friend was ready to tell him anyway.
"And so?"
"She was to use me in this ritual. Overpower me … control me." He looked up at Arthur and the king jumped at the sight of the anger in his friend's eyes. He was sure he saw gold flecks dance within the blue iris'. "I prefer to be in control." The words were cool, calm ... and terrifying, and Arthur shuddered as he heard them.
"What happened?"
"Morgana performed the spell, tried to … take control … tried to ..." He shook his head. "It would have worked with someone with no magic, it might even have worked with someone with a little magic but … I resisted her, took back control and … my magic ..." He paused; apparently fighting both fear and anger. "… over-reacted."
"Your magic did?"
"I said it was different, that I'm different?"
"Yes, I understand that, but, Merlin, what actually happened?" For an answer, Merlin pointed a long finger at the distant shape of the ruined castle.
"The earthquake? That was you?" The sheepish grin returned but, again, it wasn't quite Merlin. What had he had to endure? What pain had they inflicted to make his magic become quite so destructive? "H-how did you escape?"
"Well, the room that Morgana and I were in was the epicentre so ... it was almost intact. The sisters were then intent on checking up on each other and probably assumed I was weak and broken so … I opened the door to the adjoining room and ..." Another bleak grin. "There was no room any more, just a jagged wall leading down to the ground floor so … I ran."
"Merlin. Are you sure you're alright?" He looked up with a weak smile.
"As I said. I will be … in time."
xoxOxox
"Sire!" Leon came back with a bleak grin on his face.
"Success?" asked Arthur.
"Of a sort. We have Morgause."
"What about Morgana?"
"No, sorry, Sire ... she was too quick. This one was injured though … probably in the earthquake and we think we killed all of the guards."
Arthur nodded, remembering what Merlin had said about being in the epicentre.
"Well, it's annoying but … she will do well enough. If it wasn't for her magic then Morgana would not have had the ability to cause my father so much distress."
"She may have even stayed loyal," Merlin added quietly as Morguase was brought over to them, quite obviously limping.
"Aw, always the faithful little servant, aren't you, Merlin? Despite everything, you still struggle with your conscience when you go against your betters."
"You know nothing, Morgause. Nothing about what I can do," he replied fiercely.
"So brave now that you've some real men to protect you. You were not quite so fearless yesterday, were you?" Merlin started forward with a growl but Gwaine held him fast. "It makes little difference," she said casually. "None of you here have the power to stop me." She lifted a hand and started to chant.
"Merlin, now!" Arthur yelled and his friend did not disappoint. Shaking himself free from Gwaine, he raised his own hand and practically shouted a spell at the sorceress. Arthur had never before heard so much anger and hatred in his voice and was only vaguely aware of a few strangled sounds from those knights in his company that had not yet realised that their King's advisor was a sorcerer.
Morgause was still there, suddenly bound by some surprisingly bright and flimsy looking silver chains. The look on her face was worth the whole trip Arthur decided. She wriggled and the chains suddenly shone and appeared to tighten slightly. She stared at Merlin with total shock evident in her brown eyes.
"But … you can't have magic. I checked. I sensed nothing."
"You cannot sense what you do not comprehend," Merlin snarled, moving closer to her. "How dare you presume to hurt me, Morguase. How dare you threaten to ruin Camelot and injure my friends. I've kept myself hidden for their sakes, so that I could better protect them but … no more - not after yesterday." A small, surprisingly vicious, smile touched his lips. "How do you like those chains, Morgause? Do you recognise the spell?"
"You cannot have learnt it … it is only for the sisters of the blood guard," she said haughtily. Merlin laughed and Arthur found himself worrying for his friend's sanity as he heard the sound.
"You have cast that spell twice now in my presence. Do you really think I am that stupid? Do you really think that I am as slow as Morgana?" She glared at him for the insult.
"Now her magic is released she will be more than a match for you," she boasted.
"Perhaps ... one day, but you're assuming the ritual went to plan. I think that you know as well as I do that it went spectacularly wrong." Her eyes flicked back to the ruined castle.
"Because you had magic?" Now she did sound defeated. "You did that? You made the earth shake?"
"I'm bored with this conversation now Arthur," said Merlin calmly turning his back on her. "How about we head off home?"
"Good idea," he said with a sigh. "We have some justice to deal out." Merlin just nodded and the two men looked at each other, both fully appreciating that neither of them would enjoy the experience, despite their anger and hatred for the woman in front of them.
xoxOxox
As soon as they arrived home, Arthur paraded Morgause through the square, accusing her of the murder of King Uther of Camelot and passing his judgement there and then. After that, he insisted that as many knights as possible escorted Morgause down to the dungeons, still wrapped in Merlin's magical chains, until it was time for her sentence to be carried out. That job done, he practically pushed Merlin all the way to Gaius' chambers and insisted that he was checked over for any injuries. His friend simply sat on the chair pouting, whilst both Gaius and Alice poked and prodded him, answering their questions mostly with grunts. Afterwards, Arthur pulled Gaius over to one side for his opinion.
"Physically he's fine," the old man said. "I can see nothing more than a couple of bruises; honestly no worse than anything he used to receive as your servant." Arthur raised his eyebrows and Gaius had the grace to look embarrassed at the comment. "Sorry, Sire but ... I don't know what else to say. You believe he was tortured?"
"Yes but … I don't know for a fact. It's just, after these last two years, I've become painfully aware of just how easily Merlin is able to evade." Gaius raised a surprised eyebrow. "Oh yes, he's an awful liar if confronted directly but … give him a chance and he'll mumble, distract and change the subject, and he's been doing nothing but since he came back from the castle.
"Well, if it's not too bold of me, Your Majesty, you seem very much better now you've had something to ... distract you. I'm sure it will be the same with Merlin. Once he's back into his old routine ... plenty of work?" Gaius grinned at Arthur and he smiled broadly in return.
"Not a problem."
"Just ... keep an eye on him and ask Gwen too. She's especially observant when it comes to emotions and then, if he's not acting more like himself in a couple of days, come back to see me."
"You think he's up to … dealing with Morgause?"
"Your judgement has been swift and … far more humane than she probably deserves. I'm very proud of you, Arthur." Gaius rarely called him by name. Less and less as he'd grown older. When he did, he was always speaking to the young child he had tutored and the praise meant more to him than he could possible put into words. He nodded at the old physician and approached Merlin.
"Finished talking about me behind my back?"
"Merlin, we were standing right in front of you."
"You know what I mean," he sulked.
"Yes. Gaius has given you a full bill of health and … me too actually." He grinned at Merlin and was pleased at the subtle response he got.
"Yes. I'm glad that you have … calmed down a little."
"And I think I'm glad we didn't catch Morgana. I think then that we might ..?" Merlin nodded.
"I know."
"Are you sure you're up for this? I could ask Alice …"
"No … I can't take that chance. I'm the only one with enough power to ensure she doesn't try any tricks. Gaius? Have you got it?"
"Yes, Merlin. Here's a strong sedative … far more so than Valerian. Give her that first and, just as she's falling asleep, get her to take this." He handed him a bottle of hemlock and Merlin nodded, tears welling up in his eyes.
"Merlin, are you certain?" Arthur asked again.
"My King has commanded that the sorceress be put to death for crimes against Camelot, it's previous and current King, the Queen and ..." He shrugged as he continued the quote, "his valued advisor." He gave Arthur a weak grin, but there was genuine thanks within it anyway. "Rather than the pain of fire or the brutality of the axe, King Arthur of Camelot elects to make the sorceress' death a painless one. Poison … but only after she had been put to sleep." Merlin took a deep breath. "It is a judgement worthy of you Arthur and … probably far too good for her." He sighed deeply and walked out of the room, carrying the two bottles in his hand.
Arthur was hardly aware of the journey back to his quarters, his mind reeling with everything that had happened and the thousands of emotions he'd experienced during the last few days. He walked in to be greeted by Guinevere, who took one look at his face and simply held her arms out to him.
"I've been so worried about you. How are you?" she asked as he folded her into a hug.
"I'm much better. Merlin … did not have such an easy time."
"Yes, Gwaine hinted at some problem. How is he?"
"Coping – I think. Gaius asked that we both keep an eye out for him."
"I always have."
"I know. Oh, Guinevere, I have missed you, and I am so sorry for the way I was the other day ... the way I behaved."
"Don't be silly, Arthur. Your father died ... how else would you have reacted? She lead him over to the bed and sat him down next to her, placing a gentle hand on his cheek. He felt tears threaten again and wondered if perhaps, this time, he might just succumb. "Would you like some good news?" She asked, her voice suddenly bright. He looked up surprised.
"Yes, I really would." Her smile turned shy.
"I'm expecting another baby."
A/N Aah! A nice gentle ending after all that angst. So, what did happen to Merlin? That question won't be answered for a long time, I'm afraid.
E/N Just minor tweaks again, plus a few more of those conversational commas that I suddenly disappeared again here, even though they seemed fine in the previous chapter!
(8/8/11)
