This chapter's emphasizing on Merlin-Gaius's relationship and Merlin-Gwen's relationship. Am still wondering where the story's headed so if you've got any ideas at all, I'd really appreciate them! It's the morning after Clarissa's near escape, she's not as depressed as I predicted she would be in the second chapter (I think!) but more than anything, what happened yesterday (in the story) was the start of it.
Sheets of washed out light from the dawning sun soaked into the room, I gave a lazy yawn and stretched out all four limbs like a cat. The soft bed gave a creak as I did so. And the warm covers felt so good as they rubbed against my taut limbs – which were searching mindlessly across the bed – that I didn't want to ever get up. Then my fingers knocked against something hard in their venture and curled around it, dragging the article closer to my chest.
I took in a sleepy breath of morning air and hugged the object embracingly. A sharp edge dug into my shoulder and it took several more seconds for the sharp, edgy pain to sink in. I opened my eyes and looked down.
"Holy crap!" I leapt out of bed, dropping the square shaped item ad looked across the room, feeling fazed. For a minute, my mind was a blank and I had no idea where was I, save for a niggling feeling pinching away at the back of my head.
I blinked.
Then it all came back to me. Patchily at first, then faster and faster, flowing through and filling up all the blank spots in my mind: Arthur and Merlin bursting into the room in the nick of time like a pair of superheroes - an assortment of kicks and punches - someone's hot, putrid breath on my neck - kneeling on Merlin's bed feeling a wash of pent up emotions suddenly let out. I flushed at the last thought as flashes of how vulnerable I really was came back to me; it wasn't easy for me to come to terms at how close I came to...how I nearly...At least, not after living a life believing myself to be unbreakable. With a new discernment of where I was and a throbbing headache, I picked up the book and leafed through its crusty yellow pages.
Closed its hard cover.
The volume was filled with Celtic writing of some sort…or Gaelic, or whatever; it could have been Jawi, dancing in Chinese scriptures and I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. But there was no denying how the book felt, resting in my palms. It was warm, like a living breathing essence, and there was an electric feel to the book's cover that prickled my fingertips as I ran it over. Of course, I should have known by the first touch what it contained on the inside, but at least I knew now: Old Magic.
I slipped the book under Merlin's bed and covered it up with a swathe of clothes lying conveniently within an arms reach – not that there wasn't anything that wasn't – then walked downstairs with an incredulous expression fixed on my face. Merlin really should have been more cautious with his head if he's intending to keep it.
"Good morning child." Gaius greeted me, looking up from his writing on a piece of parchment with a white feather. He had breakfast laid out on the table and I noticed it was only set for one.
"Gaius." I rejoined and took a seat. "Where's merlin?" Merlin's seat was empty and so was his bed.
I know. I slept in it.
Gaius looked at me wearily through tired eyes. He stood up and began clearing the table. I didn't touch my food.
"Gaius," I repeated, fearing the worst. "Where's Merlin?"
"I'm not sure." He replied. Gaius looked uncertainly at me. "He's been out ever since you came back yesterday after-noon. I believe he's at the castle with Arth - Vivien," Gaius's face was a flash of concern. "what's wrong?"
"Nothing." I stood up and headed for the door. "But I think it might have something to do with what happened yesterday."
"What happened yesterday?" He asked sharply. There was a sudden shadow of anxiousness in Gaius's tone but it was too late. By then I was already out the door and heading down the steps and pretended to not have heard him.
This time I didn't bother to stay out of the townspeople's attention. Instead, still wearing the same yellow dress -soiled from mud- that I donned yesterday, I walked all the way down the cobblestone road to the tall towers of Camelot's castle.
Halfway there, I happened to notice a group of laughing and lively villagers gathered in one spot, cramped so tightly that I couldn't see past the first row, they were all shouting and jumping and throwing fists into the air. I craned my neck to catch a better view. Then I noticed a familiar, friendly face coming towards me from the corner of my eye.
"Vivien!" Guinevere quickened her pace and soon reached my side. "What are you doing here?"
"I was looking for Merlin, Gaius said he might be at the castle."
"Yes," Guinever nodded and we neared the roaring crowd. "King Uther needed a testimony from Merlin about the-about what happened." She hastily corrected and I pretended not to notice.
"What's going on?" I asked, nudging my way past the swarm of shouting townsfolk. There were sounds of splattering and another of someone laughing, groaning and spitting all at once. In fact, it sounded a lot like...
"I think they've locked someone in the stocks again." Gwen raised her voice above the shouts and laughs emitting from all around us but I barely heard her reply as i swiftly forced my way past the final row of obstruction into the center of the mob.
"Merlin!" I shouted, hearing Guinevere echo behind me.
He was sandwiched between two boards of hard wood with three holes to enclose his neck and both arms, grinning sheepishly and almost enjoying the torture - or so it would seem - as much as the residents throwing rotten fruits and vegetables at him were. Occasionally, a particularly rotten piece of fruit would land near his lips, a little too close for comfort and Merlin would spit it out, his face almost comical.
Guinevere looked both fondly and sad at Merlin who was doing his best to duck and avert the fiber based projectiles being launched at him. In front of me was a little boy, laughing gleefully while dipping his hand into a straw woven basket of fruis and hauling them with all his ten year old might. But funnily enough, Merlin appeared to be enjoying the children's delight. Until, that is, a raw, hard potato flew at the board just two inches from his face.
Finally, the baskets of waste were exhausted and the crowd gradually dispersed, bit by bit, to continue their schedule of work or daily chores. A few stopped by Merlin to shake his hand before making off, but mostly turned and left, their laughter leaving little footprints in the air.
As the mob thinned, Merlin caught sight of us and gave another grin. "I forgot how much fun this was" he joked sarcastically.
I made my way over the remains of veg and flattened fruit littered across the road but Guinevere held back. "What happened?" I asked the question both of us wanted to know.
He sighed. "King Uther decided it was disgustingly irresponsible to have left you on your own for the second day of your stay in Camelot." Merlin looked terribly uncomfortable with his head and arms clamped together and his torso forced to bend lower until he reached my height, but still managed to salvage another smile, although this time it looked more like a grimace.
"What about Arthur?" Guinevere looked down at Merlin with the impression of a concerned mother. I noticed that she was standing a bit closer now.
"he's furious." merlin answered
"I stared at merlin, feeling a ball of incredulity form at the pit of my stomach. "I know Arthur sounds rough, but he doesn't hate you."
"Utterly repulsed." Merlin said. "All that's happened to you; it's all my fault."
"Hang on..." I fumbled with my hair, extracting something and a lock of black hair came tumbling down. Pinching the hair pin at an arms length, I proudly assured Merlin that he'd be free in a second.
"With a piece of metal?" He asked dubiously, his face mirroring the expression on Guinevere.
"Yup. Now hold still." I grinned. Then, close enough for just Merlin to hear, I added "It's called witchcraft without the witching."
As Merlin looked at me, pure confusion splayed across his face, i got to work. Straightening out the hairpin and inserting it into the keyhole, I aligned the pin's ridged side with the key's ridge side, constantly checking my progress. Then I gently turned the hairpin, applying a gentle but steady pressure as I did and finally heard a click after a few seconds of niggling.
"Nothing to it." I pressed the pin back in my hair.
"You're a life saver you are, Vivien." Merlin massaged his wrists and beamed.
"But what will King Uther say when he finds out you're free before the castle guards release you?" Guinever asked.
Merlin's face fell at her words. "Oh. Right."
"Since it's me who nearly got raped and god knows what, don't you think I get a say in whether Merlin deserves to be strung up like a pig or not?" I burst out after a thoughtful silence, watching Merlin and Guinevere's face grow more and more troubled. And at both of of their blank expressions, continued. "Well I do. And I say Merlin's good to go so there!"
"If Uther would think that way." Merlin said.
"Well" Guinevere said after another awkward pause "Nice to see you Merlin" She smiled at him. "Vivien."
She walked away back in the direction of the castle, probably to return tending to Lady Morgana. And even though I hadn't met her yet, I was already forming bad impressions on the king's ward. But, seeing after all, that according to legend Morgana was Arthur's evil half sister, the biased feelings were more than likely justified.
*
When we returned to the physician's room, Gaius looked up from a stack of books at Merlin and groaned loudly. "Not again Merlin, surely!"
Merlin grinned the same sheepish grin. "I washed Arthur's clothes and shrunk them by accident."
"That's Prince Arthur to you." Gaius chided. "And I'd like to hope that you've learnt your lesson but I'm afraid stupidity is rarely cured." He scolded, but more fatherly than anything else. The fondness Gaius apparently held for Merlin was evident and more bountiful than the relationship between any mentor and student should have. They were like father and son, the way Merlin kept looking to Gaius whenever he was expected to say something to Arthur or anyone else in authority.
"And er," Merlin added to cover up the discomfort from his half lie. "Well, i saw Gwen just now."
"Did you?" Gaius seemed much more interested and even a little wry. "You seem to be seeing and talking to her a lot lately."
"Well you know, she does work for Morgana and Morgana is the king's ward and King Uther is Arthur's father, so I suppose it's just natural that I should be seeing more of her." His ears glowed.
"Gwen is a nice girl." Gaius looked pointedly at Merlin. "She's helped me send Morgana her medicine for her nightmares whenever you're not around."
"I was with Arthur." Merlin argued.
"So you were." Gaius decided not to pursue the subject even though I could see that he was far from believing.
I meditated on their conversation long after Merlin left the room and I helped Gaius out with his work - being told that I was far less clumsy than his previous assistant, and I could guess who! - Then, as my thought's reached the part of their exchange about Guinevere, something clicked as I matched both Gaius and Merlin's expressions with Guinevere's attitude today.
Oh.
Oh...
"Gaius." I turned to him while corking a flask labeled Mellicene.
"Hmm?" He didn't look up but when he did, Gaius's eyes widened. "Be careful!"
"Sorry." I pushed another vial that was placed precariously near the edge further in. "I was wondering,"
"Yes?"
"Does Merlin like Guinevere?" I asked.
"She's a lovely girl, very helpful. I don't see why not." He answered. Now looking straight at me.
"I mean, like...like her."
"Well you're going to have to ask her yourself now wont you?" He replied promptly and passed me a bottle labeled Morgana. I held the bottle and watched him scribble something down on a square piece of parchment, pushing that into my hands as well. "Fourth floor, seventh door to the right. If you have any questions, the guards nearby should be able to help you get there."
I stared at him, then down at the bottle and parchment blankly...I was going to see Morgana!
"Go!" He shooed me out and I quickly snapped back to reality and left the room.
REVIEW OR DIE!!! Sorry, I'm feeling a little bit high today :)