To Save the Saviour
Chapter Seven
Merlin and Esmeralda spent the night working through a plan. For the most part the others slept peacefully. Only Emma was haunted by the darkness pulling and tearing at her. When she started to toss and turn Killian simply wrapped his arm around her and whispered reassuring words to her until she settled.
Morning came and with it the King's guard. Merlin's reappearance in Camelot had drawn a lot of unwanted attention and the Storybrooke residents association with him hadn't gone unnoticed. "The King demands your presence Merlin." The Head of the Guard looked as though he wished he were anywhere else.
"I can't turn back time and change what happened." Merlin was a little concerned with what his new associates would do. Yet he had no doubt what the King wanted. "The Queen loves who she loves and unfortunately it's not the King."
"He still demands your presence and that of your friends." Obviously returning without the Sorcerer and his friends was not an option.
"Very well. Lead the way." Merlin held his arm out to Esmeralda. "Shall we?"
Esmeralda tucked her hand around his arm. "I hope you know what you're doing."
"Do you have what we need?" Merlin lowered his voice as the others followed them.
"Of course." Esmeralda arched her eyebrow. "We don't have time for too many delays."
"You do have a plan I take it." Regina hissed. She was not used to walking as though part of a parade.
"I'm guessing part of the plan is hiding that you're the Evil Queen." Emma wanted this over with, but they needed to minimize their problems. Regina had upset a lot of people in the past. Some of which would not be forgiving.
"We might be able to smooth things over." Snow looked up at Charming. "I seem to remember us being on good terms with Arthur."
"Yes, but that was before Guinevere took up with Lancelot." Charming reminded her. "He was devastated when he found out."
"Meaning the King might not be the man you remember." Robin guessed. "Did you ever come across this King Arthur?" They had come too far for Regina's past to stop them.
"Not that I remember." Regina had crossed a number of realms but didn't recall this particular one.
"No offense Love, but the number of people you,ve killed just because you were having a bad day were numerous. You can't remember them all." Killian looped his arm around Emma's waist.
"I don't think that helped." Henry chuckled, but took hold of his birth Mother's hand. "Don't worry. I think Merlin and Esmeralda have a plan."
Emma squeezed his hand. "You don't think they spent all night catching up on old times?"
"No." Henry laughed. "That's what Killian would do. Esmeralda came with a purpose that she intended to complete and get straight back to Quasimodo. She wasn't talking about her past."
"I have purpose." Killian tried not to be offended. "It's just I've been sidetracked by your Mother in the past."
"I've noticed." Henry looked up at him knowingly.
It was a long walk to the castle and their audience with the King was even less comfortable.
"Have you located Lancelot yet?" The King looked as though he had eaten something unpleasant.
"Not as yet Sire." The Knight bowed. "But we continue to search."
"You won't find him." Snow spoke up. "He was killed by a woman called Cora." They didn't have time for this.
"Snow White. It's been some time since I last saw you. What brings you to Camelot?" Arthur was not pleased by this news. He had been hoping to punish Lancelot for his betrayal himself.
"We were hoping to catch up with Merlin." Charming saw no need to mention the full reason for being in Camelot. And right now heading back to Storybrooke was looking like a much better option.
"And it appears you have." Arthur seemed oblivious to Guinevere's distress over the news of Lancelot's death. "However I also have need of Merlin's assistance."
"I have told you before, I can't make someone love you." Merlin didn't flinch under the King's stare. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Esmeralda watching something with great interest.
"Where is his body?" The Queen struggled to keep her voice steady. "He deserves a proper burial."
"He deserves nothing." Arthur bellowed. "You married me not Lancelot. You both betrayed me."
"What you and I have is a business transaction not a marriage." Guinevere hissed back.
The Royals were so busy having their rather public spat that they hadn't noticed the change in the atmosphere or that it was affecting Emma. Esmeralda had though and so had Killian.
"Henry, go and check on Regina will you lad." Killian kept his voice low so as to not alert the King and Queen. Emma looked as though she was going to explode from the tension.
Seeing the look on Killian's face Henry did as he was told. He had no doubt that Killian and Esmeralda had this under control. The problem was he had no idea what this was.
"What's going on?" Robin could tell something had shifted in the throne room. Even the knights of the round table looked nervous.
"Oh I think the Dark One is about to make her presence known." Regina wished she knew where the dagger was. She hadn't seen it since that night Emma had sacrificed herself.
"Are you kidding me?" Snow loudly whispered. "Can't it be controlled with the dagger?"
"Maybe we don't need to control the darkness." Charming was watching how Merlin was calmly allowing Killian and Esmeralda to control what was going on behind him so that he could focus on the bickering couple in front of him.
Esmeralda cocked her head to one side. "Maim not kill." They needed to get out of there and Emma was battling with herself. Some of the darkness would need to be released if they had any hope of saving Emma.
Emma's eyes darkened and a fireball flew from her fingers landing at the feet of the knights driving them backwards. "Where's the dagger?" Right now the only person who didn't seem concerned by the change in Emma was Esmeralda.
"Safe and sound." Esmeralda taunted as she and Emma circled each other. "Why don't you let Emma out to play, Dark One?"
Another fireball went flying but bounced off of Esmeralda's shield and towards Merlin. Unfazed the Sorcerer merely waved his hand and the fireball dissolved into smoke. "As you can see Arthur, we have bigger problems than your bruised ego."
"Please tell me where Lancelot's body is?" Guinevere sobbed, ignoring the chaos going on before them even as another fireball was let loose.
"Sorry your Majesty." Killian kept his eyes on the two women in his life. "Cora left no remains."
The Queen slid to the floor, devastated. In that moment Arthur finally saw that his wife was just a victim of a planned marriage. She had been honest with him from the beginning in that she did not love him. "Take your friends and go Merlin before they burn down my Castle."
"Esmeralda, it appears we've worn out our welcome." Merlin was starting to get curious as to where the Gypsy was keeping the dagger as she seemed to be in control of the Dark One but wasn't waving the weapon around.
"Let's take this outside, shall we?" Esmeralda knew it was time to bring Emma back to the surface through the darkness. The Saviour blinked a couple of times as though waking from a dream and she could see Emma was back. Her aura was a little more grey but not enough to be concerned about.
"Wait." Arthur's green eyes focused on Esmeralda. "Tell me something Gypsy."
"I'm not a fortune teller." Esmeralda did not want to be in the Castle any longer than necessary. "What is it you wish to know?"
Arthur seemed to think of how he should phrase what he was about to say. "I loved her from the moment I first set eyes on her." He spared a sad glance at Guinevere. "If I had told her from the beginning, would it have made a difference?"
Esmeralda watched the King for a moment. "I can't say for sure. But if you had, at least you would have both known what you were getting into."
"I thought as much." King managed a small smile. "Thank you for your honesty. You and your friends may go."
Merlin gestured for Esmeralda to proceed him. "We've been side tracked too long. Let's see if we can lighten the load on your friend before the Dark One tries to make another appearance."
"Well, that was an interesting audience with the King." Regina wasn't used to not being the one throwing fireballs.
"Perhaps we were lucky that the King and Queen were having domestic issues." Robin was certain that things would have been a lot worse if the King had not been distracted.
"I just hope this hasn't changed being able to free my Mom." Henry was confused by how easily Esmeralda had gotten the situation under control. "How did you control the Dark One without waving the dagger?"
"Esmeralda's not big on grand gestures and dramatics Lad." Killian had always admired his Sister's subtle approach. "She had the dagger in her pocession. That's all she needed."
"So let's find somewhere that we won't be disturbed and free my daughter from that wretched thing." Charming was more than a little concerned by Emma's display in the throne room.
"And quickly." Snow just hoped it wasn't already too late.
