Hi everyone! Hope you've enjoyed reading this, even though there aren't many reviews the story still's had lots of hits and readers!
Hope you've all enjoyed it and plz review!
Arthur pushed Merlin towards "answer it!" he hissed before pulling out his sword preparing for an ambush. Merlin opened the old door slowly so that it was only possible to see his face, "Yes you banged" The guard looked startled by the door being opened.
"Have you seen these two girls?" one of the guards held up two pictures one of Rachel and the other of Vicky. Merlin quickly glanced at the pictures before replying "Nope"
Merlin bid farewell to the guards and quickly slammed the door behind them. "Phew that was close" Merlin chuckled "Guards are so stupid, I thought the ones in Camelot where dumb" Rachel ignored the death glare Arthur was giving Merlin "It was too close we have to return to Camelot"
Within minutes everyone had they're hoods up and where making it down to the stables?
"Wonder, which is the quickest way?" Arthur mused looking around "There's bound to be stairs somewhere" Vicky laughed leaning over the battlements to get a better view, There where a big bunch of guards heading their way showing the pictures to passers by.
Merlin grabbed Vicky's shoulder making her stand upright "Hey!" she yelled playfully. This was a bad idea as the saw Vicky and her hood was down.
"There they are!" Some yelled "RUN" Rachel yelled sprinting in the opposite direction with the others following her.
Rachel skidded to a halt just in time to stop her from falling over the edge. "Well that's just great," she cried in frustration. She peered over the edge when she noticed that there was a large amount of very conveniently placed hay right down below.
"What are you waiting for?" she turned to see Merlin to boldly leap over the edge and land in the hay completely unharmed. "Merlin go get the horses!" Arthur yelled before jumping as well.
Rachel stared at Vicky who was looking down in horror "Come on we have no choice" Rachel said "At the same time ok" Vicky took a deep breath "Ok" she agreed.
"3,2,1" they counted before being airborne then landed comfortably on the hay.
Rachel jumped on Night Shadow with Vicky behind her "Back to Camelot" she whispered to the horse before kicking her swiftly to run fast.
Just in the nick of time they crossed the drawbridge leaving a cloud of heavy dust behind them.
Arthur turned to Merlin behind him "You seemed like at a expert at that Merlin" he grinned at his servant. "When you have friends like Gwaine," he laughed nervously.
It could have been the sense of relief washing over them or the nausea from jumping into the hay but everyone laughed joyously as they made their way home.
After a long ride through the forest they finally arrived in Camelot. Once in the courtyard Gaius was there to greet them. Merlin smiled at his guardian before dismounting of Arthur's horse.
"Your back earlier then expected I'd thought you'd be gone much longer"
"Well we had some bumps along the way" Merlin replied.
Before he could reply Arthur was calling to him "Merlin go get me some lunch and prepare for some training in the afternoon"
Merlin groaned before looking at Gaius again "I'll tell you about it later"
Rachel had been watching the scene from a distance laughed at this "Are they always like this?" She asked Gwaine who had helped her of the frisky Night Shadow.
"They have their days some better than others its best to wind them up or tease them," Gwaine laughed while helping Vicky down.
Rachel noted the different way he helped Vicky down from the horse, He'd grabbed her hand while he jumped, whereas with Vicky he'd grabbed her waist and lifted her down.
Rachel raised her eyebrows as she noticed how Vicky instantly wrapped her arms round his neck so she wouldn't fall.
A few hours later, Merlin walked towards Rachel's chambers while Arthur was on a hunt to relieve some stress and decided not to take his idiot of a servant. Merlin was secretly happy about this as he had something to ask the princess.
Merlin reached the door without hesitation and knocked on the door. A voice said, "Come in." Merlin opened the door with a teasing smile, "Why so formal princess?" Rachel laughed and asked, "What is it Merlin?"
"Well I got an idea on the ride back to Camelot on how we could get Vicky's memory back."
This grabbed her attention, her head whipped up and gave him a questioning glance that said 'explain' and Merlin replied, "Do you trust me?"
"Of course I do Merlin."
He nodded and continued, "Meet me here at midnight" and with that after chatting for a while Merlin left the room, wheels turning in his head.
Merlin was in Gaius chambers eating and the physician could tell that the young warlock was up to something so he questioned him, "What are you up to this time Merlin?" Merlin drew his gaze away from the window; "Nothing" came his reply.
Gaius didn't believe him but simply raised an eyebrow and said nothing more. Suddenly the door opened and Gwen walked in a gust of cold wind blowing over those in the room, "OH sorry for interrupting." she said beginning to back out of the room.
"No it's fine, "Gaius replied, "What can we do for you Gwen?" Gwen stopped her retreat and said, "The Lady Morganna would like her sleeping draught." Gaius replied, "mm she hasn't needed that for a while. I'll need to make some more, I'll have Merlin drop it round later."
Gwen nodded and left the chambers of the court physician once again letting cold air envelop the two. It was nearing nightfall and Merlin sat outside in the courtyard watching the sunset. The sky turned gradually form a red-orange color to a deep dark blue.
Merlin smiled it was nice to sit out here. He looked around the courtyard and saw he was alone. He then mumbled something under his breath and the leaves began to encircle the young warlock.
"Having fun?" Rachel smirked as she made her way towards him. Merlin jumped causing the leaves to drop back to the ground "Don't sneak up on me like that!"
Rachel laughed "Aw but its fun! Um can you teach me magic sometime?"
Merlin was surprised by this "Why would you need help? Torem allows magic you've been surrounded by it all your life"
"My father taught me a lot about magic spells that would benefit me as a queen in the future, but not how to enjoy it" Rachel explained. "So your childhood wasn't fun?" Merlin asked.
"Oh that's not what I meant" Rachel gasped, "I'd like to be able to do fun spells like you just did" she gestured to the leaves on the floor. "I grew up with Vicky life with her was always fun and exciting, she always got me into trouble"
Rachel saddened a bit "That's why we need her memory back she not herself anymore" Merlin rested his hand gently on her shoulder "That's what were going to do, come on its nightfall now" he strolled off Rachel following behind.
"Where are we going?" Rachel asked.
"To see a friends but we'll be there a while he never does give a straight answer" Merlin replied as they made they're way to the field outside the castle.
Rachel followed him with a curious look on her face, "why would he be bringing me here?'' but followed nonetheless. All of a sudden Merlin stopped and stuck out his arm then pointed towards the archway that led out of Camelot, unfortunately for them there were a few knights guarding the gate. Merlin muttered, "Sit cados revolvet" and a stack of barrels instantly fell and began to roll towards the castle.
Merlin saw the knights begin to come their way and instinctively pulled Rachel into the shadows while the knights passed. Then Merlin pulled up his hood and began to dash for the gates, the tails of their cloaks whipped out behind them.
They reached the clearing close to Camelot where Vicky saw Merlin once before. Merlin halted and turned to Rachel, "You still trust me?" and once again she nodded. Merlin took a deep breath and then began to shout out,"Draco magnus ego fero auxilium ad opus consuetudinem loci conventus!" his voice took a deeper, more demonic quality, which startled the princess.
Merlin just stared up at the sky and after a few moments a loud flapping of wings came from above them and a large dark shadow flew across the sky and then a dragon landed in front of Merlin.
"What have you summoned me for this time young warlock? And who is this?" the dragon said noticing Rachel standing there with an interested look on her face. "Oh," Merlin said pulling Rachel forward," this is Princess Rachel from Torem. Rachel this is the Great Dragon, Kilgarrah."
Rachel gave a small nod unsure of how to act around a living fire-breathing dragon but in the back of her head she thought, 'this is so cool!'
Merlin wanting to get straight to the point said, "We have a problem. Rachel's maidservant has had amnesia for a while and nothing I tried has worked. Is there anything from the Old Religion that might work?"
"Well, there might be something that might work but how about you?" came the reply the dragons eyes fixed on Rachel, who processed this then a shocked look came on her face and the dragon chuckled softly," I am able to sense the magic within you there is nothing to worry about."
Rachel let out the breath she want aware that she was holding and shook her head, "Nothing." Kilgarrah sat in thought for a brief moment then said, "Yes...I believe there is something, a potion I will give you this and with that he breathed fire on a flat rock nearby and when the flames disappeared an ancient script was written on the rock in miniscule writing.
"I believe you will be able to translate this one young warlock. Good luck to you both." and with that the great dragon spread his wings and began to take off into the night sky. Rachel walked over and picked up the flat rock and went back over to Merlin and they both walked into the forest along the path towards the castle.
The minute they reached Gaius's chambers Merlin raced to any stack of books in a rapid search for magic books that could help translate what was engraved on the stone.
Rachel was puzzled by how the warlock was acting "Shouldn't you be able to translate it the dragon said you'd be able to" Merlin stopped flipping pages of a torn, worn out looking book from the old religion.
"The dragon never gives a straight answer" Merlin moaned his head falling onto the pile of books.
Rachel leaned against the wall not really sure about what to do, when Gaius walked in coming home from his rounds. "Merlin what are you doing shouldn't you be with Arthur now?"
Merlin just run out in a rush leaving Rachel alone with Gaius. "Arthur always has him on his feet" Gaius commented putting a basket of various potions on a bench.
Gaius looked at the princess "You can stay for breakfast if you want" he said trying to ease the tension "Merlin should be back soon so continue with whatever it was you where doing earlier"
Rachel smiled at the kind mans gesture "Thanks" the sat at the desk and began looking threw the books Merlin left open. "Let's see if I can crack the dragons code," she laughed to herself before setting to work.
Merlin trudged his tired feet through the door after a long days work. Arthur had shown no mercy turning training with the knights, followed by cleaning his room, shinning his boots, polishing his amour and lastly mucking out the stables.
He was surprised to see Rachel with her head stuck in a magic book surrounded my many other books.
"How long have you been here?" He asked simply dazed by the sight in front of him. "She's been here all day trying to translate the writing on that rock! Merlin snap her out of it she hasn't talked in 3 hours," Gaius said
Merlin was about to tap Rachel on her shoulder but Rachel jumped from her seat screaming "I'VE DONE IT!"
Gaius jumped in shock almost dropping a vial containing Uthers medicine; luckily Merlin eyes flashed gold just before it hit the ground 'Thanks' he mouthed to Merlin before leaving the room.
"Come here I worked it out" Rachel waved him over while pointing at the rock with the other hand.
"How did you work it out?" Merlin asked.
"I went to Geoffrey he helped me by supplying books from the old religion"
Merlin reached for the stone "So what does it say?" Rachel grabbed a piece of parchment but it looked more like a list. Rachel cleared her head and began to read aloud "To cure amnesia mix the following herbs into a potion" Rachel read out the following herbs, "Valerian sprigs, lavender and we also need some salty river water."
Merlin sighed in relief he found those herbs everyday in the forest outside of Camelot bit he knew it wouldn't be easy, there had to be some sort of horrid twist.
Just then Rachel paused "There's a catch though" Merlin groaned, "What is it"
"A mushroom called the ltrix mushroom," Rachel said.
"What are you using that for?" Gaius said as he entered the room raising an eyebrow at the two "you do realize that it's extremely dangerous to use in any way and is often fatal"
Merlin spoke up and told his guardian about the great dragon with the cure for Vicky's amnesia.
When he'd finished the elderly man looked mortified "This is idiotic not to mention risky, using magic in Camelot is bad enough but on top of that your risking Vicky's life!"
Both Merlin and Rachel looked to the floor in shame it was unusual for Gaius to yell or scold them.
"Why's their such a huge risk to it?" Rachel asked still looking at the ground afraid to meet Gaius's gaze. The elderly man sighed deeply before talking "it not the actual ingredient itself, it's how its prepared before putting it into the potion"
The warlock lifted his head "How does it need to be prepared?" Gaius raised an eyebrow before replying
Gaius raised an eyebrow before replying, "This mushroom has to be prepared and added to the potion in a specific way, at a specific time of month.
It needs to be chopped into thin pieces and added to the mixture under the light of the full moon. If not it could kill the person."
Merlin sat down hands covering his face, 'No pressure there.' he thought with a slight groan.
Rachel just stood and stared at Merlin, her face a very pasty white. "Well Merlin. Lets go get the rest of the herbs while Arthur is with the King and Morgana" she said her voice shaking slightly."
He nodded and he grabbed a pouch as well as a vial and they set off towards the Darkling woods.
A few hours later Merlin and Rachel returned to Camelot and they stowed the rest of the ingredients in Gaius' chambers and walked up through the palace. Rachel arrived at her room and Merlin walked towards Arthurs' room.
Merlin entered the room and saw all of Arthur's armor from the trip lying on the floor waiting to be cleaned.
He walked over to pick it up when Arthur stepped out from behind the screen and said, "Hello Merlin. It seems you have forgotten to do something." and began to walk out of the room but stopped when he heard Merlin say, "We may have found a way to cure Vicky."
This caused the young prince to retreat into the room with a raised eyebrow that clearly meant for Merlin to elaborate.
"Gaius has found a potion that he believes may work, but there's a catch." Arthur merely.
Merlin took a deep breath and said very quickly, "It needs to be prepared under the light of a full moon and if an ingredient is not prepared correctly it may kill Vicky!" Miraculously Arthur heard all this and just walked out of the room.
Rachel entered her room to find none other than Vicky cleaning the floor, "Hello my lady" she said as Rachel walked in. Rachel said a "Hello Vicky" in response, she could not wait to give Vicky this potion so she could finally regain her memory and be her old self.
Rachel walked over and sat down on her bed and motioned for Vicky to join her. "We may have found a way to return your memory.
"What is it?" Vicky asked her eyes lit up she couldn't wait to get her memory back, "But there's a catch," came the reply, "it needs to be prepared under the light of a full moon, which is tonight and if an ingredient is not prepared correctly it could kill you" Vicky stood up triumphantly and said, "I'm prepared to take that risk if there is a chance it will get my memory back."
Rachel smiled as she saw a bit of Vicky's persistent personality come through and gave the brunette a hug.
Rachel was pacing up and down in the physicians chambers 'He should have finished by now' she thought anxiously.
It was the night of the full moon; Rachel and Gaius have been preparing the herbs for the potion while Merlin went to set the mushroom in the moonlight for exactly a minute.
Merlin went and gently placed the large headed mushroom in the moonlight and began to count for a minute. All was quiet.
Meanwhile Vicky was anxiously waiting in Merlin's room while the potion was being brewed. Gwen was there for emotional support (Rachel didn't want to risk Vicky making a run for it)
Merlin made his way through the stone corridors of the castle. There was a lot of pressure on the young warlock
(It may not have anything to do with the future of Albion but it was still too much pressure) He quickly dashed down the stairs when he bumped into the kings ward Morgana.
"Merlin?" asked Morgana, "Have you seen Gwen anywhere?" Merlin replied, "She's at home with Elyan, he's not feeling well. Didn't she tell you?"
She shook her head, "Unfortunately not. Thank you for telling me Merlin. Where are you off to in such a hurry at this hour?" she questioned, her eyebrow slightly arched, taking in his slightly disheveled appearance.
"I've been slightly behind on my chores for Arthur lately. I'm getting caught up. and I'm sorry for asking but I may ask you the same question." he replied noticing Morgana's cloak. "Just a midnight stroll and you should not be speaking to the kings ward in such a way." Merlin looked at the ground and mumbled a sorry and hurried off towards Gaius chambers. Morgana however headed off towards the Darkling woods to meet another hooded figure.
The king's ward headed towards the cloaked figure. "Sister your late" she snapped while lifting her hood down "Uther will get suspicious if I keep leaving like this he thinks I'm going for stroll after a nightmare"
Morgause smirked at her lifting her hood revealing her long blonde hair "It will be worth it when you take your rightful place on the throne, So what news from Camelot tell me how are the two new visitors settling in" she smirked evilly.
"The servant Vicky and her mistresses Rachel the princess of Torem" Morgana spat her voice full of hatred "They've got Uther wrapped around their fingers and worse still they're become very close to Arthur and Merlin"
"Well we shall get rid of them then! If they are a threat to you sitting on the throne we must destroy them" Morgause said calmly.
She continued "what do you know about them?"
Morgana composed herself "They fled from Torem, from an evil dictator"
Morgause froze as a plan formed in her mind "I'll ride out the meet this dictator maybe he'll form a deal, his help to destroy Camelot for his revenge"
Morgana smiled liking the sound if what she heard "You do that I must return, As long as Camelot falls and raises again with me as queen I don't care what must be done"
The moon was getting lower in the sky as those gathered in the court physicians chambers looked out the window, anxiously waiting Merlin's return with the crucial ingredient.
"Don't worry," Gaius consoled," Merlin won't let us down. He always arrives when needed."
Just as the words left his mouth the door burst open and standing in the doorway was an out of breath, slightly disheveled looking Merlin holding a piece of cloth in his hands and the contents of which should be the mushroom that needed to be put in the potion in the next 10 minutes.
(Earlier that day Gaius did some more research in the library and read that after the mushroom had been in the moonlight they had 1 hour to put it in the potion. So the pressure was definitely on.)
Gaius rushed over and grabbed the cloth out of Merlin's hand and began to prepare the ingredient.
First he sliced up the mushroom into equally thin pieces and then sprinkled a white powder over them. "Hurry Gaius," Gwen spoke, "we only have 5 more minutes."
Gaius nodded and carried the final ingredient over to the cauldron that was slowly simmering on the table and threw the mushrooms into the mixture.
The colour changed from the dull grey to a sunset orange. Merlin spoke," Where's Vicky?" "She's in your room, sleeping." The young warlock walked into the room where he found Vicky fast asleep and gently shook her awake.
"Is it time?" she asked sleepily. Merlin nodded and she began to get up.
Vicky walked out of Merlins room her heart beating wildly,' Would this even work?' she thought wildly,' if not what would happen?'.
Rachel stepped through the door and held out her hand to Vicky, who looked like she was going to faint who accepted it. "It's going to be fine." she reassured her giving her hand a squeeze.
Colour began to slowly return to her cheeks and when she steadied herself, Gaius handed her a cup with the potion inside. She held the cup to her lips, feeling slightly self-conscious with everybody looking at her.
A slight tint of red appeared on her cheeks, she took a deep breath and tipped the cup backwards and drank the liquid. Everyone looked at her expectantly, suddenly Vicky collapsed to the ground the cup clanging against the stone floor.
Gwen caught Vicky, slowing down her fall. "What's happening?" came the simultaneous reply of all inhabitants of the room except Gaius who had lifted a book once again.
Rachel standing by his side anxiously reading over Gaius' shoulder, "Will she wake up?" Gaius finished reading and replied," Yes she will. This book is about memory recovering potions. Vicky has merely passed out, in order for the potion to do its work. She should awake soon."
All those in the room relaxed, clearly relieved by this news.
It was nearing dawn when they saw movement from Vicky, who slowly opened her eyes and mumbled," What am I doing here?" but was cut off by Rachel throwing her arms round her friend, "Calm down. I haven't been anywhere." Merlin stepped in.
Yes, in a sense anyway. You have lost your memory for a matter of weeks. We gave you a potion that seems to have cured you." Gaius then asked all to step outside so he could examine her.
After a few minutes of examining her Gaius stepped out to the others to present his findings, "Vicky seems to have her memory back. Some things are a bit fuzzy but they should come back eventually."
Vicky stepped out a wide grin on her face, which matched the rest of those in the room.