Here it is, the long-awaited chapter in which Merlin and Bo finally discover one another's true natures. I think their reactions will be surprising and hopefully satisfying, so without further ado, I present (drumroll)…the Big Succubus/Magic Reveal!
"Merlin! Merlin, wake up!"
He rolled over, shrugging off the hand shaking him; it couldn't possibly be morning yet, and he wasn't ready to get up. Gaius persisted in his efforts to rouse him, though. "Merlin, I need you in my laboratory at once. A guard has just been murdered."
Wide awake at the mention of murder, Merlin tumbled out of bed and followed Gaius downstairs to where the unfortunate man's body was laid out on the worktable. "He was found near the stables just before midnight. An examination of his body revealed no wounds; I fear the only possible cause of death is sorcery."
Merlin's heart sank. "Are you sure he wasn't sick or something?"
"I saw this man only yesterday, and he was in perfect health apart from a touch of toenail fungus, which was unpleasant but nonfatal - nothing my leeches couldn't take care of."
Merlin grimaced. "I did not need to know that."
"Besides, this is not the mark of a natural death." Gaius beckoned Merlin over to look at the guard's face, which was almost as revolting and infinitely more horrifying than infected toenails. The victim's skin was a ghastly pasty color, his eyes were like two marbles sunken deep into their sockets, and his lips were so dry they had cracked and bled. Most disturbing, though, was the grotesque rictus his face had pulled into, which resembled nothing so much as a demented parody of a smile. "I have no idea what manner of dark magic could have caused this," Gaius continued.
"Me either." Merlin was at a loss as to why Gaius had awakened him; the old man's knowledge of magic was much greater than his. If this mystery had stymied Gaius, Merlin didn't see how he could help.
"There is only one in Camelot who might know: the Great Dragon. You must go to him, Merlin."
"No." Merlin was still angry over the dragon's refusal to help him with Morgana, and downright furious at his aspersions on her character. "If I go down there, he'll just hound me about setting him free. I'm not sure how much longer I can stall him."
"Well, you must, because we need his assistance. Have you already forgotten what happened the last time Uther suspected sorcery was at work in Camelot?"
Merlin had not forgotten; he doubted he would ever forget how readily the king had ordered innocent citizens rounded up and burned on the flimsiest of evidence that they might know something about witchcraft, or simply be associated with someone who did. Fortunately Morgana had returned in time to prevent the executions, but Uther's nerves were still so raw from her disappearance that he probably wouldn't hesitate to order another pyre built at the slightest hint that magic had once again invaded his castle, even if there had been no direct threat against his family.
"You're right, we must identify the threat and deal with whoever or whatever did this before Uther finds out. I'll go talk to the dragon and you can make up a story for the person who found the body and the king, if he asks." He turned and headed for his room.
"Where are you going?" Gaius demanded.
"To get my jacket - it's cold down in that cave."
###
The dragon did indeed harass Merlin about following through on his promise to free him, and he seemed unconcerned by the murder, saying only, "It seems to me that some creature drained the man's life force, but from what little you've told me, I cannot be more specific."
"Well, there is one more thing. The guard was…smiling. From the way he looked, I'd think his death must have been painful, but he looked like he was happy when he died. Ecstatic, even."
The dragon's golden eyes, larger than a serving platter, widened. "Are you certain, Merlin?"
"Yes, I'm certain! I've never seen anything so disturbing!"
"Then there is only one possible explanation, young warlock. There is a succubus in Camelot."
"That does not sound like a good thing. Just one more question, then: what is a succubus?"
"A succubus is a female fae, a creature of magic, that feeds on the life force, or chi, of humans. They can also feed on other fae but generally prefer humans because humans are easier to bend to their will."
"How can I kill it?"
"The same way you would kill any other foe. My advice is to worry less about how you will kill this succubus than about resisting her long enough to do so."
"You think the succubus' magic is stronger than mine?" Merlin asked nervously.
The dragon chuckled. "Succubi take the form of beautiful women, Merlin, and they are the most seductive creatures ever to walk the earth - even more adept at tempting and ensnaring men than the legendary lamia. Her magic is not all you will have to resist."
Embarrassing as the implication of this warning was, it gave Merlin an idea. "Beautiful women, huh? I know where to find a couple of those. Say, are you positive there's only one succubus?"
"The man who was killed would only have been sufficient to feed a single adult succubus. Unless another body is discovered, you may proceed under the assumption that there is only one."
"Great, thanks. You've been very helpful."
###
After a quick stop by his room to pick up his sidhe staff - it had already helped him dispose of one beautiful fae that wanted to steal a man's life force, so hopefully it would work on another - Merlin dashed upstairs to the wing where the ladies slept. He peeked into Morgana's room and saw that she was sleeping soundly for once, but he sealed her door with magic just in case she woke up. He didn't want her stumbling into the middle of his fight with the succubus.
Once he'd done all he could to ensure her safety, he proceeded to the next room: Lady Isabeau's. Putting an ear to the door, he heard muffled voices inside - Lady Kenzi must be in there with her. Well, this makes things easier. Merlin took a deep breath, blasted the door open, and marched in, brandishing his staff.
The women stared at him like he'd lost his mind. "And the award for most awkward moment ever goes to…" Kenzi muttered, while Bo said, "Merlin, hi. Not to ruin the foundation of not hating each other that I thought we established today, but what the hell are you doing? And what the fae is that thing?"
"Which of you is it?" Merlin demanded. "I know what you are, so don't bother denying it!"
Kenzi put her hands on her hips, the movement causing him to swivel the staff in her direction. "One more time: what the fae, dude? And get that thing out of my face! We haven't known each other long enough for you to be pointing any kind of wood at me."
"One of you is a succubus, so tell me who it is! Don't make me use this on you both."
"Use it for what, whacking our shins? Newsflash: I've had bigger owies than that. Now hand over that stick before I get mad." Bo made a grab for it, and Merlin fired a warning shot that left a smoking crater in the stone floor.
Kenzi pulled Bo back just in time to save her from getting her toes blown off. "All right, peace! You win! You want a succubus? Fine, I'm right here!"
"What? Kenzi, no!" Seeing Merlin raise his staff to point straight at Kenzi's heart, Bo pushed her aside, seized the end of the staff, and pressed it to her own chest. "I'm the succubus, not her." She made her eyes glow blue to prove her supernatural nature. "If you want to kill a fae, kill me, but leave Kenzi out of it. She's an innocent human." Then she let her eyes fade back to brown and squeezed them shut, waiting to be vaporized.
Merlin couldn't bring himself to do it. Once she realized she'd been exposed, he had expected the succubus to fight, to try tempting him to join her like Cornelius Sigan had, or even to use her human companion as a hostage to cover her escape. Sacrificing herself while asking him not to hurt the human girl was the last thing he'd expected her to do. For that matter, he never would have imagined that the human would try to sacrifice herself to save the succubus; he didn't think a monster who devoured human life could inspire such loyalty in her prey. While it didn't necessarily mean anything - she might have enchanted the girl as the dragon had warned him succubi were apt to do - her willingness to throw herself in front of his staff definitely gave him pause.
As he struggled to muster the conviction he needed to unleash the sidhe staff's destructive power - he knew he had to do it, because there was no way letting a succubus live could be the right course of action - Merlin failed to notice Kenzi crawling away, then picking herself up outside his field of vision. She took a silver candlestick from a small table, crept up behind Merlin, and swung it at him. The heavy round base and the warlock's head connected with a dull whump, and he crumpled to the floor like a discarded paper doll.
Bo was aghast. "What'd you do that for?!"
"Um, to save you from the medieval John Wayne with a magical six-shooter staff of doom? You're welcome, by the way."
"I'll thank you when we figure out what to do with him. What'll we do when he wakes up, huh? Hope you hit him hard enough to make him forget about me being a succubus?"
"We could tie him up," Kenzi suggested.
"We can't keep him in here forever, though. This room is not exactly equipped for holding prisoners."
"Uh, Bo, that may not be a problem. Look." Kenzi pointed at a thin stream of blood trickling from Merlin's head. "I kinda swung that thing like it was the Louisville slugger in Carrie Underwood's Before He Cheats video, and it looks like I really knocked his lights out. Bo, what are we gonna do if he, you know, dies or something?"
"He's not going to die," Bo declared. One man had already died because of her tonight, and she was determined not to add anyone else to her body count. "I need you to go to your room, Kenz; I'll take care of Merlin."
"But what if he gets all staff-happy again?"
"I'll handle it. Just go."
Kenzi reluctantly left, and Bo, after locating a couple of washcloths to put under Merlin's head so he wouldn't bleed on her sheets, moved him to her bed. "Okay kid, I already tried this once and it didn't go so great. Maybe it'll work better for you. It's got to, because I never got the hang of stitches. Here goes everything." Leaning over him, she drew out a thread of chi from inside herself and breathed it into his open mouth.
Merlin revived almost instantly and, panicking at the sight of her brilliant cerulean eyes, tried to jerk away, but Bo kept him pinned in place, using all her weight to hold him down. "Whoa, take it easy! I don't think you should get up just yet."
"Wha- What-?"
"My friend bashed you over the head with a candlestick. It was overkill, but Kenzi gets that way when people point magic sticks at me."
Merlin's eyes widened. "My staff-"
"It's right where you dropped it, and I think it should stay there for now. You and I need to have a chat with less weaponry involved."
"Why? You're just going to kill me, so get on with it."
Bo snorted. "Merlin, if I wanted you dead I could've finished you off while you were unconscious. Instead I healed you. I don't like hurting people unless they really deserve it, so I'm hoping we can come to some kind of understanding."
Merlin finally realized that, although he felt a dull ache at the back of his head and the sticky wetness of blood on his scalp, he didn't feel nearly as bad as he had the last time he'd gotten a concussion. Furthermore, he was lying on a soft mattress, not a stone floor. Kenzi seemed to have disappeared, leaving Isabeau as the only one who could have tended his wound - hardly the actions of a heartless monster. But why? "Understanding? You're a succubus." He meant to sound derisive and accusatory, but his bewilderment took all the bite out of the declaration.
"Yeah, so? You have a magic staff and you obviously know how to use it. Maybe we're more alike than I thought."
Merlin shook his head in denial, but it gave him a headache, so he desisted. "I'm nothing like you. I'm a sorcerer; I use magic, but only because I was born with it."
"And I was born a succubus. You don't think I want to be this way, do you? God, I've wished so many times that I could just be human…"
An unexpected pang of sympathy constricted Merlin's chest; he knew how it felt to wish you could be like everyone else yet know you would always be different, always an outcast, feared and unwanted… But, he reminded himself, aside from that he had very little in common with Isabeau the succubus. She wasn't even human. She fed on humans. "We may not have had a choice in what we are, but we can choose what we do. I've always tried to use my magic for good, or at least not to hurt anyone with it. You killed that guard."
He didn't quite manage to sound accusatory this time either; it was a simple statement of fact, but it seemed to pain the succubus. "I didn't mean to. I wanted to leave him alive, but I was just so hungry… When I realized what I'd done I tried to give back some of what I took from him, but it was too late. I'm truly sorry he's dead; I never wanted to hurt anyone," she said in a voice that trembled a little.
"Then why did you kill him? Can't you control yourself?" It was almost impossible not to feel sorry for her, but Merlin couldn't let himself forget that a man was dead. As Camelot's protector, he had to stop her if she was going to kill again, no matter how unwilling a murderer she was or how much it tormented her after the fact.
"I can if I'm not starving, but do you have any idea how hard it is to feed here? In the city I came from there were so many people that I had some degree of anonymity, and there were other fae who were willing to let me feed on them. Here there's only humans, and everybody seems to know everybody's business. Not that I didn't almost become a YouTube sensation a couple times back home, but at least I could get out of dodge fast if I needed to. I wasn't stuck in a castle surrounded by armed guards with a king who doesn't even have to give me a fair trial before putting my head on a stick if he ever clues in to the fact that I'm more than just a girl who pulls off medieval couture surprisingly well."
"So…you're afraid anyone you fed on would report you to Uther," Merlin summarized after mentally sifting through the nonsense about dodging a YouTube, whatever that might be. That, he was learning, was the key to successful communication with her and Kenzi - if he simply ignored their more bizarre utterances, it was usually possible to make some kind of sense out of what they were saying.
"Yeah, his anti-magic propaganda has them all so scared of it that they'd report anything out of the ordinary faster than you can say 'witch hunt' - unless I made them my thrall, but my mother never got around to teaching me how to do that in between kidnapping me and blowing up the fae government. Basically, I'm screwed."
"Your mother kidnapped you?" Merlin blurted out. He couldn't imagine anyone doing that to her own child, regardless of how abnormal that child was. Raising him probably hadn't been easy for Hunith, yet she had always loved and protected him. "Did she…hurt you?"
Bo sighed. "That is a long, complicated, and kind of painful story that I don't want to rehash right now. Can we stay on topic? Now that you know what I am and that I can't stop chi-sucking people, are you gonna tattle to Uther and get me executed or what?"
"I don't want you killed just for being what you are," Merlin said slowly, "but I can't let you kill anyone else to stay alive either."
"I won't. I'll start feeding more regularly so I'll be able to stop before I totally drain them," Bo assured him. "Promise."
"How will you keep from getting caught?"
"That's not your problem. Just don't turn me in yourself; I can handle my own shit."
The way she said it made Merlin think she was used to taking care of herself, and while that was admirable, he wished he could help her. He'd tried to help Morgana with her magical problem, after all, though admittedly Morgana's magic seemed to be more dangerous to her than to anybody else. Merlin didn't think he could erase the memories of Isabeau's victims in good conscience.
Suddenly an idea came to him. He could help, but his idea entailed a lot more personal risk than was involved in locating the druids for Morgana. Before he had time to think better of it, he said, "You can feed on me."
The words hung heavily in the air between Bo and Merlin for a long moment; he almost wished he could somehow stuff them back in his mouth, but since that wasn't possible he just waited silently for her to react. At last, Bo incredulously asked, "You want me to feed on you?"
Merlin squirmed under her stare. "Not really, but it is the best option. I won't turn you in - you'll be safe, and so will Camelot's people."
Bo's eyes flashed with indignation, then narrowed. "You think I need you to protect me? Or is it that you want to keep an eye on me and make sure I'm being a good girl? Either way, I don't do exclusive relationships."
In spite of his slight headache, Merlin pulled himself halfway into a sitting position and tried to sound stern and commanding. According to Gaius and the dragon, he was supposed to be the greatest sorcerer ever, and he would not let a succubus run amok right under his nose! "I cannot allow you to endanger the people of Camelot. If I have to destroy you to keep this kingdom safe, I will, but I'd rather not. I've already been forced to kill some of my kind because they posed a threat to the kingdom and Prince Arthur; don't make me do it again. You don't seem unreasonable and bloodthirsty like them, and I don't want to kill you. I've offered a solution that should give us both what we need, so can't you just take it?"
The change in him startled Bo. For the third time, she saw that this servant was much more powerful than he appeared to be, even dangerous. Kinda like me. Remembering the crater he'd left in her floor, she decided getting on his bad side might very well be hazardous to her health. "Guess you've got me over a proverbial barrel, don't you? Okay, it's a deal. Hey…you're not just taking advantage of this situation, are you? Using the 'protecting Camelot' angle as an excuse to get me over a literal barrel or table or something?"
"What are you talking about?"
His face showed honest confusion, which allayed her suspicions. "Never mind. So how does this work? Should I just come find you when I get hungry, or what?"
"You can come to Gaius' quarters. He knows about my magic and he'll keep your secret too; besides, a lady visiting the court physician will look less suspicious than a manservant frequenting the ladies' wing for no apparent reason. If you say you need a remedy for chronic headaches or something like that, nobody will question why you're there."
"Wow, who knew you were such a super-sneak? I'm impressed…and a little concerned." Merlin tried to get up and promptly flopped back onto the pillows, wincing. "Speaking of headaches, do you still have one?" When he nodded (wincing again), Bo said, "Let me see if I can help."
She leaned in, her lips parting, and for one wild second he thought she was about to kiss him. His stomach flipped over. This would only be the second kiss he'd ever received, and although he suspected it might be pleasant - the dragon had definitely not lied about succubi being beautiful - he did not particularly want to kiss her...at least he didn't think so. There were several reasons not to, including the fact that he'd only met Lady Isabeau three days ago, but it was hard to remember any of them with her face so close to his.
Their lips never touched, though. She simply breathed recycled energy into him, healing the last remaining damage from his head wound. "Better?" she asked.
"Yes…" Merlin stood up cautiously, expecting to be hit with a wave of dizziness that never came. All the pain was gone too, and his head felt completely clear again. "It's like I was never even hurt. Thank you, my lady."
Bo's answering smile was tinged with sadness. "Glad I could help somebody." The guard's death still weighed heavily on her, but she resolved that he would be the last one. Never again would she be so careless with her diet. Thanks to her deal with Merlin, she wouldn't even have to delay feeding until she could sneak out to the tavern. If I'm only feeding on him, I'll have to pace myself so I can just take a little at a time. I don't know if I could drain a sorcerer, but I don't want to find out.
Aside from not wanting a dead body on her hands, she didn't want to hurt the first and possibly only person in Camelot who didn't see her as a monster after discovering her secret. More than that, Merlin actually wanted to help; he seemed like one of the good guys, and a sorcerer could be a useful ally, maybe even a friend eventually. Friends with benefits - but strictly for feeding this time. I won't fall for Merlin like I did when I had this arrangement with Dyson. That way I won't get my heart broken if some tree-hugging bitch rips his out.
Merlin hesitated briefly before patting her back. "I know you regret killing the guard - I'm glad you do, since it means you have a conscience - but try not to fret over it too much. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again. I know you want to be a good person, and I'm going to help you, I promise."
Bo was amused; this guy seriously thought he was her knight in a cruddy old leather jacket, didn't he? Still, this was the age before chivalry died, and it was a nice thought. "Gonna kiss my hand before you leave too?" She couldn't resist that one little dig, but Merlin didn't take it as such.
"All right." He snagged her hand from her lap, brought it to his lips, and kissed the back of it. "Good night, my lady."
"Call me Bo. All this formal 'my lady' crap makes me feel like I'm at a damn debutante ball."
He wrinkled his nose. "Bo? That's an even odder name for a lady than Kenzi."
"And a guy called Merlin making fun of my name isn't hypocritical at all. I guess I'm cool with Isabeau too, since that may actually be my full name, but try to get used to Bo, okay? I miss it. Or at least no more 'my lady'."
"As you wish, my-" She glared reproachfully at him. "-Isabeau."
She sighed. "It's a start. We'll work on it."
After he left, it occurred to her that she was being hypocritical too, swearing not to get emotionally intimate with Merlin and then telling him to be more informal with her less than five minutes later. Then again, Bo was her name, and this noblewoman cover, however necessary, made her feel like a phony. And Merlin knew she was fae now, so why shouldn't he know her real name too? It was just a name; it didn't mean she was making herself vulnerable with him. It meant nothing at all, just like feeding on Merlin wouldn't mean anything even when they went all the way, as they would undoubtedly have to in order to fully satisfy her appetite. But it'll only be sex - no emotions attached. I can do that easy. Can't I?
So, Bo and Merlin are now friends with benefits, except Merlin doesn't really know what that means or that succubi don't only feed by chi-sucking. Next chapter: Gaius fills him in, and our favorite warlock dies of embarrassment, thereby bringing the story to an abrupt and tragic end. No, not really - I wouldn't kill Merlin like that.
