(9) King's Stone

Merlin and Arthur found Gaius, Uther, and several knights gathered around the summoned boulder. It was glowing. "What the blazes is it?" asked Arthur.

"I have not a clue, Sire," said Gaius. "It appears to be just a rock. It is, however, protected by some kind of magical barrier. See, I cannot place my hand on it." Gaius' hand hovered a few inches above the surface.

"Huh."

"May I?" asked Merlin, stretching his hands toward the stone.

"Absolutely."

Merlin placed a hand on the invisible barrier, frowning.

"What if it is a beacon?" Sir Cei, the tallest of the knights, asked. "The glowing puts me in mind of the signal fires of my home. We placed one on each of the mountain ridges so that they could be seen by anyone in Sauvage who cared to look."

"If it is a beacon, we need to find out what for," Gaius murmured.


"Well?" asked Gaius

"Cei is right, there is some kind of summoning spell, like a magical signal fire, on the stone." Merlin closed his eyes, trying to conjure up the memory. "Bannan stan: stone of summoning. Eorlwerod means warriors. And then hw –oh no."

"What?"

"Niniane cast a spell on the stone to summon an army of dead warriors to destroy Camelot."

"You say, 'cast a spell on'", said Gaius. "The stone itself is not part of this spell?"

Merlin shook his head. "The summoning spell is on the surface of the stone. But the stone itself is magical too. An Old Magic, like Nimue used, but even older than she was."

"I see. Well, in any case we cannot simply go to Uther in the morning and say that we need to prepare for war because you felt that the rock in the courtyard was summoning an army of the undead. We must do research!" He sounded entirely too pleased.

Merlin groaned.

"Come. It will keep your mind off things."


This sword is for Arthur, and Arthur alone….

Merlin rubbed his tired eyes and sat back in his chair. It was the duel with Tristan du Bois all over again, wasn't it? If the stone was summoning an army of undead warriors, how did you defeat them? How do you kill someone who is already dead? There were only two ways: kill them with dragonfire or a sword tempered in dragonfire. There was a sword made for Arthur like that, tempered by Kilgharrah for Arthur's battle with the Black Knight. But Uther had feared for Arthur's safety, tricked his son, and taken up the challenge himself. He even used the sword. Kilgarrah had been furious that the man who had killed so many magical beings had laid his hands on a blade of such power. Merlin smiled a little, remembering the stream of insults and imprecations that had spewed out in a hot torrent from the enraged dragon. Still, Kilgharrah had a point. It wasn't safe or wise to let any man other than Arthur wield Excalibur. Merlin hid it soon afterwards, hid it where no man could find the sword of the future king until the right time had come.

Perhaps it had come.

Perhaps…

He turned to where he knew Arthur was standing, knelt, and handed his prince the sword, hilt first, as if offering a pledge of fealty. "Its name is Excalibur. It was made for you to wield and you alone, and it can kill those of Niniane's army."

"And can it kill traitors?"

Merlin bowed his head and waited for the stroke. "It can, my lord."

"Merlin! For the love of all that's holy, look at all these books. Merlin! Gaius is in the throne room telling my father something about how we're all doomed, so I came by to see how you were holding up. Merlin?" Arthur brushed past a stack of tomes, sending a few of them toppling. There was a muffled thump, and a curse from somewhere in the parchment labyrinth.

"I thought as much. Honestly, all this about a boulder? It must be the king of stones, forgetting for a moment that it's a beacon for a marauding army of dead men."

Merlin's pale face appeared from over a pile of volumes, wearing a peculiar expression.

"What?" asked Arthur.

"Have I ever told you, Arthur," said Merlin slowly. "That you're brilliant?"

"Ah, no. You are normally under the impression that I'm an insufferable prat. Did that book fall on your head?"

"Well, you are a prat, but what you said –hang on." Merlin rustled through a stack of papers. "Here. Read this."

Arthur took the parchment. "Well," he said after a moment. "I never thought I'd say this about a magic rock, but that's kind of cool."


"A King's Stone," Gaius read slowly. "Merlin, you may be right."

"A sword may be sheathed inside a King's Stone," Uther read over the physician's shoulder, "protected from all elements and marauders, for a Sword in the Stone can only be removed by a king."

"Useful," Arthur commented. "If there were ever a dispute about succession, that stone would solve it."

"Indeed," said Uther. "Why don't we try it out? Sir Cei! Attempt to thrust your sword into this stone."

"You had better be right about this, Merlin." Cei muttered as he walked forward.

"I am."

Cei unsheathed his sword and saluted his king and his prince. He stood over the stone, the blade point-down, took a deep breath, and struck!

The blade sank into the stone up to the hilt.

"Fascinating," said Uther.

"Look, Sire." Gaius pointed. Words had appeared on the surface of the boulder, as if they had been carved: Teskun, sword of Cei, son of Ector. He who takes this blade from the stone is rightwise born King of Camelot.

"Try to pull it out," said Uther.

Cei tugged at the blade, his face contorted with the effort. Sweat beaded down his face with the effort. "I cannot, Sire. It is stuck fast. "

"Anyone else?"

Sir Bedwyr stepped forward, and the next half-hour was passed with several knights and various servants trying to tug Cei's blade from the stone.

"You are a strange one, Merlin," Uther remarked as Sir Ector took his turn. "At once intelligent and idiotic. You figured this out, saved my son from a sorceress, from poisoning, and from more than one fell beast, and yet you are a simple servant. You don't seem to have any skill with a blade, you are remarkably cheeky –do not think I have forgotten the time that you burst into council and claimed to be a sorcerer to save a wrongly accused servant girl. What have you to say about all this?"

"My mother used to tell me to 'do right by others with the abilities given you. Otherwise, what is it all for?'"

"Your mother sounds very wise." Uther regarded Merlin curiously. For all that he had noticed Merlin's strangeness, he had never actually taken the time to look at the boy. There was some strength in Merlin's lanky limbs, the king noted, though not enough to explain some of the feats he'd had a hand in. He had a gentle, unassuming grace about him. "Tell me more about yourself, Merlin."

Merlin took a deep breath. "I'm from Ealdor, Sire, just inside the border of Cendred's kingdom on a map, though we generally consider ourselves to belong to Camelot. It is a small villiage, poor, self-sufficient, a favorite target for raiders. I grew up causing mischief in the woods with my best friend, Will, and coming home to my mother's best vegetable soup."

"It sounds like a good life. What is your mother's name?"

"Hunith." Merlin looked slightly embarrassed. "She's…Gaius' sister. I'm his nephew."

Uther raised his eyebrows. "Really? I suppose I should have ferreted it out. Secret keeping runs in your family –the pair of you are extraordinarily close mouthed about the important things. You have not mentioned your father."

"I never knew him as a child." Merlin looked away. "He was…a good man. An honorable man. He taught my mother how to read and write, and she taught me –and the rest of the village. Someone tried to kill him when I was a baby, and he had to leave the village to go into hiding. He never came back. My mother and I both thought he was dead. I met him before he died in the fight with Kilgharrah."

"I am sorry," said Uther, and was surprised to find that he was indeed sorry.

Merlin shook his head. "I am not the only child of my generation to have lost one or both parents during that time period. I'm one of the lucky ones –I missed out on the lion's share of the resentment."

Uther pondered that one. Merlin was not alone. The boy had lost a father, Arthur had lost a mother…how many others were there? "Why did you leave Ealdor?"

Merlin sighed. "My mother sent me to Gaius. I was…too much like my father to stay in so small a place."

"Indeed. You have a sense of honor, a confidence that behooves you well here."

"Thank you, Sire."

"It moved!" Sir Thomas' shout interrupted the conversation. "Prince Arthur moved the sword!"

"Just a little," said Arthur. "I am no king."

"But I am," said Uther. He strode to the stone, grasped the sword at the hilt, and pulled it out as if from a supple sheath. "Your sword, Sir Cei."

Cei took the sword, knelt, and presented it, hilt-first, to his king. "It is ever yours." Uther took it, examined it, and handed it back, again hilt-first.

"Now would be a good time, while the knights are gathered, to speak on what approaches for the city," said Uther. "This stone is a King's Stone, fairly harmless. However, the witch Niniane has laid a spell on it to summon an army of warriors to Camelot. They will be here in five days. Prepare this city for a siege. I also strengthen my charge to you, knights of Camelot: deal justly and gently with all, help the weak and do not quarrel. The people are watching you."


AN: A sword in a stone! Cei and Bedwyr are Kay and Bedivere. I just tink the Welsh spelling looks cool! I'm trying to make an effort to make my chapters longer -you guys are right, it is no fun at all to read short, choppy chapters. How'd I do? If the whole thing about Gaius and Merlin being related sounds sudden, it is -I only recently found out that it was canon (I think. I could be wrong). Arthur says something in this chapter that is very much forshadowing...