CHAPTER 10 : AN ERRAND TO REGRET
Sitting at the tables enjoying the banquet, Arthur suddenly remembered that he had forgotten his speech to thank the rulers of the neighbouring kingdoms for attending the Summer Tournament at Camelot. He remembered the various people he would thank but wanted to have some of the names before him. He motioned for Merlin to come to him.
"I left my speech on the table, could you nip upstairs and get it?"
"I can send Rhylan."
"No, go yourself it will be quicker if you take the back stairs. It will be maybe an hour before I need it as there will be other presentations and speeches before mine."
Merlin motioned for Rhylan to fill up Arthur's goblet; he then took him on one side telling him they had to do a message for the prince. They left but not before Merlin had told Luke another squire to attend to Arthur.
A pair of intent eyes watched them and slipped out of the hall, moments later. The figure looked around and nodded at one of the manservant's standing in the corridor; together, two men followed Merlin and the squire.
Rhylan chattered on, "Why didn't Prince Arthur learn his speech off by heart?"
"He didn't have to, it is just really notes made up of key words which he will elaborate upon as he speaks."
"I couldn't do that!" Rhylan said, "For one thing, I'd be so scared, I'd forget everything."
Merlin laughed, "That, Rhylan, is why you are a squire who will hopefully become a knight and he is a prince who will be a king. We'll take this tower, watch yourself as the stairs are steep."
"Where will we come out?"
"It's a surprise, a short cut to the royal floor." Merlin picked up a torch and held it to the flames in one of the wall sconces. "Get the door!"
As they entered the stairwell, Merlin knew that there were not the only people in the corridor. They were in no hurry and it was fun taking different routes to destinations. He smiled sadly remembering that it was Sir Rodick's little brother, Daffyd as a page who had first shown him this way.
As the tower door closed behind them, one of the men following them said, "Quick, we need to beat them to the royal corridor." Running along the corridor, they went around the corner to the open flight of stairs. The knight had worked hard planned this exercise. He had the layout of Arthur's chambers including the private dining room. He had formulated the plan and all he needed for success, was the opportunity to put it into effect.
Rhylan and Merlin walked up the back tower stairs. They opened the door and came out into the royal corridor. They had taken their time. The moon was full and it was fun seeing the lower town and little lake bathed in silver. Merlin dunked the torch into a bucket of sand under a sconce, hanging it on a hook.
Suddenly two figures leapt from an alcove, one sending Merlin into the wall and Rhylan heard the sickening sound as his head cracked against it. Almost immediately the boy was backhanded across the face and he slipped slowly to the floor, smacking his head. He was dumped into one of the nearby chambers.
The banquet was still in progress and no one was on the royal floor when a body was carried two doors past the prince's chambers, into the new dining room. The door into the adjoining room was opened and Merlin was dumped there. He was dropped on his stomach and hog tied. His arms were forced behind his back and tied at the elbows, then again at the wrists. His knees were bent and tied and then his ankles bound. His ankles and wrists were tied together so that his chest was pulled off the floor.
"'e won't git out of that in a 'urry!" said a rough voiced individual.
"Just in case, watch this, the pièce de rèsistance," said the more cultured voice. The man tied a rope around Merlin's neck and forced it up by tying it through the rope on his wrists to his ankles. The other man laughed.
"Let's see 'im escape now!"
"He won't, should he struggle too much the rope with tighten and he'll have throttled himself."
With that the man gagged Merlin with a dirty rag. "I'd like to see Arthur's face when they finally find his body!" He straightened up a malicious smile creasing his hard features. Then to spite Arthur, he gave Merlin a resounding kick in his side. He left followed by his manservant.
Carefully locking the door, he placed the key where he had found it on a peg near the sideboard. They moved quickly and quietly and were soon out in the corridor.
The retraced their steps and further along, a door to a room was thrown open and the squire was still out cold on the floor.
"He'll finally come to, and then try to find the manservant. Hopefully, the prince will hear that he is missing and he can suffer. Anyway, that other knight and the prince are too friendly with the likes of him. All of them treat him as if he is something special. Well, I've proved he isn't, haven't I? No one beats me and enjoys the results."
The door was closed again and the pair descended the same tower stairs that Merlin and Rhylan had climbed no more that an hour earlier.
The knight reversed his cloak to the blue and gold side, slipping into the back of the banqueting hall, waiting to receive his gold coin for advancing to the quarter finals in the jousting. The manservant resumed his place against the wall in the corridor, again waiting until his master reappeared.
Arthur looked around; Merlin had never returned. He thought, 'What the hell is he messing at?'
He motioned to the squire to fill his goblet and looked around for Rhylan. Neither of them anywhere to be seen; both disappeared into thin air!
-0-0-
The evening dragged on, Gaius looked at him questioningly and Arthur shrugged his shoulders. Luckily for Merlin, he remembered most of the salient points when the time came for his speech. He had a few uncomfortable seconds but managed to get through it. He'd take him to task when he found him…
The trophies had all been awarded. With Romney's high placing in the jousting, Camelot was the highest scoring team overall. The pennant would be returning to them for the year. Arthur had, in his speech congratulated both the young Princes Rhys and Ewan for their outstanding ability and thanked all the other princes and knights who had competed, hoping that they would consider returning next year. The king nodded his encouragement.
As knights, all competitors who reached the quarter finals in any event earned a gold coin from the king. Quite an impressive amount but the king did mention that it would be only for this year to celebrate his son's birthday. There was a round of applause for all the winners. Semi-finalists and finalists also left the banquet flush with cash and Gawaine also received a sword for his win in the Sword Fighting category. The king didn't even bother applauding the win but the knights of Camelot cheered loudly.
As Gawaine passed Arthur, Arthur leant over and said, "You well deserved it!"
Gawaine asked, "Thank you, Arthur. Where's Merlin?"
Arthur managed to say, "Not sure!" before the next winner was in front of him.
The king and the older members of the visiting royal families retired, followed by the senior council members and older knights.
The younger knights and Arthur's companions remained and continued drinking until well after midnight. Leon saw Arthur back to his room. As they walked along the corridor, he also asked, "Where's Merlin?" Arthur mumbled that he'd gone on ahead to light the fires. Leon just nodded.
Arthur closed the corridor door behind him, locking it. He checked the manservant's room but it was empty, the whole suite of rooms was empty. He locked the adjoining door between the antechamber and the bedchambers and stood still. "Where in hell's name is he?" he said to the empty room.
-0-0-
Merlin was coming to. He moaned, he was uncomfortable and wanted to turn on his back but his legs and arms wouldn't cooperate. He had a nasty feeling in his mouth and realised it was a gag. His head was throbbing and he wanted to relax it but the pressure on his neck as he tried was not only terrifying but nauseating.
His eyes were burning but he could make out a chamber, albeit small. It reminded him of somewhere. He sighed at least it wasn't a cell. He couldn't concentrate any more and drifted away.
-0-0-
Arthur waited…no Merlin; finally, he threw himself half clothed on the bed. It wasn't like Merlin not to show up all evening. He'd give him a few more hours and then raise the alarm to find the two of them. He couldn't sleep and in desperation got up, threw a log on the fire and sat waiting for the sentries to announce the third hour.
He heard someone tapping the door in the corridor and thought 'Couldn't even remember to keep his key with him!' He tied his dressing gown around him and opened the door, ready to grab Merlin and pull him in.
He opened the door put out his hand and got hold of a worried Romney. "Can I come in, there's a problem…"
He followed Arthur to the table and said, "Rhylan arrived at our chambers in a real state. He's smashed his face and also has a huge bump on his temple. He's gibbering about Merlin and the men. I left him in front of the fire cuddled up with Mattie. I hate to ask, but could Merlin come down to persuade him that he's alright and nothing happened. We figure that he fell on the stairs and knocked himself out but he's also talking about a dark chamber."
Arthur looked green. "Merlin isn't here. I haven't seen him since he left with Rhylan to get the copy of my speech which I had left here. Wait for me to get on a tunic and boots and I'll go down with you. If needs be, we can wake up Gaius but I'd rather not as he doesn't have the best of nights as it is."
Mattie was sitting on their double bench by the fire with her arms around the boy, his eyes closed but his breath punctuated by intermittent sobs. He kept repeating, "I couldn't help him. Everything went black. Did he get back to Arthur's safely?" Then, he suddenly said, "Mattie, I'm going to be sick."
Mattie got him to the water closet, almost in time. She removed his tunic and slipped Romney's dressing gown around him; gave him some water and told him to rinse out his mouth and spit in the chamber pot. She led him back to the fire, settling him beside her,telling him to take little sips of water. She was worried but mentioned that he had done the right thing coming to his brother for help. He was just dozing off when Romney arrived back with the prince.
She went to stand but Arthur said, "No! Please remain seated." He was shocked by Rhylan's face and the bump.
He knelt before Rhylan and quietly said, as he opening his eyes, "It's me, Arthur, are you all right?"
Rhylan's eyes filled up and one tear escaped which Mattie wiped away. "Merlin…?"
Arthur said nothing he just smiled and said gently, "What happened?"
Rhylan sat up straighter and told him of the tower, the corridor, the two men; Merlin being pushed into the wall and how, he was also slapped by one of the men and hit his head. How he had woken on the floor in a dark room and crawled around finally finding the door to get into the corridor. The wall sconces were still lit and he wandered down the corridors then the next thing he knew Romney was holding him.
Arthur said, "Someone needs to keep an eye on him overnight. Keep him here, don't send him back to the squires' dormitory. Mattie, can you stay with him? I'll get someone to come and stay with both of you"
Matttie nodded, looked at Rhylan and then back at Arthur and said, "Certainly, Sire!"
"Look after him; he's a brave young man! Make sure he knows that no one is cross with him."
He stood up and said to Romney, "I can't stand around and do nothing. Get Simon to stay with them. Wake Gielbert and tell him to get Gavin, Rook and Spenser. I'll walk along the corridor and get Leon. Meet me in my chambers; we'll see what we can do. On second thought, I think Gawaine is billeted with Rook, so bring him as well. Don't tell anyone what has happened."
It was a bedraggled group of knights who met in Arthur's chambers within the hour. Gawaine caught Arthur's eye and Arthur knew that he realised why they were there.
-0-0-
Arthur gave them a rough idea of what had transpired. "We were fine. He'd served me at the banquet and then I asked him to fetch my speech which I had stupidly forgotten upstairs. He left with Rhylan…and then…Rhylan turns up bruised at his brother's with a tale of two men and Merlin being attacked."
"Did he recognise the men?" asked Leon looking at Romney.
Romney shook his head, "We haven't really been able to question him. He's still in shock and has an awful headache."
"We need to question people on the main floor maybe near the banquet hall to see if any saw Merlin and the squire and anyone else. Who would be in the corridor?"
"Gavin said, "Many of the menservants of the senior knights and guests."
"We'll start there." Arthur said, "Go and check with Camelot menservants and be specific as to the time, it was after the meal and before the presentations and speeches."
Arthur turned, "Spenser, check the guards at the portcullis and any on duty within the castle. Listen, everyone, meet me back in my chamber by or before dawn with any leads."
-0-0-
He could hear muffled voices; his head was still throbbing. All the muscles in his stomach were screaming for him to move and stretch himself but he couldn't. He no longer had any feeling in his arms and below his knees, his legs were numb. It was dark; he had no idea of the time and heard no sentries. Maybe he was no longer in Camelot…he needed to tell Arthur…! Arthur wouldn't know what had happened…what would he be thinking?
Suddenly, a wave of despair flooded through him. He thought, 'I'm alive but I don't know where I am…'
He had been trying to bang his knees against the flagstones to attract attention but that tightened whatever was around his neck and it hurt. He put all his focus and energy into keeping his head upright to lessen the choking sensation. It was so quiet, he was cold and once again he slipped away…
-0-0-
Rook was the first to return with a young manservant who had seen Merlin and a squire in the corridor outside the banquet hall going towards the stairs. A little while later, another knight had come out of the hall and motioned to a manservant who followed him in the same direction which Merlin had taken. Asked if he could identify the knight, he said that he was one of the visiting ones and he thought his cloak was probably black and gold.
Arthur nodded and the man was dismissed. Leon was running the investigation, so he then brought in a maidservant who said that she was on the back tower stairs taking some food to one of the Cumbrian guests, when she heard voices as someone opened the door at the bottom of the tower and started coming up the stairs behind her. She reached the door at the top of the stairs and went to the chamber with the food. She didn't see anything. As she was going to walk down the stairs again, she heard voices in the corridor towards the royal chambers but didn't think anything of it. She was told that she could leave but should she remember anything else get in touch with the head of household staff.
Later in the day, someone mentioned that there was blood in the corridor on the royal floor near the tower door. Gavin went to check and thanked the housekeeping staff for notifying them. He was wandering back to Arthur's chambers and he noticed sporadic drops of something shiny on the flagstones. He told Leon.
Arthur and he went back to check on it. Certainly, the drops were blood but they stopped halfway down the corridor. Arthur was none the wiser but he now began to feel that Rhylan's story was close to the truth. He asked the staff to check the unoccupied chambers in that area. Soon he received a message that there was blood on the floor in one of the chambers, two doors over from the tower door.
Slowly, he began to feel that Merlin was probably in the castle but he was at a loss to explain where.
-0-0-
Gawaine was standing in the shadows, watching knights leaving to return to their kingdoms. Suddenly a knight passed by wearing black and gold, Gawaine took a step towards him but upon second glance in the full sunlight, it turned to blue and gold. Gawaine turned as saw pages, Rook's brother Erik with his friend Robert, he called them both over, telling them to find Rook and tell him the colour was blue and gold. "See that knight, that's the colour I want you to tell Rook about. Just say that the cloak was blue and gold." He sent them on their way.
Walking toward the group of Bodmin, knights, he casually listened to the conversations. They were to be in the first group to leave today, the more senior knights would accompany King Trevor and princes back home later in the week.
Making his way back to the castle, Gawaine went to Leon and told him of the colours mentioned by the servant were more probably blue and gold. Of course, in a darkened corridor, the colour could appear black and gold. He was pleased to hear that Rhylan had been to see Arthur with Romney. He was remembering more about the attack and had said that the bigger of the two men seemed familiar.
Arthur was only too willing to get any news; Merlin had been missing for nearly twelve hours. No one had seen him and although Arthur was keeping the search low key because of the king and the guests, he made sure that the staff realised that this was of grave importantance to him.
Geoffrey was with Gaius who had not taken the news well. He kept insisting, "He might have wandered off in the daytime but he would never have left Arthur unguarded overnight. Not with so many strangers around."
"They'll find him. Arthur will leave no stone unturned and hopefully the young boy will remember something."
Rhylan was sitting in Arthur's chambers, when he suddenly jumped up! "I remember him! He was the one who almost walked right through Merlin when we were on the tournament field. Merlin dropped Arthur's lunch. He was a knight. I watched him following the sword fighting and he was furious when Gawaine beat Prince Arthur and called him a…" he glanced at his brother and said quietly, "…a…bastard."
"Well, that wasn't very nice, was it Romney?" said Arthur trying to keep a straight face as Rhylan blushed.
Suddenly, however, Arthur became serious, "Remember at Bodmin, how Gawaine taught their champion knight a lesson in training. I have a feeling that it is tied into that. I knew when I won over him in jousting, he was less than gracious."
"But why Merlin? Why not Gawaine?"
"Gawaine would be too difficult to take down." Arthur said and then he had an awful feeling that over the last couple of days everyone was very relaxed and maybe something had shown in his demeanour towards Merlin which the stranger had picked.
Leon tapped at the door and went in, Arthur looked up and said, "Who defeated Bodmin's Sir Hugh in the sword event?"
"Prince Dougal , I think? Why?"
"And in the jousting?"
"The day before, he had won over Prince Ewan and then you took him out in the quarter final."
There was dead silence. Minds were clicking over and the possibilities for revenge became clear. Arthur said, "Get Gawaine, I want him here for lunch with you two," gesturing at Leon and Romney. "I want Simon and Spenser here with Gielbert and Rook. Rhylan, you can also be here to help seve if you feel up to it."
They were looking for a suspect among the Bodmin contingent, the search continued.
-0-0-
Gawaine had been walking back to the castle when he came upon the knight from Bodmin who smirked at him and said something negative to his manservant who had turned back to look at Gawaine and laughed.
Simon who was standing nearby said, "What did you do to him to gain his displeasure?"
"Sure, I don't know, he's the champion knight from Bodmin, thinks he's the highest of the high." Gawaine's mind, suddenly began to put two and two together. "I need to get back to Arthur immediately. Coming?"
"No, you go ahead, run. I wouldn't be able to keep up, legs still not working right. Tell Arthur, I'm on my way but slowly."
Gawaine put his arm across Simon's shoulders and said, "At any other time, I'd walk with you, but this is important…" and he left at a run.
Guards tried to stop him in the royal corridor but he said that he had news for the prince and Gielbert who was also there said, "Let him pass, I'll vouch for him."
The two of them burst into the antechamber and Rhylan opened the adjoining door to let them in.
Arthur was talking, "We think we might have a lead on the assailant. Rhylan recognised him as a knight who has been causing Merlin some…"
"I know who it was, I'm almost certain." Gawaine interrupted. "Remember Sir Hugh, their top knight. Do you remember the kafuffle when I beat him in training, the hate in his eyes with a desire for revenge? Well, I just met up with him and he smirked and his manservant laughed. Simon was present, he noticed it. I'll put my money on it, that it's him.
"I noticed him watching you fooling with Merlin and Rhylan the other day and then another time, I grabbed Merlin and gave him a big hug and who was watching us smirking? Yes, that damn knight. You beat him in the jousting and he was less than pleased. If he's done anything to hurt Merlin, hear me, I'll kill him."
"Hang on Gawaine!" Gielbert said, "We have to prove it before you take the law into your own hands. If the king gets wind of your plan, you'll never darken the doors of Camelot again. He's a knight of Bodmin and KingTrevor is a guest in this castle."
"Fine, Arthur and you carry on here but I'm going to start observing his manservant, checking his movements. I'll check back for supper, I promise…and hopefully with Merlin in tow." Gawaine gave Arthur a questioning look and once Arthur nodded, he stood up and left, nearly bowling over Simon who had only just arrived looking a little drawn.
Gielbert realising that Arthur would not be alone nodded at him motioning towards Gawaine's departing figure and left.
Arthur took the time to look at Simon, "You're doing too much. Come and sit in front of the fire."
"I can't figure where he is. I've been everywhere, my whole body is aching. It's as if he has disappeared. I keep thinking that it's a dream and I'll wake up and he'll be beside you. Why would anyone want to take him, Arthur? They should have taken you, you're worth more…" He realised what he'd said and stopped abruptly.
Arthur walked over and sat beside him, his elbows on his knees leaning toward the fire. "I don't think it was their intention to take me, I feel that they were trying to hurt me by taking Merlin away. I have no idea where he is, Simon. He's been gone more than seventeen hours." He leant forward and placed his head in his hands, saying quietly, "…and, I miss him desperately!"
The two of them sat there not talking, neither wanting to be alone.
Finally Arthur spoke, standing up, looking down at Simon saying, "Come on! Merlin wouldn't want us to be silly. Find someone to light the fire in the dining chamber and get in touch with Daniel. It will be your job to organise supper, choose what we eat and get pages to notify everyone, just the regulars and Gawaine. Take it easy though, you're doing so well, don't worry yourself sick. Merlin is strong and…" but he could go no further.
"Rhylan, find a page and ask for lunch to be brought up here. I'm not really hungry but we should have something to eat."
He silently handed Simon the key to the private dining room.
Simon pocketed it. He glanced in Arthur's direction thinking, 'Merlin, where are you? We really need you?'
The prince once again seated, stared into the dying fire. He stood up put on another log and returned to stare into space, saying just one word, "Merlin…?"