Chapter 9 – The Grimoire

Beta: not corrected ... yet, but since I had this part (and several others) ready since April, I thought I would post it regardless and then update it with the corrected version.

Words: 3673

I don't own Merlin

Merlin woke up the next morning feeling only slightly better. He quickly drowned the painkiller Gaius had prepared for him before rearranging his pillow so he could sit up without too many problems. As his pain in his shoulder dulled, he slowly began to realise that he had nothing to do the whole day. Gaius had confined him to his bed for at least two more days and he would not return to his duties before he was out of danger of tearing the stitches.

He glanced around and caught sight of the tomb about herbs he still hadn't finished. He was sure he would not get a better chance. He checked that no one could see him out of habit, Gaius would be out on his rounds now and no one else had any reason to come in this early. His eyes flashed gold and the book soared towards him and hit him right in the chest.

"Umpf," he gasped. That would leave another bruise tomorrow; as if he needed any more at the moment.

He had just turned to the right page when the door was slammed open and he jumped in surprise. He scowled at Gaius as the other man stepped inside, mostly in irritation by his own reaction, but the physician didn't notice his assistant's glare; he had only eyes for the servant trailing behind him.

Gaius walked to his shelves and stuffed several new potions into his medicine bag. "You-" he beckoned the servant over and handed him the bag "-take this and hurry back." The servant obeyed and ran out of the door. Merlin had seen the panic in the young boy's eyes.

"What's going on?" He asked Gaius as the physician began to follow the servant. Gaius shot him a look filled with worry, and it was in that moment Merlin could feel his own panic begin to rise too; he had never seen Gaius be anything other than calm and collected when dealing with patient. This had to be very bad.

"Prince Arthur has been poisoned."

Very bad, indeed.

The King was pacing back and forth. The curtains where drawn and the room was lit with several flickering candles competing with the roaring flames in the fireplace. The crackling of the burning wood and the soft squeaking of leather boots filled the room as the silence threatened to strangle the people inside.

"Any news?" The King's voice was soft. Uther's grey eyes seemed nearly dead, and his body was sunken slightly into itself, for once showing all his years and then some weighing his shoulders down. I this moment he was just a father to a dying child, neither king nor warrior. The private gathering didn't comment as they all understood, and shared, his sorrow.

"I'm afraid not, my lord. I don't recognize the poison. Until I find something in my books, I can only try to keep his fever down and make sure he doesn't hurt himself," Gaius said, his voice just as soft as the King's while keeping a wet cloth on the prince's feverish brow. Though they all thought it, no one said out loud that when and if Gaius even had the time to find a cure, it might already be too late.

Arthur's hair was wet with sweat, but his body was shaking under the heavy pile of blankets. On the small table beside the bed stood several painkillers and other potions which all seemed to be useless to the unconscious prince.

Gaius dipped the cloth back into the bucket filled with cold water, just as the prince began to twitch and trash around. "Keep him still," Gaius ordered the two knights who had stood ready by the bed for this very purpose.

A bottle clattered as it toppled over and shattered on the stone floor, as Gaius reached for another and tried to get his patient to swallow. He finally managed it when Sir Leon let go of Arthur's arms and pried the Prince's jaw open instead.

The King watched with a grimace equally worried and angry. He waited until Gaius stepped back and let the knight take his place before asking, "Have you any idea who did this?"

"I have only seen this poison once before …" Gaius began.

"So you know who did it!?"

"That is what I am afraid of. The poison resembles the one the guards were given."

The King glared and snapped, "You said you weren't sure they had been poisoned!"

Gaius shook his head in agreement and turned back to the Prince. "Not before now."

The prince convulsions slowly stilled and Sir Cadmon let go of the prince's legs and moved slowly around the sleeping form of the lady Morgana, who had fallen asleep a few hours earlier. Her maid slept beside her, tired from running around after water and bottles of medicine the whole day and a good part of the night. There was no reason to rise them; nothing had changed and nothing more could be done either.

"There has to be something you can do, Gaius, something you haven't tried yet. I will do anything …" The King had started pacing again after the prince had fallen asleep once more.

"There is not. I'm sorry, my lord, but there is nothing to find in my books about this poison. I'm afraid it is only a matter of time …"

"You don't understand Gaius –" The King turned around to glare at the white-haired elder, the knights took a few respectful steps back towards the door, aware that the conversation at hand was private. "I want you to try everything in your power to cure him!"

Gaius eyes widened, and his voice was only just above whispering when he replied, "My lord! You can't possibly be suggesting… I swore an oath years ago –"

"I know-"

The King paced towards one of the windows and tucked the curtain away to reveal the last colours of sunset.

"But my son is more important than any oath."

Gaius had been gone the whole day and Merlin had still not gotten any good news. Gwen had been by a few times to gather ingredients or clean rags for Gaius and once to bring him some food so 'he didn't starve while he was recovering' as she had said and then blushed in embarrassment for speaking so directly to him.

He had managed to ask her once about the prince's condition. He knew that Uther would try to keep the details close to avoid seeming weak to the other kingdoms, but she had given in and told him, although he had to admit it probably had more to do with him being Gaius' assistant and less with his charms.

She only told him a few vague details though; that Prince Arthur had a high fever and was now suffering regular convulsions, but Merlin understood it was because of the lack of more progess, not mistrust, and just thanked her with a smile.

He supposed he should have tried to contact Miley right then and there, except he didn't know how and had no intention of helping King Cenred and the assassin more than absolutely necessary.

Afterward, he had had nothing more to do other than read while he waited for Gaius to return. This resulted in him finally finishing the book just after lunch. He knew he should have slept then; it would help him heal, but he had not felt tired at all and he had no desire of exposing himself to any of Gaius' sleeping draughts and the head arch that would follow in the morning.

Instead, he had ended up staring into nothingness the rest of the day, with only his own thoughts as entertainment. Something, he quickly realized, was more depressing than helpful as his thoughts always tended to return to the whole reason for him being in Camelot in the first place.

It also bothered him that Gaius hadn't arrived back yet.

Gaius was the most experienced healer in the kingdom, hence why he was the court physician, and if he hadn't found out which poison had been used yet, then the chances for saving the Prince by finding the antidote were slim to none. He had learned from the assassin that most poisons were slow-working or only dangerous when ingested in larger amounts, sometimes over a longer time period. The fact that this wasn't the case worried him; could he have saved the Prince from the knife only for it to end up having been for nothing?

He fumbled a little around with the edge of the blanket. All this waiting was really getting to him.

Merlin let his gaze stray around the room. He couldn't see much; night had slowly crept into the room and made it difficult to distinguish any details as it left the room in thousands of shadows in different tones of dark grey and brown. His eyes landed on the bookshelves. Gaius had been back once just after he had seen to the Prince for the first time to gather some of the books. It was obvious by the lack of process that they hadn't helped; but there had to be hundreds of books. One of them had to have the answer right?

He shifted a little and had to bite his lip as the pain in his shoulder flared up. No walking quite yet it seemed, but he may be able to call the books to him with magic like with the herb-book. The only problem was that he didn't know which book he should call yet. He frowned in thought. He would have to concentrate more for this.

Slowly, he closed his eyes and reached out with a tendril of magic. He had never had any reason to use this kind of magic before; in Ealdor it had been mostly instinctual and 'in the moment' kind of things. Using magic like this was like finding out you could move your arm in a whole different way.

The tendril reached the shelves and he could see it in his mind's eye as it ran over the books like a stream of flowing water. Warm and curious; a living, breathing thing all on its own. Absolutely wonderful. For a few minutes this warm feeling of life filled him as the magic flowed through him.

Merlin kept his eyes closed until he felt the heavy weight of books on his legs, then he quickly looked through them so he could start sorting them into different piles on the floor between the bed and Gaius' workbench.

He carefully dusted the covers off before picking one out to start to flip through its pages. It quickly became clear that the first few books didn't have anything useful in them; some of the poisons described fit with the symptoms, but they had nothing on a possible cure or even a real cause.

Feeling more frustrated for every useless book he kept running a hand though his already messy bed-hair. He was so focused on flipping and skimming pages that he nearly missed the old leather bound tomb as it landed halfway under the bed, when he picked the next book. He stopped, frowned and picked it up.

The book looked older than most of the other books, but well cared for as seen on the rich red-brown cover and brass carvings still shining despite their obvious age. The book lacked a title and no author had signed the book. This could either be proof of its old age or, Merlin suspected, it could be that someone wanted to keep the book from appearing important so it didn't catch the attention of curious new readers. Which in Merlin's case resulted in the complete opposite reaction.

He ran his hand softly across the spine of the book before carefully flipping the first page.

First it appeared to be completely blank, then he gasped as words began to appear in black ink.

Grimoire

Regor De Magicum Flora et Fauna ad Albion et Extramuranum

(A Guide to the Magical Flora and Fauna of Albion and Beyond)*

Merlin's eyes continued to widen as he quickly turned the next few pages; the book was filled with colourful drawings of symbols and beasts of any imaginable – and unimaginable – kind. Spells were written in dark golden ink in words he had never seen before which had to be in the language of the Old Religion. Around the drawings and spells were columns of descriptions written in Latin and there were even a few places where there had been scribbled a note a two by the book's former owners.

Yet, even the great wonders which filled the book could not compare to his feeling of shock by the revelation that Gaius owned a book of magic.

The old physician had not only broken the law by committing treason, this also meant he at least had been partly interested in, or even studied, magic. Merlin had come to like Gaius, had even gotten a feeling of a second home when living in their small quarters, but he had always been careful, both because of his mission and because of the older man's obvious closeness to the King of Camelot.

Merlin had not once suspected that Gaius could share a different view on magic than the rest of Camelot. Could it be that there was more to the whole story than he had seen at first? Did Uther know about Gaius? This would make the King even worse than Merlin had thought him to be; ruthless and unfair: yes, a murderer: without doubt, but this would make Uther a hypocrite too. And Gaius as well, his mind added as an afterthought.

Somehow, Merlin had not a very hard time suspecting this to be the truth. At least concerning Uther; he still hoped that Gaius wasn't like that. He couldn't be like that!

He supposed it might be a good question to ask Miley when he did see him again. That is, if the knight decided to tell the truth; the last few conversations they'd led had not felt completely straightforward in its meaning.

A few pages into the book later, he decided to not test his luck any further by keeping the book out in the open and hid it under the bed. Not a very creative hiding place, but at this moment it was the best he could do until he was able to wander around again. He sent the other books back to their original places on the shelves and lay back on the bed.

He was nearly certain that if there was a cure for whatever poison the Prince had ingested it was a big possibility that the spell to cure him could be found in the Grimoire. He just hoped that Gaius wouldn't get the same idea and try to find it too; that would only lead to a very awkward and dangerous discussion.

Merlin waited in bed the whole evening and the first part of the night. Sometimes he would manage to catch some sleep; mostly he just continued to stare at the ceiling, as the sounds of voices outside his chambers had slowly died down and the castle was covered by a dark veil embroidered with blinking stars. As Gaius hadn't come back, not even to eat, Merlin presumed he stayed by the Prince to keep watch. He just hoped it wouldn't hinder his plan.

He waited another hour to be on the safe side and then slowly sat up. He stopped to take a few deep breaths until the pain became manageable again and moved his legs until he could feel the floor under his bare feet, all the while careful to keep his arm close to the chest so he didn't jar it. He pulled on his boots and used his healthy arm to take his jacket, and then proceeded to dig the book out from beneath the bed with his foot so he could magic it up into his hands. He could see the irony in the fact that he hadn't done this much magic since he was old enough to understanding the danger, and now he was practicing it at the most dangerous place of all.

Without really thinking about it, he wrapped an old rag around the book before tiptoeing out into the empty hallway.

The corridors seemed longer and narrower at night than they had when they were filled with people and light. He tried to step lightly, only partly because of the risk of getting caught. The silence was breathing him down the neck, making him shiver though the night was unusually warm for the season.

He tried to remember where Gaius had gone the last time due to the general idea he had gotten from the different castle residents he had met; that the royal chambers were in the same wing as the council chamber; only the best for someone of royal blood and all that.

Even while trying his best, he still ended up wandering around for more than half an hour, backtracking several times and hiding in alcoves more than once when a patrol came too close. He finally found the right corridor if the guards before the door was any indication. He bit his lip in thought. He probably should have foreseen that it wouldn't be that easy, but now it was too late for second thoughts and witty backup plans.

Relying on his magic once again, he tried to cause a distraction by slamming one of the other doors in the corridor. Unfortunately, it backfired when instead of the investigating the slamming door the guards became alert and would have caught him if he hadn't jumped through the closest available door, which was thankfully not locked.

He pressed himself hard against the closed door, as he could hear the guard's heavy step and clicking armour as he came to a stop.

Merlin held his breath and prayed to everyone who would listen for the guard to walk back and for once his luck was with him, as the guard's muted call of, "Nothing here!" Could be heard through the door.

He let out a breath he hadn't known he had held while he sagged against the door. He winced a little when his arm protested against being forgotten. Ignoring it for now, he looked around in the chamber for the first time, and like he hadn't gotten enough excitement for the night already, nearly yelped when he registered the large red feather beddings which couldn't completely cover the form of the sleeping figure; the Prince's golden locks shimmered slightly in the moonlight.

Merlin could have cursed then if it wouldn't make the situation worse; instead he pulled himself together and got on with his plan. He noted the lack of Gaius with surprise; the physician would normally call a guard if he needed anything.

He hurried to a table and after clearing a little space between the empty bottles and dirty rags found the part in the book that covered magical deceases and cures. He flipped around a bit, angry at himself for not doing this back in relatively safeness of the physician quarters. When he finally found an illustrated page with instructions in how to cure poisons; a new problem arose in the form of him never having practiced spells before. He had no idea how to pronounce the words.

Having no other choice but to try, he whispered the foreign words a few times before placing his hands above the Prince's head and heart like it was shown by the book's drawing.

"Afurme pes feorbold. One lybba aforce!" He whispered the command as strongly as he dared. His magic didn't even stir. He shook his head to clear it. He tried again with more force. Still nothing.

The one time he needed the help from another sorcerer no one was there. He clenched his hands into fists and slowly released them again, gathering his concentration. Gaius could be back any minute now!

He mumbled the spell in any way he could think of; changed the letters if he wasn't sure how to pronounce them, until he finally felt his magic rise up to the surface and he hissed the command in the old language.

"Áfeorme þes feorhbold. Unlybba áfeorse!"

He felt the magic leave him and the Prince took a deep, gasping breath as some of his paleness left him. Merlin exhaled as he sat back on his heels and wiped some sweat of his brow. He couldn't stop smiling widely; not only had he saved Prince Arthur's life, again; he had also succeeded in performing his first spell.

It was only when he got back he came to think about whose chambers the guards had actually guarded if not the Prince's.

The next day the castle could celebrate the Prince's remarkable recovery. The King personally thanked the physician in the private of his chambers, even when Gaius said there was nothing to thank him for as he had done nothing. The King just nodded and agreed with the statement, though for different reasons.

Gaius could only shake his head. Miracles where known to happen in Camelot, even if he had his own suspicions to the origin of this one.

Merlin laid back and managed to enjoy taking a day off. At least he did after Gwen had visited and had brightened the room with her smile when she told him the news of the Prince walking around again like nothing had happened.

On the other side of the castle the gates opened for a lone rider, who the guards recognised as one of their own. Miley brought his horse back to the stables and went looking for the injured warlock.

Because destiny never really let its players rest.

* I had to translate it into Latin word for word. If anyone can (and want to) correct it, please send a PM.

** The poison described is from the plant Menispermum Canadense (Moonseed). The two species grow in Canada and Asia. The symptoms of poisoning from these plants are convulsions and death – no other symptoms are known yet as the poison is rather rare.

Words:

Cadmon: Wise warrior

Áfeorme þes feorhbold. Unlybba áfeorse: Cleanse thoroughly this body. Poison caused by witchcraft be gone!