Chapter 10

Wessex

Four Years After Athur's Rebirth

As Merlin's strange tree-vision cleared further, he noticed that Nimueh had her head down - staying close to Morgause - and wondered if she may be a prisoner rather than a collaborator. It was hard to tell for certain though as his apprentice did not appear to be bound in anyway that he could see.

There was little doubt about Morgause's intentions however, as the sorceress strode towards Merlin with a very familiar smirk whilst she viewed her handy work.

"That spell worked surprisingly well," she gloated.

"You really think this will hold me?" Merlin growled whilst, overhead the wild storm continued to rage around the royal grounds.

"No, I don't believe it would hold the mighty Emrys for long," Morgause replied. "But, before you attempt to break free, old man, I suggest you try sensing the exact nature of the spell that binds you."

"What do you mean?"

"Young Ecgwynn here has been very useful in recent months - so keen to learn new spells; magic of the type her master would be reluctant to teach her. Arts that the noble Emrys would consider far too dark."

"What have you done to her?" he demanded.

"Oh, she's fine, aren't you, my dear?"

Nimueh looked up slowly at Merlin, her blue eyes wide and nervous, but he could gain no further insight from her as she simply muttering a faint, 'I'm fine' to Morgause's question.

"For now. But, you see, Emrys, the spell that binds you to that tree is created from Ecgwynn's very essence and that of many others within the castle. If you attempt to break free, you'll break her too and so, she will not be the only one that dies this day if you attempt to escape."

"Why? Why are you doing this?" Merlin demanded.

"Your protection spells are powerful, Emrys," Morgause replied, before giving a sudden laugh as a bolt of lightening spiked down towards the castle behind them. "Or perhaps I should say they were powerful. Now you are bound to that tree, it is only a matter of time before they begin to fade."

She was after Arthur, of course, but she probably had no idea just how important the boy was to Merlin; didn't know that he would do anything to protect him, even if it meant his apprentice's death but, who else had been bound into this spell? If he was correct than all it would have needed was that person's hair and, between the two of them, Nimueh and Morgause had access to a lot of people. What about Arthur? Despite all Merlin's protection spells, if the boy's hair had been used in this enchantment, it was likely that his life would be in jeopardy too.

"Such a willing student," Morgause gloated. "So keen to help me, never fully understanding what it was she was doing."

"Do you really believe that, Elfleda?" Nimueh interjected with quiet authority. "I was born a Druid and have been Emrys' apprentice for nine years. Do you really believe I had no understanding of the spell you were creating?"

"You did nothing to stop me."

"What could I do? At least this time I knew what you were up to. If I'd let you or Emrys know what I knew about your plans then you would have tried something else; something I didn't understand and I couldn't take that chance. At least this way I could begin to make quiet preparations."

"Nimueh, what did you do?" Merlin asked fearfully, but his apprentice ignored him, still focusing her attention on Morgause.

"Didn't you even notice that all the hairs were the same colour? Did you not realise that none of them were blond?"

Morgause started to look a lot less certain. "Who do they belong to then?"

"They are all mine," Nimueh declared proudly.

"No..." Merlin whispered.

"Oh, I'm sure your life is enough of an incentive for our powerful sorcerer," Morgause gloated as both turned towards the tree, but Nimueh's look had changed from fear to determination and Merlin's heart dropped as he finally understood. His apprentice had known that Morgause intended to ransom her son's life, and she also knew that Merlin would do anything to protect him. Her death would mean the warlock's freedom and Arthur's protection but still, it would be one of the hardest things he had ever had to do, even knowing that she had prepared for it.

"It has never been Arthur's fate to die at my hands," Nimueh announced then, surprising Merlin with the knowledge of her son's true name. "Not in my last life and not in any that are to follow."

And then the sorceress raised her arm dramatically to the storm clouds above and called the lightening down to her – echoing her death from her last life - by her own hand this time rather than by Merlin's.

Emrys' cry was one of grief and fury as he screamed the words that would release his body from the tree. He emerged to find Morgause gone and, fear overriding all other concerns, he thought of Arthur and transported directly to the boy's location.

He emerged to the sounds of a screaming child and shocked voices, as both Gwen and Leon recoiled from the magical whirlwind that had just entered their chambers, whilst Merlin himself crumpled to the floor, overcome by the dizziness and nausea that this form of travel always caused in him.

"Emyrs?" Leon asked. "What …?"

"You're here!" Merlin exclaimed, lifting his head up in surprise at seeing who was with Arthur.

"Yes, we were sent for some time ago with the view to taking young Æthestan and his mother back home with us," Gwen said. "Ecgwynn brought him over this morning, saying she had something she needed to do before we set off."

"Is he all right?" Merlin asked, moving towards Arthur who was still crying loudly.

"Lightening hit the roof and blew the window in," Gwen replied. "He was obviously terrified."

"And then you arrived in that ungodly fashion which didn't exactly help matters," Leon continued sternly.

"Oh yes, sorry about that, but I was fearful for his life and-"

The door flew open with a crash and Gwaine rushed in, looking almost as furious as Merlin himself had earlier. "What did you do?" he demanded, heading towards the sorcerer.

"I did nothing, it was El-"

"Stay away from my son."

"I mean him no harm, Edward, you must believe me. I came here to protect him, I swear."

"Elfleda said Ecgwynn's dead. Is it true?"

"Yes," Merlin replied, knowing the fury and grief he saw in Gwaine's eyes was much the same as his. "But not by my hand, I swear. You have to know that I would never-"

Again the door flew open, interrupting the conversation for a second time.

"My lord, you must come," the soldier said.

"Not now."

"But..."

"Did you not hear what I said!" Gwaine shouted, swinging around to face the intruder.

Surprisingly the man did not back down, raising his chin as if waiting for the blow. "I am sorry, Sire, but you must come. It's your father."

"What? What's wrong with him?"

"I-I'm sorry, Sire but... King Alfred is dead."

~o~0~o~

Edward was crowned King with the full, rare support of all. Edward the Elder he would become known to history, the son of Alfred the Great. A noble house for the young Arthur to be born into.

Gwen had a long, heart-felt talk to her brother and made him see sense; made him understand his duty to his wife and his realm and then, satisfied that all was well, she and Leon took the king's young son home to Mercia and away from further danger. Merlin journeyed with them but only stayed for long enough to install magical defences around their house and renew the ones on the young boy, before returning home for a while in order to ensure there were no further surprises in store for them all.

Before he left, Merlin knelt down in front of Æthelstan and said his temporary farewells.

"Goodbye, Arthur and good luck," he said quietly.

"Arthur?" The little boy frowned.

"I will see you again some day, I promise," the warlock continued.

"Oh." The boy blinked, before nodding seriously. "All right then." He turned away, abruptly already distracted by his toy horse. "Goodbye."

~o~0~o~

Hwicce

Nine Years After the Poisoning

"Gwaine!" Merlin sat up in bed with a shout, fear coursing through his sweat soaked body.

"What is it?" Arthur said sleepily.

"Something has happened to Gwaine."

The prince sighed. "You had another nightmare, go back to sleep."

"No, that's not it and... I didn't mean Gwaine, I meant..." Merlin stopped as the realisation of what he had sensed hit him fully. Hadn't he known exactly when each of the Round Table had been born? Now, it seemed he was also being alerted to when one of them had died. "No..." he mumbled as he fully understood.

"Merlin, what's wrong?" Arthur was sitting up, now fully awake, a gentle hand on the slim man's shoulder.

"I can't say… I mean..." How could he tell Arthur his father had died like this? Not only would he not be believed, but Merlin couldn't tell him how he knew. He would have to wait for official news to arrive. "I'm sorry," he continued with a sigh. "You're right. It was just a nightmare."

"Come here then," Arthur said holding out an arm. "Let's try to get back to sleep."

Merlin shook his head, his mind racing, knowing it would be impossible. The king was dead. What would happen now in terms of the succession?

"Fine then." Arthur smirked. "Perhaps I can think of something else we can do to help take your mind off things."

~o~0~o~

A week after that nightmare there was yet more drama with Merlin once again pulled awake, this time by a very different type of alert.

"Arthur, you have to get up. I think we're under attack."

"Here? Who would attack us? Why?"

"I don't know, but you have to trust me."

"But you've been asleep all this time, Merlin, surely this is just another one of your nightmares."

The prince was well used to them by now; usually Merlin reliving Arthur's death the first time around, sometimes those of his other friends. Occasionally he'd wake terrified from vague future visions that he couldn't remember, much like Morgana had all those years ago. Then, more recently, there was that incident when he'd sensed Gwaine's death on the battlefield.

"You have to trust me, Arthur. Get dressed, get your sword."

"You don't exactly have a large army stationed here."

"Hopefully I won't need it."

"You won't?"

Merlin shook his head. "Quickly. I need to see what's happening."

The pair rushed out to the east, with Merlin still uncertain about what he would encounter. He had hoped it might just be a few people that had broken through his defences but, unfortunately, there were rather more than that. A small army was approaching, lead by young Mordred.

"Edwin?" Arthur asked of his half-brother "Why are you here? What's going on?"

"I'm sorry, Æthelstan, truly I am, but the king wants you out of the way."

"The king? What are you talking about?"

"Oh dear," Merlin muttered next to him.

"Our brother King Ætheweard, of course."

"What?"

"What happened to Edward?" Merlin asked as calmly as he was able, even though he already knew the answer.

"Killed in battle with the Welsh," Mordred replied.

"No..." Arthur whispered.

"I take it Edgiva told you how to find us?" Merlin asked the young man.

Arthur was still stunned by the news of Gwaine but managed to look briefly confused – unaware of Merlin's special defences that should have prevented any army from invading his land.

"Yes, it wasn't that difficult to counter your barriers with the knowledge she gave me," Mordred replied. "I'm sorry, but we're not here to talk or to negotiate." And, with that comment, the young man nodded to his men and pointed forwards, urging them to charge.

"I'm really sorry, Æthie," Merlin muttered as they approached, "But I see no other choice. You're going to get one more shock here today."

"What are you talking about?" Arthur was holding his sword up, determined to fight the soldiers coming forwards, no matter how outnumbered they appeared to be.

But it was daft for Merlin to hold back. Hadn't he regretted keeping the secret for so long the last time? And, to be honest, Æthelstan was long overdue the truth about who his companion really was. With a large sigh, Merlin held up both his hands and pushed; the smallest gesture and no words at all, but that was all the mighty Emrys needed. The whole army was knocked back as if blown by a great wind and, when half of them got back up and came forward again, Merlin threw fire at them from his fingers before dropping to his knees, slamming both palms hard against the dirt floor and causing the ground to shake. Anyone left alive was now running in the opposite direction, the young prince Edwin along with them. Any power Mordred currently held was no match for Merlin's and he knew it.

"Merlin?" Arthur was staring at him in disbelieve.

He couldn't believe he had to go through all of this again. Would the prince hate him quite so much for his lies this time around?

"Arthur, I'm sorry. I know I should have told you but..."

"Told me what? What... was... that?"

"Magic?"

Arthur gave a small laugh. "That's not possible."

"Miracles then."

"Don't joke about such things."

"I'm sorry, really I am, but I was born with this skill. This is who I am."

"I'm not sure I can take this all in." Arthur turned to leave, dropping his sword on the floor as he left.

Merlin bent to pick it up and scurried after him. "Æthie! Wait, please."

He stopped turning around aggressively and causing Merlin to skid to a halt. "What Edwin said back then... about my father?"

"I'm sorry, I think it must be true. Arthur..."

He shook his head and continued his journey back to the house. "Don't talk to me for a while, Merlin. I need some time on my own."

"I really am very sorry."

~o~0~o~

A/N: Unfortunately that chapter rearranging I mentioned before meant that a whole bunch of key characters ended up dying in one chapter; Alfred, Nimueh and Gwaine. Oops. Those dates are firmly fixed in history though. When I saw that Arthur's mother and King Alfred had died in the same year, it immediately got my attention and I set about planning how to make it all happen.

And so, yes, that's why Arthur is scared of thunder storms in this incarnation.

17/1/14