Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.
So, I think we're nearing the end of the story. Maybe like 5 more chapters? Obviously they still have to deal with Morgana and legalize magic, but that's about as far as this story is going to go. I might write a prequel about the actual reveal to Arthur, and I'm considering a Gwaine story.
Merlin's magic might be revealed to Morgana in later chapters, so keep reading!
Mordred's armor made a loud clang as he dropped to the stone floor.
00000000000000000000000000
Merlin gasped as Mordred's mental scream tore through him. Even Gaius was looking around as if he had heard something. As he sent his magic outward, Merlin realized that the source of the unease he and Mordred had been feeling earlier was right in the castle. A chill ran down his spine.
000000000000000000000000000
Leon knelt down next to Mordred as the younger knight was clutching his head in obvious pain. He seemed completely unaware of what was going on around him.
"What have you done!" the king demanded. The stranger had revealed a large grey object in his hands. Metal or stone, Leon couldn't tell. "Guards!"
"I've merely exposed a traitor in Camelot, Sire," the man protested in his raspy voice. Leon was really beginning to hate the sound of it. Two guards had seized the man by the time he was done speaking, and several more stood ready to intervene. "You see, this artifact causes great pain to any who possess magic. It corrupts the magic that they draw on and replaces it with something harmful."
Leon saw Arthur's eyes tighten, and the senior knight was surprised to find that he felt the same way. Weeks ago, he would've been grateful for that artifact, but now he could only feel anger. If he hadn't already been kneeling next to Mordred, Leon probably would have stepped forward to escort the man to the dungeons.
It was then that the knight saw Emily very intently studying the artifact. Leon had almost forgotten she was present. "Cover it up," she suddenly commanded into the silence of the room before the king had a chance to speak.
To Arthur's credit, he didn't even ask for a reason. The king simply walked up to the man, took the object, and flipped the cloth back over it. The anger on his face was extremely evident now. Mordred finally collapsed, unconscious.
"What gives you the right to attack one of my knights?" Arthur spat at the man.
"He's a mage, Sire, a traitor. I've done you a favor!" the man protested.
"Take him to the dungeons, and make sure to keep an eye on him," the king commanded the guards as they dragged the man from the room. It said a great deal about how well-liked Mordred was that the guards didn't even hesitate.
Merlin and Gaius rushed in a moment later, both looking extremely concerned.
"Gaius, have some of the knights help you with Mordred," Arthur commanded.
"What happened, Sire?" Gaius asked as he made his way over to the unconscious knight. Leon moved aside for the physician.
"A man who called himself Bert uncovered this artifact, and Mordred collapsed." Arthur held up the cloth-wrapped object in his hands.
"I have a patient in a similar condition. He was just brought in from outside of the city. If you would hand the artifact to Emily, Sire, I will study it in my rooms." Arthur handed the stone to the dancer with a grateful expression on his face.
For the first time, Leon looked at the other faces around the room. Many of the nobles wore expressions of shock. "Should he not be taken to the dungeons?" Duke Wells demanded. Leon remembered that he had been one of Uther's strongest supporters during the purge. The knight had never much cared for the man.
"I would like to remind you," Arthur growled, "that this man is a loyal knight of Camelot. He needs medical attention, and he shall have it. Mordred is no traitor. Do not forget yourself by taking the words of a stranger over those of your king."
"Surely an investigation is warranted." Leon clenched his fists and noticed that Elyan had actually reached out to restrain Gwaine.
Leon could tell that the matter wasn't going to be allowed to drop, and it seemed that the king knew it too. "Very well. I would like to call a meeting of the council in four hours' time." Arthur didn't give anyone a chance to respond as he and Gwen promptly turned and exited the throne room. Many looked surprised at this behavior, but none dared to speak out against the king when he was angry.
Deciding to think about it later, Leon helped Percival to carry Mordred to the physician's chambers. It was only once they arrived that the knight realized Merlin had been uncharacteristically quiet. Emily placed the wrapped artifact on the table, and Mordred was laid out on a pallet on the floor next to the other victim. The room was somewhat crowded with four knights and Emily in addition to its usual occupants.
"They're the same," Merlin finally stated.
"What do you mean?" Gaius asked. The statement had come out of nowhere.
"Their magic's corrupted." Merlin frowned as he knelt next to Mordred and reached out to touch him.
"Stop!" Gaius commanded. Leon jumped, and Merlin flinched back and looked at his mentor questioningly. "What if it gets to you as well?"
Merlin gave him an odd look. "You don't know what that is?" He pointed at the bundle on the table.
Gaius shook his head. "Do you?"
"I can feel it from here. It's supposed to cut off magic, right?" Gaius just looked at him in confusion. "Even wrapped up, that thing's interrupting the flow of magic around it. I can almost see the magic fleeing from it. It's really creepy, and I really don't want to touch it. It doesn't seem to be working right now, though. Whatever was done to Mordred is stationary."
"What do you mean?"
"It isn't reacting to anything. Even the magic flowing around Mordred is untouched. Most curses draw on magic, and that's how they spread."
Gaius threw up his hands. "Just remember that if your theory isn't correct, it's going to be up to me and Emily to save you." For the first time, Leon began to understand why Merlin was so different from other mages. Even Gaius's years of knowledge couldn't compete with his ward's natural talent.
Merlin rolled his eyes and laid a hand on Mordred's forehead. "I wasn't sure before, but Morgana's behind this," he finally said. "Her magic's all tied up in this spell. I don't understand why, though. She's going to put another plan into motion soon."
"That's her plan!" Emily exclaimed. "She isn't gathering mages for an army. That didn't make a lot of sense anyway. She's going to send them in one by one to destroy Camelot."
"And Morgana doesn't know that Arthur's views have changed," Merlin continued, realization settling into his expression. "She was probably hoping to discredit Mordred, or even discover me."
Leon frowned as he looked between the two. "Can you explain what's going on?" he asked.
"I'm glad somebody asked!" Gwaine cheered. "I don't think any of us understood that."
Merlin laughed slightly and took a seat at the workbench. "Emma had told us that Morgana was looking to gather mages for an attack on Camelot. We all assumed she was going to try to build an army entirely out of magic users, and that it was going to take time. It seemed ambitious enough to suit her style." The warlock paused to gesture to the two victims of the cursed artifact. "We failed to consider something else, though. Morgana deals in secrets and lies. She spent at least a year here actively plotting against Uther."
Leon's eyes widened. "It makes a great deal more sense that she would try to tear Camelot apart at the seams," he finished for Merlin. He felt his pulse quicken. "Her mages could be anywhere, doing anything right now."
Gale burst into the room just then. "The king's calling a round table meeting in half an hour," he announced. Leon nodded, he had been expecting it. Arthur was going to have to come up with a way to deal with the council. "How's Mordred?"
"We're working on it," Merlin told him as he jumped up. "What's that cloth made of?"
"It appears to be a thick linen," Gaius answered as he carefully prodded the material. "I think light is the answer you're looking for." Leon frowned as the conversation once again stopped making sense.
000000000000000000000000000000000000000
"Can I reverse the effects?" Merlin asked. He noticed that the knights were looking confused, but decided to ignore it for the moment.
"Typically curses need counter curses," Gaius answered.
"I'm not certain this is a typical curse," Emma spoke up. "The man's eyes never changed color. It seemed like the artifact was drawing energy from the light it was exposed to."
"Can something like that be reversed?"
Emma nodded. "My people use that idea all the time. We actually transport out camps with similar spells. If we set fire to some of our tents, they shrink or become incredibly light. All we have to do to reverse the effect is to pour water on them."
"I can't exactly pour darkness onto this, though," Merlin protested. He rubbed his arms as the creepy feeling from the stone persisted.
"But you can draw light out of it."
Merlin cocked his head to the side, and he noted that most of the knights were staring blankly. "Can you explain that?"
Emma grinned. "You've channeled Mordred's power before, right?" Merlin nodded. "So, assume that light is the artifact's power. Channel that."
Not for the first time, Merlin was grateful for Emma's presence. "That actually makes sense."
"Did you doubt me?"
"Never," Merlin declared, jumping up and walking over to the wrapped artifact. He held his hands out over it and reached for the magic that he could feel in it. He wanted to step back, but he held himself in place. Merlin experimentally tugged on the strange magic, and he was pleased to find it respond. He drew it out of the artifact, careful to keep as much of his own magic as separate as he could. A large ball of light began to hover above the artifact as Merlin continued to tug. All at once, he felt the magic run out, and the light exploded into hundreds of sparks. Everyone in the room ducked and threw up their arms, but the light didn't hurt anyone. When he looked back down at the bundle on the table, nothing was left except for the cloth.
Mordred groaned, and Merlin spun around to inspect the mage. His magic was back to normal, and Merlin sighed in relief before grinning. "How do you feel?" he asked.
Mordred sat up. "Not that bad, actually. What happened?"
"Define not bad," Gaius interjected.
"Tired and hungry, like I've just come back from a patrol."
Gwaine walked over and offered the mage a hand up. "Feel up to a round table meeting?" the knight asked.
Mordred nodded while Gaius frowned in disapproval. Merlin noticed that he didn't even try to stop him, though. "You too, Emma," Merlin added. "We should probably get going."
The other victim of the curse began stirring at that moment. "He was under it for longer, so he might take a while to recover," Gaius announced. "He doesn't need you all hovering over him." Merlin took that as a dismissal, so he offered Emma his arm and left with the other knights and Gale.
0000000000000000000000000000000
Gwen listened as the attack on Mordred was explained at the Round Table meeting, and she cringed when it was revealed that Morgana was behind it.
"What's the next attack going to be?" Arthur asked Merlin who was seated in his usual place to the king's right. Gwen grinned as she noticed that Merlin had thrown his cloak on. Very little was going to change when he actually became Court Sorcerer.
Merlin shook his head. "I'm not sure, but I can almost guarantee you that it's going to be based on Camelot's fear of sorcery. Morgana, in all likelihood, won't have heard that Bert's attack failed before sending another mage."
"I need to legalize magic yesterday," Arthur groaned.
"That would throw off her plans," Merlin agreed, and Gwen saw the truth in that.
"She would also lose a lot of support from magic users," the queen added. "To my understanding, most are just angry about Camelot's stance on magic."
"Can you bring that up to the council today?" Elyan asked. "Just like that?"
"Considering that fact that we aren't killing Mordred," Merlin answered, "I think he's going to have to.
"My father actually arrived this morning," Emma mentioned. "He was going to wait to announce himself until this afternoon. You have his support in addition to a few others. I've also given him permission to reveal my true parentage whenever he deems it reasonable."
Gwen rested her hand on her husband's arm as he sighed. "How do I even begin to bring up the fact that I'm completely reversing what my father fought for?"
"They're probably going to do that for you," Gwaine commented. "The only thing on their minds right now is what you're going to do about the mage masquerading as a knight. No offence, Mordred."
"None taken," Mordred responded. Gwen grinned at the knights' banter. It had been missing from Camelot for a while.
"Anyway," Gwaine continued. "I can guarantee you that one of those idiots is going to be hollering for his death before you can even get a word in. All you have to do is tell them you won't be killing him because that would be a really stupid idea."
Arthur laughed, though Gwen thought it sounded a little hysterical. "I might phrase that a little differently."
"And that would be why you're the princess, and I'm a knight."
"They're probably going to ask for some kind of proof," Leon added. "You can't just change your views without reason."
"Is Mordred not proof enough?" Arthur asked.
Gwen shook her head and sighed. She loved being queen, but situations like this made her sorely miss her days as a seamstress and maid. "He hasn't been here for very long," she explained. "They'll think he's just biding his time."
"What about me?" Merlin asked. "Would anyone wait a decade before trying to destroy Camelot?" Gwen could see that he looked nervous. "Tell them about me. If it's enough to convince them, then it may just save Camelot."
Get ready for shocked council members!
Please review!