I know this chapter is a bit of a shitty one, but I had barely any inspiration. After all, I hope it still satisfies you.
Chapter 10: Curse of Cornelis Sigan
Merlyne was spending the day with Gwen for as long as Arthur was out on a hunt with his knights, servants not allowed to go with them.
The maidservants were sitting in the grass field where the knights usually trained.
"You think the hunt will take long?" the dark skinned maid asked while she was looking up to the bright sky.
"I don't know. It's just whatever Arthur's mood was this morning and whatever duties he has to attend." the witch replied. She was reading a book Gaius had given her on their family history, a history which went back to the beginning of druidic practice in the land of Albion.
"You're always reading, can't you take a break?" Gwen asked.
Merlyne turned her head, unamused. "Some people make use of their brains. I advise you to do the same sometimes."
"Sorry girl, I don't really like reading. Not my thing."
Just that moment, a beautiful brown and red sparrow flew low, dropping a sealed letter on Merlyne's lap.
"Huh? Airmail?" the young witch raised her eyebrow.
It turned out to be from her uncle Gaius, asking her to meet him at the entrance of the catacombs underneath the castle. "It seems my uncle needs me this time. I see you later!" and as quick as she could, she stood up and ran in the direction of the catacombs, where Gaius was waiting.
"Didn't that bird fly faster? I was almost arrested!" the physician grumbled.
"What is so important you need me here?" Merlyne asked.
Gaius waved her over as he entered the catacombs, so she followed him. "Uther has decided to check all of the graves, against the librarians advice. One of those graves is cursed, in particular, it is the grave of a rather greedy sorcerer named Cornelis Sigan, he was Court Sorcerer under King Ambrosias, Uther's great-grandfather."
"I don't know anything about curses, uncle."
"And that's why I'm going to teach you what I know."
Both Dragonborns went into the underground maze of catacombs holding torches.
Soldiers had already been inside, several iron fences were opened and the graves possessing nothing but the stone tomb with the body.
"Uncle, what can you tell about this Cornelis Sigan?" the young witch asked.
The court physician grunted. "He was the first man alive who could turn the tides, change day into night and back again. and even helped build Camelot itself. His life's mission was to defeat death and he swore to one day return from the grave. Sigan became too powerful and the King at the time ordered him to be executed. Before his death, Sigan cursed Camelot, saying that he would one day return and raze the city to the ground. It was said that he didn't want his wealth and power to die with him and that up until his execution he worked on a way to cheat death."
Merlyne shuddered. "Gosh, that is just creepy."
"As if I don't know that!"
The two sorcerers ended up in a hallway still unraided, the wall they faced rather strange as if magic was forming the illusion.
"Uhm… is that wall real or just an illusion?" the female Dragonborn asked.
"Definitely an illusion." Gaius mumbled, his eyes flashing golden for a little while.
The old man's magic caused the wall to fade and reveal a tunnel underneath. "That's the entrance. Watch my back, I don't think such a sorcerer would just let his stuff be taken."
And just like the physician's prediction, they were attacked by poisonous bugs.
Merlyne grabbed the torch from Gaius and waved with the torch. "Lyft sy þe in bǽlwylm ac forhienan se wiðere!"
A wide spread wave of fire went through the hallway, burning down all the magical poison induced bugs that were coming to them.
Gaius blinked. "Well, thank you for that I suppose. It seems you reflexes are in working order."
The witch huffed. "I'm not saying anything to that."
The dark hallway resulted into quite a large tomb where jewels and valuable minerals lay, spread on the ground.
A strange heart-shaped crystal was laid in the stone tomb where the body lay.
The dark haired witch stepped a little bit closer. She felt the magic radiating from that crystal. "No one should touch that thing, it's cursed."
Gaius let his eyes roam over the cursed heart-shaped crystal. "I always asked myself how that guy wanted to achieve immortality, looks like he found a way."
"Can we destroy it?" Merlyne asked, turning her head to her uncle.
The elder male raised an eyebrow. "I will have to do some research, but I'm sure it's not impossible."
"That's all I needed to hear."
The fact that Sir Bedevere had found a manservant wasn't really a problem, it was just the fact that this dark haired male gave the warlock prince cold shivers.
This male, Cedric, had 'saved' one of his Knights from a poisonous arrow.
It had actually been Arthur, but he'd used magic to do it, so he had shut his mouth about it and let Cedric take the credit for it.
So the moment he handed the reins of his horse to one of the stable boys, he went straight to the physician's quarters.
When he opened the wooden door, both Gaius and Merlyne were bowing over a thick book.
The two turned their heads violently when he entered.
"Already back, Sire?" the elder male asked.
"I cannot stand the manservant of one of my Knights, that guy gives me the creeps! It's just something about his aura…" the Prince told.
"Well… we also have some disturbing news." the physician said.
Arthur's head snapped up. "What is it?"
"Your father is cleaning out several old tombs… and in one of those tombs lays a sorcerer who found a way to make himself immortal." Merlyne answered, leaning against the wooden desk, she was clearly concerned.
"I have a bad feeling about this."
And as Arthur already expected, the heart-shaped crystal was gone from the grave the next morning. But nothing indicated there had been a forced entry from the outside.
"I have the feeling that something powerful is playing this game." Gaius said, leaned over the thick book containing magical spells.
"Just keep searching for something that might help, I'll be on the watch for any suspicious activity around the city with Leon and Lancelot."
The search through the city didn't bring in any new clue about who had stolen the cursed crystal. The Prince thought it possible for the new possessor of the crystal to be cursed with Cornelis Sigan's soul now inside his body. It would mean that a far more powerful sorcerer was now walking on the grounds of Camelot.
It was hoping his father didn't find out before he'd start executing innocents.
"Have you and Gaius found anything?"
Merlyne looked up from something she was investigating, it looked like some sort of plant. "We did find a spell that would confine the soul back into the stone if we found that one."
"It should be sufficient. I'll send out Lance and Leon to search through servant quarters as I search through those of the Knights. Keep up the good work."
"Yes sir." the witch smirked and looked back at the herb to investigate.
Up till now, his search had been very uneventful.
All Knights were currently out with their maids or manservants to the town, they did deserve a day of rest.
Arthur entered the quarters of Sir Bedevere when he felt an air of magic touching the magic in his own veins. He shuddered at the cold, his magic warning him for the danger the rooms might contain.
"Well, seems it might just be around here." the prince murmured, entering the room further.
At first sight, the room looked normal.
The young warlock closed his eyes, murmured a very ancient spell and opened them again. His blue eyes had changed into the moonlight white colour.
His sight was now enchanted, making it far more easy to detect magical objects. In the corner of his right eye, he could see something from underneath the poster bed.
With his eyes still lighting up in the moonlight white colour, Arthur knelt down on the floor and looked underneath the bed. He found a small wooden chest, not looking like it was something special.
The warlock shoved the chest towards him and opened the lit.
And as he already thought, the heart-shaped stone lay there. But it was not glowing anymore, it only radiated the air of having been possessed previously.
"At least I found it."
The night in Camelot fell, but people were still on the streets chatting up with family members before heading home after a long day of work.
Such a night was the only possibility for the staff in the citadel to converse with their families in town as they slept in the citadel itself.
"Have a safe trip back, little sister." Elyan said as he embraced Gwen.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Gwen said with a smile before she left the forge to go back to the citadel. She greeted many who she saw on her way back, people she knew since childhood and who had cared for her after her mom died.
When the maid almost reached the castle, she heard a male voice speaking in a language that was never truly spoken anymore. She pressed her back against the stone and looked just around the corner to find the man who was Sir Bedevere's new manservant, the knight himself lying in a puddle of blood on the ground. She pressed her hand against her mouth to prevent herself from screaming.
"Ic cume eft to Camelot. Swá þæt ic mæg min fæhþ awrecan! Nu ic lybbe ece and ic mæg rædan min burh!"
The gargoyles on the roof came to life, as vicious monsters.
People on the streets screamed when they saw the stone creatures coming to life as killing machines.
The dark skinned girl kept herself hidden in the shadows, hand covering her mouth and trying to keep herself from panicking.
"Stop it!" a feminine voice called out.
Gwen's eyes went wide as she saw the person the voice belonged to: Merlyne.
The man, now cloaked in raven's feathers, stretched out his hand, waving a gargoyle.
Merlyne did not cower, instead, she stood tall and proud. "Astrice!"
The maidservant couldn't believe what she'd just had witnessed… Merlyne? A witch?
"Who would've believed it? You, a sorcerer, and a powerful one."
"I won't let you destroy Camelot." there was no fear in those blue eyes.
The male dressed in black laughed, coldly so. "And you're going to stop me? This place does not deserve you, they treat you like a slave! It's what they've always done, casting aside those without a moment's thought."
"This is how it has to be." Merlyne's voice was sad, and her eyes closed for a moment so she was catching his breath. She was brave to do this.
"Does it? You're young, Merlin. Look inside yourself. You have yet to discover your true power. I can help you. Think, Merlin. To have the world appreciate your greatness. To have Arthur know you for what you are." The voice was vicious, without mercy, without emotion. There was only hatred. "It can, if you join me. Together we can rule over this land. Arthur will tremble at your voice, he will kneel at your feet."
"I don't want that." The blue eyed maidservant looked straight at the evil sorcerer.
The evil man snorted. "You'd rather be a servant?"
"Better to serve a good man that to rule with an evil one. "
"So be it. If you will not join me, I will become you and your power will be harnessed to my will." Blue smoke producing a thick mist left the body of the man, swirling through the air to reach Merlyne.
Merlyne held up a blue heart-shaped stone, her eyes turning golden as she too spoke the ancient language. "Ic þín sáwol hér beléac, abide þæt ic þé álíese!"
'Merlyne is a sorceress? But she was always so nice!'
Both Gaius and Arthur came running out of the building.
"Merlyne!" the prince called out, stopping in his tracks as the black haired witch slowly walked out of the thick mist.
She held up the jewel. "It's over."
The blonde let out a deep breath, one of deep relief.
The court physician smiled. "Well done, my girl."
Gwen turned her face away. Both the prince and physician knew of Merlyne's magic, but none of them had reported her to Uther? Were they under a spell or something?
"Let's get out of here, I'll just order some knights over to remove the bodies from the main square."
"A very good idea, if you'd ask me."
"Looks like I will need my armour tomorrow, I hate it when I lose men."
Suggestions? Let me hear it!
Next up: Beauty and the Beast (just with another title and the full thing at once, no part 1& 2 like in the series)