Chapter 11: The Moment of Truth, part two
That night Juliana had given up her bed to Morgana and Gwen, she knew that if she didn't Hunith would, and Juliana would rather sleep on the floor than have her mother do it. Matthew had offered to house Ser Leon and Ewan since Hunith's home was full.
So Juliana, Arthur and Merlin were lined up on the floor trying to get comfortable enough to sleep. She was cuddled up to Arthur's side and he had one arm wrapped around her; they felt like they could be affectionate since everyone in the house knew of their feelings for one another.
"Have you always slept on the floor?" Arthur asked Merlin as he ran his fingers through his lady love's hair.
Merlin nodded, "Yeah, the bed I've got in Camelot is a luxury by comparison. Juliana slept on the floor for a long time as well until we were able to make one for her, and when she left for Camelot I got her bed."
Arthur frowned; he didn't like the thought of Juliana having such a ruff life before she came to him, "It must've been hard."
Juliana and Merlin chuckled, "Mhmm, like a rock."
He gave a half smile, "I didn't mean the ground, I meant for you two… it must have been difficult."
Juliana smiled softly, "Not really, we didn't know anything different. Life's simple out here, you eat what you grow and everyone takes care of each other. As long as you've got food on the table and a roof over your head, you're happy."
Arthur heard the wistful sound in her voice, "That sounds… nice."
Merlin laughed, "You'd hate it, really."
Arthur replied with a chuckle of his own, "No doubt. Why'd you leave? I know Juliana left to study under Gaius and further her healing knowledge. What about you?"
"Things just... changed." Merlin muttered
"How? Come on, stop pretending to be interesting. Tell me."
"I just didn't fit in anymore. I wanted to find somewhere that I did. Besides, I missed my big sister." He smiled slightly
"Had any luck?" Arthur questioned
"I'm not sure yet." Juliana smiled slightly she knew that her lover and brother had a special type of friendship, even if they both denied it.
After a moment of silence Arthur spoke again, "We'll start training the men tomorrow. It's gonna be a long day. Get the candle."
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The next morning Juliana had awoken before anyone else and prepared breakfast before leaving to make her rounds. She still needed to check in on her patients.
She re-entered the house just in time so see Hunith hand Arthur his breakfast and walk off. Arthur pretended to eat a bite until her mother was out of the room then he shoved the bowl of porridge into Gwen's hands before turning to face the door where she was standing.
Juliana covered up her hurt feelings by smiling at him as he and Morgana walked out the door. Gwen finished off his bowl and handed it back to Hunith, "Arthur said it was lovely." She told the woman
Hunith chuckled, "Well then he should be thanking Juliana, not me. She's the cook in this family, hardly ever lets me in the kitchen anymore."
Gwen sent her friend a sad smile as she too turned to walk out of the house.
Hunith came to stand between her children, "Arthur must care for you two a great deal."
Juliana smiled, "Arthur would do the same for any village."
Merlin nodded, "That's just the way he is."
"It's more than that. He's here because of you two."
Merlin frowned, "Juliana maybe, he loves her. But I'm just his servant."
Juliana frowned, "Don't be stupid, you know Arthur cares about you."
Hunith nodded, "It's quite obvious he likes you."
Merlin shook his head at the two women, they didn't understand, "That's because he doesn't know me. If he did, I'd probably be dead by now."
Juliana frown worriedly she had been thinking about that a lot. Whether Arthur would have her arrested if he knew what she could do.
"You don't really believe that, do you?" Hunith asked her two children
Merlin shrugged while Juliana was too lost in thought to answer, the two gave Hunith a kiss on the cheek and headed out the door. Once they got outside Arthur gave them some jobs to do while he and his knights were training the men. He sent Merlin out to go get some firewood, while Juliana was sent with Morgana and Gwen to sharpen the swords.
"My men and I won't be able to teach you everything there is to know about fighting with a sword, but you can learn the basics: the stance, how to parry a blow, how to land your own. On my count! One! Two! Three! Four! Now, you may have to watch for the feint. So, keep your feet moving, and only stay in range long enough to land your blow. And again. One! Two! Three! Four!" Arthur and his knights began training the men and the girls watched from the other side of the field.
Morgana sighed, "Even with Arthur, Leon and Ewan training them, there is no way they're going to be able to hold Kanen off."
Gwen nodded in agreement, "Men aren't the only ones who can fight."
Juliana smirked, "So why don't we have our own little training sessions with the women?"
The girls smirked at one another before moving to collect the women and begin their own training regimen.
Training continued on for most of the day and well into the afternoon. Juliana hated to say it, but it looked as though the women were faring better than the men with their lessons.
Around mid afternoon Arthur walked over to the well where the girls were standing to get a drink.
"Looks like the battle's already fought and lost." Morgana commented worriedly
Arthur frowned, "They'll toughen up."
Juliana sighed, "I hope so."
"How are we doing for weapons?"
Morgana replied, "There isn't much, but we should be able to scrape together what you need."
Gwen spoke up then, "It's not the weapons that worry us. It's having enough people to use them."
Juliana stepped in then, "We think the women should be allowed to fight."
"You haven't enough men. If they were trained soldiers, maybe you'd stand a chance, but they're not." Morgana tried to reason.
Arthur frowned and shook his head, "It's too dangerous." Before walking off, and the girl decided not to mention that they were training the ladies.
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Training continued the next day as well with Arthur in the common building speaking to the men and the women taking that opportunity to use the training field. Juliana was with the men that day tending to a few cuts some of the villagers had gotten.
"We're not going to be able to defend Ealdor with sword and sinew alone. We're going to need a plan. We need to find some way of limiting their mobility and drawing them into a trap. If we fight them on their terms, then..." Arthur's speech was interrupted by a village woman screaming.
Arthur and the men rushed outside to investigate, with Juliana following behind them. What they found when they stepped outside was Matthew slung over a horse with an arrow protruding from his back.
"Get him down from there!" Arthur yelled as they reached the man.
The village men grabbed Matthew and got him down as villagers gather around. Arthur grabbed the note attached to the arrow in his back and read it.
"What does it say?" Merlin asked quietly
Arthur frowned worriedly, "'Make the most of this day, it will be your last.'"
Suddenly his wife, Mary, came rushing through the crowd, "Matthew! No! No! No!"
Juliana managed to finally push through the crowd and reach the man, "Let me see him!" she called out and everyone backed up.
She bent down with Mary on the other side and Arthur and Merlin standing behind her. Juliana took his pulse and sighed in relief, "He's still alive, but barely."
Mary looked up at Juliana and pleaded, "Please save him! Please do everything you can to heal him. I can't live without him." She cried
Juliana turned to look at Arthur standing behind her and let out a sad sigh. She couldn't let a man die when she knew she could save him just so Arthur wouldn't hate her.
She took a deep breath and placed her hand above the wound, "Gestepe hole! Þurhhæle! Ahlúttre þá séocnes. Þurhhæle bræd!"
And before the eyes of all the villagers the wound began to heal until there was nothing but a small cut. Matthew let out a groan and began to awake.
Mary began to cry harder, "Oh, Matthew!" and she flung herself into his arms.
"Wha- what happened?" Matthew asked sluggishly.
Mary sniffled, "It was Juliana! She healed you!"
Matthew tried to stand up, but was too weak so a few of the village men came forward to help him, "Thank you Juliana."
She gave the man a half smile but then turned to look at Arthur who was staring at her as though she had grown an extra head, "You? You have magic?" he questioned softly as though saying the words any louder would make them true.
Juliana turned to look at the faces of her Camelot friends, every one of them was shocked, and as for Morgana, she looked completely betrayed.
Juliana turned back to look at Arthur, "I didn't want you to find out this way." She whispered and Merlin came to stand beside her and placed a calming hand on her shoulder.
"Maybe this isn't the best place to discuss this." Her brother muttered and Arthur finally moved his gaze from her to see the whole village standing there watching. He gave a sharp nod and moved to walk in the direction of Hunith's home.
But then they were stopped by Will coming forward and yelling at Arthur, "You did this! Look what you've done! You nearly got Matthew killed!"
Merlin stepped forward, "It wasn't his fault! And this really isn't the best time." He motioned towards Juliana's sad form, but Will didn't seem to get the hint.
"If he hadn't been strutting around, treating us like his own personal army, this wouldn't have happened in the first place!"
Arthur was fed up. He had just found out his lover was a sorcerer and he was getting sick of this boy's mouth, "These men are brave enough to fight for what they believe in, even if you aren't!"
"You're sending them to their graves! You nearly killed one man. Juliana won't be able to save everyone! How many needs to die before you realize this is a battle that can't be won? When Kanen comes, you haven't got a chance. You're gonna be slaughtered." Will shouted before storming off.
Juliana looked to her brother, "Go talk to him."
"What about Arthur?" Merlin question
She shook her head, "I can speak to him alone, you need to go talk with Will."
Merlin sighed and moved to follow his childhood friend, while Arthur followed Juliana into the house.
Once they were inside with the door shut, Juliana turned to look at Arthur and frowned when she saw how far away he was standing from her, and the distrustful looks he was sending her.
Juliana sighed and sat down at the table, "Perhaps I should explain."
Arthur frowned angrily from his position across the room, "Yes perhaps you should! Juliana you're a sorcerer! Why would you do this? You know Magic is evil! You could be put to death for this! Why would you want to learn magic, knowing it is outlawed?!"
By the time he was done, Juliana was near tears and Arthur began to feel bad for yelling at her, but quickly shook the feeling away. Had she placed a spell on him? Is that why he thought himself in love with her? Was it all a spell?
Juliana took a breath and began to speak, "Arthur I didn't learn magic."
"Don't lie to me! I saw you out there using magic! Don't try and deny it! I…"
She interrupted him quickly, "I didn't learn to use magic, I was born with it!" Juliana shouted, she was sick of him throwing insults at her.
Her declaration halted Arthur. All his life, Arthur had been told that magic was evil and anyone practicing it was evil as well. He never knew that people could be born with it. Arthur always thought it was a conscious decision people made to become sorcerers.
"Wha-what?" he stuttered out, stumbling over to sit across from her at the table.
"Will you listen now and stop interrupting me, please?" she requested and Arthur nodded slowly.
"Arthur I was born with magic, I've had it ever since I was a little girl. Mother said the first time I showed my abilities, I was two years old." Arthur looked shocked at the thought of someone so young having magical abilities, "She had been cooking dinner one evening and accidentally cut her finger. Mother said I toddled over to her and placed my little hand over her cut. She said she felt this warmth travel through her and when she looked down, I had healed it."
"You've been able to do things since you were a baby?" He questioned hesitantly, he was slowly starting to calm down.
Juliana nodded, "Yes and as I got older, my gifts grew stronger. The entire village knew about my gift before today. As a little girl I was always going from house to house healing the people. Mother couldn't seem to stop me, luckily the villagers weren't frightened, in fact they seemed to love having me around to help them."
Arthur nodded slowly, he still couldn't get the idea out of his head that she had put some spell on him, "And have you ever used you magic on me?"
Juliana took a breath before answering, "Yes,"
Arthur looked positively destroyed at her answer until she continued speaking.
"The day I found you hurt in the woods I healed your internal wounds with my magic; just enough for you to think it was a mere flesh wound. In truth you probably would have bleed out without it before I could get you back. And since then I've healed a few injuries, just the ones that need a bit extra help to heal."
Arthur looked at her hopefully then, maybe their love was true, but he couldn't be sure unless he asked her, "Have you cast any other spells on me, any non healing spells?"
Juliana understood what he was asking, and though it hurt that he doubted her, she understood. Arthur had grown up thinking that all magic was evil and nothing magical could ever be good. The fact that he was sitting here listening to her explain was a miracle in itself.
She gave him an understanding smile, "No Arthur, the only magical abilities I have are to heal." And she watched him let out a relieved sigh.
Arthur stood up and walked over to pull her to her feet, "I won't tell my father about you. But it might take me a while to get used to your magic."
Juliana looked up at him hopefully, "So you don't hate me?"
Arthur smiled down at her lovingly and gently moved a strand of hair from her face, "I could never hate you; you're my Juliana."
Juliana's eyes welled with happy tears as Arthur pulled her into his arms. Neither noticed her mother and brother looking in from the cracked doorway with happy smiles on their faces.
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That night the village had convened in the common building to listen to Arthur's plan for the next day's attack.
"Tomorrow morning, the women and children should gather what belongings they can carry and go to the woods." Arthur began only to be cut off.
"We're not going anywhere!" Gwen stated as she, Morgana and Juliana stepped forward. After speaking with Arthur Juliana had sat down with Morgana and Gwen and explained everything to them as well and they accepted her and forgave her for lying to them, while Arthur was explaining to Leon and Ewan, and making sure they kept their mouth shut. Luckily, these two knights were firmly loyal to Arthur.
Arthur frowned at the girls, "I know you want to help. The women can't stay here. It's too dangerous."
Juliana shook her head, "We women have as much right to fight for our lives as the men do!"
"But none of you know how to fight." He tried to argue
"The more of us there are, the better chance we stand!" Morgana stated calmly
"And besides," Juliana began, "We've been having private training sessions with the women. They're as skilled as the men."
The women stepped forward, looking fierce and ready for a fight.
Arthur sighed, he wasn't going to win this battle, "This is your home. If you want to fight to defend it, that's your choice. I'd be honored to stand alongside you. Kanen attacks tomorrow. Kanen's brutal. He fights only to kill, which is why he will never defeat us. Look around. In this circle, we're all equals. You're not fighting because someone's ordering you to, you're fighting for so much more than that. You fight for your homes. You fight for your family. You fight for your friends. You fight for the right to grow crops in peace. And if you fall, you fall fighting for the noblest of causes: fighting for your very right to survive! And when you're old and grey, you'll look back on this day, and you'll know you earned the right to live every day in between! So you fight! For your family! For your friends! For Ealdor!"
The villagers stood with swords raised and began to chant, "For Ealdor! Ealdor! Ealdor! Ealdor! Ealdor! Ealdor! Ealdor!"
Arthur moved to stand beside Juliana, "What about the children, and your pregnant friend? The elderly and sick? Who is going to protect them? I know you want to fight, but perhaps your place should be guarding them."
Juliana opened her mouth to argue but closed it again. She could see the rationality in his verdict, so instead of fighting Arthur on this Juliana simply nodded her head in agreement. And her decision was rewarded with a beaming smile from her lover.
Arthur placed a kiss on her forehead as they went their separate ways. The one's who weren't fighting were going into hiding that night. Juliana began herding the children in the direction of their hiding place with the few pregnant women and elderly in the village following behind her. There was a cave just inside the woods that they would be staying in. Juliana sighed, she wouldn't see her friends and family until the fight was over, she hoped everyone made it out okay.
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It was midday before anyone came to the cave to let them know the fight was over. And when someone finally did, it was Ser Leon who came rushing in to let Juliana know that Will had been shot and she was needed to heal him. But even running the whole way there, Juliana still didn't arrive in time to save him.
When Juliana arrived, Merlin and Arthur were standing over Will's unmoving body. The two men turned as she busted into the room only to stop in her tracks at the sight that greeted her. Tear immediately filled her eyes as she moved closer to her friend's body.
A sob escaped Juliana's lips and her legs gave out from under her. She would have hit the floor had Arthur not grabbed her before she could, "No. No!" she cried into her lover's shirt while Merlin stood motionless staring at his dead best friend.
The next few hours were a blur for the two siblings as everyone prepared to honor their fallen friend. Once Arthur left the room Merlin had finally explained all that she had missed causing more tears to fall from her eyes, as Juliana was awed by her friends sacrifice.
Once the pyre was prepared Arthur came to collect the two and they, along with the rest of their village, watched as the flames consumed William's body. Juliana, Merlin and Arthur stood off the side away from the rest of the village.
"I'm sorry." Arthur murmured, arms wrapped around Juliana, not looking away from the fire, "I know he was a close friend."
Merlin nodded, "He still is." His words caused Juliana to let out a soft sob and Arthur's arms tightened.
"You both knew he had magic as well?" Arthur asked softly
Once again Merlin nodded, "Yes." He lied as eyes filled with more tears, but he held them back.
"That's what you were trying to tell me before the fight?" Arthur asked but neither of the siblings answered as they continued to watch the fire.
Arthur sighed and placed a comforting hand on his manservant's shoulder, "I'm sorry." He repeated before walking away leaving the siblings alone together.
They weren't alone for long though, Hunith came to stand next to her children, "You two better get going."
The siblings turned to face their mother, "We don't have to go."
She gave her children loving smiles, "Yes, you do."
Juliana felt tears fill her eyes once more, "If anything were to happen to you..."
Hunith placed a comforting hand on each of their cheeks, "I know where to find you two. You have to go. You belong at Arthur's side. I've seen how much he needs the both of you. How much you need him. You and he Merlin, you're like two sides of the same coin. And my dear Juliana, I know you and he love each other."
Merlin frowned thoughtfully, "I've heard someone say that about us before. I'm going to miss you."
Merlin hugged his mum tightly as she replied, "I'm going to miss you, too. When you left, you were just a boy. Now look at you. I'm so proud of you."
When Hunith turned to face Juliana she frown at the girl's stubborn stare, "I'm not leaving."
Mother and son looked shocked at the girls statement, "Why ever not?"
"Because I promised Rebecca that I would be here to help her welcome her beautiful baby into the world, and I'm not leaving till I fulfill that promise."
Arthur was standing nearby and heard what she had said so he walked over as well, "What the hell do you mean, you're not leaving?"
Hunith pulled Merlin away, deciding that the two needed to be alone for this conversation.
Juliana folded her arms, "You heard what I said."
"But I need you back at Camelot. I though we had worked everything out and you would be coming home with us." He pouted
She sighed, "Arthur, I made a promise to my friend that I would be here to help her deliver her baby, I'm not leaving until she does. Bedside's you just found out that I have magic; maybe some more time apart wouldn't be so bad. You could have time away from me to get used to the idea."
Arthur frowned, "Well long is it going to be before she has the baby?" he questioned petulantly
She shrugged, "I'm not sure, but I doubt she'll even last the rest of the week. I'll be home before you know it, I promise."
Hey Everyone, I'm sorry it took so long to update my story. life got busy with work and a wedding, but i'm back now. YAY! NEW CHAPTER!
