Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the recognizable characters.
The Royal Crest of Camelot
Chapter 11 – Flowers
Merlin hadn't noticed anything unusual about Katya's flowers on the ride back. Gwaine had tucked a single bloom into a buttonhole in his shirt with a startlingly sweet smile and stowed the rest of his flowers, wrapped in a wad of bandaging, in his saddlebags. Merlin's flowers, along with Arthur's, were folded into a cloth and safely packed by Merlin in the packs on Arthur's horse. Arthur had ridden in silence, obviously deep in thought, and Merlin had taken the opportunity to enjoy Gwaine's chatter and the beauty of the sunny woods.
After a short time of riding, the peaks of the tallest towers of the castle began to come into view above the treetops. Arthur reined in and looked at his two companions. "Merlin," he said, "It would be best if questions are not raised about what happened in the woods today. As far as anyone can know, we simply found the seal under the tree where you'd hidden it. You'll need to pretend that you aren't healed."
Gwaine interrupted. "He's got to hobble about for a few days. But everybody knows he'd come back to work as soon as he could walk."
"When we get back, I will order you to go home immediately. Act as if you are still in pain. For the next few days, people will expect you to be at least somewhat unwell – I expect you will act the part, but you will arrive on time for work tomorrow."
They continued on to Camelot, and as Arthur had planned, Merlin was promptly sent home. He'd been met at the door by Gaius, whose face showed the ravages of having been worried sick. The physician insisted on looking him over. When Gaius' brief examination confirmed Merlin's assertion that he really was completely well, the healer was amazed, relieved, and eager to hear the tale. By that time, Merlin had forgotten all about the flowers.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Merlin hadn't noticed the flowers during his first morning at work, either. Not really. Bright and early that first morning, Merlin appeared at the prince's door, having relieved the maid of the breakfast tray she'd been preparing for the prince. There was no answer to his light knock, so he slipped inside and deposited the tray on the prince's desk, nudging scrolls and papers aside to do so. The maid had mentioned an audience with the weaver's guild just before noon, and their petition was one of the items piled on the desk. Merlin set it aside and began organizing the rest of the chaos. When he was finished, he glanced over at the bed.
Arthur was still asleep, and nearly invisible, an unmoving lump buried somewhere under the bedclothes. His clothes from what appeared to be multiple previous days were strewn all over the floor. Merlin walked over with a sigh, and was about to bend down to grab the nearest item when idea occurred to him, and he paused.
After sneaking another glance at Arthur, who had still not so much as twitched, he extended his hand and whispered the incantation that would lift the shirt into his hands. It was followed in rapid succession by tunics, breeches, and several socks. Footsteps in the hallway caused him to start, however, and withdraw his hand. A rueful smile crossed his face as he imagined what Gaius would have to say about getting caught and burned at the stake for using magic to pick up dirty clothes. He sighed, hunkered down, and gathered up the rest of the clothing, grumbling quietly about princes who couldn't at least collect their laundry in one place. Turning to survey the rest of the room, his eyes lighted on the flowers Katya had given Arthur and himself. They were still looking vivid and fresh. Someone very diligent had gotten them into water right away, he reasoned.
Movement among the bedclothes drew his attention, and he turned to see that Arthur had awakened and was staring at him with a puzzled expression.
"Merlin? What in the world are you doing?" he yawned.
"Meditating, your highness," Merlin replied. "Couldn't you tell?"
"Meditating. I see. And I see that my breakfast is ready on the desk. All right, who are you and what have you done with my servant? You cannot possibly be Merlin."
Merlin laughed, and went to pull the drapes away from the windows. Arthur promptly disappeared back under the blankets.
"It's time to be getting up," Merlin prompted. "You have an audience with the weaver's guild representative in not much more than an hour, and I know you haven't reviewed their petition yet."
Arthur reappeared, staggered to his desk, sat down, and began eating with single-minded focus. After a moment, he scooped up the petition, and began to read it while continuing to eat one-handed. When he next looked up, his eyes were fully awake.
"Merlin. Set out my clothes for the audience, then go down to Monmart. Tell him I need the books for the last three months, and anything he has on past agreements with the weaver's guild. Then, when you get back, prepare my armor for drill with the knights."
The day had begun. The flowers were forgotten.
-o-o-o-o-o-
By the time drill began, Merlin was pleasantly tired and ready to sit for a moment. Knowing Arthur would be unlikely to need him for a while, he sought out a shaded fence rail from which he could watch the action. Gwaine came jogging across the field to join him, greeting Merlin amiably, but there was a manic twinkle in his eyes, and he was checking the vicinity for listeners.
"Gwaine, what are you up to?"
"Me? Oh, nothing at all!" the young man said, climbing up to sit next to Merlin on the top fence rail. "But have you noticed anything interesting about the flowers our little friend gave us yesterday?" He lifted the posy that he'd evidently transferred to the button hole of a clean tunic. The blossom was just as fresh as it had been the day before.
Gwaine read the realization in Merlin's eyes and laughed. "I guess we brought home more magic than we realized! Has the princess figured it out yet?"
"No. At least, not that I noticed. But they're sitting right on his table. At some point he's going to."
"What are you going to do?"
"I don't know. I could probably disappear them; you know, gather some regular ones and rotate out the enchanted ones bit by bit."
"Or you could leave them. Love to see what he decides to do about them, hmm?"
-o-o-o-o-o-
It was three days later when Arthur finally said something. Merlin had been standing in the prince's chambers, staring at the flowers when his thoughts were interrupted by the words, "Hallooo, idiot. Did you even hear me?" and by a brief shove that sent him stumbling sideways.
"Sorry, clotpole, did you say something?"
"What is it about those flowers? You keep staring at them like they are going to bite –" Arthur stopped suddenly, and Merlin turned to see why. Arthur was now staring fixedly at the flowers.
"Katya." The prince raised one hand to his face and closed his eyes briefly.
"Mmm-hmm."
"Enchanted." The odd note in Arthur's voice had turned into a grudging smile.
"Apparently."
There was a silence.
"What exactly does one do with enchanted wildflowers?" Arthur's tone was more amused than not.
"I have no idea, Sire. Probably the same thing one does with," Merlin lowered his voice and checked for listeners, but the door was closed, "enchanted seals and spell shrouds."
Arthur reached out and, in an uncharacteristically sentimental gesture, stroked one of the blossoms lightly with one gloved forefinger. He stood looking at it thoughtfully for a moment, and Merlin would have given much to know what he was thinking. Then he said, "They can easily be explained for now. They're just wildflowers – we can always say you gathered them. But once autumn comes, they will become much less explainable. I'll ask you to take them and hide them at that point. But for now, let's enjoy them." He shook his head, this time with a candid but wry smile. "Flowers. Logs. Cookpots. Clothing. Spell shrouds and enchanted seals. I'm surrounded by magic."
"Not such a bad thing, maybe?" I hope.
"Hmm. Now all we need is magic that turns you miraculously into an actual servant. My clothing for dinner, Merlin? Preferably sometime before dinner?"
"Yes, Sire."
And as Merlin turned away to set out the prince's outfit, he saw Arthur pull a single bloom out of the vase, a tiny blue blossom in a froth of miniature leaves, and stand looking at it with a tender and speculative smile.
-o-o-o-o-o-
The next time Merlin saw that particular flower, it adorned the lavender dress of a certain maid in the castle. Gwen blushed when she saw Merlin's knowing grin, but smiled back nevertheless. "Arthur told me," she whispered. "He said you know that it's enchanted." She'd barely mouthed the word, but walked away beaming.
Gwaine's flower continued to ornament his clothing most days, and it amused Merlin to see the prince shake his head every time he saw it. That ludicrous fight, brought to mind by the combination of Gwaine and the flower, seemed to continue to astonish Arthur to no end.
One more flower had been moved from the vase in Arthur's chambers and now inhabited a jar on Gaius' table, courtesy of Merlin. The old healer had been fascinated, but though he had enjoyed poring through his books looking for a spell that might do it, in the end he had to admit that he'd no notion at all of how little Katya had accomplished such a thing.
Ordinary time seemed to settle on Merlin, who found it somewhat nerve-wracking. The seal had been moved to Arthur's quarters on the pretext that unidentified thieves had tried for it once and might try again, for reasons unknown. Many of Merlin's evenings were spent with Gwaine and Gaius, sifting through their information again and again. The words of Morgana in the spell, the visit of Morgause to the encampment, the stories and explanations received from Durya, Sven, and Kari – every scrap of it was discussed, examined, and re-discussed. It simply wasn't enough. Whatever Morgana and Morgause, or "the M's," as Gwaine called them, had hoped to get from the seal, surely they would try to achieve in some other way. And yet not knowing exactly what they wanted made it difficult to predict a likely next move. Quiet and calm pervaded the castle as late spring moved into early summer. Merlin continued to serve and wonder and to wait for the next shoe to drop.
When it did, it did so very softly, in the form of a message that was slipped under Gaius' and Merlin's door one night.
M intends to kidnap the king sometime in midsummer.
Believe there to be a spy, recently placed, in king's household.
Will be out of contact. Please don't try to find us just now.
-D
Gaius and Merlin exchanged glances. The next move, it appeared, was theirs.
Author's note: Hope you are still enjoying this story, and that this chapter isn't too fluffy. Those flowers took over my brain! The next couple of chapters will be about finding the spy, and will get Merlin, Gwaine, and sometimes Arthur back out of the castle and into trouble. Please let me know if I've messed something up, or there's something you really liked - comments are wonderful!
This is as far as I had written originally, without the note from Durya. I now have some ideas for where to go next – hence the note. But those ideas are still in outline form, so updates are going to slow down. Also, the school year is about to start, and I've got to get my classroom ready, so I have less time to devote to writing this month. But I promise I have the whole story outlined, so it'll eventually be done.