I continue to be amazed by all the reviews, favorites and follows- thank you all so much! And now, review replies:
Lady Cougar-Trombone- Hmm, maybe I will let Kilgharrah express his opinion. He's rather good at it, after all. ;)
20000 WPM- Aww thanks! I like giving M&M their moments, and there will be more. More honesty is on the way too. :)
Mike 3207- Oh, I could have had a lot of fun with the tub scene, but yeah, no M's for me. And action is coming up! :)
sjritts- Well thank you! I think the show's writers could have done so much with M&M and just ignored it. It could've been good, angsty romance but :P on you, fans! Oh well. I digress. Morgause was a very good villain- I could've hated her for 2 more years LOL.
yesthenLucky9- Thanks! And here's your update. Look for it every other day. ;)
After getting Arthur ready for the match, he and Merlin walked down to the tournament grounds. On the way, he contacted Morgana by thought. "Where are you now?"
"Walking out of the castle. What's going on?" she replied.
"Can you distract Arthur's opponent for me? I have to stop him from using magic, but if you're working on him too . . ."
"And how am I supposed to 'distract' him?"
"Um, by using your feminine charms? Talk to him before he goes in; gush over his skill. And while he's fighting, smile and wave to get his attention."
"You will owe me for this, you realize that? It's a good thing I l . . ."
"What was that last?"
"Never mind. Go do your part; I'll do mine." She ended abruptly with an almost audible pop.
Strange. He stationed himself near the entrance of the training grounds and watched Gilli approach. Morgana intercepted him by the tents; he watched as she fawned all over him. Gilli smiled and blushed—clearly he wasn't used to such feminine attention. Finally she allowed him to go. When he walked by Merlin, they locked eyes. Merlin shook his head, but Gilli smirked and continued on his way.
Merlin sighed and walked into the arena. He stood relatively close to the combatants so he could see every move. Morgana sat in the stands next to Uther, almost directly across from him. She nodded and caught Gilli's attention, giving him a sugary sweet smile. Arthur and Gilli faced each other, saluted and began fighting.
It wasn't long before Gilli used magic. Merlin counteracted the effect and Gilli gave him a look. Merlin simply stared back. Gilli got his head back into the fight, only to be distracted a moment later when Morgana waved at him. This caused him to lose his shield. When Arthur saw this, he tossed his own shield aside and indicated for Gilli to continue. They resumed fighting again, and Gilli once again used magic. Merlin stopped it again. Fortunately he didn't have to stop Gilli again, because Arthur disarmed him, knocking him to the ground in the process. In typical Arthur fashion, he moved his sword away from Gilli's throat and extended a hand to help him up.
As Gilli left the field, Merlin hurried over. He tried to apologize but Gilli didn't want to hear it. He'd have to try and catch him before he left. As he stared after Gilli, he thought to Morgana, "Thank you."
"You're welcome. I guess we saved Arthur again," she paused for a moment. "And don't forget I have a favor to collect." He turned and saw her leaving the stands, smirking in his direction. Merlin didn't know if he should be afraid or not. Probably.
Merlin walked to the inn once again. He walked right into Gilli's room. I might as well be blunt.
He explained he didn't have a choice but to stop Gilli, then the young man accused him of betraying their kind. But Merlin turned it back on him, reiterating his point, "Magic isn't meant for fighting or to bring you glory."
That shut Gilli down. After he'd thought for a moment, he talked about his father. How he must have been strong when he didn't use magic, because he knew it could corrupt. And he apologized! That's how he knew Gilli had finally gotten the message.
Time for a bit of encouragement. "I know it doesn't seem like it now, but someday magic will be allowed once again. And when that day comes, you won't have to hide who you are any longer. Your talents will be appreciated. We, we will be free. And who knows, maybe then our paths will cross again."
They shook hands as kin, and Merlin went to the battlements to watch Gilli leave. Someday he'd be able to make good on that prediction. Because Gilli reminded him of himself when he'd first come to Camelot. Kilgharrah and Gaius had told him of the day he'd be free. He'd passed the good news along to Gilli, and maybe Gilli would do the same for someone else someday. Spreading hope was one thing he could do.
He heard footsteps coming toward him and recognized them instantly. Morgana. What does it say about him that he knows how her footsteps sound? She came up next to him. "How's it going?" she asked.
"It's going," he replied.
"So, what are you doing up here?"
"Thinking."
"About what?"
"Gilli. The guy we forced to lose to Arthur."
"It was for his own good, you know that."
"Yeah. I talked to him after. Luckily he finally understood what I've been trying to tell him."
"What was that?"
"Basically the same thing I told you. Magic exists to be used for good. That it corrupts when it's used for one's own gain."
"Ah. It took a few days before that lesson sunk in for me."
"I also told him that magic will be permitted one day, and we'll be free, no more hiding. Sometimes that goal seems so close and other times it feels so far away."
She took one of his hands. "I used to think I had to tear everything down in order to build it up again the way I wanted. But you taught me that that isn't true. You taught me patience and hope, and now I'm giving some back to you." She put a hand to his face and he looked into her eyes. "You're not in this alone anymore. I'm here—lean on me." She moved her arms to his back and brought him forward in an embrace. He was, now, literally leaning on her.
He slowly brought his arms around her and leaned his head on her shoulder. "Thank you." They stood that way for a couple more minutes then broke apart.
"Don't thank me yet," she said. "You still owe me."
"I—"
"Don't worry. I'll let you know before I call it in." She smirked up at him. "Now attend me to the dining room. Dinner won't eat itself, you know." He laughed and followed her to her dinner.
xxxXxxx
A few days later, a patrol went missing. They'd been scouting Camelot's border with Essetir; it was completely routine. Then a messenger from King Cenred delivered a message: the patrol had crossed over into his land and an example had to be made. All four patrolling knights had been killed, including their leader, Sir Leon.
Camelot mourned for a few days. Then they received a huge surprise—Sir Leon returned, alive and well. When questioned, he related how the druids had found him and brought him back to life. When pressed, he told the court how he was saved by magic, through drinking from a cup.
The King later questioned Gaius about Leon's health and the mysterious cup. Leon was completely healed, like he'd never been near death. Gaius theorized that the cup was the legendary Cup of Life, which shocked Uther and Merlin, who'd been listening. Uther wanted to retrieve the cup before Cenred did, and could not be talked out of that decision. He was afraid of a legend he'd heard about the Cup. Gaius told Merlin the legend—a warlord used the Cup to collect a drop of blood from each of his warriors. This made them immortal, and they wrought terrible carnage across the land. So would Morgause if she had possession of the Cup.
A little later on, Arthur summoned Merlin to his room. He was informed that they were going on a trip and wanted to be ready before sunrise. Arthur gave no information about where or why they'd be going. Only that they'd be traveling through dangerous, bandit-infested lands. Of course Merlin already knew those details, as much as could be known about them, anyway.
On his way back to his room so he could pack, Merlin was waylaid by a hand on his arm yanking him into an alcove. Morgana. In his surprise, he asked, "What is it with you and alcoves?"
Morgana had opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again, too stunned to speak for the moment. When she'd regained her composure, she simply said, "They're conveniently private."
"Oh," he replied.
"Anyway," she said, "I heard about your trip, and I wanted to wish you luck. And to tell you to be careful."
He was a bit surprised by this, but also touched. "How did you hear about this?"
"I overheard Uther talking to Arthur."
"Ah. Of course I'll be careful. But I can't help it if Arthur's a trouble magnet."
"I think it's you who's the trouble magnet. Arthur's life was never in serious peril before you showed up here." She winked to show she was just kidding.
"Well thanks, Milady." He winked back.
They stood gazing at each other for a moment before she spoke again. "Please do be careful. If I lost you, I'd . . ." She broke off and looked down at the floor.
"Hey," he put a hand under her chin and tilted her head back up, then dropped his hand so he could take hers. "Try not to worry. I'm 'the greatest warlock to ever live,' remember?" He grinned his goofiest grin.
She responded by grabbing his face with both of her hands, and bringing it down to her level. Then she lightly brushed her lips over his. She let him go and said, "I mean it," before flouncing out of the alcove and walking away at a brisk pace.
He stood there, mouth slightly open. What just happened? Finally he shook his head and slowly eased out of the alcove, resuming his walk to his room. He didn't think he'd be able to sleep at all that night, but he managed to do so without much trouble.
Just before sunrise, Merlin met Arthur in the square. They attached their various supplies to their saddles, mounted and left. They both hoped it would be a short and safe journey, but knew this wouldn't likely be the case. Traveling into a hostile nation to find an object of immense power was not for the faint of heart.
A few hours later, they crossed into the Forest of Essetir, which naturally led into that country. Unnoticed by the mounted pair, spies belonging to Cenred watched them for a few minutes, then slunk away to report back to Cenred. At this point, Merlin decided to insinuate to Arthur that he knew where they were going. This led to a discussion about their chances of survival, which Merlin theorized weren't good. He was just about to make his final point when he felt a prick in his neck and looked down to see a dart there. Then he passed out.
The next thing he knew were slaps to his face, so he opened his eyes to tell off whoever it was. He looked up to see several men staring down at him and his reprimand died on his lips. Arthur helped him up and looked around. Suddenly someone put a hand on Arthur's shoulder and he turned around to discover Gwaine, of all people.
Gwaine explained they'd landed in the clutches of a slave trader named Jarl. Just then, the scumbag himself showed up and demanded a volunteer to fight his "champion" for his entertainment. When no one stepped up, he pointed at Merlin. But Arthur jumped in, volunteering himself, and discovered that the champion was Gwaine. Arthur and Gwaine formed a loose plan to mock fight and hope that could somehow lead to escape. Merlin noticed their plan was going nowhere, so he set the ropes above them on fire. That caused enough distraction so they were able to escape.
Once they'd run sufficiently far away from the fortress, they paused to rest. Merlin not-so-accidentally blabbed about their quest to Gwaine. That earned him a smack to the back of his head from Arthur, but he'd accomplished his goal—Gwaine volunteered to join them. As they resumed walking, Gwaine and Arthur got in a fight about who'd won the fight back in the fortress. Merlin finally got sick of it and interjected, "One more minute and both of you would've died. Neither of you won. Your plan was an ill-considered disaster, and if it wasn't for that fire we'd all be pushing up daisies."
They were pretty quiet after that, until they reached the cave they thought the druids were hiding in. They walked into the cave and it was obvious someone was living there. Arthur caught movement out of the corner of his eye, and reached into a dwelling to pull out a little boy. He shook the boy and demanded the Cup, not noticing how they'd been surrounded by druids. A man who looked like an elder stepped forward. He offered Arthur the Cup in return for letting the boy go. Arthur agreed, and received a warning with the Cup, "By obtaining the Cup of Life you risk more than you realize."
Arthur replied that he'd take his chances, and turned to leave. Gwaine and Merlin followed him, but Merlin was stopped by unexpected mind speech from the elder, "Emrys. The Cup is under your protection now. Guard it carefully. The future of this land rests on it."
He mulled this over as they walked away from the cave. He must mean I should keep it from Morgause. What else could he mean? They kept walking.
Not too long later they approached the border. They were having a discussion about their "great deed" when Arthur stopped, proclaiming it too quiet. That's when Cenred's men jumped out of their hiding places and the three questing men ran for it. The soldier chasing Arthur shot him with a crossbow. Arthur went down, losing consciousness while the soldier took the Cup. Merlin blew the man backwards with a spell, and he dropped the cup. Merlin ran to grab the Cup, but it flew over the side of a steep embankment and into the hands of one of the soldiers.
He had to make a quick decision between going after the Cup and seeing to Arthur. When Gwaine yelled his name in a panic, he made his decision and went back to Arthur. The wound looked like it had been poisoned. While he treated Arthur, Merlin explained why Cenred's possession of the Cup was bad. He determined he'd have to heal Arthur magically, so he sent Gwaine after more firewood. The spell didn't work, so when Gwaine came back, they bedded down for the night.
Arthur woke the other two in the morning with the words, "Where's the Cup?" He was understandably upset when they explained that Cenred had it. He complained they shouldn't have let his injury hold them back from retrieving it. He finally decided they should head to Camelot, and set off, limping heavily.
xxxXxxx
Back in Camelot, Morgana had received a note from Morgause, via a raven, the night before. Morgause proclaimed how they'd stolen the Cup from Arthur and had used it to make Cenred's army immortal. Morgause mentioned she'd killed Cenred and taken control of his army, who were now on their way to liberate Camelot and crown Morgana.
Morgana dropped the note in horror. This cannot be happening now, not while Merlin and Arthur are gone. An unbeatable army was on its way and would arrive before the knights' leader and Camelot's secret protector. She and Merlin hadn't even gotten to tell Arthur about Morgause's plan.
She'd just gotten back from court in the council chamber. Uther had called in the court because Leon's search and rescue team had arrived back from looking for Arthur. They didn't find him but they'd found Cenred's army. When they started back to Camelot, they were ambushed by a few of the army's advance scouts. The unfortunate knights quickly discovered that the enemy soldiers could not be killed. As far as Leon knew, he was the only one who'd survived that ambush.
Oh Merlin, where are you? She thought as she looked out the window. In the distance she watched Morgause's army assemble outside Camelot's walls. Within those walls, knights and soldiers prepared for a hopeless battle at dawn. Time for the acting job of my life.
Next time- prepare for 4.12 and 4.13 to go very AU. ;)