Chapter 12
"Sire, the sorcerer Osgar attacked our men and killed one of our own. He's been sighted in the forest repeatedly since the incident. We must go after him before he hurts another." Sir Leon spoke quickly and fiercely. The sorcerer Osgar had killed a knight the day before. Arthur had been hit hard by his death and he was trying his best to remain calm and collected. He was seated in his throne with Guinevere beside him in her own. Alyssa was to the side of Guinevere, opposite an obviously worried Merlin. The king's knights were all in the throne room, each with their own worried expression on their faces. They wanted blood. They wanted to avenge their fallen comrade by spilling the blood of the sorcerer responsible. Alyssa had the feeling that if they saw any sorcerers their blood lust might be satisfied.
"You are correct Sir Leon," Arthur began, "We will leave in the morning and head into the Essetir woods to go after Osgar."
The knights all bowed with murmured 'yes sires' and left he room. Gwen turned to Arthur as soon as the four of them were alone. Her face suddenly turned from calm to worried. Her eyes showed the force of unshed tears.
"Arthur are you sure about this? Osgar is said to be a very powerful sorcerer."
"Guinevere, I have to. He was my friend and a fellow knight. We must avenge his death and punish the man responsible." Gwen gave Arthur a forced smile and nodded shakily. Arthur must have sensed her distress because he silently waved Alyssa and Merlin out and then pulled Gwen into a tight hug.
Alyssa followed Merlin from the room and they closed the door behind them. They started walking down to Gaius's rooms in silence. Merlin had an expression on his face that said how distressed he was. Alyssa had a million thoughts running through her mind. Would Mordred go on this trip? What if he was injured? What about Merlin? What if he gets hurt? Though she hated to admit it, Alyssa worried about Merlin as much as she worried about her brother. She didn't want anything to happen to him either.
"Merlin," she stopped him in the hallway. They were in sight of Gaius's chambers, but Alyssa needed to say this. "Merlin you will be careful won't you?"
He smiled at her slightly and her heart fluttered a little.
"Of course I'll be careful. When am I not careful?" She giggled at the question, thinking about the many close calls he and Gaius had told her about.
He smiled at her again and she felt tears enter her eyes as her worry grew for him and for Mordred. He spotted them quickly and pulled her into a tight hug. She was crying into his shirt and gripping it tightly in her hands. Merlin had his head on the top of hers, whispering soothing words to her as she cried. Eventually, she calmed and was able to stop crying all together. She pulled away a little bit and looked up into his eyes.
That was when she realized how close their faces were. He glanced down at her lips and the two of them stared at each other for what felt like hours before they started to lean towards each other slowly. They were only an inch apart now, both searching the others eyes, begging the question of if this was okay. Alyssa stared into his blue eyes and was about to pull his lips to her own, when someone coughed into their hand from down the hallway.
The feeling changed instantly. Both of them pulled away and glanced towards the one who had coughed. Gaius stood there with a smirk on his face, trying to hold back his obvious amusement at their discomfort. Merlin spoke first.
"I'm going to go check on Arthur and see if he needs anything," he loped off towards the throne room as Alyssa nodded and walked past Gaius and into the physicians offices.
"Alyssa," he started. She turned towards him, her cheeks red with embarrassment. "You need to be careful. You're not from this time, remember?"
"I know Gaius, but I feel a connection with him that I've never felt with anyone before. The only reason he knows I have magic is because our powers reached out for each other. Every time I'm near him my magic screams at me to be closer. It magic wants me to be near him and I want to be near him too." She spoke quietly. Tears were filling her eyes as the revelation that she could never be with him washed over her. She would have to go against everything her magic was telling her to do. Her heart was going to break if they got that close again.
"I'll be more careful Gaius. Don't worry about it."
Alyssa ran out the door and to her room. The tears were streaming down her face as she laid down on her bed. She curled up there and fell asleep with nightmares of loneliness and being completely lost.
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