The Rivals, Part II
The Doppelganger Enchantment
Chapter 14
Arthur shades his eyes from glare of the early morning sun as he squints up to look at the top of the western tower. It's shortly after dawn following a long night scouring the castle without success for any sign of either missing man. The ferocity of the storm kept all inside until the rain finally tapered off and the sun rose into a cloudless sky. The guards had reported finding a body at the base of the tower, badly burned and sprawled as if it had fallen from a great height. Arthur stands on the grass and looks down at him now. The man's face is so badly burned that Arthur cannot tell who the man is, but he's very thin and is wearing Merlin's customary clothes.
Arthur looks at the small dagger that the guard had handed him, telling him that the dead man had been clutching it in his fist. He recognizes it. It's Merlin's pocketknife. He turns it this way and that in his hands, in contemplation of the damaged body on the ground at the foot of the tower. He glances away, and back, and then up again to the crenellations high above him at the sound of Leon's shout. Arthur had sent Leon up to the top of the tower to investigate.
"There is quite a lot of damage up here, Sire," Leon calls down. "It looks like a fire blasted the stones."
"A lightning strike?" Arthur shouts.
"Must have been." Leon's head disappears then bobs up again. He holds up Arthur's sword, which glints in the early morning sunlight. Arthur gestures to him to bring it down with him.
xXx
Merlin walks slowly down the corridor, favoring his injured leg, bearing a tray with Arthur's breakfast. After a short rest to recover from their fatal confrontation with Malus on the battlements, Niniane left before dawn. This time, Merlin kept the wand. Merlin said goodbye reluctantly, knowing that he owed her his life. He wanted the normality of his old life back, so he went right back to work after she left.
When he reaches the door to Arthur's chambers, he balances the tray in one hand on his hip as he reaches out with the other to give a hesitant knock. Hearing no reply, he takes a deep breath and opens the door to the darkened room. Taking the tray again in both hands he quietly enters the room and deposits the tray on the table. He crosses into the bedchamber area to the large windows behind the desk and grabs the drapes, flinging them open. "Rise and . . " he starts to sing out, turning around before he realizes that he is alone in the room. Arthur's bed is untouched.
He's circling back around the desk passing in front of the wardrobe when the doors to the room crash open and Arthur steps inside, immediately throwing Merlin's knife with his customary accuracy when he sees him standing there. It catches Merlin's jacket under his arm, pinning him to the cabinet. Merlin looks down at it and recognizes his own pocketknife; and looks up again at Arthur, his eyes wide.
Arthur continues his stride into the room, drawing his sword on Merlin as he advances. "Who are you?" he demands angrily.
Merlin is frozen, his face a mask of fear. "Arthur, it's me," he says, his mouth suddenly dry. "It's Merlin."
"How do I know?" Arthur stalks forward deliberately, sword held steady in his hand aimed at Merlin's chest. 'Where were you?"
"When?"
Arthur scowls with impatience, gesturing the sword back and forth as he closes in on the younger man.
"I was trapped in the cells," Merlin hastens to explain, his eyes fixed on the point of Arthur's sword nearing his chest.
"How did you escape?"
"I don't know," Merlin starts to babble. "I woke up on the floor of the cell in someone else's clothing. I felt all woozy, like I was drugged. When I looked up, the cell door was open and the guards were asleep on the floor outside. So I ran."
"You ran?"
"Well, okay, staggered. Slowly."
"You were the man in the cells," Arthur confirms.
"Yes." Merlin nods energetically. "I don't know how I got there."
"Gaius said the prisoner was under an enchantment, and drugged," Arthur says contemplatively. Abruptly he barks out, "what happened to your shackles then?" Arthur again eyes the other man suspiciously.
"I, . . . erm, . . . they fell off?" Merlin's floundering on how to explain his escape. He obviously cannot tell Arthur about Ninane's rescue and his painful release from the spell. He shrugs his shoulders, hands flapping out sideways. "It was like magic."
Arthur looks at him incredulously, frowning. Then he lowers his sword, barking out a sharp laugh with a broad smile. "It's really you."
Merlin exhales with relief and looks at him quizzically.
"Seriously, Merlin. Is that the best you can do? 'It's like magic'?"
Arthur sets his sword down on his desk, walking over to Merlin to pull the pocketknife free. He tosses it over to the table where it lands with a clatter. He turns back to Merlin who still stands unmoving in front of the wardrobe and signals to his servant to help him off with his armor. Merlin moves to comply with a grin, his hands shaking. "Only the real Merlin could come up with such an idiotic, ridiculous story."
Merlin unbuckles and removes Arthur's armor, laying the pieces on the nearby desk. He pulls the chain mail over the King's head. Arthur unties his quilted gambeson, shrugging it off and tossing it onto the bed, as Merlin walks over to set the chain mail on the chest near the door. Arthur crosses the room to sit at the table where his breakfast tray is laid out. Merlin moves back and forth from the desk, taking the pieces of armor to put on the chest. They move around the room in familiar silence. Arthur looks up, a piece of bread halfway to his mouth. "Merlin, why are you limping?"
"These need polishing," Merlin says, holding up the breastplate and spaulders. "I'll just take them, and go."
"Merlin." Arthur's voice is firm. "Sit down." Arthur gestures at the chair on the other side of the table.
"Sire?" Merlin lays the pieces back on the chest near the door. He reluctantly walks over to the table, and sits across from Arthur, on the edge of his chair.
"Are you going to tell me where you went?"
"I'm sorry, Arthur. I cannot." Merlin looks down at his hands, which are twisted together in his lap.
"You said there was no danger, no threat." Arthur shouts suddenly, "and look what happened!" Arthur takes a calming breath. "I almost had you executed."
"Yeah. Well, I didn't anticipate that." Merlin shudders and gives a weak smile. "I'm awfully glad you didn't."
Arthur shakes his head in wonder. "The sorcerer's dead," Arthur says. "When his enchantment failed, you must have been released from the spell. He was trying to escape, and must have been struck by lightning from the way he was burned. He was found at the base of the western tower, clutching your pocketknife." Arthur points to the blade on the table. Merlin nods and picks it up, bending down to replace it in his boot.
"Thanks."
"He said he wanted me to kill someone called Emrys." Merlin jerks his head up. "Wasn't that who the Druids sent you to find when their children went missing? The one you never managed to locate?" Arthur shakes his head, sniggering.
Merlin frowns at him. "Yeah."
"So, where did you go after you, ah, staggered slowly away from the cells?" He gestures to his goblet, silently indicating to Merlin to pour some water.
"Back to Gaius's chambers," Merlin stands and fills Arthur's goblet. He sets the carafe on the table and waits near the table, fidgeting.
"Quite the violent storm last night. Did you hide out there, scared of all the thunder and lightning?" Arthur smirks, taking a drink, looking up at his servant.
"No, I wasn't scared."
Arthur shrugs, but doesn't question him further. He says instead, "there was rather a lot of damage to the western tower: the chimney was toppled and the stones of the parapet were badly charred. Must have been a couple of direct lightning strikes. Quite a storm."
"Yeah. Sorry about that," Merlin says.
Arthur chuckles as he rises from his chair. "Come," he says, grabbing Merlin at the back of his neck, steering him toward the door. "We need to prepare for King Claudius's departure. He asked about you, can you believe?"
END