Gwen was pottering about in Gaius's laboratory as she waited for the physician to appear with the latest sleeping draught to help Morgana to sleep nightmare-free. She watched the glass beakers bubble over small flames and drip interestingly coloured liquids from little tubes into equally little glass bottles. The maid never ceased to be fascinated by all the things happening in the laboratory and because Gaius was pleased that someone so young took a sincere interest in his work, he was happy to let her wander freely in his private workplace.
She peered at the open pages of a book on rare herbs and read with interest the little annotations that had been added in the older man's neat script. Beside a picture of a violet flower with long, almost needle-like petals, he had written Good for fever. Only found in winter. Goats like them. Gwen smiled to herself as she continued looking at the items on the long bench-like table. It was the usual collection of parchment and quills, the odd magnifying glass and books. However, what did catch her eye was a book that she hadn't seen before, brown and nondescript with no title, Gwen opened the pages and read.
Gaius spoke as he opened the door to his laboratory.
"Gwen, I've brought Morgana's sleeping draught. Sorry, I was caught up with Leon…" He stopped as he realised that the young woman was no longer where he had asked her to wait for him. It also did not take him long to notice the empty space on his table where not so long ago, a book had lain. Gaius furrowed his brow as he considered the implications of this but after some consideration, he decided that Gwen had a sensible head on her shoulders and he was content to see how events played out.
She knew she shouldn't have taken it but coming across the book that had impacted so greatly on her life and the lives of Arthur and Merlin, she couldn't help herself. Having gained permission from Morgana to take the afternoon off, Gwen tucked herself away in her little house and continued to read.
It was the evening when she finally felt she had sufficiently digested the information contained in the book. To Gwen, it was still veering on the fantastical side but she could not ignore the fact that Arthur set a lot of store by it and seemed to base many of the decisions he made which affected them on what he knew from the prophecy.
She scowled at the book. It had been both a blessing and a curse – the former because it had brought forth her and Arthur's true feelings for each other and the latter because it seemed she couldn't move for fear that her slightest actions might have repercussions on the future. At the moment, she felt like she was constantly balanced on a cliff edge and a wrong step would send her over the precipice.
The maid had placed the book on one side of her home and she eyed it warily from the other, as if at any moment, it would come alive.
Gwen found it hard to believe that such an innocuous looking book could have such an impact and the more she mulled over the situation, the more she began to fume and the more she began to fume she came to the realisation that she felt as if she were being held to ransom – by a book!
If there was one thing that her young life had taught Gwen so far was that in spite of what her station in society might be, what independence she had was to be guarded and protected – that, as far as possible, she would live her life as she wanted and that certainly did not include being told what to do by an inanimate object.
With her mind now made up, Gwen strode purposefully over to pick up the book and tucking it in the folds of her cloak, she went out to the forge where she pumped the bellows onto the fire until a fierce flame blazed. One last look at the leather-bound volume and Gwen tossed it into the centre of the fire where immediately, parchment crackled and curled in the intense heat before quickly burning and shrivelling to ashes.
There was a hint of regret as she turned from the fire as she realised that the world had forever lost a unique and remarkable item but she also knew that it was necessary in order for the lives of those people affected to continue as normally as possible. Gwen, for one, knew she didn't want to spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder, wondering if what she was doing would bring her one step closer to destroying everything she loved.
Merlin had been hunting frantically through the quarters that he shared with the physician and when Gaius entered, Merlin looked anxiously at him.
"Gaius, have you seen that book I showed you? The, um, important one? I can't find it anywhere!"
The young sorcerer breathed a sigh of relief when he was answered with a nod but the sensation disappeared when Gaius continued, "but I don't have it anymore."
"What? Where is it?" The look of panic was almost comical if not for Merlin's genuine distress.
"Calm down, Merlin," said Gaius soothingly. "It is in safe-keeping." Or at least I hope it is.
"How do you know? What if it were to fall into the wrong hands?" Merlin's voice had risen higher.
"It has not and is highly unlikely to ever be found again." If Gaius knew Gwen as well as he thought he did, he was fairly certain that she would make sure it would never come to light again.
"But who has it?"
"Someone I would trust with my life." Gaius was not going to give up their name and Merlin opened his mouth to demand an answer. However, the older man fixed him with a stern look and shook his head with finality. "Be at peace, my boy, no others shall know of the prophecy. I promise you that." He picked up phial of green liquid and a small pot of a floral-smell salve. "Now, I must go and give these to Sir Leon. The poor fellow's been taking a few knocks on the training field these last few days. See if you can't clean out that leech tank while I'm gone."
"But I only cleaned it out last week!" protested Merlin.
"The leeches must be kept in fresh water if they aren't to do more harm than good." With that, Gaius swept out to leave a dismayed Merlin glaring at the aforementioned tank.
With Gaius brooking no argument, Merlin slumped his shoulders as he moved to collect the bucket and cleaning cloths but paused when he spotted the corner of a green-bound book underneath a couple of volumes which he was already familiar with. Thinking it to be another book of herbs which he took an interest in, he pulled it out and was surprised to see an embossed picture of a large dragon on the cover. All thoughts of cleaning left him as Merlin sat on the floor he had been standing on and began to read.
With the aid of a little magic, he hastened the speed of his reading but slowed down when he got three quarters of the way through and had to go back a few chapters. When he had re-read them, he turned back to where he had stopped and read over that section again. He did this twice more before he was satisfied he had understood correctly the first time around. Many pages later, he found what he had been hoping for and he began to chuckle to himself. He was still chuckling when Gaius later returned to find him in the midst of re-filling the leech tank, a job which usually gave Merlin a gloomy expression. When he enquired as to the source of the amusement, Merlin answered only by pointing towards the open pages of a book which Gaius, himself, had never actually finished reading.
The pages showed coloured pictures of people. On the left-hand side was a tall, elegant woman with amber eyes and midnight hair with a shock of white. Beneath it was a caption that read, The seeress Lady Alesta. On the right-hand page were two figures, one of a willowy woman with emerald eyes and rich red hair. Next to her was an aged female form with a wizened face, wispy white hair hunched over a knobbly stick. The caption below them stated, The ranger Lady Eirlys before and after relinquishing longevity.
Gaius smiled a knowing smile to himself and picked up the book to flick to the end and found the remaining pages to be blank. The volume had yet to be finished.
It seemed that Arthur and Guinevere were not the only ones to have had their futures written about.
Well, that concludes this fic which has been both trying and interesting in equal measure to write. Again, my thanks to everyone who has been following and hope that this last chapter has been ok for you.
Please review. Thanks :)
xx