Ch 25: Great Expectations

The news of Arthur's speech spread across the Camelot within a few hours. As night settled over the city, Nicole Wade walked out of her flat and headed to the lower town, flashing her badge to the guards at the outer city gates to allow her pass through after-hours. Instead of turning right to head toward the laboratory, she continued on into the surrounding woods.

After another half-hour of walking, she emerged into a clearing where a small group of people had already gathered, sitting on logs assembled around a campfire. They turned toward the sound of her arrival, bodies rigid and ready to attack if the new arrival should be unexpected or unfriendly, but relaxed when they saw her face.

The fifteen people sitting around the fire were the various magic users involved in the rebel movement. They all served various roles within the group from planning magical attacks to magical training and providing for the underground magical community.

"Ah, Nicole. I believe you are the last to arrive and we may begin," said a fierce blond woman. "I wasn't sure if you received the message."

Nicole momentarily was flooded by thoughts of the times she had met Morgause in her previous life. Morgause had trained under her to become a priestess of the old religion. It was strange that they should know each other again in a second life, though by different names. Margaret was one of the top leaders of the rebellion. She had very strong magic, rivaling Nicole's own powers, and she also had the unique blood ties to Camelot's nobility.

Nicole nodded to the blonde, "Hello Margaret. I did get the message. I almost didn't believe it until the news reached Camelot this morning. Is this a trick to draw us out? Why would Arthur make such a move?"

A middle-aged man with a thick Scottish accent spoke up, "Emrys has chosen to stand with Arthur. I do not believe this is a trick." Alan led a strong team of warrior mages.

Torrance, another leader of a band of fighting sorcerers in the rebellion, spoke from across the fire, "But how does Arthur know Emrys? The stories say that Arthur called him a 'dear friend.' We don't know who Emrys is and we've been serving the magical community for years. It's hard for me to believe that the man who showed up on Wednesday is actually Emrys."

An older woman named Allison stood up to speak next. Allison was well known for her work in moving magic users to safety. "The protest was organized by my son Isaac. It was too late to stop it when he finally told me about it. I am glad perhaps that it was allowed to continue, because it did not end in the violence I expected and it gave Arthur a chance to reveal his beliefs.

"A small company of druids arrived at the protest earlier that morning and delivered the news that Emrys would be coming. A druid leader delivered a message to my son from Emrys. The message was written in Emrys' hand – I recognized the handwriting from some of the original spellbooks given to the druids. The familiarity of the note makes me believe that Arthur was not lying when he introduced Emrys as a 'dear friend.'

"So Emrys, as we will call him, and Arthur arrived on the back of a dragon, which is astonishing in itself. From this, we see that Emrys, on top of his great powers, is one of the fabled dragonlords. The druids bowed to the hooded man and made this hand gesture," she mimicked the motion, "We all know what this gesture truly means. The druids have long held the secret of Emrys' identity. I have no reason to believe that they would show such respect to anyone else.

"Despite all this, it wasn't until I felt his magic that I believed that Emrys was standing with Arthur. When Arthur first revealed himself, the congregation attacked. Emrys cast a body freezing spell that encompassed everyone in the area – around a thousand people, I would guess, including the knights and police. I have never seen such power. That spell is difficult to hold on a single person for most. To cast it over so many at once and hold it without falter until released… it's incredible. I think we must assume that this is Emrys. All the facts suggest so. But Torrance brings up a valid question in asking how Arthur came to know Emrys." Allison sat down allowing her story to sink in.

Alan answered, "If we then agree that this man was Emrys, then I believe we waste time wondering about the past and how he came to know Arthur. Rather, I think we should look at what Emrys wants from us. Based on the context of Arthur's speech, Emrys is asking us to refrain from violence."

Torrance laughed, "I suppose it makes sense that a leader of the druids would be opposed to violence. I, for one, think that Uther will never be swayed until at the point of a sword or dead."

Nicole addressed the group, "I know that you think we waste time considering the past, but I may have some information relevant to this topic." She took a deep breath, preparing herself for this announcement. "I believe that Arthur is the legendary King Arthur reborn." The rebellion leaders reacted in various manners of disbelief and calls to stop wasting time. Nicole raised a hand for silence, "Hear me out. I had trouble accepting this at first, but in the end, I could not deny it. As you all know, I work as a scientist in one of Uther's labs. My project is an effort to make technology work in the bounds of magic. I have been at this facility for many years keeping an eye on another project we've heard whispers about – the 'cure' that Uther is trying to develop for magic. I have reason to believe that Uther is close to achieving this goal of creating a drug that will suppress magical ability."

Cries of outrage disrupted Nicole again, but quieted quickly for her to continue. "About a month ago, I was returning to the lab with the head scientist of the other project, when Arthur and another young man rode by quickly. I only caught a glimpse of them, but I recognized each of them – especially the other young man, though I had never met him before in this life. I passed out at that point to wake up almost half a day later with memories of myself in a different lifetime.

"This was difficult for me to accept. At first I thought I was crazy and hallucinating. But the memories are there and I believe they are real. I am not certain what triggered them besides seeing Arthur and the other man. It was always said that Arthur would return at a time of great need. The man who rode with Arthur into the city that day is named Merlin, and since coming to Camelot, he has been working for Arthur. And Merlin has been his name in this lifetime and the one I remember before. My memories recalled his name before I ever found out that was his name in this lifetime.

"The similarities are too great to ignore. That we should have a Prince Arthur of Camelot with a Merlin at his side? I would say impossible – we all thought they were legends – but my memories are too real. In my past life, my name was Nimueh, and I fought against Merlin in that first life and lost, resulting in my death. He is very powerful though he looks young. If anyone in this life would know Emrys, I believe it would be Merlin, who is a great sorcerer reborn. I assume that Emrys met Arthur through Merlin."

Silence greeted Nicole's story. The faces around the campsite ranged from disbelief to begrudging acceptance that such a tale was possible in the realm of magic.

"We must find this Merlin then. Ask him how to contact Emrys," Margaret said. "See if Emrys is truly on our side and willing to fight should we have no other choice. I will not wait until Arthur takes the throne - that could be 30 years from now! If Uther refuses to listen, it'll be war."

"Elliot Thomas Degrance."

Gwen beamed like a proud parent as her brother accepted his diploma. The ceremony was held outside for lighting purposes and the audience kept small enough for everyone to hear by having separate ceremonies for each college in the university. Early on in the ceremony, the announcer had made a joke apologizing for not getting a spell to magnify his voice, which led to a roll of laughter through the crowd. Merlin smiled amusedly, and Arthur – in civilian clothes, sunglasses, and a hat – promptly elbowed him in the side, lest he draw attention to Arthur despite the prince's self-proclaimed 'fantastic' disguise. Merlin sneezed to hide his snort.

Gwen and Morgana had arrived late the night before, bringing with them the news of Uther's fury at Arthur. Several of the rumors listed him as AWOL and joining the rebellion to take arms against his father. Other rumors placed Arthur as disturbed and obviously suffering some type of episode. A particularly nasty tale had emerged about Uther's plans to execute his son as soon as he returned. While Arthur wasn't surprised at the variety in the rumors, he fully accepted the consequences of his actions. Though Arthur was not particularly thrilled to be heading back to Camelot to face Uther, he did not believe that Uther would disown him or kill him. Uther would rather suffer the worst pain imaginable than see the kingdom he built in the hands of anyone but a Pendragon.

Gwaine and Percy had volunteered to not attend in order to pack up Eli's flat into a wagon. Arthur and his group would be leaving for Camelot as soon as the ceremony was over – though it was definitely going longer than Arthur expected. He was half tempted to leave since Eli had already received his diploma, but the thought of Gwen and Morgana's anger held him to his chair. Merlin, apparently, had no such qualms, as Arthur wryly noticed that the warlock had slipped away completely unnoticed – even by Arthur, who had been sitting beside him and was trained to be observant.

The ceremony completed – finally, thought Arthur – and Gwen enveloped Eli in a large hug, trying to stem the proud tears. Arthur smiled fondly at Gwen and her big heart as she lost her little battle and the first tear tipped over the edge. Morgana ran interference while Gwen composed herself quickly, but Gwen turned back too fast for Arthur to hide his expression. Gwen's mouth popped open slightly and her face froze as she looked at him with her lovely doe eyes. Arthur cleared his throat and turned away, providing her room to recover before he caused either more tears or clouds of anger.

Arthur congratulated Eli with the rest of the group, avoiding contact with Gwen, as Gwen avoided contact with both Arthur and Lance. As they walked back to Eli's flat, a discreet glance from Arthur revealed that Gwen was lightly biting her lip in thought.

"That should be it," Percy said. They arrived as he tied off the last rope to hold down the items in the wagon. "One last check to make sure we got everything?"

The group filed up the stairs, Eli in front, but halted in surprise as soon as the flat door opened. Merlin and Gwaine were stepping back from hanging a large banner across the room and a tray of cupcakes and cookies sat on the floor of the furniture-less room. Both men turned at the sound of the door. "Congratulations, Eli!" Merlin exclaimed. "I thought there should be a small celebration before we headed out. So I convinced Gwaine to convince the baker's assistant to provide some goodies."

"And how'd you manage that?" Eli asked.

"A kiss from these lips can get anything," Gwaine winked roguishly.

They left after the bakery tray was emptied and returned. The trip back to Camelot found the group in a variety of moods. Gwen didn't speak much throughout the entire trip, her gaze dodging back and forth between Arthur and Lance and every once and a while frowning at Merlin's back as he rode in front with Arthur. Merlin was getting a thorough headache as Arthur wanted a full discourse on 'everything relevant to magic.' It wouldn't have been so bad if Arthur hadn't of interrupted every few minutes with either a version of 'aha!' or snort of disbelief.

After the seventeenth 'aha' moment, while Merlin was describing how inanimate objects can come to life, Merlin finally asked, "Did you even read my journal at all?"

"Of course I did!" Arthur said immediately. At Merlin's frown and pursed lips, Arthur amended his statement sheepishly, "Well, I might have skimmed to the important and interesting bits, rather than all the parts that showed how much I didn't do that I thought I did." Merlin let out a groan of irritation. "Anyway," Arthur said, ignoring Merlin, "I like it better this way where you explain it, rather than me read it."

"You were always rubbish at reading," Merlin said under his breath.

"Excuse me? I am not rubbish at reading! I just have more important things to do than read your diary, Merlin."

"Like what? Whack another person with a metal stick? And it's not a diary. It's journal."

"I'll have you know that it is very much so a diary. Journals record events. Diaries record feelings. And I don't whack people with sticks! Sword-fighting is a series of precise, balanced movements. Knight training is critical to the well-being of the kingdom."

"It's not a diary!" Merlin sputtered.

"It's alright, Merlin, you were always the emotional sort," Arthur said with a smug grin.

Merlin huffed and searched his mind for a good retort before Arthur won this particular verbal battle, inwardly ranting about Arthur's prattishness as he developed his response about Arthur's emotional deficiency. Before Merlin could comeback, Leon rode up and engaged Arthur in a discussion about plans. Grumbling, Merlin moved back down the line to ride beside Gwaine, which was how he somehow became caught in the crosshairs of a different, and much more vicious, verbal spar.

"Merlin, if Gwaine and I were to spar with swords, who would win?" Morgana asked imperiously.

Merlin choked, "Um." He looked between Gwaine and Morgana, who both had raised eyebrows and smiles, "It would be a draw?"

"Cop out," Gwaine grumbled. Morgana frowned fiercely at Merlin.

Merlin frantically searched for an emergency exit from the conversation. "Um, I mean to say, Morgana, you've always been ballsy, but I believe that Gwaine is the one with an actual sword," Merlin amended, and watched as Morgana's frown faded to shock and slight disbelief as the meaning of Merlin's statement became clear. At the same time, Gwaine began to laugh uproariously. Merlin gulped as Morgana's expression turned murderous. "And I believe this is where I state that I'm a powerful sorcerer and make my escape."

Dropping back even more, Merlin rode beside Gwen and Eli in silence, which finally yielded some peace, though he still had to listen to Gwaine and Morgana taking turns at each other up ahead. His peace didn't last much longer than an hour or so, before Arthur yelled out from the front, "Merlin!"

As Camelot loomed in front of them a day later, Arthur mentally strapped on armor, though he was already wearing physical armor, preparing himself for the coming confrontation with his father. Despite what the rumors may say, Arthur had no desire to overthrow Uther's reign. He would either get his father to change his mind and rescind his decisions on magic, or Arthur would have to wait until the day he took the crown before he could implement the needed changes.

When they were near enough to be spotted from the city walls, Arthur noticed mounted guards head out from the city gates, galloping in their direction. "Merlin," Arthur said with a far more serious tone than their last conversation had warranted, which immediately received Merlin's full attention, "I need you to promise me that when we get to Camelot you will stay out of my father's sight."

"Arthur…"

"No Merlin. I'm serious. I don't know what he'll do to you. I'm afraid if he sees you he might try to blame my actions on you. He'll say that you enchanted me or something. I'll accept whatever punishment he gives, as long as I know that you and Morgana are safe. Uther knows that you and her are magic users. The last thing we need right now is for him to link you with Emrys. So it's best if you are out of sight, out of mind. Stay in my rooms when we get back, as far from Uther as possible."

"But –"

"Merlin," Arthur frowned as the mounted guards approached, "I will be fine."

Merlin frowned back at him, but couldn't do more than nod unhappily as the guards halted in front of them.

The lead rider saluted and spoke, "Sir. I am under orders to escort you directly to His Majesty."

Arthur nodded, cast one last warning look at Merlin, and said, "Lead on." The guards fell in around Arthur and they cantered back towards the city gates.

Merlin frowned worriedly after Arthur, debating whether to disregard Arthur's command, when a light touch on his arm brought him out of his thoughts. "Don't, Merlin," Gwen said calmly. "Arthur knows what he's doing. We need to trust him."

Making up his mind, Merlin straightened on his horse, "I didn't save Arthur's life all those many times by following orders, and I'm not going to start now." Merlin spurred his horse on after the guard escort and Arthur.

Arthur was escorted by the guards the entire way to his father's study. They preserved some of his honor in allowing him to move unrestrained and untouched, however he couldn't help be humiliated as he knew his father wanted him to be at being treated as a criminal. He was forced to wait outside after the head guard entered and spoke with Uther. Finally, Uther called out, "Enter," and Arthur entered the study as the guards closed the door behind, leaving him alone with Uther.

Uther was leaning back in his office chair, eyes hard and mouth downturned in a severe line. Arthur met the glare unflinchingly, unashamed of his actions, and refusing to back down for standing up for justice and equality. A long silence passed between the two of them.

"Are you deliberately destroying everything I have worked for or is it a side-effect of thinking you are a better king?" Uther's harsh voice demanded.

"Neither, father. But I will not stand and watch the persecution of innocents in a second lifetime."

"Magic is not innocent!" Uther roared angrily.

Arthur responded in the same calm tone he answered the first question, "And it is not evil. It simply is. And we need to start accepting that because it's not going away."

"I built this kingdom to make a place where my people can live safely. I can't do that when sorcerers come knocking and threaten every ounce of control we have over our people. There is no such thing as peace with magic. It will always betray you."

"I cannot deny the reason for my existence. Magic is another type of energy. It is not evil, it is not a weapon. Oh, sure, it can be in the wrong hands, but so can everything else – pencil, frying pan, book, spoon, candle, water, you name it and someone, somewhere can figure out a way for it to be a weapon!"

"And you would betray me, then, for magic?"

"I am not betraying you, father. I am simply disagreeing. The principles you founded this kingdom on are fairness and equality. Justice and peace. This code must apply to all, not only the people you want it to. We cannot live in this perpetual state of fear. It will collapse on us one day. The magic users won't tolerate this prejudice and discrimination for much longer. Society and ethics have come so much farther than that."

"Yes it did, but this magic put us back in the dark ages!"

"Magic took away technology, but it is you, father, who chooses for us to live in the dark ages. Magic is the answer to so many of our problems: lights, clean water, and sickness. We don't need the technology if we can do all this with magic!"

"You go too far, Arthur. I cannot let you live with these delusions. Magic users only care about themselves. They will not create your utopia with you. They have no reason to follow you when they can easily rule themselves with magic."

"Magic users –" Arthur argued.

"NO!" Uther stood up abruptly and slammed his hands on the desk. Not giving Arthur time to speak again, Uther continued, "You are stripped of your knight captaincy duties. I will let you keep the title to maintain your honor, but until further notice all duties will fall to Sir Leon and Sir Gregory." Arthur tried again to argue, but Uther held up his hand and kept speaking, ignoring his son, "In the mean time, I am sending you on a reconnaissance trip to the Northern borderlands. I've heard some whispers of troops gathering there. You – "

Arthur was in shock. Arthur had enough and interrupted his father viciously, "The north is a nuclear wasteland! Are you trying to kill me? Had enough of me and figure you would let the radiation do its work for you so you don't dirty your hands with your own blood?" The northern lands had not been properly safe since the nuclear meltdown of a facility up there with the first magic waves fifty years ago. The land was unlivable. There was no way that anybody was gathering there. This was a cock and bull mission that his father was sending him on to get him out of the way.

"No, Arthur, I don't want you dead! I am trying to get you to reconsider your actions. This was a rash decision brought on by your youth and you got caught up with in the dreams that all those other young people were lauding. The return of your old memories has you very confused at the moment. Apologize publicly and renege what you said in your speech and we'll overlook this. You can stay here, in comfort, keep your captain duties –"

"I am not the one confused by my memories. I would rather die out there than live in comfort here while others die for me. I'll leave at first light tomorrow." Arthur turned on his heel and left the office without another word. He was still deep in thought, swirling with suppressed anger, when he turned the corner and ran straight into Merlin, dumping the smaller man onto the floor.

"Merlin!" Arthur hissed as he hauled the warlock back to his feet, "I ordered you to stay away!"

"I never listen to your orders," Merlin said. "I thought that was a given. I mean, it could've been that by ordering me to stay away, you actually wanted to make sure I was near," Merlin rambled while raising a suggestive eyebrow. Arthur scoffed at him and brushed past. Merlin fell into step beside him. "So, I think I have a plan for this radiation thing…." Merlin said conversationally.

A/N: Wow it's been a while! Sorry for the long wait. Had fun on my vacation though, so I'm not too sorry.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. There's a lot happening now. Please please PLEASE review! I'm dying to know what you think. Save me by reviewing!