Chapter 27

[A/N: Major hanky alert coming! You've been warned.]

Panic and fear stressed the castle's residents and guests. The nobles' actions prior to the assembly had set them off. Some managed to resist Morpheus' soothing song and stay awake. Those around the throne room witnessed Rodor's supposedly loyal knights dragged off like dogs for the dungeons by Camelot's Finest and the few remaining loyal warriors. Topping it off however was the rapidly advancing party cutting up the stairs and down the halls.

The onlookers stared incredulously at the spectacle. They gaped at their King floating through the air. Moreover, they couldn't believe that the newly minted Prince lay behind it. Some swore Merlin's eyes glinted gold as he hurried past them.

Disbelief spread himself with abandon it seemed…..

Merlin pushed his liege lord as quickly as he dared. His heart pounded with desperation. The surrounding reactions threatened his concentration. His eyes kept turning to Mithian. For some reason, her emotions registered very clearly…even more than most men would for their respective fiancées/ He discerned a tear sparkling on its course down her cheek. What should I do? King Rodor must get to his chamber. Yet Mithian desperately needs my support. Why can't I do both?

With his distracted thinking, Rodor dipped a couple of inches down before the spell reasserted itself. He grabbed his chest. His mouth contorted in a silent scream from Morgana's poison.

"Merlin, please focus!" Gaius barked instinctively before remembering the present circumstances.

"Sorry! I'm trying!" Merlin retorted. Tears blurred his vision. His own legs wobbled from the emotional backlash. Mithian, I'm not being sensitive to you. I….

The Princess for her part sucked down a mournful breath. As with her fiancé, she felt the emotional loci along their path. Insecurity clearly registered on her internal radar. While most remained blissfully unaware of it, she picked up on another upset party two floors above them. Now what? Focus! Father is important now! Stop imagining things! She put on her best stiff upper lip and turned to Merlin. "Please, Merlin, you're more than sensitive enough. Stop doubting yourself!"

"Milady?" Britomart queried. "Why did you say that? Our Prince expressed no such thought."

"I heard Merlin clearly," Mithian insisted.

Merlin arched his eyebrow. "I didn't say that. I thought it though." He cast Mithian a puzzled look as they arrived before the royal bedchamber. "Gaius, the door please?"

"Of course." The elderly physician pushed the door open. Anxiously he turned back to his former charge. "Hurry!"

Merlin rolled his eyes but bit back the potential response. As it was, his internal storm raged threatening to swamp Sanity's beach inside of himself. He guided Rodor over the latter's bed and eased him down as gently as he could manage under the circumstances.

Rodor grimaced. His breathing became rapid and increasingly shallow. His chest tightened. Drool and bits of blood trickled down the sides of his mouth.

"Blast the traitors! They brought this about!" Britomart spat indignantly. "Is there anything else we can do, Master Gaius? We need time!"

Gaius closed his eyes while trying to consider the best response. From his experiences as a sorcerer and healer, he recognized the signs clearly. "No, Britomart, there is nothing else. The scene downstairs caused him to have a heart attack. It won't be long now." He exhaled before turning back to the two newly minted royals. "I'm sorry."

"There has to be something!" Mithian demanded desperately. "We need him! With Arthur gone, we need his experience!"

The two healers discerned Rodor's weakening pulse. They clearly felt the King's increasingly pale and clammy countenance.

"Oh, Merlin!" Mithian seized onto him. "Why did this happen today?" She buried her face in his tunic and sobbed.

Merlin grimaced. His brain, already traumatized by Arthur's death, ached and threatened to shut down. Waves of numbness shot through his limbs. He trembled. Mithian's vibes exacerbated this process. His heart ached. As he wavered under these assaults, he looked into his Princess' eyes.

The sadness, desperation and need for him…for his strength called out.

He grasped onto her tighter for support and realization. In that moment, a new feeling dawned across his consciousness.

"You're no longer alone if you ever truly were."

Purpose jabbed him with its red hot needle toward his priority…toward the woman in his arms…..

Merlin coughed while summoning enough saliva to work his parched mouth and throat. Then he advised, "I know. We have to be strong for your father, Mithian. And I'm here for you." He kissed her forehead affectionately.

Mithian's eyes sparkled akin to Sol burning off Lament's crippling frost. She nodded. "Thank you, my Prince." His warmth and gentle strength steadied his resolve.

"It's my genuine pleasure," he assured her. "Right now though, the King needs us."

Mithian smiled for Merlin's benefit before hustling to her father's bedside. "Father?"

Rodor looked right at and through her. His eyes blankly stared into space. "Mithian? Where are you? It's so dark! I…."

"I'm here." She squeezed his hand gently although she didn't understand why he couldn't see her.

"He's gone blind from the stress, I imagine," Gaius postulated.

"I know you did all you could, Master Gaius. Thank you," Rodor coughed; his voice rasping like dry leaves before Jack Frost's initial assault on the autumnal forest. "M…Merlin?"

"Right here, Sire. Mithian and I won't leave you," Merlin affirmed. He held the dying man's right hand as his daughter did the left.

"Th…thank you. World…turns upside down today…." Rodor coughed and spasmed. His broken voice hissed and burned with little more than a pained whisper by that point. "Nobles…turn traitor. Peasants…show faith and resolve. It is…for you both to…renew those things….to rebuild our land."

"We will, Father. Stay with us! We need your guidance!" Mithian begged.

Rodor sucked in another heavy breath. "I will…always be with you. Be strong and well….Merlin, promise to…cherish Mithian. Protect…her and the kingdom. Honor her…please." He coughed for a couple more heartbeats.

"I will, Sire," Merlin vowed resolutely. "I can do no less."

"Then…I am content," Rodor whispered. He trembled. "Someone close the window. It is so cold. Mithian, don't…be sad. I am…going to see your mother and Kay…soon. Keep…keep our legacy alive."

"We shall, Father," Mithian affirmed. In deference to her royal training, she somehow managed to maintain her court poker face. She defiantly wiped the few insolent tears from her face. She marshaled her flagging strength for the old man's benefit.

"Pass…I do to them. I…have done what I can. Standard is passed. Merlin and Mithian, you…are King and Queen of Nemeth. I love you…my Children. Thank….you," Rodor pushed forcing the last words from his exhausted throat. Then he slumped onto the pillow and mattress. His hands went limp.

"Father!" Mithian grabbed for the elderly wrist and felt for a pulse in vain. She shook him. "Wake up. Please!" She trembled and bowed her head. "First we lose Kay and now him. Will Morgana's malice never end?" Anger flared in her heart and across her face.

Merlin shook his head. "Please stop! Mithian, don't go that route. She's dead. If anything, I already have to live with her death. Don't poison your heart like that. The kingdom needs you. I need you." He renewed the earlier embrace. "I know there's so much to deal with. It seems overwhelming. I wish Arthur would show up, call me an idiot again and make everything as it was before."

Mithian rolled her eyes. "I'd brain that clot pole if he called you that again, Merlin. Still, I…I know what you mean. Everyone's lost so much. We don't have time to mourn my brother and now my father properly. I guess we have each other."

Merlin cracked a smile despite the circumstances. "You're stuck with me. Deal with that."

Mithian arched her eyebrow. "Oh really?" Warmth stirred her heart. "And with that, you've proven me right, Merlin."

"Proved you right?" he queried.

She peered deeply into his dark eyes. "I have never doubted your strength and character. You always rise to the challenge, Merlin….my Prince and Sorcerer."

While he felt tempted to correct her, he simply accepted the compliment and added a kiss to her cheek. "Just doing what you do for me. You believed in me from the first, Mithian. You saw something when everyone just took me as a servant. I…."

"Believe what you want, Merlin. Your friends know how special you are. I could be fortunate if you live up to your potential," she asserted. Then her mouth twisted into a frown. "Father was right. We need to reestablish the kingdom here." She turned to the two healers. "Our apologies. We…."

"No apologies needed, Princess," Gaius assured her. "The Prince does require the periodic reminder to keep his head on straight." He shot the new Prince a careful look. More now than ever, Merlin has to be careful. Rodor's death means he'll have to learn as he goes. Can Nemeth afford that?

"I trust you to run the kingdom. Both of you, Milady," Britomart concurred. She closed the deceased monarch's eyes and crossed his hands across his chest.

"It is to us," Mithian declared. She grimaced as another emotional wave hit her from upstairs. "What is that?"

"What is what?" Merlin queried.

"Upstairs! You don't feel that? There's someone trapped up there." Mithian turned to Gaius. "Can you watch my father's body please, Master Gaius? We have a matter to check on."

"I would wait until the knights can accompany you, Princess Mithian. You two are the last hope," Gaius urged.

"And yet somehow I know someone needs our help," Mithian countered. She straightened her father's hair across his forehead. She cleared the last offending bits of fluid from his mouth. "You'd want us to help, Father. I know that. We'll be right back." She kissed his cold cheek.

"Gaius, I think we can handle it. Right now, we don't need any other issues in the castle. Britomart, are you with us?" Merlin indicated. He rubbed Mithian's shoulder to support her as well.

"Follow me!" The female healer drew her sword and rushed into the hall.

"We'll be careful," Mithian promised before she and Merlin left the room. She honed in on the emotional vibrations echoing off of the granite around them.

This is reckless! Gaius sat in the chair next to the deceased King's bedside. Please be careful! He rubbed his temples. Worry beat on his forehead eliciting a dull ache there.

Certainly enough trouble had found them without looking for more. And yet that's what the trio had just rushed out to do it seemed…..