Hey guys, there's chapter 30. I hope you like it. If you do, you'll have Rya3SaberVltar to thank for it (applause), because it was at his suggestion that this chapter is the way it is. Anyway, I greatly enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you enjoy reading it just as much. Please review to let me know what you think.


Chapter 29

Merlin

'So, how did she take it?' Merlin asked eagerly.

Alina smiled. 'Really well. Really, really well. She was beaming at me, so happy that she's not alone in this.' Her smile widened. 'I'm almost certain that I've changed the legend at this point.'

'And that's a good thing?'

'I think so. I have to admit that I have thoroughly messed up the story, though.'

'Can you tell me?'

'I think so. Since it's probably not going to happen.' She took a deep breath. 'Had we done nothing, or had we decided to carry out your stupid plan, she would have turned evil eventually. In the end, she would have ended up murdering Uther.'

Merlin could not quite decide on what to feel. He was shocked by Alina's revelation of what would have become of his friend. But he was also more than happy that she had prevented this horror. He liked Morgana. He could not bear for her to use her gifts for the wrong ends.

'She would?'

'Absolutely,' she nodded. 'But there's no need to look so frightened, Merlin. It's not going to happen.'

'Are you sure?'

'Well, in life nothing is sure,' she said. 'But as far as sure goes, I'm sure.'

He grinned at her, too happy to find the words.

Alina's expression grew serious again. 'We are, however, not yet out of trouble.'

He frowned. 'How so?'

'Uther's still convinced that his ward is attacked by magic. He is going to hunt sorcerers very soon. All of them,' she replied. 'Everyone they have under suspicion.'

'Even if they're innocent?' Merlin asked in a disbelieving voice.

'Of course, Merlin!' she said annoyed. Her tone could rival that of a very annoyed Arthur. He really had a bad influence on her. 'Uther doesn't care if they're innocent! All he cares about is Morgana's safety.'

He had to admit that she had a point there. 'Do you already have a plan?' he wondered.

She shrugged. 'Kind of, but I'm not really pleased with it,' she replied.

'Why not?'

'Because you would end up taking all the risks and that I can't have.'

'If we do nothing, Uther will kill innocent people,' Merlin pointed out. 'What is this plan of yours?'

'Well, to prevent Uther from arresting people who didn't do it, we have to present him with someone who did do it,' she explained.

'You want to tell him Morgana did it?' he yelled.

'If you shout a little harder, we can save ourselves all the trouble, because Uther will already know,' she said dryly. 'No, I don't want to tell him Morgana is the one responsible. My idea is that we invent a sorcerer who wreaked havoc in Morgana's room, or that's the story we're going to feed him.'

He needed a few moments to process what she had just asked of him and then he started yelling again. 'You want me to do that?'

She nodded. 'Yes.'

'Do you want to get me killed?'

'I didn't say you had to be recognizable,' she grinned. 'How would you feel about being an old man for a day or so?'


He was out of his mind. He was most definitely out of his mind. He could not come up with another explanation as to why he had let Alina talk him into this. But then, her idea had made sense, perfect sense even. This way they would make sure that no one got hurt. And Alina had assured him that she would make sure that he would come out unscathed.

The idea was that he would disguise himself as an old man, by using an aging potion. Thus disguised he would go to Morgana's room and make sure that he would get caught. Had that happened he would let himself be led before the king, where he would declare that he was the one responsible for last night's events and that he acted completely alone, so that Uther would leave all his other suspects alone. After this confession he would use magic to escape. He would drink the potion that would make him his normal, young self again and no one would be the wiser. Uther would start a witch hunt for an old man, but that could do no harm, since there would not be such a person anymore.

Alina had been more than willing to do it herself, but all of them had to admit that her absence would doubtlessly be noticed, whereas he could be missed very easy. If everything went according to plan, no one would even notice him missing, but if things would take longer, Alina had promised to cover for him.

He took the potion in the privacy of his own room. At first, nothing appeared to be happening, but then he felt his body age and age very, very quickly. It was hard to tell how this transformation itself felt, because it seemed to take up hardly any time at all, but when the process was over, it hurt. His entire body hurt with all kinds of little pains in places that he didn't even know existed. Was this what it was like to be an old man?

He dressed himself in one of Gaius' old robes and then he went down to where Gaius and Alina were waiting. Alina's jaw dropped and even Gaius had to blink in surprise a few times.

'You know me better than anyone, Gaius,' Merlin said. For a moment he forgot the question. That wasn't even his voice he heard. He sounded… well, he sounded like a very old man. To be quite honest, this scared him. But he had chosen to do this, he would have to go through with it now. 'Do you recognize me?'

Gaius moved a bit closer. 'There's something of you in the eyes,' his mentor replied. 'But maybe that's just because I know it's you.'

That at least sounded like good news. When he got caught nobody would even dream of suspecting Merlin to have anything to do with all of this. He guessed that should be a consolation.

He walked, or rather stumbled, over to the mirror so that he could have a good look at himself and then he got the shock of a lifetime. He did not recognize the man staring back at him, at all. Who on earth was this? The old sorcerer in Gaius' old robes had long white hair and a ridiculous long beard. He looked… old, there was no other word for it. He had to come to the very unpleasant conclusion that he looked older than his mentor. But he could see what Gaius had meant when he said that his eyes still were the same. It was reassuring to have at least one thing that was unchanged.

'I can't believe that one day, I'll actually look like this,' he said. His changed voice still kind of shocked him, but he was getting used to that. He then made a wrong move and suddenly his back started aching, worse than before, that is. 'Ooh!' he exclaimed. 'I ache, all over.'

'Ah, well, now you know how I feel,' Gaius said cheerfully.

Alina smiled. 'Your disguise is perfect, though,' she said. 'Exactly as I remember it from the story.'

That distracted him. 'Wait, this is legend? I thought you changed that.'

'I have,' she agreed. 'Let's just say that I've borrowed this idea from another part of legend, one that isn't very likely to happen with everything that has changed.' She handed him a staff. 'Here, this might help you walking. We can't have you falling down the stairs because you lost your balance, now, can we?'

'Thank you,' he said, grateful for the staff. It would be good to have something to lean on.

'Oh, and Merlin?' she said, before he could leave. 'Have you thought up a name for our imaginary sorcerer?'

He hadn't even thought about that. 'Ehm, no,' he realised. 'Any suggestions?'

'Actually, yes.' Her smile widened into a grin. 'Dragoon,' she said. 'Dragoon the Great.'


Merlin walked through the castle as fast as his legs would take him, which was not as fast as he would have liked. In his young form he could even walk twice as hard when he carried all of Arthur's armour around. This was more than frustrating.

One day I'll not be able to walk any faster than I do now, he realised. It was not an encouraging thought.

It was the idea that someone saw him entering Morgana's chambers, but there appeared to be not a single guard or knight in sight. Maybe Alina was right in saying that they were never there when you needed them. He had to make three rounds before he spotted Arthur, talking to some guards. Perfect. That was what he needed.

He grunted in pain as he made a wrong move again. This made Arthur look up. There was a suspecting look on his face, so the now not-so-young warlock thought he had taken the bait. He walked on, as suspiciously as he could. The footsteps behind him were proof enough that the prince was following, although he did not look over his shoulder, so Arthur would not know that he was on to him.

He entered Morgana's chambers and started to throw some spells around. Some of Morgana's dresses started dancing by themselves, which looked kind of ridiculous, in the corner her boots started cleaning themselves and the apples on the tables started juggling themselves.

You're overdoing it a little, aren't you? Alina commented dryly, but Merlin could tell that she was amused.

When he was finished doing that, and it did not take him long, he went over to the bed and started to mutter some kind of nonsense spell over a fake poultice. He was only halfway through the "incantation" when he heard Arthur enter. He pretended not to have heard that and he also pretended not to hear Arthur's shocked gasp when he saw what was happening in the room.

He only stopped babbling when he felt Arthur's sword put at his back. 'Show yourself,' the prince's voice said. Merlin knew him long enough to tell when he was angry. He was right now. 'Who are you?'

'I am…,' he started slowly, before spinning around and facing Arthur. 'Dragoon, the Great!'

Arthur's expression of complete and utter confusion was probably one of the most funny things he'd ever seen. Alina's little scheme started to get even nice.

'Is it you who attacked Morgana last night?' the prince asked.

Merlin cocked his head. 'You have caught me,' he told him. Took you long enough. 'I have no choice but to confess!'

Arthur pointed his sword against his chest. 'I should run you through where you stand,' he said angrily.

Oops. That wasn't the plan. 'You really wouldn't want to do that if I were you, because if you do that…!' He fell silent at this point of his speech, because he had no idea what would happen then, so he just said the first thing that popped into his head. 'You will never learn of my plan.'

'What plan?' Arthur said confused.

'Exactly!' Merlin snapped at Arthur. It pleased him that his master backed away in shock. 'That's why you can't run me through!'

Arthur looked him in the eyes. 'Have we met?' he wondered.

Uh-oh. Had the prince seen through his disguise? He pretended to study the prince closely and then shook his head. 'No, I don't believe so. I never forget a face.'

Arthur wasn't going to let go of this one. 'Your eyes!' he said, pointing at them. 'We've met somewhere before.' He sounded pretty sure. Merlin was certain that this was not a good development.

'Me? No!' he growled. 'Well, if you'll excuse me, I have to go. There's always more trouble I can cause.'

The sword immediately pointed at his chest again. 'You are not going anywhere,' Arthur said icily.

Alina

Alina had gone down to the council chambers with Morgana to join in the meeting that was going on there. Uther was planning a strategy for finding Morgana's non-existent attacker.

'But there is none,' Morgana whispered to Alina. 'I won't have him execute innocent people on my behalf.'

'That's not going to happen,' she assured her. 'I've managed to find a solution. You just wait and see.'

The king's ward frowned. 'Really?'

'Trust me. I pulled a few strings. To tell you the truth, I expect them to be here soon.'

Morgana gave her a very confused look, but she did not answer her anymore. It was better if she would see for herself.

She had hardly finished that thought before Arthur came marching into the room. There really was no other word for it. Following closely behind was a disguised Merlin, controlled by two of Camelot's useless guards.

'Father,' Arthur greeted.

Uther looked up in surprise. 'Arthur.' Then he looked at Merlin and his expression became confused. 'Who is this?'

'This is the sorcerer that attacked Morgana last night,' Arthur announced.

Beside her, Morgana tensed. She knew, of course, that there was no such person. And Alina had a feeling that she had expected her to solve this problem in another way, not like this. The princess could hardly bite back a smile.

Arthur handed his father the fake poultice. 'I found him placing this under Morgana's pillow.'

Uther studied it for a few seconds and then faced Merlin, who looked almost smug. Alina had a feeling that her friend had started to enjoy himself. 'Is this true?' the king demanded.

'Yes,' Merlin confessed.

'And you acted alone?'

'Yes.'

Do try to sound not too cheerful, Merlin, she thought at him. You're not supposed to think this funny.

The old man smirked. But it is. So much more than I thought it would be. I nearly scared the crap out of Arthur. You'll have to admit that is hilarious.

All right. Just try not to show it too much.

'What did you hope to achieve with this enchantment?' the king asked.

'To bring chaos to Camelot,' Merlin replied. 'I hoped to cause the worst of nightmares with the poultice, the worst hallucinations imaginable, so that she would not have a moment's rest. And I wanted to show you that your guards are utterly useless, Uther Pendragon. It was too easy to get past them and attack your lovely ward.' He smiled a very scary smile at Morgana, who backed away automatically. 'I've done you a great favour.' He made a slight bow.

Alina had trouble controlling herself. It took her all she had not to burst out into laughter.

'Have I wronged you in some way, old man?' the king inquired, leaning closer over the table.

Well, Merlin, here's your chance, she told him. Now you can say what you've always wanted to say to him.

He indeed took the chance. 'You have wronged so many people, in so many ways. You're blinded by your hatred of magic! You have tortured and executed innocent people. You, Uther Pendragon, are a stupid, arrogant old tyrant!' he shouted.

This was exactly how she remembered it from the legend. Her friend really did an amazing job here.

Arthur grabbed his arm. 'Hold your tongue!' he ordered.

Merlin now got the hang of it, so now it was Arthur who was in for a lecture of Dragoon's. 'And you? Oh, I've heard how you…' He thought for a moment.

Mistreat your servants? Alina innocently suggested.

'Mistreat your servants!' Merlin snapped. 'They do everything for you, but do they ever get any thanks? No! You're a spoilt arrogant brat with the brains of a donkey and the face…' He coughed. 'Of a toad,' he finished.

Arthur's expression of horror and confusion was indeed one of the funniest things she had seen in months. Before he had recovered himself from all the insults Merlin had managed to sum up in only a few sentences, Merlin threw a few enchantments around him and the room filled with smoke. Alina quickly covered her face and coughed away the smoke that she had accidentally breathed in. All around her people did the same.

The smoke disappeared as fast as it had come, and when it did, Merlin was gone.

'The sorcerer!' Uther exclaimed. 'Where has he gone?'

In the chaos that followed, Morgana whispered to her. 'Did you stage all this?'

She nodded. 'I told you I had this covered.'

'The old man, will he be all right?' she asked in a worried voice.

'Don't fret, Morgana. He's long gone.'

'How did you persuade him to endanger his life for me?'

She smiled as she replied. 'Let's just say that he's got a soft spot for you.' Morgana had no idea how true this was.

'What…?' she said.

Alina was about to answer that, when Arthur came over to them. 'Are you all right?'

Alina nodded. 'Are you? After all, it wasn't us that was first insulted and then caught right in the middle of the smoke.'

'Thank you for reminding me, Alina!' Arthur snapped.

'Hey, I didn't say you had the ehm… face of a donkey and the brains of a toad!' She waited a moment for the maximum effect. 'Or was it the other way round?' Morgana was unable to control herself any longer and burst into laughing.

'Very funny, Alina,' he commented. He looked around him, as if literally looking for another subject. 'And speaking of funny, where is Merlin? I haven't seen him all afternoon. I can't find him anywhere.'

The temptation really was too much. 'I think he said he was going to spend the day in the tavern.'

The expression on Arthur's face made this little joke totally worth it. 'Oh, did he?' he replied, his voice betraying that Merlin would be in big trouble if he managed to find him. 'We'll see about that. If you find him, tell him that he'll be sorry for that.'

He walked away after that, apparently still angry, but whether that was directed at his servant or at the old sorcerer was difficult to tell.

Merlin? she thought at him.

Yes?

Are you back to your normal self again?

Yes. The antidote worked. Thanks.

Good, she continued. Then you may want to hide for a few hours.

There was a suspicious edge to his thoughts. Why is that?

Arthur's a little angry with you, she replied. He was looking for you and I may have let it slip that you had the intention of spending the day in the tavern.

There was a short, almost disbelieving silence and then… You told him I was going… where?


That was it for today. Next chapter should be up tomorrow and then there is this troll that you doubtlessly all know about coming to visit Camelot…