Wow, that's chapter 50 already. Hope you enjoy it!
Chapter 50
Merlin
Merlin.
Merlin groaned. Was there no end to Arthur's list of chores? Could the prat not allow him a moment's rest after all his hard work? He was so tired. All he really wanted to do right now was sleep.
Merlin!
It took him a few moments to realise that he was not even in Camelot and another few moments to realise that it was not Arthur's voice that was calling him. Apart from the fact that Arthur did not at all sound like a woman, like this voice did, he strongly doubted the prince's ability to talk to him with his mind. Because the voice called to him from inside his head and he knew of only three people who were capable of doing that. Well, Kilgharrah wasn't the one talking and neither was Mordred. That only left…
Alina! Merlin mentally exclaimed.
Glad to find you awake, she retorted.
You're back! he rejoiced, the last remnants of sleep leaving his mind as he heard her familiar voice inside his head.
Quite the observation, she remarked dryly. Where are you, Merlin?
That was a question that he needed to think about, because, to be quite honest, he had no idea where he was.
The last twenty-four hours had most certainly not the most pleasant in his life. The trouble had started with the king's mysterious illness. Gaius had stated that it was simply Uther's conscience that had finally started to blame him for the thousands of innocent lives he had taken during the Great Purge and after, which would explain why the king saw visions of people he had killed. Arthur believed it to be the start of a disease that had also affected his grandfather, that caused him to lose his mind in the last few years of his life.
Merlin had disagreed with both Gaius and Arthur. The illness, if that was what it was, had struck too suddenly to be blamed on either conscience or a mental illness. It surely wasn't natural, he was certain of that. Over the years the warlock had developed a sixth sense to detect danger and trouble and that sense had told him right from the start that something wasn't right about this.
And, right, it might not have been the best plan to go investigating alone and late at night, but since he had not been able to come up with a better plan than that, he had carried it out all the same.
The king had been asleep when he had entered. Everything in the room seemed to be as it should be. He had no idea whatsoever as to what he was looking for, let alone where he had to begin to start looking for it. He did not even know if there even was something to be found. He just had a feeling to go on and Merlin had to admit that that was not much.
He only just started to realise how impossible this mission was, as he heard footsteps outside the king's bedchamber. He fled under the bed instinctively. It wasn't a great hiding place, but it was the closest to him. And he knew that it would not do to get caught here. He wouldn't know how to explain his presence here at this hour of night. On the other hand, he would have even less of an explanation for the fact that he was under the king's bed at this hour of night, in case that he did get caught.
As he moved farther under the bed he was suddenly met with something that hung under it. He turned to face it and found some very dirty thing, looking like some kind of root, hanging not two centimetres away from him. The root was covered in something that looked an awful lot like mud, but Merlin suspected it to be something a little less harmless than that, because there was no way that a thing like this had any business hanging under Uther's bed.
Before he could even begin to wonder at the meaning of this, a hand reached under the bed, pulling the root loose and taking it away. Whoever did this did not feel the urge to look under the bed, for which Merlin was eternally grateful. The footsteps moved away immediately after this task had been completed.
Merlin crawled to a spot from where he could see the intruder. His heart dropped as he recognized the gorgeous purple dress, the long dark hair and the beautiful face of the Lady Morgana. She looked at Uther one last time before leaving the room and Merlin saw the look of absolute hate on her once so kind face.
There was no way to describe what he felt then. There was hurt, betrayal, anger and the sad feeling that, after all, the dragon had been right. Alina thought that she had changed the legend by telling Morgana about her own magic, but without her there, all her changes would become undone and this one appeared to be no exception. There was no doubt in Merlin's heart. He was convinced that this root had something to do with Uther's illness and Morgana had something to do with this root. This could not possibly mean well, for anyone.
Why it had seemed like a good idea to follow Morgana to wherever she was going, he could no longer tell. He just did it. He had only come to the conclusion that this was the worst idea he had in ages when he had gotten himself caught by Morgana and Morgause, had been tied up magically and had been left at the mercy of countless hungry serkets. It had been really his luck that he had managed to get himself stung by one of those monsters. The only proof that he did have some good fortune at all had been that Kilgharrah had answered his call before he had been eaten.
When he had woken (he could not remember passing out, but he figured that he had) he had found himself lying on a cliff with the dragon's wise eyes watching him closely. His body ached all over, the serket's poison being to blame for that. The dragon had said something about giving him an enchantment to help him heal, but he guessed he had passed out again shortly after that.
Alina's voice had woken him again, but he still had no idea where he was.
I don't know, he replied. I'm on a cliff somewhere.
Quite the cliff-hanger you are, she joked. Am I right in saying that the dragon is there with you?
How do you…? he started, before realising that this must be part of the legend. Oh, great.
You should come back to Camelot as soon as you possibly can, Alina told him.
That might be difficult. I still have no clue as to where I am, he pointed out.
The dragon will know, she said. And he can take you back home. We really need you back, Merlin.
Wait, we? He only just started to fully understand what it meant that she was actually talking to him. It felt so natural, even after all this time, that he had not thought of it earlier. But now he really understood that she was back and she did not sound like she planned on leaving anytime soon.
Arthur's worried sick about you, she replied. Not that he'd admit it, of course. Anyway, you're needed here.
Where are you? Merlin wondered.
On my way back to Camelot, she said. Merlin could almost see her grin widely at her finally going home again.
Wait, I thought this way of talking wasn't possible over long distances?
She shrugged. Maybe it just doesn't work over time barriers. It seems to work just fine right now.
His sleepy brain was now clear enough to remember that there were some warnings he needed to pass on. Alina, Morgana is behind all this, he thought at her, almost panicking. She placed a mandrake root in Uther's room, making him see hallucinations. And Morgause is in on this as well and I am so, so sorry that I couldn't stop this from happening and…
Merlin, I know, she interrupted. This is all a part of legend.
Is it?
Most definitely, she said in a decisive voice. I'll destroy the root as soon as I can get my hands on it, I promise. We'll talk later. You just make sure that you get back to us as soon as you possibly can, right?
As soon as possible, he promised.
She gave a mental nod and was gone.
Merlin opened his eyes, focussing on his surroundings and his own body rather than his memories and the mental conversation. He still felt sore where the serket had stung him, but it was bearable, even ignorable by now. The dragon's enchantment must have helped a great deal. His back hurt as well, but the warlock guessed the stone floor was to blame for that.
The dragon was still staring at him, just like he had done before Merlin had fallen asleep.
Merlin got to his feet. 'You shouldn't have let me sleep,' he said accusingly. He had been wasting time enough as it was, spending it on sleep of all things to do instead of using it to break the enchantment on Uther. This knowledge did not do much to improve his mood.
'I had no choice, young warlock,' Kilgharrah said. 'The venom was too strong, even for your great powers.'
'I don't have time,' Merlin said angrily. 'The kingdom is in danger…' He hesitated for a moment, but then decided that he might as well tell what was going on. 'It's my fault,' he confessed. 'Morgana is back, but she is plotting against Camelot. And if I had not poisoned her, she would never have done that!'
'You did what you felt was right, and that shows great courage,' the dragon said. Was he actually trying to cheer him up? 'But now you must face the consequences of that choice.'
Why on earth did he think the dragon would try to make him feel better? He had never tried that before and he was not trying now. 'Alina says she's going to fix it all,' Merlin said defensively. 'She's back,' he added when he realised that was a fact Kilgharrah was not yet aware of.
He smiled one of his rare smiles. 'The young sorceress returns,' he stated solemnly. 'And so the hope for Albion returns.'
That was something Merlin had figured out on his own and he had no time to listen to more riddles. He was in a hurry. 'I need to get back to Camelot,' he said.
It was a strange and rare sight to see a dragon frown, but Merlin saw him doing it. 'You are not yet fully recovered, Merlin, and it's more than three days walk!' he said disapprovingly.
He had just not realised one thing and Merlin's face split into one of his huge grins. 'I have no intention of walking.' Alina, I'm coming.
Arthur
Arthur watched Alina closely as she talked to Merlin with her mind. Once you knew how to watch, it was very easy to see when she was talking like that. There was a distant look in her eyes and a concentrated expression on her face as all her thoughts focused on contacting his servant. He supposed she had succeeded in doing that, for she had been looking that way for five minutes at least.
He had only just started to wonder how long it would take when she shivered and blinked a few times, the signal that the conversation was over.
He gave her a few seconds to recover before he began to talk to her. 'Well, did you find my worthless servant?' he asked in a light voice, trying to hide his genuine worry for the warlock in disguise.
He should have known better than to try and fool Alina. She smiled a reassuring smile that told him that she knew exactly how he was feeling and that there was no reason for his worry. 'He's alive and out of danger,' she answered.
He frowned. 'So, he was in danger?'
'Apparently he has gotten himself stung by a serket after being captured by Morgause,' she reported. 'But he's on the mend now.'
Arthur did hardly know which part of this speech shocked him most. Merlin really did know how to get himself into the worst trouble imaginable, didn't he? 'Morgause is behind this?' he exclaimed.
She smiled bitterly. 'Are we really surprised?'
If he was honest with himself, he had to admit that he wasn't. The sorceress had already proven herself to be a mortal enemy of Camelot. She had kept quiet the last year, but he had always expected her to try again.
'Well, at least we can fight fire with fire now,' he said, comforted by that thought. 'Fight magic with magic, fight an evil sorceress by a good one.'
A worried look appeared in her eyes. 'I'm not sure everyone will see it that way,' she said in a soft voice.
'They won't dare to harm you, my lady,' he told her. 'You are under my protection.'
'I know,' she said. 'I seriously doubt you would have kissed me like that if that had not been the case.'
Their relationship had not changed, Arthur reflected, not one bit. It was as if those two years of separation did not exist at all, not for them. They just picked up where they had left off. Arthur found that he liked that very much.
Camelot appeared before them, but they did not stop to admire its beauty. Arthur caught Alina staring at the castle and a serene smile settled on her face. She straightened her back, raised her head and galloped into the city, her golden hair dancing on her back. Arthur could see how much more confident she was as she entered her one true home.
'Glad to be back?' he asked.
'It's home,' she simply replied.
'And you're not leaving it again,' he swore. 'Not if I have a say in it. Which I have,' he added as he saw her face darken.
People stared at them as they made their way through the streets of the city, but none of these people actually seemed to dislike Alina, even though they recognized her. Arthur remembered how many friends she had made among the town's people during that one year that she had spent in Camelot. And her friends had not forgotten her. They nodded respectfully, not only at Arthur, but also at his fiancée.
Knowing that this might not be the case in the castle, Arthur kept his sword close. And indeed, some guards who had seen her use her magic, shot her very wary looks. And there were more, servants and knights alike, who did not take well to her presence. Arthur saw them back away, looking around them as if searching for an escape route. He felt ashamed at this behaviour and hoped it would escape Alina's notice.
Of course it didn't. 'They look as if I might turn on them any second,' she said in a sad voice. 'Did they not know me at all?'
'They still see magic the way they have always seen it,' Arthur told her, wanting very badly to comfort her, but he could not think of a thing that was both comforting and the truth at the same time. And he knew she'd notice if he would try to lie to her. It must be their connection that made her feel it. 'They see it as an evil in and out of itself.' He touched her hand. 'In time they will come to see you for who you really are, I'm certain of it.'
'Let's hope so,' she simply said.
They dismounted.
'What do we do now?' Arthur wondered. His plan had never extended beyond going to Alina's time and bring her home. He had expected that she would take over control when he had done his job.
She did not disappoint. 'We break the enchantment on your father,' she announced, handing over her horse to one on the stable boys, who looked at her like she had some kind of dangerous disease. The princess pretended not to notice, but Arthur could tell by the pained look in her eyes that she had.
What stung was that he had looked at her like this himself. It may have been for a few short hours, but even he, who loved her with all his heart, had instantly believed the worst about her when he saw her using magic. Arthur did not like what that said about him.
Alina sighed. 'They judge me on something I'm not even good at,' she remarked.
He did not understand that. 'What do you mean?'
'What I did with that statue, usually I'm worse than rubbish at moving objects with magic. It could very easily have failed,' she explained. 'No, moving objects like that is Merlin's speciality.'
'I would never have guessed,' he replied seriously.
'No, because that was one of the only times that it actually went well,' she retorted. 'Healing's more my thing. Luckily for us, that's what we need right now.'
They were on their way to his father's room at this point in conversation, walking quickly through the corridors. Alina walked as if she had every right to be there, which she had, but not everyone in the castle agreed on that, so Arthur held his hand on the hilt of his sword. It was not much, but anyone with a brain could see from that simple act that picking on Alina would have grave consequences.
They were almost halfway there when they almost literally bumped into sir Leon. The knight almost lost his balance and Alina offered him her hand to help him steady herself. Leon took it before he saw who was offering it.
All kinds of emotions flashed over his face when he looked up to see who it was that he had almost tripped over. Arthur's hand grabbed the sword tighter in anticipation of Leon's reaction.
There was no need for that. As soon as Leon recognized the woman before him, he made a low bow and took her hand to his lips, kissing it as a mark of respect.
'My lady!' he said in a surprised voice.
'Sir Leon,' she greeted and Arthur could hear how relieved she was that her friend did not seem to care that she was back, that he, in fact, seemed quite happy about it. 'It's good to see you.'
'It's good to have you back, my lady,' the knight said. 'I take it you're the solution to the king's illness?'
She smiled as she glanced at Arthur. 'I take it Arthur said that.'
'He did, my lady.'
'How many times must I ask you to call me Alina, Leon?' she sighed. 'Anyway, could you do me a favour?'
'Anything,' Leon promised immediately. Arthur was impressed by the knight's loyalty to her, but then, they always had been close friends when she had still lived here.
'Please round up some of your fellow knights and meet us at the king's chamber as soon as possible,' she ordered.
He bowed again. 'Of course, my lady. I shall see to it right away.'
'Oh, Leon?' she said. He stopped and looked back at her. 'Swords will not be needed,' she told him. 'What we need is men who know how to search and how to find.'
Leon nodded and departed. Arthur walked on with her, grabbing her hand in the process. He finally had her back and he was never ever going to let her go again.
