Chapter 21

I look between the door Merlin just stormed out of and Gaius whose face matches my own. My shoulders drop. Giving a final glance at Gaius, I race out the door after him. I down both ends of the corridor, not seeing him either way. Where would he go?

I turn to the right and jog down, determined to find him, the skirt of my dress tucked in my fists. I reach the end of the new corridor, another choice of left or right. I turn left, leading me back into the outdoor area. I stride out onto the courtyard but only guards, some knights and a handful or servants are out. Letting out a frustrated sigh, I turn and walk back into the castle.

It seems as though I walk through every corner of the castle soon enough. Just as I am about to give up, I pass into a corridor which has large archways, open-aired with railings going up halfway. The wide floor is always lit in the day, the sun not struggling to find its way in here. One lonely figure leans up against one of these railings, halfway across the hall.

My head tilts, watching the boy for a moment. His hands out before him, gripping the stone and his head falling between his shoulders. Too much weight on him, pulling him into despair. All he tries to do is the best he can but the world constantly suppresses him. Not that it is Gaius' fault, he wanted the boy alive even if it means hiding him.

My feet lift themselves, pulling me towards him and next thing I know, I stand beside him. His eyes flicker to me but go back to staring outside.

"I know you don't hear this enough, from anybody." I place my hand on his arm. "But thank you. I wouldn't be alive without you; neither would Arthur, or Tom, possibly even Gaius."

"I thought I was doing a good thing and that curing Gwen's father would help her. I thought I was saving lives. It seemed so simple."

"And you did save lives, but every action has consequences and we have to learn to live with them or learn to choose work past them. But just know, whatever you do, as long as you are doing it to try and help, I will always appreciate it. I will always support you even if I disagree with you. But you have to be careful because I cannot save you from the grave." My voice stays even, squeezing his arm. Merlin smiles, finally turning to look at me with those puppy dog eyes.

"I know. And I need to save Gwen."

"You sure do," I assure. "I'll come."

I move to leave but Merlin's arms wrap around my neck, trapping me. I laugh, wrapping my own around his torso. "Thank you," he whispers.

Gwen sits on the ground, tied in chains at her hand, her eyes red a puffy.

"Gwen," Merlin hollers. The handmaid pushes herself off the floor and walks towards us but the chain doesn't let her reach the cell wall between us.

"Thank you," she sobs, even though she tries to hide it.

"What for?"

"Coming to see me."

"Gwen, we will get you out of here. That's a promise and I never forgot my promises," I swear to her, smiling for her benefit. Gwen lets out a strangled chortle.

"You promised me a month ago that you would try that soup I make," she sniffles. I purse my lips, raising a finger.

"I haven't forgotten," I splutter. "It just left my mind for a while but it's back and I need you alive to make it."

"Can you promise me one more thing? Both of you," she whimpers, hugging her arms to herself. "Remember me."

I shake my head at her submission to her determined fate. I cannot submit to it as she has, refusing in my mind to accept the possible idea of her death.

"You're not going to die. We're not going to let this happen," Merlin declares. I give a last look to Gwen, sure that she sees my face and the determination I've set on it then follow Merlin out, knowing he has a plan.

"Where are we going?" I question as he paces frantically, as I trail behind him.

"To see the King," he choruses. I pause in step, eyeballing him as he continues to move forward. I mouth 'what', behind his back but shake my doubt, as I just told him less than twenty minutes ago that I would trust him.

"Beginning to take back my words," I grumble under my breath.

After minutes of half walking half jogging around the castle until we reach the area where public rooms are like where our banquets are held. And more importantly, where Uther holds his council meetings.

"Merlin," I shriek, the word getting louder as I finish it. He cannot be thinking of storming into a council meeting. What would he say? Without letting me think through the possibilities, the warlock pushes open the large entrance doors. My head feels light, as though living in a dream.

"It was me! It was me who used magic to cure Gwen's father!" Merlin cries out to the council. I stand at the door, not stepping into the room, unlike the warlock who strides straight it. A long table in the middle of the room has a group of men both in regular clothing and a few older knights. Arthur stands, bent over a chair and the King stands at the end of the table, acting as the head. Gaius sits near the end closest to the door. Everybody in the room stares at him.

Gaius stands up. "Merlin! Are you mad?" he exclaims.

"I cannot let her die for me." He turns to the king. "I place myself at your mercy."

"Merlin," I warn lowly.

"He doesn't know what he's talking about."

"I do," he retorts.

"Then arrest him," Uther commands.

I stand there stuck in the middle, not sure whether to speak in Merlin's defence with Gaius which would be breaking my promise to him earlier and helping Gwen stay in her cell or agree with Merlin and sentence him to his own death. Gwen versus Merlin.

"Father, please! I can't allow this! This is madness! There's no way Merlin is a sorcerer," Arthur disputes. For once I am glad that he is blind to reality some times.

"Did you not hear him?"

"Yes."

"He admitted it."

"He saved my life, remember."

"Why should he fabricate such a story?"

"As Gaius said," the Prince looks at Merlin, as though he is internally cringing, "He's got a grave mental disease." Yes, Arthur, it's called stupidity.

"Really?" The King questions, looking at the Servant with uncertainty.

"He's in love," Arthur declares to push his case forward, walking up beside his servant.

"What?" said boy protests.

"With Gwen!" I say, speaking up for the first time as I catch onto Arthur's plan. Both Arthur and Merlin look at me but both have very different facial expressions at my input. My shoulders give a little shrug.

"No way," Merlin interjects. Arthur's arm swings around Merlin, silently convincing him to agree with the Prince but he doesn't let up.

"I saw you yesterday with that flower she'd given you."

"I'm not in love with her."

"It's alright. You can admit it." Arthur seems cocky now, taking advantage of Merlin's vulnerability since he knows that he has the King convinced.

"I don't even think of her like that!"

"Perhaps she cast a spell on you," Uther wonders. Arthur looks to his father, worriedly but the council members chortle, snickering amongst themselves and the Prince's face relaxes.

"Merlin is a wonder, but the wonder is that he's such an idiot. There's no way he's a sorcerer."

"Don't waste my time again. Let him go," Uther commands, waving his hand in dismissal. Gaius, Merlin and I leave the council, the door vibrating as it shuts. Merlin turns to me, his ears steaming.

"Why did you agree with Arthur?" he spits. I step back in shock.

"I'm sorry?"

"If you hadn't spoken up I could've convinced them it was me," he chastises. "You told me that you would help me."

"I also said that I wouldn't if it would end up with you dead. I want to save Gwen just as much as you do but I will not let you trade your lives for one another. There's no gain in that for anybody," I growl. "But let's look on the bright side, you got to tell Arthur you were a sorcerer," I end with a more sarcastic tone. Merlin scoffs.

"He thinks he is so sharp, he couldn't even see it when I told him to his face."

"Sorcerers are pretty hard to spot," Gaius inputs.

"Maybe I should go around wearing a pointy hat."

"I don't think you'll find one big enough," says Gaius the same time I say, "please do."

"If we're going to save Gwen, we have to find out what's contaminating the water."

"I'll let you guys go do that, I don't really fancy going down into the caverns," I say. "I'll keep Gwen Company for a while, she probably needs it."

"And then Merlin just stormed into the council and proclaimed he was the sorcerer," I giggle, sitting down against the cell door. "You should have seen Uther's face – I mean, a servant barging in unannounced to a council meeting."

"That must have been quite the sight," Gwen laughs.

"Arthur ended up claiming that he has a mental alignment which I don't disagree with, that boy is his own level of stupid but Uther believed him. They're checking the water now." I look at the girl, who sits, leaning against the wall as close as she can get to the door. "They are going to get you out, they just have to find whatever really did cause this disease." Gwen nods, going to say something but hesitates. "What is it?"

"Merlin said that you also got sick, but just like my father you got better. Was there a poultice found under your pillow as well?"

I shake my head, looking at my hands. "No. I think they would have thought you saved both of us. Our friendship isn't exactly a secret but I don't know what they think. They don't have any evidence to go on with my case."

"Were you alone?"

I don't answer, thinking about how Leon stayed in my room all night and how grateful I am that he left before the sun rose. He could have been in the same position as Gwen right now. But do I tell Gwen that?

"Yes," I swallow. I couldn't risk anybody knowing, even Gwen. I don't think Merlin even knew who it was. "I better go check on how much progress they've made but I'll come by and see you later."

Once I leave the cells I head out to the front of the castle, intending on some fresh air after being down in the dungeon for longer than I would rather. Arthur and Morgana pass by me, walking with purpose towards the court.

"Hey!" I call out to them.

"Oh great," Arthur mutters, loud enough for me to hear.

"Arthur!" Merlin calls from the middle of the court. The four of us meet up, Arthur drawing his sword.

"What are we doing?" I ask, looking between them all.

"There's this creature, an Afanc. We destroy it, we end the disease," Merlin informs me.

"Cool." I rub my hands together. "I'm coming."

"You have nothing to defend yourself with," Arthur argues. I pull up my skirt leg to reveal the boots that I wear. Leaning down I pull out a dagger from beside my ankle. I always kept one there, thick socks protecting my feet from its edges. The two men look at me in surprise.

"What?" I shrug, "I use it to cut loose threads and stuff." Morgana gives me a side smirk and I wink back at her.

Arthur opens the door to the tunnel leading to the water cavern. "You better be right about this, Merlin." A low growling sound fills the air, vibrating off the walls. The Prince turns to Morgana and begins arguing, something about not coming along but I push the conversation out of my head. I scan the tunnel, dark and dreary just like I imagined. I wince, my mind seeing the wall shrink and breathing becomes harder without the open air. I close my eyes, taking deep breaths.

"You could too…if you don't get out of my way," Morgana sniggers, moving past the Prince.

"Arthur just doesn't know anything about women does he?" I whisper to Merlin with humour.

"Does he really know anything about anything besides how to swing a sword?" the warlock mumbles back.

"Oi," I smack his arm. He looks at me offended. "Don't be mean. He knows how to use a lance as well," I add, making us both snicker under our breaths.

"How are we going to find it?" Morgana calls out.

"I just hope we do before it finds us," Merlin says, holding his torch up.

"Nice way to stay positive," I tell him, giving a sarcastic smile. Arthur isn't listening in on our conversation, focused on the shadows around us.

"Stop," he demands, holding steady and silent.

"What?" I glance around, not seeing anything.

"It's just a shadow," he dismisses. "Spread out." We move forward and I stick to the middle of the group as we reach the source of water for the town. We split ways, each taking a different tunnel. I follow Merlin down the right, admittedly grasping the sleeve of his jacket. Back where Arthur is, a growl rumbles through the tunnel and the sound of a sword-swinging can be heard. We turn, running back to where we split, Arthur standing with his sword ready.

"What is it? Are you alright?" Morgana asks him. Whatever Arthur saw wasn't here.

"Yeah."

"Did you see it?" Merlin queries.

"Yes."

"What did it look like?"

"It…it's quick."

"Thanks. We didn't know that" I remark. Arthur points his finger up at me threateningly. The Afanc saves me though as it appears in front of Morgana. Arthur turns to swing at it but it disappears again.

"Where is it?" Arthur cries.

"I think it's gone this way," Merlin informs us. I shouldn't have come, I should have just stayed above ground and gone to my chambers. I gasp as I realise something. "What?" Merlin asks, looking around for the Afanc.

"I just realised its dinner night with my friends." I wince, knowing I would have to tell them why.

"Seriously?" Merlin wonders, shaking his head.

The Afanc creeps around out of a corner for us to all see it in full view. It looks like it's made of us, slimy and brown. Arthur swings at it but the creature swipes back, tossing Arthur's sword to the side out of reach. Morgana's torch is also knocked away.

"Arthur, use the torch!"

Doing as he's told, Arthur holds the flame up high, defensively. The creature tries to move forward but it seems to fear fire and keeps its distance from it.

"Lyfte ic þe in balwen ac forhienan," Merlin whispers from beside me. A gust of wind, too strong to be natural flows through the caves, blowing the flames onto the Afanc. The Afanc burns to the ground, dead.

"Let's get out of here," I say after a moment of silence. Everybody silently agrees, picking up the lost torch and sword. We exit the cavern, a fresh of cool air hitting me. My head falls back, relief flooding me to be out in the open. "So next week again guys?" I remark.

"If that thing shows up again I think we should just burn Camelot and start again," Morgana replies, smirking at me.

"Good idea. I'll let you guys sort out the aftermath." I wave goodbye at them, jogging back up to my chamber's hallways. I knock on Torj's door, letting myself in.

Three men sit around a table that has three empty plates and a fourth which has been messed with as though they had taken some food from it. The knights look tired, the night coming to end an end for it. I cringe, having missed it all. Not even late, it is over.

"And where have you been?" Torj inquires, taking a long sip of his drink, leg resting on the only chair not used.

"I was helping Merlin and Arthur with something. Sorry, but in my defence, we shouldn't have anybody getting sick anymore," I offer, biting my cheek. "So you can't be mad at me since you won't have those extra shifts anymore."

"You found what causing it?" Castor asks in disbelief, as he plays with a knife. I nod.

"Yep. I didn't really do anything but it was called an…an… Afanc I think. Arthur killed it."

"You are going to get yourself killed," Torj points out in a disapproving tone.

"And with my current streak I'll miraculously come back to life," I retort, sitting down at my plate, kicking the redhead's foot off. "And who got into my potatoes. They're my favourite."

"Sorry," Leon says nonchalantly. I give him a side glare, stabbing my fork into the meat. "Merlin seems to always be getting into some type of trouble, dragging you along into it," he says in an even tone.

"Merlin does seem to be a magnet for trouble and I just happen to be with him when it does appear," I reply, biting into my food which is cold. "Gwen should be released too."

"Good," Castor says, "Everybody but Uther could see that she was innocent."