The Power of Three
Chapter Nine: A Remedy to Cure All Ills, Part Two
Morgana looked no different than she had during the night, still fragile and pale and near death. Edwin took an almost uncomfortably long time to examine her. The stretch of time that he was with her seemed to last even longer since he allowed no one in the room. The group, consisting of Uther, Arthur, Gaius, and Merlin, congregated in tense, discomforting silence across the corridor.
As they waited, light footsteps approached them, and Merlin turned his head to see a flustered Gwen hurrying down the hallway in their direction, her gaze set so resolutely on her mistress's door that she didn't see the people waiting outside. She had reached for the door handle when Uther barked, "Girl!" Both Merlin and Gwen jumped while Arthur and Gaius watched the interaction in silence.
Gwen recovered relatively quickly from the shock and hurried to stand before the king, dipping into a deep curtsy. "My lord?" Her voice trembled slightly. Merlin knew she was remembering vividly her arrest, the king shouting at her in the throne room, demanding her to confess to being a witch, waiting in the damp, moldy dungeon for her unjust death.
The king's harsh address softened lightly at the respectful, reverent greeting. Merlin wondered with a touch of bitterness if Arthur's father even remembered who Gwen was, or if she had been shoved into a corner in the king's mind as soon as she was no longer considered a threat to Camelot. "What are you doing?" Uther asked, no real heat in his voice.
Gwen kept her dark eyes trained on her feet. "I was going to attend to my lady, your highness," she said. "I am the Lady Morgana's maid."
The king's voice housed a hollowness as his grey eyes flicked between Morgana's door and the servant's bowed head. "I know who you are," he said simply. Gwen's shoulders tensed slightly in surprise, but she did not lift her head. "You have been Morgana's handmaiden since she was a child. She's rather fond of you."
Even with the reverential tilt of her head, Merlin saw Gwen's face redden. She stammered,"That is why I was going into her room, sire. She has always been so kind to me, and I wanted to check on her."
"A new physician is looking over her now, so no one is allowed in the room," Arthur cut into the conversation. Gwen's head did snap up at that, but she looked directly at Gaius. Confusion and concern glittered, suspiciously tear-like, in her eyes. Gaius managed a heavy smile in her direction.
"A second opinion is never a bad idea, especially in a case such as this," he explained. Merlin could tell how much his mentor's entire being fought against uttering those words. Gaius trusted Edwin less than Merlin and Arthur combined, the sorcerer could tell even without having the opportunity to speak to Gaius on the matter.
Before Gwen could respond, the door opened and Edwin came out, eyes cast down demurely, something clenched in one of his fists.
Uther strode forward, nearly knocking Gaius over in his haste. "Well?" he asked.
"I have discovered what the cause of her illness is." Edwin spoke carefully, as if he were trying not to startle a skittish horse. Merlin couldn't see the king's reaction to this news from behind, but he did see the king's hands clench into fists at his sides.
"Gaius says that he already knows the illness," Uther said.
Gaius stepped forward to stand just behind his king. "Inflammation of the brain," he supplied.
Edwin looked surprised. "I am afraid I cannot concur with your diagnosis, sir. With all due respect, all of my medical knowledge points to one thing - a cerebral hemorrhage."
Gaius's tone held an unusual level of harshness as he exclaimed, "That's impossible!"
Uther held up a hand to quiet the old man. "What is that?" he asked, voice rough with concern.
Gaius answered before Edwin could. "It would mean that she has bleeding on her brain. But there was no blood, sire. It cannot be a hemorrhage."
A sympathetic wince pulled grotesquely at the scars on Edwin's face. He opened his fist and offered something to the king. Merlin and Arthur scooted forward simultaneously to get a better look. Merlin's heart stuttered with a new wave of fear when he saw the king holding in trembling hands a white handkerchief with a spot of deep crimson as its centerpiece. He heard Arthur's sharp intake of breath beside him. "This blood came from her ear, your highness," Edwin said.
Merlin watched a slew of emotions race across Gaius's wrinkled face - first shock, then confusion, then a deep suspicion. "I saw no blood," he repeated stubbornly.
Uther turned to his physician. "Then what do you call this?" he asked, shaking the handkerchief in his direction. Gaius didn't answer. The tension in the hallway thickened like a bubbling stew.
Edwin turned to Gaius and asked, "May I ask what you were treating her with?"
Gaius's lips pursed slightly, and Merlin could tell that he didn't want to reveal anything to this strange newcomer. At a pointed glance from the king, however, he said, "Rosemary."
"Then it is a very good thing that I came along!" Edwin proclaimed, rather boldly, in Merlin's opinion. "After all, if you had kept administering that particular herb…" He trailed off ominously.
"What is he talking about, Gaius?" the king demanded.
Again, Gaius hesitated, but ultimately he admitted, "Rosemary would increase the bleed of a hemorrhage, sire."
Uther's face paled. Edwin, to Merlin's surprise, was quick to come to Gaius's defense. "You mustn't blame him, sire," he urged. "Even the best of us miss something every once in a while."
Gaius crossed his arms over his chest. "I missed nothing," he insisted. "There was no blood."
"You can see for yourself that there is now!" Uther exclaimed. He took a deep breath, handed the soiled cloth to Edwin, and asked, "Will you be able to cure her?"
Something like triumph flashed in Edwin's eyes for a split second, but Merlin couldn't be sure what that meant. His suspicions of the man only continued to grow, but Edwin seemed nothing but genuinely interested in helping Morgana. Was Merlin's loyalty to Gaius causing him to imagine dubious intent in Edwin's expression?
"Now that I know the cause of the sickness, yes, I can." A smile bloomed on his face at the collective breath that those gathered let out. "I will need to set up my equipment somewhere close by." He turned to Merlin. "Follow me, boy, there is much work to be done."
Edwin ended up setting up shop in a rarely used servant's room next to Morgana's chambers. Merlin supposed that Gwen would have lived there if she didn't have a home of her own in the lower town. It took many breath-stealing trips up and down the stairs to transport all of his equipment to his new workplace, but Edwin was kind enough to help so that Merlin didn't have to cart everything on his own, which Merlin greatly appreciated. More and more he was finding himself liking Edwin, for the man, despite his unusual appearance and almost pompous air of mystery, had been nothing but kind and helpful to everyone he had met during his time in the castle. The only real seed of negativity Merlin retained toward the physician came very clearly from Merlin's own fealty to Gaius.
Merlin heaved the last box onto the table in the center of the room and wiped his sweaty forehead with his sleeve. He would be feeling this in pretty much every muscle in the morning. "What is all this?" he asked, hoping Edwin caught on to the curiosity in his voice and didn't think Merlin was being too nosy.
Edwin answered easily: "Just the tools of my trade. Scientific instruments, potions, ingredients." He saw Merlin's eyes focused on the wild assortment of tubes, bronze scales and weights, vials and beakers and smiled. "This equipment," he said grandly, letting a scarred hand hover over the mass of strange objects, "was developed specifically for alchemy."
"You mean… making gold?" Merlin asked, surprised.
Edwin's eyes lit up in approval. "Among other things, yes." He studied Merlin closely for a long few seconds before following up with, "You seem remarkably well informed for a mere servant. Do you study science or medicine?"
Merlin felt his cheeks burn at the compliment. He had been called many things throughout his life, but smart was generally not one of them. "Ah, no, I just spend a lot of time around Gaius," he admitted. "I just pick up things here and there."
"Perhaps you should study under me while you are here," Edwin suggested. "A bright lad like you is wasted as a serving boy, even to a prince." Merlin was both flattered and uncomfortable at the man's words. "After all, science is the most important thing you can learn in this life. It explains everything."
Merlin considered this carefully before rebutting, "It doesn't explain love."
Edwin chuckled. "Perhaps not." His eyes were sharp and quick. "Are you in love with anyone Merlin?"
Merlin's entire face felt as if it had been shoved into a pile of embers. "Me? No, no, I'm not in love with anyone."
"Not even the Lady Morgana?" Edwin asked innocently. "She is rather beautiful."
Merlin hadn't thought his face and ears could get any hotter. He was wrong. "I am well beneath her station," he choked out, wishing with everything within him that he could turn tail and escape this conversation immediately.
Edwin laughed again. "That's not what I asked." But, thankfully, he let the matter drop.
"Let's just get this last box unpacked, and then I will return to the lady's chambers to administer the remedy," he suggested. Merlin gladly aquiested - he would have done most anything to get away from the subject matter of his love life, or lack thereof.
Merlin reached into the crate and pulled out the first thing his fingertips touched, an ornate little box, crafted like a tiny treasure chest, a dark wood with bronze overlays depicting abstract designs of shapes and words that he didn't immediately recognize. Something about the box entranced him. It almost buzzed beneath his fingers; a strange energy seemed to flow through his body at contact. Even though he knew it was rude, that one should never snoop into someone else's things, especially right in front of them, Merlin experienced a nearly inescapable pull to open the lid, to see what was inside.
Edwin snatched the box out of Merlin's hands before the sorcerer had a chance to do anything more than consider opening it. "Yes, we will need that," he said somewhat stiffly, quickly stuffing the box into a pocket in his cloak and out of sight. Merlin's curiosity was the opposite of assuaged, however; that box, for whatever reason, had called out to him. It could be important to his mission from Arthur as well. He would try to examine it closer whenever Edwin wasn't around, assuming the man left it unattended.
Edwin foraged around on the cluttered table as Merlin finished unpacking the box, surfacing with a few corked vials and a sprig of an herb Merlin was unfamiliar with.
"I must go to the Lady Morgana at once," he said. Merlin made to follow him, but he was swiftly waved off. "I don't need any more help today, thank you," he said quickly. "I need total quiet and complete concentration to properly administer this cure."
Merlin found this odd, but there was nothing he could do about it, so he nodded and walked the opposite direction after exiting the room behind Edwin, toward Arthur's chambers instead of Morgana's.
"Well?" Arthur demanded as soon as Merlin let himself into the prince's chambers.
"Well what?"
Arthur shot Merlin an annoyed glance. "Did you find out anything about him or what he's planning on doing to cure Morgana?"
"Not as such," Merlin admitted. "He really loves science and alchemy, and he seems nice enough, though maybe a bit too friendly at times."
Merlin watched Arthur's eyes immediately harden. "Too friendly how?"
Realizing that perhaps "too friendly" had not been the best choice of words because of what they might imply, Merlin quickly backtracked. "Not like that; he just asked some questions that were a bit too personal for my taste."
Arthur's eyes remained narrowed, but he did relax a bit in his seat. "Like what?"
Merlin's ears grew hot. "Nothing important, I promise. Forget I said anything." Please, he pleaded in his head. He really did not want Arthur to think that there was any chance he was smitten with the king's ward, or anyone at all, for that matter. He would never hear the end of the teasing.
Merlin could see in Arthur's expression that he really wanted to know, but he ended up letting the matter drop because he had more important things to talk about. Merlin had a nasty feeling that Arthur would bring this up again at a later time, once things had settled down, and he could only pray that the prince would be so overjoyed to see Morgana healed that he would forget to revisit the subject. "Well, anything else? Surely you discerned something useful about him." Arthur took a moment to reflect on what he had just said, then made a face and amended, "I forget who I'm talking to."
"Actually, there was one odd thing," Merlin answered, ignoring the dig. "There was a strange box with carvings and words on it that he was really protective of. As soon as I touched it, he grabbed it and hid it away."
"He probably just doesn't like people putting their grubby servants' hands on his things," Arthur suggested.
"I think there were words of magic on the lid," Merlin revealed, realizing as soon as he said it that the words he hadn't recognized were indeed from the Old Tongue.
Arthur leaned forward, expression darkening. "He's a sorcerer?"
"I don't know for sure," Merlin responded carefully, trying not to feel hurt at Arthur's increased suspicion at the idea. "But the box had a strange kind of energy, and I'm almost certain that there was a spell on the lid." At the concern marring Arthur's face, the sorcerer felt an intense need to stick up for Edwin in the light of their possible shared affinity for magic. "But you had no problem with me using magic to try and heal her. So what if he's a sorcerer? If it works, it works, right?"
Arthur heaved a tense breath. "I know you, Merlin, but I know next to nothing about him. Like I've said before, most other sorcerers I've encountered have not had pure intentions."
Merlin refused to budge on the matter. "I'm not some crazy exception to the world of magic," he argued.
"But you said it yourself - you are," Arthur returned, almost gently. "You are the only one who was ever born with magic as far as Gaius knows. So that makes you unique."
"That has nothing to do with whether I'm good or evil, and you know it, Arthur." Merlin stood his ground despite the knowledge that he could be pushing the prince too far.
Arthur, though, just eyed his servant critically for a few charged seconds before scrubbing a hand over his face and partially ceding the point. "Perhaps."
It was something, Merlin supposed, but if Edwin truly did end up having less than good intentions, then he truly feared for Arthur's newly tolerant views on magic. Merlin was very grateful that the prince trusted him, but that, ultimately, wasn't enough. He needed to understand that not every person who used magic had nefarious purposes. That there were more good sorcerers than just Merlin himself. There had to be, although Merlin hadn't actually met any personally.
If you do have magic, please cure Morgana, and prove me right, Merlin thought desperately. Show Arthur the truth about us.
By the time Edwin had finished treating Morgana, Uther and Arthur, along with Gaius and Merlin, had congregated outside of Morgana's chambers, waiting with bated breath for any news.
Edwin emerged at last, his cowl around his shoulders, his unreadable face on full display. His hands were folded neatly before him, his head angled toward the ground, the perfect picture of a loyal subject. It made Gaius's skin crawl.
"Well?" the king asked expectantly. To most people, it would seem that the king was only angry and impatient, but Gaius had known the man for a long time and could hear the hope and fear warring for dominance in his voice. "How is she?"
Edwin let a small smile appear on his face as he answered, gesturing for them to enter the room, "Why don't you ask her yourself?"
The suspicion that had been nagging at Gaius since first laying eyes on the man now became a deafening roar. There was no way that Edwin had cured Morgana from her illness, especially so quickly, with any natural means. Gaius did not have the hatred for magic that Uther did, and so it was not the idea of Edwin using magic that bothered him so. There was something else, something familiar, like he had known the lad long ago, as if in a dream. This, mingled with the sense of foreboding that living as long as Gaius endowed, screamed at Gaius that everything about this situation was wrong.
He would have to be very careful in the future, and to keep a close eye out for trouble. He had a nasty feeling that this was far from over.
When Morgana awoke, it was to an unfamiliar face that sent unbidden shivers down her spine and an unexplainable crawling sensation all over her body. It wasn't his scarred visage that unnerved her so; it was his eyes, she thought blearily as she tried to shrink away from the form leaning over her and found that her body was weaker than she could ever remember. His eyes, though looking at her in what appeared to be kindness, had a strange light to them that Morgana couldn't explain.
Thankfully, he stood up, flashing a smile that didn't quite reach those eyes.
Her head hurt. She closed her eyes, determined to crawl back into sleep, into that dark, comforting place where strange, cloaked men didn't lurk by bedsides like living nightmares and weakness and pain didn't exist because there was nothing for them to reside in. But a voice spoke, strange, oddly lilting. He said her name.
"Wh-who are you?" Morgana demanded as fiercely as she could, but there was little power behind her words. She was so tired.
"My name is Edwin Muirden," the stranger answered, as if that explained anything. If she had the strength, she would have given this Edwin Muirden a piece of her mind. Before she could make any attempt to do just that, however, he followed up with, "I am a physician, my lady, and I have just cured you of a terrible illness."
"Illness?" Perhaps that was why she felt so tired. But, if she had been ill, then - "Where's Gaius?"
Edwin smiled in what could only be an apologetic manner. "I'm afraid your illness was too severe for even Gaius to properly cure." Morgana could have sworn that she heard a hint of glee in his voice, but it was gone so quickly that she supposed she could have imagined it, protective as she felt for Gaius, the grandfatherly old man who had taken care of her hurts and ills her entire life. "But let us focus on more happy things," Edwin insisted before Morgana had a chance to further reflect. "Your loved ones are right outside the door, waiting for you to wake. Shall I call for them?"
Part of Morgana wanted simply to go back to sleep until the unbearable fatigue she was engulfed in could be staved off, but even more she wanted to see the faces of those familiar to her, those she loved. Waking up to a stranger telling her that she had just returned from the brink of death had proven to be quite unsettling, and she knew she truly could not rest until she saw her friends and knew that she was safe.
Uther entered first, and Morgana thought with surprise that she had rarely seen him look so vulnerable. His eyes were tired and red-rimmed as he crossed the room to stand at her bedside. "I thought I was going to lose you," he said as he approached her, his voice thick with emotion, and he planted a gentle kiss on the top of her head.
Even as the king's ward, Morgana had hardly ever seen the king display an emotional side, unless the emotion was anger or exasperation. Now more than ever she found herself at odds with the man; they clashed over court politics, his views on his people, and sometimes even magic. And on the occasions that she was not disagreeing with him, Uther was a king much, much more than he was a guardian. He didn't express affection openly.
Touched by this uncharacteristic display, Morgana offered the king a weak smile. "It's good to be back."
Arthur and Gaius entered behind the king and congregated at the foot of her bed. Arthur flashed her a rare, genuine grin and Gaius gave a wrinkled smile that she thought looked more like a grimace. There was something bothering the old physician, she was sure of it. Once she was well enough, she would get him alone and find out what was going on. Something was rotten in Camelot; the strange man who had healed her of an even stranger illness that Gaius could not was alarming in and of itself, but seeing Gaius so bothered in the wake of Morgana's being healed did not settle well with the king's ward.
Morgana's eyes caught movement at the doorway, and she glanced over to see two figures lingering just inside her chambers. Merlin was grinning as widely as she had ever seen, and Gwen stood silently beside him, her eyes swimming in unshed tears and a soft smile on her lips. Morgana noticed that she was gripping Merlin's sleeve rather tightly, as if holding herself up. Morgana smiled warmly at the pair and gave a little wave. The king, who had been conversing with the strange healer, Edwin, cast a glance over his shoulder to see who she was gesturing to, but quickly turned back to his conversation when he saw the servants. While the king's habit of overlooking the serving staff normally annoyed her, Morgana now thought perhaps it was a blessing; with Merlin's magic, it was best for the king to barely notice his existence. He'd be safer that way.
After a few more minutes of conversation, Morgana felt weariness nipping at her from all directions. Thankfully, Gaius seemed to notice and pointed out sagely to the king that Morgana needed to rest. Uther quickly heeded the old physician's advice and ushered everyone out of the room, but not before Morgana caught an irritated expression on Edwin's face as he too moved to follow Gaius's advice.
Merlin didn't have time to reconvene with Arthur about Edwin until he brought the prince his dinner that evening, but with said dinner he brought a huge bit of surprising news about the man who had so graciously healed Morgana. A part of him was hesitant to impart this revelation because of the deep-seated fear that Arthur wouldn't take it well, especially regarding their previous unresolved conversation on the matter, but ultimately he reasoned that he had to trust Arthur just as Arthur had chosen to trust him.
And so, when he set the prince's dinner down in front of him, he announced without preamble in hushed tones, "Edwin definitely has magic."
Arthur choked on the roll he'd just snagged from the plate. Eyes watering, he reached for the goblet of water and gulped some down before clearing his throat and meeting an anxious Merlin's gaze. "Excuse me?"
"Edwin has magic," Merlin repeated. Without invitation - not that he ever waited for one - he took the seat at the table across from Arthur and watched for Arthur's reaction nervously.
Arthur sat forward in his chair, almost stuck his elbow in his food, then pushed it aside, abandoning the idea of dinner all together. "So it wasn't just the box that had magic then?" he asked, his expression unreadable. "Are you positive? How did you find out?"
Merlin hesitated, an uncomfortable, almost guilty look revealing that there was something that he was thinking about hiding. "Tell me, Merlin," Arthur ordered, perhaps a bit more fiercely than he'd intended, but Merlin had to stop merely flirting with the concept of honesty - he had to tell Arthur the truth about everything, or this wasn't going to work. He reminded his servant of this: "How can I trust you with your magic if you keep things from me?"
Arthur's tone was level - he tried to remain calm when discussing the subjects of magic and truth with the sorcerer, because he'd seen multiple times how twitchy Merlin was regarding his secret. Even though he felt pretty comfortable using his magic in front of Arthur at this point, a part of him seemed to be stuck in a terrified way of thinking, like if he slipped up once, everything would fall to pieces. Despite this even tone, however, Merlin still flinched like he had been threatened.
"You can trust me, Arthur," he insisted, and then plunged ahead into his explanation without giving the prince a chance to respond, as if to prove as quickly as possible that he could indeed be trusted. "I know because he told me he has magic. He showed me."
Arthur eyed his servant disbelievingly. "He just… came up to you and announced that he had magic?"
"Sort of," Merlin hedged. There he went again. Keeping secrets was so second-nature to the sorcerer at this point that he probably didn't even realize he was doing it, Arthur thought.
"Define 'sort of.'"
Merlin shifted awkwardly in his seat. "Promise you won't be mad?" He looked up at Arthur from beneath his lashes and looked so much like a child in that moment that the prince nearly laughed.
Pitiful as he was, Arthur could make no promises. "With a lead-in like that, I think it would be irresponsible of me to make that promise," he remarked dryly. When Merlin hesitated again, he rolled his eyes. "Just tell me."
"He told me he had magic after he… well, after he found out that I have magic, too." Merlin said this in such a jumbled rush that Arthur almost didn't comprehend it. As it was, he let the words hang in the air for a long, uncomfortable moment before responding, too exhausted to be anything but exasperated. Cupping his face in his hands, he let out a manic chuckle before looking over at Merlin, who in turn was gazing anxiously back at him.
"I swear, Merlin," Arthur sighed, "for someone whose entire life relies on keeping secrets, you're awful at keeping them." Sending his servant a longsuffering glance, he prompted, "Well? Don't keep me in suspense any longer. What the hell happened?"
And so, with a wary eye on his master, Merlin spoke.
Merlin wasn't satisfied with what he'd learned about Edwin - seeing as it was practically nothing - and he knew that the man's healing of Morgana was nothing short of suspicious. And the way that he had insinuated that Gaius had made a mistake that had almost cost Morgana her life… The man was certainly up to no good now, there was no doubt about it, despite Merlin's earlier goodwill toward the healer. If Gaius hadn't been able to cure Morgana, then Merlin doubted it could have been done by normal means. And Gaius didn't make mistakes. Not like this.
So while Edwin conferred in the throne room with the king, Merlin took advantage of the opportunity and slipped into the man's work room. Knowing just what he was looking for made his job that much easier. Within a couple of minutes, he had found the odd box amongst the strange metal instruments and scientific equipment. He studied the words on the lid, but didn't say them aloud. Instead, he undid the latch and lifted the lid, surprised that he was able to do so without saying the incantation.
Whatever surprise he felt was dwarfed by the shock of what lay within the box. Insects - tens, if not hundreds of them - filled the chest, little black things that glittered like grotesque shards of obsidian. Merlin almost dropped the box in an instinctive need to be as far away from the creatures as possible, but then he realized - they weren't moving. Were they dead? Merlin didn't think so.
Thinking hard, trying to find an explanation for this strange turn of events, Merlin shut the box on the static swarm and contemplated the words engraved on the lid. With many reservations, he spoke the words aloud. When nothing happened that he could see, Merlin lifted the top and peeped in, gut squirming in revulsion when he saw the mass of beetles writhing and crawling all over one another. It wasn't just because they were insects. Most insects didn't bother Merlin all that much. But there was something wrong about these.
Merlin nearly jumped out of his neckerchief as Edwin's voice sounded behind him. "So you have magic."
Merlin spun, panic rising. Maybe Arthur was right, and there was something wrong with him. How was it that more people had discovered his magic in the few months he'd been in Camelot than all the years that had come before?
Merlin tried to deny it, but knew from experience that it was pointless. "No, I -"
"It's okay," Edwin said. "You don't have to hide it from me." He spoke another incantation, and the insects immediately fell still.
Arthur stood abruptly. "His magic," he mused, "Did he use it to heal Morgana? And what was the deal with the insects?"
Merlin watched Arthur closely before he answered, trying to gauge how Arthur was taking this news. Would he immediately jump to suspicion and anger because Edwin had magic? Was Merlin the only one Arthur was giving the benefit of the doubt, or was he learning that not all magic was bad?
"Merlin!" Arthur barked impatiently.
"He, ah, he said that he did use magic to heal Morgana. He said the beetles were used to heal the damages to her brain."
Arthur wrinkled his nose in disgust but chose not to further acknowledge that disturbing revelation. "Okay. What else is he up to?"
Despite his own suspicions about the healer, Merlin was hurt by Arthur's inherent distrust of someone with magic after everything he'd seen from his servant. These feelings came out, as they often did, as irritation. "So if he has magic, he's automatically up to something?" Merlin snapped, perhaps a little more harshly than he'd intended.
Arthur paused, a flash of aggravation flitting across his own face at the outburst. "Have you forgotten our earlier conversation? I told you I trusted you, Merlin," the prince said peevishly. "Is that suddenly not enough for you?"
"And I told you," Merlin argued obstinately, "magic itself isn't evil. But seeing as you still seem determined to distrust magic anyway…" He knew he was pushing it with Arthur, and he also knew he wasn't being fair. He himself had already voiced his suspicions about Edwin's intentions. Arthur's distrust of the man might have nothing to do with magic. And if it did, would that be so surprising? Arthur was still new to the world of magic. The only sorcerer he'd met that hadn't attempted to kill him was Merlin. It would take time. And Merlin himself had told the prince that even if he never repealed the law against magic in Camelot, he would still stand by his side. Was he that fickle, having become so spoiled with Arthur's acceptance that he couldn't settle for just that? This was a dangerous line of thinking, and he backed down immediately.
"I'm sorry," the servant muttered, ducking his head and glancing up to see Arthur's angry, somewhat startled expression soften. "That wasn't fair." He let his gaze drop back down.
Arthur was terrifyingly quiet for several long moments before he spoke again, his voice slow and measured. Merlin couldn't tell if he was trying to keep anger out of his voice or if he was simply trying to make sure he didn't misspeak. "You're right," he agreed. "It wasn't." Merlin felt his face burn hot. "But," Arthur continued in a slightly lighter tone, "I am not completely blind to what you must be feeling, either. I know it must be important to you that I see magic the way that you do. But this is all so new to me." An unusual vulnerability manifested itself briefly in Arthur's face and stance, but was quickly smoothed away once more. "I will try to understand - I am trying to understand - but I need time. For now, can it be enough that I trust you?" A slight hesitation, then - "Please, Merlin. For now, let it be enough."
Merlin had to clear a lump from his throat before he was able to respond, a cacophony of emotions fighting for dominance, understanding, disappointment, and shame chief among them. "Of course. It's enough."
Arthur offered a curt nod in response, then immediately latched onto a subject not emotionally charged with the desperation of a starving man who has just discovered a feast. "We can agree, though, that magic aside, there is something off about Edwin?"
Merlin did his best to shake off the residual feelings from their prior argument and nodded. "He's likable enough, but whatever that box is, it's just… wrong. If he is in possession of it, I don't think he can be up to anything good."
Arthur considered this. "I've had a strange feeling about him myself, from the beginning. It's odd, though. What evil could come out of healing Morgana?"
A dark thought stole into Merlin's mind. He hesitated to express it, especially with no proof, but Arthur had seen the cogs turning in his servant's head, had realized when something clicked.
"What?" he demanded.
Merlin sighed heavily. "What if … what if he was able to heal Morgana only because he was the one to make her ill in the first place?"
Arthur paled. "Why would he try to kill her and then save her life?"
Merlin's thoughts were racing, going over everything that Edwin had said and done since he'd arrived in Camelot. Words he had spoken and sympathetic insinuations regarding Gaius's competency began to fit amongst the other puzzle pieces, the strange magic and odd vibes that Edwin had given off. "Maybe his goal wasn't to kill Morgana," Merlin realized. "Maybe she was just a means to get something else."
Arthur twisted his ring nervously. He seemed on the edge of agreeing with Merlin, but he was not quite convinced. Maybe everything hadn't quite come together in his own mind, or maybe he didn't want to think about the possible implications. "So, what… he's after a reward? Power? Recognition?"
"Maybe," Merlin said, but something still wasn't settling well with that theory, either. Whatever Edwin's intentions, the sorcerer couldn't help but think that they were more sinister in nature.
"Well, until we have something more solid to go on than maybe, I want you to try to stay as close to Edwin as possible," Arthur finally decided. "Take him up on his offer to train you. I'll continue to lend your services to him as long as he's in Camelot."
Merlin nodded. He felt a bit uneasy about the prospect of spending more time with the strange man and his unsettling box of beetles, but he agreed with Arthur - he could think of no better plan at the moment.
"Okay," he said. "I'll do it."
Arthur rolled his eyes. "Of course you'll do it, Merlin. I ordered you to." Merlin scoffed, drawing a small grin from Arthur. "But - and this is important, so pay attention, Merlin - you must not let him know that we have any suspicions. You must be subtle. You do know what subtlety is, Merlin?"
At the intentionally patronizing tone, Merlin huffed, "I certainly know what it's not."
Surely Arthur had to know that he was walking into something. And yet, he asked, "And what's that, Merlin?"
"Prince Arthur."
He ducked as Arthur flung a goblet at his head.
A/N: It was nice to end on a lighter note for once. :) Obviously a lot of canon things happened in this chapter, along with a lot of tension between our boys on the subject of magic. I really wanted to slow down in the middle of this arc to explore this idea of how they are still somewhat at odds with their perception of magic in general, because I think it will only serve to strengthen their relationship in the future. Next chapter will diverge much more from the actual episode, as well as have some Mergana moments that I've been dying to write. Like I've said, the focus of this fic isn't romance, but if romance happens along the way, who am I to say no in the face of love? ;)
Thank you so much to Bobcat1957, Alshert, Cdnacho98, Taz, Straight Gate, oma13, Gingeraffealene, CrystalFire, Minuilin, scylla646, HalloumiHermit, Meeeeeeerlin, Merille Marc, and weirdhead for reviewing chapter 8! Also, thank you to everyone who read, followed, and favorited.
I realize I actually updated on a different schedule than I previously said, so sorry about any confusion! I do plan to take one more week off of updates (so no update this weekend) for New Year's. I plan to be back with regular updates after that. If you want to keep up with any updates or changes or just me in general, I've created a new Twitter, mostly for fan-fiction, updates, and musings. My Twitter handle is emcatfanfic. Please follow me if you're interested at all! :)
All right, that's it for this week. Please let me know your thoughts! I realize this was a slower chapter, but I really enjoyed writing it, and I feel like it is so needed, as Arthur's learning about Merlin's magic is still going to raise some issues in their relationship even after Arthur has accepted it. Anyway, thanks again for taking the time to read! I'll see you soon with the next part!
~Emachinescat ^..^