Jaya pursed her lips slightly. "Yes, I didn't really think that through completely, did I? Considering that water already ruined one pair of my boots." She looked at her dark brown leather bracer and nearly blood red cotton shirt that was now plastered to her arm.
"I'm sure it's fine." Morgana announced, her tone impatient. "What is that?" she asked, pointing at it.
Jaya looked at the item that she had captured. "It looks like an eggshell. Feels like one too." she muttered, running her fingers over it, and turning it this way and that.
"What do all those mean?" Merlin asked, pointing to the markings on the outside, dark blue against the light tanish-white of the shell.
"I don't know." Jaya answered looking them over as she turned it. "I be willing to bet that Gaius will know." She looked at Morgana. "Let's go save Gwen, shall we then?"
"So?" Gwaine asked, "Did anything happen?"
Jaya shook her head and sipped her coffee. "Nah." she set her mug down. "I had to endure a lot of scolding from Freya about taking unnecessary risks. I honestly don't even really know what she said, I stopped listening after the third time she gave it to me."
Gwaine laughed and pressed his hand against his chest for a moment. "I love you."
Jaya smirked and shrugged. "I wore that shirt for years after that."
Arthur didn't need to be prodded. He spun and started toward the door and the outside world.
Morgana rushed off after him, a hopeful look covering her face.
Merlin trotted after them, Jaya covering the rear, from nothing more than habit, shaking her right arm, water droplets flying from the material. "Did you think that through at all?" Merlin asked, looking at the water droplets flinging off the ends of her hair.
Jaya gathered all of her hair over her shoulder and paused halfway through wringing the water out of it. "Do you think I did, Merlin?" she wondered. "Hold this." she pushed the half a shell toward him and as soon as he took it, continued to wring her hair out.
Merlin shook his head. "It'll be all right."
Jaya shrugged. "If not I suppose this shirt isn't that important."
Merlin wasn't sure if she was serious or not, but was distracted when he noticed that her eyes flashed silver. He started and looked around, trying to figure out where the magic had gone.
"That's where the wind came from. That was a stroke of wonderful luck." Arthur looked over his shoulder. "Merlin! Look, something good actually came from you forgetting to close a door for once." Arthur gestured to the large door that was standing open, the metal latch clanging slightly in the small breeze.
Merlin pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. He knew for a fact that he had closed the door. And now he also knew what Jaya had done. He looked over at her.
Jaya smirked and winked.
Merlin nodded and shrugged. "I figured the smell of fresh air could lead us out if you got turned around."
"I don't get lost, Merlin." Arthur scoffed putting out the torch.
"Didn't want to start now." Merlin pointed out.
"Merlin!" Arthur growled.
"After all, there's no moss down in the tunnel. I'm just thinking of you, Sire." Merlin explained, like it was the easiest logic that had ever crossed anyone's mind. He pulled the door shut and locked it.
"Merlin!" Arthur roared.
A sharp whistle pulled their heads around. Jaya and Morgana were almost all the way around the corner. "Oi! Whenever you two hens are done pecking at each other, we have an execution to stop." Jaya reminded, quickly turning and jogging away.
Merlin and Arthur hurried after the two girls, the retorts put on hold.
"Gaius!" Morgana's voice pulled the old physician around. "What do these say?" she asked, ripping the shell out of Jaya's hands and thrusting it toward him impatiently.
"Oi! Tryin' to slice my fingers open?!" Jaya protested.
Arthur hurried past them toward the council chambers where he knew his father would be, already trying to think of a way to stay the execution until Gaius would be able to get there and support his claim that Gwen had nothing to do with the plague and that she had simply been framed to take the fall so that Uther would stop looking for the one responsible.
Gaius carefully took the egg shell and looked at it critically. "Where did you find this?" he asked.
"It was in the pool. We fished it out." Morgana answered.
Jaya cleared her throat.
"Jaya fished it out, actually." Morgana amended, looking at her sheepishly.
"Do you recognize any of those markings, Gaius?" Jaya asked, looking at Merlin, who had come to a stop next to her.
Gaius' eyebrows knit together. "I think so."
Morgana squealed with excitement and rushed off the way that Arthur had gone.
Gaius frowned. "This was in the water?" he looked up at Jaya's still-wet right arm and hair. "And you fished it out? What if it was still contaminated?" he asked his voice gruff.
Jaya half-frowned, half smiled ruefully. "Didn't really think beforehand."
Gaius looked at her and shook his head sternly. "I hope for your sake that the water is no longer contaminated."
Merlin held the small vial. "The Afanc is dead. Here's some of the water so you can test it just to make sure."
Gaius took the vial and then his eyebrows knit together again. "I must talk to the king." He looked sternly at Jaya. "You. Get out of that wet shirt before you catch a cold. And pray that you don't get something worse."
Jaya ducked her head and quickly headed off in the direction of her chambers.
Gwaine looked at her like he had never seen her. "What?!" he laughed softly. "He managed to make you feel guilty?"
"Gaius had this way of making you feel like you're going to shrink to an inch tall. All he had to do was look at you an his eyebrow would go up…" Jaya shuddered slightly. "I can still see that look all these years later. Absolutely terrifying."
It took quite a bit of convincing, and some stamping from Morgana, but Uther finally relented to a stay in the execution to find out of the water had been cleared of the plague. And when a few hours had passed and Gaius returned with the water to announce that it was no longer contaminated, he quickly called for the execution to continue, saying that Gwen had stopped the plague to save herself.
"If I may, Sire. I do not believe that there's any chance that Gwen had anything to do with this plague. An Afanc is conjured by powerful magic from clay. The type held by an ancient sorcerer. One that has the power to invoke the spirit of life." Gaius shook his head. "The girl isn't even old enough to have mastered the beginning of the requirements of that spell."
Uther stilled slightly at those words, looking like he wanted to believe Gaius, but also didn't want to admit it. "And you do not think one so young would have this power."
Gaius shook his head. "There is something else, Sire. This was found by the water source." Gaius produced the cracked eggshell from his sleeves. He turned it slightly and pointed to one mark. "It bears the mark of Nimueh. We must be vigilant, Sire."
"Will I never be rid of her?" Uther asked, exasperation seeping into the edges of his voice.
"Sire-" Gaius started.
"Leave me!" Uther cried, glaring about the room.
Everyone scurried to do his bidding.
Uther marched up to his throne and sat down heavily, his face somber.
Jaya waited where she was. Merlin wouldn't stay there long. He couldn't hardly hold still after all.
Merlin looked around the cell one more time and started off toward the way that Morgana had gone. He yelped slightly in surprise when a hand reached out of the darkness and closed around his upper arm tightly.
"So you're in love with Gwen now, are ya?" Jaya asked, her voice strained from trying to keep from giggling. "Do you want to tell Fey or should I?"
Merlin blanched slightly and shook his head vigorously. "You heard that?" he demanded.
Jaya grinned at him and tilted her head slightly, a few strands falling out of her braid and bouncing across her face. "Playing at more than one Lass, are we Merlin?" she asked, starting to giggle slightly.
"I am not. I don't think of Gwen like that." Merlin protested, his ears burning red.
"But you do about Freya." Jaya agreed with a small nod.
"I do not!" Merlin protested, his ears flushing bright red to match his neck kerchief.
"You're ears tell a different story." Jaya pointed out, following after him as he walked quickly away from her in an effort to make sure that she could no longer bother him.
"Ears don't tell stories." Merlin scoffed.
"That's not entirely true. Yours just turned bright red. That means that you're embarrassed." Jaya pushed, smirking at the guards, momentarily including them in the conversation.
They hadn't heard much before the two of them walked through, but they grinned anyway and elbowed each other with small chuckles.
Merlin stomped up the stairs and wondered to himself if Jaya would go away if he ignored her long enough.
"You know, Merlin. It's really not a bad thing to have options. But I should caution you, playing with the hearts of two women is risky business."
"Leave me alone."
"Especially when it seems like they both see you for the handsome devil that you are." Jaya trotted up the last two steps to ruffle Merlin's shaggy black hair, though he was a little taller than her and she had to stretch to do so.
"Hey!" Merlin protested, ducking away from her hand and half glaring at her.
Jaya just grinned. "Though I must warn you, if for some reason you decide to break some hearts, I strongly suggest you keep in mind that one of them is my responsibility to protect. And the other...you'll have to face Morgana. And we've all seen what's she's like when she's angry."
Merlin sunk his head down between his shoulders, wishing with all his might that he could just spirit Jaya away from him until she could find something else to talk about. He looked around for a moment. There wasn't anyone around them.
Jaya suddenly stopped. She had been walking next to and just a little behind Merlin, but it felt like she had run into an invisible wall. Her eyebrows shot up for a moment and she stepped to the side, more where Merlin had been walking and put her hand out. The wall was there too. She narrowed her eyes at Merlin's back.
"Merlin." Jaya warned.
No response. He just kept walking.
"Don't take it so hard Merlin! It was just a joke!" Jaya tried to reach him again.
Merlin didn't respond and only a small hitch in his step indicated that he had heard her.
Jaya shrugged and quickly tossed a spell out to break down the invisible wall that held her back. She put her hand up and felt the air in front of her. "Merlin!"
Merlin turned to look back at her with a sly grin and then disappeared around the corner.
Jaya's eyes flashed again. She was sure now that he was going to hold her there until he was well away from her. A small gap opened in the wall that held her and slipped out of it. She wasn't sure where Merlin was going, but making sure that she appeared ahead of him had suddenly become something of a goal.
"Really, Merlin. Did you think that it would hold me for long?"
Merlin nearly jumped out of his skin and tripped. He would have stumbled to his knees if Jaya hadn't grabbed his nearest arm and hauled him up to help him regain his feet. "Where did you come from?!" Merlin asked.
"You get the drop on me once and suddenly you think that you're the only clever one in Camelot?" Jaya asked, humor heavy in her voice.
Merlin frowned at her. "I was going to let you out soon."
Jaya snorted. "You might want to take it down, Laddy. The last thing you want is some poor, over-worked serving boy to run full tilt into it."
Merlin's eyes flashed gold and then he pulled his arm from Jaya's grip and started walking quickly away from her.
"Merlin! Merlin don't be like that! I was only teasing!" Jaya protested, trotting a few steps to catch up with him.
Merlin looked at her sideways and frowned.
Jaya's face sild into a serious look and she cleared her throat. "I only pick on you because I like you, Merlin. If I didn't, I wouldn't waste the time."
Merlin seemed slightly appeased at that and snorted. "For the record, I don't like either one of them."
"Either one of who?" Freya's voice asked behind them.
Merlin spun around so fast that Jaya almost couldn't keep from laughing. "What?"
"You said you don't like either one of them." Freya repeated, a reminding tone in her voice.
"Oh. Uhhhhhh." Merlin cast around for an idea, looking at Jaya for help.
Jaya just raised her eyebrows and waited.
"Training sessions and hunting trips." Merlin smiled shyly at her.
"..Training sessions and hunting trips." Freya repeated, a small smile on her face.
Merlin nodded looking proud of himself. "Hate them both."
Freya nodded like she understood and after another small smile for Merlin and a warm, familiar one for Jaya she walked around them and toward the kitchens.
Jaya waited until Freya was out of earshot. "Training sessions and hunting trips?" she asked, her voice going up a couple of octaves.
Merlin pursed his lips and glowered at her.
Jaya held up her hands and chuckled to herself. "Oh, Merlin. You are entertaining to be around."
Merlin sighed and shook his head. "Glad to amuse you, Your Highness."
Jaya narrowed her eyes at him and scoffed. "Don't you go doing that now, Laddy. There's no reason to be calling names."
Merlin grinned and after a small wave he walked away towards Gaius' chambers.
Jaya watched him go and shook her head. She wasn't going to make his life miserable, but it certainly would be fun to tease him about Gwen in Freya for the next little bit. But as it was, she was going to be late for training, and she didn't want to miss out. She needed to get back into good enough health that she wasn't forced to magic herself in order to catch up to Merlin. It was embarrassing how quickly she had run out of breath. For a moment anger flared within her again. Valentin hadn't crossed her thoughts since she had wrote the letter to her father telling him what had happened. Now that she thought about him, she was sure that if she had had the chance she would like to take a swing at him. She should have hit him in the stable yard when he insinuated that she was just a stable hand, or made him kneel in front of the other knights when he had caught sight of her when he turned away from the sign-up table. Jaya shook herself and quickly headed down the next set of stairs that would get her headed in the right direction for the training fields.
Arthur looked up from the squires that were standing in front of him. He closed his eyes for a moment, the thought wandering across his mind if he had been so terrible when he was just starting to learn how to fight with a sword. Lord's sons. He took a deep breath and started to look back at his pupils, but was distracted by the flash of deep blue and white across the field, closer to the trees.
Jaya was squaring off with the hanging bag again. The poor bag.
"I don't see why we have to start like this. We're fighting like girls!" The biggest boy complained, looking at his wooden sword in disgust.
It was everything that Arthur could do to keep the look of irritation off his face. Barret. Lord Cornwell's youngest, and most prized son. According to court gossip Barret wasn't supposed to be born. And when he was, it was expected that he wouldn't live past the first hour. And it turned out that the doctor had gotten the death wrong. Barrett's mother had died within the hour. And now Barret was the only thing that reminded Lord Cornwell of his wife, it seemed, and he showered the boy with much more favor than the other three sons that he had. All spoiled in their own right. For some reason it didn't really surprise Arthur that Barret was the one whipping up the squires to protest everything done or said today. Though Arthur was starting to wonder which sin in particular he was being punished for by having to teach the menace to be a knight. "It's not fighting like girls. It's practice. This way when you make mistakes I don't have to explain to your fathers why you're missing an arm or why you bled to death on the training grounds." Arthur explained, doing his best not to sound like every shred of his patience was being tested.
"You say that like you expect us to fail!" Barret exclaimed.
Arthur's eyebrows rose and he tilted his head to the right slightly. "It's the first day of official training. I don't expect from you what I do from the knights."
Barret looked around at the boys standing in a loose line half a step behind him. "You hear that?" he wondered. "He thinks that since it's the first official day of training that we're going to get ourselves hurt!"
Arthur glanced back over their heads. Jaya had landed a hard enough punch on it to poof dust out of the top. She danced back a couple of steps, swinging her thick braid over her right shoulder and dancing back to land another set of heavy blows against the cowhide. He glanced at the angle of the shadows. Five minutes he had been listening to Barret about this. Five minutes. He suddenly had a plan. He glared at Barret, cutting off his most recent protest about being taught to fight like a girl and fixed the rest of the new squires with a hard look. "Listen up. I'll be right back. And I expect all of you to stay right where you are. Do you understand?"
Barret had the decency to pull back slightly to the other boys.