Chapter 5

The Apprentice

Merlin had been on a brief walk, a problem in a neighbouring village had been unsettling him. But try as he might, he couldn't make his mind up over what to do about it. The girl concerned was very young and her magic had a power which had surprised Merlin. It usually took years, for a person's power to fully develop but hers seemed already at an advanced stage. Her parents were at a loss as to what to do. The Magic School having not quite opened, Merlin realised she was in limbo.

He was already aware at the unease with which some of the Villagers were with the girl. It was hardly a surprise, considering the power she had already unintentionally displayed. When magic was this strong, it would alarm non-magical people, as it happened so suddenly.

The girl disturbingly reminded Merlin of a young Morgana. She was scared and isolated, not understanding what was happening to her. He understood only too well, how alarming it was for her. He thought in the end, a visit to the Druids might be the best possible solution, or at least to get her out of the village, which by now was on edge.

He sighed, wondering how many other people had a similar problem. It was very hard in certain villages as some people still were not fully on board, with Arthur's decision to reverse magic. He had always realised that it would cause issues and resentments in certain communities. He always tried to sympathize with those people, knowing full well some had suffered undeservingly. But he knew they had to change the mistaken perception, that magic could not be controlled. Otherwise their plans would be thwarted before they could even start.

In his short time as Arthur's main Magic representative, he had already learnt two cases are rarely the same. It was working out how to proceed with each situation that was the biggest challenge. He was starting to accept the case of Katia could be his biggest headache yet. He sighed, knowing rushing into any decision would be rash. As he sat and pondered a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Trying to catch a moment alone?"

Merlin jumped up, realising that Gilli had joined him out of nowhere, as he came over smiling, Merlin realised he wasn't alone.

"Sorry Gilli, I was miles away. How were the Druids?" he asked,

"Very interesting as ever, more cases being identified. Mervyn sends his good wishes,"

Merlin looked at Gilli's companion, a small dark haired boy.

"Oh meet Mordred," Gilli said,

"Hello Mordred, how are you?" Merlin asked, looking at him for the first time. The boy was in a long, green cloak and had the bluest eyes that he'd ever seen. The boy didn't speak, just a slight nod Merlin's way.

"Mordred, why don't you go and see if you can find those flowers? Gilli suggested,

Merlin watched as the boy solemnly nodded and then sloped off with heavy feet. Merlin looked at Gilli. "What do they know about him?" he asked,

"They know very little, he has obviously suffered a trauma of some kind. But he was always a loner after he arrived in the camp one night. He never mixed with the other children and they cannot get him to open up. I thought maybe Alice could have a look at him, she worked wonders with the other Druid I brought back last time," Gilli said, quietly. "His magic is very strong though, he can sense weather changes in particular. In fact, when we were walking over, he said a storm would occur a day before it arrived! That is why I thought going through the forest might cheer him up a bit,"

"I see, well I am sure Alice will look him over. I've heard before about children who can sense weather changes. It is quite a rare gift I gather,"

"Can you, if you don't mind me asking?" Gilli asked,

"I can sense a certain change in atmosphere but it tends to be at the time, certainly not a day in advance. That is incredible.I would mention that to Alice she may know more," Merlin suggested.

"I will."

"They don't even know who his parents are?" Merlin asked, watching the boy from a distance.

"He arrived out of the blue one night. An old man brought him, claimed to find him wandering about on his own." Gilli explained,

"That is very sad, let's hope Alice can find a way to get through to him. I will walk back with you both, I have wasted enough time here," Merlin said, realising he had still not reached any conclusion even now.

"Did you see the girl Katia?" Gilli asked,

"I did indeed. To be honest, I don't really know what to do about her. Her magic is so strong, but it is frightening her and the townspeople. I think for her sake she needs to be taken out of the situation. Whether that means the Druids or even with us in some way I'm not sure,"

"I wonder if maybe bringing her to see Alice, you never know she and Mordred could strike up a friendship. They are both roughly the same age," Gilli said, "Children seem to mix better with other children,"

"I thought you said, Mordred didn't mix with the other children?" Merlin asked,

"There were a lot of children there who had known each other for years. It's hard for someone new coming in and mixing straight away. But two children together, that maybe easier for him to do,"

"Let's speak with Alice first, see what she thinks." Merlin said, buttoning his jacket up.

"It is going to rain," Mordred said suddenly.

Merlin looked at the sky, there were no rain clouds present just more of a chill prominent in the atmosphere. But something about how the boy spoke made Merlin take him seriously. He regarded Gilli, who he could tell was thinking the same.

"Why don't we run back to Camelot?" Gilli suggested, "Ready Mordred?"

The three of them rushed back and within minutes a downpour had thrown itself, all over them soon they were splashing their way through deep puddles. Merlin looked ahead as he noticed other people rushing to get away from the rain. Merlin had never seen a shower come so quickly or unexpectedly to this extent before. He was beginning to appreciate that Gilli could be right about Mordred after all. Within minutes they were safely in the dry inside the castle.

Next Day

The next day Merlin called on Alice, knowing by now she would have checked Mordred over. He had thought about Gilli's suggestion about Katia and had decided he would mention it to Alice. As he approached Gaius and Alice's apartment, the door opened. Gaius was going out with Mordred accompanying him.

"Hello Gaius, Mordred. Where are you going?" Merlin asked,

"We are going to collect some herbs for the potions. Mordred was helping me mix some earlier on," the old man explained,

"It's good to see get some extra help. I would wrap up and don't wonder far, the rain clouds are gathering," Merlin said,

"It won't rain for another two hours Emrys!" Mordred replied, looking up at Merlin.

Merlin and Gaius exchanged glances. Merlin was stunned that Mordred had used his other name.

"That is all right then. Have a good morning," Merlin smiled.

Merlin watched them go, once more amazed by the assurance on what the young boy had said. He knocked on the door, suddenly keen to get some opinion from Alice.

"Come in,"

Merlin opened the door. Alice was already making up some potions. She smiled as Merlin made his way over. He looked at the ingredients on the work bench surprised by its outright variety.

"What are you working on?" He asked, unable to resist asking the question.

"Oh, it's a little potion, to help with joint pain. Gaius has been a willing test case for me. It has worked with some of his pain, but I don't think I have the overall effect right yet. It's just trial and error until I get it right." She explained, "I'm guessing you have come about the boy?"

"I did wonder what your ideas on him where?" Merlin admitted,

"I think the Druids are right, there has been some trauma in his life, hard to say what as he doesn't willingly open up. I think we need to gain his trust more, which is why I suggested Gaius taking him out again."

"Gilli said yesterday about his sense of awareness with the weather changes. I witnessed it myself yesterday. There was no hint of rain at that stage, it came out of nowhere,"

"Some magical people can diagnose a change in the weather, I've heard that before. Having said that, the way he sensed it yesterday has me wondering even more about his actual powers."

"In what way?" Merlin asked, suddenly fascinated.

"People who have the power in atmospheric changes tend to have a special type of magic. Their power mainly comes from that, especially the outside influences. It is why he is so home in the forest, he can sense danger a long time before it happens. But I detected another type of power from him yesterday. I don't think he realised that I was there, but he was able to move objects and turn over pages on books, without touching them."

Merlin took a breath in, "That is serious magic then, interesting. What do you think we are best doing?"

"Nothing for now. Gaius and I can take him in for a week or two I will get a better look at him. Then maybe we can persuade him to open up a bit more. You could play a part, he needs to mix with different people, from time to time,"

"I'm sure I can find something for him to do," Merlin agreed, "Alice, did Gilli mention this girl Katia?"

"Yes, he did," Alice replied, "I said I would see her this afternoon."

"Great, oh did Gilli mention the idea of introducing Katia to Mordred? They both appear to be the same age,"

Alice paused for a second, Merlin could see she was considering the idea.

"We could I suppose. There is no way of telling whether they would get on or not, also how their magic would counteract each other. On the other hand, it could work. Leave it with me and we will see,"

"Thanks Alice, I'm grateful for everything you have done,"

"It's been so nice being back here and contributing," she smiled, "Like the old days,"

"Speaking of which, I had better report to Arthur. Thanks once again,"

As Merlin considered the conversation he had just had with Alice, he wondered how to broker the subject with Arthur. Having one child with magical problems was one thing, but two of them at the same time, he knew Alice had a point, it could all backfire on them. He decided honesty was the best policy here. He knocked on the door, there was a pause before Arthur replied.

"Are you busy?" Merlin asked, tipping his head around the door.

Arthur's desk was covered in papers thrown on every part of the table, say nothing of the floor. Merlin made a face at the mess.

"Are you sure you don't still need me, to keep you in order?" Merlin asked, starting to tidy up.

"What are you doing Merlin?" Arthur asked, his voice a study of animated outrage. "It may look like a mess to you, but to me it's perfectly straight-forward."

"Ah, I see," Merlin replied, folding his arms his manner not convinced.

"I'm glad you are here, a report has just come in I need you to see," Arthur said, shoving various pieces of paper around his desk.

Merlin narrowed his eyes watching the King fruitlessly searching for the report, then noticed a parchment on the floor,

"It's here somewhere," Arthur said, still searching aimlessly.

"Maybe on the floor?" Merlin pointed out.

"What?" Arthur said,

"There is something by your foot?" Merlin repeated,

Arthur picked it up, "There we go," he said, giving it too Merlin. "Please sit-down Merlin and look like you're staying!"

"Sit down on what?" Merlin asked, pointing to the chair which had papers crammed on it. He picked them up and was about to put them on Arthur's desk.

"Not there," Arthur instructed, "Give them to me,"

Merlin sat down and then read through the words on the parchment. It was in an old style of writing, something he'd briefly seen at school back in Ealdor. The report mentioned an incident which had occurred at an old monastery near the Northern borders. He grimaced as he saw the words "dark magic" written within it.

"Where has this come from?" Merlin asked, not too sure what to think.

"It was sent in by the elder at the nearby village. He also listed other incidents, which included screams in the night, people disappearing and a group of seers meeting in the nearby forest,"

"What are you going to do? Merlin asked,

"I am sending Leon and Percival to investigate tomorrow. I know you are busy at the moment, but I could do with someone going with them,"

Merlin sat back, "No problem. But I have to tell you something as well,"

"Is this about the boy Gilli has brought back?" Arthur asked,

"How did you know?"

"Oh Guinevere, saw him and mentioned him. She said something about him being able to sense changes in the weather,"

"He can certainly do that. When he was walking to Camelot with Gilli he told him a storm would occur," Merlin explained, "The next day,"

"Have you seen this sort of magic before?" Arthur asked,

"Not personally. But I knew it existed. I saw Alice this morning and she has said he has very strong magic, it seems that's just one part of it. But he has obviously suffered a trauma of some kind, he doesn't open up easily. There is another case, a girl called Katia. She too has powerful magic and feels very stressed by it. She reminds me of,"

"Morgana?" Arthur finished the sentence for him.

"Yes. Before the Druids had confirmed to her, she had magic she was terribly isolated. She didn't understand what was happening to her. Do you remember the night her room caught fire?"

"Yes, I do, I thought the storm had started it, but then my father decided it was magic," Arthur confirmed.

"Well it was magic. Morgana had unintentionally started it due to the fact she was unable to control the magic. All people need to learn to do that, but Gaius was anxious that her magic would remain hidden from your father,"

"She had those terrible nightmares as well. They used to alarm me," Arthur admitted,

"She was a seer. She saved your life once," Merlin said quietly.

"Morgana?" Arthur asked surprised.

"The day you met Sophia,"

"Sophia?" Arthur asked,

"The girl you almost eloped with?" Merlin said, raising an eyebrow.

"I suppose you are going to tell me you didn't hit me on the head now?" Arthur said,

"No, I didn't," Merlin admitted reluctantly, "Morgana though saw them in a dream before they arrived in Camelot. She had warned Gaius about them."

Arthur wrinkled his face, "She was going on about Sophia to me as well, I just thought she was jealous. It seemed I should have listened to her,"

"We can all say that. Going back to Katia though, she is in a similar situation to how your sister was. We are going to try and put them together, in the hope that they befriend one another. That way Mordred may open up more and Katia will hopefully be less worried."

"Isn't that a risk though? I know I've always said I trust you to take those decisions, but isn't there a chance it could backfire?" Arthur asked,

"We don't know for sure, that much is true. But it could have a positive affect for both of them," Merlin explain, "Sometimes children just bond better together, has to be worth a try,"

"Well, you're the expert. Let's hope it has the required effect then,"

"Right, I had better go and get ready for another early start,"

"Thank you, Merlin, be careful we don't have a lot of information on the situation up north,"

"Don't worry, I will soon be back to pester you," he smiled, "Maybe by that time your table will be clearer,"

"Yes, did I tell you I have a new assistant for that," Arthur smiled back,

"Oh?"

"Someone you know quite well actually," Arthur grinned

"Hello Merlin," a voice said behind him.

Merlin turned around as George came in with a tray of food. "George, well this is a surprize. "

"I have some polishing to do this afternoon Merlin, this job never finishes,"

Merlin grinned, "No it doesn't, I will leave you to it, things to see too,"

A Week later

Merlin was happy to see the white towers overhead, as he Percival, Leon and the other Knights trudged back home. It had been a fruitless journey up north it seemed the situation had been greatly exaggerated. Merlin was relieved that it was another "incident" which could now be closed up and put to one side. As they came nearer to the castle, he saw two figures darting through the woods. As he looked harder, he recognised Mordred chasing a girl around in the undergrowth. He smiled, it seemed they were getting on rather well. Sometimes all that was needed was a bit of common sense and patience. If only all things could be regarded in the same way he thought, the world would be a much better place.

To be Continued.