"Routine" (Rose)
We retreat to our quarters altogether, just as we do after practically every session of the court. This pattern of dire circumstances, plots of evil takeovers, and the extinguishing thereof is really taking root in my life.
"Why is Uther so worried?" Merlin starts the inquiring.
"'Cause the Knights of Medhir are a force to be reckoned with," Gaius is straightforward.
"Do you believe the story, as well?" Merlin grabs his bag, readying for another trip with Arthur.
"It's more than a story, Merlin," our caregiver counters, "Some three hundred years ago, seven of Camelot's knights were seduced by a sorcerer's call. One by one they succumbed to her power. At her command, they became a terrifying and brutal force that rode through the lands leaving death and destruction in their wake."
"What happened?" Merlin, taken with the tale, wants to know all Gaius can tell.
"It was only after the sorcerer herself was killed that the Knights of Medhir finally grew still," it appears the story has reached near its end.
"That's good then, right?" I try to kindle any size flame of hope on the situation.
"Rose, Merlin," he steps towards us, "If what Joseph says is true, then something has awoken them. And I fear for each and every one of us."
"And there goes the bright side," I toss my hands up in defeat.
Merlin blows a horsey sounding raspberry, "And I have to go with it, out the door, to the creepy place with the dangerous undead people. Some things never change."
After he goes to pack his things and makes his way to the other men and the horses, I hope that his leaving me behind won't become routine. "I don't understand how I'm expected to keep you from harm when your destiny separates us," I say regretfully as I watch them charge out on horseback from our bedroom window that overlooks the city. I sigh and pray that a solution presents itself sometime in the preferably not so distant future.
"Ever Onward" (Merlin)
It isn't long into the trip that I lose myself to my thoughts and begin coming up with multiple scenarios of a horrid variety. I hate that Arthur always chooses to notice when I get this way.
"What is it, Merlin?" he asks in an annoyed tone, "Don't tell me you've been listening to Gaius's bedtime stories again."
"I just hope that's all they are," I defend my genuine concern.
He says nothing more, for which I am grateful, and we move as we constantly do- ever onward.