The death song of Uther Pendragon

Rose and Mordred had been married for a month and it was amazing. Married life was good, it was no different to when they used to be in Ealdor. Well, Hunnith did used to tell them that they acted like an old, married couple. They slept in the same room and didn't have to worry about getting bored of seeing each other as they both had different routines. Mordred would train as a novice and Rose was advanced so at times, she would help him with his technique, but he was progressing well. He would also help Gaius with potion making. He seemed to love learning new skills from Gaius and the old physician kept telling him he would be a good physician one day.

Rose sat on the bench reading a book while Mordred and Gaius made potions together. Arthur walked in followed by Merlin.
"How was your hunt?" asked Rose.
"We didn't catch anything, but we got given this by a lady that we stopped being executed," said Arthur. He showed them a horn, Rose took it and stared at in shock she showed it Mordred before handing it to Gaius.
"The horn of Cathbad," said Gaius.
"When Uther attacked the isle of the blessed the horn was smuggled to safety," said Rose. Arthur frowned at her.
"How do you know," said Arthur.
"I read about it also Morgana told me a lot about it," said Rose.

He nodded at her before looking at Gaius.
"The woman said it can open the spirit world," said Arthur.
"I have seen it with my own eyes, long before the time of the great purge, I took part in such ceremonies," said Gaius.
"Each year at Beltane, the high priestesses would gather at the great stones of Nemeton and summon the spirits of our ancestors, Morgana wanted to learn how to do this so she could speak to Gorlois," said Rose. Arthur gave her a pained look and took back the horn.
"It holds powerful magic, you must keep it safe," said Gaius.
"I am going to get ready for the feast, so excuse us," said Rose. She took Mordred's hand, and they left the room.

They walked to their chamber she picked out a dress and started to get changed behind her screen. Mordred got his knights uniform and went across to his screen.
"Is there anything I need to know about the feast?" asked Mordred from his screen that was opposite hers. This was his first feast and he seemed nervous. She got changed into the dress and then went back into the main part of the chambers. She sat down on the cushioned bit in front of her bed.
"Smile, stand up when Arthur and Gwen enter and sit when he sits, don't speak too much and don't let Gwaine entice you into a drinking game," said Rose. He came around from his screen and smiled at her a warm smile that reached his eyes. He came over to her and gave her a kiss. She kissed back before getting up. She fixed his cloak as it was a bit wonky.
"You look lovely tonight," said Mordred.
"Thank you, you don't look too bad yourself," said Rose. They kissed again before leaving the room hand in hand.

They walked to the dining room and entered they went across to the knight's part of the table and sat down. With Gwen being queen now she didn't always need to sit next to Arthur all the time. Well, it was for more official feasts like Samhain and Beltane. The anniversary of his Coronation poor Arthur would rather wish he didn't have to celebrate it, but it was tradition. He entered with Gwen and everyone stood up. They sat down at the head of the table and everyone sat down with them. The room then was full of laughter and drinking.

Mordred was looking at Arthur with interest he looked solemn and his eyes were full of pain. Rose shuddered at the memory of feeling Uther die.
"He's always like this at the anniversary of his Coronation" said Elyan to Mordred.
"I thought it was a celebration" said Mordred.
"It is, but it is also the anniversary of Uther's death" said Rose. Arthur looked across to her and she looked at him. He whispered something into Gwen ear and got up. He walked down the line and bent to speak to Rose.
"Can you come with me a minute" said Arthur quietly. She nodded and got up, she squeezed Mordred's shoulder before leaving with Arthur.

They walked out the room and walked to Uther's tomb. They stood and looked at it. Arthur looked sadder than he had done before. Rose wasn't sure how to comfort him in his moment, so she put her hand on his back and kept it there a constant presence in his grief. After a while he pulled her to him and held her tightly too him. They stood like that for a long time until Arthur pulled away and he walked Rose to her chambers.

Outside the chambers he hugged her again.
"Thank you for tonight," said Arthur.
"You're welcome, happy to help" said Rose. He kissed her hand and then walked away, she went into her chambers and smiled when she saw that Mordred was already in bed. She quietly went across and slipped into bed next to him. He pulled Rose to him in his sleep she wrapped her arm over his arm and let herself fall asleep, she started to dream.

Rose awoke the next day confused and she had the empty feeling returned, she hadn't taken her sleeping draft the night before and she had dreamed about the dungeon. It was about a conversation she was having with Morgana. It wasn't an unpleasant conversation, but it had been the first time she had remembered it. Maybe the sleeping drafts were supressing her memory. She shuddered and looked to Mordred he looked peaceful, but they had a training session that morning. She nudged him and he opened his eyes. They both got up and got into their knights' uniform.

They spent the morning training on the training ground. After training she went to Gaius's chambers to talk to him about the dream. She entered his chamber and made some tea before sitting down.
"I need to speak with you," said Rose.
"What can I help you with" asked Gaius.
"So I forgot to take my sleeping draft last night and I had a dream, it wasn't anything to horrible it was a conversation I was having with Morgana, do you think my memory might be coming back" asked Rose. She saw a flicker of nerves in his eyes before changed his face to normal.

He was hard to read at times.
"It is a possibility, try not to rush it; I'll make you a stronger one if you want," said Gaius.
"No thank you, I'll stick to this one, is there something I am missing," said Rose.
"No" said Gaius quickly, she raised her eyebrows and was about to speak when Merlin came into the room with a spoon shaped bruise on his head.
"What happened to you," said Rose.
"Arthur hit me with a spoon, we are going somewhere tonight, he says if Gwen asks we are going we are hunting," said Merlin.
"Then where are you going" asked Rose.
"I don't know," said Merlin. He picked his bag and left the room again.

Rose finished her tea before leaving the room after him. For the rest of the day she spent time with Gwen in council meeting and other royal duties. At the end of the day Rose and Gwen were eating dinner together. Mordred had been dragged off somewhere by Gwaine and Elyan.
"Do you know where Arthur and Merlin went" asked Gwen.
"Merlin just said hunting, probably to take his mind of things," said Rose.
"Yeah this time of year always affects him, its sad really because he has a lot of reasons to be sad on his birthday" said Gwen.
"Yeah" said Rose thoughtfully she finished eating and then got up "I'll see you in the morning". She then left the room and went to her chambers.

The next morning the council meeting was called, and Arthur and Merlin were back. The meeting went through the usual updates the patrol reports, the training reports, incidents reports and off course Leon's favourite boring troop movement. Rose sat next to Mordred attempting to stay awake he would nudge her if she looked to bored and she would nudge him when he looked on the brink off sleep.
"We've distributed men from Pawlett down to Meldreth. This consists of thirty troops at Bawtry. Fifteen at Talan. Ten at Chime. Nine at Brune," said Leon. The door burst open and everyone turn to look at it.

Rose blood ran cold, and she let out a small squeal in horror. Uther stood in the doorway looking angry and disapproving of the room, his skin was blue, and it was unnerving. She looked around at everyone, but they barely seemed to notice. There was a dead man back to life and no one else seemed to care. Then she remembered magic, it had to be. Everyone else turned around to look at Leon again accept Rose she watched the door. Uther lifted his hand and bought down the chandelier to land on the table with a crash. The feeling off him was evil. Everyone jumped back and stared at the middle of the table. Uther looked at Rose with interest before leaving. The meeting was called off and everyone left the room. The round table was cracked.

She walked to Gaius's chambers and walked in she went across to the bookcase and picked up the book she knew had high priestess stuff in. She then went up to Merlin's room and started reading he was at work and Gaius was out doing Gaius things. She read for a long time and soon it became night she was then aware that there was a spooky feel to the castle. The wind blew and it was like Uther's presence was everywhere. She heard Gaius and Merlin enter the main chamber.

She got up and went across and opened the door. She saw that Percival was bleeding from the shoulder.
"What happened" asked Rose coming forward.
"Where did you come from" asked Merlin.
"Your room, I was reading" said Rose matter of factly.
"An axe fell on me," said Percival.
"It's a surprise a falling axe would cause this sort of wound," said Gaius. Wrapping it up with bandages.
"Not as surprised as I was," said Percival.
"Absolutely. You were lucky not to have been more seriously injured," said Gaius.
"It's strange…," said Percival.
"What's strange" asked Rose.
"Just before it happened. I sensed something watching me" said Percival he shuddered and the shook his head in a manly way "I am sure it was my mind playing tricks on me".
"Apply a second poultice in the morning and no training," said Gaius.
"Thank you, Gaius," said Percival.

Merlin helped him with his cloak and he then the left the room. Rose looked at Merlin.
"is there something wrong, you two, because I get the distinct impression there's something your keeping from me" said Gaius. He looked amused and exasperated at the same time. She looked at Merlin to speak.
"No, why would you say that?" questioned Merlin.
"Because there usually is," said Gaius.
"We went to the stones of Nemeton," said Merlin.
"I saw Uther in the doorway just before the chandelier fell" said Rose.

They said it at the same time, and he looked at them both with shock. He rounded on Merlin angrily.
"I warned you off the dangers," said Gaius.
"I tried to stop him; he was insistent," said Merlin.
"Here was me, starting to think Morgana had released him from the spirit world, he's a hypocrite using magic like that, he's released Uther into this world and believe me he is not happy," said Rose. Merlin shook his head at her.
"I felt a presence in the corridor, if you had a chance to see a dead loved one, you'd take the chance," said Merlin.
"Off course I would however I would learn what to do I wouldn't go into it blindly," said Rose.
"Yeah, priestesses would train for years before entering the spirit world it is full of danger, there was one thing they were sworn never to do, look back as the veil closed," said Gaius.
"He's done that because we now have angry Uther wondering around trying to destroy everything," said Rose. She started walk towards the door and turned around to face Merlin "you speak with Arthur; I am going to make sure everyone is okay".

If he was against a peasant knight, how was he going to react to a druid knight married to the kings ward or even worse the servant queen. Rose walked out the room undecided on who to check on first. Decided to use the mind talking with Mordred.
"Mordred, where are you?" asked Rose in her head.
"In the corridor near the kitchen with the queen," said Mordred. Rose smiled that killed two birds with one stone they were safe for now. She started to walk towards that area, she kept getting intercepted by guards wanting to talk to her.

She brushed them off with one-word answers. She got to that area to see the floor was a mess and a lot of things were littered across the floor.
"Mordred!" called Rose. She didn't get a reply. She looked to around to see that Merlin was also walking down in this direction. They walked down and there was smoke coming from the door near the kitchen. There was a spear in the door and the door was locked. They ran forward and Merlin removed the spear and opened the door. They both looked in to see Mordred and Gwen were laid in there unconscious.
"Gwen" shouted Merlin.
"Mordred" shouted Rose.

They ran in and Merlin picked up Gwen. Rose went over to Mordred and tapped on his face he didn't wake up just started to cough loudly. She grabbed him under the arm pits and dragged him from the room and the smoke.
"Guards!" shouted Merlin once they had left the room, two of the guards came running towards them and they took Mordred between them.
"We need to take them to Gaius" instructed Rose. Merlin carried Gwen over his shoulder while the guards carried Mordred between them, they got to the physian's chamber and Mordred was deposited on patient bed and Gwen taken up to Merlin's bedroom.

Merlin ran to get Arthur as Gaius and Rose got to work on the patients. Mordred had a head injury and had smoke in his lungs, he was lucky to be alive. She dabbed a poultice on his face as Arthur came in followed by Merlin. They went up to Merlin's room to check on Gwen they then shut the door. A few minutes later she pinched his nose and he opened his mouth. She poured the draft in, and he swallowed it. Arthur and Merlin came into the main chambers followed by Gaius.
"How is he?" asked Arthur.
"Well he has a bang to the head and he had some smoke in his lungs, at the look of his hands he was attempting to fight who ever was attacking them" said Rose pointing to a nasty bruise on his hand "he should be fine though, I gave him a sleeping draft so he should sleep until morning".
"You need to send Uther to the spirit world" said Gaius to Arthur and Merlin.

Rose got up and squeezed Mordred's shoulder before leaving the room. She sensed Uther he was in the castle. She followed her sense to under the castle. Anger coursed through her as she walked through the castle following where she sensed him. He was in the throne room sat there with his arms crossed.
"I can see you," said Rose.
"I noticed that earlier, you always seem to have a way of seeing things," said Uther.
"Yeah, you can say that, Uther," said Rose.

He locked the door behind her, and she looked at it then looked at him.
"You will call me 'my lord' not my name, show me some respect," shouted Uther.
"No sorry that title is for the king and you're no longer king, you attempted to kill my husband so yeah no respect from me," said Rose.
"He is a druid knight and not fit for his position in court," said Uther.
"You don't know him, and you were never my guardian, so it was never your problem, do you know what it is to love," said Rose.
"I loved my wife, I loved my children and what did it get me, my kingdom is destroyed, my daughter hates me," said Uther.
"Leave Morgana out of this!" snapped Rose. Uther lifted a pot with magic and sent it towards her, her eyes glowed gold and the pot smashed in mid-air.

He glared at her and got up, so he was over her she stood her ground and refused to move.
"You have magic!" said Uther.
"I was born with it," said Rose.
"I let you be Morgana's ward" said Uther he glared at her and attempted again to throw stuff at her she stopped them coming "you corrupted her, you enchanted her".
"No, you can't blame me that, all that was you, she was born with magic, she did not choose it, you had her living in fear so as soon as Morgause came along you might as well as pushed her into the arms of Morgause, in the long run who was she going to pick the man that would have her killed without a moment's thought or her sister who actually told her she was capable of being loved, you destroyed Morgana, you condemn magic even though you have used it yourself! You caused so much pain in your lifetime" said Rose. She wasn't paying attention as her anger was coursing through her, he caused a plate to come and hit her in the head. She fell forward and everything went black as she passed out.

Rose woke up sometime later she was laid next Arthur. Uther loomed over them staring at them with his dead eyes.
"Get away from them Uther, you have done enough harm. You don't belong here. You have to go back to the other world" said Merlin. Uther straightened and turned to face Merlin. Rose got up and stood behind him ready to move in case he tried a sneak attack on him.

She hated Uther and she was ready for a fight.
"This is my kingdom; you think you can get rid of me you are nothing but a serving boy!" said Uther. "I am much more than that," said Merlin. A bench came towards Merlin, but he stopped it with his magic. Rose came forward and went to stand next to him.
"You have magic too" said Uther angrily.
"I was born with it," said Merlin.
"I made you Arthur's servant, you're a sorcerer!" said Uther.
"Even while you were king there was magic at the heart of Camelot" said Merlin. Rose took Merlin's hand and squeezed it.
"We are the children off a dragon lord, while you were raging your war on magic you had two high priestesses and a warlock in the heart of the kingdom, you have condemned so many people of harbouring magic users and you were harbouring three," said Rose.
"I will not allow you and your kind to poison my Kingdom" said Uther angrily marching forward towards them.
"You're wrong, you are wrong, about so many things. Arthur is a better and more worthy king than ever were" said Merlin. Uther screamed and came towards Rose.

Merlin put his hand out "Bael onbryne!". Uther went flying backwards through the door and away from them. Merlin ran forward and opened the door preparing for an attack that didn't come. They edged around the corridors hand in hand getting ready for an attack. They heard movement in the armoury and went in. The noise was coming from sword swinging. Merlin stilled it before they were both swiftly pinned to the wall by spears, they both gasped at the shock.

They then heard the booted footsteps of Uther coming towards them. They both attempted to get free. Uther stood in front of them.
"I look forward to killing you," said Uther. Rose's anger grew by the second.
"Fine then kill us, it doesn't change the fact you failed your daughter and are the reason for her becoming so angry and full of hate, despite that she has room for growth and will eventually return to Camelot," said Rose.

He raised his sword but as if on cue Arthur came running in.
"Father!" shouted Arthur he lifted up the horn, well that got his attention he completely forgot about the two sorcerers he had pinned to the wall.
"What I did I did for Camelot" said Uther.
"You had your turn, now its mine" said Arthur. He blew the horn and Uther started to disappear.
"Rose and Merlin have…" said Uther he disappeared completely mid-sentence. Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief tears in everyone's eyes. Arthur came forward and pulled the spears from the wall releasing them both.

Rose dismissed herself and left the room. She went to her chambers and went across to her desk. She got paper and quill and started writing to Morgana. She filled her in on what had happened with Uther's ghost. There was a knock on her door.
"Who is it?" asked Rose she slid the letter under a book for safe keeping.
"It's Arthur" said Arthur.
"Enter" said Rose. He came in and went across to her sitting down opposite her at the desk. He gave a worried look.
"I heard what you said about Morgana, do you really believe she could get better" said Arthur.
"Well I wouldn't class it as get better, I do believe however with time, patience and you changing your mind on magic it can be possible" said Rose.

She was past being worried about defending magic, it was magic hating mania that had caused so much problems in her life.
"I have been bought up believing magic to be evil, I lost both my parents to magic," said Arthur.
"I lost one parent to a sword and one to childbirth. You don't see me attacking every person with a sword or a baby" said Rose.

Arthur laughed and looked at her with interest she decided to come out and ask ready for the repercussions of her question "you have been king for five years, you were prince regent for a year before that which was you being a king without the title and you haven't executed any magic users, in any of that time, would you change the magic law officially considering the fact your not following it".
"I don't know, it's a hard one because it might cause some magic users to use it against me" said Arthur.
"No, you'll get the opposite, magic is still outlawed so some people say that you are the same as your father but you're not" said Rose.
"I will think about it, I am not saying yes, and I am not saying no, I am saying I'll think about it" said Arthur.
"That sounds fair" said Rose she gave him a genuine smile.

The end