Strongest of the Warlocks: Chapter Thirteen: A Mysterious Stranger
AN: So, I really liked that two-part filler I wrote, especially since Merlin was the reason for it (poor Merlin, just trying to be a good person, but you can't always win), but now we're back to legit plot, and I left you lot with a cliffhanger last time (haha, I do that a lot).
Anyways, onto part one of the Remedy to Cure All Ills
Merlin was very consistent in her efforts to not use magic on herself. She was sorely tempted, however, as she downed another of Gaius' foul-tasting pain potions, but there were worse things to be than in pain.
"Perhaps you should rest yourself," Iseldir advised, noticing how she hadn't moved her arm in the whole time she'd been in the Druid camp.
Girec's damage to her wasn't as terrible as what it had cost him and Merlin still had nightmares that were bathed in blood.
Arthur had arrived to find her kneeling in the blood pouring from his body, murmuring death rites for the Druid.
Merlin hadn't realized just how much she was shaking until she tried to speak, only to discover it was a difficult trial.
It had been almost a week since Merlin had quit as Arthur's maidservant and she'd only just had time to inform Amena of her son's passing today.
The idea of killing someone, even a person as bad as Girec, still made Merlin sick to her stomach.
"I'm fine," Merlin said thickly, shaking her dark thoughts from her mind. "I don't have much time…Gaius is expecting me back before midday."
And the thick bandage around her arm was starting to aggravate; she needed to redress it sooner rather than later.
Iseldir rested a hand against her shoulder, eyes gazing imploring into hers.
"I'm fine," Merlin insisted with a bit more feeling than before, "besides, a friend of mine is ill, I can't really stay here, I am needed at the palace."
But he knew as well as she did that she was just using that as an excuse to run away, but it wasn't as though he could keep her there. She had done what she came to do; she had brought the ashes of Girec that she had collected into an urn after his corpse was burned at the stake (which seemed far less effective given how he was already dead). She had returned a piece of Girec to his mother and brother and she didn't expect them to forgive her for her act of murder.
Merlin turned away, clicking her tongue softly and Triton trotted forward as though summoned. She stuck her foot in one stirrup and hoisted herself onto his back before directing him quietly out of the camp.
Maybe it wasn't such a good idea for her to have come, especially now with Morgana in the condition that she was.
Uther had been a bit…tempestuous for the past two days, ever since Morgana had fallen asleep and refused to awaken. Nothing Gaius tried worked and even Merlin couldn't come up with anything that could cause such a response in a person.
Merlin had considered the thought many times that the illness was caused by something magical in nature, even if Gaius waited until it was the last resort before deciding anything was the result of magic. It was an annoying habit if you asked Merlin. Of course, Merlin had been raised in an environment where magic was heavily a part of, magic was the norm for her and when something could not be explained by science, then it had to be caused by magic.
She steered Triton through the lower town as they made their way past the outer gates, heading further into Camelot. Merlin still stiffened at every sight of red, which included the crimson cloaks that the knights wore, and she completely avoided Arthur in the halls.
He'd tried to talk to her a total of seventeen times since she'd terminated her position as his maidservant, and he still had no idea why…the complete prat.
Merlin gritted her teeth together, aggravated by the memory of Arthur's words: "It's all right, the sorcerer's dead…you saved all our lives, you did it."
He had been glad that she'd taken another's life…the very thing that was giving her nightmares that would not cease. But, then again, she should have expected that, he was a hunter after all.
There had been a few attempts to fill her position, but they hadn't gone very well; apparently Merlin was something of a legend among the servants and some were convinced that the position as a private servant to the prince was cursed if Merlin wasn't it.
Merlin thought it was ludicrous.
She dismounted Triton, lodging him carefully into the stables, patting his nose fondly before heading inside, her arm still hanging limply at her side.
A silent guess of Gaius being in Morgana's chambers sent Merlin to take a different path than the one to the Court Physician's chambers.
She came to a stop at the staircase that led upwards to the level that held Morgana's chambers, and at the foot of the stairs stood Gwen looking more harried than usual and her darker complexion just a few shades too light.
Her worry for Morgana was evident.
"Any news?" Merlin asked so suddenly that Gwen jumped, a hand jolting to rest over her heart.
"Merlin!" she breathed in relief, but then her face fell. "No, nothing, Gaius has been in there for almost an hour—"
As soon as she had spoke her uncle's name, the man himself had begun the descent of the curved staircase at a pace only a man of his age would use, and Gwen pounced on him as soon as he made it to the last step.
"Is she any better?" she queried, brown eyes wide and concerned.
Gaius shook his head sadly and Gwen brushed past him in her effort to reach the top of the landing quickly and return to her lady's side.
"She's all but dead, Merlin," Gaius said gravely before Merlin could speak.
"I don't believe that," Merlin disagreed, "if this is an illness, and it is, there's a cure somewhere."
"Wherever it is," Gaius uttered with a sigh, "it's not here. I've tried everything and there has been no improvement."
"Maybe you haven't tried everything," Merlin hedged, giving him a direct look and Gaius narrowed his eyes in disapproval. "Maybe I could, you know…try something."
"If you're suggesting magic," he said, because what else could Merlin have been suggesting? "have you forgotten what happened with Gwen's father? This is not a magical illness, it must be cured by conventional means. We keep trying. See if you can find me some fresh rosemary."
Merlin glared at him.
"And yarrow," he added, causing Merlin to stalk off, grumbling angrily.
The kitchens always seemed to be busy every time of the day, but that was fine with Carter, he liked to be kept busy. He was also rather new to working in the palace kitchen, so he was mostly failing at his job, and it was only thanks to a kindly girl named Charlotte that he was keeping afloat.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it," she assured him as the kitchen door banged open and someone entered. This someone was not wearing a servant's uniform like everyone else in the room.
"Is she allowed to be in here?" Carter muttered to his companion.
She certainly didn't look as though she belonged, being a woman dressed a masculine garb from her tunic to her trousers. He supposed if she tucked her long braid down her shirt, she might pass for a male, a very pretty male, but a male.
Charlotte giggled. "I forgot how new you are; that's Merlin."
"Merlin?" Carter repeated the name strangely. It was an odd name.
"Merlin's the apprentice to the Court Physician," Charlotte confided, "she was also Prince Arthur's maidservant up until about a week ago…she's a legend around here."
"Why?" Carter asked, his eyes following the girl as she strode towards the cook purposefully. He had to admire her guts, but Cook didn't like anyone.
"Well, there was the time she took a poisoned goblet for the prince…and then there was the time when she saved his life from a sorceress…and just last week she had to act as Lady Morgana's decoy and ended up killing a sorcerer."
Charlotte's eyes glowed as she told her tales only to be sharply interrupted by an unfamiliar voice.
"I would not consider killing someone a chief accomplishment, would you, Charlotte?"
Charlotte squeaked as she found herself having a steely blue stare delivered upon her. Carter had never seen eyes so blue before. "No, Merlin," she squeaked before the older girl strode away, allowing Charlotte a breath of fresh air.
"Is she always like that?" Carter wondered, kneading dough in his hands.
"No, usually she's a bit more cheerful and sarcastic," Charlotte admitted, "but she's been in a bad mood all week."
"Liana," Merlin was speaking to Cook and Carter was surprised to discover that that was actually her name, "Gaius is having me pop out for some herb collecting, is there anything you want me to grab you if I come across?"
Cook gave her a rare grin. "Merlin, always giving me the good stuff…get me some mint and thyme if you see any, will you?"
"Will do," Merlin said.
"And I'll save you some extra bits!" Cook called after her and Merlin made her exit.
"You're too good to me, Liana!" Merlin replied with a light laugh.
Carter gaped at Charlotte. "She's on a first name basis with Cook?" Of all people, Cook was definitely the most difficult to be around, yet Merlin had marched right up to her, fearlessly.
"I'm telling you, she's a legend," Charlotte said with wide eyes.
"Oi! You two, back to work!"
And both quickly ducked their heads and resumed their work.
Normally, Merlin had nothing against collecting herbs, in fact, it was one of the things liked to do the most. Merlin loved nature more than most things and her magic was drawn from that; it was far more powerful when she was surrounded by earth than the stones that made up Camelot's palace.
Merlin had more often than not fallen asleep out in the wilderness whilst collecting, which wasn't a terribly good pastime to have, but once that she was trying to shake.
However, this time she was too annoyed to thoroughly enjoy it.
"Can you believe him?" she complained to Triton, her most steadfast companion these days. The horse nickered softly in reply. "I mean, Morgana's dying! And he doesn't even consider magic? If that isn't the biggest pile of rubbish, I don't know what is."
Triton pawed the ground in agreement as Merlin pulled up yarrow flowers, binding them together in her basket.
"Of course, I have nothing against Gaius' methods," she added quickly, "but you'd think that once you realized someone couldn't be healed by science that you would go straight to magic, wouldn't you?"
Triton blinked his large eyes at her and Merlin took that to mean, yes, that was exactly what he would have done.
"It's not like I'm useless, you know," Merlin grumbled. True, her arm was much weaker since Girec had cut her, but she had lost a lot of blood from the arm and knitting the skin back together had been quite painful.
Gaius had only removed the stitches earlier that morning, and the arm was still throbbing a little.
"It's like he's ignoring me!" Merlin complained. "You know, I've studied healing for years, I've got some experience too!"
But, unfortunately, Triton had no response to offer her, or, if he did, it was not one that Merlin could understand.
Merlin gave mournful sigh, placing her last bundle into her basket before pulling herself up into a standing position. "We'd better get back before he finds something else for me to do."
Unfortunately, Gaius had found something else for her to do, and that was assisting a visiting physician who had heard of Morgana's illness.
Edwin Muirden was an odd man. And Merlin didn't mean that because of the scar that had warped part of his face, she didn't mind scars, it was that he claimed to have a remedy to cure all ills, something Merlin was certain did not exist…unless he truly knew the cause of Morgana's illness…and that didn't bode well.
"You are very strong," Edwin remarked as she set down a particularly weighty chest.
Merlin blinked in surprise, lifting her eyes from the chest to look at him. "No," she disagreed, "I've just gotten used to carrying heavy loads."
This was true. It might have been easier for Arthur if he'd had a manservant instead of a maid, but she was what he'd had at the time. And he'd had her carry around an assortment of heavy loads since her first day, much to her aggravation.
Edwin had a few bubbling tinctures set up and Merlin's eyes roved over them in fascination.
He noticed where her eyes had gone. "Yes," he said, "it was all originally designed for alchemy." He knelt to add another empty tincture to the mass.
Merlin arched an eyebrow, leaning against the table. "Trying to make gold?" she asked dubiously.
She had made gold once by accident, using a spell she didn't really know how to use properly, and not knowing what to do with it, she opted to bury it near a stream in Ealdor.
"You have an interest in science?" That seemed to surprise him and Merlin couldn't help but be annoyed.
"I'm apprenticed to the Court Physician," Merlin replied, her voice a touch cool.
"Forgive me," Edwin said quickly. "I meant no offense…it is just rare for such apprentices to physicians to be—"
"Female?" Merlin responded.
"Well, yes," Edwin agreed.
"Some people see talent regardless of sex," Merlin said, eyes narrowing slightly, "I am here for the pursuit of knowledge through science."
Edwin gave an approving hum even as he regarded her curiously; Merlin wasn't quite sure what to make of the look. "It has the answers to everything," he couldn't deny.
"I don't think so."
Both eyebrows rose this time, the action pulling slightly at his scar, but Merlin pretended not to notice. "Oh?"
"It can't explain…faith…or how you feel," Merlin offered two examples to her reasoning. There were probably more, but that was all she could come up with at the moment.
"You mean love?" Edwin asked with a smile and Merlin flushed, Percival's face coming to the forefront of her mind before she savagely pushed it aside.
"Well, I suppose," Merlin muttered, "but I was thinking more along the lines of various emotions."
Edwin considered her. "You seem too bright to be just a mere apprentice."
Merlin was flattered but she gave a small shrug, picking up a box that sounded as though something was scuttling within before he pulled it out of her hands.
"Yes," he said, putting it on a pile of boxes he was going to have Merlin carry, "we will need that. Now, we must hurry to the Lady Morgana, before it is too late."
A grunt left Merlin's lips as she lifted them into her arms, but she managed it without too much effort, following after the sweep of Edwin's cloak.
Arthur was standing in the corner of Morgana's room when Merlin entered carrying Edwin's things, and she did her best to ignore him, even with the annoyed noise he made when she did so.
Morgana's room was filled with people, far more than Merlin was certain she would actually like to have within, if she'd actually been awake. Uther and Arthur were there but so were Gaius and Gwen, bringing their total to six.
"Put my equipment over there," Edwin directed her and Merlin complied. "Sire, I would be grateful if you could have everyone leave the room. I require peace and privacy."
"Certainly," Uther agreed and he and Arthur hastened out with Merlin following after only to pause when Edwin added: "That includes you, Gaius."
"But I am eager to learn from your methods," Gaius spoke humbly.
"Now is not the time for giving instruction," Edwin said, his words sharp and direct, which was a surprise. Merlin hadn't thought he would raise his voice in such a way…there was something very off about him in how he didn't want anyone to see what he was doing…like he would get in trouble for doing it… "I will need all my concentration."
Merlin suspected magic, but she kept her mouth shut as Uther called him out and she followed after him, casting the man one last suspicious glance before pulling the door shut behind her.
"I should be in there," Gwen said, gazing longingly at the door, and Merlin shook her head quickly.
"No, you shouldn't," Merlin discounted, "Morgana doesn't need you right now, what she needs is a cure."
And Gwen positively deflated, but she couldn't deny that there wasn't some truth to Merlin's words.
She clasped her hand tightly with her friend's as they descended the staircase to wait on baited breath to see if Edwin's cure had worked.
"Do you think the cure will work?" Gwen pressed her.
"I don't know," Merlin said honestly, and it did nothing to ease her fears, if the look on her face was any indication.
But a moment later it didn't matter because Edwin reappeared, taking the stairs with a smile that Merlin didn't believe for a second.
"Great news, Your Majesty," he said, smiling broadly, giving a small bow to the king, "you will be glad to hear it is not an inflammation of the brain."
Uther barely released a breath of relief. "What is it, then?"
"It is a cerebral hemorrhage."
Gaius' hands dropped to his sides. "Hemorrhage?" he said doubtfully. "I don't think so."
There was something in his eyes that Merlin didn't like, as though this was exactly how he'd been expecting things to go.
"I found this trace of blood in her ear," he said, holding up a small cloth with a stain of red on it.
He was practically mocking Gaius and Merlin could feel anger welling up inside her. She had checked both ears herself; there was no blood!
"God in heaven!" Uther gasped.
Edwin continued, "The severity depends upon the site and volume of the bleed. If not treated, it can lead to coma, and eventually death.
"How could you have missed this?" Uther demanded of Gaius.
"I didn't see any blood," Gaius said, sounding just a touch vexed.
"Please.," he said and Merlin's hand clenched into a fist where it was crossed with her other arm. "Just thank the fates that you did not administer more rosemary to stimulate the circulation. Can you imagine what that might have done?
Both Uther and Arthur's eyes fastened on Gaius for an explanation.
"It may have increased the bleed," he admitted.
"Is there a cure?" Uther asked Edwin, removing angry eyes from Gaius.
"See for yourself," Edwin said with a smile, gesturing up the stairs.
They all darted up, but Merlin lingered.
"Gaius' eyes may not be what they used to be, but my eyes are clear," she remarked to him. "It is easy to find blood when you manufacture it yourself."
And then she was gone before he could offer a reply or counter-remark.
Merlin stopped by Morgana's room later that day to bring her some flowers that the servants had chalked up to give her as a get well present, and Morgana had been very pleased when Merlin gifted them to her.
"Tell them I said thank you," Morgana told her as Gwen placed the pink tulips in a vase.
"I'm glad you're feeling better," Merlin said softly, and Morgana smiled softly, taking her friends hands in hers.
"It's all right," she promised kindly, "I'm doing much better…I'm sure you did all you could."
But Merlin was still stung that she and Gaius hadn't found a way to heal Morgana before Edwin had showed up.
"I do have a headache," Morgana invited, "if you want to soothe my pain."
Merlin rolled her eyes, getting the distinct feeling that Morgana was only doing that in order to make Merlin feel useful, but she didn't really mind.
"Close your eyes," she said, raising her hands to probe Morgana's temples and her friend complied. Merlin closed her eyes, hiding the flare of gold beneath her eyelid as she eased the headache.
"Oh, thank you," Morgana sighed, opening her eyes and smiling, "how are you?"
"I wasn't the one dying a few hours ago," Merlin pointed out.
Morgana ignored that. "Are you and Arthur still not talking?"
"I have nothing to say to him," Merlin replied swiftly before standing. "I'm glad you're feeling better but I've got to go and help Gaius now."
She was out of the door before Gwen could pull her back.
"She's avoiding him like the plague," Gwen sighed, shaking her head, but she couldn't really blame her.
She could have gone anywhere, but Merlin couldn't stanch the uneasy feeling that flowed over her from its source, Edwin Muirden.
A sharp rap of knuckles on the man's quarters elicited no response, so Merlin opened the door cautiously, peering inside, but the room was void of the man it had been given to temporarily.
She opened the door a bit more and slid inside.
Her fingers traced over the model of the planets that rested on the table before her eyes fell to the box that Edwin had taken out of her hands before. She opened, jolting at the sight of many dead bugs. Her eyebrows creased together in confusion and she shut the box to read out the inscription on the box.
"Bebiede þe arisan ealdu," she recited, her eyes blazing a bright gold very briefly and the scuttling she had heard before started up again and Merlin was surprised when she opened the box to see the beetles moving about.
"Very good," a voice commented behind her she almost dropped the box and did send the planetary alignment clattering to the ground.
It was Edwin.
He took the box from her, disregarding the mess she'd made on the floor, opening is and saying in a low whisper: "Swefn."
The beetles stilled in their box.
Edwin looked to her, appraising her. "You have magic…only magic can bring these to life…these little angels are how I cured Lady Morgana. They repaired the damage to her brain. They saved her. Magic can be a force for good."
The muscle under Merlin's eye twitched a little. "You say that like I don't what that."
"If you do," Edwin said, "then why do you fear it?"
"I," Merlin replied with a great deal of annoyance, "do not fear magic, only its misuse…the only sorcerers that have come here are ones with ill intents."
"And you think I am one of these sorcerers?" Edwin quirked an eyebrow towards her. "Surely you can see that my only desire was to heal the Lady Morgana?"
Merlin replied stiffly, "That remains to be seen."
He had an ulterior motive, Merlin just wasn't quite sure what it was yet.
But his words still echoed in her mind long after she'd gone: "A gift like yours should be nurtured, practiced, enjoyed. You need someone to help you, to encourage you."
And he wasn't wrong. Sometimes Merlin felt as though she was drowning, not being able to use her magic as much as she had before she'd come to Camelot, but she had a feeling that a partnership with Edwin would not end well for her.
AN: There's a scene in part two that I'm going to love to write, because Merlin's going to stop being mad at Arthur and start being mad at someone else; its going to be glorious!
Merlin's arm is healing, so she'll be back to her usual self in a bit, but she's going to have a long scar for her troubles.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!
