Strongest of the Warlocks: Chapter Fifteen: The Desire of the Sidhe
AN: Let me tell you, the Gates of Avalon was one of those episodes I really hate to write, so I'm going to mesh into one chapter, because I really want to get to Mordred sooner rather than later.
I'm always glad for the new love this fic receives. It's one of my favorite to write, well, I like to write them all, but this one is one that's more fun than not.
I know FemMerlinxPercival isn't all that common (if at all) so I'm glad for the continued support.
The marketplace was bustling with a crowd of people moving to investigate the products up for sale and Merlin tagged along after Gwen, having promised to come with her the day before.
"Are you sure Arthur won't miss you?" Gwen asked for the third time, linking her arm with Merlin's so as not to lose her friend.
"Of course he'll miss me," Merlin said, throwing a wink Gwen's way, "but you know how much I hate hunting, so I feigned being ill and made one of the other servants go instead."
Of course, she knew it hadn't really surprised Arthur, given how she always voiced distaste towards going on his hunting trips, for several rather obvious reasons.
"I pity your replacement," Gwen laughed, examining a few fabrics with a vague interest.
"Better them than me having to go on a hunt," Merlin replied with a small shudder. "Give me training with Arthur any day."
"But you do have that every day," Gwen pointed out, examining a durable lavender-colored material.
Merlin waved a hand. "That's a minor detail."
Gwen arched an eyebrow before paying for the fabric with a few coins from her pouch. "You know, you would look very pretty in a dress, you were stunning in Morgana's gown, remember?"
"It's easy to look stunning when you're wearing a gown like that," Merlin countering, "besides, gowns aren't really practical in my line of work, which seems to be 'just how long can Merlin keep Arthur from getting himself killed?'"
A stream of giggles parted Gwen's lips at that, because Merlin wasn't really wrong.
"And don't think about asking me to let my hair out of my plait," Merlin added before Gwen could indeed mention it. "I'm not changing anything, nope, I'm going to stay the way I am with my strange fashion sense and sarcastic attitude, thank you very much."
Gwen shook her head fondly. "You really are the strangest person I know."
"Well, I don't have a lot of competition there," Merlin conceded, reaching a hand up to her dangling earring.
Gwen knew that her friend had an odd taste for style –if the masculine clothes, one vambrace strapped to her arm, small metal cylinder earring weren't making it obvious enough– but having two earrings made from very different materials was a bit obvious. She had one of metal and now one that appeared to be made of a quartz of some kind.
"Anyways," Merlin added, "Morgana got me some new shirts for technically saving her life."
"There is no technically," Gwen admonished. "You did save her life."
"I only repaired the damage that had been done by another," Merlin sang as they made their way in the direction of Gwen's cottage, laughing the whole way.
Well, it wasn't everyday that Arthur ran into a girl whilst out hunting, but Merlin still found it to be a rather strange course of events.
She arched an eyebrow towards Arthur where he was standing at his father's side in the council chambers and he gave her a look in reply that made Merlin smirk.
Technically speaking, it was a girl and her father, and they both held some very strangely carved staffs in their hands, but Merlin could see what about the girl had attracted Arthur; she was after all, very pretty, with her blue eyes and golden brown tresses.
"My name is Aulfric, heir to Tír-Mòr," the father said before extending a hand to the maiden at his side. "This is my daughter, Sophia."
Sophia gave a respectful nod.
"You're a long way from home," Uther said, leaning back in his throne. "What brings you to Camelot?"
"Our home was sacked by raiders, we barely escaped with what few possessions we could carry," Aulfric explained.
"These are dangerous times," Uther remarked diplomatically. "What will you do?"
"We will travel west to Caerleon where we have family, and, I hope, a new life."
"You will stay here awhile, break your journey," Uther invited and Merlin glanced towards Arthur, seeing just how pleased he appeared to be at the knowledge that Sophia would be staying a few days more. "A noble family like yours is always welcome in Camelot."
And then Merlin watched as they were escorted out of the hall.
"I take it you had an eventful hunt?" she mentioned to Arthur once all the persons had vacated the hall.
"I don't have any idea what you're talking about," Arthur said, striding out of the doors so fast that Merlin had to jog beside him in order to keep up.
"I do have eyes, you know," Merlin mentioned, gesturing at her face as though it wasn't obvious. "You could hardly take your eyes off her, could you? You're…infatuated!" she accused, jabbing a finger at him as she came up with the proper word.
"I am not!" Arthur insisted, slightly affronted.
"I'm actually surprised," Merlin mentioned, examining him closely, "I wasn't aware that was something you could experience."
"Don't make me send you to the stocks!"
Merlin arched a sardonic eyebrow. "And what would that change about my personality?"
She wasn't wrong there and Arthur fought against slapping his hand to his forehead. "Just make sure you put her in a decent room, will you?"
"A decent room?" Merlin repeated. "Is that all?"
"Yes, like next door, the room next to mine would be perfect."
Infatuated was one thing, Merlin was sure, but she had never seen Arthur like this before…so smitten to insist upon a maiden sleeping in the room next to his.
"Is there a problem?" he demanded of her and Merlin schooled her expression perfectly.
"No," she said, "no problem."
There was something very off about the situation, though, that could not be denied.
Merlin really hated Arthur, with a deep and burning passion, and by that she meant she'd like to roast him over an open flame, slowly and painfully.
Of course, Arthur decided to show Sophia Camelot on the day he was supposed to go on patrol with his father and then leave Merlin to deal with the consequences.
"Sire?" Merlin ducked her head respectfully as Uther fixed the clasps on his cloak, raising his eyes to where Merlin was. "I have a message from your son."
His cold eyes surveyed her. "Proceed," he said.
"Your son wished me to convey his apologies for choosing not to go on patrol with you today," Merlin recited the words she'd carefully gone over in her mind for the past half hour. "He has joined Sir Leon's patrol given how terribly his last patrol went and he wanted the next time he patrolled with you to go off without a hitch."
Merlin couldn't have helped but been surprised when Uther accepted the explanation with a hint of pride in his eyes, but at least Merlin wasn't going to end up in the stocks, which was what Merlin preferred to not happen.
She was dismissed and Merlin gave a short bow before leaving on quick-moving feet, privately thanking Leon for agreeing to cover for the prince and subsequently almost crashing into Morgana as she rounded the corner.
Merlin reached a hand out to steady Morgana, stuttering out an apology. "Sorry, Morgana, wasn't looking where I was going—"
But it quickly became clear that Morgana didn't care that Merlin had almost run into her.
"Morgana, are you all right?" Merlin asked, frowning as she took in the pallor of her skin and the tiredness in her eyes.
"Yes, I'm fine," Morgana said, speaking quickly.
Merlin blocked her way. "No, you're not," she countered, staring her down. "What's wrong, Morgana?"
The expression in her eyes was one that was conflicted. "It's just…I had another dream, and Gaius thinks it's nothing."
Merlin wrinkled her nose at the mention of the guardian she was barely speaking to after learning he had allowed sorcerers to die for merely being what they were.
"But you don't," Merlin said, speaking gently, "so what was the dream about?"
"Arthur," Morgana said uneasily, "lying underwater, drowning, and there's a woman standing over him watching him die, and it's the woman, Sophia."
Merlin's lips thinned into a line and her brow creased in thought.
"You think I should take it seriously?" Morgana noted in surprise.
"Don't you?" Merlin responded, arching an eyebrow.
"Well, yes, but Gaius says they're just dreams—"
Merlin gave a derisive snort. "Of course he did," she bit out, looking very vexed. "Let me know if you have any other dreams, all right?"
"All right," Morgana said before Merlin moved to the Court Physician quarters.
"Why did you tell Morgana that her dream was just a dream?" she demanded of Gaius and the older man gave a very put-upon sigh.
"Because I had hoped that was all it was," he said, "what do you know about Seers?"
"Sorcerers who possess foresight?" Merlin asked. "You think Morgana's a Seer?"
Gaius gave a nod of agreement. "It's said to be an innate ability. Those who have it are born that way. Some aren't even aware that what they see is the future. It comes to them in their dreams…and the night before Sophia and Aulfric came to Camelot, Morgana had a dream about Sophia."
Merlin's frown deepened. "But if it's an innate talent, surely she's had visions before?"
"She has, and many of the things she said she'd dreamt came to pass. I kept it a secret from Uther, of course. The gift of prophecy is too close to the work of magic."
"So Sophia's interest in Arthur has nothing to do with her being grateful for him rescuing her and her father?" Merlin surmised. "Who are they?"
"I can't be sure," Gaius said, "But Aulfric caught me in Sophia's room and, in a flash of anger, his eyes changed color."
"To what?" Merlin said befuddled, crossing her arms. "Gold?"
"No, that was the curious thing," Gaius said, "they bled red."
And Merlin had a very bad feeling.
The next day Merlin contemplated killing Arthur no less than seven times, and they were all quite justified, if you asked her.
Arthur skipped a knighting ceremony that he had agreed to attend previously, which was to say before Sophia and Aulfric had arrived, in order to frolic out in the woods with Sophia (at least, that was what it seemed like and Merlin didn't really want to think about what they were really up to).
So, of course it fell to Merlin to bumble out another excuse for where the king's son was. This excuse was far less plausible than the first but Merlin was surprised when the king accepted it as fact.
Maybe it was because he didn't want to believe that his son was shirking his duties to spend time with a girl he'd barely met.
"Remind me to kill Arthur," Merlin said to Gwen as she went with her to collect lunch for Morgana who had decided to take lunch in her room, citing that she was unwell.
"I'm sure he'll be back to normal once they've gone," Gwen said, but it was clear Sophia and her father made the servant uneasy.
"If he isn't," Merlin grumbled, "then I'm going to knock him over the head with a log and see if that does the trick."
"Merlin!" Gwen reproached, but the smile on her lips ruined the image.
"I'm just saying I should keep the option open," Merlin wheedled. "I mean, he can't aggravate me when he's unconscious…ooh, maybe I should try that whenever I get annoyed with him." Her eyes lit up at the mere prospect.
"Then you'd give him permanent brain damage," Gwen giggled.
"Is that supposed to make a difference?"
Gwen's laughter echoed through the hall.
Merlin paused around the corner that led to Sophia's room at the sound of a door opening and Sophia's soft voice.
"He's ready," Sophia said. "Tomorrow he'll do what we need him to."
"Good," Aulfric said, enthused by her apparent progress, "you have done well. Now I must go to the elders."
And Merlin peered slightly around the corner in order to see Sophia reenter her room, shutting the door behind her and Aulfric continuing down the corridor before taking the stairs to the level below and Merlin followed him on swift but silent feet.
It was harder to keep quiet in the forest, but it was a talent that all Druids possessed from years and Merlin had perfected from watching them, so it wasn't nearly as difficult as it seemed, for Merlin at least.
She followed Aulfric for quite some time, on horse-back and on foot over the Darkling Woods. The night had grown dark and the only way for Merlin to see was by an enchantment upon her eyes and an invisibility spell over herself and Triton kept them from being seen.
Merlin dismounted and made a shushing motion towards the horse before moving on silent feet to where Aulfric had come out at the edge of a lake.
She could not help but gaze in awe upon it. Merlin had heard tales of the wonders the Lake of Avalon, its healing properties were a wonder to behold, if legends were to be believed. You could practically feel the magic coming off it…how could she have not known where the lake was? Was it enchanted to remain hidden?
Before Merlin had a chance to consider it, Aulfric had begun to speak. "I seek an audience with the Sidhe elders! Not gwithim sar! Dar Libran trim shah!"
Merlin watched with wide eyes as he lifted his odd staff into the air and the area above the lake glowed a faint blue and small balls of light appeared moving feverishly through the air. And then her eyes gleamed gold and the world around her seemed to slow down, revealing the balls of light to be something akin to faeries.
They were small and blue with wings as fragile as a butterfly's and they danced over the water and fluttered through the air.
And reflected in the water she could see Avalon, bright and gleaming and far more beautiful than anything Merlin had seen previously.
"I come before you to plead," Aulfric continued, apparently unfazed by the appearance of Avalon, "for the chance to win passage back to Avalon and a life of immortality!"
One faerie-like being approached him and Merlin surmised that this was one of the elders that Aulfric had spoken of to his daughter before he'd left.
It pointed to the man and spoke in a low voice. "Your punishment for killing another Sidhe is a mortal body and a mortal life. You will never be able to return to Avalon."
"The crime was mine," Aulfric was close to pleading with the 'Sidhe', "not my daughter's."
"The gates of Avalon remain closed to your daughter," the being replied coldly, not swayed in the slightest. "Unless the soul of a mortal prince be offered up to them."
"Thank you!" Aulfric cried gratefully. "An immortal life for my daughter is all that I desire, so I promise you the soul of the greatest prince of all, Arthur Pendragon!"
Merlin breathed in sharply. Oh, this wasn't good, this wasn't good at all. And she left Aulfric to race quietly to Triton's side before rushing back to the palace as though fire was licking at their heels to where Gaius was waiting to hear from her.
She told him everything in a bit of a rush.
"The Lake of Avalon?" Gaius pressed, leaning against his desk. "You're certain?"
"Yes," Merlin insisted.
"Mortals are only supposed to glimpse Avalon in the moment before death," Gaius continued, fitting his chin in his hand as he considered her. "Yet you saw it…what was it like?"
"Beautiful, beyond all imagining," Merlin conceded a bit wistfully before shaking her head to clear her thoughts. "But that's not important right now, what's important is that whoever these 'Sidhe' faeries are, they're going to have Arthur sacrificed, which normally I'd be all for, but not today."
"The Sidhe?" Gaius was wearing a look that boded ill. "They're the immortal race of Avalon, masters of enchantment and a cruel race of beings."
"So we know for certain now that Arthur's been enchanted," Merlin grumbled, "there's no way anyone would fall for someone that much after only two days."
Merlin didn't believe in love at first sight, and for good reason. She'd seen people profess their undying love to one person only to switch their feelings to another in a matter of days.
"Almost certainly," Gaius agreed solemnly. "I'm afraid Morgana's dream is coming true."
Aulfric's plan came into action quite early the very next day, and Merlin couldn't help but be annoyed at how quickly Arthur had fallen for Sophia's charms. But a proposal of marriage was a bit much.
Of course, the king had denied the request, given the current events. Sophia couldn't strengthen the kingdom and Arthur had only known her for two days.
"You don't know what you're doing," Merlin said to Arthur with certainty as he packed a bag. "You've been enchanted! She's not in love with you, Arthur!"
"I told you people would try to keep us apart," came Sophia's voice from doorway and Merlin turned to glare at the girl and her father. There was a light in their eyes, probably eagerness to kill Arthur and allow Sophia to become immortal once more.
"I know," Arthur spoke so sincerely that Merlin wanted to grab him by the chain mail and rattle him until he saw sense. "I won't let that happen."
Merlin snapped her fingers at Arthur. "Look at me, you prat, you've been enchanted, that's all what she wants, none of these thoughts are your own!"
"We can elope together," Sophia appealed, coming forward and the spell she'd cast on him seemed to work better when she was closer; Merlin could see the lines of tension in his shoulders smooth and relax. "Get away from this place, these people."
"Get away like drown in the Lake of Avalon, you mean?" Merlin remarked with narrowed eyes and Aulfric's jumped to hers. "That's right, I saw it all." She turned to look upon Arthur again. "They're going to sacrifice you to gain immortality. They aren't human! They're Sidhe!"
Merlin dropped a hand to the sword resting at her waist and Aulfric moved surprisingly quick for a man his age, aiming his staff at Merlin and uttering a spell.
"Na þing biþ!" he called and Merlin was struck against the wall by what felt like an electric shock to her chest, and the world faded to blackness.
It took more time than Merlin was willing to admit for her unconsciousness to wear off, and when it had, Merlin found herself in Arthur's room, with the prince was long gone and a dull ringing in her head that didn't stop until she'd grabbed Triton from the stables and made her to the Darkling Woods.
She could hear the rushing of her own blood in her ears, and not much else until she heard Aulfric's chanting and she dismounted, making haste towards the origin of the chant.
Sophia was in the lake with her hand outstretched over the surface of the water, though not touching it and Arthur was nowhere to be seen.
"Ia bend dǽdon níwe," Aulfric intoned, one hand raised, extending towards the figures in the lake, the other holding to his staff. "Cúðon gare íewe deahl sǽ áre. Sé áre. Ig bæþ deahl sǽ néah. Déaþ ór cwylþ óga him. An wén. Flíete á. Dómdæg. Déaþ ór cwylþ óga him. An wén. Flíete á. Dómdæg. Déaþ ór cwylþ óga him, Arthur Pendragon. Ia bend dǽdon níwe. Cúðon gare íewe deahl sǽ néah. Sé áre. Ig bæþ deahl sǽ néah. An wén. Flíete á. Dómdæg. Déaþ ór cwylþ óga him."
Arthur was running out of air, so Merlin had to move quickly. As Aulfric continued chanting, Merlin caught sight of Sophia's staff, lying forgotten on the ground.
Payback.
"Onbregdan," she murmured and the staff flew towards her and she just barely caught it in her hands, and it was a bit heavier than what she had been expecting, but its weight mattered not to her as she pointed it at Aulfric.
"Swilte," Merlin said, causing Aulfric to turn, "gold beorþ!"
A great bolt of light went from the staff to hit Aulfric in the chest and he gave a mighty yell before exploding, leaving nothing behind, not even his staff was safe from the strike.
Sophia screamed when she saw what had become of her father.
"Father!" she cried, trying to rush to where Merlin had struck him down, but the water slowed her down. "No! No!"
Arthur was running out of time and Sophia needed to be dealt with quickly (and regretfully), so Merlin turned the staff on her next and if she saw the silent plea in her eyes, she didn't mention it.
"Acwele!"
A second bolt of light was thrown, this time impacting Sophia, and she only gave a small scream before she too exploded into small fragments, leaving Merlin alone above the surface of the water.
"I swear to the goddess if you're dead," Merlin grumbled under her breath, dropping the staff and ripping off her jacket, and with it her sword before plunging into the water. "Arthur! Can you hear me?"
But she received no reply so dived deeper in, opening her eyes under the water and holding her breath. The water was clear, which was not strange to Merlin in the slightest, except that there seemed to be an opaque quality to the water as she went in deeper, presumably coming closer to Arthur.
Merlin suspected that might have been the Sidhe's doing, given the fact that they were master enchanters, but their spells couldn't stop Merlin.
A golden glow lit her eyes and the opaque quality faded and the water around her became clear enough for Merlin to see the glint of sunlight breaking through water to reflect off metal and Arthur had been wearing a lot of metal the last time she'd seen him.
And then she saw him and Merlin grasped chain mail, pulling him towards her before locking an arm around him and yanking him towards the surface.
And they broke through with Merlin gasping for air and Arthur releasing a few gurgles as the water he'd swallowed came out through him mouth.
"I don't get paid nearly enough to save your sorry ass every week," Merlin gasped as she tugged him towards the edge of the lakeside. "I need a raise."
But Arthur, blissfully unconscious, gave no reply, and Merlin groaned loudly, bemoaning why she'd agreed to come back on as his maid-servant in the first place.
AN: So, The Gates of Avalon is done, thank the gods, and that means next chapter we get to meet Mordred, and I'm so excited about it! Maybe Percival's brothers will show up sooner or later, but I'm not really sure when…
As always: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!
