Strongest of the Warlocks: Chapter Twenty: A Trodden Path
AN: It's been awhile since an update, mostly because I lost my inspiration from a flamer and from nursing school overwhelming me. Hope you guys enjoy the update.
"Oh, Mum," Merlin sighed softly.
It had been months since she'd last seen her mother and they'd barely spoken, especially since it had been her mother's idea to send her to Gaius in the first place, but that didn't mean that Merlin loved her any less.
Still, to see her in Camelot with almost the complete side of her face bruised hadn't been how Merlin wanted to see her.
Merlin gently ran her fingers over the mottled skin, eyebrows creased together with worry.
"My daughter," Hunith smiled, "ever the worrier. Don't worry, it's not so bad."
"It's a huge bruise, Mum, it looks terrible," Merlin said flatly.
"Well, looks aren't everything," Hunith said vaguely and that only served to make Merlin scowl more, as her mother had always been a rather pretty woman.
"Mum," Merlin pressed as servants and knights walked past them in the halls, "what happened?"
Hunith's eyes darted, looking over Merlin's shoulder like she was seeing enemies, like was back in Ealdor, being backhanded by Kanen.
"You remember how harsh winters are in Ealdor," she said and Merlin nodded. Some winters they'd been stretched so thin for food that Merlin had simply avoided eating all together. Later, Iseldir told her that the act nearly killed her and it had taken her some time to recover, during which Hunith had asked Iseldir take her with him to help her recover. When she came back to Ealdor there had been a rumor spread that she'd left because she was with child and Merlin had remained frosty with the villagers even years after. "This harvest we've been plagued by some brigand, he called himself Kanen."
"Ah, damn," Merlin winced.
"You know him?" Hunith's eyebrows rose high on her forehead.
"You remember when Percival came into my care?" Merlin asked, playing with the end of her long plait and her mother nodded. "Kanen's men were the ones that attacked him."
Hunith didn't point out that they'd been the ones she'd killed; she didn't think that Merlin would appreciate that too much.
"He's going to take our whole harvest and King Cenred won't do anything." Hunith was shaking. "Our children won't make it through this winter…and I didn't want to bother you with all this but I'm frightened and you were always the strongest of the two of us, maybe I was just hoping for some of your strength."
"Oh, Mum, that isn't true," Merlin insisted, winding her arms tightly around her mother. "You're so strong, you can handle anything."
She leaned back and let her mother look into her eyes. Hunith smiled fondly, cupping her daughter's cheek. "I see so much of him in you," she murmured.
Merlin had long since learned not to ask questions about her father and she knew little about him, other than the fact that she had gained the color of her eyes and hair from him (Hunith's eyes were far too light to compare), and that Uther had once crossed into Cenred's kingdom to hunt him down. As the years went on, Merlin understood that to mean that he had been a sorcerer.
"I can ask Arthur if he can get you an audience with Uther," Merlin suggested instead. "Maybe hearing you talk about Ealdor will appeal to his better nature…if he has one."
Hunith gave her a slight smile. "My daughter, ever bitter."
"One of us has to be," Merlin said, though she knew full well of what Uther would say on the matter, and true to her thoughts, within an hour Merlin found herself looking over the battlements, Arthur coming up not very silently at her side, denied by Uther for assistance.
"I'm sorry," he told her and she looked up. Arthur and noticed two things today that he had never expected to: just how old Merlin seemed around the eyes, and just how much she looked like her mother. "If it were up to me, we'd be on our way there now."
"I'd be a fool to accept any kindness from your father," Merlin said smoothly, voice as cool as the shadow of blue that was her eyes. Arthur almost opened his mouth to defend his father but then thought better of it. "But thank you for trying."
"I wish that Camelot was able to help people regardless of how far away they lived."
Merlin said nothing for a moment. "It might one day," she said finally, "when you are king."
Arthur snorted. "You have that much faith in me?"
"More than I used to," she gave him a brief grin and Arthur noticed it lit up her whole face. "I still remember how pompous you were months ago."
"What about you?" Arthur couldn't help but sputter. "Countering me at every turn?"
"Like that's changed." Merlin rolled her eyes but then her expression grew somber. "I told my mother I'd take her home to Ealdor but I'm not sure how the villagers will feel, especially since I'm the reason they were singled out in the first place."
"You've lived in Camelot for months now," Arthur pointed out, a bit bemused.
Merlin shook her head. "No, before, when I was sixteen."
She started walking and he followed, rather intrigued. "I'd lost track of time looking for some nettles or I would've been home sooner and I found a young man who had been outnumbered and wounded by Kanen and his men. When I dragged him back to my house, Kanen was the only one still breathing."
Arthur fixated on the solemn seriousness that had overtaken her. "I thought you didn't like killing?" He still remembered how angry she'd been after he thanked her for killing the druid sorcerer that tried to take over Camelot while his father had been away.
"I don't," Merlin said grimly, "look at what's happened! I couldn't save Girec's father so he takes it out on Camelot, I killed men to save a wounded man and Kanen takes it out on Ealdor…there is an unchanging variable there, Arthur."
Arthur glared at her. "Everyone makes mistakes, Merlin, you're not perfect, not by a long shot." Her eyes widened, startled by his honesty. "And it's a good thing I'm around to beat that attitude out of you."
Merlin arched an eyebrow, shaking her head fondly. "I told you I could take you down in less than one hit the day we met Arthur, that hasn't changed, only this time Kanen's going to feel what it's like."
Arthur wasn't entirely sure that he liked the cold glint in her eye, it gave him the distinct feeling that Merlin would be a very bad person to have as an enemy.
Merlin patted his arm kindly and left in the direction of the horses, Triton already ready for her when Morgana and Gwen came out with horses of their own.
"No!" was the first thing out of Merlin's mouth, jabbing her finger at the pair of them. "Don't you even think about it!"
Morgana's expression was far too innocent and Merlin didn't believe it for a second.
"You think you're going to be able to take out a couple dozen of bandits on your own?" Morgana asked archly while Gwen giggled.
Merlin huffed like a petulant child. "I could try," she grumbled. But even if Merlin liked killing, which she really didn't, she knew it would be difficult to take them all on, magic notwithstanding.
"We're coming anyways," Gwen insisted. "You're our friend, Merlin, we're coming to help."
Morgana gave Merlin a look behind Gwen's head that brooked no argument, so Merlin conceded, calling for her mother to join them. She already had a few short words with Gaius, though they still had their differences, bidding him farewell, so they were ready to leave without a glance back towards the castle.
"What was little Merlin like?" Gwen asked Hunith once they'd camped for the night, close to the border of Camelot and Cenred's Kingdom, with Merlin poking at the logs in the fire with her sword.
Hunith smiled around her bruise, looking to her daughter with her eyebrows drawn tight together. For a moment she could see Balinor's concern when he'd heard that Uther was searching for him, Balinor who had never known she was pregnant with his child. "She was always curious and wandering, she wanted to travel and see the world…I lost count how many times Iseldir had to return her to me."
Merlin's lips curved faintly.
"Iseldir?" Morgana queried, unfamiliar with the name.
"Isn't that your godfather?" Gwen asked, her eyes jumping to Merlin. "The druid?"
Morgana's eyes widened and Merlin realized that she hadn't actually told Morgana about that bit of information. "Your godfather is a druid?"
"Yes," Merlin said, "he is."
"She adored him as a child," Hunith's smile was as soft at her words. "She would get so upset when she couldn't see him as much as she liked."
Merlin flushed pink and her friends laughed. "Mum! I was five!"
"It was adorable."
Merlin rolled her eyes. Her mother liked to tell that story a lot, though rarely to someone that wasn't Merlin herself. She also liked to tell Merlin about the day she'd been born, how a vibrant bird had flown overhead, subtle but eye-catching at the same time, how she'd asked Iseldir what it was called and decided to name her newborn daughter after it.
She heard more about those stories than she ever had about her father and even after more than eighteen years, Merlin still knew so little about him.
"How is Percival?" Hunith asked Merlin a bit knowingly and Merlin could feel another flush crawling up her neck.
"He's fine," Merlin said as flatly as she could manage.
"Just fine?" Hunith's eyes gleamed and Morgana and Gwen tried not to devolve into laughing fits once more.
"Mum!" Merlin hissed, pressing a hand to her red face that had nothing to do with the fire.
"Are you still getting letters?" she asked knowingly.
"Mum, stop!"
"Oooh, did your mother meet your gentleman friend?" Morgana's eyes practically glowed in the light of the fire, almost golden.
"Hard not to," Merlin grumbled, "he was living with us for awhile." And with that said, she stood and moved to collect more wood.
"Perhaps I shouldn't have been winding her up too much," Hunith admitted when her back disappeared into the darkness.
Gwen gave her a kind smile and patted her knee kindly. "I don't think she was taking it personally, I think she's just got a lot on her mind."
"Your village, Ealdor," Morgana said, eyes flicking towards Hunith, "does Merlin like it there?"
Hunith's gaze shifted, looking back in the direction her daughter had gone. "Merlin would rather have lived in the unlivable Perilous Lands than Ealdor…she probably would've been happier there too." Having to suppress her magic for so long had left Merlin so bitter and angry towards those who lacked the tolerance of others who had gifts. There had been an incident right before Hunith had decided to send Merlin to Gaius and there'd been whispers following Merlin afterwards. Merlin had never spoken of it, her eyes sparking and dangerous. "But she was always her happiest helping others and healing was always her skill." She smiled fondly remembering when Merlin was still a child, reciting the names of the plants and what they were used for as she mixed tinctures together.
"It's good of you to come with her," she added to the pair, "but I still can't see why you would."
Morgana was a lady, the ward to Uther himself, and Gwen was her maidservant and the daughter of a blacksmith. Merlin could handle herself well enough, but what of these two?
"We owe Merlin," Morgana said seriously and Gwen nodded seriously. "She's helped us before at great personal cost. We're here to return the favor."
Darkness descended, leaving only Merlin and Hunith still awake, even as Gwen and Morgana slumbered on.
"I worry about you, Merlin."
"You always worry about me," Merlin pointed out tiredly. She still remembered her mother's face going white at the sight of Cenred riding through their village, tucking her under the bed before she could be seen.
"I should never have sent you to Camelot," Hunith lamented, "it's not safe for you with Uther—"
"Mum." Merlin took her mother's hands, feeling how cold they were in the autumn night. "It's all right…I think Camelot has been good for me, in a way."
"Fighting with your uncle and hiding who you are on a daily basis?" Hunith asked archly and Merlin grimaced.
"Gaius and I…it's a personal thing." It was something she was still working through, though at the pace of a petulant child. Still, she wasn't easily going to get over the fact that Gaius had once given the names of so many sorcerers to the king. "And I am doing good where I am, I know that…even if Arthur's a complete ass most of the time."
Her mother clicked her tongue at the use of crass language. "You like him."
"When he's not being an ass," Merlin conceded, her lips curling.
Silence fell and all Merlin could hear was the hooting of a distant owl and the rustling of leaves in the wind. Merlin wasn't tired in the slightest, which could have been because of how uneasy she was about Kanen and his men or how much she'd missed being off on her own in the forest.
"You know better than most that it won't matter to Kanen that you're all women," Hunith reminded her and Merlin's lips thinned into a line.
"It's me he should be worried about," Merlin said, words as biting as an ice-cold wind, and it caused her mother to stare at her.
"You don't like violence," Hunith said, almost to remind her. Healing was Merlin's specialty, she'd learned at Iseldir's heel and he wasn't a violent man.
The ice in Merlin's eyes melted somewhat and she sighed, playing with the end of her plait. "No," she agreed, "I don't." She rubbed her hands together, looking into the fire once more. She might've thought that coming to Camelot had been for the best, but she couldn't deny that in some ways it had opened her to her darker side, the one that she hadn't fully been aware of until she'd come to Camelot.
She'd killed men before, but very few and unintentionally, no matter what others claimed, and then she'd come to Camelot and Arthur was always in danger and people seemed to die more frequently when Merlin played her hand.
"I miss the way things used to be," she mumbled with a heavy sigh, rubbing at the vambrace that she shared with Percival. Her heart ached in her chest and all she wanted to do was go running for border to Mercia, to see him again.
Her mother took her hand and used the other to brush the fringe out of Merlin's eyes.
"I wish magic wasn't viewed as some terrifying thing," she added hollowly.
"Maybe one day it won't be," Hunith said with more certainty than Merlin could dare to muster. "You should not have to bear this burden alone, Merlin."
Merlin thought about Uther's over-eager attitude in killing anyone seen to be using magic, from grown men to the smallest of children. And then she thought about Arthur, going against his father in order to get Mordred to safety.
"Get some sleep, Mum," she said instead, kissing her mother's temple before turning back to the fire.
Merlin had always thought that she worked best in the dead of night, that was usually the best time to practice her magic or to sneak around; she'd never really been very particular about which. She had grown rather accustomed to the night and all its sounds by the time the full moon was high in the sky, so the sounds of hoof beats was enough to put her on age.
The sensation evaporated a moment later after a murmured spell revealed it only to be Arthur, decked out in his armor, apparently following their trail, so Merlin did what anyone would've done, she snuck up on him and asked loudly behind him, "What're doing?"
Arthur must've jumped a foot as he whipped around to face her, eyes wide and startled. He swore under his breath and sheathed his sword. "Has anyone ever told you that you're too quiet?"
Merlin arched an eyebrow. "No. What're you doing here, Arthur? Your father won't be pleased about you running off into other lands." He'd been sent to the dungeons after the last time he'd tried to help his maidservant, and Merlin doubted this was going to be any different.
"What, did you think I was going to let you three have all the fun?" he asked and Merlin rolled her eyes before drawing him back in the direction of the camp, unaware that Arthur was watching he with a bit of befuddlement.
Whenever he dragged her out with him to go hunting she was the loudest person in the group and the one responsible for most of the game being scared off, but now she stepped carefully to make the least amount of sound possible. She had to have been so noisy during hunting on purpose! Arthur didn't consider why else that might've been a bad thing, only finding himself annoyed by it.
She stopped suddenly and he nearly knocked her over by running into her. "What's the matter with you?"
"I thought I heard something," she whispered, stilling for a moment, her eyes focused off into the darkness, like she could see something that he couldn't. "It's probably nothing," she said a moment later, pointing him in the direction of the fire while she took a step towards where she'd been looking.
"I thought you said it was nothing," he mentioned, grabbing her arm before she could take another step.
Merlin looked back at him. "Probably nothing," she acquiesced, shaking his hand off, "just give me a minute, I'll be fine."
Arthur frowned, but he couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't completely telling the truth.
Merlin knew she hadn't been imagining that noise, there was definitely something out there, something that didn't have anything to do with the animals that had made it their home in the forest.
She unsheathed the sword and then a shiver went down her spine at a voice to her left. "You are an impossible person to find, Merlin daughter of Hunith."
Kanen was someone she'd barely seen during the attack on Percival, but what little of his face she could remember was rather clear to be seen. Skin with a thick scar stretched across, eyes dark and angry, with a short beard sprinkled with grey hairs.
"Nice scar," Merlin said before she could stop herself and the punch she got to the face for her efforts was probably well-deserved, seeing as she was the one that had given it to him in the first place.
"You were right about her, Malcolm," Kanen said. "She's got a smart mouth."
"Malcolm?" Merlin repeated, eyes shifting to the second man that came out of the shadows and then her shoulders sagged. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
She remembered Malcolm quite well from her youth, always picking on Merlin and William when they were just trying to play games together. He had never liked Merlin very much, always trying to antagonize her. Merlin had taken to avoiding him all-together, which had only seemed to make him even angrier, something which never made sense to Merlin as a child; why did it bother him more when he didn't see her? It wasn't like she was an explosion waiting to happen, or anything. Her mother had suspected Malcolm's intense dislike of her had come from his own mother and had to do with the fact that Merlin had been born out of wedlock.
"I told you attacking her village was the best way to get her to come back," Malcolm said to Kanen and Merlin's teeth ground together. "Hitting her mum probably helped."
"You bastard," Merlin seethed. "That's your village too!"
"Not anymore," he grinned pearly-white in the moonlight, "I left just like you did, but I didn't leave because I had magic."
"Magic?" Merlin scoffed, fear wrapping around her heart like a tight fist. "Please, I'm about as magical as a blade of grass!" She tried to remember if she'd used magic against Kanen and his men when she'd first found Percival. She might've used it on one of his men in order to gain his sword, since Merlin hadn't had one until later, but for the most part she'd been lucky and her strategy at that point had mostly been 'stick them with the pointy end and hope its sharp enough'.
"We're not as dumb as you think," Malcolm snapped back.
"That's debatable," Merlin retorted in a tone as dry as the desert.
She hadn't been focusing hard enough on the fact that there were two people trying to box her in, not one, and she had to hiss when Kanen slashed his sword, cutting across her knuckles and forcing her to drop the sword. And if she used her magic she'd be proving their beliefs correct.
Merlin hadn't felt this cornered in awhile. Not even when Girec had taken over Camelot, but she supposed that she should've been used to revenge plots by now, especially ones that were her fault.
So she chose to act on impulse, bringing her leg up and kneeing Malcolm, who was the closest, in the groin and twisting to run back in the direction of camp.
She didn't make it very far before she was grabbed from behind. Merlin fought against the hold on her like an eel trying to slip out of a grip.
It was only then that she started screaming. "ARTHUR!"
Arthur could be a real bastard, that was for sure, but he was also the one that had done the impossible to save her life before and his name had sprung from her lips before she could think of anyone different.
"ART—mph!" Merlin was silenced by a gloved hand coming up over her mouth, but it was the harsh hit by what must've only been the hilt of a sword and Merlin went boneless, her world fading even with the yell of her own name echoing in the silence.
Arthur had been sitting uneasily by the fire, thinking that there was still so much that he didn't know about his own maidservant, whereas she seemed to know everything about him.
Her eyes had reflected moonlight when she said that the noise she'd heard had probably been nothing, but Arthur still went to the fire. Morgana, Gwen, and Merlin's mother were all still fast asleep.
Maybe his anxiety was unfounded but then a scream pierced the night.
"ARTHUR!"
Merlin had never screamed for help, never in the months that he had known her, so Arthur didn't even blink as the others roused at the scream, grabbing one of the lit pieces of wood in the fire and taking off in the direction of the scream, already pulling out his sword.
"ART-mph!" She didn't make it to completing his name the second time.
"Merlin!" he yelled, but all he heard was the sound of hooves in the distance and when he looked down, all he could see was the firelight reflected on the sword he had reforged for her.
Merlin was gone.
AN: Merlin's past seems to like catching up with her in the worst ways, but no one's perfect. This chapter didn't go the way I'd originally planned, but its way better and I always hated the Moment of Truth episode.
I'm switching around the timeline a bit after next chapter so To Kill the King will be before the Labyrinth of Gedref timewise.
As always: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!
