Hello. Today I bring the Chapter 18, Arthur's perspective. This one is the beginning of the action and, somehow, the inner story. I hope you like it.
I'm not own from Merlin.
When they were ready to leave, with their horses saddled and their saddlebags well placed, Arthur waited for them to get out of that house at once and to finally go to find Balinor, which is what they should do, and not be arguing with a cursed lumberjack-bear. The sun had already risen in the sky, and Arthur speculated it would be nine o'clock or so.
In all that had remained in the morning since the uneasy conversation in the basement with Merlin until now, Arthur had not been able to see nor Morgana nor Merlin. As Gwen had told him, Merlin had been with her preparing everything for the journey and Morgana had been inside the shed, the specific place she did not know.
Arthur had been wandering around the shed, in the woods, where as Gwen had said, you could see the wooden and straw dolls. At first glance, they were quite frightened, but Arthur was the Prince and future King of Camelot and could not afford to be humiliated in such a way. When Gwen had told him the fear they gave when he had returned back, Arthur had murmured a weak "they're cute", without believing himself what he had answered.
Meanwhile, Arthur had been looking at Telvar's shed, the lumberjack, or also known as the Bear or the Cursed Man, to see if there were any signs of danger. Despite Merlin's assurances of being someone affable and good, Arthur continued to distrust him, and when he distrusted (which was not as common as it seemed) nothing good could happen.
Telvar's shed looked like any other wooden cabin in the forest, where a big old lumberjack lived. He was not hiding anything, although it was true that the books that hung in the small library did not seem normal but were written in strange runes or indecipherable scriptures. Otherwise, there was nothing to worry about.
The only place he hadn't visited was the attic, and it hadn't been for lack of desire, but because the door seemed apparently closed. He was hoping there was nothing in it and he never thought about it again.
Arthur was often tempted to send that man to Camelot and arrest him for possessing magic and being cursed, but something inside, in his heart, told him that shouldn't happen. If he had followed his father's advice, he would have killed him right there, without a fair trial. But the problem was that he wasn't his father.
He was going to call Merlin and Morgana to leave when he heard voices in the chimney room. He went there and listened intently. They were Merlin and Telvar, who apparently just went down the stairs, and were on their way to the exit of the shed, not without a first stop to talk about something.
"I need you to go to the village next door, Merlin," said the voice he recognized as Telvar's, deep but soft at the same time, something velvety that gave the sound of a hibernating bear.
"May I know why?" heard Merlin's young and enthusiastic voice.
"It is a matter that as soon as you get there you will understand. You will have to look for a woman, older than young, whose name is Hilda. Tell him you're my friend and he'll tell you everything.
"All about what?"
"You'll see."
"What about the locket?"
"I said keep it. It's very important, believe me. Save it as if your life depended on it. Don't let anyone know about him or find out. I don't know the value yet, but I have a feeling there's something about Balinor that's yet to be discovered."
"Understood."
He heard Merlin's footsteps approaching the living room door and Telvar going upstairs, and it was when he heard Merlin close enough when he stood between him and the door.
"Hold it right there," Arthur warned.
Merlin's face did not seem to be of concern or fear, only some surprise.
"Is there any problem?" Merlin asked.
"What were you and Telvar talking about? I thought I heard something going to the village next door."
"You heard right. I was just going to tell you."
"You know that I am the Prince of Camelot..."
"... and I a weary servant, already" ended Merlin's sentence with some tiredness and annoyance in his voice, like that of someone who has heard something a lot and repeatedly.
"What does that mean...?" Arthur asked with some irony.
Merlin sighed, looking at the ground and with an exhausted expression.
"That you choose where and when to go."
"And how," Arthur corrected with a cheeky smile on his lips.
Merlin looked up and laughed.
"And why am I not allowed to make some suggestions?"
"Because..."
"Yes, I know, but I mean that I had given the idea of going to Ealdor, isn't it?"
Arthur was going to replicate when he found out he was right. For once, Merlin was right.
"Right. And that makes you less likely to give another idea, isn't true?"
Merlin sighed again, this time much stronger as if he had to endure the stubbornness of a foolish prince.
"Now seriously, Arthur," Merlin said with a much more serious tone, agrees with his expression, "I really need to go to town. In addition, it doesn't do the same if we go, as we will still have to spend the night in Ealdor, and the trip is no more than three hours."
"Who says we're going to sleep there?" Arthur asked, trying without fortune to put on a face as steely and fulminant look as possible.
"That was the treatment," Merlin said in a tired voice.
"Right... and the locket?" Arthur asked, taking a 180-degree turn to the subject, catching Merlin by surprise, seeing his uncomfortable face.
"What locket?"
"Whatever gave you Telvar, will you let me see it?" asked Arthur with an ironic smile.
Merlin, dejected and knowing that he had lost, put his hand out of a pocket inside his faded jacket and delivered a silvery beauty ornate with a stone of a shy green color. He caught it like the one who takes a diamond and inspected it, investigating so he could detect something rare in that. It wasn't an ordinary one, or at least it didn't look like it.
"Is it magical?" Arthur asked looking with distrust back at Merlin.
At the only mention of "magic," Arthur was able to see Merlin's eyes enlarged in fear and his body moved nervously, as if suddenly at that mention a magical beast appeared behind him.
"Magic? I don't think so."
"You don't think so," Arthur repeated with an emphasis on the last words. "And has Telvar really given it to you?"
"Yes."
"For what reason?"
"I keep investigating it," Merlin replied, saying the word "investigate" as if it was something mysterious and suspicious as if it were the necklace in a murder scene.
"I see...," Arthur said, still not very convinced of the locket. He tended it to Merlin without the same care as before, as if he had lost the quality in his hand. "You can keep it."
Merlin looked at him with a hint of confusion and some fun.
"Since when do I must have your permission to use my things?"
"Shut up," Arthur replied with a little smile trying to be hidden.
"So we're going to the village?" Merlin asked, more for asking than for having a good answer.
Arthur had thought about it while they were talking about the locket and he knew what to answer.
"Yes," Arthur replied, but seeing Merlin's face of surprise and thanks, he stopped to say, "But don't say congratulations, I'm just a little curious to see what that woman called Hilda have to say. Who knows, maybe she knows something about the man we're looking for.
And so, Arthur turned and came out of the shed. He didn't know if he'd done the right thing, but he had a feeling they had to go there. After all, as Merlin had said, Ealdor was only three hours away, so it didn't matter if they were going to make some stops through that beautiful valley.
What he did fear was the time it would take then to save Camelot. With the nonsense of the journey of heading here and there, it was having a long time. Hopefully, the next day they would be asking about Balinor, and within a few more days (not to tell the problem of whether Balinor would come or not) Camelot would be saved from the fires of the fearsome dragon, who followed the question in his head of how he had come out of the heart of the castle.
Then there was Merlin, who, although it seemed that many times recently did nothing, he knew inside that it was not so and that, at least on the journey, Merlin was doing more than any servant would, starting from the time that a normal servant would not go on a mission like this (or in the previous ones that had gone with him, Arthur thought). Arthur knew Merlin was looking for information to find the last Dragon Lord, Camelot's salvation. And even if he wouldn't recognize it, he was very grateful for it.
When Arthur left the shed, he met Morgana and Gwen, talking to each other already mounted and prepared on top of the horse. Arthur saw Merlin following him and, in a few seconds, the four of them were sitting on the horses, ready to follow the journey.
Telvar was with them and helped them with the last preparations. He was the one who cheerfully fired them with his raised bear hand and his eyes with a gentle distant glowing experience.
Even if it seemed like that in a moment, Arthur felt it wouldn't be the last time he'd see it.
"Let's go to…" Arthur tried to say until he realized that he did not know the name of the town.
"Wirgen" finalized Merlin.
Arthur didn't know why, but he had a feeling that he had already heard that name
"Let's go to Wirgen, then"
Arthur saw Morgana and Gwen seek the joke in their words, without fortune. Arthur smiled at them, and so began the way to Wirgen, the town whose secret name Arthur did not know: the Cursed Town.
And again, Arthur felt that he had done well and that, without being able to justify it, the town called him.
The adventure begins. In Wirgen they will know more about the past and about the story. Who is that Hilda? What does she want from them? In the next chapter, all will be revealed.
What do you think? Is it going well?
I hope you liked it and see you next time.
Next Chapter: Merlin's perspective. Wirgen, the Cursed Town. What really happened?
LegolasHV