You people are not very good at leaving reviews I'll say. It is not very motivating to get only one or two comments. I am sorry, so sorry for the long, long delay. Had a bunch of schoolwork and some personal issues I had to work through. This chapter ain't all that long, but I figured; better a little than nothing. Come August I hope the updates will be more timely as I am done with school by then, and hopefully I'll start maternity leave as I am pregnant with twins. That was a shock because there are no twins in my family! But I'll cut this short – relatively - before I start rambling. It's girls! Sorry, sorry I couldn't help it...
Chapter 3
Merlin was trailing behind Arthur shivering in the cold wet clothes she wore, she was sure that Arthur was mad at her. Actually, there was no doubt, with the way he was rigidly sitting on his horse. The silence was starting to get to Merlin; there really was nothing quite as boring as riding through the forest with Arthur when he was in that mood. She sneezed and asked, "You're still angry with me, aren't you?"
Arthur answered in a slightly irritated tone, "We spend the entire day hunting only to catch nothing because every time we got anywhere near anything, you sneezed and scared it away." Now that just wasn't fair and she let her opinion be known. "Not the last time, there was no sneezing there. And you are not being fair, you know."
"No, that time you fell into a stream. No one could accuse you of being predictable, Merlin." She glared at his back. As if she had wanted to fall into that stream, it was really cold and she was sure she was getting sick, and that was without counting her little swim in. "I think I'm getting a cold, and these wet clothes are doing nothing at all to prevent that."
"Let's hope it's a bad one. Then you would actually have a reason for not getting your duties done on time." Merlin sat an outraged look on her face and was just about to say a snarky comeback; she really was bad at being sick. Her mood turned sour and she knew she was a little like a baby to be near when she was sick, but was that necessary? A scream tore through the forest and Merlin really hoped that it was just a funky sounding bird, so she looked up at the treetops, hopefully searching for said bird.
"What was that?" Arthur asked as he looked around. Merlin on the other hand kept looking at the treetops, still hoping to spot the bird she hoped it was, because she was not in the mood to play hero today. She was wet and cold and really just wanted to get back to the castle and have a nice hot cup of tealeaves. "I think it was a bird." 'I hope it was a bird, please be a bird.' A new scream tore through the forest and crushed Merlin's hopes about it being a bird. 'No, that is not a bird.'
"That? That was definitely a woman screaming." Arthur jumped off his horse and took his cape off before pulling out his sword and running in the direction the scream had come from. Merlin just sat on her horse and looked after him with a defeated look on her face. "Why couldn't it have just been a bird? It's never just a bird."
Merlin runs to catch up to Arthur who had gotten a good way ahead of her. When she reached him he was crunched behind a tree looking out onto a field, she hid behind the tree as well and looked over his head and frowned at what she saw. There was a group of people dragging a screaming woman to a bonfire; Merlin frowned at the intention of burning the woman. This kind of punishment was only used in the cases which involved sorcery, and Merlin could not imagine a more painful way to die.
Merlin snuck around Arthur to get a better look and to get closer. There had to be some way that they could stop what was about to happen to the poor woman, because it didn't really matter what she had done, no one deserved to be burned at the stake. As she crouched down behind another tree, Arthur's voice could be heard from behind her. "What are you doing?"
"I assume you want to risk our lives and see what's going on." Merlin answered. She would have guild tripped him into it if that wasn't the case but there was no reason for it if he was willingly going to find out what was happening and maybe help her save the woman. "I never thought I'd say this, but you are learning." Merlin rolled her eyes at him when he snuck past her to get closer, why did he think she was such a coward? Oh yeah, that was what she wanted him to think. It really was an inconvenience at times, whereas in others, it was a great help so that she could turn tail and run. She always found a way to run around and approach whatever they were facing from another angle than him.
"You really think I would just stand by and watch while they burn someone at the stake?" Merlin asked a little insulted that he would think so little of her. "Of course not Merlin, but you do have a history of running when trouble is near — unless of course if it is you who causes it. Sometimes it seems like trouble just follows you around."
Merlin mumbled a few curses as they ran for the town. When they were able to see the gathered people once more, the woman had been tied to the stake. They slowed down just before reaching the townspeople, and Merlin could not help the small smile which bloomed on her face. Trust Arthur to look royal while saving someone. It would not do for the king to run to the rescue unless it suited him, and in this case, it was an unknown village, so he had to look the king he was.
"Let the woman go." Arthur said when they were close enough to do so. Merlin trailed at bit behind so she was able to have all the townsfolk in her sight. You never knew with people who were scared, she assumed that that was what they were, since they were willing to burn someone — that spoke of fear.
The man who Merlin assumed to be the town chief spoke up then. "This woman has been sentenced to death. It does not concern you." Merlin frowned at the arrogant tone of voice he used and knew without doubt that Arthur would take offense to it. Even from behind him, she could see that Arthur puffed out his chest and straightened his back further as to seem more intimidating.
"I am Arthur Pendragon, King of Camelot, and your village is in my lands." Merlin could hear the underlining warning not to cross him, which also indicated that as long as it was in his lands, it was of his concern. Merlin felt her chest swell with pride, when she had met him, there would have been a high probability that he would not have interfered, but let the woman burn because they did not need to say it for Merlin to know for what 'crimes' the woman was to be burned.
"Her sorcery has brought sickness and suffering to this village." Well, Merlin supposed that could be true, but as she looked over at the woman and caught her eyes, she knew this to be a lie. The look in the elderly woman's eyes told a different story. A story of pain yes, but not hate. Merlin was pulled out of her thoughts by Arthur's counter question.
"Did she receive a fair trial?" The answer was prompt and once more a bit arrogant, Merlin just felt like smacking her forehead because of his idiocy, and then Arthur had the gall to call HER stupid. "Your father would have shown her no mercy."
"I am not my father. Now cut her down." Merlin could almost feel the chill from his voice in the air; it really was a soft spot for Arthur to be compared to his father. Not so much anymore because he wanted to be like Uther, but more because he wanted his approval. It was not something he had mentioned to her but it was just the feeling that Merlin got from Arthur on those rare occasions that the late king was brought up in their conversations.
"I will not endanger the lives of all who live here." Arthur raised his sword, put it to the man's chest, in a threatening manner, and spoke very slowly. "I said… cut her down."
As they made for the stake to cut her down Merlin ran over and just managed to catch her before she hit the ground. Merlin felt her heart contract as she put her arms around the woman, she did not think that she would be able to save her. From what they could see of her skin, she didn't look so bad, however, it was what was under the skin that concerned Merlin. From the brief contact, her mind had met with the woman's – Valdis' — mind she knew that she had likely been stoned. When they were far enough away from the village not to expect any attacks, Arthur had helped almost carry the poor woman to a nearby clearing.
The night was falling fast and the cold sweeping in from all sides, taking no notice of the burning fire in the middle of their camp. Merlin sadly bent over Valdis with a hand on her forehead and tried her hardest to heal her, but no matter how hard she tried she knew that there was nothing she could do. Valdis just had too many internal wounds and she had lost the will to live. Merlin could feel her acceptance in knowing that she would die. Even if Valdis had accepted it, didn't mean that Merlin was just going to give up on her. Nevertheless, even Merlin was starting to lose hope. She had tried for hours and there was no improvement.
Just as Merlin started to admit defeat, Arthur's voice broke her concentration. The abrupt interruption gave Merlin a fierce headache, ugh she hated when that happened. "Is there anything more you can do for her?" Merlin sighed and gave the only answer she could even if it pained her to do so. She was tired of losing people, while she had learned not to let it show how much it hurt her every time, it still tore her heart apart.
"She won't make it through the night." She answered in a tone of voice she knew either would alert Arthur to something being wrong or just sounding dispassionate, like she didn't even care. "Make her as comfortable as possible." Merlin nodded even if she really had no idea how she could make the woman comfortable, she had been stoned so there was probably no place on her body that wasn't in agony.
The woman's eyes opened and she looked over at Arthur. Her voice was weak when she said, "Thank you." "You should try and get some rest." Arthur answered her kindly. Merlin almost said that she didn't have long to go, so if she had anything she wanted to say, now would most likely be the last and only chance she was going to get. Arthur hunched down and took the woman's hands in his.
"My time has come. When you have lived as long as I, you no longer fear the journey to the next world. I have a gift for you. You showed kindness and compassion. Those are the qualities of a true king." Merlin just looked on in curiosity as Valdis pulled some kind of cloth out from under her dress. It had to be something important if she was willing to let it burn rather than fall into the wrong hands. However, what if Arthur's hand weren't the right ones? What if, whatever it is, isn't something that Arthur could handle just yet?
"Open it." Valdis said, Arthur obeyed while Merlin looked from the other side of Valdis to see what this gist could be. Inside the old worn cloth was a horn. It was beautiful, and yet there was something about it, which grated on Merlin's senses. She decided immediately that she did not like it one bit!
"It's beautiful." Merlin heard Arthur say, as she just kept staring at it. "It has the power to summon the spirits of the dead." Merlin tried not to let it show how much that statement disturbed her. Nevertheless, her eyes went from Valdis to Arthur and back again in shock. As Merlin tried to process what she had just been told Valdis drew a last staggering breath, before letting it go, never to draw in another.
Merlin had no idea what she should do with herself. A horn that could evidently summon the dead, well the spirits of the dead, but in Merlin's head that could just as well have been the dead themselves. Those kind of things always came with a price or at the very least a nasty surprise.
Merlin had talked Arthur into letting Gaius have a look at the horn, not that that had been a very hard thing to do as, if there was anything magical going on, it was Gaius who was asked for counseling. Merlin could think of nothing else other than what the horn was supposed to be able to do. There was simply no way that it could not have some kind of backfire to it, but she tried not to pass judgment before she had heard what Gaius had to say about it.
"The Horn of Cathbhadh. When Uther attacked the Isle of the Blessed, the Horn of Cathbhadh was smuggled to safety before the temple fell. It hasn't been heard of since." Gaius told them as he was looking at the horn. Merlin stood beside Arthur and was in no shape or form reassured that the horn was not a bad thing.
"The old woman said it could be used to open the door to the spirit world?" Now that was something Merlin was interested in hearing the answer to as well. She knew, or had a suspicion of why Arthur was interested, and while her own interest could be seen as her wanting to talk to a departed one last time, it was not so. Sure, she had some on the other side she would have loved to be able to talk to again but they were dead, and she was a firm believer that the dead should stay just that way. Dead.
"I have seen it with my own eyes. Long before the time of the Great Purge I took part in such ceremonies. Each year at Beltain, the High Priestesses would gather at the Great Stones of Nemeton and summon the spirits of their ancestors. It holds powerful magic. You must keep it safe." Merlin felt a sense of unease, because in her ears that was a clear warning to stay away from it, look away and forget about it. For once, that really was what she wanted to do. This was not something she could play dumb with, but she had a feeling that things would not go her way.
Gaius gave the horn back to Arthur who thanked him for his help and left. 'What are you up to Arthur? I really hope it's not what I think it is.' The look in Arthur's eyes had been calculating.
'Of course he had to use it. And why not? It's not like he had been cautioned about the bloody horn! This is never going to end well I just know it. Something is going to go wrong, something always goes wrong when the bloody prat doesn't listen to reason… What is taking so long?'
Merlin kept pacing back and forth, sometimes throwing a frown at the stones. The light of the portal changed and signaled Merlin of Arthur's return. When the light disappeared and she could see his face, she knew that what had happened and what Arthur had hoped to happen had been nowhere near each other. She called out to him but he showed no sign of hearing her and Merlin felt her heart contract at the pain she could see on his face. What she really wanted to do was to give him a hug, but she did not think that he would welcome it at the time.
Arthur didn't say a word as they walked back to where they had left the horses, nor did he say anything when they started the ride home. Merlin grew very concerned when he still hadn't said anything by the time they made camp. She had even made sure to do some things wrong just to get some kind of reaction from him, but there had been none. No indication that he even noticed that she was there.
When the darkness had fallen and Merlin had a fire going she had laid on the ground on the other side of the fire from where Arthur sat staring intensely into the flames. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked after some time. Arthur looked up at her with a slightly confused look in his eyes. "What happened at the stones?" Merlin elaborated to make sure that he was aware of what she was talking about.
"It seems my father doesn't approve of the way I have chosen to rule his kingdom." "You mean your kingdom." Merlin said. There was no way that Uther had done what Arthur indicated that he had done. Merlin had spent too much time turning Arthur away from the self-absorbed ass she had first met when she came to Camelot all those years ago just for some dead old king making Arthur doubt himself now.
She could feel how the old anger at Uther grew in her chest once more, but she knew she had to stay calm and not get mad; this was about Arthur and his complicated relationship with his dad. "The things he said about the knights, about marrying Guinevere. What if he is right? What if I have weakened Camelot?"
"Do you really believe that?" Merlin asked in slight disbelief. Camelot was a better place under Arthur's rule than she had ever seen it under Uther's. "You have always done what you believed to be right. People respect you." `They don't fear you the way they did your father and that is a good thing, not a bad one.'
"Thank you Merlin." Arthur said seriously. Merlin felt the atmosphere was starting to get a little heavy and decided that now that she had stopped some of Arthur's doubts, she was just going to have to tease him a little. It wouldn't do for his ego to grow with the praise she had just given him.
"Some people still think you're a foolish, arrogant ass." "Who?" Arthur asked and she shrugged the shoulder she wasn't leaning on. The look on Arthur's face broke her resolve not to grin so a small smile graced her lips and Arthur said sarcastically, "Very funny. We should get some sleep." With those words he laid down on his back.
A short while later Merlin laid down on her side facing him. She used her arm as a pillow and just laid staring at him. She could see his eyes were open and he had a frown on his face while looking at the stars high in the sky. "Just because your father doesn't approve doesn't make the changes that you have brought wrong you know. So you didn't marry the way he wanted but instead for love. That is not a bad thing. The people respect you for that. In their eyes, it makes you human. As for the knights… they don't fight for their estates, they fight for you. Because you are a good king."
When he didn't answer Merlin sighed and closed her eyes. When she heard the quiet 'Thank you' she smiled but didn't show any indication that she had heard him. The day had been emotional enough for her friend without her forcing anymore on him.
'Three little piggies went to the market to… get out of this council meeting … aren't you done yet Leon? Just get it over with would you!'
"You do realize that anyone with just a shimmer of magic can hear just how bored you are right?" Mordred's voice startled Merlin out of her inner chant. "Oh come on, you can't tell me you actually find this interesting?"
Mordred started to answer but before Merlin even understood what he was saying, she felt her heart fly to her throat when the heavy chandelier fell down on the round table with a loud bang. She jumped back as all the knights did the same and looked wildly around and up at the ceiling.
"If you need me, you know that I will help you. You only need to ask." Merlin didn't answer him in words, but gave a small nod when she saw Mordred looking at her. She knew that there was no way that she was going to go to him for help if there was any way that she could handle it on her own, but she had to admit that it was kind of nice to have the option on hand if she so needed it.
Merlin's heart was finally starting to beat at a normal rate again after the fright Gaius gave Arthur and her, she knew the same could be said about Arthur even if he would never admit it with his whole: "I'm not easily frightened" attitude. She knew he was lying, he had jumped just as much as she when Gaius had suddenly been standing right behind them, after Merlin had heard a sound that turned out to just be a small rat. Nevertheless, the point still stood; Arthur had jumped out of his skin just as much as she had.
They were sitting around the stable in Arthur's rooms and Merlin kept a suspicious eye on the bottles Gaius had just placed on it. She remembered how his potions tended to taste and she was not looking forward to finding out just how disgusting this new one was.
"The potion will allow you to see Uther in his spirit form. Once you are in his presence, you must blow the horn. It is the only way you can force him to go back to the spirit world." Merlin picked up the bottle and uncorked it and took a sniff at it, and promptly had to force herself to shallow as to not throw up. It reminded her of the potion she had had to drink when Uther had married a troll.
"Is it safe?" Merlin heard Arthur ask and looked up at him, she saw he also had the bottle in hand, only he had not yet uncorked it. Merlin couldn't quite quell the feeling of a slight satisfaction at the prospect of Arthur drinking the vile potion too. For once, it would not only be her taste buds, which were going to suffer. She looked over at Gaius when he didn't answer right away, only the look on his face was not really one she wanted to see in this scenario.
"I can't say I'm entirely sure" his answer turned out to be and Merlin felt in no way reassured. Nevertheless, as there was no way around it she gave Arthur a small greeting with her glass before lifting it to her lips. She narrowed her eyes at Arthur because he was not doing the same but instead was watching her intensely. She lowered her glass and asked, "What are you waiting for?"
"To see if it's safe." Merlin gawked at Arthur before retorting, "So, if I don't die, you'll take yours?" "Precisely, get on with it." It took a few times to persuade herself to drink it but when she did, she drank the potion as fast as she could in the hope that she could somehow avoid getting the liquid on her tongue. However, she was in no way successful but tried hard to set up a face that would tell Arthur that the taste was better than the smell.
On the inside however she was screaming at Gaius for always making her drink something that could not be called anything else than it tasted a bit like rotten raw meat, not that she had ever tasted that, but that did not mean that she hadn't smelled it and that alone gave her an idea of how it tasted.
"Well, at least we know it doesn't kill you instantly." Merlin could not help the smirk on her face as her friend and King drank the bottle and then looked like he was going to be sick. "Eurgh! That… that is the foulest thing I've ever tasted!"
Merlin smiled a sweet smile at him, it might have been slightly condescending but that only served him right since he had waited to see if she would die. "Sorry, did I forget to tell you that part? The part where Gaius can't make a nice smelling potion?" Merlin was smirking by the time she had finished talking, only to have it whipped off by the smack to the back of her head delivered to her by Gaius.
Merlin couldn't put into words how much she considered this whole thing a really, really bad idea, who in their right mind would wander the castle at night looking for Uther's ghost. Okay, she would, but it's not like she had much of a choice when it came to it anyway. Arthur was going and that meant so was she. She was trailing after Arthur, every other second she was sure she saw or heard something, but so far nothing which could be Uther.
"There!" She whisper-yelled when she saw something out of the corner of her eye, which seemed to be of the right size. "Where?" Arthur asked as he was looking wildly around them, Merlin had a chance to get a good look at the shadow she saw and instantly felt like the idiot Arthur always claimed her to be.
"Oh, it's just our shadows. Sorry." Merlin had barely finished talking when she heard and felt Arthur's hand connect with the back of her head. "Ow!" she yelled before Arthur placed his hand over her mouth while looking around as though he had heard something. His hand was also covering Merlin's nostrils and she was starting to need air as she had exhaled with her yell. However it didn't seem like Arthur was aware of the issue she was experiencing, and as such only left her with one choice.
She licked the inside of his hand. His face snapped to hers with a look of disgust etched in every feature of his face as he snatched his hand back and wiped it off on her shoulder. "I couldn't breathe!" she hissed at him at the same time as the door off to the side opened and Leon stood there holding a torch and looked at them like they had two heads.
"Arthur. Merlin." Leon nodded to Arthur and just looked at Merlin. "Leon." Merlin said as the same time as Arthur. Merlin looked curiously at Leon because she didn't understand the look on his face. Then she noticed that Arthur and her were standing quite close so she took a step back. 'Great, that is just what I need. He better not be thinking what I think he is thinking because then I'll fill his bed with something slimy!'
Leon had a speculative look smeared all over his face as he looked at them before talking again, "Is everything all right, my lord?" he asked and Merlin felt like smacking him around the head, she had a feeling she knew where this was going and if she was right… well she would figure something out. She didn't have to wait long before her suspicions were confirmed when Arthur answered, in a manner which Merlin could not help but to compare to a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
"It's perfectly fine. We're… Merlin. Tell Leon what we are doing." Arthur said as he tried to look the all-powerful king and warrior. Merlin almost snorted at him at the same time as she tried to find something which would only serve him right for putting her in that position. She almost laughed as she found the perfect excuse. "We're… I'm teaching him some poetry."
She smiled sweetly at Leon as she could see he didn't believe her for a second, and she could almost feel his disbelief instead of only seeing it on his face. "Poetry?" He asked clearly struggling not to laugh, what made it all the more sweeter for Merlin was Arthur stuttering out that he loved poetry. Leon looked at her with a confused face and she really couldn't help herself, she just had to say it or she would burst.
"I was as surprised as you are. He can't get enough of it. I think he is trying to impress the queen." She gave what she hoped could pass as concerned and yet surrendering nods. If it worked or not she had no clue, but Leon left them to their supposed poetry. He had barely closed the door after him before Arthur rounded on her and demanded, "Poetry?! That's the best you could come up with?!"
Merlin put up the most innocent face she possibly could, "What did you want me to say?" "I don't know. Something that didn't make me sound like a love struck girl." Merlin couldn't quite stop the upturning of the corners of her lips, "Then you really shouldn't let me come up with the cover stories all the time, one would think that you had figured that out by now." Merlin only had his glare as a warning before she felt the cuff on the side of her head, "One of these days I am going to have you flogged Merlin."
Merlin gave her king a goofy smile, "No you won't. If that was something you'd do, you'd have done it years ago." Arthur just glared at her before he opened the door to continue their search.
I know this is a very abrupt ending to a chapter, but my computer broke down so I have to send it in for repairs – yey, the joy of dogs knocking things of tables – the ending of this were written on the noisiest computer EVER! I think the fan is hitting something inside of it. But never mind that. I really do hope that my updates will be timelier when I get it back.