Chapter 18 - Lessons

Willow followed Merlin into Arthur's rooms. Arthur lay on his bed. He jumped up when they came in but hurt himself in so doing. He grimaced as she scolded. "Merlin, it is customary that a servant knocks before bursting into a prince's room."

Merlin looked up and down the hallway before closing the door. "I was right, Arthur. She needed to be rescued."

Arthur's mouth dropped open. "Did my father make advances at you?" He asked Willow. She nodded. He looked about to wretch. "That's disgusting. He's twice your age. What did you say?"

Merlin smiled as he continued packing Arthur's things for their morning's journey. "She gave him the spinster line."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "But you've been snogging Merlin, you little liar." He grinned at her.

She shrugged. "I could hardly say, 'No thank you, Your Majesty, I'm already committed to your son's servant.' Now could I?" She glanced at Merlin worried she'd hurt his pride. He beamed back at her. "That could certainly make things hard between your father and Merlin. And I don't think Merlin needs anything any harder than it already is."

Arthur laughed. "Merlin doesn't have it hard."

Merlin threw a pair of socks at him. "Putting up with you is extremely hard."

Willow stepped toward Arthur. "I should put your evening salve on and loosen the bandages a bit for better sleep. Are you really sure you're up for this journey, Arthur? There will be considerable danger involved and your ability to fight and protect yourself is compromised."

Arthur laughed. "With my father on the prowl, we need to get you as far away from Camelot as quickly as possible. It's the perfect excuse." He gave her an appraising look. "So what is it about you that makes men fall at your feet?"

Willow snorted. "I'd hardly say either you or your father are falling at my feet."

Arthur smiled, "While Merlin there is just plain falling. It doesn't matter where or when. He just falls."

Willow chuckled. Merlin protested. "I'll have you know that I am very graceful and agile." He slipped on a stray sock on the floor but caught himself. He looked a little embarrassed but put on a brave face. "See, I didn't fall at all."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Merlin, only you could slip on a sock."

Willow pulled at his bandage a little roughly.

"Ow! Easy there." He scowled at her.

Willow made a repentant face. "Sorry, my lord."

Arthur grinned. "Were you just getting me back for making fun of Merlin?"

She blushed and started to protest, then shut her lips with a smack. "Maybe."

Arthur shook his head. "Ganging up against me is hardly fair, Willow."

She dropped her head down. "No, my lord."

Arthur continued, "Now, I can almost accept that you choose Merlin over me–barely almost–but I won't have you coming between him and me, sticking up for him. He's a big boy. He can fight his own battles."

She kept her eyes downcast. "Yes, my lord."

Merlin put his hands on her shoulders from behind and spoke in a bragging voice. "Yeah, I can take Arthur, no problem. I can take him with one hand tied behind my back. Especially now that he's wounded."

"Merlin," Arthur said in a droll voice, "Shut up."

In the morning, they set out with many soldiers and in a great hubbub. Arthur sat on his horse fairly straight. Willow had had words with Swift Frost in his stall before the stablehand had led him out to Arthur. She had told Swift Frost of his master's injury and the need for cooperation and an easy journey. She had made sure no one was around to see her use her magic to translate her words to the horse. He seemed gentle as a lamb as soon as Arthur touched him.

Merlin said, "I think he's missed you, Arthur." Then he gave Willow a warning look.

She took that to mean she needed to be careful using her magic and nodded.

They had thirty men with them. Men Arthur carefully interviewed to make sure none of them had Sir Tobias's inclinations of betrayal. Merlin had told Willow about Arthur being greatly shaken by a betrayal of one of his own men. He usually had such undying respect and admiration from them that something like this deeply disturbed him. But as far as anyone could tell, Sir Tobias had been an isolated case.

The man had confessed someone from King Urien's army had bribed him while they had waited for Arthur to heal in Crab Tree. It seemed that Sir Tobias's mother had been from among King Urien's people. The man that talked Sir Tobias into it and gave him the poison was a cousin on his mother's side who had been in Crab Tree doing some scouting. After making plans with Sir Tobias, and giving him the poison, he had scampered off to report on Arthur's presence there. They had had a narrow escape it seemed leaving as early as Arthur had insisted.

Their journey back to Crab Tree now was relatively pleasant. The day was warm for early Spring. It looked like they were going to arrive without mishap when one of the scouts came back with information. There was a small group of armed enemy soldiers attacking an isolated farmhouse up ahead. Willow knew the family, she had delivered a child there five winters ago. Granny Milli had been sick. It was Willow's first solo delivery. She'd only been thirteen at the time and terrified. Willow was pleased to hear Arthur order the immediate capture of the enemy soldiers.

It turned out there were only six off them. They were taken unawares, bent on their cruelty as they were. Their lieutenant, who had been caught pulling the clothes off of one of the daughters was killed, but the other 5 were captured in various states of injury. Willow went straight to the girl, whose name was Breetty. She was fourteen-years-old. Her older sister, Appen, Willow's age, was inside, probably dead after King Urien's soldiers were through with her. Breetty's father, Charco, and older brother, Samo, lay on the ground probably dead too. But the mother, Greden, was barricaded in a back room with two more younger children, Saran, age nine and little Jaren, age five, whom Willow had delivered.

After the enemy soldiers were taken captive and the danger was past, the barricade was dismantled and there was a great lamentation. Greden's keening was loud and fierce. Willow checked on the three presumed dead. It turned out that Samo was still alive, barely but enough. Willow ordered everyone out of the room except the healers.

Since Samo knew Willow, she worked on healing his core body in case he woke up. Merlin worked on healing Samo's cut and twisted limbs. Willow bent all of her skills as a healer and sorceress. She tried to remember how Merlin had used magic. He'd made it look easy. She tried to summon up the power to close the wound in Samo's gut. If she didn't close it soon, it would certainly leak all over is inside and kill him quickly. But she couldn't get the wound to close. She whispered to Merlin, "How do I focus my magic to heal this quickly?"

Merlin put his hand on her shoulder. She heard his voice in her head. "Let me guide you from in here." She nodded. With his other hand, he guided her hands to either side of the wound. Then she felt his presence in her head applying his focus to a part of her brain above her eyes. She felt the magic flow strong and powerful. Too powerful. "Easy," she said aloud to him. Healing required a delicate touch. His mind eased up some as he guided her hands to draw the rent organ closed with her mind. After that, she felt Merlin's mind withdraw. She sewed the intestines shut. Samo groaned. Willow sighed.

After she had cleaned and bandaged the wound, she said to Merlin, "That worked well."

He smiled at her. "You–inside, you're–" he shook his head. "I've never done anything like that before. I need to reflect on it. We definitely have a lot to talk about later and maybe with Granny."

Willow nodded with a smile. "Later." Merlin went to speak with Arthur about the interrogation of the captured soldiers.

Willow called in Greden. The woman stopped keening over her husband and oldest daughter to come sit beside her oldest son and watch over him. Outside, Willow spoke with Breetty, Saren, and Jaren. She checked on their injuries and on their emotional states. They were mostly relieved to have Arthur's troops here. Willow let them in to sit with their mother beside Samo.

The interrogation of the enemy soldiers wasn't getting anywhere. They needed to get information out of them about King Urien's troops. Merlin suggested he and Willow should tend to their wounds and see if a bit of kindness could get anything out of them. Arthur frowned but nodded.

Willow went to the man who seemed to be most injured. He was moaning and crying. She asked him about his wounds but he was either too injured to be coherent or he didn't understand their language, because he wouldn't stop crying and moaning to answer her. So she accessed him without his help. He seemed to be suffering from wounds on his arm and leg with a shallower cut in his shoulder. She cleaned, disinfected, and bandaged all of those. When he realized that she was trying to help him he stopped crying so much and just subsided into moaning.

After Willow was done she moved to the next man.