Em found himself alone in the throne room with Gwen, Morgana, and Morris. Once Valiant had been arrested, Arthur rushed off to oversee the interrogation of the man. Uther called an emergency council meeting in his own personal chambers. The noblewomen went off to go gossip with their friends. The news of the arrest of the handsome knight from the Western Isles would spread around the palace like wildfire. The guards had gone to fortify the dungeons, and the servants followed after their masters.
Em looked his companions over. It was a strange mix: the pretty young noblewoman, her devoted maidservant, and cynical Morris.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Morgana looked at him with her familiar green eyes and asked, "How did you figure out Valiant was a sorcerer?"
Em grinned really big. He was going to get the chance to show off to not one but two pretty girls. He would have to leave all the magical bits out of his tale, though. Impressing girls wasn't worth the risk of execution. "See, it started when…"
After a couple hours of hanging out with Gwen, Morgana, and Morris, Em headed to the kennels to pick up his dogs and then made his way to Gaius's chambers. The people he passed in the hallway all stared at him as he passed, their eyes full of curiosity and admiration. He had to resist the urge to puff his chest out and stick his nose up like Arthur did. Their admiration did please him greatly. Even if he could not receive the recognition of being one of the most powerful sorcerers of his time, he could still receive recognition for his bravery and quick thinking. He could practically hear Ruadan telling him, Don't let it all go to your head, my boy.
He opened the front door, the dogs squeezing past him to get inside. Em gagged when he saw a dead body with a cloth draped over it on Gaius's worktable. "This is the second time this has happened in a week, Uncle!"
Gaius arched an eyebrow. He was bent over a medical textbook at the dinner table. He stood up to pet Sionnach and Bandit. "Aren't you even going to ask who it is?"
Em's cheeks tinged red with shame. As reviling as it was to have a dead body in their chambers, it still did not erase the gravity of the situation: a human life had been lost. "Who is it?"
"Knight Valiant." Gaius pulled the cloth off the body. Em stared at his uncle in shock. "He killed himself right before his interrogation started. He swallowed a vial of oleander extract he hid in his clothing. By the time they got him to me, he was dead."
"Nature," Em breathed. "I suppose that business is over."
Gaius shook his head. "Look at his hip."
"You're kidding me." Em yanked up Valiant's shirt. Sure enough, a Lupus Order tattoo was inked on the sallow skin. "What the actual hell?"
Gaius stroked Sionnach's silky ears and sighed heavily. "Go contact your family, Emrys. Update them and ask them for advice."
Em nodded and pounded up the stairs, the dogs at his heels. Before he shut his bedroom door, Gaius called to him, "And Emrys? What you did, that was very brave."
Adelina rocked her daughter back and forth, her eyes damp with tears. A low-grade fever had kept her confined to the hut. Idle hands allowed for her to wander to dark places, to memories of a man whose face she could only remember through a drugged haze. She saw no trace of him on Astryd's face, thank Nature. Still, it was not difficult for Adelina to connect the precious bundle in her arms with the man who had so savagely violated her. She loved her daughter, she did, but she hated her daughter's father so much. Sometimes sparks of flame danced on her fingertips just thinking about it.
Anger was not useful, though, so she just drank in the sight of her daughter's peaceful face and tried to appreciate her.
She heard a faint rattling coming from the front room. Cradling Astryd to her, Adelina rose to her feet and drew aside the curtain they had hung in the doorway. The scrying mirror was rattling on the table; Em was trying to contact them!
She picked up the mirror with one hand and whispered the password. Her precious brother's face appeared. Adelina could breathe again. "Emmy," she practically crooned. "Emmy!"
He let out a startled laugh. "Hey, Lina." His grin became even wider when he saw his niece. "How is my darling Astryd doing?"
"Good. She's the happiest baby, so sweet and easygoing," Adelina reported.
"I'm glad to heart that. She definitely didn't get that from you… Adelina, are you crying?"
"No," she said stubbornly, even though her face was blotchy and her eyes tearstained.
"Lina," Em said with a shake of his head. "Are you alright?"
"I don't do very well when I'm by myself, Emmy," she confessed.
"Thankfully we have five brothers and a sister to keep your company, not to mention our adoring parents, aunt, uncle, cousin, and friends. You don't have to be alone," Em said in that soothing way of his.
"I know," she said, dismissing the subject. She did not enjoy discussing things that made her acknowledge her feelings head-on. "Why did you scry?"
"Nature above, Lina, get a load of this—"
She let herself get lost in her brother's tales of Camelot. They were stories of danger and fear, of a new puppy and a kind-hearted uncle who was a stranger no more, of an irate prince and his tyrannical father, of courage and strength. She found the mysterious Lupus Order to be terrifying. "Be careful, Em," she begged him.
She let herself get lost, and forgot her own troubles.
It took Em over an hour to remember his original reason for scrying.
Em came down the stairs about two hours later. "I need to go check on Arthur, Uncle. The poor clotpole can't even undress himself or fetch his own supper."
"Clotpole?" Gaius shook his head. "What did your family say?"
"Da and Ma send their love. My grandmother said will take a couple more weeks to dig up more information on the Lupus Order. My people are scattered all over, and so are our books. My niece is getting so big. She's growing as fast as Sionnach, it's insane."
"The Druids have books?" Gaius's eyes widened.
Em laughed. "Of course we do, Uncle. There were hundreds at my camp alone. My grandmother says we probably have thousands. We value them greatly."
Gaius sank into a chair. "You're kidding."
Now concerned, Em tilted his head. "Why would I be kidding…?"
"Uther burned all the magical books in the library. Thousands. Centuries' worth of history, gone in an instant. Yet now you tell me the Druids have thousands more. You just gave an old man a rare gift, my boy: hope." Gaius swiped at his eyes. "Now go see to your prince."
Em saluted and skittered out the door.
He found Arthur pacing in front of his desk, running a hand through his tousled blond hair. He turned and stared at Em when the younger boy eased the door open. "Just came to get the dinner dishes and to prepare you for bed," Em said.
"Very well." Arthur watched Em as he grabbed a nightshirt and sleeping trousers from his wardrobe. He draped them neatly over the changing screen. As Arthur stepped behind the screen and changed, he asked, "Did you hear about Knight Valiant?"
"Hardly a knight," Em snorted. "I did. His corpse is currently laid out on Gaius's worktable. I believe supper shall be a splendid affair. So he knocked back some oleander?"
Arthur tossed his dirty clothes over the screen. Em picked them up and put them in a basket in the closet. It was filled with other dirty clothes; Em would have to do laundry tomorrow. Perhaps after sparring? He was distracted when Arthur said, "He died a coward's death. A fitting one, I might say. I am just angry I did not even get the chance to get any information out of him."
"A pity," Em said, not really listening as he gathered up the dinner plates on the tray Morris had left. "If that's all sire…?" He jerked his chin towards the door.
"You're dismissed," Arthur said, heading back to his desk. Before Em left, he said, "Merlin, wait."
Em glanced over his shoulder.
"You… It was good you figured out Valiant was a sorcerer. Could have ended badly for all of us." Was that gratefulness in his eyes?
It wasn't quite a thank-you, but Em figured it was the best he was going to get for now. He bowed as best as he could with the dinner tray before heading to the kitchens to drop the dirty plates off.
He decided to make a visit to the dragon. He figured the dragon would appreciate the update. As it was now dark, he easily snuck around the watchmen and ducked into the catacombs. He lit a torch with a quick fire spell. He descended into the darkness and soon found himself staring into the depths of the dragon's cavern.
"Great One, I have returned," he called in Dragonic.
The dragon emerged from the inky darkness with the flapping of his wings and the rattle of his chains. He looked amused when he saw Em standing on the ledge. Hello, young warlock. What did I say about this 'Great One' business?
"Last time, you said I reminded you of my father when I called you that," Em remembered. "What did you mean by that?"
Balinor and I go back a long time. I knew your grandfather George, and George's father Balinor, and Balinor's father Balinor. And so on.
"How old are you?"
The dragon seemed to sigh, letting out a puff of smoke from his nostrils. Too old. What have you come for now?
"Have you heard all that's happened?"
There is rarely anything that happens that I do not already know.
"Do you know anything about the Lupus Order?"
Nothing but whispers in the wind, rumors from my brethren in the Keep who escaped Uther's culling. They are not dragon business, they are Druid business.
"They're not Druids. They're extremists, insane people."
They split off from the Druids centuries ago, but they still remain Druidic in a sense. Their symbol is just one example of that. Those original Order members, the same blood that flowed through their veins is flowing through you right now. Or half your blood, at least.The dragon levelled his gaze at Em. You identify too strongly with the Druids. I can still sense the presence of your triskel. You miss it, feel lost without it. Balinor should have sent his son to be raised in the Keep. You are an Initiate first and foremost, not a Druid.
"I was raised amongst them. I speak their language, bear their mark. Ruadan educated me in Dragonic and the ways of the Dragonlords. I can walk the path between Druid and Dragonlord."
The Druids' love of peace will only hinder you in the future, young warlock.
Em frowned. "What do you mean by that?"
The dragon only laughed. He flapped his wings and alighted in the air. Until next time, Emrys.
Em sighed. Knowing it was futile to try to get the dragon to come back, he turned around and reentered the catacombs.
The next day, Arthur found himself wandering to Gaius's chambers. He gave Merlin a long list of chores after their sparring practice, so hopefully the boy would not show up during his visit to the physician. He rapped on the door. When he heard a soft, "You can come in," he opened the door and stepped inside. Gaius looked up from his mortar and pestle. He inclined his head slightly before returning to work. As Arthur had known the man since he was a child, he did not take offense to this.
"To what do I owe the pleasure, sire?"
"What happened to Merlin?" Arthur blurted out.
"Did he not show up to work this morning? He woke up at dawn to walk the dogs and then fetch your breakfast—"
"No, he showed up to work. He's currently performing his duties." Arthur chewed the inside of his cheek, a nervous habit his father always nagged him about as a child. "Merlin's back has severe…marks. His torso and arms are littered with scars. What did that to him? Who did that to him?" He could not imagine torturing someone in that way. He had no doubt in his mind that Merlin's scars were marks of torture.
He could see the walls Gaius was putting up. The court physician was clearly protective of his nephew. "It's not my place to say, Arthur. It's a sensitive topic for the boy, as you must understand. He's a private person."
Arthur blinked, not expecting Gaius's refusal to answer his questions. He channeled his frustration into something more useful: curiosity. He could get the answers he desired; he was sure of it. All he needed to do was ask a few carefully-worded questions. "Merlin's not a private person. He wears his emotions on his sleeve."
"The boy's better at hiding his feelings that you think."
"Not at all. He's abnormally cheerful, a bit stubborn, willful, and easily distracted. Not the most coordinated, either." Merlin tripped on his own feet that morning when sweeping the floor.
"A prince should know better than anyone that people are rarely that simple," Gaius chided Arthur in the way only he could.
That was true. Sometimes it was the most skilled squires who could not keep it together during a battle, while the ones he was sure would wash out were the ones who kept their cool. And hadn't Arthur underestimated Merlin's handiness with a sword when he first met the boy?
"He said he's your sister's son. One of three boys, I believe he said? Do you see them often?"
Gaius sighed. "William and Gilanders are his half-brothers. They live in Essetir. I've never met them. I have not seen Hunith since she married her Essetirian husband. He's long dead, but she never left his village to return home."
"What of Merlin's father?"
"Did he not mention it? I told him to." Gaius narrowed his eyes.
Arthur recovered quickly. "He said he was a bastard, yes, but I was wondering who his father is."
"Merlin said he was a travelling tradesman who never came back from one of his journeys. A woodcarver," Gaius said, his eyes taking on a distant look. "Hunith said in one of her letters that Merlin greatly resembles him, both in character and looks. I think she planned to marry him, the poor girl."
"Do you think he left them?"
"No. I think he died." Gaius turned back to his mortar and pestle. "Sire, any questions you have, you should ask Merlin himself. It's not really my place to say."
"Okay," Arthur said. "I also wanted to ask about Valiant's autopsy. Did you notice anything unusual?"
"He died of oleander poisoning, as I suspected. There was nothing unusual."
"He showed no signs of being a magic user?"
"Magic users look just like you and me. There is no way to identify them until they start casting spells."
"Which makes them even harder to catch. They are a bane upon this land. Thankfully there is one less of those scum wandering around this kingdom wreaking havoc. Merlin did a good job sniffing him out." Arthur headed towards the door. "I must go attend a council meeting to give my side of the Valiant affair to my father and the lords. Good day, Gaius."
"Good day, sire," Gaius called after him.
When Arthur returned to his chambers from the council meeting, the door was ajar. Merlin was laundering his shirts. His sleeves were rolled up to his bicep, revealing the five thick scars on in his arm. Arthur stared at them as he came up behind his servant. "What happened?" he blurted out.
Merlin whirled around and yelped in surprise. "You scared me!" he squawked.
"Don't be such a girl, Merlin," Arthur automatically responded. "But Merlin… what happened to your arm? In the throne room earlier, I saw your back. What were those marks from?"
Merlin's face tightened. He fiddled with the damp shirt he held. "I… It happened a while ago. It was years ago," he mumbled.
Arthur stared. Was his snarky servant, the one who always had a comeback ready, stuttering? He felt his concern grow. "Did someone whip you?" he half-snarled.
"Sire, I've never committed a crime. I swear. I've never done anything that would be a whipping offense," Merlin said. It almost sounded as if he were pleading for mercy.
"I don't understand, Merlin. What happened?"
"I have work to do, sire," Merlin said stiffly.
Arthur ran a hand through his hair. He had to stop himself from groaning. "Okay. Um, I'm going to go train with Leon. After you finish laundering my shirts, beat out all the rugs, I see you haven't done that yet." With that, he headed towards the door. He felt bad, but he needed Merlin to be occupied for a while.
A/N: Hello all! I received such lovely reviews on the last chapter. I wanted to post something a bit earlier than usual to thank you all. As you all know, this is rare for me. There's usually a good two weeks between my updates at least :) Also I recently injured myself and I have a lot more time on my hands than I usually do. I know a lot did not happen plot-wise in this chapter, but I wanted to write about the dynamics between Merlin/Em and Arthur. (Side note: I really need to write in Arthur's POV more often.) Also, we got to see some sibling bonding between Lina and Em. They are my absolute faves. The scene with Adelina was really inspired by a song by The Willis Clan called "Speak My Mind." They're a band of siblings who were abused by their father growing up. They released a new album and they are honestly so inspiring, I would definitely check them out. As always, thank you for continuing to support this story, it means the world to me. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Much love~