The voice from the night before was in my dream again, continuing to call my name. This time, though, it didn't fade away when I woke up. It carried on calling out to me. I jumped to my feet, beginning to search the cell for the source of the voice but it had gone quiet now.
"Merlin!" I jumped at the shout, another voice calling me this time. Gaius'. And this time, it wasn't in my head. Gaius was furious. I had known he would be. The moment he was granted access into my cell he was storming for me and I looked at my feet. Feeling bad for disappointing him so early into our relationship.
"You never cease to amaze me! The one thing that someone like you should do is keep your head down! And what do you do? You behave like an idiot!"
"I'm sorry." Sort of. I hadn't wanted to upset him but I didn't regret my altercation with the Prince. I just wished I'd actually managed to punch him.
"You're lucky. I managed to pull a few strings to get you released." I smiled over at him, grateful he had gone to such trouble for me. Not that I would have minded staying here a little longer. Still, it did grow boring after a while.
"Thank you." My voice was soft as I gazed at him, beginning to care for the old man. Even if he was still angry with me. "I won't forget this," I tried. Willing him to stop looking so serious.
"Well…there is a small price to pay." He informed me, a smile beginning to tug at the corner of his mouth.
I was stood with my head and hands in a wooden vice and children were throwing fruit at me. It was messy but my hat covered most of my head, keeping my hair from getting any dirtier than it already was. I still hadn't gotten the chance to clean up properly since arriving. The children's laughter and shout's of encouragement to each other had me forcing back a smile. So much for me not being here for people's entertainment. I spotted Gaius as he went past, a basket of herbs over one arm, laughing at my misfortune and I shook my head in amusement. He was enjoying this far too much. Still, at least my punishment had cheered him up and the little ones. They needed some fun to distract them from the horrors they'd no doubt witnessed growing up in the shadow of the castle.
"Thanks!" I yelled to him, regretting it when one of the rotten tomatoes hit me, forcing me to spit out some of the juice that had made its way to my mouth. When I looked up again, surprised nothing had been thrown whilst I'd been distracted, there was a girl stood in front of me. The children nowhere to be seen. The girl in front of me was smiling kindly, her hair pulled back into a messy bun with a faded, well-worn cloak hanging from her shoulder.
"I'm Gweneveire but most people call me Gwen?" She introduced, making it sound like a question. It made me wonder what position she held here in the castle, she clearly wasn't noble born, her lack of confidence and clothing making that clear. "I'm the Lady Morgana's maid." She explained and I found myself smiling up at her. She seemed sweet.
"I'm Merlin," I told her, trying to put a hand out for her to shake in greeting, an awkward motion thanks to the stocks. She took it gingerly, trying not to cause me any further discomfort, and lightly shook it. "Although most people call me Idiot," I joked, causing her to laugh before shaking her head at me,
"You're not an idiot." She said, comfortingly. "I saw what you did. I thought it was very brave." I smiled at her kindness, wondering if it might be possible that I might actually make some friends here, after all.
"It was stupid," I admitted but she just smiled, nodding her head in agreement.
"Well, I'm glad you walked away, you weren't going to beat him." I wouldn't call getting dragged to cells walking away, exactly, but she was right. I had been unarmed with no training to speak of. Of course, I wouldn't have been able to beat him in a physical fight. He was the Prince of Camelot. He'd been born to fight and had no doubt begun training as soon as he could walk. That didn't mean I couldn't fight back, or that I had no chance of winning if I used my own skills to my advantage.
"Oh, I can beat him," I said, more to myself than to her, if I could have used my Magick I could have had him on his knees before he even knew what happened. And then I could have been executed for it.
"You think? Because you don't look like one of those big, muscled, kind of fellows." Hang on? Did she think I was a boy? Seriously? I mean, I could understand Arthur not noticing, he was a prat, but she seemed brighter than that. Although, I did kind of have my head in the stocks, she couldn't actually see my properly and my hat had still managed to stay in place even after being knocked about by fruit.
"Thank you?" I kind at hated to admit it to myself but no one had seemed to notice I was a girl, maybe I did look a bit boyish without the hair and with my body covered from view. That was probably the only reason Arthur had let me take a swing at him in the first place. If he'd known I was a girl he would never have risked a proper fight. He'd have beat me, no doubt, but there was no pride in beating up a girl. Not to men like him, anyway.
"No! No. I'm sure you're stronger than you look. It's just erm… Arthur's one of those real, rough, tough, save the world kind of men and well…" She trailed off and I was generally curious to see what she said next.
"What?"
"You don't look like that." I laughed, nodding for her to come closer.
"I'm in disguise," I whispered as she bent down to see what I would say. She threw her head back in laughter and I couldn't help but join in with her. She had no idea it hadn't just been a joke and I wondered how I was going to bring up that I was really a girl without embarrassing her.
"Well it's great you stood up to him." A large smile broke out on my face, no one else had said that. Everyone had just made out like I'd been a fool for even trying.
"You really think so?" She nodded and smiled.
"Well, he's a bully and everyone thought you were a real hero."
"Really?" She smiled, nodding, and I decided to just come out with it and tell her. It would only get worse the longer I went without saying anything.
"Well, it's not every day the Prince gets challenged by a girl." I saw the shock on her face before she looked at me properly, taking in my features and shaking her head at how obvious it was. At least I'd managed to say it in a way that didn't embarrass her, both of us pretending that she had known all along.
"Well, Lady Morgana will love hearing about this." I just looked up at her, confused as to why the King's ward would be interested in hearing anything about an unknown commoner. "She loves tormenting the Prince. Besides, she hates how women are always forced to let the men do all the fighting. She used to always beat Arthur when they trained together, you know?" No. No, I did not know that.
"Seriously?" I asked, my eyes widening at the thought of Arthur getting his ass handed to him by a woman.
"That's what she told me and he stopped letting her train with him out of the blue a couple of years back so I'm inclined to believe it." Oh, this was just too good. I desperately wanted to hear more but the crowd of children, their stocks replenished, had begun to form again, forcing me to cut the conversation short.
"Gweneviere, my fans are waiting," I told her, nodding in their direction. She looked between me and the gathered children, beginning to laugh as she ran off just in time to avoid the first tomato from hitting her.
I got home just in time for lunch and sat across from Gaius, removing my dirty hat. It would definitely need washing before I could wear it again.
"Do you want some vegetables with that?" Gaius asked, pointing to a bowl in the middle of the table and causing me to let out a small laugh.
"I know you're still angry with me," I told him, turning to look up at him before returning my attention to my lunch.
"Your mother told me to look after you." He explained and I nodded in understanding. If my mother had been here right now she would have screamed at me until she'd lost her voice for my idiocy. I was just lucky that Gaius didn't seem inclined to begin shouting.
"Yes."
"What did your mother say to you about your gift?" He asked, changing the subject, I would have been grateful if not for the fact I didn't like talking about my magick.
"That I was special." The sort of thing any mother would say to their freak of a daughter.
"You are special." He agreed, causing my head to jerk up in surprise. "The likes of which I have never seen before." How was that? There were loads of people out there who could do magick. Albeit less since Uther made it his mission to find and execute them. What made me any different? Other than that fact I was lucky enough to still have my head attached to my shoulders.
"What do you mean?"
"Well… Magick requires incantations. Spells. It takes years to study. What I saw you do was elemental, instinctive." It had always been like that for me. I wouldn't know the first thing about spellcasting but moving objects, stopping time... that came as naturally to me as breathing did. Was it possible that no one else could do that? Not even other Sorcerers?
"What's the point if it can't be used?" It didn't matter if I was special, if I was as gifted as he seemed to believe, not when Uther had banned it.
"That I do not know. You are a question that has never been posed before, Merlin." Great. Still, he was here with me. He was trying to help, to understand, but how could he? Unless...? Was it possible? My mother must have had a reason for sending me to him of all people. Maybe he truly did know more about my magick than I'd initially thought.
"Did you ever study magick?" My voice had dropped to a whisper and I stared across at him, willing him to tell me the truth.
"Uther banned all such work twenty years ago." That didn't answer my question. It did arouse others in me, though. And seeing as he hadn't pushed me to say anything more than I wanted to, I didn't feel right about trying to force the issue.
"Why?" If anyone would know the reasons behind the laws, Gaius would. My mother had told me that Gaius had lived in Camelot for years. Coming here not long after Uther's reign began all those years ago.
"People used magick for the wrong end at that time. It threw the natural order into chaos. Uther made it his mission to destroy everything from back then. Even the dragons." That made me look up so quickly I almost got whiplash. I knew they were said to be extinct now but I had no idea that Uther was responsible...
"All of them?" I found it hard to believe that he could take down one dragon, never mind a whole species.
"There was one dragon that he chose not to kill, he kept it as an example. He imprisoned it in a cave deep beneath the castle. Where no one can free it." He went silent for a moment, giving me time to let that information sink in. The warning of what the King of Camelot was capable of. "Now, eat up," he ordered, breaking the silence as he rose from his chair. "when you've finished I need you to take a preparation to Lady Helen, she needs it for her voice." I had heard people talking about her as they'd passed me in the stocks throughout the morning, apparently she was an incredibly famous singer and spent all her time travelling to perform for various Royals throughout the Kingdom's, she was welcome all over the land, and had come to Camelot specifically to perform at the celebration Uther had planned in honour of murdering hundreds, if not thousands, of sorcerers. And Dragon's too, apparently. I tried not to let the thought dishearten me and instead focus on the fact that I might be going to a royal celebration. According to those I'd listened to all of those who lived in the castle were invited, which meant, as Gaius' new ward, I could go too. If I wanted to. I still hadn't decided if I would go. On one hand, it was sure to be an amazing party, with great food and wine and of course, I would hear the wonder that was the Lady Helen's voice but... could I really let myself enjoy a celebration that was in honour of my own people being killed?
I found Lady Helen's room on one of the top floors, her chambers fit for a Queen. At least five times the size of my own room, with an open fireplace and a large, four poster bed with billowing red and gold embroidered curtains surrounding it. And there were so many flowers! Bouquets of all shapes and sizes spread throughout the space. I shook my head in wonder, walking towards her vanity in order to place the vial down somewhere I knew she'd see it, catching sight of my reflection. I glanced at myself, noticing that the hat Gaius had leant me to cover my, still filthy, hair wasn't as securely fit as my own had been before my eyes caught on another item in the reflection. It was a strange, doll-like, sculpture made of straw and beneath it sat a rectangularly shaped box covered by a cloth. I lifted the edge of the fabric, surprised to find a book beneath. A book that, for some strange reason, was tied closed with string. I reached beneath the cloth to life it and take a closer look but the sound of someone's heels clicking against the stone floor had me hurrying to cover it back up, making sure everything was in the exact same position I had found it before spinning around in time for a woman to walk in. She wore a beautiful, flowing, gold coloured, gown and her dark hair had been curled into waves that framed her face perfectly. She would have been stunning if not for the look of pure hatred and disgust that she was directing my way.
"What are you doing in here?" Her voice was like ice and I struggled to believe that such a voice could make the beauty I had heard people speak of.
"Oh… erm… I was asked to deliver this." I explained, picking up the vial from where I'd placed it on her dressing table and turning back to her, handing it over before hurrying away. She was a woman I didn't want to find myself alone with, ever again, if I could help it. I wasn't sure what it had been about her that had put me so on edge but... there was something behind her eyes that had made my heart begin to pick up speed.