TWENTY-TWO: JUSTICE (289 days)
Arthur entered the small room, Mordred right behind him - the young knight had been in Gaius's chambers, sitting with Merlin, who was still asleep, when the king had found him. Mordred told him that according to Gaius, the sorcerer had woken in the middle of the night, just long enough to eat soup, drink water, and complain about not needing to be confined to bed. Then he'd fallen unconscious again, still weak from his excessive use of magic to heal himself.
Leon, Percival, Elyan, and Gwaine were already there, leaning against various shelves.
Gwaine arched an eyebrow at the king. "Is there a reason you've asked us to meet you in a linen closet, again?" They were, of course, in the same linen closet that they'd met in just before setting out to rescue Merlin from Morgana.
"I don't want this conversation being overheard. Beyond you five, I'm not sure who I can trust at the moment. That's why I placed the guards outside Gaius's chambers." Once he'd learned that Merlin's magical barrier was no longer in place, he'd immediately assigned two guards to stand duty outside the physician's quarters. Until he knew who was behind the attack, he wasn't taking any chances. He hadn't been too worried about his friend's safety while his magic was protecting him. Without that barrier, he was vulnerable.
"So you still don't know who exactly did it," Gwaine stated.
The king shook his head, sighing. "No. I believe that you're right, though. It must be a noble. I worry that it's someone on my council." He had a very strong suspicion of just who exactly on his council it was, in fact. But he didn't want to overlook anyone. "I want to focus my investigation on those who voted against having a Court Sorcerer, as well as those who abstained from voting at all."
"Are we doing this in secret?" Leon questioned.
Again, the king shook his head. "I'm going to have the rooms of every noble in this castle searched, for any evidence linking them to the crime. But I want each of you to head up the searches of particular nobles, beginning with those who I feel may be the biggest threats." He'd spent all of the previous afternoon and evening narrowing down the suspects as much as he could.
The three who had objected to having a Court Sorcerer were his biggest concern. They seemed the mostly likely to try to kill the Court Sorcerer, in his mind.
"Percival, I want you with Sir Brennis."
Gwaine coughed. "Are you sure that's the best idea, princess? He hates Percival. Percival broke his wrist in an arm-wrestling match at the tavern."
Arthur smirked slightly. "I know. He not only hates him, but he fears him as well. Sir Brennis is the one I trust the least at the moment. He's been the most vocal against Merlin. Leon, you'll be with Sir Geraint. Gwaine, Sir Caridoc. Elyan, Sir Nyle. Mordred, Sir Roderick. The last three who abstained I'm not particularly worried about. Sir Vidor isn't clever enough to do something like this. And Sir Cador and Sir Tiernan are…"
"Filthy drunks," Gwaine said in disgust.
Percival rolled his eyes. "That's rich, coming from you."
"I can hold my liquor," he defended. "I can function just fine even when I'm drunk. I'm almost always drunk, but you don't know it half the time. Those two are useless after one pint."
"Incidentally, they were both in the tavern when Merlin was poisoned. Unless they can be in two places at once, it wasn't either of them. While you are helping with the searches, I'll go see Merlin again." He'd only had a chance to check on him quickly, when he'd gone in search of Mordred. The sorcerer had been asleep.
Arthur hoped he would be awake this time. It would be nice to see for himself that Merlin was all right and fully healed of the poison. But he was also hoping that Merlin would have some information on who might have tried to kill him.
Merlin woke up slowly. His body felt heavy, far heavier than it should have felt. His exhaustion was bone-deep. He tried to pull himself into a sitting position, but he was still too weak. He had used an insane amount of magic to heal himself, and his body had clearly not recovered yet.
He flopped back on the cot, looking around him. Gaius was standing over a table, mixing up one of his tonics or draughts. He hadn't seemed to heard Merlin moving about, but that wasn't too surprising. His hearing was getting worse. His mother was asleep in the chair beside his bed - he had a vague memory of her being there the first time he woke. He didn't know when she'd arrived. Kerenza was asleep on one of the benches, which could not have been comfortable.
Merlin's stomach rumbled, reminding him that the only thing he'd eaten recently had been a bowl of soup. He didn't know how long he'd been unconscious and without food before that.
Kerenza gave a sudden, very loud, snore. Merlin laughed softly at the sound, which of course had woken his mother. Gaius looked in his direction, but continued his work. It was obvious that he was relieved to see him awake, though.
His mother caressed his cheek. He couldn't help but lean into the touch slightly. "How are you feeling?" she asked quietly.
"I'm all right," he whispered, his voice a bit hoarse from disuse. "Just tired."
"You gave us quite a scare." She just stared at him. Finally, when he didn't think he could take the silence any longer, she asked, "Who is the girl? She hasn't left since I got here."
"Kerenza. She's a druid."
"Gaius told me that she's his assistant. I know that can't be right, though, because you're his assistant. When you're not working for Arthur, that is."
Merlin felt himself blush. He wasn't sure just how much she knew about the recent changes in Camelot - her tone wasn't giving anything away. He hadn't told her that magic was legal again, or that he'd been appointed as the Court Sorcerer. He didn't know if anyone else had told her. "Um…"
He was more than grateful when the door opened and Arthur walked in. He was keeping his hands behind his back for some reason. He tried - and obviously failed - to suppress a smile when he saw Merlin awake.
"Ah, Merlin. It's about time you woke up, you lazy man," he said loudly, startling Kerenza awake. But there was no malice in his voice, only relief. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
Merlin shrugged. He tried again, and this time he was able to pull himself into a sitting position. "I feel great."
His mother gave him a look.
Gaius snorted, shaking his head.
Kerenza rolled her eyes as she sat up.
Arthur narrowed his own eyes. "Great? After everything you've been through? I don't believe that for an instant, so please don't lie to me. Have you eaten yet?"
At the mention of eating, Merlin's stomach growled again. Loudly.
Arthur smirked, pulling his hands out from behind his back, revealing a fresh chunk of bread. "I thought so." He held the bread out to Merlin.
With his mouth watering, Merlin took it. The warlock restrained himself from simply stuffing the entire thing into his mouth - just barely. He would only make himself sick if he ate it too quickly. He started eating it slowly, as Arthur pulled a stool beside Merlin's mother and sat. He greeted her, then looked back at Merlin.
"I'm glad to see you alive and well, my friend. But I do need to ask you something."
Merlin sighed, swallowing before he spoke. He knew that Arthur would be asking questions. "I'm sorry, but I don't know how I got poison in my system." He knew that he'd been poisoned - he'd realized it just as he'd fallen unconscious in the corridor. But he couldn't think of how.
"Blueberries," the king stated. "The blueberries you ate with your lunch were poisoned with Demon's Curse."
Merlin's eyes widened. Now that he thought about it, though, those blueberries had tasted strange. "Who -"
"We're working on that. Where did you go while Ennis was getting your food?"
Merlin shook his head, knowing what the king was thinking. Of course that would be the conclusion that Arthur would jump to. "I don't think that Ennis would -"
Arthur held up a hand, cutting him off. "I know. I know that Ennis didn't do it. Where did you go?"
Merlin frowned, thinking back. He continued to eat as he thought. "I was speaking with Sir Geraint," he mumbled, feeling drowsy again, now that his stomach was somewhat satisfied.
The king's brow furrowed. "Why in the world were you speaking to him?"
Merlin understood his confusion. Sir Geraint hated magic, and had never wanted a Court Sorcerer. Since he had been appointed as such, Merlin had made it a point to avoid the knight - and his friend Sir Brennis, who hated magic just as much - as much as he possibly could. "He came by my chambers right after Ennis left, and asked if I would walk with him for a while. I agreed…" Merlin's voice trailed off in a yawn. He closed his eyes. He was too tired to keep them open and talk at the same. His words were punctuated with yawns as he continued.
"I knew something was off. He wasn't talking about anything…important. He...babbled. He was probably just…distracting me while…someone else placed the…poison. My guess is…Sir Brennis…" Merlin was on the verge of falling asleep again, but he heard the door creak open and then close with a snap.
"Where is she going?" his mother asked.
"I don't - damnit. Kerenza!" A stool scraped the floor, and then someone was hurrying toward the door. Arthur. It had to be Arthur. He was the only who'd answered.
"Arthur," Merlin called sleepily, unable to help himself. Cheekily, he said, "I told you they wanted to kill me."
The king groaned. "Not now, Merlin." And then he was gone, and Merlin was asleep.
"Kerenza!" she heard Arthur call, as she turned a corner. His footsteps quickened, and he managed to catch up to her in a matter of seconds. He gripped her arms, pulling her to a halt. "Kerenza, stop."
"Where are they?" she practically growled. She didn't look at him. She kept her gaze straight ahead, her anger bubbling under her skin.
"Where are who?" he asked.
"Sir Brennis and Sir Geraint."
"Why?"
"So I can kill them. Since they're you're precious nobles, it's not like you're going to do it," she snapped. So many royals seemed to believe that other nobles were above the law, and she wanted to make sure that these two got what they deserved. Even then, she did regret the words as soon as they were out of her mouth. She knew that King Arthur wasn't like most other members of royalty.
Arthur stepped in front of her. She'd never seen him so angry. "You do not get to speak to me that way. They may have been born into nobility, but they will not be allowed to get away with attempted murder. I would hope that you knew by now that I'm a fair king, and I try my best to treat everyone equally, regardless of their station in life. They will be punished appropriately for this crime, as would anyone who committed it. But they will not be punished by you. You have no legal right to do so. As king, that is my responsibility, and you will leave it to me. Do you understand?"
He released her, and Kerenza slumped against the wall, her eyes full of unshed tears. She wanted to kick herself for allowing her emotions to take over. She should know better, she really should. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. "That was…I was out of line."
"You were," he said bluntly. "You are going to make an excellent Court Physician someday, but you have to learn to control yourself a little better if wish to remain a member of my staff, especially if you want to be a future council member."
She nodded, sighing. He was right, of course. And she'd told herself, when she came here, that she was going to work on controlling her impulses better. She'd been doing pretty good, until he had to go and get poisoned. "I know, I know. I just -"
"You care about him," he finished for her. "We all do. What I don't understand is why you're reacting so strongly now. You didn't get this upset when we thought Ennis had been the one to poison him."
She wrapped her arms around her torso, not wanting to explain herself. She didn't even know if she would be able to explain herself properly, not when she didn't really understand her own reasons.
The king nodded. "You love him," he stated, as though it was obvious.
She felt heat rush to her face. She was sure it was cherry red. "No," she said, and it was the truth. For now, at least. "I…don't know exactly what I feel for him. I certainly care for him, and in a way that I never expected to. But I wouldn't call it love. Maybe at some point, but not yet. I really haven't known him for very long. It was just extremely difficult to see him lying there, wavering between life and death when I couldn't do anything to help him. To know how close he was to being gone from this world. That thought alone was devastating, for some reason. And the pain he was in…And then to realize that someone did that to him on purpose, because they thought he was evil? It only takes about fifteen minutes of talking to him to realize that he is entirely incapable of being evil."
The king chuckled, leaning against the wall. "For the most part, Merlin is an open book."
Kerenza grinned slightly, nodding in agreement. She had found him to be quite easy to read. She was amazed that nobody had known about his magic for so many years. He was a terrible liar. She glanced up at Arthur, biting her lip. "You won't tell him? About my…feelings for him? For now, I just want to be his friend. Maybe nothing more will come of it."
The king winced theatrically. "I don't know. I really enjoy tormenting him, and this is golden material."
She chuckled. After watching all of his interactions with his best friend, she had started to get a good sense of when he was teasing. She was sure he wouldn't say anything. Not anytime soon, at any rate. "Thank you," she said.
Arthur clasped her shoulders, looking directly into her eyes. "And I swear to you, Kerenza, that Brennis and Geraint will be brought to justice," he promised, and she believed him. She could see the silent fury in his eyes.
I don't remember the show ever saying exactly who was on Arthur's council. I'm going with the people who sit at the Round Table during the major meetings. Which, surprisingly, were pretty much just knights. Granted, most of the knights are nobles, but still. That was a heck of a lot of knights for a council. Of course, Gaius was there. In my story, Geoffrey of Monmouth is also on the council. So, his council is made up of Arthur, Merlin (most recent addition), Gaius, Geoffrey, Guinevere, and twenty-three knights. It's probably not entirely canon, but that's what I'm going with.
Also, the knight's names were either ones mentioned somewhere (if only briefly) in the show or on the wikia page, or they were from the original Arthurian legend, or I just made them up. Honestly, I can't really remember which ones were which. Sir Brennis was actually mentioned in the show, though.
To guest: The use of the name Emrys by Kerenza will be addressed at some point, and probably pretty soon. It's a transition for her.
To mersan123: Thanks for the idea about the guards! Can't believe I hadn't thought of it myself…
To dmcmeel412: Shh! Don't help others figure it out!
To KIMMIKY: Valid points, which will be addressed in the future. As her mother's said, Kerenza can be civilized when she chooses to be, she just rarely chooses to be. That may be something that she works on in the future. She is trying to work on it, though she's obviously not always successful.
To mizzymel: You went on a reading binge, didn't you? I'm so glad that you're liking it. You can ship whoever you want, just don't get mad at me if the ship sinks…And you're right; Kerenza, as she is now, is not quite right for Merlin. If he does end up with her, she'll have some maturing to do before it happens. I still have to get their friendship solidified before I even attempt romance! That got sidetracked by Merlin getting poisoned. If it seems natural for them to go from friends to more, I'll do it. If not, I won't. I'm just going to see what happens.
And just so everyone is aware, I had originally planned for this fic to be over by now. I hadn't anticipated it being this many chapters long! But I feel like there needs to be some more character development with some of them before I end things, so there may be many more chapters ahead. I know how I want to end it, but I don't know how much stuff I'll have between now and then. If it ever starts to feel like it's dragging, please let me know. Right now, I'm just kind of taking it one chapter at a time. Which is weird for me. Usually, I have about half of the story written, and the rest outlined, before I post anything. Not this time! Not really sure if that's a good or bad thing…But that's how it is.
Again, this was a long AN, but I did leave it to the end this time…
