OK, I don't really like to apologize for taking too long to update, because if I did I'd be doing it all the time, but I guess I've left this fic new-chapter-less for a while. Just know that I do feel bad about that, and I haven't forgotten it.
News item 1: My psychology final exam is tomorrow, so wish me luck.
Item 2: Merry Christmas! Or Happy Holidays/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa, or any other holiday you might be celebrating. Happy New Year too, just in case I don't update again before then.
Nimueh reached into a pouch that hung from her belt and withdrew a large crystal, smirking when she heard Merlin's sharp intake of breath. "I'm pleased to see you recognize the Crystal of Neahtid."
"Of course I recognize it - I've seen it once before."
"Yes, I remember. You were very brave, venturing into enemy territory alone to prevent the crystal from falling into the hands of Uther Pendragon. Looking back on that night, I can't recall if I ever thanked you properly for bringing it to me." She gave him a suggestive smile.
Merlin retreated a few paces. "Your gratitude is all the thanks I require, my lady."
"Is it really? How noble. But I have a better reward in mind." Mouth curved into a devious, almost predatory smirk, Nimueh advanced on Merlin, who backed up until an inconveniently placed wall halted his progress. Then she swiftly closed the distance between them until they were separated only by an arm's length and extended her hand, the Crystal of Neahtid cradled in her palm. "You needn't run from me, Merlin, I only want to share with you what the crystal has shown me."
Merlin remained plastered against the wall. "I've heard that the crystal never shows the same vision twice."
"That is true . . . most of the time. I feel fairly confident that this time will be an exception, as what I saw concerns you most intimately." Nimueh again proffered the crystal.
Merlin gulped. "I . . . I don't think I should. I've also heard that seeing the future is sometimes less a gift than a curse."
Nimueh sighed and slowly lowered her arm to her side, noticing as she did so that Merlin's eyes stayed fixed on the crystal. His magic was drawn to it; she could almost taste its pull on him in the air. "Very well, although I've never met with so much rejection - certainly not from a single man - you need not look into the crystal . . ." She moved away from him, paused just long enough to hear Merlin's sigh of relief, then went on. ". . . If you can tell me with complete honesty that your heart does not desire to know what is to come."
She threw a sharp glance over her shoulder and saw that her favorite sorcerer appeared as thoroughly caught as a rabbit in a trap - even knowing he might be better off not seeing the future, he still wanted to. She knew it. He knew she knew it.
Merlin nervously licked his lips, then came forward and stopped directly behind Nimueh. "Give me the crystal."
She spun on her heel, once again intruding on his personal space, bringing their faces a bit too close for comfort, but this time he didn't back down.
"Whatever it is you think I need to see, show me." He held out his hand, impatient now.
"As you wish, sire." She pressed the crystal into his hand.
Merlin raised it to eye level, stared into its depths, focused all his mind and magic on it. The crystal lit up from within, emitting a soft golden glow, and an image formed on its surface. Merlin brought the crystal closer to his face, and the pictures began shifting rapidly; first he saw a messenger bearing a white flag, then a woman with pale green eyes and even paler skin, black hair cascading in waves down her back, who knelt before an austere stone monolith, sobbing as though her heart had been broken. Merlin felt a strange urge to reach out to her, comfort her if he could . . .
. . . And then she was gone, replaced by a vision of himself standing over Arthur Pendragon's bed. The prince's eyes were closed, his shoulder bound up in a sling, his face pale and sweaty, and Merlin's hand was outstretched as if he were about to perform magic.
Then this image too vanished, and Merlin found himself looking at his father, who stood in a small tower room with . . . King Uther? "What is this?" Merlin exclaimed.
Uther's voice floated out of the magical stone. "Then let this arrangement put an end to the strife between our lands."
"Very well," Balinor agreed. "From this day forth, we will be allies."
###
Morgana jolted awake, not terrified this time, merely startled and incredulous. The bearded king she'd seen in her dream was unknown to her, yet somehow she sensed that he was Balinor, dragonlord and king of the land of Dagon, and . . . a future ally of Camelot? I can hardly dare to believe it, but I cannot deny that if it were possible, I would wish for an end to this cruel war. I do wish for it. This is one dream I wouldn't mind coming true - at least not that part.
The other part, where she had seen the prince of Dagon entering Arthur's chambers and working some sort of spell on him, gave her pause. I suppose it makes all the difference whether that part happens before or after the war ends - if it is after, then he can't mean Arthur any harm. Still, can I really trust a sorcerer near my brother while he's in such a vulnerable state?
Morgana resolved to keep her eyes open, and if the prince of Dagon ever showed his face within the castle walls, she would mark every step he made more closely than would his own shadow. She rolled over and fell asleep stroking the handle of a jeweled dagger Arthur had given her on her last birthday.
###
At the same moment that Morgana was fondling her knife and trying to postpone dwelling on the meaning of her dream until morning, Merlin was also reeling from the exact same vision. "Why show me this?" he asked Nimueh. "Is this going to happen, or do I have to make it happen - or stop it from happening? I don't understand."
"Either course of action is open to you," the High Priestess replied. "Now that his only son has been so badly wounded, Uther finds he grows weary of war. His envoy will arrive soon to ask for a truce; when that happens, you may well be able to influence your father's decision."
"Well, that's a good thing, isn't it? We can finally end the fighting - no one else will have to die in this war."
"True. But, Merlin, you do not know Uther Pendragon as I do. He is a conniving, duplicitous man. If he is willing to end the war, you may be sure there will be some price to pay, and it will be a heavy one."
"So you're saying I should discourage my father from making the alliance? Are you set against it, Nimueh?"
"I will never ally myself with Camelot while Uther sits on its throne," Nimueh hissed. "You, on the other hand - you must do what you think is best for your kingdom and for yourself. I only hope you do not live to regret it, as I did." Dropping the Crystal of Neahtid back into her pouch, she walked quickly toward the window. Her form shrank and changed and a moment later, the High Priestess of the Old Religion flew away in the shape of a blackbird.
Merlin watched until she was out of sight, then shut the window. Nimueh might be infuriatingly cryptic - though she's not nearly as bad as the dragons - and she might delight in making me uncomfortable . . . but I can't deny that she's quite impressive.
###
Uther's messenger arrived at the end of the week, as the crystal had foretold, and Balinor gathered his council to make sure that the answer he sent back to the king of Camelot was the one his subjects wanted. Their reactions were mixed: almost everyone was in favor of peace, but a few were suspicious of Uther's motives. One bitter old lord whose son had fallen in battle suggested returning the messenger's severed head to Uther and sending an assassin to remove Prince Arthur's head for good measure, but no one else supported this idea after Merlin pointed out that it would be counterproductive in the extreme.
After hours of debate, Balinor announced that he would meet with Uther in an abandoned old keep that sat right on the border between their two kingdoms - as close to neutral ground as they were likely to find - and see whether they could negotiate a peace treaty that was satisfactory to both sides. He got up - the councilmen all leapt to their feet the instant he pushed his chair back from the table - and swept out of the council chamber. Recognizing that they were dismissed, the lords filed out as well.
Merlin spoke with some of them but declined all invitations to lunch, using his tutor as an excuse. As soon as the last one left, he turned to Will, who was leaning on the back of his chair, eyes glazed, mouth hanging slightly open, and poked him in the ribs. "You can wake up now, the meeting's over."
Will jerked back into full awareness and glanced around warily, as if afraid Merlin might be trying to trick him. "Already? I thought your father's stuffy old lords would go on at least until nightfall."
Merlin rolled his eyes. "No, we finished remarkably fast. We were only discussing ending our war with Camelot after all - nothing terribly important."
Completely missing his master's sarcasm, Will just shrugged. "I could've wrapped the matter up a lot quicker, without a single word from those old windbags. Uther Pendragon's an old goat of a tyrant, and I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him, much less try to negotiate a treaty with him."
Freya, who had sneaked into the chamber and washed windows as a cover so she could listen in on the meeting, exchanged an exasperated look with Merlin. "I don't think refusing to negotiate on the grounds that Uther Pendragon is an old goat is a very solid policy, Will. I'm afraid to even think what shape the kingdom would be in if you were in charge."
"Don't worry, I'd rather have thorns in my bed than have Merlin's job. It's all work, danger, and more work studying magic. That's why he has no life."
"Hey!" Merlin protested.
"It's true - you have more books in your bedchamber than girls."
"And you don't have either one."
Freya smiled as she listened to Merlin and Will trade verbal barbs, but for once she didn't join in. Watching Merlin, she had seen something disquieting in his eyes; he might have argued in favor of making the truce, but he had reservations. She wanted to know why, and resolved to get it out of him later, when Will was out of the way.
###
Her chance came late that night. Will had already gone to bed but Merlin was still awake, nose buried in one of his beloved books. Freya coughed to let him know she was there, and he promptly tossed his book down on the bed. "Freya, what is it?"
"Pardon the intrusion, sire, I merely wondered if you would tell me why you seemed less than completely happy with your father's decision today. If something's troubling you, talk to me. I'll help any way I can."
Merlin confided the details of Nimueh's visit, including what he had foreseen in the Crystal of Neahtid, to his friend. "Nimueh warned me that Uther can't be trusted, and that peace with him won't come without a price. She also said her vision concerned me intimately."
Freya gasped. "But that sounds like-"
"I know," Merlin said grimly. "It sounds like, whatever price Uther demands, I'll be the one to pay it."
###
Another month came and went, and Balinor's negotiations with Uther hit an impasse. Balinor had voiced the opinion that Uther ought to cease his efforts to purge magic from the face of the earth; otherwise it would only be a matter of time before the conflict between their kingdoms reignited. Uther could see that Balinor was right but was unwilling to give in on that particular point. The two kings' discussions became increasingly heated, and they probably would have gone home and assembled their armies to resume fighting had it not been for the timely arrival of Gaius.
His stated purpose for being there was to deliver more of the potion Uther took to relieve the pain of an old wound, but within hours of his arrival Gaius had hit upon a solution that seemed to solve everyone's problems. He proposed that Balinor could send someone more knowledgeable than Uther in matters of magic to Camelot to determine whether people caught using magic were actually dangerous, and that those who weren't simply be exiled. Uther would still get to execute those who were dangerous; either way, the undesirables would be removed from Camelot.
"Are you suggesting that I should simply let sorcerers go free?" Uther demanded, outraged. "What incentive could possibly persuade me to do that?"
Gaius closed his eyes and offered up a quick prayer to any gods that might be listening that he wasn't about to make a huge mistake. He then asked for a moment to speak privately with Uther. "What if, in return for . . . not allowing magic inside Camelot, but softening your stance on it, you could gain a position of power in Dagon? One of your own on the throne, perhaps."
Uther seemed to like that idea. "Go on. How might I arrange that?"
"On Lady Morgana's last birthday, you mentioned that you would have to begin searching for a suitable husband for her. Balinor's son, Prince Merlin, is only a year or two her senior, and if he is still unattached . . ."
"Hmm, an interesting idea, Gaius. I assume that as the son of a dragonlord, the boy would possess some form of magic, would he not?" Uther asked almost sulkily.
"Undoubtedly. But Morgana is strong, sire - I have every confidence that she could take marrying a warlock in stride, and just think what she would gain by becoming queen of Dagon. It is after all one of the wealthiest lands in Albion, equaled only by Camelot."
Uther hmmed again.
When Gaius' idea was presented to Balinor, he approved wholeheartedly. After all, sooner or later Merlin would have to marry someone, so it might as well be this Lady Morgana. Merlin certainly didn't have another girl he'd rather marry; left to his own devices, he would be perfectly content to spend all his time mastering new spells. Gaius, that brilliant man, had just saved Balinor the trouble of finding a bride for Merlin while also giving Uther what he wanted. "I will return home and inform my son immediately."
"Excellent; I shall do likewise. You must bring Merlin to Camelot, so that we can introduce him to Morgana. Will one month's time suffice for your travels?"
Balinor said that a month would be plenty of time, and the two kings sealed their agreement with a handshake, exactly as Merlin and Morgana had foreseen.
For those who are wondering what the heck just happened, let me recap for you.
Uther: No way am I marrying my darling witch...uh, ward...to a sorcerer!
Gaius: But this is AU, so the sorcerer in question actually has money and power here.
Uther: Ooh, did someone say money? I like money! How fast can you arrange a wedding?