Leagues away from the royal palace of Dagon, on the shores of a vast lake whose deep waters still shone sapphire blue despite a deep darkness that had turned everything else inky black, Merlin resumed his human form. His destination was a place of magic, yet it could not be entered by magical means. Everyone, sorcerers and supplicants, prince and peasant alike crossed the great lake in the same way or not at all. A small boat without sails or oars waited for him; it was unmoored but wouldn't have drifted off even if there had been a current that night. It only went where it was needed.
Merlin climbed in and silently commanded the boat, Take me to the Isle. The boat glided forward, its passage creating ripples in the lake's glass-smooth surface, through the shroud of mist that hid the Isle of the Blessed from view. Instead of running itself aground in the spot where visitors to the Isle usually disembarked, the boat took Merlin farther along the coastline, into an inlet, and beached itself there. Knowing he had reached the end of his journey, Merlin got out.
He'd never been on this part of the Isle before. During past visits he had spent countless hours in the libraries, and he had seen certain parts of the grand castle (though not the priestesses' cloisters, of course) and a stunningly beautiful flower garden where Nimueh had once taken him to meditate, but not this orchard. More fruit trees than he had ever seen in one place grew here; Merlin noticed that most of them were apple trees. What could they want with so many apples?
"That is a very good question, Merlin. As it happens, the fruits grown in this orchard are not of our choosing; these trees were here long before the first of our kind set foot on the isle. We do not interfere with nature's design."
Merlin turned around slowly. Leaving your back exposed to a priestess was unwise, but letting her know you were wary of her was even more dangerous. "My lady."
"Since they grow here in such abundance, it's fortunate that I like apples," Nimueh mused as she made her way through the mist-shrouded trees. When she reached the shore, she stopped to pluck an apple, raised the bright red fruit to her equally scarlet lips, and sank her teeth into it. "Delicious." Her eyes closed briefly as she savored the succulent treat, then opened again when she finished chewing. "But I'm being rude, eating this apple without offering one to you as well."
"That's all right - I already had dinner."
"Which you hardly touched." Nimueh held out her apple. "Just a bite?"
It did look very appetizing, and she was right - he had merely picked at the food Will had served him hours ago - but Merlin wasn't going to let Nimueh sidetrack him this time. Not when Morgana's safety and possibly her sanity depended on him completing his errand.
"No thank you."
"Perhaps I can offer you something else then? Are you sure I can't tempt you, Merlin?" Her crimson lips curled into a devious smile, as if maybe there was more than food on her mind.
"Nimueh, please. I need your help."
Nimueh's smile disappeared, her playfulness slipping away. Her teasing always made Merlin uncomfortable, sometimes reluctantly enticed and sometimes exasperated enough that he mustered the nerve to ask her to stop, yet the almost pleading note she'd heard in his voice just now was entirely new. Whatever problem had brought him to her must be grave indeed. "Go on."
"Someone I care about has just discovered she has magic, and her powers are beyond her control. She needs somebody to help her harness them, somebody with the ability and experience to give her proper instruction."
"You would entrust your friend's welfare to me? You flatter me, Merlin."
"You're the only one I would trust with her; you did for me what no one else could. Now I ask you to do the same for her."
"If you wish me to take on this responsibility, you might at least tell me my new charge's name."
"Lady Morgana, daughter of Gorlois of Cornwall." Merlin took a deep breath and braced himself, aware that what he was about to say next might well be a huge obstacle to securing Nimueh's cooperation. "One more thing you should know: after Lady Morgana's parents died, she became the ward of…of Uther Pendragon."
Before he uttered Uther's name Nimueh hadn't exactly seemed pleased with his request, but she had at least been curious and open to the possibility. Now she became much more reticent. "That is most unfortunate for her - doubly so, because I cannot help her. I have sworn a sacred vow never to set foot in Camelot again until the scourge of Uther Pendragon and all his kind has been cleansed from the land. If I did, I feared the temptation to undertake this cleansing myself might prove too strong. Rather than seeking revenge, I have dedicated myself to protecting those of our kind who have survived these last nineteen years."
"Morgana is one of our kind-"
"Then I pity her," Nimueh said regretfully.
"-And she isn't in Camelot. Uther sent her to me and my father."
Nimueh's black eyebrows flew upward into questioning arcs. "What could have induced him to do such a thing?"
"Well, you know we aren't at war with Camelot anymore…"
"I may have heard something to that effect."
Merlin knew for a fact that word had been sent to the Isle, but maybe Nimueh had been elsewhere when the messenger arrived. Maybe she'd ignored him. "My father and Uther decided keeping the peace would be easier if I married Uther's ward," he continued, rolling his eyes. He never could get past the stupidity of political maneuvering, even now that he considered himself lucky that those maneuvers had brought him and Morgana together.
"So the Lady Morgana is your fiancée? Then perhaps she's not as luckless as I thought."
"You don't mean that."
"Oh but I do, Merlin. Maybe I even envy her a bit."
He almost brushed this comment aside as just another of the games Nimueh delighted in playing with him…yet for once she didn't sound like she was teasing him. She sounded sincere.
While he stood there wondering how to respond, or if he should respond at all, she came closer, gazing up at him - how had he never noticed how much taller than her he was now? - with ice-blue eyes that seemed close to melting. "Do you think, if things were different, you and I…"
Merlin suddenly realized how very close they were now - too close - and a warning bell went off in his head. This conversation was heading somewhere he didn't want to go; he needed to put a stop to it before something they would both regret happened. He very deliberately moved back to a more respectable distance. "Things were different. All that time I spent here as your student, you must have known how I felt about you. You didn't want me then."
"You were too young. Now you're-"
"-Engaged to Morgana," Merlin finished firmly. "If I didn't know better I might wonder if you really want me, or if you only want what you just found out you can't have."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that. It's only an arranged marriage; plenty of noblemen in such a position take a wife solely for political purposes and find pleasure elsewhere."
He shook his head, half in denial, half in exasperation - it was so like Nimueh to disregard the reproach and focus only on the words she could twist to her own purpose. "Yes, I know. It's still adultery, and that's dishonorable no matter the circumstances."
Nimueh regarded him intently for several long seconds before her lips curved into a knowing little smile. "Don't pretend this is about honor," she said disdainfully. She pressed her palm to Merlin's chest, over his heart. "That ward of Uther Pendragon has wormed her way in here."
Merlin winced as the hard edges of her nails poked him through his cotton shirt, but he neither backed away nor denied it. "You're right, I do care about Morgana, and I won't betray her. I'll understand if you don't want to train her now." He started to return to the lake, but she caught his arm.
"I never said that. I would like to meet her."
Merlin couldn't believe his ears. Nimueh had been wise, in his opinion, to avoid Camelot, because for all her good qualities, she had a certain penchant for vengeance. He had therefore expected a flat refusal to help the woman he'd chosen over her. In fact, he wouldn't have expected her to spit on Morgana if she were on fire.
She laughed at his incredulous expression. "A woman who's managed to hide her gifts from Uther while living in his household and capture your heart must be a very rare person; I admit I'm curious about her. Besides, I would be remiss in my duty as High Priestess if I withheld my assistance from a sorceress in need of training."
"Great! Can you come to the castle tomorrow night? I know under normal circumstances I should bring her to you, it's just that she's afraid of what Uther will do if he learns of her magic, so I promised her I wouldn't let anyone find out. Questions will be asked if she disappears, so…" He trailed off, looking at Nimueh hopefully.
She smiled. "I understand; of course we must accommodate the Lady Morgana's unique situation. As your fiancée, her place is with you anyhow, not here among those of us sworn to serve none but the Goddess."
"And you won't tell anyone?"
"It'll be our little secret."
"Thank you, my lady. I'm forever in your debt." Merlin bowed and kissed her hand in gratitude, then got into the boat and sailed away from the Isle.
###
Once the mist had hidden him from her sight and her from his, Nimueh's smile faded. How could Merlin have rejected her? During his time as her student he had been in awe of her, followed her around like a puppy, almost worshipped her as if she were the Triple Goddess Herself - and yes, she'd been aware of his feelings, just as he said, but returning them would have been a gross impropriety, even if she had wanted to. He was only fifteen years old at the time, after all, and she was the High Priestess of the Old Religion. Of course she wasn't interested in a mere boy.
The trouble was that he wasn't a boy anymore, and he'd become rather attractive as he grew up. At times he had even (much to her displeasure) caused her to question her decision never to take a lover, to care for nothing except her magic and her duty. She knew, however, that Merlin would not, could not, settle for merely being her lover; as the future king of Dagon, he needed a queen - a wife - and Nimueh had always balked at making such a commitment. She hadn't been able to stop her playful flirting with him, though; she was just as incapable of letting him go as she was of committing herself to him fully.
While she'd always known the time would come when she would be forced to choose one path or the other, she had never imagined that the choice would be taken out of her hands - never dreamed that one day he might no longer want her.
Back in her bedchamber, consumed with a desire to see this girl who'd stolen her favorite sorcerer's heart, she took the Crystal of Neahtid from its resting place. "Show me the Lady Morgana!"
An image appeared of an ivory-skinned, ebony-haired girl fast asleep in her bed, though the deep purple shadows under her eyes hinted at less peaceful nights in her recent past. It vexed Nimueh to see how beautiful she was despite the signs of sleep deprivation. She had an air of innocent sweetness about her too; knowing Merlin, it was that more than her physical beauty that drew him to her. She was a perfect little damsel, delicate and vulnerable, so of course he became her noble, devoted protector.
Nimueh herself had never been that innocent - even before the horrors of Uther's purge scarred and hardened her heart, she was driven by ambition and a desire for power. No wonder Merlin preferred his precious Lady Morgana.
Enough! Nimueh swept her hand over the crystal as if to wipe Morgana's pretty face from its surface. The image vanished, but the crystal did not go blank; instead it began bombarding her with visions of Morgana's many possible futures. One in particular caught the High Priestess' interest and brought a darkly satisfied smile to her face. If this part of Morgana's destiny came to pass, Nimueh would happily teach her all she knew. She would even forgive her for stealing Merlin. It would be worth losing him to rid herself of a much larger thorn in her side.
###
Will received a number of surprised, even concerned glances from his fellow servants as he made his daily morning trek to his master's chambers. They were used to hearing him whistle as he went about his work, but today he was unusually silent, his normally cheerful face grim. He was worried about Merlin. The prince was so intent on putting a stop to the mysterious accidents plaguing his fiancée that he'd hardly eaten in the last two days, and Will didn't think he'd slept at all. His magic could provide the energy most people got from food and sleep when he couldn't be bothered with such mundane things as eating or resting, yet even so, Will suspected he'd pass out from exhaustion soon if he didn't pause his obsessive search for a solution to Lady Morgana's problem long enough to take care of himself.
He didn't hear any movement from inside Merlin's chambers, which scared him a little. What if Merlin really had passed out? Dropping the breakfast tray, he threw open the door and ran in, preparing himself for the worst. Instead he found the room empty, and panicked. Finding Merlin ill or unconscious would have been bad enough, but this… How could he just be gone? What was Will going to tell the king?
He searched the room frantically for some clue as to where Merlin might have disappeared to and saw that he wasn't the only one there after all - somebody was in the bed with the blankets pulled over their head, covering everything except a hint of black hair. Merlin must have gone to bed after all; perhaps the Lady Morgana had talked him into getting some rest. If she managed that, I'll let her kick me out any time she wants. She can deal with His Royal Moodiness for a change.
He almost felt bad about waking Merlin up, but crown princes weren't allowed to sleep all day. Anyway, it was his own fault he was tired. "All right, sire," Will bellowed, "time to haul your royal ass out of bed!" He seized the covers, pulled them off the bed's occupant with one swift yank…and found a disoriented and disgruntled Lady Morgana blinking up at him. "You're not Merlin."
"Your powers of observation amaze me."
"What are you doing here?"
"I was sleeping until I was rudely awakened. What else does one do in a bed?"
Will smirked. "Since you aren't in your bed, I can think of plenty of things people might assume you were doing."
Morgana flushed. The manservant was right - he'd caught her in an extremely compromising position. Regardless of how exhausted she'd been, she should have gone back to her own chambers. "I didn't! We didn't! I swear, Will, Merlin left before I fell asleep in his bed, and I know I shouldn't have - I was just so tired…"
"I guess you haven't been sleeping well lately. Still, this could ruin your reputation…"
Morgana held her breath as she waited to see what Will would do next. She thought he had warmed to her after Edwin Muirden's failed assassination attempt, but maybe he just wasn't ruthless enough to want her dead. He might still be happy to see her brought down by other means.
After giving the matter some intense thought, he said, "All right, up you get. We need to get you back where you should be before anyone finds out you haven't been there all along."
"Are you…helping me?" Morgana asked hesitantly.
"Don't get any ideas - I'm still not saying I like you or anything," Will said gruffly, "but you being found here would look bad for Merlin too. I don't want him to get in trouble when I know he'd never touch you before you're married."
"He's a man," Morgana scoffed. "This situation would not be nearly as disgraceful for him as for me."
"King Balinor would still be disappointed in him. For him that'd be worse than public embarrassment."
Finally convinced that he didn't mean to expose her - Will might not like her but his loyalty to Merlin was beyond doubt - Morgana got up and made for the door. Will grabbed her arm. "Not that way! The corridors are full of servants by now - you'll never make it without being seen!"
Yes, being spotted traipsing through the castle in her nightgown would certainly set some tongues wagging.
He dragged her over to the bookcases, moved a thick encyclopedia aside, and hit a pressure plate hidden behind it. A section of the bookcase slid away to reveal a secret passage, then slid back into place after he pulled her inside, plunging them into total darkness. They immediately tried to get out again, but were unable to find the pressure plate in the dark.
"Why didn't you bring a candle?" Morgana hissed.
"Didn't think of it. I've only ever been in here with Merlin, and he always conjured a light. I should be able to find the way without one, though. Just follow me."
"How can I follow you if I can't see you?"
"Oh, right." Will reached out for Morgana in order to guide her and took hold of what he thought was her elbow. She let out an indignant yelp; he hadn't grabbed her elbow after all. "Sorry." He slid his hand up to her shoulder, then felt his way down her arm to her wrist.
"If I didn't know better," Morgana said as he slowly led her away from the bookshelf-cum-secret entrance while groping his way along the wall with his free hand, "I'd think you planned this."
Will snorted. "You think I forgot the candle on purpose just so I could feel you up? Don't flatter yourself."
They stumbled through the narrow stone passageway for what seemed a very long time until, just as she feared they'd become hopelessly lost, he stopped short. "I think this is it."
Morgana put out a hand and felt solid stone in front of her. "Wonderful. You've led us to a dead end."
"There should be a ladder leading to a trapdoor around here, so why don't you quit your nattering and help look for it? Or are you too high and mighty to do anything useful?"
"Ha! I'll probably find it before you do." To her immense satisfaction, she did. "Ladies first," she said smugly as she climbed the ladder ahead of him. The trapdoor wasn't as heavy as she feared it might be; she easily pushed it open and emerged at last into the maid's quarters adjoining her bedchamber.
Before you chastise me for giving Mergana scenes with Nimueh and Will instead of each other, you should know that my original draft had Nimueh kissing Merlin, but I took that bit out because I knew y'all wouldn't like it, so it could've been worse. Also, I thought Merlin would be pretty perturbed if she gave him an unwanted kiss - maybe perturbed enough to go find someone else to help Morgana, even if there's nobody else as motivated to keep her magic secret from Uther.
Next up: Merlin returns, Morgana and Will continue to harass each other, and hopefully we'll get to the first magic lesson.