Thank you once again for the reviews, they really cheer me up. Especially to my last chapter reviewers 1983Sarah, AmberW, and MyDreamWithinADream. Of course to everyone else who has left a comment or followed/favourited. Thank you. Here is chapter 4. :)
Edit- Just a bit of a warning I forgot to put on before- a little gore in this chapter. Nothing too big but some readers may be a bit affected.
'A curse?' Arthur looked puzzled but didn't want to show too much worry in front of Hunith.
It had been when Gauis was changing Merlin's wrist bandages that he'd spotted it. A simple spiral etched onto the underside of his wrist; it must have scratched his veins for slight drops of blood were visible. Gauis had recognized it immediately, with symbols from the old religion.
'Not exactly a curse, but it allows the sorcerer to take over the mind of their victim. It's like a gateway into Merlin's mind.' To say his books were in Camelot, Gauis knew what he was talking about.
'If it weren't for the situation I'd take that as a joke.' Gwaine spoke his mind, he truly did want to make a joke of the knowledge Gauis was showing, but it was about Merlin. His friend!
'So how do we stop it?' Arthur was getting desperate, and he wanted that witch out of his friend now.
'I don't know without my books, but I remember a bit about how we can slow it down, and effectively block her enough time for us to get him back to Camelot.'
Everyone turned to Gauis as if to say, well, yes, go on then. But his face did not look hopeful.
'We have to brandish the mark.' This provided a collective gasp and an exasperated 'NO' from Hunith.
'Brand him? You mean, as in burn his wrist?' It was Leon who spoke up this time, he stepped forward and studied Gauis' face as if looking for twitching around his mouth to indicate a joke. Although everyone secretly knew this was no joke!
'I'm afraid so. It stops the enchantment working on Merlin's mind and will allow us to have our Merlin back with us, and not Morgana.'
Arthur stepped forward 'Well, we don't have to worry too much, I mean, we don't have to have Merlin back, as long as he stays unconscious or a little disorientated, we can get her...I mean him...back to Camelot.' He knew there was more to it but he hoped beyond anything he'd wished for before that he was right.
'Morgana will slowly turn Merlin mad. He'll be a mess before we get back to Camelot, and if we wait too long, we may not be able to get her out. She also poses a threat to us. If she reaches the parts of Merlin's soul that allow her to control him fully, she could effectively attack us like she did before, just from within a different body.' Gauis was shaking, but tried to look as decisive as possible. He hated to have to do this to Merlin but he knew the boy wouldn't have a chance if they didn't.
Slowly, Arthur unsheathed his sword and stuck it in the burning fire. He looked at Gwen who quickly understood and took Hunith away.
'Pull the curtain Gwaine.' Arthur continued to warm his sword but turned to his men. 'This is going to need us to hold Merlin down whilst one of us...' He trailed off but everyone understood.
'I understand if you don't want to help but I need at least one of you.'
Within seconds, every single one of his knights stepped forward, all proving their support for Merlin. Arthur nodded and smiled gently, whilst his knights gathered around Merlin's limp form.
Gwaine took Merlin's shoulders and head, whilst Percival took his upper body, and Leon and Elyan took his legs. Gauis held the arm out firm for Arthur and looked his King firmly in the eye.
It took Arthur minutes before he could do it. He stood with his sword still burning in the hearth, looking from one to another of his Knights, nodding, and getting supportive glances back. Bile rose in his throat just at the thought of what he had to do, although he'd not eaten much recently, he knew his stomach was threatening to empty itself of whatever it could possibly find. He swallowed, closed his eyes and tried to block the world out as much as he could. A whimper from Merlin brought him back to the present and he knew he had to do it.
Slowly, he brought the sword away from the burning inferno, and moved even slower towards his friends outstretched arm. Although Gauis had a grip on it, Arthur knew Merlin would use as much strength left in him to pull himself away, so he took his friends arm with his free hand and held on tight. Arthur breathed in a lungful of air and held the flat side of the burning sword to Merlin's wrist.
Within seconds Merlin was screaming and writhing all over the bed, trying to pull free from the clutches of his 'friends'. He was fully awake and looked around at everyone in turn. Each one of Camelot's knights had turned away from him, not daring to look at him in the eye. Except for Arthur. He couldn't peel his gaze away and found himself staring into Merlin's eyes, wide and bluer than any crystal Arthur had ever seen. It wasn't the screams and cries of agony that hurt Arthur most however, it was the look his friend was giving him. One of detachment, deceit and betrayal, his friends were doing something to him, against his will, and it was probably all because of his magic.
'It's going to need more Arthur, it isn't hot enough.' Gauis had to yell over the screams emanating from Merlin.
Arthur released the breath he didn't realise he'd been holding in and turned to Gauis. 'What, I held it in the fire for ages, it should be warm enough.' Arthur didn't think he could repeat the whole process again.
'It's clearly a strong enchantment, it's going to need more.'
Just minutes later, Arthur was pulling the white hot sword from the fire and readying himself for the second attempt. God he hoped this was it.
The second time must have been worse, Merlin's screams vertebrated around the whole hut. Not one single Knight had a dry face, but they weren't trying to hide it, they wore determined looks and showed no sign of backing down. Now Merlin was crying, his screams had tired him and he broke down in fits of tears.
'What have I done? I'm sorry. Please STOP!'
Arthur broke down next, he was crying and showed no intention to stop. He just wanted to throw down his sword and hug his manservant, telling him everything would be ok.
Everyone's attention was averted when the curse on Merlin's wrist glowed. Not due to the heat of the sword but of it's own accord. It grew bright blue and Arthur instinctively brought the sword away.
'It's working.' Gauis lacked positivity in his voice but everyone knew he was right.
Just as the spiral hit it's brightest, Merlin's eyes glowed that magnificent gold and he let out one final scream. The scream sent everyone flying off their feet, and some, including Arthur, landed sideways on beds, chairs and tables; Gwaine narrowly missed the fire.
Silence in the hut, except for a number of groans and the agonized whimpers which must have been Hunith and Gwen. Gauis had recovered himself and was checking each knight in turn was ok.
Arthur was up on his feet in a flash and by the bedside of his friend.
'Did I hurt anyone?' Merlin's voice was only just audible, and strained from the screaming and crying he'd just been through.
'No. No Merlin we're all fine.' He looked up through tears, and saw everyone staring back at him in turn. 'We just want you to be fine too. We didn't do this on purpose we...'
'I know.' Merlin had interrupted him, which would usually annoy him like mad, but right now he didn't care. 'I know what's been happening, I've been watching, listening.' And with that, he blacked out once again.
'When can we move him? We need to get him back.'
'Within the next hour. If we begin to gather our things, he'll be moveable by the time we've finished.' Although Gauis gave the advice, he didn't attempt to move.
Hunith moved forward and Arthur fully expected her to begin packing her own belongings. She would no doubt want to come to Camelot. He understood her concern but it would make the journey much longer, and they were already low on food and water supplies, not to mention losing a horse and having to share blankets out to one more person.
'Look after my boy. Make sure, the next time I see him, he's safe.' She had tears in her eyes but did not lose contact with Arthur's, not even to blink. 'You save him, just as he's saved you all those times before.' Oh great, now the guilt trip.
'I promise. He means so much to me, and I know you may not believe me, and I know I have done some terrible things, but I swear on my life, I will get that witch out of him and he'll be safe by the next time you see him.' Without thinking about it, he moved a strand of hair from her forehead, just as he had done Merlin, and kissed her politely on the cheek.
She returned the kiss on the King's head and moved slowly past him, but her hand lingered on his arm, until she finally pulled away to her son's bedside.
Arthur turned away and began to get everything together, forcing the knight's glares away from Hunith and her son, leaving them in as much privacy as possible.
The knights, Arthur, Gwen and Gauis, packed in silence, only occasionally glancing at one another, or at Merlin and Hunith. There was nothing to say, all were in complete shock and wanted nothing more than this whole nightmare to be over.
Arthur swore to himself: It soon will be!
XXXXXX
The journey back to Camelot was a slow one. Usually, it would only take just over 2 days, but with an injured man, it took much longer.
'We can't go on much longer today sire.' Gwaine had stopped ahead of everyone else and was seemingly admiring the sky when he spoke up.
Arthur looked up to see Gwaine was right, the sky was getting dark and it was getting much colder. They couldn't travel during the night, there were too many hazards and dangerous creatures waiting for them. He looked down at a sleeping Merlin who was sat in front of him, sharing the King's horse and sighed.
'Then we best find a safe place to stop, and warm. It feels like we're in for a cold and damp night.'
It didn't take them long, they found a small cave hidden behind trees which would definitely shield them from the storms ahead, which could now be heard on the horizon.
Merlin was laid down half way into the cave, a fire was set up and food was spread between the party. The same thought went through everybody's mind, what would happen when Merlin woke up? Would he be Merlin? Would he be Morgana? And, probably the most daunting question...
'Will he wake up?' Arthur looked up to see Percival asking the question, to no-one in particular. He was looking at Merlin with a mixture of guilt and worry.
'Of course he will, it's Merlin.' It was Gwaine that spoke, but even with this brave knight, there was a tremour in his voice. 'He just needs a bit of rest, you know how lazy he is. Right Arthur?'
It took Arthur a couple of seconds to realise he'd been spoken to, 'Oh, yeah, the lazy git.' He laughed, along with Gwaine, but both were half-hearted and held an underlying pain for their friend.
The following hours were filled with light-hearted chatter, cooking, eating and talking around the fire. To keep all spirits up, they spoke of funny times either experienced by the knights or Merlin- which ended up being a lot. Arthur had to laugh at the fact that most stories involved either Gwaine, Merlin, or both, and most of the time, taverns. Hunith had kindly given them a basket of food which would last them at least 2 days, but the hardy knights began complaining there was too much green stuff and not enough meat. So Leon and Elyan collected a number of fish, rabbits and even a young deer, which would please the party through the night. The storm was growing nearer and rain already hammered down on the surrounding rocks, lightning flashed and the thunder echoed in the cave, Arthur knew he wasn't going to get much sleep tonight.
'I'll take first watch, Gwaine, I'll wake you when it's your turn, ok?' Gwaine nodded at Arthur and everyone settled down for the night, taking one last look at Merlin's frozen form, hoping that he would look better the next time they saw him.
Arthur moved over to the sleeping form of his manservant once he knew everyone else was asleep. He sat next to him and covered his body with the royal cape of Camelot.
'I'm right here Merlin, don't worry, everything will be better tomorrow.'
Next up- Merlin's nightmares and Arthur dissapoints Gwen a little bit.