Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin (I wish I would!)

A/N: I did my best to avoid language mistakes but as my native tongue is German there may still be many to be found. Please accept my most humble apology in advance!

As to the plot: Chapter VI updated now! Be careful what you wish for, you could get it! Merlin always wanted to be appreciated, not pursued for his magic. Does he still want that? Please review!

The legacy of Cornelius Sigan

6. A Court Magician's job-description

In the end the King decided to stick to the time-honoured principle of "strictly-need-to-know'. Despite all his fancy explanations of why this policy was the wisest, Merlin suspected Uther of outright cowardice. Oh, to think of the King having to explain to Camelot's leading elite that high and mighty Uther Pendragon, of all people, was in an alliance with his son's manservant. Magician manservant, at that. And a convicted evil doer only a short time ago. Gaius was right. It was too good to be true. "Sic transit gloria mundi" the young warlock thought in spite of the dire situation while he watched Uther squirm and writhe.

In practice 'strictly-need-to-know' would mean that Uther would mobilise his army immediately, telling his Guard Commander to call all knights and soldiers in active service to the castle under the pretext of an inner crisis. At the same time the evacuation of the outlying villages between Camelot Castle and the Mercian border would begin. "That Uther should think of that" Merlin silently wondered. "Arthur isn't even here!" However his illusions of the King becoming a human being were instantly crushed.

"We will exploit the fact that Camelot's Mercian border region is Crown Country. We will offer an alarming sickness of the crops as an explanation for our people bringing in the harvest early. Every village will be told that the sickness is already spreading in the others. Our people will then leave their villages and bring along all the harvest and their other provisions. The provisions will be stored in the castle while we will try our best to accommodate the villagers somewhere outside the city walls. This will be our best chance to persuade any Mercian spy that we are afraid of a famine, brought about us by the crop sickness. This will also cover up for the military mobilisation. Especially King Marcus will appreciate the necessity of a Ruling House to safeguard itself against a rebellion of a hungry population."

The King paused and rubbed his weary eyes. "At the same time I will despatch orders to all the great Barons of the realm to prepare the military details they owe to our Crown to be sent to Camelot Castle at very short notice. We will also inform them that their estates have nothing to fear from the crop disease as long as there is no exchange of people, animals or other goods between the Mercian border region and other parts of the country. For trade, they have to bring their goods, especially the vitals, to Camelot and we decide on the safety of a trade exchange. By that, we will fill up our stores even better for what could be a prolonged siege, without any one being the wiser. What people don't know, a spy cannot find out." The King frowned while thinking about what other steps would be necessary.

"We will also advise our much beloved barons that, to avoid unnecessary panic, they should not tell their people anything about the crop disease but inform them that we are going to have a great military parade here to impress one of the other Kings. Let's hope that with these measures we can stifle contact between the border region and the other parts as much as is humanly possible. As of now, no servant or other inhabitant of Camelot Castle or the city is allowed to move outside the city walls. All carrier pigeons are to be delivered to our Guard Commander by tomorrow morning, at penalty of indefinite incarceration."

Against his will, Merlin admired the straight forward thinking behind all that. There was only one point he didn't get so far. "Sire, why would the lie about a famine be more convincing if we were to 'accommodate' the villagers outside the city walls, while all provisions are stored inside the castle? Wouldn't it be more logical to have the people also inside the castle, where we could take better care of them in case of a provision shortage?" With a sarcastic grin the King snorted derisively. "Spoken like a servant. And as a trusted friend of my son, I grant you that. But, you see, we must convince Mercia's King, and perhaps some of the other Kings and aristocrats that we are indeed facing a famine. Now those 'people of nobility' have their own set of logic. Naturally they would bring in the provisions and keep the people outside. Or do you really think, if it were King Olaf who had to face a famine, he would refuse his precious daughter Vivian, the stupid brat, her daily strawberries with double cream in order to feed a few peasants?"

Wide eyed and speechless Merlin audibly shut his hanging jowl. Having always felt secure in his morale superiority over King Uther-the-monster, he felt the brutal simplicity of this truth hit him like a blow to his face.

Obviously Gaius found it wise to give the conversation another direction. "Sire, if I may ask something?" "Go ahead." "I wonder whether this ruse, although it admittedly does sound convincing, has any chance of success. Surely we will be confronted not only with Mercia's usual intelligence network but also with magical methods of espionage. What are we to do against that?"

The King nodded and turned to Merlin. "This will be your first task. While I will do everything in my power to keep the circle of people who know the real reasons behind our actions as small as possible you will look out for magical espionage to the best of your abilities. Scan for it or try to sense it or whatever it is you sorcerers do in such circumstances. If you find anything or anyone you will destroy it or him at once, completely and as silently as possible. It would be best if nobody were to learn that you are here until the very last moment. I'll need you to shield Camelot from the onslaught of the magic forces you spoke of while our knights and guards hopefully defeat the Mercian soldiers and kill King Marcus. Now are your orders clear or is there anything you do not understand?"

Merlin felt as if his head began to spin, his feet were leaving the floor and his knees buckled. An icy, freezing feeling crawled up his spine, his stomach turned and bile rose in his throat, all at once. "What...." he stuttered "what...." and again his voice forsook him.

Suddenly the shock was substituted by total panic, paired with a horrible wrath at this … man's, this outrageous …..creature's unbelievable arrogance. And than cheerful, friendly, gentle Merlin flew into the Pendragon's face.

"What do you want me to do? What do you think I am, the whole Druid army in disguise? After all these purges, these.... executions you think you can simply order me to do the impossible on your behalf? Not so long ago your own son went down to his knees to beg for my life but you would hear nothing of it! Now that it is you who's on his knees you shift it all onto me, as if it were perfectly natural for me to sacrifice myself for you and your Crown! You wanted to burn me alive for saving Arthur's life and now you want me to kill at random, for your say so? I've never been the monster you saw in me and I am surely not willing to become the monster you want me to be, now that it's to your advantage."

He started to sob and, shaking his head violently, he backed away from the silent King and held up both hands defensively. "Have you any, ANY idea of what you're demanding of me? Haven' t you still got it into your brain what we are up against?
I can't do this on my own....I ..." and suddenly, as if jumping on him from behind, the memory of his first contact with a Searcher engulfed his mind as if it were happening all over again, in this very moment.

It had been three days since Merlin's and Arthur's arrival in the Druids' mountain retreat. Feeling more content than he had felt for a long time, the young warlock was humming the latest favourite of Camelot's servants' hall to himself while strolling through the brake and brush of Vayatanu's sacred forests. The light filtered through the leaves that whispered soothingly in a light breeze and the woods were filled with mysterious sounds and the singing of unknown birds. The forest was especially beautiful at this summer afternoon, with herbs and flowers unknown to the curious potion-wielder-to be. The magician saw an especially interesting looking herb which might be just right for inspection of its potential use in magic (or non-magic at that) potions. Having collected it as well as some other herbs and flowers, he looked around him. If he had a short rest now he would be back in time for supper.

Merlin entered a beautiful clearing which lay ahead of him and, with a contented sigh, settled down in a sunny spot between two tree stumps. Dreamily following the contour of the tree rind with his slender fingers the magician let his mind wander, watching the butterflies that were dancing like jewels in the air. Just for fun he conjured up some more with his magic. They all swirled and whirled around before his eyes, and he got lost in a fairy-world beauty that was only for him.

Suddenly, the sun was gone. Dark clouds gathered in the sky, incredibly fast. No bird sang any more and all the butterflies had vanished. An icy cold emanated from the ground which only minutes ago had been warm and inviting. Like an unnatural caress by ghostly fingers the cold touched his skin, his hair, his eyes and wandered down his spine until he felt agonized by sheer, unprecedented horror. Distant at first but then nearer and nearer the terrified young man heard eerie voices. They surrounded him, engulfed him and his thoughts. They whispered of dead and evil, but most of all of utter loneliness and a bitterness beyond imagination. As if every betrayal, every lie, abandonment and disappointment which had ever pained a human heart throughout the ages had been brought together in a single dreadfully possessive spirit. A harrowing sense of hatred ran through Merlin. His soul seemed to scream while his body couldn't make a sound. Images of burning castles and towns, of human beings killed and tortured and of once beautiful landscapes laid to waste came into being in his tortured mind. With nameless horror he recognized Camelot. Guinivere, whom Arthur loved, his own Uncle Gaius and all the others he had come to cherish in the two years he had lived in the Pendragon stronghold died while he watched helplessly. With silent, burning tears running down his face he saw the last picture conjure itself up before his inner eye. The image was that of the two Pendragons, father and son, bleeding to death in the castle's throne room.

Then, as sudden as it had all begun, everything was gone. Heart hammering in his aching body the young warlock lay on the once again warm and cosy ground, sobbing. His wide eyes stared into the sunlight and the gently moving tree tops.

Completely oblivious to Uther's and Gaius' attempts to speak to him, Merlin remembered that he had run; run as he had never run before. Arthur, who often sneered at his friend's ability to stumble on even ground at the mere mentioning of an obstacle wouldn't have believed his eyes had he seen the young warlock run and jump through the brushwood without ever loosing a step. His magic cleared away every hindrance without him even noticing it. When he reached the village he panted heavily with exhaustion. Stumbling into Moredan's house he met the old man kneeling on the floor. "It has begun" he whispered "Oh, great mother, it has already begun."

This had been the hour in which Merlin and Arthur had finally learned the truth about what was to come.

When he shook out of his reverie he found himself once again face to face with the King. Uther was scrutinizing him. At some moment during his outbreak they must have brought him to a chair, for he found himself sitting, slumped over. Merlin wiped his face with his hand while the Pendragon rose to his feet. Suddenly the young man felt terribly ashamed of himself. "I'm sorry" he muttered "I shouldn't have.... I'm sorry. It's not that I want to let you down. It's just that I am so......." "Afraid?" Uther coldly completed his sentence for him. "Don't you think we are afraid,too ? What do you want us to do? Quit? Bend our heads to the slaughterer's knife and be done with it? Do you think that's what Arthur would do if he were here right now?"

Even under the last sobs he couldn't suppress Merlin felt fresh anger rise in him. Slowly looking up at Uther's cold and angry eyes he hissed "oh, but you are a devil, are you not, Uther Pendragon!"

Ignoring Gaius' attempts to calm him he got up from the chair and slowly slunk towards the King like a wild cat. "You know that you only need to mention your son to manipulate me, don't you. You heartless monster, like hell you cared for what Arthur felt when you made ready to kill me. Like hell you cared for him when you sent out your men to catch him, toss him up, gag him and throw him over a horse's saddle. When you ordered them to drag the Crown Prince of Camelot to your feet as if he were an animal finally hunted down for your personal satisfaction!" Trembling from head to toe with rage he gazed into the Pendragon's pale face and his voice became louder and louder. "And now, that it suits your purpose, you want to teach me, ME of all men, what your son would want and what he would feel? You are....you are..."

"I am the King of Camelot!" With an abrupt and angry gesture Uther ripped the golden Crown Circlet from his head and pressed it into Merlin's hands. "It was you who told us that we are facing a danger more lethal than we have ever met before. It was you who told us that my son will not be able to come to our aid and that his last order to you was to aid us in his place. You confirmed that you are the only one standing between us and utter destruction. Now you have my Crown, my Kingdom and, yes, unfortunately it is the simple truth, Arthur's existence in your hands. Now, my young and oh so lofty friend, you tell me, how does it feel?" He pressed the circlet even harder into Merlin's cold fingers. "This thing you are holding now has been behind everything I did to my son. Gaius tells me that you wanted nothing more than to be appreciated for what you really are, for what you are capable of. And now, in the very moment our life is in your hands, and yours alone, all the powerful sorcerer can do is WHINE?"

Both speechless now, both fighting for breath the two men stood locked eye to eye for a very long moment. Then Merlin passed back the circlet as if it were burning hot to the touch. He backed away a step, than shook his head, as if to get rid of a spider's web he had ran into. When he looked up again, his face was calm. " Well then, My Lord. If it's a Court Warlock you want, a Court Warlock you shall have. I can most certainly use cover spells to hide my presence while I investigate castle and city for possible magic espionage and when the attack comes I will do my best to stall for more time for your military forces to get rid of the Dark Force's human vessel. I should also be able to point out this human vessel to you, if I survive the onslaught of the Dark Magic long enough."

While Gaius let his chin fall to his chest and mumbled something inarticulate Uther simply nodded. "Very well, that's what I wanted to hear. Stay here with Gaius, out of sight while I am gone to inform Sir Leon as Guard Commander of what is on foot and the Crown Council that we are facing a serious food crisis due to a crop disease. I'll come back later that night and we can talk over the details of our battle plans."

He made for the door when Merlin's carefully controlled voice stopped him once more. "Sire, there is one last thing we have to discuss first!" "We can talk about your salary later, if that's what you mean." Merlin didn't even try to smile at the lame joke. "Sire, there is the possibility that the Dark Force overwhelms me and turns my powers against you. Should that be the case...." he inhaled deeply "should that be the case I must be killed immediately, before I can do much damage. Please.." and now his voice trembled the slightest bit in spite of him."I want you to promise me that neither you nor Arthur, should he join us after all, will be the one who ends my life. Let it be somebody else."

Uther stared at him for a second, then gave only a curt nod as a promise and made once again for the door. "You know Gaius, it won't be easy to convince the Crown Council that having a Court Magician is really all that compatible with the ban against magic. I really must give this some thought, once we all will have survived our private little Armageddon here."