I don't own merlin
Review answers:
Hogaboom: Is Glory evil? maybe, just wait and see thanks for the review, it was nice to get some feedback.
Well I like this thing so far, thanks to those who took the time to read it and add it to their alerts lists.
Heres chapter 2!!
Please give me some feedback, I'd like to know what you think and I'd like to apologise if Arthur is out of character, I'm not exactly used to him yet because Merlin is a relitively new programme, anyways hope you enjoy it.
-Rin
NB: this is an edited chapter. I've made a few alterations here and there but like in chapter 1, nothing major was changed although the start of this one was altered quite a bit.
Chapter 2
The night passed by quickly in the dark confines of the forest, the small cabin could hardly be seen through the thick vegetation that covered the area and Arthur found himself unable to sleep.
This place was strange to the prince of Camelot, never before had he been in a place that looked so entirely natural, everything was made from materials found in the forest, everything except the leather bag and green cloak that Glory kept very close to her person at all times.
It was those two things and nothing more that indicated to Arthur that Glory had seen civilisation before but her treatment of him throughout the evening clearly stated that she hadn't liked it much.
For one thing, it was obvious to Arthur that this girl, whoever she was, lived in relative poverty, so then how pray tell could she afford such things? It was questions like that, that kept him awake.
She had left the cabin hours ago and had yet to return, to say the prince was curious would be an understatement, where could she possibly go in the dead of night?
Those were questions he knew could not be answered. She lived here and probably had for a long time, he was a stranger in her home and therefore had no right to go snooping about in her life, no matter how tempting it might seem. For the thousandth time that night Arthur thanked his lucky stars that Merlin wasn't with him, the troublesome servant would probably have talked him into it.
Back at Camelot the city was silent as the night passed by, only a few soldiers could be seen moving around at this late hour, still candles light flickered through the narrow opening of a window in the physician's house.
Gaius had gone to bed hours ago but Merlin was still awake with a book propped up in front of him. Gaius had told him of the meeting in the king's court the day before and Merlin was determined to find the source of the disappearances. Still, his research had turned up nothing thus far and he was beginning to get frustrated.
Arthur had left earlier that day for the villages of Archeion and Roin on what Merlin had called 'a wild goose-chase' the reality was that Archeion and Roin had probably given all the information they could and even if he could find the old sites of Bardon and Hurth, which was unlikely, no-one ever ventured there anymore and there were no ruins to be seen.
That was what made it such a mystery, nothing was left behind, all the people were burned to ashes, bones and all, then scattered to the wind, not even metal survived the fires which is strange because although it will melt, metal can not burn.
All of that pointed to only one possible answer, magic, the type of magic however was proving to be illusive.
With a frustrated sigh he got up and began to pace about the floor, the answer to this riddle was going to be annoying.
As the sun came up Glory returned to her forest home, she carried with her another series of leaves, flowers and plants found only in the dark. As she sorted them into piles and repeated the same process as she had done with the other batch the day before she watched the prince sleeping, she could tell he hadn't slept until the early hours of the morning.
Taking some dried herbs from various strings Glory pulled out a mortar and pestle and began to grind them together until they were reduced to nothing more then a thin powder, she poured it into a small brown bag and set it aside on the table, then, having nothing better to do until Arthur woke up she picked up her water bucket and headed out the door to the nearby stream to collect the day's water supply.
The sun had barely risen above the horizon and the sky was a blaze of colour, pink being the one that stood out most, that was a sure sign that it would rain today, the teenager sighed at the thought, she loved the rain but it could be irritating sometimes.
Rain also didn't bode well for the days activities, she couldn't afford to get sick so going out and getting soaked was out of the question, mentally she ran through the preparations that would have to be made, the fire wood would have to be moved inside to prevent it from getting wet, she would have to collect more to make sure she didn't run out, today's meals would have to be taken care of and although it wasn't as big a problem, at least two more buckets of water needed to be collected.
When she got back to her cabin she noticed that the prince was sitting up and looking around in a somewhat dazed manner which quickly changed as she entered and he seemed to perk up.
"Well look what the cat dragged in" he said looking her over with a critical eye, with her cloak draped across her shoulders and the bucket in her hand she didn't look much different to all the other times he had seen her the day before. Glory chose to ignore him in favour of heating some water over the fire and sprinkling in some of the powder she had prepared that morning into a cup, once this was done she handed it to Arthur.
"Drink it, it will restore your strength, by the looks of you, you didn't sleep well" She added the last bit as she turned away to begin preparing a kind of vegetable soup for breakfast. Arthur regarded the herb mixture suspiciously before deciding it was safe and drowning it with one gulp an action which he later regretted as it burned his mouth. Glory shook her head disapprovingly.
"You didn't sleep at all I'd bet, where were you all night anyway?" he asked frowning at the burning sensation on his tongue.
"That is no concern of yours prince of Camelot but if you must know I was out gathering night herbs, without which, your headache wouldn't be gone and you'd probably still be half asleep" she stated casually with her back to Arthur. His frown deepened as he stood up from his makeshift bed on the floor.
"I'd better get going" he said turning towards the door.
"Oh no, you don't" Glory replied looking as well as sounding miffed.
"You dare to order me around?" he asked in a slightly angry tone, just who did she think she was?
"No but it would be foolish to go without breakfast with no grantee of lunch, even Knights of the realm need food." She said throwing recently chopped carrots into the simmering water. Arthur paused, she had a point.
"Fine but I will see to my horse now" he said continuing on his previous path when a carrot hit the back of his head.
"Give that to the poor creature" Glory said as she began to chop potatoes and add them to the cauldron as well. Arthur shot a glare in her direction, picked up the carrot and left the room.
'I'll have to remember to tell him about the rain that's to come' she thought to herself whilst chopping some lettuce.
It was mid-morning by the time Arthur returned Glory had just finished making breakfast and handed him a bowl.
"I'll have to leave soon" he said casually as she pulled the pot off the fire.
"Leave when you wish, it makes little difference to me, just don't go about swinging that sword like a mad man again, you could hurt someone" she replied while ladling the remaining soup, which wasn't a great deal, into a water skin and handing it to Arthur. He gave her a glare but accepted the skin from her anyway with a begrudging thank you; despite what she'd done for him he really didn't like the girl.
"It looks like it will rain today so if I where you I'd have at least an idea of where to go before I left" She added with a smirk, surprise filtered across his face for a moment before he covered it with arrogance. "That's what happens when silly little princes stray off the woodland path, they get lost." she added leaving the cabin to go about her business.
"Feel free to leave at any time; like I said yesterday, you won't remember much of it after you go" with that she disappeared into the trees to do god knows what.
The prince paid her no mind; the strange ways of a forest dweller was of little concern to him, if only he knew just how much he was going to regret thinking that when next he saw her.