(Gwen walks on stage, spotlight is brightly shinning)
Gwen – um, can you lower the light please?
Jessie – Got it
Gwen – JessieLightyear is placing me in the spotlight today, she wishes to apologize for the lack of updates and for the relatively short length of this chapter.
(music starts up)
Gwen – She also want me to sing, but I believe that would be a bad idea. Her last request is that I tell you that JessieLightyear does not own Merlin the TV Show, all characters are copyright material, but not her copyright material.
"What are you doing up here?" Arthur asked, crossing his arms. He didn't seem upset, but that could change any moment. I bit my lip and twirled my hands in each other. "Well?"
"I was just trying to stay out of everyone's way," I said softly, and then explained how Gaius had sent me exploring and how I'd accidentally found my way up here. "What is this place?" I asked. Arthur turned toward the mirror and sighed.
"That's no matter to you, but you may not come back up to this room." I nodded, curtsying quickly.
"Milord." I left the room as fast as I could without falling over myself, thus leaving Arthur to his own memories. The fifty-eight-step climb seemed much quicker on the way down. I found myself at the end of the staircase and heard more footsteps approaching. Gwen turned the corner and looked surprised to see me.
"Ashylnn, what are you doing here?" I smiled at the familiar face.
"It's kind of a long story," I told her. "But can I ask you a question?" She nodded and I started walking with her down the hall. "What was that room? The one upstairs from where you found me."
"That was the Lady Morgana's room," Gwen answered me.
"She's the king's ward right?" I asked. Morgana's name had come up in some of my travels, but I'd never met the woman or knew anything particularly interesting about her.
"She was, but she was banished from Camelot. She assisted sorcerers." I gasped as was expected of me. "Nobody expected it from her, but there was no denying that she betrayed us."
"I'm sorry. She must have been a good friend," I said, trying to console Gwen.
"It gets easier each day, but no one talks about her anymore," Gwen told me.
"I should leave before I manage to run into another locked door. How do I get back down to the main floor?" I asked Gwen.
"Head down this hallway, take your second left, and then just follow the staircase down."
I thanked Gwen for the instructions and then made my way down to the market. It was still bustling with crowds; only now there were more children out. A cart full of jewelry stood in front of me, and I ran my fingers over the delicate necklaces. Turning around, I found I had to dart around a group of seven-year-olds running from a nine-year-old, only to find myself face-to-face with a new shop. This cart had cloaks of all different kinds: some with hoods and some without, some that went all the way down to your ankles and others that went to your waist. I looked over them with great admiration. The designer was truly gifted.
"See anything you're interested in?" the shopkeeper asked. He was a big man with hazel eyes and curly auburn hair. Smile lines were worn and there was a genuine smile on his face.
"No, just looking," I told him. My fingers brushed over a light green cloak. I felt my own smile form just because of his happy mode.
"Take your time. But may I suggest, with the warm weather approaching, a lighter cloak maybe advisable." I nodded, turning away from the stand.
"Another day," I told him sincerely. I left the stand for Gaius's workshop. When I got back to the workshop, Merlin was still upstairs and Gaius was standing over a pot.
"Did you have a good walk?" he asked, adding a little spice to the pot.
"I got lost once, but overall I had a nice walk," I told him, hanging up my cloak.
"Good. Now, taste this for me please." I walked over and took the spoonful offered.
"It's good. A little spicy though, but my mother always said I had bland tastes." Gaius laughed, taking a taste of his own.
"Well, I'll remember that for next time. Call Merlin down, will you?" I nodded, walking up to Merlin's room (there were only seven stairs here), and knocked on his door.
"Merlin, come on down for dinner." I heard something thud and giggled.
"Alright, I'll be right down," he said. I turned to go back to the delicious soup waiting. There was a knock on the door as I came downstairs.
"I'll get it," Gaius said. I heard him open the door. There was a conversation, and then I heard Gaius say, "Come in, and bring him here. Ashylnn, bring me some wet rags." I nodded, getting some rags from the sink, dumping them in a bucket, and bringing the bucket to Gaius.
"What happened to him, Anthony?"
"I'm not sure. I went Marcus's stand to remind him we were having dinner tonight for Victoria. We were talking and he… he just collapsed," Anthony said, still shocked. I sat across from Gaius, and saw the man who'd tried to sell me a cloak lying on the bench. I shook my head and started helping Gaius perform a basic check-up. Once we'd confirmed that his heart, lungs, and brain were functioning normally, Gaius was going to have to do more advanced observations. He looked at me, then at Anthony quickly. I nodded and stood up by Anthony.
"Why don't we leave Gaius to his work? I'm sure he'll find something," I said sweetly and sincerely. Anthony shook his head.
"I need to stay here; I need to stay with Marcus," he said with a yawn in between his phrases.
"Please, you won't do Marcus any good if you fall asleep on him. Your family is probably worried about you." Sighing, Anthony nodded and stood up from the chair in which he'd been sitting.
"I'll come back tomorrow afternoon to see if anything's changed," he said, then turned and left.
"Unfortunately, you haven't learned enough to be a big help with him. I suggest you and Merlin eat some soup and then get a good night's sleep. I'll have more information tomorrow morning." I nodded, walking over to the pot and getting Gaius a bowl of soup. He smiled when I brought it over to him. Merlin was sitting at the table, dipping a spoon into his bowl over and over again.
"Need some company?" I asked, sitting down across from him. He smiled and nodded. "So how was the prince today?"
"No more demanding than usual."
"I've got to tell you, I may have to learn the entire human body and all the illnesses that infect it, but I still have the better boss." He laughed.
"It's probably better this way; at least, at the castle, I have a less likely chance to kill anyone." He slurped up some soup (somewhat loudly) and said, "Tell me about yourself."
"Like what?" I asked, smiling.
"I don't know. Favorite color, favorite day, favorite animal," he said quickly.
"Um, green, the first day of spring, and a hawk," I told him.
"So spring? I was always more on an autumn person," he said.
"Oh, but autumn is so upsetting. Everything's dying and becoming dust. Spring is nice and pretty and everything's starting over."
"Yes, but spring means spring training starts again and my work load doubles."
"Ah, you're just lazy," I responded.
"No, no, no, I just appreciate the colder seasons. Some people see them as death, but I see them as the death of hard work." I shook my head.
"Alright, you can like cold, dark fall and winter. Give me the nice, warm spring. Although, the warm soup is a plus."
"Yeah, Gaius is a great cook," he said. There was a pause and Merlin started dipping his spoon in his soup again.
"So, what do you do besides carry Arthur's stuff?" I asked finally.
"Um, I… well, not much really." He shrugged, trying to answer. "When I'm not helping Arthur, I'm helping Gaius," he told me honestly.
"So, what are you going to do with all your free time now?"
"Figured I might take up a hobby, but I'm not quite sure what hobby."
"Hunting?" I suggested. He shook his head
"I'm a mess at it. Plus, I'm not a big fan of killing animals."
"Um, cooking?" I suggested half-heartedly. He laughed.
"I can't even tell a paprika from a pepper."
"Well, from what I hear, there is a difference. One of them would make your soup awfully spicy." I said, laughing.
"Don't blame me! I never had cooking 101 when I was a kid," he said. I laughed.
"Well neither did I; my mother always had her own… ways of cooking," I said, looking up briefly from the soup. He gave me a shy smile and I'm guessing he understood.
"Remind me never to get lost somewhere with you or we'll both starve." I laughed and there was another silence.
"Well, I'll be upstairs," he said, taking his bowl, putting in the sink, and walking upstairs. As he was walking upstairs he said, "Your room is upstairs – second door on the right." I nodded.
"Thank you," I said.
"For what?" he asked, smiling.
"For company and for letting me stay," I answered honestly. His smile got bigger.
"It's no problem." He stood on the stair for a while. Then finally said, "Well, good night." He climbed the last stairs and disappeared into his room, shutting the door.
"Good night," I said under my breath. Then I finished my soup and went to Gaius.
"How is he doing?" I asked.
"He's been vomiting. We'll have to keep a close watch for however much longer he continues to do so." I nodded.
"Are you going to stay up with him?"
"Yes; I have to make sure he doesn't choke on his vomit, and if he regains consciousness, I'd like to find out when he started feeling sick."
"That sounds like a plan," I said, not knowing what else to tell him. We sat by Marcus for a little while and then I yawned. It was a big yawn, too.
"You should get some sleep," he said. I laughed and headed upstairs to where Merlin had said I would be sleeping.
"Good night," he called up after me. I smiled.
"Good night," I said back down to him. The room was a spare bedroom. There was one bed, a desk, a small dresser, and a candle. I sat down at the desk and found one sheet of paper. Unfortunately, there was no quill or ink on the desk. I looked at the wax that was pooling under the candle. I put my finger over the melted wax and whispered, "Em rof etirw." The wax turned black and covered my finger so I could put it on the paper. The simple journal entry had released a fair amount of magic.
Once the wax had cooled on the paper, I held it up to the candle, letting it burn. The flames took me back to a simpler time.
"You know why we do this right?" My mother asked me one night as I'd been finishing my journal entry.
"So that we remember everything that happens in the day?" I asked uncertainly. She smiled, brushing my hair with her hand.
"No, Ashylnn, we write this down so we know why was important. You've had dozens of conversations, hundreds of footsteps, and thousands of thoughts over this day, and one day you will have hundreds of conversations, thousands of footsteps, and millions of thoughts. Because of this journal, you will always remember the important few," she said, folding up her own paper.
"What if I forget?" I asked. I had a hard enough time remembering where we were going.
"Well, that is why we burn them," she told me, tossing her paper into the fire. "When they burn, the smoke becomes a part of our world. Even when you can't see it, it is always there. Your memories are the same way. Even when you think that you don't have something important near you, you will always have your memories, and you will always have me." I smiled, hugging my mother. I curled up on her lap as our journal entries burned together.
I wiped a tear that had escaped my eyes.
"You're not here now," I told her, where ever she was, and then climbed into bed. I muttered, "Another new place to sleep." I fell asleep thinking of Merlin's big, dorky smile.
JessieLightyear – Come on Gwen
Gwen – I refuse
Jessie- Please *puppy dog face*
Gwen – Alright Alright,
(music comes on)
Gwen (singing) – Review PLEASE!
Jessie – Wow, you held that last note a long time
Gwen – Well thank you