CHAPTER SEVEN

After opening the door of the king's chambers, Gaius stepped out into the hallway and closed it behind him. Merlin turned around to face him, his face pale and his eyes full of fear for Arthur.

'Will he be ok?' He asked Gaius.

'He is full of shock, every now and again he calls out for Guinevere. Perhaps we should never have told him,' Gaius sighed.

'No, Arthur deserved to know even though it would affect him for the rest of his life.'

The old man shrugged and glanced nervously at the door. Arthur's cries could be heard from outside of the king's chambers.

'How will he get better?' Merlin asked, Gaius shrugged again before replying.

'No medicine can cure what he has brought upon himself,' he said before walking away.

Merlin sighed and glanced around, thinking of things to do and how they might help Arthur in this situation. He couldn't just sit back and watch him suffer. An idea appeared in his mind: what if he tried to contact Guinevere again.

After thinking of this, Merlin rushed back to his room and grabbed the items he had used before when he tried to contact Guinevere. He trembled when his eyes met the beautiful hair clip which lay on his bedside table. He had no other choice, that was the only item which belonged to Guinevere which Merlin had. With a sigh he reached forward and took it in his hands. Gazing at its beauty, he forced himself over to the cauldron and took a deep breath.

He added the ingredients needed before hastily added the hair clip. It sunk gracefully to the bottom and as soon as it did, Merlin wanted to reach in and grab it. He spoke the magic words and the water began to glow brightly. It reacted differently to how it had to Morgana's charmed bracelet. Merlin could feel the power working, the innocent hair clip being melted by his strong magic.

From the cauldron rose something which looked like a water maiden, covering her face with her hands and leaning against the cauldron. Then the water maiden transformed into Guinevere. It was the first time Merlin had been so close to her in months. She was sobbing quietly and this caused the smile printed on the young warlock's lips to vanish.

A few seconds passed and Guinevere's hands dropped from her face; she glanced around with a confused facial expression. Her eyes stopped moving when they gazed upon Merlin standing not far from her.

'Merlin?' She said out loud, refusing to believe what was happening. 'How could this be? I was in the dungeons a moment ago-'

'I brought you here,' Merlin interrupted her, hoping that she'd understand that he knew. She did not question what he had said. She stepped away from him with her eyes slightly narrowed.

'What were you doing in the dungeons, Gwen?' He chose to ask her.

Her gaze dropped to the ground beneath her feet. 'Hiding...crying.'

'Crying? Why?'

Guinevere chose to take a stroll around the room.

'Arthur told me the truth,' she began to explain, 'that I was innocent. He had me executed for no reason. I was innocent, Merlin!'

Tears of sadness began to slip down her pink cheeks and she tried to avoid contact with Merlin.

'Arthur didn't know,' Merlin tried to comfort her.

'Exactly! He did not know, he did not know the truth. He jumped to conclusions and had me executed as quickly as he could. He did not stop for one moment to think that I was under a spell,' Guinevere spat.

'Anyone with common sense would have assumed that you were having an affair when they had found you kissing another, Arthur did what he was expected to do.'

'He always does what he is expected to do. He's always worried about what other people may think of his actions.'

'And you were meant to help him with this; once you were queen.'

'It's too hard, Merlin!'

She looked away sadly.

'It was too hard,' she added truthfully, remembering the fact that she was nothing but a wandering spirit. Merlin swallowed hard and took a step closer to Guinevere.

'Arthur's hurt, he is in his chambers and Gaius said it will take a while for him to recover. You don't want Arthur to become like Uther when he lost Morgana, do you? A lifeless king who needed others to rule for him. The people of Camelot will begin to think that Arthur is weak, you and I both know that that is not true,' he explained.

'Why should I care?'

'Because you love him, Guinevere. You may also hate him at this moment but nothing can stop you from loving him. If you really love him, you'd help him.'

Guinevere hesitated for a moment, taking in Merlin's wise words and accepting them as the truth.

'How can I help him?' she finally asked. 'I'm nothing but a spirit trapped in this world.'

'Trapped?' Merlin asked confusingly.

'Something is stopping me from crossing over, I don't know what it is.'

'Perhaps when we have helped Arthur we can focus on helping you cross over.'

'I said some cruel things to him after he told me the truth.'

'Do you forgive him?'

'No.'

Merlin gave Guinevere a look, a frown digging deep into his face.

'Do you love him?' He asked next.

'I think you know the answer to that, Merlin,' she said hoarsely.

'Then you will forgive him in time. Go to him and tell him you forgive him.'

With a nod, Guinevere slowly began to fade until she had disappeared before Merlin eyes. He left the room and rushed down the corridors with intentions to go to Arthur's chambers. He slipped past the guards and arrived at the door. The two knights guarding it stared down at him.

'Gaius thinks it is best that you go, Arthur is in a difficult position at the moment,' Merlin lied.

'Since when do we take orders from Gaius?' One of the guards questioned.

'Since the King is not capable of giving orders himself; and seeing that Gaius is the only man he listens to and trusts- I suggest you listen to him.'

The two guards glanced at each other before walking away. Merlin looked back at them and smiled, it was up to Guinevere to do the rest.