Disclaimer: I don´t own the characters of this movie ......
Notes: Thanks for reading and enjoying .....I just can´t seem to let this go!
Glad you like it!!
From The Ashes
In the early hours of the morning Merlin walked out across the battle ground. The woad- soldiers , whose charge it was to gather and burn the corpses of their Saxon enemies, looked on in silence as their leader walked past them, further out into the fields.
When his march finally ended, the man rammed his stuff into the earth, so that it would stand out of its own accord. He laid his head back and watched the night's darkness drain out of the sky ever so slowly, watched the pale light of morning pass over the horizon. Unmoving he stood like that until a wild, harsh cry signalled the arrival of what Merlin was looking for.
The hawk circled above the battlefield, his high pitched cries the only sound that broke the silence. Merlin stood motionless, waiting for the bird of prey's circles to grow smaller and smaller. Then he lifted his arm up, holding it in front of himself. He did not feel the pain the sharp talons were causing him, digging into his arm as the hawk landed with a shriek. The bird cocked its head to the side, crying out again, watching the man eagerly.
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"Arthur....." The door was pushed open, banging loudly as it connected with the wall and Gawain burst into the room with the force of crashing thunder.Half awake, but already in a fighting stance, Arthur jumped from the bed he had shared with Guinevere. The young woman had rolled out of the bed on the other side, grabbing for her weapons with one hand and for a cloak to cover her naked body with the other.
Gawain grasped the situation with one look that widened his eyes. He stopped dead in his tracks, staring at them for a heartbeat, and then turned away.
"Forgive me ...I did not think.....I ..." He shook his head.
The blazing sunlight that poured through the opened door hurt Arthur's eyes. He squeezed them shut with a suppressed groan, the tension draining from his body now that he knew there was no immediate danger. He could hear Guinevere's throaty chuckle while she draped her cloak around her, sitting back down on the still warm bed.
"What is it Gawain, what news has you so agitated?"
His eyes were getting used to the bright morning light, but Arthur could feel a splitting headache starting to throb behind his temples.
Gawain took a few deep breaths, trying to steady himself before he turned to face his commander. Arthur could see that it was not the sight that had greeted him, which had the young man so troubled. Gawain was not a prude, none of his knights were ....the sight of a naked woman climbing from Arthur's bed was not a sight unknown to him. They had fought together, drunk together .....And often wooed the same pretty face for a night of passion.
His face took on a concerned expression as he waited for Gawain to regain his composure.
"What is it?" Arthur repeated his question.
"It's gone ....He's gone, they took him ...." The words tumbled from Gawain´s mouth in a breathless whisper, as though he was unable to control his voice.
"What are you talking about?"
"Tristan ...his body, it's gone. We .....We meant to prepare him for the burial rites this morning....the cremation, but he was gone. They took his body, Arthur ....."
Arthur's eyebrows knit together.
"Who ....who would do such a thing? Who took him?"
"The woads!" Gawain yelled, balling his fists. "Who else do you think?"
"They took his body .....They built a tent in front of the fort, on the battleground."
"They took his body there?"
Gawain nodded. "Bors is ready to draw his sword, he's been screaming at them but they will not let him pass. He's going to kill somebody soon."
"Why would they ....." Arthur turned around to look at Guinevere. She returned his questioning gaze, keeping her expression carefully blank. He could not decide if she knew what this was all about, but suspicion bloomed in him that the beautiful warrior knew more about this then she let on.
He pressed his lips together angrily while he pulled on his breeches and long linen shirt that fell almost to his knees. He grabbed his sword, storming out of the door with Gawain trailing behind.
"Find my sister....." he ordered grimly. "I will get to the bottom of this."
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Morgianna opened the door to the windowless room, startled to find the Arthur's redheaded knight in front of her. She glanced over her shoulder into the dark room, filled with the smell of herbs and wood, and back to Gawain.
"Lady..."
"He has not awakened yet. He has lost a lot of blood." She said in her even voice.
Gawain´s eyes followed her look to where Lancelot was still resting motionlessly. For a moment he did not know what to say ...or to think. He had almost expected her to be gone ....to be in that tent. But here she stood in front of him, the light grey of her dress made her hair seem like a river of blackness flowing down her shoulders. She looked calm, collected and controlled ...almost serene. Morgianna caught the look on his face, her eyes narrowed.
"That is not why came." She stated quietly, pulling the wrap that she had slung around her shoulders tighter. Gawain pressed his lips together, unsure what to do.
He did not know this woman. She had saved one of his friend's, that much was true, but she was a woad.....not too long ago an enemy. He was not sure if he could trust her, even if Arthur's trust in her seemed to grow, despite the fact that he had presumed her dead for years and she had resurfaced quite unexpectedly .....And some might say conveniently.
"No ..." he finally answered. Morgianna threw another attentive look over her shoulder before she stepped outside, closing the door behind her.
"Arthur is asking for you .....He wants me to take you to him."
"Where is he?"
"Out on the battlefield......it seems your people took something they had no right to." Gawain could not quite keep the anger out of his voice, no matter how hard he tried.
She arched one dark, fine eyebrow at him, her eyes searching his face intently. Waiting for him to elaborate.
"What was taken from you?"
He looked straight into her face.
"A body......a corpse, the dead body of our fallen friend."
"Go ...." A breathless Guinevere whispered, suddenly appearing behind Gawain.
It was plain to see she had dressed herself in a hurry, the moss green dress revealing one pale, smooth shoulder, her hair still in disarray. She looked vibrant and striking in the morning sun. "You can go.....I will watch him."
Morgianna looked into the young woman's eyes for a moment. Gawain stood still, watching the silent exchange between them. For an instant it seemed as though something unspoken flickered in Morgianna's eyes, but just when he thought it was there, the moment was over.
Arthur's sister nodded, stepping away from the door.
"Take me to him."
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"What is this business?" He demanded to know as soon as his sister was in hearing distance. Morgianna´s eyes flickered from him to the tent and back.
"This is not my doing." She told him simply, pulling the wrap tightly around her shoulders.
"Merlin is in there. They said they were healing him!" Galahad cut in, "When we first arrived here, they said they were trying to heal him.......but Tristan is dead! Dead! There is no remedy for that!"
"Said his armour took most of the damage!" Bors interceded roughly.
"That is a lie!" Galahad yelled." I saw him; he was almost cleaved in two ....."
"They got some of them druids in there. We saw them all trooping in behind their leader."
"Do you know what they are doing in there?" Arthur asked his sister. She turned to look at him carefully. She could hear the singing too, the drums ....She knew that Arthur already knew what was going on in that tent; she could read it in his face, his eyes. She could see the horror, the fear, but that was not the whole truth. It wasn't the idea of what was done in that tent that made Arthur so angry, that brought fear and horror to his heart. It was the fact that he was willing to let it go, to condone it ...if it worked. Good Christian that he was, Arthur could not help but shrink back from practices such as these, but deep in his heart, he equally hoped and feared that it might work.
"Tell me, Morgianna..." Arthur requested bleakly "Tell me what they are doing to my knight."
"Do you want your friend back?" she asked plainly, her eyes wandering from him to each of the gathered knights in turn.
"Sorcery......" Galahad whispered, meeting her gaze doubtfully.
"So they really are all witches.....these woads, witches and sorcerers the bunch of them!" Bors mumbled.
"It can be done." Morgianna returned, looking at her brother again. She kept her voice as neutral as she could make it. "It can be done. But there is a price to be paid."
He looked at her, taking a step back to take her all in, looking at her as though he had never really seen her before. She could read his thoughts as they chased over his face like storm clouds.......his doubt. For the first time he seemed to wonder how much power she really wielded, what kind of understanding she possessed to have knowledge of things such as this......what she was capable of. It chilled her to the bone, but her face showed none of it.
"Another choice I'll have to make?" he asked her angrily.
"It think it is already done. Merlin wants you to be indebted to him. He wants to bind himself to you, forge a pact for this land. This is how he chooses to prove his loyalty to the man he wants to make his king."
Arthur shook his head, cursing under his breath. He balled his hands to fists to keep himself from hitting something...or someone.
"At what price? At what consequences?" he yelled.
"Arthur...." Morgianna whispered. Aware that all the knights' eyes were fixed on her and her brother, she crossed the short distance between them. She laid her hands around his, prying them open until she could hold them between their bodies.
"He would not attempt this if your friend's spirit had moved on. This is not your price to pay, but Merlin's. It will cost him years of his life, but if he is willing to give it, you should not question the merit. Not if it gives you back another friend."
He stared past her towards the tent for a moment, and then pulled his hands from her grip. She let him go.
"Tell him .....I want to see him!" Arthur ground out and left without looking back. His knights exchanged weary glances, watching Arthur's retreating back, then hesitantly followed their commander back to the fort.
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It was night again when the drumming and the singing died down. Merlin stepped out of the tent, his clothes drenched in herb scented steam, sweat still running from his brow and naked arms. Morgianna waited silently under the thick branches of an oak tree. As he came closer, she could see that his hair had turned completely white and the lines on his face had deepened.
"He breathes." He announced, nodding to himself.
"You should have let him go." Morgianna said tonelessly. " It would have been kinder to spare him .....The sorrow of a love that will haunt him forever."
"That is not for us to decide." Merlin countered, leaning heavily on his staff.
Morgianna´s eyes narrowed at him.
"Tell me, old friend .....Why is it that all I see of late is misery and betrayal and war and bloodshed?"
"There are other things you see, child."
"Not enough, not nearly enough." She said, leaving him alone under the branches of the tree.