CHAPTER 13 : OF DESERTED CORRIDORS AND SENSIBLE SQUIRES
Just before the cock crew, the following morning, while it was still pitch black, Arthur awoke to someone sliding into his bed. He smiled and opened his arms as Merlin snuggled into him.
"I was lonely and cold all by myself. May I stay here?"
"Merlin, this is your place, no need to ask permission as I would never refuse."
"I still have a few questions to settle in my mind but I can do that from here. You know, I love you, Arthur, I'm just a little mixed up at the moment."
Arthur leant over and placed a kiss on the top of Merlin's head saying, "Take as long as you need, my love, I will wait forever if necessary."
"I don't think it's going to take that long, Arthur. Well, I certainly hope not!" Merlin said with a smile. Lying there with Arthur's arms around him, protecting him from negative thoughts, he fell silent.
Arthur lay there, he had made a promise and as much as he would have liked to do otherwise; he just held Merlin to himself and smiled into the dark. For a flash, he experienced what it must have been like for his Mother to hold him that one time. The love was flooding not only his heart but his mind and his body. He realised that he hadn't needed people to tell him about his Mother, for he had in his heart all the knowledge which he really needed.
If at the very moment, he had glanced down at Merlin, he would have seen a slight smile on his lips and the reflection of gold in his eyes as he slowly closed his eyelids and fell asleep.
Arthur wakened first willing his body to listen to his heart. He had promised and as easy as it would have been to take advantage of the person lying beside him, he resisted. He got out of bed and wandered to the antechamber, bringing in the breakfast platters left there by Thomas.
He set them on the table and went over to the bed running his fingers softly through Merlin's hair. The reaction was immediate; Merlin leant back into his hand and mumbled his name.
"Breakfast is here, Love, and you should be getting up." Arthur then walked to the table and started to choose what he wanted to eat. He could hear Merlin stretching and allowed himself a glance. He forced himself to remain seated and decided that Merlin certainly had feline qualities.
Once he had stretched and moved every single muscle, he came to the table and grinned at Arthur saying, "For once, you're up first…" he looked at his plate and smiled shyly through his fringe, "I could get used to this service!"
"Well, don't count on it. I couldn't stay in bed any longer so I had to get up, Cider, ale or water?"
Merlin's face had the suspicion of a smile, he knew Arthur too well not to know what he was hiding behind the innocuous phrase. He said, "I'll take half a mug of cider, please, young man. Haven't seen you serving in the Dining Hall…just arrived in Camelot, are we? Had your position as manservant for long? Can you polish a pair of boots so that I could see my face?" By the end of his speech, he was beaming.
"Merlin, you think you're so clever but you really aren't…" said Arthur as he tried not to laugh.
"Well, then how come you laughed…must have tickled your fancy somewhat. Anyway, what are we doing today?"
"I thought, I should maybe try to organise a normal day. I will be having supper with the court and before that maybe checking with some committee members. I'd like you to attend and afterwards, I have a meeting at Castle Farm to see another Welsh horse which arrived yesterday from Rhys. Meet me down there before lunch.
"Are you going to see Reginald at all?"
"Geoffrey had suggested that I do not go out of my way to see him but should he approach me, I should act as normally as possible but not let myself be alone with him and keep to generalised topics."
"That makes sense, when do we next see Geoffrey?"
"Probably by the end of the week. Then the ball can be put in motion to give Reginald the boot. I think Leon is really looking forward to it."
"Can't be anymore than I am! We have to draft a missive for Sir Mordecai and his servant Roger once this is all over, just to bring them up to date. I don't know that Lady Annabelle would even remember talking to me but I might write to her daughter Lady Gladys thanking them for their hospitality and asking after her mother."
"Are you sure that you haven't fallen for her, Merlin?"
"Arthur, I told you that she was old and anyway, I am not really attracted in that manner to ladies!"
"You aren't?" Arthur said trying to show surprise, "Merlin, I'm hurt! Why have you never told me?" Arthur realised that in normal times, Merlin would have quite happily shown him how wrong he was but not this time however. He just smiled at him and patted Arthur's arm.
Merlin attended the meeting with Arthur and then went to visit Gaius. He was with Gawaine and they walked together until the knight left to go to the armoury. Merlin continued alone but then he met up with two young pages who had a note for him.
-0-0-
Earlier in the morning, walking across Reginald's chamber, Neville had said, "So, did you find out why Merlin was missing?"
"Brother, I have not had a chance to speak to the king alone. It feels as if the knights have formed a wall around him, specifically to keep me away from him. I heard in the kitchens that Arthur is eating with his court tonight, so that might provide the opportunity I require to get back in his good graces. Really this weather is working against us as the king isn't riding out as much and he has his own group when he travels around the castle."
"Reginald, I've had about as much of this as I can take, I'm ready to return home! You're wasting your time. Your plan sounded plausible at first but it has proved harder to carry out as the weeks pass. You need to do something to curry the king's favour to the point that you are the one invited to those private suppers so that he turns to you for advice and listens to every word you say."
Turning nasty, Reginald said, "…and you don't think that I am trying to do that? Everyday, I do my hardest and you just lounge around as a manservant. You are using other servants to do your work and Sid is about as useless a squire as you are a manservant."
"Well, neither of us is getting any younger and I'm fed up pretending to be a manservant so…if you do not intend to do anything I will!"
"Don't you dare use some hare-brained idea and get us kicked out of here? Think of what is at risk!" But he never knew if Neville had heard him as his brother had turned away and exited the room with a resounding slam of the door.
Reginald sat at the table, propped his elbows on it dropping his head into his hands. He wondered if maybe, he had bitten off more than he could chew. He said to the empty chamber, "Arthur wants the information, I can fabricate it so what is going wrong?"
-0-0-
Merlin felt as if his neck had been broken. The pain shot up into his head and down the centre of his back. It radiated out to his shoulders and as he lifted his head he felt dizzy and his vision was blurred. He tried to remember what he had been doing but his mind didn't want to cooperate.
His vision came back to him and he could make out a corridor wall facing him which seemed strange as he felt that he had been going up stairs. He must have been returning to Arthur's. He had no idea how long he had been huddled against the wall. He put his hand to his neck and it came away bloody. Again he remembered; he had been on the stairs and yet he had hurt the back of his neck.
He had to move. Feeling nauseous, he put his hand on the floor and tried to get onto his knees. Pains shot through his ankle and glancing at it he could already see that it was swollen and moving it felt like sharp bursts of lightening. It wasn't easy as his legs felt woolly but leaning against the wall, he managed to stand on one leg but couldn't figure out where he was. The castle was riddled with corridors. For some nonsensical reason, it flashed through his mind that you could enter the keep to the right of the portcullis, walk up the stairs, and by turning to the left wind your way through all the wings to arrive back where you started.
His vision was improving and he realised that there was a flight of stairs to his right. He had the feeling that he had been on them. He looked to the top of them but there was no one there, he could make out the curtains tied back on either side at the top and possibly a table but from his position nothing else. He decided to hop down the corridor hanging onto the wall and hopefully he would figure out where he was. Each hop caused a pain not unlike having his ankle pierced by shards of glass.
It was while wandering along the corridor that two young squires found him leaning against a windowsill. One was Simon's brother Guy and the other his best friend Timothy who happened to be the brother of Gielbert. Both boys who had know Merlin for years since they were pages, were shocked to find him in such a bad way. Trained from a page how to act in emergencies, Timothy took off to get Gaius and possible notify the knights and Guy stayed with Merlin.
"Merlin, sit on the windowsill. Timothy's gone to get help. We'd best stay here and then Timothy will know where to find us."
Merlin though his head hurt, his upper back was killing him and the pains in his ankle continued regardless as to whether it was still or he was moving it, couldn't help smiling at the solicitous tones from the fourteen year old. He felt emotional; having someone speak kindly to him caused him to swallow quickly and say, "I'm all right, just a little fuzzy from hitting my head and my back is sore. Good thing, I'm not a horse as I think Arthur would have me dispatched with an arrow to my heart."
Smiling, Guy said, "Merlin, you know he would never do that…" he grinned as he said, "He'd give you time to heal and then put you to work in the fields." Merlin smiled and Guy continued, "It sounds to me like you managed to fall over. Where did it happen? If there is a loose flagstone it should be fixed as that is very dangerous. Were you running?"
Merlin marvelled at how much this youngster reminded him of Simon. "No, I don't remember running. If you let me put my arm on your shoulder, I could slowly hobble towards the end of the corridor and whoever comes will still be able to find us."
It was Thomas and Gaius who arrived first, followed by two guards one carrying a folded litter.
Saying, "So, what have you been up to?" Gaius thought, 'Strange, I've seen Merlin take many spills and get up and continue on his way with a grin. There was more to this than a simple fall.'
"Gaius, I honestly don't know, I think I was on the stairs and I woke up with a ringing head, an excruciating pain down my neck and a wrenched ankle."
Gaius could see that he was alert and capable of speaking, so he sent the guards away asking them to find two knights to give him a hand to transport Merlin to his chamber. He also knew that Arthur would have to be notified as soon as he returned from his visit to Castle Farm.
-0-0-
In no time thanks to the smart thinking of a couple of squires, Merlin was lying on Gaius's bed in front of the fire in the court physician's chambers, propped up with pillows, covered in a blanket, with a bandage around his head, compresses on his shoulders and his leg raised with his foot on a cushion. He'd had an ample draught of relaxing valerian, poppy and lavender mediation and he was dozing.
The door burst open and Arthur charged in, "Oh my God, Merlin! What happened? Spenser told me you'd had a fall, not that that surprised me…but heavens you look awful!"
"Thanks, Arthur, just what I needed to hear…"
Arthur dropped to his knee beside him as Gaius said, "Watch his ankle! It's badly sprained and he's in pain."
Arthur took Merlin's hands in his and said, "What happened? I left you and Gawaine in the council chamber, arguing over the merits of various colours for camouflage. How did you end up in a corridor above the squires' quarters? You were going to meet me at Castle Farm.
"We were in the council room and then everything is sort of fuzzy. I know I was with Gawaine and then he disappeared and I was by myself…"
"But, what were you doing in that wing?"
Suddenly, Merlin eyes opened wide, he slipped the blanket to one side as he said, "I received a note to meet you and some council members on the third floor near the…" He searched in his pant's pockets but couldn't find anything. He said, "Arthur, can you find it for me?" Arthur couldn't find anything in Merlin's pockets either. Then Merlin had a flash of someone in the corridor leaning over him and searching in his pockets.
Gaius said, "Merlin, what's wrong?"
"You look as if you just saw a ghost…" added Arthur.
Merlin said breathlessly, "…I wasn't alone! I remember someone searching me! I could feel the pain and I heard voices. I tried to sit up but I was pushed back against the wall and must have passed out. When I finally came to again, I was alone. I'd forgotten all about that."
"I'll kill whoever did this to you."
"Arthur, don't go and get yourself into trouble because of me!" Merlin lay back exhausted closing his eyes.
Gaius motioned for Arthur to join him at the table; he glanced at Merlin and did so reluctantly. "Arthur, listen!" said Gaius quietly, "As time passes, Merlin's memory should come back. He really needs to rest as he is fighting the medication I gave to help with the pain and allow him to sleep. Why don't you go and get Leon and decide what you are going to do? I would recommend keeping it low key. Have a chat with the two pages if you can find them. The person or persons must still be in the castle and I have a feeling we can probably guess whom it might be."
Arthur returned to Merlin whose eyes were closed, "I'm leaving you in the care of Gaius but I will send a knight to keep you company." Merlin's eyelids flickered, tried to open but failed. So Arthur continued, "Don't bother suggesting anyone, as I'll send Gawaine if he is available." Merlin gave an imperceptible nod of his head and seemed to fall asleep, so Arthur leant over and kissed his forehead.
"Gaius, tell Gawaine just to keep an eye on him. I don't want him left unguarded at any time."
-0-0-
Leon, Spenser and Arthur walked back to where Merlin had been found. They checked the flagstones and found one which had blood on it. Accepting that that was the site of the impact of Merlin's head with the floor, they stood looking around them.
The corridor in question was well lit by natural light. Recessed windows with deep sills, alternated down it.
To the right of the stairs was a recessed door and two columns flanked the bottom of the stairs. "A perfect place to hide in the shadows and attack once the victim had passed," Spenser stated.
"But who and why?" said Leon. "It makes no sense; Merlin really doesn't have any enemies or was it a random attack?"
"Maybe whoever it was…was searching for a money purse not the note."
"However," said Leon. "If it were random who knew that anyone was going to pass this way. It's hardly used except by squires taking a shortcut. Everyone knows they have no money and if it was another squire paying someone back for one reason or another why would he attack an adult. No…I think the note was written to lure Merlin here and the person had every intention of hurting him."
"Gaius said that whatever they had used was quite long as he thinks they took a swipe at him. Maybe they were warning him off."
Leon said, "Arthur, if it is who we possibly think it is, what have they to gain by incapacitating Merlin?"
Spenser jumped in, "Well, for one thing the two of you have not been apart and Reginald seems to be unwilling to try to get to you when Merlin is at your side."
"Today, was one day when I went off by myself leaving Merlin with Gaius for a couple of hours. The plan was that he meet me at the farm to view the mare sired by Curig. He never arrived; I was almost back at the castle and I met Thomas who had been looking for me. He'd heard me mention the farm to Merlin this morning."
"Could anyone else have known about it?" Spenser asked.
"No one else was there but we did mention it at the end of the council meeting. Maybe, somebody overhead us…"
"Did Merlin say who delivered the note?"
"No, I got the impression it was a couple of pages and Gaius wasn't too happy with my questioning him. Maybe when we get back, if he is more awake, I'll be able to get more out of him."
Leon said, "You realise that after a knock on the head, he might be unable to recall everything that happened."
"Great! Spenser, you can go to Lady Elizabeth and ask her to check if any pages delivered a note to Merlin after the council meeting. Tonight at supper, speak to the the other ladies who supervise the pages. Tomorrow, they can check to see if any of them passed on a note, because unless Merlin can remember, I'm certain it didn't materialise out of thin air."
Spenser, had his hand on the door at the bottom of the stairs, "Doubt that this is open but…" The door opened with ease into a chamber which seemed to have become a storeroom."
Leon leant forward and pulled Spenser back. "Don't go in. We'd need torches to see if there are any footprints. Look everything is dusty and if someone was waiting in here, we'll see marks. Better to do it in the morning."
Arthur leant into the room and said he could see some footprints. He closed the door over and then realised that the latch had been tampered with and the lock no longer fell into place." He sent Spenser to get a guard to watch the door until someone could secure it.
They backtracked from the bottom of the stairs to find blood on the wall where Merlin must have been propped. Bloodied finger and palm prints were also found further along on a window sill; probably, where Guy had made him sit down.
Before they left the corridor, Arthur turned and took one more look, imagining Merlin hurrying along…at least until the stairs.
-0-0-
Merlin was to spend the night at Gaius's. It made sense but Arthur would have preferred to have had him upstairs with him. Gaius has insisted as Merlin was still a little confused as to what had happened and he wanted to be able to check him during the nights. Arthur's offer for him to come and sleep upstairs with them was refused.
"I have a perfectly good bed here and any supplies I need would be at my finger tips. Anyway, I think I can guarantee him a more restful night here than with you. No offence, Sire!" He stated with a grin.
Arthur shook his head, "No offence taken but I will want him moved tomorrow. Thomas can look after him when I am not present."
Merlin had his eyes closed. Regardless of how grown up Arthur might be, he still listened to what Gaius said. He decided not to interfere he was happy here but he would have preferred to have been with Arthur. This way, it gave him more chance to try to remember what had happened. He should have known if someone was near him. He must be losing it. How can he be expected to look after Arthur if he can't even look after himself?
Arthur approached his cot but he kept his eyes closed, he felt Arthur's lips on his and he wanted so much to snake his arms around his neck and pull him to him but he didn't…