34. Old men's gossip

"Gaius!" King Uther exclaimed, flabbergasted at the sight of his Court Physician. "Where the hell do you come from?"

As the old healer laboriously dismounted, the King hasted through the wreck and ruin of what once had been a fine stronghold under Cymbrian command.

"Your Majesty" Gaius greeted his master. "I'm glad to see you in good health."

"Stop the blabbering, I want to know where you've been. We found neither hide nor hair of you in Camelot, nor of that devil Marwon! The plague on him and on all these dirty Druid sorcerers. They've abducted my family!"

"Your Grace…."

"I had need of you, and you deserted me. With that good-for-nothing ward of yours dead, we unarmed, the Cymbrians as useful as a bunch of dimwit peasants – we were under attack, by magic, Gaius! I should hang you from the nearest tree, damn your soul."

"I know, My Lord, I know. If we were to go inside, I could tell you all about it…."

"We can't go inside; you must find my son and grandchild. Why do you think I've kept you on, all these years?"

And Uther turned away, shouting orders left and right, at his servants, soldiers, knights, to get ready for a speedy departure.

Gaius, his knees wobbly from exhaustion, his every bone aching in his seventy year old body after a ride of many an hour in bad weather, made a very last attempt to drill some common sense into his King. "Your Grace, I've got news from your son."

Uther stopped shouting in mid-word, and gawked at the old man. "News? From my son? You?"

"My Lord, let's go inside, and I can tell you everything ….."

"We must not lose a minute. I've been resting far too long, I'm sick of getting rest. You can rest later!"

"For the Gods' sake, Uther, we can't do anything at all. I need food, hot tea and a place by the fire! I'm an old man, I'm sick, I'm tired – do you want to hear my news about Arthur or not?"

Gaius realized that he had been shouting only afterwards.

Publicly shouting at his King.

As if the King of Camelot was a stable-boy.

Uther said nothing. He blinked, opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He fumbled with the hilt of his sword, but let go of it. He grabbed his neckerchief and loosened it, as if he had trouble breathing.

His men, his courtiers and servants around him – Gaius saw pity in their faces, and heart-felt sympathy. Not one of them doubted that the old healer was doomed. A dead man walking.

Gaius was sure of that, too, and in this very moment, he didn't care.

His back hurt, his bottom hurt, his head was dizzy and he was sick to death with Pendragon narrow-mindedness. In other words, being slain by a sword wasn't so very undesirable a fate, compared to standing here in the cold mud until he collapsed.

"Am I to understand" Uther suddenly said; quite casually, as if nothing untoward had happened, "that you are here as a messenger from the Crown Prince of Camelot?"

Well, if a little amendment of the truth was all that it took….."Yes, Your Grace" Gaius said with his last strength, "that is what you are to understand!"

"Then why didn't you say so? Instead you make me standing here in the cold, catching my death. You really are an idiot, Gaius. WILBUR" Uther shouted at the top of his voice and Gaius thought he'd be blown away, "WILBUR! Where is the scoundrel..? Ah, Wilbur, there you are, go get some food, hot tea, a blanket, we must prepare our good healer a place by the fire. Come in, Gaius, come in!"

Unfortunately, there wasn't much to go in to.

A part of the one-time Great Hall still had a roof, everything else was in shambles. It was there that Uther's tent had been put up, and a fire had been built close to it. Inside the tent, coal kettles provided some minimum of warmth and comfort.

They were served with anything Uther had demanded, and then the King chucked everyone out.

While Gaius sipped his hot wine, he took stock of the surroundings.

It was obvious that the main damage to this stronghold had been done, not by Uther's army, but by a magical assault of tremendous force.

The walls, what was left of them, were scorched black. Not one building undamaged, even the heaviest metal-clad gates and doors blown from their angles like so much drift wood, all windows broken, stables, bakery houses, kitchens and work-sheds were down. Only the inner part of the palace had its walls intact.

The Camelot army was mainly camping in the open, like a band of common mercenaries caught by an early winter.

For winter it was, all around the ransacked castle.

The plain was frozen, as was the water of the nearby lake. The winds blew cold and the bit of snow forlornly drifting up and down in the air did nothing to cheer up the dismal scene.

It was by the unnatural winter in the midst of summer that Gaius knew what the attackers' violent magic had done. It had taken all vital energy from this place, leaving only cold, death and hopelessness.

When Uther and his army had come, they must have found a pit full of dead bodies and the survivors scared witless by what they had gone through.

Gaius could easily imagine how Uther had had every stone turned, and turned again, in search for his son, until he had to realize that he would not find him.

The old healer sighed and bent his head. His wasn't an easy assignment and for a moment he contemplated turning round and joining Merlin in his quest to find his Prince.

The King, meanwhile, restrained himself with all his inner strength of will. Waiting until the other was ready to talk.

Gaius looked up and met Uther's eyes.

No, from that fearful plea, no feeling man could run away.

So Gaius tried to pave his way towards the brutal truth as gently as he could. "Prince Arthur did tell you about his fight against King Alined's men in Markentower?"

"Yes, sure" Uther retorted. "We had all the time in the world, after Cendred's men had dragged my son here. Not that I wasn't glad to see him, but – not here."

The King rose, and kicked a nearby trunk in the side, another sign that he, who always wanted to behave like a model of royalty (or, as Merlin used to say, like a royal stick-in-the-mud), was beside himself with grief and fury. "The Cymbrians renewed their silly talk about marriages - I refused; Cendred demanded Arthur for a hostage - I refused; Morgyan confronted her brother about her marriage to Antek – would you believe that? – Cendred refused. Antek was incarcerated; Morgyan threw one tantrum after another when her attempts at being diplomatic did not help her; I told my son to agree to a mock marriage with Morgyan, to save Cendred's face and get us out of here - Arthur refused - and so on and so on, for months on end. It was like a madhouse in here, with me being the only sensible, clear-minded person."

"Goodness gracious me!" Gaius said, with wry humour.

"Yes, you might say that" Uther replied, much invigorated by what he mistook for friendly sympathy. "One night the Druids attacked the castle, like mad wolves. Those filthy sorcerers took my whole family, although at the time I did not know they'd taken Arthur. I escaped, thinking that my son was in the hands of Cendred. I came back, with my army, but – I couldn't find Arthur. Morgyan said he'd gone after the Druids with Leon, but sure that's a lie."

Gaius frowned, which suddenly reminded Uther of the time when Arthur had left the Druid camp without telling anyone. "Arthur wouldn't have abandoned me, not as a prisoner" the King of Camelot added hastily.

"You left him to his fate" Gaius said without thinking, only to flinch at his own words.

He had been away too long, had been his own man too long. He'd lost his silken touch in dealing with a Royal.

But, come to think of it – even Royalty should have their ear pulled if their behaviour called for it. Someone had to be up to the task.

And, miraculously, as if he thought the very same, Uther did not unsheathe his blade.

Instead he justified himself, heatedly. "Something had to be done. From where the Cymbrians stood, the Druids are known friends and allies of Camelot. I saw a chance to get the protection of my army as long as Cendred was incapacitated. I had to take it. For Arthur's sake as much as for my own."

"You're right of course. Forgive me, My Lord" Gaius said as soothingly as possible. He had a pretty good idea of how the impatient, rash royal must be seething inside, reporting all this to a man who'd so far told him nothing of interest. It was a sign of the King's anxiety that he should be that patient.

"Arthur did go after the Druids with Leon" the healer therefore went on. "I trust he had a very hard time leaving you behind, but you must understand – he had just learned that Antek was responsible for Merlin's … accident, because Count Antek stole the Rashnijaan. That is why the Druids abducted Antek, and the Book of Demons. I do fear, they took Arthur's wife and child for the same reason."

Again, Uther blinked rapidly; a picture of perfect non-comprehension. "What?" he finally barked hoarsely.

Gaius sighed. "I beg your pardon, Your Grace. It has been such a long time, and so much has happened. What exactly did Arthur tell you about his time in Markentower?"

"That Alined had him abducted while Arthur, with Antek, the Llanfair healer and, later on, Merlin, was pursuing the Rashnijaan. He's dead, by the way."

"Who?" Gaius asked, confused.

"Merco. Mercator, the old Llanfair healer. He came with the Druids. I saw him die trying to help Gyrrin. Morgyan buried him and her bastard nephew with her own hands. It's a crying shame she has to suffer such. Formidable woman. Escaped, with her mad brother in tow, in spite of the whole of Camelot's army guarding the place. Formidable! Gaius, we're straying from the point."

The old healer finished his wine, and pulled himself together, if not without a wistful thought for the unused food in front of him.

"You won't like my news, Uther" he said. And then, as gently as he possibly could, he told the King all he knew and the deductions he had drawn from that.

Uther was ghostly white and very quiet when Gaius finished.

The old healer thought, and his heart ached for it, that he had never seen the King of Camelot so helpless and distraught. Not since Queen Igraine's burial, anyway.

"You must remember that much from your time with Arenboarth, all these years ago, Uther" Gaius added. "The Rashnijaan is the very incarnation of evil. Neither Camelot nor all of Albion will be save, as long as Anwar's soul is not at rest."

Pendragon said nothing in reply. He stared at something only he could see. Finally his jaw tensed, and Gaius thought he knew that look in the King's eyes, and that it had never bode well.

"Best have it done now, My Lord, and by a stranger's hand" the healer said hastily. "Sooner or later anyone will see that the youngest heir to Camelot's throne is possessed by evil! If you sentenced his son to death, what would become of Arthur?"

Uther jumped to his feet, toppling over chair and table without so much as glancing at the mess he'd caused. "It is Arthur I'm thinking about" he growled. "And for his sake, we can't stay here. I've been hesitating far too long!"

"Sire, there is nothing you or I can do. For all the power of Camelot, this is a quest of magic, not of the sword!"

"Do you expect me to sit here and wait? Wait and see if it pleases a bunch of dirty peasants to give me back my family?"

Gaius crouched a bit under the King's wrath, but he couldn't afford to be silenced. "You'd only make matters worse! The Druids' quarrel is not with Arthur, or your daughter in law. They'll come back to you, and when they do, they'll need you more than ever!"

"I'm Arthur's father, for the Gods' sake!"

"Then be his father, Sire, just this ONCE!"

"Blast it, you old scarecrow, you are a magician. Heaven help me that I'm stuck with you, and that cheeky ward of yours is dead, but you can't have forgotten all tricks of your trade!"

"You've been trying to make me forget them for decades, by pain of death!"

"Now who's uselessly dwelling in the past, old man?"

Gaius closed his eyes and tried to breathe evenly. It was no good, quarrelling with Uther Pendragon, never had been. "My Lord, Merlin is alive. He had a close call, a very close call, by Count Antek's foolishness, but he's going after your family as we speak. If anyone can prevent ill fate, it's him."

Uther rubbed his face, then his eyes, with both hands. "Arenboarth said" he muttered, cleared his throat, and repeated "Arenboarth said, when he chided me for the Great Purge, that it was written, centuries ago. Arthur Pendragon, High King of Albion, and his warlock born of legends. Am I to be a footnote, then? In my son's life?"

"You are the King of Camelot, Sire. Whatever Arthur will become in the future, it'll be through you. What Merlin is destined to keep safe - it is your legacy, My Lord, nobody else's."

The King looked his Court Physician I the eye. "I'm to sit tight, you mean. Do nothing. I can't, Gaius. This is Igraine, this is the night of Arthur's birth, all over again. I cannot stay put and do nothing, Gaius, I just CAN'T!"

"You haven't and you won't. Uther Pendragon has conquered another Kingdom to his crown. You conquered Cymbria, and Cymbria is suffering. You took it, now do your duty, go out, and rule it!"

"They can rule themselves for all I care!"

"If only you would let them."

"I mean it."

"No you don't. You never have. You consider absolute power a birth-right. Hundreds, if not thousands you had killed or maimed or incarcerated, for opposing you, and now your men won't fart without permission. As you have sown, so you shall reap. Go out and be the King you say you are!"

"You dare speak to me like that?"

"In my time away from your court, Sire, I developed a new appreciation of the truth. It can be very refreshing."

"If one has the guts to endure it!"

"Indeed, My Lord!"

The lips twitched in Uther's pale face. Perhaps he smiled. "You know, Gaius, I should have hanged you from that tree, ages ago."

"Then who would've saved you from yourself?"

Uther rearranged his coat and sword hilt meticulously. "You can go, Gaius" he then said, very haughtily. "No time for your idle chattering. I have two Kingdoms to rule!"

Gaius bowed deeply when the King passed him by. "Your Majesty!"

Uther pretended that he hadn't heard.