Chapter 4
A man knelt before the throne, awaiting the judgement of his sovereign. He was a cobbler from the lower town who had lied about his income to avoid paying higher taxes. It was his first offense and he had argued that he had only done it to buy medicines for his sick mother. But all his pleas for mercy had fallen on deaf ears.
"I find him guilty of fraud," Queen Morgana declared, "Take him to the dungeons. He will be executed at dawn tomorrow."
His protests that if he died there would be no one to care for his mother went unheeded as the trial ended and he was dragged away. As the council chambers cleared, Arthur moved to join Morgana as she stood up from her throne.
"Is it really necessary to execute him?" he asked.
"The people must learn that the law is not to be trifled with and our dues are to be paid in full."
"Wouldn't an additional fine be a more suitable punishment?"
"No, an example must be made. I take no pleasure in this, but a show of force is necessary to keep the peasants in line."
Arthur thanked his lucky stars yet again that his father had ruled that age, rather than gender, would decide which of his children would inherit his throne. He would never have had the strength to make the tough decisions that Morgana had to on a daily basis. Morgana had always been as strong-willed as his father and there really could have been no one better to take his place.
"Of course. The law must be upheld," he acknowledged.
Morgana turned to face Arthur fully and placed a hand on his arm.
"Arthur, I've been wanting to speak to you about something."
"About what?"
"Gwen," she said shortly.
"What about Guinevere?"
Morgana gave him a sympathetic smile.
"I want you to stop seeing her."
Arthur choked, "What?"
"She is a servant, Arthur. I have a kingdom to rule and your hand in marriage is a powerful political tool that I won't let you fritter away. I have already sent an emissary to King Ecsed, proposing a match between you and his daughter, Princess Eliza."
Arthur's breath hitched. He had heard of the Princess Eliza and she had a fearsome reputation. Reports from Ecsed's kingdom suggested that he doted on her and turned a blind eye to the unexplained deaths of maidservants and peasant's daughters that surrounded her. It was said that she bathed in the blood of young maids because she believed it to be good for her skin. Arthur was almost certain that part wasn't true, but he didn't want to find out firsthand.
"I expect you to break off all ties with Gwen by the time his reply gets here. I am almost certain he will accept and it would not do to have you dallying about with some maid when your fiancé arrives," she continued, "I wouldn't want to be forced to send Gwen into exile to keep you apart."
With those words Morgana swept out of the room, not giving Arthur a chance to reply.
How was he going to get out of this?
When he had broken off his engagement to Princess Elena there had been no real repercussions, as Elena had been grateful for the reprieve and Godwin had been such a strong ally of Camelot that he hadn't let it affect the relations between their kingdoms. Arthur had a feeling that rejecting Princess Eliza and putting strain on the alliance with the ruthless King Ecsed would not go over so smoothly.
Arthur returned to his chambers, hoping to vent some of his frustration at his servant. However, when he arrived Merlin was nowhere to be seen. He stomped over to Gaius' chambers to tell him to get back to work but found those empty too. He was on his way to check the stables when he ran into Gaius.
"Where's Merlin?" he asked.
"I don't know. I haven't seen him since…" Gaius started before suddenly looking confused and then finishing with, "I haven't seen him all day."
"Well if you do, tell him to get back to work!" Arthur called as he continued walking.
Arthur didn't find Merlin in the stables or the kitchens, and he refused to be seen checking the tavern for a wayward servant.
He couldn't remember where he had last seen Merlin. Arthur figured he must be getting drowsy because he couldn't clearly remember anything he had done today before Morgana had returned from her morning ride.
Giving up on his search, Arthur headed to his chambers, stopping a random servant on the way and asking for his lunch to be brought up.
However, when his food arrived he found he was barely able to touch it. He had too much on his mind.
Morgana wanted what was best for the kingdom - he knew that. But it almost seemed to him that Morgana had gone out of her way to find the match that would make him as miserable as possible. He didn't even know what he was going to tell Guinevere. Perhaps they could run away together. That was probably the only way they would be able to be together. But how could he ask Guinevere to leave everything she knew just for him? And what of his duty to the kingdom?
Arthur was so glad that he had not inherited the throne. At least as the Queen's brother he knew that she would be here protecting the kingdom with or without him. But his disappearance would cause her so much trouble and she already had so much on her plate ruling Camelot even on a good day. Morgana was his only sister and he didn't want to leave her with a disaster to sort out all on her own.
If only he could think of some way to break off the engagement without insulting King Ecsed and his daughter. He wished Merlin was around. Arthur often came up with surprisingly good ideas after talking to his servant.
What kind of terrible servant vanishes all day and doesn't even bring his master lunch anyways? Apparently all those lessons with George must have amounted to nothing. Apart from transcribing word-for-word George's lecture on polishing and giving it to Arthur to memorize as a speech to the guild of harness polishers, Merlin seemed to have gotten nothing out of it.
As if his thoughts had summoned him, Merlin suddenly burst through the door.
"There you are, Merlin," Arthur began, "Where have you been?"
"Arthur, I need to tell you something."
"Go on then, tell me what you have been doing all day instead of, you know – your job!"
"No, I need to tell you something important."
"So you don't think your job is important? I suppose that would explain a lot, but if you are so dissatisfied perhaps you would like a different position – like cleaning the castle's chamber pots."
"Arthur will you just listen to me, this is important."
Arthur sighed, "Fine, what is it Merlin?"
Merlin hesitated, "I'm going to tell you something."
"So you have said. Are you actually going to tell me?"
Merlin opened and closed his mouth a few times, looking very nervous. Finally he appeared to steel his nerves and said, "I have magic. I'm a sorcerer."
Arthur couldn't image what could have possessed Merlin to say something like that. He could only assume it was supposed to be one of his very inappropriate jokes.
"Very funny, Merlin."
"I'm serious, Arthur. You have been enchanted. I'm going to try to break it but I need your help."
"Merlin, I know my own mind - I'm not enchanted. And if you have been dabbling in the dark arts trying to learn magic just to break some curse that your tiny brain has somehow convinced itself exists…"
"Arthur please, you have to trust me. Just think about the throne. Try to remember everything you can about it."
Merlin was acting even weirder than the time that he had been convinced the castle was infested with woodworm. Had he seriously been trying to learn magic of all things? Could Merlin be any more stupid?
"I am not going to cooperate in your attempt to learn magic, Merlin! Is that what you have been doing all day?"
"Please, Arthur, just this once - listen to me!"
Arthur needed to stop this before it got any further. There was no way Merlin could have actually learned any magic in one day and Arthur decided it would be best to play along with him for now in order to convince him to abandon this endeavour. Most likely his natural laziness would be enough to make him give up once he realized that he hadn't accomplished anything and then Arthur would also have a long talk with Merlin about the dangers of dabbling in magic.
"Ok, I'll go along with your little trick but only if you promise me that when nothing happens you will give up on this new highly illegal hobby."
"Of course, Arthur, whatever you say. Now just concentrate on anything you can remember about the throne."
Arthur closed his eyes and pictured the throne. He remembered Morgana sitting on it and how it was a symbol of her rule. He remembered how before her, his father had sat on the throne, as had generations of Pendragons before him.
"Are you doing it?" asked Merlin.
"Yes!" said Arthur in exasperation, opening his eyes to glare at Merlin.
Merlin gestured for him to continue and Arthur sighed and closed his eyes again, trying to recall his thoughts on the throne.
After a moment he heard Merlin speaking in a strange language with confidant tones and perfect pronunciation of strange sounds unknown in the common tongue.
Arthur's eyes flew open in shock and he saw Merlin's eyes glowing gold.
Arthur's heart sank. This was not some foolish first time dabbling in unknown powers. Merlin was a practiced sorcerer.
And Arthur had just given him permission to cast a spell on him. Crap.
Why would Merlin do this? Had he ever really known Merlin at all or had he been a sorcerer this whole time? The image of his best friend had been replaced by this unknown entity and he didn't know whether to yell at Merlin for what he had done or mourn the fact that he had never existed at all.
The spell ended and nothing seemed to have changed. Arthur had survived whatever Merlin had done to him unscathed. Maybe Merlin really had learned magic in an insane and misguided effort to help Arthur.
"Merlin, you…" Arthur began, and then it struck him.
Of course Merlin was a sorcerer! He was Emrys! They had already been through this and Arthur had condemned him and left him in the woods right when he had needed him most. And Merlin – Merlin had come back for him.
"Arthur?" asked Merlin uncertainly.
"You came back," Arthur said in awe. He should have known Merlin wouldn't give up on him so easily.
"Arthur, please believe me, I didn't kill your parents," Merlin said, speaking very quickly, "The Lady Ygraine was being controlled. Nothing she told you was true. I swear I have always been loyal to you…"
"Shut up, Merlin," Arthur interrupted him, unwilling to listen to Merlin needlessly defend himself when Arthur was the one who was at fault.
Merlin cut off his words abruptly and seemed to shrink back, looking apprehensive.
Merlin needn't have done this, Arthur realized. He could have left Arthur to continue to live under Morgana's enchantment where he knew nothing of Merlin's true nature. It would have been safer and easier for him, since he believed that Arthur still hated him and wanted him dead. And yet he had thrown that away without a thought to restore Arthur to his true self.
Arthur walked up to Merlin, making the worried look on his face turn to fear. Then he grabbed Merlin's shoulders and pulled him into a hug.
"I'm sorry, Merlin," was all he could say.
He drew back and saw that there were tears in Merlin's eyes again.
He gripped Merlin's shoulder in a gesture of manly camaraderie and looked him straight in the eye.
"Thank you for coming back for me."
Merlin wiped away a tear and said with a goofy smile, "Well I figured you wouldn't last a day without me."
Trust Merlin to break the seriousness of any moment.
Arthur laughed. His previous worries that Merlin's personality had just been part of the front for Emrys were quickly diminishing. This was the Merlin he had always known.
Morgana may be in control of the kingdom, but Arthur felt like he could do anything just now, so long as Merlin was at his side.
"Can you break the spell," he asked hopefully, "and make everyone remember?"
"Well, I figured out how to do it on individual people, but they have to be conscious and concentrating on memories of the throne, which means they would see me using magic on them."
Well that was something at least. It would take ages to do everyone one at a time, especially with them all freaking out about the fact that Merlin was a sorcerer, and he would have to deal with half the people being loyal to Morgana while half were loyal to him, not to mention Morgana herself.
Actually, Arthur realized, that was a horrible plan. Maybe they should save that idea for use only as a last resort.
"I've already restored Gaius' memories," Merlin added.
"Wait, Gaius saw you do magic?"
"Umm, he already knew."
"He…" Arthur trailed off. For some reason he had taken it for granted that no one in Camelot knew about Merlin. And Gaius had been his father's strongest ally in the fight against magic. "How long has he known?"
"Since the day we met."
Arthur would have to re-evaluate what he knew about Gaius. He must have been a really good actor to have everyone convinced that he was so firmly against magic, even with them knowing he had once practiced it.
"Does anybody else know?"
"No. Well –" Merlin amended, "no one else in Camelot."
"So no one we can un-enchant without raising difficult questions," Arthur surmised.
"Basically, yeah. Gaius is reading up on the Amulet of Dhakira now, trying to find a way to break the spell."
"How come you weren't affected?"
"I was outside the citadel at the time. I saw some farmers coming into the city being arrested at the gates for claiming that Morgana wasn't the queen so I think it only affected people within a certain radius. I was all prepared to sneak back into the castle but it turned out that all I needed to do was act like everything was normal and I could move around easily. It didn't take me long to figure out what was going on."
"So you were coming to sneak back into the castle even after everything I said to you in the woods?" Arthur asked, wondering why he ever expected anything else.
"Well, you told me to leave and I just thought to myself – why start obeying orders now?" Merlin said with a wry smile.
But Arthur wasn't going to let Merlin shrug off his incredible act of loyalty as a joke. Everything was coming together in Arthur's mind – Emrys using his incredible powers to protect him for years with no recognition, Merlin standing by his side through every trial that he faced regardless of any danger or discomfort to himself, Emrys believing in him as a king despite having ample reason not to, Merlin giving him advise and encouragement that had kept him going all these years…
There was something that needed to be said.
"Thank you Merlin," Arthur said sincerely, meeting Merlin's eyes, "Everything you have done for me all these years – thank you. You are the most loyal friend I could ever have hoped for."
Merlin stared at Arthur as though he couldn't quite believe that he had said that. He seemed unable to formulate a response.
The moment was broken by a knock on the door.
"Enter," called Arthur.
"Sire," said a guard, opening the door, "the Queen requires your presence in the throne room."
Arthur nodded and the guard bowed and left. Arthur turned back to Merlin.
"We'll have to go," he said apprehensively.
Merlin nodded, "Just try to act like you are still under the spell. We don't want Morgana realizing that you know about her."
When they arrived in the throne room they found Morgana lounging smugly on the throne and the room packed with knights, councillors, nobles and servants. It seemed that Morgana had summoned a full council.
Arthur waited apprehensively for what she would say. After a few more people had trickled in, Morgana sat up proudly on the throne, commanding the attention of everyone in the room without even a word.
"I have assembled you all here to announce a change to the laws of Camelot," she declared.
Arthur was about to protest that she couldn't do that, before he remembered that none of the changes to legislation that he had made since taking the throne would apply under Morgana's rule.
"It is the duty of the monarchy to hold power over their kingdom," Morgana began, "For the most effective rule, any power able to assist in reigning over the land should be available to the rulers – for the good of all."
Morgana stood from her throne and held her head high.
"I therefore declare that all members of the royal family be henceforth exempt from the laws banning witchcraft and sorcery."
That caused a stir in the people assembled. Shocked faces littered every corner of the room and a buzz of muttering had broken out.
"The people of Camelot have trusted their lives to the Pendragon family and that trust means nothing if it does not extend to every aspect of our actions. The power to use magic will merely be an extension of the rule that Camelot's citizens already trust us to enforce upon them."
Arthur had to give credit to Morgana's plan. Declaring a completely abolition of the ban on magic would have caused public outcry, but in changing the law so that only a few people were allowed access to that power, there would be less panic. And as the only legal sorceress in Camelot, few would be brave enough to cross her.
The people gathered in the room looked frightened but Morgana probably hadn't pushed them to the point of open rebellion.
"The council is dismissed," Morgana declared.
As the people filed out, muttering fearfully to each other, Arthur turned to leave as well, but Morgana called to him.
"Arthur, I was hoping you would join me and Agravaine for dinner tonight."
Arthur stared at her. This was the woman who had betrayed her own family, ordered innocent people killed to make a point, released the dorocha on the lands…
Merlin kicked the back of Arthur's foot from where he was standing slightly behind him, stirring Arthur from his stupor.
"Of course, I would love to," Arthur said with an attempt at a smile.
"Then I will meet you in the dining hall momentarily," Morgana replied.
As Arthur left the throne room, now dreading dinner, Merlin whispered to him, "You need to act natural or Morgana will suspect that something is up."
"I know Merlin," Arthur said irritably. It was easier said than done. Just because Merlin had hitherto unsuspected phenomenal acting skills didn't mean that everyone did. "Go and help Gaius find a way to break the spell. I will see you after dinner."
As Arthur took his place at the table beside Agravaine and across from Morgana, he knew without a doubt that this was the most uncomfortable family dinner he had ever attended. And that was saying something considering the family that he was from.
"That was an… interesting announcement you made today," said Arthur. It was not easy to make conversation with Morgana, knowing what he did about her.
"It is only a first step towards a new world where magic reigns supreme," Morgana said, as though vying for a fight with Arthur on the issue.
"Hmm," said Arthur, noncommittally.
How would he have reacted to this if he had still been under Morgana's spell? He was having trouble even imagining how he would have felt about it.
"Have you got a problem with the new laws, Arthur?" Morgana asked heatedly.
Fine, he thought, if Morgana wanted a reaction out of him he would give her one, just not the one she was expecting.
"No, I think it is a good idea to bring magic back to the kingdom," he said, "If I was king, I would also make changes to the laws against magic and help people realize that it can be a force for good."
Arthur watched Morgana's expression turn to one of shock. He could see the woman he had once considered a sister still in her somewhere, perhaps now wondering whether everything she had done had been unnecessary.
"Of course," Arthur continued remorselessly, "I would have to make the changes gradual to avoid civil unrest. It might cause some people to mistakenly think that I held the same views of magic as my father."
If only she had not turned against the kingdom they could still be friends. Her having magic wouldn't have mattered to Arthur in the end. He wanted her to realize that.
For a moment Morgana looked extremely vulnerable. She seemed unaware that her mouth was slightly open and she blinked several times while staring at Arthur. But then her expression changed to one of poorly-controlled fury. She stood up and slammed her hands down on the table, causing her cutlery to clatter.
"You are a liar!" She screamed, "You would say anything to put yourself in a good light! You are a hypocrite just like your father!"
And she stormed out of the room.
Arthur supposed that could have gone better.
"Sire," said Agravaine, who had remained silent until this point, "what you said about how you would make gradual changes to the laws against magic if you were king…"
"What about it?" asked Arthur, surprised by the almost suspicious tone in Agravaine's voice.
"Oh, it's nothing," he said, "I just thought it sounded familiar."
Something in Agravaine's tone caught Arthur's attention. Could Agravaine be remembering the council Arthur had just recently held about changes to the law? Perhaps his uncle had realized the implications his reductions to the crimes punishable by death had for the laws against sorcery. But if so, that would mean that the memory spell wasn't working on him.
Hope filled Arthur. It was a long-shot, but he had to know if he had just found another ally.
"Uncle," he said lowering his voice and leaning forwards, "what do you remember about the council yesterday?"
"The council?" asked Agravaine cautiously.
"There was a council," said Arthur, being careful to phrase his words in a way that he could explain away if his hunch about Agravaine's memory turned out to be wrong, "in which a king proposed some changes to the laws concerning the death penalty in his kingdom."
Agravaine looked sharply at Arthur.
"You remember too?" he asked.
"So you do remember me being king?" Arthur asked, hope rising.
"Yes," Agravaine said, "it seems as though everyone has been placed under some kind of enchantment. I just tried to play along."
Arthur breathed a sigh of relief. The spell must not have affected everyone in Camelot.
"We found a magical object that caused this enchantment but we couldn't stop it before it activated because it can only be destroyed by magic."
Agravaine nodded in understanding, "If it can only be destroyed by magic, then Morgana must have been waiting for the news that Emrys was dead to use this object."
Arthur frowned, "But Emrys isn't dead, so why would she think that he was?"
"He isn't dead?" Agravaine asked in surprise and Arthur shook his head.
Agravaine was looking rather nervous, and Arthur could hardly blame him. His uncle was not used to going on dangerous missions, so being in this situation must be very frightening for him.
"We just have to pretend that nothing is wrong for now. Merlin and Gaius are looking for a way to break the curse so we should be able to put things to right soon enough," he said reassuringly.
Agravaine raised his eyebrows, "So they remember too?"
"Yes," said Arthur, "Don't worry, Morgana doesn't realize that we are not enchanted so she will likely not act against us."
Agravaine leaned forward.
"Perhaps we should seek the help of Emrys in breaking this curse," he said.
"Emrys?" said Arthur, surprised.
"If the object you found can only be destroyed by magic we might have no other choice. And from your description I'm sure he means us no harm, even if he is a sorcerer."
Agravaine had no idea that Arthur had already acquired the help of Emrys. But how was he to explain this to his uncle.
"I must ask you Arthur, do you know where to find Emrys?"
Arthur momentarily considered telling Agravaine a half-truth and claiming that he did know the identity of Emrys but could not reveal it to him. But then he realized how difficult such a deception would be to maintain. If they were going to work together Agravaine was almost certain to find out anyways and wasting energy on trying to keep all the facts from a trusted ally was liable to hinder rather than help their cause. Agravaine had near enough admitted that he would be willing to trust Emrys and he was loyal enough to Arthur not to reveal a secret as important as this. Besides, it would be better to tell him everything now, when he had a chance to explain and smooth things over, rather than in a direct confrontation with Merlin.
Arthur glanced around and leaned in towards Agravaine, dropping his voice to a whisper, "I want you to swear to me that you will not reveal this information to anyone."
Agravaine replied solemnly, "I swear on my life I will not tell a soul."
"Merlin is Emrys," Arthur said simply.
Agravaine's eyebrows shot up in a rather comical fashion.
"Merlin?" he said incredulously.
Arthur was glad to know that he wasn't the only one who hadn't seen that coming.
"I know it is hard to believe, but you must trust me uncle," he endeavored to explain, "Merlin has proved to be unfailingly loyal to me and although he has been hiding the fact that he practices magic, I trust him absolutely and I want you to do the same."
Agravaine seemed to have recovered from his shock enough to reply, "Of course, I know how loyal Merlin has been to you all these years. Although his deception comes as a surprised, I'm sure he means well."
Good old Agravaine. Arthur knew he could count on him to understand.
"Come on," he said slapping Agravaine's arm and standing up, encouraged by his response.
Arthur left the room with Agravaine following. With any luck Merlin and Gaius would know how to break the spell by now, Morgana still didn't know they were on to her and Agravaine had just joined the group of people who were working against her. Despite the situation the kingdom was in, Arthur couldn't help but feel things were going surprisingly smoothly.
Notes:
Princess Eliza is based on Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed (even though it is the wrong period of history). In Morgana's world of modified memories it would raise questions if she just killed Arthur and Gwen, so she decides to psychologically torture them instead by making Arthur marry a psychopath.
Morgana never used the amulet in the show because she was afraid Emrys would destroy it, killing her.