Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.
Chapter eleven:
Glancing round, Arthur walked as quietly as he could, watch for any signs that Saxons could be close. A couple of steps behind him Merlin was walking slowly, his gaze fixed on the ground as he scanned the undergrowth for herbs and berries. Arthur suddenly comes to a halt and after a couple of seconds Merlin crashes into the back of him and stumbles backwards, only just keeping his balance.
"Merlin!" Arthur hisses.
"Sorry." Merlin mutters, slightly sheepishly, kneeling down to pick up what he dropped.
"What does that charm do anyway?" Arthur questions.
"It's a warding charm." Merlin answers.
Arthur just stares at him.
"It protects me from corrupted magic," Merlin explains. "This whole area is layered with magic supressing spells and hexes. The magic used is to cast the spells was blood magic, which is corrupt. So as long as I have this charm, it stops my magic begin suppressed."
"Yesterday," Arthur nodes. "That's why you were weakening the close we got to Ismere."
Merlin nodes. "Morgana doesn't want those with magic getting to close."
"So the sorcerers who work for Morgana will have charms to protect themselves?" Arthur questions.
"I'm guessing they do." Merlin answers. "But its possible they're the vessels for the spells... Spells this powerful require a lot of magic."
Arthur nodes. "If they are using charms, if we were to remove them..."
"They wouldn't be able to use magic." Merlin finishes.
The continue walking in silence.
"If only we had a horse." Arthur suddenly speaks.
Merlin glances at Arthur. "Or a pig."
"You can't ride a pig." Arthur answers, turning to look at Merlin.
"No," Merlin answers shaking his head. "But you can roast it with carrots, parsnips and apples."
"Merlin." Arthur complains.
"Yeah, you're right." Merlin grins. "We won't waste those apples, we'll put them in a pie."
"Stop it." Arthur mutters, rubbing his stomach.
"Well we have to eat-" Merlin begins.
Arthur turns. "Merlin!"
He rushes towards Merlin and kneels down beside him. The charm Merlin held in his hand was split in two, tapping Merlin's cheeks, Arthur fails to get a response from Merlin. Cursing under his breath Arthur prepares to pick up Merlin, when suddenly his foot knocks against something and before he has a chance to react both he and Merlin are trapped; hanging in a net three feet off the ground.
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Gwen sits on her thrown in the council chamber. The council stand waiting, glancing nervously from one to the other. Many feared this would be news about the king, it was common knowledge Arthur hadn't returned. Suddenly the doors are opened and Rachel is dragged in by two guards.
"What have I done?" She pleads as she thrown to her knees before Gwen.
"The night before Arthur sent out for Ismere there was a meeting of the kings privy council." Gwen explains. "Did you hear what was said?"
"No, my lady." Rachel answers, glancing round before returning her gaze to the floor.
"And yet you were seen standing right outside the door." Gwen continues, watching Rachel carefully.
Rachel flinches ever so slightly, Gwen wouldn't have notices is she wasn't watching so closely. When Rachel doesn't replies Gwen continues.
"You were seen leaving the castle at night, where did you go?"
"Nowhere." Rachel answers.
"Don't make this hard on yourself." Gwen replies. "All I want is the truth. We both know you left the city through the southern gate."
Again Rachel doesn't answers. Gwen started at Rachel, she was quickly losing her temper.
"Look at me!" Gwen yells. "Do you deny it?"
Leon and Elyan both flinch back slightly at Gwen's sudden yell, while Gaius raises an eyebrow and the council begin muttering quietly to each other.
"No, my lady." Rachel finally answers.
"Who did you see?" Gwen questions, calming herself. "You can tell me."
"You wouldn't understand." Rachel replies.
"Who did you see?!" Gwen questions again, a bit more forcefully.
Rachel looks up and meets Gwen's gaze. "Jared."
"And you told him what you heard?" Gwen asks.
"Yes." Rachel answers.
"You have admitted your guilt. You leave me no choice." Gwen stands. "By the laws of Camelot, I find you guilty of treason. I sentence you to death. Take her to the cells."
The guards walk forward and pull Rachel to her feet before pulling her away.
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Arthur struggles to move within the nets, beside him Merlin was slowly returning to consciousness. Arthur reaches through one of the gaps in the nets trying to reach his sword, but it is just out of reach.
"If I could just reach my sword," Arthur growls. "We'd be able to cut the ropes."
Merlin suddenly groans and opens his eyes, which were glowing a faint gold.
"What happened?" He asks, his voice hardly more than a weak whisper.
Arthur glares at Merlin. "You're an idiot, that's what happened."
Merlin frowns slightly. "What..?"
"Of all the places you could faint like the girls petticoat you are, it had to be in the middle of a trap, didn't it?"
Merlin stares at Arthur for a moment. "Prat."
Suddenly Merlin sneezes, causing a sudden wind to sweep out of nowhere as Merlin lost control of his magic for a second. Arthur who had been trying to reach for his sword again, watches in disbelief as the wind picks up his sword and blows it across a metre across the ground
"MERLIN!" Arthur yells. "God!"
"Sorry." Merlin mutters, before he passes out again.
"Great." Arthur mutters trying to hide his worry, as he glances the best he can at Merlin. "Just great."
Some time later, Arthur is woken by a sudden pain as he hits the ground and he quickly jumps to his feet. Beside him Merlin sits on the ground, staring at something, following Merlin's gaze Arthur is faced with a large group of Saxons. Out the corner of his eye Arthur can see his sword lying on the ground, but he'd never reach it in time.
"I'm sorry." Radnor, the leader of the group approaches. "Did I wake you?"
Arthur again glances at his sword, Radnor was blocking him from the rest of the Saxons, who he doubted would attack or shot if they thought they could hit there leader.
"Not so fast." Radnor smirks, drawing his sword and holding it to Arthur neck as he notices Arthur's sowed lying on the ground. "The king of Camelot. You'll fetch a handsome price... Alive or dead. Any last requests?"
"Let my friend go." Arthur replies after a moment. "He doesn't deserve to die like this"
"Not a chance." Radnor sneers. "A sorcerer who's made it this far and is still standing must be powerful. Morgana pays a good price for sorcerers with such power."
"Stop!" A voice yells as Radnor moves to land a killing blow.
Radnor blade stops centimetres from Arthur neck as he turns to look at who had yelled.
An older man stood just visible in the treeline, dark shaggy blonde hair hung over his face.
"Shouldn't we leave it to the lady Morgana to decide there fate?" He questions moving forward to join Radnor.
Arthur stared at him, there was something about this man... Arthur could have sworn he knew him, but he couldn't place where from.
"You don't remember me do you?" The man questions, he suddenly turns to Merlin. "You saved my loves life, some years ago."
"Tristan." Merlin nodes, staring at the man before them.
Tristan smiles a small. "Hello, Merlin."
To be continued...
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Hey, hope you enjoyed that chapter. For all of you hoping Mordred would be appearing, don't worry he'll be appearing in later stories. Sorry its taken me so long to update this story. I'll begin writing/typing Arthur's Bane part 2 soon. Until next time,
Blessed be,
TreeOfLife1997.