It's back finally, I thought I lost inspiration with this story but I am determined to finish it.
Disclaimer: You all know the drill; Merlin belongs to the BBC and not me, Viviane however his mine.
ONWARD!
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It was getting later and later. Camelot was slowly lighting up with fire light as Merlin watched the servants gladly made the way down to their chambers and left the guards to their patrols in the corridor. This was what he had been waiting for, He was still dressed having spent a busy day delivering things for Gaius in order to keep him busy and not think about Arthur's current state.
He grabbed Viviane's bucket, effectively waking her up. She popped her head up from the water and scowled, "Some warning would have been nice." She hissed. Merlin rolled his eyes and slowly shut the door to his room behind him and carefully made his way down the steps. Gaius was sleeping soundly in his old bed beside one of the book shelves. Merlin decided he would speak to him about Viviane later. He quietly slipped through the door leading to the corridor outside and hurried to Arthur's room, sneaking past the soldiers as he went. Not because he had to, but because he didn't want to get caught holding a bucket of lake water.
He quietly slipped into Arthur's room, noting with some amusement that the guard outside was gently snoozing at his post. He silently shut the door behind him and looked up to see Arthur's still sleeping form. "Oh my." He heard Viviane whisper from her bucket as he walked over to the side of the bed and placed the bucket on the floor. He stared down at the water for a moment and the water fae popped her head up from the rippling service once again. "That's my cue?" She asked and pulled her self up from the water and stepped out from the bucket, her body and clothes perfectly dry.
She wobbled and waved her arms around to gain her balance. Merlin frowned. "Drunk?" He asked and Viviane shook her head and glared.
"No." She hissed. "It's just been a while since I last stood up." She explained as she broke Merlin's gaze too look down at the sleeping prince. She huffed and placed her hands on her hips and leaned over the bed before slowly reaching out to put one hand on Arthur's forehead.
Her hand glowed soft silver and he could just about hear her muttering something under her breath, her eyes narrowed in concentration. After a moment she removed her hand from Arthur's forehead and sighed deeply. Merlin held his breath. Viviane shook her head "It's a sleeping curse." She explained. Merlin wanted to tell her not too state the obvious but she continued. "This spell is very powerful. I haven't felt a curse so strong in such a long time." She trembled slightly and looked quickly down at Arthur. "This magic feels like something a faerie would use." She placed one hand on Arthur's head again, and the glow was back, brighter this time as she searched deeper. "Faeries are tricksters; they change their magic to make it harder for people to see through their tricks and illusions." Her hand dropped back to her side "But this… It's so strong a very powerful Faerie must have done this."
Merlin sighed; he could see the girl was in distress. "That's enough for tonight Viviane" He said soothingly as he put one hand on her shoulder and guided her back to the bucket. She sighed in relief as she stepped into the water and sunk down till her head was just poking up out from the surface. "And thank you." He added quickly, she gave a quick smile in return and Merlin made his way back to his room.
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"Merlin, why is there a bucket of pond water in your room?" Merlin slowly looked up from his breakfast too see Gaius' standing in the door way to his room. Merlin paled as Gaius walked out holding the bucket in one hand. "What ever this is I'm throwing it out, the smell is something awful."
"Excuse me!" An annoyed little voice cried from the bucket of water and Merlin winced as Viviane's head popped up out of the water. Gaius would have dropped the bucket if Merlin's magic hadn't had left it floating in mid-air.
The physician stumbled backwards, wide eyes trained on the head sticking out of the bucket as it floated to the ground. "I do not smell!" Viviane growled as she pulled herself out of the water till only her feet were left submerged. Gaius blinked a few times to get over the shock and then quickly glared at Merlin. "Merlin-" He growled and that was all that was needed for Merlin to stutter out an explanation.
"She's here to help Arthur!" He began and Gaius shook his head.
"Whether she is here to help or not you have put both of you in great peril. If Uther found out a faerie was here he would put you both to death."
Merlin nodded "I know, what else does he do when magic is involved with anything?" He stated. "I know this is risky but she's identified the curse Arthur's under." Merlin explained and Gaius looked suspiciously at Viviane who nodded enthusiastically.
"It's a sleeping curse" She added and Gaius gave her a 'no duh' look. She glared back.
"She thinks a powerful faerie is behind it" Merlin explained "But other than that we have no other leads." Gaius looked thoughtful for a moment.
"I must have a book on fae creatures somewhere, I'll look into it." Gaius said as he began to search through the books on the nearest bookshelf. "Now finish you breakfast, I've got some jobs for you to do." Merlin nodded and went back to eating. It didn't take him long to finish and picked up the bottles he was told to deliver and walked out.
Gaius looked up from one of his books over to the bucket. "What's your name?" He asked and the fae stuck her head out of the water. "It's Viviane." She replied and Gaius nodded.
"Mine is Gaius." He replied. He was still weary of the Faerie, he had little experience with dealing with such creatures, but he had read much about how mischievous they were, he didn't fully trust her, but for Arthur's sake he had too.
"Can you tell me more about the curse?" He asked, Viviane pulled herself out of the water and onto the stone floor before nodding and picking up her bucket and walking over. "I should be able to do so." She replied.
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Chapter two is fin! I'm trying very hard to not make my character a Mary Sue, am I succeeding?