Okay, so sorry about the late update. I was busy over the weekend preparing for a big assignment in my speech class and never got around to typing it up, tried monday and couldn't think of a single word to type, gave up soon after and read fanfiction all night, decided to try tuesday evening after I got home from classes, but had given blood that day and was too tired to keep my eyes open let alone stare at the computer. So I yelled at myself for a few minutes this afternoon and forced myself to type this up today, so sorry if it's short and kind of bland but I was in a bit of a funk, lol. Hope you enjoy anyway. Also, over the funk now and already planning the next chapter. YAY!
The room was silent as they waited for news. So far, all that had been found out was that a stranger had made his way here from the west and had stayed in the inn, keeping to himself. He'd gotten in contact with Tom, Gwen's father, soon after. No one knew what they had spoken of, but the blacksmith had shut down his forge early.
The fact that he had bought Gwen a present the same day he died, a dress intended for her pleasure, had sent the grieving daughter further into tears, shoulders shaking as she sobbed, Morgana a comforting presence in the background. The two had yet to leave her room.
Merlin for his part was holed up in the library, seeking out any bit of information he could find on turning lead into gold. Arthur found him there, books in pillars around, creating a forest of paper and ink, blinking owlishly over an ancient looking tome, a candle flickering nearby in an enclosed lamp.
Merlin. "Merlin!" The Druid finally looked up, expression confused as Arthur glowered down at him. "Put the book down Merlin." He commanded and he complied, still looking confused. "Now leave everything and go get something to eat."
"Why?"
"God damnit, Merlin! You've been at this since morning and skipped lunch. Now you will go get something to eat or I will drag you to the kitchens myself and force you."
He looked at the small window, finally noticing the steadily darkening sky. "Oh."
"Yes 'oh', now go." Merlin sighed but complied, pushing his chair back ad following the prince out of the royal library. As the smells from the kitchen reached them, his st0omach finally took notice and complained loudly, informing him that he really had missed lunch and possibly hadn't had enough breakfast.
Arthur motioned for one of the kitchen maids to prepare a plate for each of them and soon after, they were ensconced in Arthur's rooms, eating in comfortable silence. "Have you found anything?" Arthur finally asked when they were finished.
"Only conformations of what I already know. Turning lead into gold is based from alchemy, but no one has been able to actually prove the theories. There have even been attempts to combine magic and alchemy, but none were successful. I think whoever did this must have found a way to use magic."
"And so we have no idea who killed Tom, what they want that kind of magic for, or where they've gone. I hate waiting." Arthur complained lowly, pushing up from his chair to pace the room.
"We do know one thing, they will be back to finish whatever it was they started." The sentence hung in the air between them, weighing heavily on their minds.
"No, no, you stay here. It will only take me a few minutes." Morgana told Gwen, stepping towards the door. Gwen gave without a fight, sinking back onto the bed. Smiling in triumph, she left and started down the stairs.
It had come to her attention that Gwen had no clothes to change into and her clothes, although of better quality than anything Gwen owned, were too big for the more petite woman. As the sun sank down, she made her way through Camelot to Gwen's now empty home.
She sped up as the shadows lengthened, stopping at a nearby line of clothing to pull them off and tucking them into the basket she carried. Gwen's room was easy to find, small, but clean. Pulling out things she would need, she switched what she had pulled off the line, laying those on the bed.
Something made a clamor in the smithy next to their home. Straightening quickly, she frowned. Finishing packing, she tiptoed to the door that connected the two building, pressing it open silently and slid through, the small dagger she kept on her always in her hand, a steady, comforting weight.
Small beady eyes glared at her from atop a bag of coal where the rat had knocked some out as it climbed over it. Sighing in relief, she shut the door and made her way towards the outer door. As she skirted some over turned baskets, a small speck of color drew her eye.
A pouch lay on the ground, something shiny sticking out of its loosened top. Scooping it up, she peered inside. It was a stone, amber colored and backed with silver that curved around the rounded stone to form claws that held the stone steady.
As she watched, it started to glow, reacting to something. Her eyes widened as she realized what it was she had found. Glancing around furtively, she shoved it back into the leather pouch, pulled in the draw strings tight and tucking it into the basket, letting the clothes cover it up. She glanced around quickly as she opened the door and slipped out, shutting the door behind her and walking at a steady pace back to the castle.
"What is it, Morgana?" Arthur asked as he and Merlin walked in shutting the door securely behind them.
"This." She held out the pouch, turning it over as Merlin held out a hand. It landed heavily into his pale palm. As it struck his palm, his eyes grew wide, a gasp escaping through thinned lips. "This is it."
"What? What is it?" Arthur demanded looked between the two of them and at the stone.
"It's what was used to change the lead to gold." Morgana supplied, striding to her bed and sat down in a flourish of skirt, leaning against Gwen as the woman watched all that was happening silently.
"You're sure?" They both nodded. "Then we have a way to draw him out. He won't leave without this. Sooner or later, he will try and get his hands on it and when he does, we'll strike." Arthur declared, a hard smile on his lips as a plan finally formed. It would involve waiting, but it was at least a plan of action.
"So who will hold onto it?" Merlin asked.