Disclaimer: I own neither the story nor the characters of this lovely show. Also giving props to using the curse of sleeping beauty it's due, seeing as I have Gaius reference it in his understanding of the spell.
Rating: M
Warning: Eventual slash pairing. MalexMale pairing in other words, if you want to see Arthur end up with Gwen turn away from this story!
Spoilers: Up to the end of Series 2, though only a little bit, slight mentions here and there.
A/N: Hello all, lovely to see you again. Looking wonderful and chipper today, you know, through the internet…anyway, I decided to let Arthur discover the spells workings with Gaius to show some of my thinking on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. I know, I am an utter book nerd, I see sub-meanings in everything, even fairy tales that are hundreds of years old. Hope you guys enjoy!
Summary: In this chapter we have Gaius helping Arthur come to an understanding about the spell and what it includes, he also helps show that perhaps the witch who cast the spell on Arthur has other motives than just revenge on her mind, like most of the other villains on the show.
Chapter 2: Gaius
His knights immediately surrounded him, checking for what damage had been done to their leader. Arthur waved them off so that he could breathe and do an internal check on his person. Taking account that besides a slight headache nothing seemed to be off with his body, Arthur immediately tried to make sense of what had just happened.
Stepping in front of the other men, Sir Leon approached Arthur's side "Sire? That witch, what did she…I mean no offense, but do you feel the same?"
Glancing at the knight and calming himself so that he could once more take control of the situation, Arthur cleared his throat to get the attention of his entire caravan, not that he didn't have it already. "A good question Leon, I feel fine and no change to my way of thinking seems to be imparted. Perhaps we should make our way back to Gaius' chambers and I shall get checked out by the physician."
Though the Prince very much doubted the woman had lied of what the spell induced, he knew from his childhood that Gaius had often advised his father on dealing with certain spells. Oh how he sometimes longed to be that small again and be able to sneak around the castle without anyone noticing. It was how Arthur had one day overheard the king talking angrily about Gaius' dealings with those of magical heritage. Though the man was not magic himself, perhaps he could advise Arthur, as he did with his father on so many occasions even now, on how he could deal with his newest curse.
Urging the Knights unto their horses quicker, the royal group made their way back toward the gates of Camelot. On the trip the Prince was able to convince the knights to go rest immediately upon arrival, since the King did not expect them back before tomorrow, and that straight away after seeing Gaius he would go inform the King himself of what transpired in the woods. All the Knights agreed to this plan. They had been working just as hard as Arthur on the rebuilding of the city and Arthur knew they deserved a break, even if Arthur was suffering under a spell.
Making his way toward Gaius's chamber filled Arthur with a bit of guilt, whenever he made his way to this room it was always to see Merlin or bother Gaius with one of his problems, never just to see the older man.
When he was a child Gaius was an important person to Arthur, practically family, and now Arthur only saw him in the capacity of his duty. He would have to work on that. If there was anything losing Morgana to that witch had taught him, it was that Arthur should make more time for those that he cared about outside of castle politics, because you never knew when they would be gone.
Reaching Gaius' door ceased Arthur's thoughts from going down the dangerous road of possibilities about what had happened to Morgana and the prince shook himself to focus on his problem at the moment.
Knocking and then entering when permitted, the Prince came upon Gaius as he usually was: hunched over his mixing table intent on some brew he was making. "Ah Sire, to what do I owe the pleasure? I was made aware that you would be hunting till tomorrow evening. What brings you back to Camelot?"
Chuckling at the man's skewed glasses perched on his nose (He remembers Merlin's panic the day that had happened. Scared of what Gaius would do to him because he had accidentally sat on them.) Arthur firmly shut the door and made his way into the heart of the physician's chamber. "I thought I wouldn't return till tomorrow as well, but a witch has changed my plans once again it seems."
Gaius' attention was solely focused on him now and he knew why. Usually when coming into contact with any magical person Arthur or the people of Camelot's lives were in danger. The circumstances were never mundane.
However with this particular spell, Arthur didn't feel it was so much meant to kill him as it was to be embarrassing and teach him something. "It's not quite that bad Gaius, I am not in any immediate danger but well…Let me tell you exactly what happened, shall I?"
At Gaius' nod Arthur began his story with his shot being ruined by the woman's lullaby and made his way through the events of the curse to why he had come to see Gaius, noting that the man seemed to be greatly amused by what the Prince's particular spell was.
Upon finishing his story the Prince gave Gaius a defeated look and exclaimed: "I cannot believe the nerve of that woman, making the Prince of Camelot seek out others and asking them to sing! Can you imagine it?" Finally Gaius let loose a chuckle that Arthur quickly joined in with, seeing the humor in being sung a lullaby at his age and having to ask others to sing to him.
Sitting on the bench at Gaius' table Arthur put his head in his hands and asked Gaius: "Do you think the spell can be reversed in any way? Have you heard of such a thing before?"
Chuckling again Gaius answered his question with a voice laden with amusement, "It sounds like a curse I heard long ago, though in that particular maiden's case she was put to sleep and only a kiss would awaken her. Your curse sounds to be of a similar line, only the song of the person meant to be closest to you in life can bring you resolution. Though I do believe in the maiden's case it was her true love that must break the spell, the wording the woman used for this particular spell is odd."
Looking at the man curiously, Gaius seemed to think of something startling as his eyebrows shot up, "Sire can you go over the exact wording again? I need to make sure so that I can properly give you my opinion."
Nodding at the older man Arthur recited the words the woman had spoke right before she disappeared, " 'This spell will leave you sleepless until the lullaby of the one who will be closest to your heart and soul, the one who will touch you the deepest, sings their lullaby to you. You need only ask others to sing and the lullaby of their heart will be sung to you, but only the lullaby of your destined other will lull you into peace. This is a gift and my lesson to you little Prince, may you learn well from it', How am I to know if the lullaby works though? Do I just try to go to sleep after? It makes no sense!" Gaius, who had seemed bothered by what the spell would do, looked up at the Prince's outburst.
"Perhaps we should test the spell.", he suggested while rubbing his hands together.
Arthur looked at the older man strangely, "What?"
Sighing, the older man rose from his work station where he had remained seated throughout their talk, "Sire, it seems that no harm will come to you by trying out the spell and where better than a physician's office to test if the spell will hurt you physically, so that if anything were to go wrong we would be prepared? Ask me to sing you a lullaby and we will see what happens."
When Arthur seemed to be about to protest, Gaius raised his hand in a stopping gesture, "I know it is embarrassing my Lord, but sometimes the best way to cure an ailment is to do tests. Now is the best time while there is no one else but you and I."
Arthur shook his head in resignation, the man's wisdom did nothing toward the fact that he was about to ask the man he had known all his life to sing to him as if he were a child. "Oh alright! *sigh* Gaius, would you, uhh, *cough* would you please sing to me?"
As soon as the words left his mouth Gaius began to make a noise in his throat. Though the man never seemed to open his mouth it was as if the Prince could hear a song in his head.
Gaius' song did resonate with him. It was about a lost life, not following one's heart and then redemption in the form of another. The song wasn't more words as an understanding of who the man was.
He saw Gaius as a young boy watching a druid healer bring a man who had collapsed in the square back from the brink of death then exclaiming to his mother that was what he wanted to do one day.
He next saw Gaius as a young man learning magic and meeting new warlocks to help improve his magic, which turned into helping Uther get rid of many of the same warlocks who were willing to teach him.
Arthur watched Gaius save some people's life who were not as magical and crying himself to sleep at night over those that he could not save.
He watched the man throw himself into becoming the best physician he could become, to his joy at having Merlin in his life as he saw the younger man as the son he had never had and his redemption for those he had turned his back on in his earlier life for Uther.
He then saw Gaius dying in his sleep, at peace with himself and the world around him.
As soon as the "singing" ended, a voice that sounded much like the mother Morgose had summoned for Arthur long ago sounded in his head. "This is not the one, Arthur."
Simply hearing the voice of his mother brought tears to his eyes, though he quickly caught himself before Gaius could notice his random mood swing. Clearing his throat Arthur caught Gaius' attention, who had seemed to be caught up in his own thinking while he clutched his throat. "Sorry Gaius, afraid you're not the right person but I think I understand how the spell works now. The "song" though doesn't really seem like a song, it was more like I was resonating with you, like if we were compatible I would be at peace with your song. Does that make sense?"
Gaius gave him a strange look, "But sire, I didn't actually sing anything. After you asked me, I simply began humming. "
Pondering his words, Arthur recalled exactly what had happened in the woods while the witch was casting the spell on him. "There was a humming in my head while the witch was putting her spell on me. Perhaps the humming is merely what the person does and it gets translated in my head? I do know that I will know if it is the right song when I hear it though, that much was made clear."
Still looking concerned, Gaius nodded his head. "Perhaps we should..."
A knocking on the door interrupted whatever Gaius was about to say though and a personal guard of the king stuck his head through the entryway. "Sire, the King requests your presence immediately in the dining hall."
Nodding his head toward the guard, Arthur made his way toward the door before turning his body back toward Gaius. "Thank you for your help Gaius, I know it is not easy being forced to reveal things through a spell. I want to assure you anything I learned through your help will not be revealed by me to anyone."
With those haunting words, the Prince turned his back toward Gaius' surprised face and quickly made his way into the hallway to accompany the guard to where his father was awaiting his arrival.
Back in his chambers Gaius sunk back to sit on his bench heavily. While humming the tune to what he believed was an old drinking song from back in the days of his youth, Gaius' life's significant moments had seemed to come to the forefront: his learning of magic to his betrayal of everyone and staying loyal to Uther, to finally Merlin and his love and affection for the boy.
Depending on how the spell worked, Arthur might quite possibly know that both Gaius and Merlin could perform magic, though his reaction did not seem to justify this suspicion.
The opportunity was just too good to pass up for Gaius though, despite the risks. Spells of that caliber were so rare to come across now. The caster would have to be immensely old and have tremendous power to cast such a spell.
Depending on how the target received his curse-breaker was also significant. In the case of the maiden, a kiss even from her true love was stealing her innocence from her, so that even if thwarted the witch who cast her spell would forever change the maiden from being as pure as she once was.
This spell cast on the prince though, seemed to be trying for the opposite. By making the Prince listen to other's hearts essentially and discovering what lay underneath their present intentions, seemed to be to help the Prince learn about those around him and find those that would truly help him and be there for him: keeping his heart pure from those that would harm him.
Whoever the woman was who cast the spell, she seemed more interested in enlightening Arthur than hurting him and it seemed as if she already knew who Arthur's intended lullaby would come from.
Speaking of, if Gaius was correct in understanding the clue the woman had left in the wording of the spell, he had a letter to write and send via magic as quickly as possible.
It might be dangerous if he were caught, but if he was correct about who would be able to break Arthur's spell, then the Prince would be going without sleep for at least two days, if not more. He hoped Arthur had enough stamina to make it that long.
TBC in Chapter 3: Uther
Next Chapter Preview: "What do you plan to do then? I assume you have some people in mind that are worthy candidates to hold your *snort* right song? Otherwise we might have to make it open to the public. Oh, I can hear the proclamation now: Come sing the Prince a lullaby, Camelot's safety rests on your vocal skills!"