1001 NE, Spring
Merlin found a familiar face passing as soon as he stepped out of the tent.
"Gaius!"
At his voice Gaius stopped and turned to see him there. He dropped the basket onto the baked dirt and met him halfway.
"Merlin! Boy, I didn't think to see you again!" He clasped Merlin's shoulders, hard, and then pushed him off to have a look. "You've done well for yourself. But--you've returned? Why?"
"I" Merlin looked around at the hard, unwelcoming faces of those passing. They knew who he was, what the black coat stood for. "Maybe we could go somewhere?"
"Of course! Will you join me in my tent for refreshment--are you staying?" Gaius made for a tent with drying herbs and casks sitting about outside, regular tools of the healer's trade.
"Yes. To all those things."
They were soon comfortable inside, sipping at hot cups of sweet tea.
"Did you come with the Dragon Reborn, then?"
"You know what this is?" He motioned towards his coat, and paused until he saw the nod. "He's sent me here to protect High Lord Pendragon, to aid him against these Seanchan. Their damane use the One Power, and I'm--we're--here for balance. Nutir and Kullyn are here also. Both are Dedicated; they'll be on the front lines whereas I'm to ... make sure Arthur lives." He went to take another drink of tea, only to find it empty. "Min, the Lord Dragon's companion, she sees the weave of the Pattern. Arthur and I are bound--and if I don't keep near him, then he will die. One of many ways. They need one of the great generals alive more than they need an Asha'man fighting on the front line of battle."
Merlin thought of the deserters, the Black Ajah Aes Sedai, well-aimed blades striking where it would hurt most, killing generals, aides. The latest general's fate lay heavily upon him: flayed in his thin-walled tent with guards standing just outside. A gholam, the Lord Dragon had said, a creature resistant to the touch of the One Power. He wondered where Taim and his deserters were now; Mordred's last taunt stuck in his mind.
Gaius poured them some more tea, and then sat after twitching the tent flaps to peer outside. "They knew of where you served, before you went to them?"
Merlin stared down at the cup and his wavering reflection. "Yes and no. They know I was once his manservant, but not. Notnothing else." Not even Gaius knew everything.
"They know of the bond?"
Merlin's head snapped up to him, fingers clenching around his cup. "You know?"
"I arrived to find Morgana Sedai and Lord Arthur unconscious on the battlefield, with no mark upon them, with his personal guard fighting the last of the Illian. Morgana Sedai had to tell Arthur why it was he could feel where you were, and why you were going to Illian. Of course I know; I knew hours after it occurred."
"Ah." Merlin fumbled for words. "Yes, the Lord Dragon knows of the bond. Important men are dying, and they see the hand of the Forsaken in it, destabilising the armies and command. Too many experienced generals and commanders are being lost to be solely due to the weaving of the Wheel. Arthur can sense Shadowspawn, because of the bond, but where he would fall against Darkhounds, or Draghkar, I can take care of them. "
"You've seen the High Lord? You may want to stay out of his sight until he is used to your having returned." Gaius twitched the tent flap again.
"He knows I'm here, Gaius; I was in the command tent when he spoke to the Lord Dragon. He's angry." Merlin thought of Arthur, tall and strong in his anger, a surety and solidity to his presence, where before he'd only shown promise. A joy bubbled beneath his chest at being near him, even if he wasn't in Arthur's graces.
"That's to be expected. You may want to stay away from Morgana Sedai; she's here, too. She's of the White Tower, even if Arthur's sister ... and Morgana has sworn no oaths to the Lord Dragon."
Merlin nodded. He'd heard there was an Aes Sedai in camp before arriving. "Tell me, what has happened in Tear? I have heard only little. How is Will?"
Gaius was quiet. He looked away and sighed. "You wouldn't have heard. Will was killed when the Trollocs came to Tear, after the Stone fell."
It hit Merlin, a dark blow. He'd imagined Will as happy in his routines about the Stone, sneaking off in the evening to the docks like they used to, listening to the sailors from afar. He'd thought that Will, at least, could have escaped the Lord Dragon's upheaval of the world, and remain far from the war against the Dark One.
They sat in silence. Merlin's thoughts were a whirl of memories of Will, laughing, in trouble, and sharing those quiet moments when they were free for the day. Someone came to the tent and called for Gaius, and Merlin left, tugging his coat into place as he pushed through the flap, schooling his face into cool impassivity over the heaviness the news left sitting in him.