Chapter Eight

Arthur sunk down onto his knees. He remembered how he had first felt when he had been told about his mother, he remembered the sheer rage that had nearly driven him to murder Uther. He could feel that rage now, but here was also a hopelessness and an emptiness inside. His life had cost his mother hers.

He wasn't sure how long he knelt there staring unseeingly at the ground, but Lancelot and Iseldir did not try and interrupt his thoughts. They waited until he was ready to speak.

Arthur felt the wave of emotions threaten to overwhelm him and he pushed them back. He could decide later what he would do about this, and he could decide if he would finish what Merlin had prevented him from doing last time. He looked up at Iseldir.

"How do I break the spell?"

Iseldir shook his head. "This is dark magic, blood magic. Only the blood of the sorcerer who conjured the spell will break it."

"How?"

"His blood, or hers," amended Iseldir, "Must mix with yours, for when the spell was cast, the magic which gave you life was absorbed by the sorcerer. And he must be slain. Their life sacrificed to restore yours."

Arthur took a deep steadying breath. "And how do I find them?"

"That," said Iseldir sadly, "I cannot help you with. I do not know how to find them. He or she could be anywhere. It will be someone very powerful in the ways of magic and the only person alive, other than yourself, who remembers your life. But how to trace them…" he shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

"But they have to hope to accomplish something from all this," pointed out Lancelot. "They had to have gained something from whipping out Arthur's memory. How many people could have?"

"I suspect," said Iseldir, looking contemplatively at Arthur. "Our friend here was in a position of power in Camelot. If his absence is making the changes he has said."

Arthur winced as he realized he had been a little too unguarded when he had spoken earlier, but he began to mull over Lancelot's point. Who could gain from his absence? The answer was simple; any enemy of Camelot. Even as Uther's ward and adopted heir, Morgana was still not of Pendragon blood and her claim to the throne would be questioned after Uther's death.

From the point of view of magic-users, his absence would do worse than nothing, for if anything it would increase Uther's hatred of magic as he would have paid the price of his wife's life without receiving the reward of a son.

But hate was a powerful motivator. This would end the Pendragon line. Weaken Camelot. Morgana was strong, she might be able to maintain the throne and begin her own line…but she was also kinder towards magic then Uther. She was more open to it. She hid this from Uther, but during her fight to save Mordred she had said enough to convince Arthur she was not in line with his father on magic. Was someone counting on that when they had changed the world to make her Uther's heir?

"But," he asked Iseldir, "A wizard powerful enough to cast this spell…you must have some idea of some of the people capable of it?"

"I am afraid not. King Uther's vendetta against magic has caused many of our kind to live in complete secret, even from each other."

"So what am I to do?"

Iseldir thought. "I cannot tell you the best course of action. Either the sorcerer has already accomplished his mission with your removal from memory, in which case I do not see how you would find him. They could be anywhere and you could find no more effective method then randomly seeking out sorcerers, wizards and druids hoping to discover the right one, and even if you did find him you would have no way of knowing if he had been the one who cast the spell. But perhaps he has further goals. In which case, they most likely center around your old life. If so your best course would be to place yourself as near to it as you can and you may be able to recognize him for who he is when you see him. But you must choose how you wish to live your life, if you are willing to live what could be the rest of your years with nothing more than a hope of restoring what was lost."