Alaia Skyhawk: Here's the next bit. Again a few small scene additions, line tweaks, etc :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.
Music: N/A
"Whom History Won't Remember" Episode: Famine
~(-)~
Chapter 62: The Labyrinth of Gedref ~Part 2~
"Patrol the market and the lower town. No one is to leave their homes. Dismissed." The squad of guards turned, marching out of the castle gates to do as commanded, while their prince went in the opposite direction only to stop at seeing a familiar figure crossing the courtyard in the night-time darkness. "Merlin, you do realise there's a curfew."
The servant paused, turning to face him, casual in a manner that said 'no I wasn't wandering around where I shouldn't be', although in this case that was true.
"Yeah, I was in your chambers hunting for the rat."
Arthur neared him, sceptical.
"And did you find it?"
"No."
Merlin was honestly disappointed at that, because now he was about to get scolded, again, for a problem he hadn't even been in the castle to prevent at the time it had happened.
True to form, and expectation, Arthur did not look impressed.
"So you have been outwitted by a rat."
Merlin shrugged.
"Well they do say rats are very intelligent."
"More intelligent than you, it would seem." Arthur shook his head. "Get back to your quarters. It would be embarrassing to have to lock up my own servant for breaking the curfew." He turned, catching a glimpse of a figure in pale robes entering one of the side doors from the courtyard. "What was that?"
"What?"
Merlin looked puzzled, but followed after the prince when he broke into a run and leapt the low wall between them and the door in question. Still he didn't see the figure, but Arthur clearly did from his position several yards ahead, a figure that was only walking and yet was always far ahead of them each time they followed it around a corner.
The pursuit led them to the bottom of one of the stairways in the lower levels, specifically one that connected to part of the crypts. Arthur viewed the two directions the figure could have gone, knowing they connected, and made several silent gestures to Merlin. He then turned to go to the right, pulling up short when his servant continued to follow him.
He repeated the gestures, irritated.
"That means you go the other way, and cut him off!"
"Ah, ok."
Merlin sprinted down the other passage, Arthur gritting his teeth and going down his. Both found only silent coffins and shadowed hallways, arriving at the point where the two routes met.
Arthur glared at him like he thought Merlin was to blame for there being no one here, but was stopped by the shadow of the figure being cast in torchlight down the passage he had come by. He sent his servant back the way he'd come, the two of them circling round to once again try and trap whoever it was, but once again they met up again at the stairway with no sign of anyone.
"Where is he?"
Merlin shook his head.
"I didn't see anyone."
Arthur pointed at the floor.
"He was right here. Don't tell me you let him get past you."
Merlin was starting to become irritated now, annoyed at repeatedly being blamed for things.
"Arthur, no one passed me!"
"Are you blind?"
"Are you looking for me?" The elderly voice interrupted them, both glancing to the side to see the very same old man that Merlin had seen back where the unicorn had been killed. He seemed unconcerned by their pursuit. "I am Anhora, Keeper of the Unicorns."
Arthur glanced at Merlin, before addressing the robed man.
"Camelot is under curfew. What is your business here?"
"I have come to deliver a message."
Arthur frowned.
"And who is this message for?"
The old man regarded him solemnly.
"It is for you, Arthur Pendragon."
The prince began to scowl slightly.
"Is it you who's responsible for killing our crops and turning our water into sand?"
Merlin watched, uneasy, but something in his magic said Anhora meant no harm. He radiated a presence, much like the unicorn had, but not as strong. But still, it was pure as he responded to the prince's accusation.
"You alone are responsible for the misfortune that has befallen Camelot."
"Me? You think I'd bring drought and famine upon my people?"
Anhora bowed his head for a moment, before looking at Arthur again.
"When you killed the unicorn, you unleashed a curse. For this, Camelot will suffer greatly."
Merlin moved to step forward, to try calm Arthur down, but didn't reach him before he accused Anhora again.
"If you have put a curse on Camelot, you will lift it or you will pay with your life."
Merlin stopped, bringing a hand to his face and turning away in exasperation. His actions gained a glance from Anhora, but the old man still spoke only to Arthur.
"The curse is not my doing."
"Undo the curse, or face execution."
"...Only you can do that." Anhora stared Arthur in the eye, unconcerned by how he had advanced ever closer to him. "You will be tested."
Arthur could take no more, reached out to grab him.
"You're under arrest."
He stumbled as Anhora literally vanished from under his fingers, he and Merlin turning to face the stairs when the man spoke again.
"Until you have proven yourself, and made amends for killing the unicorn, the curse will not be lifted. If you fail any of these tests, Camelot will be damned for all eternity."
And then he was gone.
~(-)~
It was a troubled servant who headed to his master's chambers the next morning, grimacing at how little he'd had for breakfast and cringing at the lingering taste of tea made with the bathwater he'd forgotten to tip away the night before that. It didn't help that Gaius had been concerned that Arthur was refusing to accept he was responsible for the curse, and as a result has as much as said he expected him to get him to see sense.
Yes, just load dealing with the stubborn and egotistical prat onto Merlin. He won't mind!
Merlin let out a long-suffering sigh, arriving at Arthur's chambers with a single covered plate instead of a full tray. Arthur was already awake when he entered, and looked grumpy, and so Merlin pasted on a smile and made a show of lifting the cover from it.
"Fresh bread, and it's still warm. You're lucky you're the prince, because the cooks were only able to bake a few loaves this morning, and that's it. Most of it's being distributed to the guards, to keep them fighting fit, and to the nobles. Just about everyone else is making do with scraps and mildewed vegetables."
He put the plate on the table, moving away from it while once again Arthur was seated on his bed pulling on his boots. Any hope that the food would put in him a better frame of mind went right out the windows though, when Arthur noticed something wrong with one of the pieces of footwear.
He stood up and stormed over to Merlin, holding the offending boot almost right in his face to show him the hole that had been gnawed in it.
"That rat! It's eaten through my boot! Look at it!"
Merlin eyed the hole, decidedly sarcastic in his reply.
"I guess the rat must be as hungry as the rest of us."
"You think this is funny?"
Merlin allowed himself a small smirk.
"Moderately."
Arthur threw the boot at him, before storming to retrieve his spare pair from behind the dressing screen.
"Get it mended, and find that rat."
Merlin watched him from the corner of his eye, heading to the same screen to to put Arthur's used nightshirt into the basket with yesterday's things, not that they would be getting washed any time soon. Water was too precious to waste, and the emergency cisterns were already almost dry.
"Have you given any more thought to what Anhora said last night?"
Arthur had picked up the chunk of bread, swallowing the piece he'd bitten off before answering.
"Ah, well. He may have escaped last night, but at least we now know who we're looking for. I've told my father that I'll find this 'Anhora' and put an end to it."
Merlin frowned a little to himself, still nonchalantly going about his usual tidying chores.
"What if he was telling the truth about the curse?"
Arthur stared at him.
"You think... that I am responsible for bringing suffering upon my own people?"
Merlin looked at him, shaking his head.
"No." Arthur seemed to relax, but stiffened when his servant continued. "Not deliberately." Merlin turned to him, suddenly serious. "When you killed the unicorn, I saw Anhora in the forest."
The prince jolted to attention.
"Then why didn't you say anything?"
Great, here came passing the blame again. Merlin sighed.
"It was just for a second and then he disappeared. I thought I was seeing things... But he was definitely there."
"But it doesn't actually prove anything."
Merlin stared at him, disbelieving.
"Well doesn't that make you think that what he's saying might be true?"
Arthur wasn't convinced.
"Because he was skulking around in the forest? That makes me trust him even less."
"Then why would Anhora appear in Camelot and then lie to you?"
"We had him cornered. He was trying to talk his way out of it by blaming me."
Merlin stared at him deadpan for several seconds. Did he really just hear that?
"Arthur, he can disappear into thin air. He didn't have to talk his way out of anything."
The prince's expression was now verging on a glare.
"My father has warned me about sorcerers like him. He will not rest until our kingdom is destroyed."
Merlin didn't budge.
"Well I think he's telling the truth."
"Then you're a fool. You cannot trust a single word a sorcerer says. You'd do well to remember that."
He reached for his jacket, starting to put it on, but froze at the quiet words his servant uttered next.
"Didn't take you long to forget Will, did it?"
Arthur turned, realising what he'd said. The unspoken boundary he'd just stepped over.
"Look, you know I didn't mean it like that."
"But you did." Merlin looked away, sick of listening to Arthur act like this. "You don't even realise just how judgemental you can be. You point fingers and say 'they're to blame, not me'. Not once since this has started have you ever considered what might really be going on, even after Gaius said there were legends, warnings, about killing unicorns. Didn't you even notice that the first outbreak of the crops dying follows the route we rode back here with that horn? Go on, look at the map you made notes on if you don't believe me." He sighed. "You can keep pointing fingers, Arthur, but I guarantee it's not going to change anything."
Arthur was watching him, almost warily like he expected him to bite him or something.
"Are you finished?"
Merlin crossed his arms, not looking at him.
"Considering it seems everything I just said has gone in one ear and out the other... Yes."
The atmosphere in the room became awkward and strained, Arthur deciding not to reprimand Merlin seeing as he knew how raw he still was about Will's death. Instead he finished putting on his jacket, resuming what he'd been about to say before.
"If it's Anhora or not, I still think his next move will be our remaining supplies. So tonight we're going to be waiting for him."
He had his back to Merlin, quite deliberately, so that he wouldn't see the expression of disgust on the servant's face. Merlin had been raised by different rules, with different experiences, and so he thought in different ways. He just had to prove to him that he was right, and then he'd stop acting so disappointed in him.
Although Arthur still had to wonder why he even cared, a thought he'd often had. It was that saying about loyalty again, probably. More than likely he'd accidentally stepped over some fine line in what Merlin would and wouldn't put up with, and now he was sulking.
Still, he could sulk all he wanted, but he was still going to be helping watch the grain vault tonight.
~(-)~
The brush end of the broom came down on the dark haired head, the owner jolting from his half doze while stood above him a prince stared down in annoyance.
"Don't you worry about keeping watch, Merlin. You just make yourself comfortable."
Arthur strode away, leaving his servant to scramble to his feet from where he'd been leaning against the wall or a storeroom close to the grain vault. It was the dead of night, well after the curfew, and Arthur was keeping him awake while at the same time he'd expect him to be up at dawn tomorrow. It didn't help that Merlin believed that this little stakeout was a complete waste of time.
Seriously, like he'd said to Arthur earlier. Anhora could disappear into thin air. Move from one spot to another instantly. Sure, if he sped his time up he could mimic the effect of it, but he knew it had to be some sort of powerful spell cast in advance. The old man had made it seem far too easy for it to be anything else. And if he'd prepare like that just to deliver a message, he wasn't the kind to be caught off guard.
Sighing, Merlin followed after the prince. With any luck, Arthur would give up on this before he lost all his sleep. But no, it wasn't to be, at least not yet. Arthur had just spotted someone sneaking into the grain vault.
"Someone's coming." He gestured for Merlin to follow him into the vault, whoever had just gone in being on the far side of the grain silo. He signalled for Merlin to go to the left and cut him off, before edging to the right to do the same as he drew his sword. "Show yourself, before I run you through." A figure came into view, holding a spade and a small sack of pilfered grain, and Arthur frowned. "Who are you?"
The man was clearly scared, his reply hesitant.
"M-my name is Evan, My Lord."
Arthur's tone was disproving.
"I see you think you can help yourself to our grain reserves. My father has ordered that looters be executed."
Evan started to look panicked.
"Please, My Lord, I-I do not steal for myself. I have three children, the have not eaten in two days. They are hungry."
Arthur had advanced towards him, ready to stop him fleeing if necessary, but there was a hint of sympathy in his voice now.
"It's the same for everyone."
Evan was still afraid.
"I know that it is wrong to steal, I just... I just couldn't bear to see them starve."
"And could you bear for your children to see you executed?" The man bowed his head, shaking it in remorse. Arthur stepped aside after a moment's pause. "Then you should go home. If you're caught stealing again, I will not spare you."
Merlin watched as Evan raised his head in surprise, unable to help the small smile at Arthur's mercy. He may be an ass, but he did have his moments. Evan smiled too, in joy and relief.
"Yes, My Lord."
He put down the spade and the bag of grain, hurrying towards the door until Arthur's voice stopped him.
"Wait." The prince looked down at the bag, picking it up and throwing it to Evan. "Use it sparingly. It might be the last food you and your family get for some time."
Once again Evan smiled in thanks, but this time there was something more to it.
"You have shown yourself to be merciful and kind, My Lord... This will bring its own reward."
He turned and left, Arthur not seeming to notice the odd way that had been said, but Merlin did. He frowned a little, thoughtful, and wondered. But it would be after noon tomorrow before his question was answered.
And answered it was, in what at this time was the most glorious way possible. Water! The water had returned to the wells!
Lugging a very full pitcher full of it up to Arthur's chambers, he no longer cared about losing sleep last night. All he cared about right now was slaking the thirst that had plagued him since his last drink of bathwater tea.
The prince stared at him when he saw the jug and Merlin's grin, wasting no time in accepting the mug his servant filled for him. Draining it as fast as Merlin drained the one he poured for himself.
"I never knew water could taste so good."
Merlin had to agree with that.
"My throat was so dry I thought I wouldn't be able to talk."
Arthur smiled a little at that.
"At least some good would have come from the drought then."
Setting down his cup, Merlin picked up the jug again, ignoring the tease.
"More?"
Arthur didn't refuse, instead watching as the clear liquid was poured into his cup.
"The sand's gone, the water's returned to the well. It doesn't make any sense." Merlin cleared his throat a little, Arthur catching the hint. "I suppose you have some explanation for this, Merlin. Let's hear it."
The servant did his best to remain casual.
"Anhora said that you would be tested, and last night in the grain store you let that villager go... And he said that it would 'bring its own reward'."
Arthur looked sceptical.
"He was being grateful, and so he should have been."
"Maybe that was your first test. You passed it, so the curse has begun to lift." He gestured to the jug of water. "Perhaps this is your reward." Arthur looked at the water in his mug, now at least a little thoughtful, but still not convinced. "Look I know you don't have to listen to me."
"Glad we agree on something."
Merlin rolled his eyes a little at the sarcasm, now serious.
"If you're tested again, you have a chance to end your peoples' suffering. I know you want that more than anything." Arthur was now quiet, and Merlin decided to press his current advantage. "Perhaps we should seek Anhora out."
Arthur shook his head, dismissing the idea.
"We cannot negotiate with sorcerers. My father would never hear of it."
"Then it's probably best you don't tell him."
The way Arthur looked at him after he'd said that, Merlin could have kicked himself. The walls that had begun to lift, came down like an iron portcullis and Arthur headed for the door. He looked and sounded edgy, like part of him wanted to say yes, but the other part did not want to hide anything from his father.
"I must go check on the guard. See if you can find me some food."
Merlin watched him go, cursing himself as soon as the prince was out of earshot. He'd just effectively asked Arthur to side with him behind the back of his father, something he'd told himself in the past he would never do. If Arthur decided to do it on his own, it was fine, but it was wrong to ask it of him when he knew it could cause potential conflict between them.
He turned, bracing himself against the table and putting his mind to the other problem, snorting a little at the thought of it.
"Find you some food. Yeah, likely considering the kitchens were closed at midday." It was then that movement caught his eye, a hint of fur and a whiskered nose poking out of a now larger hole in Arthur's boot. It was the rat! Without thinking, Merlin pointed at it. "Swealt deor!"
The rodent rolled over as it tried to flee the boot, dead in an instant as Merlin then walked over to pick it up. If Arthur wanted something to eat when just about everyone else was making do with having had only one meal today, then he'd just have to accept what was offered to him.
Merlin stuffed the creature inside his jacket and headed back to Gaius' chambers, thankful that the physician wasn't there to question just what it was that his ward was soon cooking in a pot. Returning to Arthur's chambers a few hours later, with the pot of stew he'd made and done his best to disguise what was in it, through a window he saw the suddenly larger group of people waiting in line for food. Many of them had faces he didn't recognise, and in the space of a few moments he realised grimly who they were.
People were coming from the outer villages... coming to look for food when there was barely enough for the people already here. When Arthur returned to his chambers, it was clear he'd been down there and seen them. It was also clear that their suffering was getting to him.
He watched impassively as Merlin ladled some of the stew into a bowl for him, suddenly not interested in food.
"I've lost my appetite."
Merlin pushed the bowl towards him.
"You have to eat something."
The prince shook his head.
"I can't, not while my people are starving." He looked at Merlin, solemn. "Do you really believe... I'm responsible for the curse?"
Merlin sighed. He wasn't going to go easy on him.
"I'm afraid so."
Hearing that seemed to make Arthur decide, his expression solemn.
"Tomorrow we're going out to the forest. Maybe we can pick up Anhora's trail. Whatever it takes."
His servant started to smile, glad that Arthur was finally starting to see some sense.
"Ok, but you have to eat. You won't be able to help anyone if you're too weak to pass the test. And don't make me have cooked this for nothing. Gaius will skin me if he finds out I pinched some of his herbs to make this."
Arthur eyed the watery-looking stew unenthusiastically, getting a lump of the meat in it onto his spoon.
"You cooked this?"
"Trust me, I can cook far better when I actually have more ingredients to work with. But in times like these, you just have to make do."
Arthur grudgingly put the first spoonful into his mouth, grimacing as he began to chew and trying to fathom what it was.
"What kind of meat is this? It has a very strange texture."
Merlin, who was making himself busy near the dressing screen, didn't look at him.
"It's pork."
Arthur looked at the stew again, still chewing.
"This is not pork. It's far too stringy. What is it..." He swallowed, only then realising. "It's rat, isn't it?"
Merlin finally looked at him, nodding.
"Try not to think about it."
Arthur gulped some of the water from his cup, and rose from his seat with a falsely cheerful expression on his face.
"Look at me, I'm being rude. Here I am, stuffing my face with this delicious stew, when you're hungry too." He moved to Merlin and forced him to sit down in his chair. "Come on, take a seat, and eat."
Merlin knew where this was going, unable to avoid it given the mood Arthur was in. There was nothing for it.
He grimaced a little as he got some of the meat onto the spoon, the prince urging him on to eat it. Arthur was right about the texture, it would be enough to put anyone off, but he'd failed to admit that his servant had done a good job of disguising the overall taste. It wasn't, after all, the first time Merlin had cooked rat. In a small farming village, when times were hard, eating the rodents that kept trying to eat your supplies wasn't an uncommon occurrence.
It still didn't make it any easier to swallow it though, against the general thought that it was rat.
"It's actually... pretty tasty."
Arthur had an almost vindictive smile on his face.
"Well I'm glad you like it, because there's plenty more." He lifted the lid from the stew pot, just as there was a knock on the door. "Enter."
It opened and Morgana looked in, although she paid no attention to the fact Merlin was sat in Arthur's chair.
"I hate to ask, but I was wondering if you'd had anything to eat."
Merlin had to fight not to laugh at the expression on Arthur's face at that question, but he could not hide his smile. Waiting until Morgana had left before taking another mouthful of the stew, he made a show of eating it without fuss while Arthur stared at him. He then smirked.
"I've eaten worse, trust me. A lot of things taste good when you're hungry enough, and before I came to Camelot I've experienced 'hungry enough' a few times."
He got up from the chair, sticking the ladle back into the pot and using it as a substitute bowl once he'd lifted some of the stew up in it.
As for Arthur, he stared at his servant for several moments more, until he returned to his seat and hesitantly resumed eating the portion in the bowl. And after a few mouthfuls, if he ignored the stringy texture, even he had to admit it wasn't that bad.
~(-)~
"I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for."
"You're looking for footprints, or broken branches. Anything that would indicate that someone passed that way."
Prince and servant crept through the forest in the morning light, looking for Anhora and thus far not having much luck. Arthur was focused, he'd gotten another piece of bread this morning, but Merlin hadn't had a thing, and hunger was leaving him a bit distracted.
Merlin tried to ignore the grumbles of protest coming from his stomach, trying to remind himself that this wasn't the first time in his life he'd gone without for a few days. Living in Camelot had clearly left him a bit soft, not that he wanted to admit that to Arthur.
Suppressing a sigh, he kept looking for the things the prince had mentioned, finding nothing but rabbit trails, a few deer tracks, and then his eyes chanced upon a large patch of small familiar leaves on long thin stems poking up from the leaf litter.
Merlin stared at them, hardly able to believe his luck, but then the plant wasn't a 'crop' so why would the curse have affected it.
Within moments he knelt down by the patch, plucking several handfuls of the leaves off at ground level and stuffing them into his pockets, before grabbing two more clumps and getting up to resume looking for signs of the sorcerer. It wasn't long before Arthur started to wonder at the sudden uncharacteristic silence of his manservant, as he eventually looked over to see Merlin stuffing several green stems into his mouth from his pockets.
He stared.
"What on earth are you eating?"
Merlin paused mid-chew, blinking before hastily swallowing his mouthful.
"What? I'm hungry."
"You're eating weeds?"
The servant rolled his eyes, reaching into his pocket and pulling out some of his little stash.
"It's not a weed... well technically you could call it that... but anyway. It's called Bittercress, it's edible, and because it's a wild plant it looks like the curse doesn't affect it. So yes, I'm eating it. Want some?"
Arthur continued to stare at him strangely.
"I think I'll pass."
"Your loss."
Merlin stuffed the handful into his mouth and resumed eating, inwardly amused at how fussy Arthur was being. Considering what he'd eaten last night, it was all a bit silly.
They continued to search, going deeper into the woods, wandering in circles almost until Arthur finally called for a short rest. Merlin watched him sit there, glad at least that despite urgency the prince had sense enough to pace himself. But still, he hadn't eaten since this morning and was certain to be hungry.
He got up, backtracking a little to something he'd seen while once again Arthur stared at him.
"Merlin, what are you doing?"
The servant stopped a short distance away, kneeling down beside a number of plants with large broad leaves sticking up from the ground on tough stems. Merlin began to dig round one of them with his hands, working it lose.
"It's called 'foraging', and you can't tell me that you're not hungry." The soft soil came away easily from around the tuber-like root below the surface, and once enough was clear Merlin grabbed it and pulled it upwards. The result was something that looked like a rather skinny parsnip. "Burdock, if you pull up a first year plant, is good eating. Don't pull up anything that looks like it's in it's second or third year, they become a bit woody after that."
Arthur watched as Merlin pulled a small knife from out of his bag and proceeded to start peeling the root.
"Burdock?"
He got a long creamy-white tuber shoved into his hand, Merlin walking back to the patch of plants to start digging up another one.
"I lived in a small village, remember? We often had to forage for food to make up for what we hadn't managed to grow. Trust me, these taste pretty good raw, although they're nicer cooked."
Arthur eyed the root he was holding, before tentatively taking a bite. His eyebrows rose in pleasant surprise, as he took another and then snorted.
"It's a damn sight better than rat."
Merlin winced, now peeling a root for himself.
"It's not like there was much more than stale bread available from the kitchens last night. They're only making anything first thing in the morning right now, and after I caught the rat it seemed a shame to waste it."
Arthur finished off his root, rising to his feet.
"Do you see anything else edible around here?"
Merlin glanced about, chewing on his piece of burdock and shaking his head.
"Not right here, but if I see anything I'll mention it."
Several more Burdock roots later and they set off again, resuming the search. It wasn't long before Merlin heard Arthur shout that he'd seen something, but when he arrived at the spot the call had come from the prince was nowhere to be seen. Merlin followed Arthur's obvious trail through the disturbed leaves, coming to a point where it met rock and became untraceable.
He could still hear Arthur running somewhere ahead, but couldn't tell which of the two possible paths it came from. He followed the one to the right, stumbling over tree roots, searching for him, and then he heard it, the sound of sword on sword, a taunting call, and a prince's enraged snarl.
"How your father must fear the day you become king!"
"You know nothing of me!"
Merlin turned towards the shout, a sudden sense of dread. He knew that tone of voice, Arthur's honour had been challenged and his pride wounded. In that frame of mind he was bound to do something incredibly stupid.
He scrambled up the slope above him, heading for the sound of the fight only to nearly knock himself out when he slammed into something. Merlin pressed his hands against the air, finding what was almost an invisible wall keeping him away from Arthur, and knew that this was the next test.
He began to beat against the barrier with magic to no avail, able to hear the moment the battle stopped... And then he heard Anhora's voice resonate around him in solemn condemnation.
"You have shown that you would kill a man to defend your pride. You have failed the test. For this, Camelot will pay dearly."
The barrier vanished, Merlin falling forward even as Arthur shouted in denial.
"My people have done nothing!"
"Your people's suffering is not my doing... It is yours."
Merlin stumbled into view of where Arthur lay sprawled when he'd fallen, seeing his sword on the ground beside him and a horrified expression on his face. He looked at the spot where Arthur was staring, knowing that there was where Anhora had been stood, only the prince's utterance of guilt breaking the silence.
"I failed..."
~(-)~
Alaia Skyhawk: Yay for foraging lessons! And yeah, I chose not to cover Arthur fighting 'Evan', and go with Merlin instead. Just a different angle on such a significant event :)