Queen of the Wild Magic—Chapter 6
Whatever spell Doctor Bretir had cast upon Merlin back in his office was apparently still in effect the next morning. Merlin had said barely two words as he drove Addy's car to the lake they were told to visit. Arthur was just about ready to scream.
"Why do you look so worried?" He asked Merlin, who was wearing the bloodless expression of a hanged man.
Merlin didn't even hear him. He hadn't heard hardly a word Arthur had said since yesterday. Damn that Bretir! Wasn't it enough to just get the sword back? Did he really need to speak with Her, too? What would he say? 'Hi, Freya, sorry I haven't visited you in a millennium, oh, and do you mind helping me locate my girlfriend?' Sometimes, he thought it was just so much easier when Arthur was the only one in his life. At least, he was never this complicated.
"MERLIN!" Arthur shouted, punching him on the shoulder hard enough to make his eyes water.
He blinked, finally roused from his thoughts. "What, Arthur?"
"I swear, if you don't start talking, I'm going to push you from this carriage and go on without you! Do you have any idea what I've had to put up with? You know how much I hate it when you mope around and get all silent. I need some answers, especially after all that crazy stuff the doctor talked about. I don't understand any of it. I've always counted on you to be honest with me, Merlin. So start talking!" He glared at Merlin so intently that it became ridiculous.
Merlin began to laugh. Immediately, the tension and heaviness of past few days washed away. Color came back to his cheeks and eyes, and the cloud of worry seemed to lift.
"What is so funny?" Arthur asked. He was still frowning, but now in confusion.
"Eh-ev-everything... You... Your face... You trying to drive the car..." He burst into another laughing fit.
Arthur sighed. Maybe he should try punching him again. It worked the last time.
Eventually, Merlin settled down. "Look, sorry. We're almost there. Then, I'll try to explain everything to you, alright?"
Still fighting the urge to sock him in the gut, Arthur nodded.
Not long after, they pulled up to thick forest that sloped up to hilly peak. Their destination, the Lake of Avalon, lie just over the hill. Snow dotted the ground, but here it had not yet fell heavily.
"Okay, so what has been bothering you?" Arthur said, enjoying the feeling of stretching his legs on a long walk.
Merlin traced the sunlight through the leafless trees and answered, "Did you ever have to deal with an ex before?"
"Ex what?" He asked, testing the word.
"Em, its a modern term for someone you used to like or... love, even... but then things didn't work out. Ex-girlfriend."
Now Arthur was laughing. "That's what's been bothering you? A girl? What on earth for?"
Merlin shuffled, glad he was ahead of Arthur so he could see his flushed face. "Do you remember that Bretir said we had to get the sword back and we had to get advice from the Lady of the Lake?"
"Yeah. Ooohhh..." he said with sudden understanding.
"The Lady was someone I loved, long ago. I guess she was my first true love."
"You fell in love with someone who lives in a lake?" Arthur quipped. Only a sorcerer, he thought, shaking his head lightly.
"No, not like that..." Merlin said, catching the tone of his voice. He was starting to regret saying anything to Arthur at all. "She was a druid girl who had a terrible curse upon her. She was killed for it." He debated whether to tell Arthur it was his fault Freya was killed and then decided not too. It would do no good. "I knew her only briefly, but I cared deeply for her. When she died, I took her here, to the Lake of Avalon, so that she could find the peace she never had in her life. And her soul lives on now, guarding the lake and the sword Excalibur."
"My sword is at the bottom of the lake? Are you kidding me?" He seethed. "What good will it do us now? It will be ruined."
Merlin stopped, turned, and confronted him. "I put it there to keep it safe, Arthur. It is no ordinary sword. Prat! You really have no idea of the things I've done for you. Here I was, telling you some of my hardest, deepest secrets and all you care about is your damned sword! Sometimes, I really do wonder why I even bother." He spun back, fuming, and resumed his course.
Arthur was shocked. He had never meant to... He didn't want...Gah! Sometimes, he just wanted to strangle that scrawny neck of his. How did Merlin always manage to make him feel like such a...
There was a loud cracking sound behind him. Arthur whirled around, trying to locate the source. He couldn't see anything on the path behind him. There came another sound, like a great boom, followed by the rustle of dry tree branches and dead leaves. Whatever was coming was getting closer. Not waiting to find out what it was, he took off after Merlin.
Merlin was farther away than he had expected. He was walking at a furious pace that was nearly a run. Arthur grabbed him from behind and threw him behind a wide tree trunk.
"Arth-" A hand clapped down hard over his mouth as Arthur peered cautiously around the side of the tree. He gave Merlin a worried look and released his hand.
"Listen," Arthur whispered. All around them, the sound of thundering and rustling trees could be heard. "What is that?" He asked, his blue eyes wide with apprehension.
Enhancing his vision with magic, Merlin sought for the source of the noises. He couldn't see anything except row after row of bare winter trees. But he could feel it. There was definitely something magic coming their way.
"Arthur, we should-" The trees around them shivered and shook. "-go!" he yelled, pushing Arthur down the path and sprinting up the hill.
As they ran, Merlin risked a glance back. The trees where they had been were still shaking. No, he thought, looking more closely. They weren't shaking. They were moving! He could see them lift their massive roots out of the ground and crawl forward with a great, booming strides. The trees were alive, and coming straight for them!
"Run!" He called, pulling Arthur with him as he rocketed through the forest.
Arthur had finally noticed what was causing the noises. "The trees, Merlin! How are they doing that?" He panted.
"Magic. I think...I think that must be the Wild Magic."
They were finally coming to the top of the hill. The thundering was now far behind them. Gasping for breath, he slowed down. "I think we've lost them." Merlin said.
Arthur stopped running as well, and paced in a small circle, hands on hips. "Wild Magic. Not your kind of magic?"
Well, at least he had been paying some attention, Merlin thought. Actually, he was sort of impressed.
"Yeah, exactly."
Arthur shivered in his brightly colored coat. Moving trees. Afanc's. Wild Magic. It all felt so wrong.
Merlin was walking again. The small trees that surrounded them were thinning now. Up ahead, the outline of a lake appeared through the branches. "We're here." His tongue barely able to spit out the words. All his hard fought composure was slowly unraveling.
Sensing another bout of silent moping coming on, Arthur clapped Merlin on the shoulder and said, "Look, I'm sorry about before. It was really inconsiderate of me. I do know that there is a lot you haven't told me yet, but I want you to know that you can trust me. Don't think just because I occasionally give you a hard time, that I don't care."
Merlin raised a brow. "Occasionally?"
Arthur waved him off. "Point is. You're worried about this girl...Lady...about how to tell her you've met someone new. Right?"
"Yeah. Pretty much." Merlin's eyes had gone the color of the snow around the lake. "She's the only one who can help me get Addy back. And I have no idea what to say to her."
"Well, do you still have feelings for this Lady?"
"Freya. Her name was Freya." He dug his toe into the snow. "Sort of. Maybe. I mean, I did love her, and that really never goes away. But she's dead. There's no changing that." He said sadly.
Arthur crossed his arms, hugging himself. His eyes went distant and vacant.
"Sorry, I didn't mean... you know... about Gwen," Merlin stammered apologetically.
"Yeah." He swallowed hard and fought with a tightness in his chest. "Don't worry about it. But I do know something about what it means to miss someone greatly. Someone you can't get back." He straightened. No use fretting about the past now, he had a job to do. "But there is someone you can get back. You've got her to think about now. And you have to do whatever it takes."
Merlin nodded in agreement. "Whatever it takes. Think about Addy. Got it." He smiled. "I think I'm ready."
"Good. Cause I don't think those trees will be leaving us alone for long."
Together, they approached the bank of the lake. Although the snow was thick and heavy here, the lake itself was ice free. Arthur bent and felt the water. "It's warm!" He exclaimed, and motioned to the center of the lake. "How do we get out there?"
"There's always a boat. We just have to look for it." Merlin said. He glanced about the area where they stood. Off to the left was a patch of dense reeds. "There." He pointed.
Arthur followed Merlin as they dug a small wooden vessel out from a pile of wet reeds. It was a good thing the water was warm, because they were now wet up to their knees.
"Get in," Merlin said, holding the boat steady.
"What about the oars?" He asked, as Merlin climbed in beside him, causing the boat to rock unsteadily side to side. There wasn't much room and they both had to keep their knees squeezed up to their chests.
"Don't need any. Stiúradh." Gold fire flared in his eyes.
The boat began to move forward on its own, out of the reads. "That's useful." Arthur commented.
It floated gently forward upon the glass surface of the lake, leaving only small ripples in its wake. When it reached the center, it came to a complete stop.
Sweating visibly, Merlin looked around the lake.
"Is something supposed to-" Arthur began. Suddenly, the boat rocked as if struck by something underneath. Just ahead the water rippled and cascade over itself. A hand appeared from the center of the waves. The hand grew to an arm, the arm to a head. A girl with dark hair and dark eyes was looking at them from the frothy fountain. Still rising, she held within her hand a gleaming gold sword. She stood before them clothed in a bright purple gown, her hair cascading softly down her side, completely dry. Arthur was speechless. How did Merlin manage on getting such attractive women? Heaven knows he was never much to look at.
She walked across the water as if it were made of glass.
Merlin struggled to breathe. He could hear his heart beating in his ears. He had forgotten just how beautiful she was.
"Freya," he sighed.
Author's note-
I will put up the meeting of Freya and Merlin in the very next chapter, so you will not have long to wait, I promise.
Until then, how about some reviews? Please and thank you. :)