Chapter 13: To the north

All of the preparations had been made except for one.

Gwaine, Galahad and Arthur had all put on travelling clothes. For Galahad, it barely meant that he had tied his long brown and grey hair at the back of his neck and hidden the crest from Aria's Cradle, a golden dragon wing, in the folds of his black cloak. Arthur, on the other hand, was barely recognisable in brown coat. As for Merlin, he had covered his regular tunic with a thick grey cloak on top of which he had strapped his grandfather's sword and sheath that he had brought back from his trip three years ago. It was of very little use to him as a servant in Camelot, but outside of the city he always carried it wherever he went. It was a way for him to remind himself that he was, after all, a Brittanicus.

"I hope this plan of yours doesn't involve too much of wielding that sword," Gaius said softly as he joined the group for the final stage of their departure.

They were all standing at the far end of the cave, in a narrow entryway concealed by thick bushes. By squeezing through the rock, they would exit on the other side of the woods with a good enough chance of leaving unnoticed. The guards had been removed to allow them some privacy. Besides the four riders, only Gaius, Gwen and Elyan were present.

"You'd be surprised at how good a swordsman he actually is," Gwaine replied fondly, with a side glance at Merlin.

"Nothing surprises me anymore," said the old man.

Merlin allowed himself to grin for a while although his mind was buzzing with questions and a certain dread. Gaius seemed to understand his state of mind as he chose this moment to give him a warm fatherly hug.

Nevertheless, Merlin was having a very hard time calming down his trembling nerves. He had thought about what he was about to do all night, trying to think of any other option, but it seemed it was the only way. For the last three years, he had thought about nothing else. Now it was finally time…

He was brought back from his reverie when Gaius pulled out a bright orange gem on a long golden chain.

Arthur eyed it suspiciously. "I've seen this before," he whispered.

"In the mêlé," confirmed Gwaine. "Going back to the moment of our meeting, if I recall correctly."

He was most likely remembering the tournament where he had saved Arthur's life. The orange stones had been discovered around the neck of the two slain thugs who had attempted to the prince's life.

"You're quite correct," Gaius acknowledged.

"Didn't my father tell you to put them in the vault?" Arthur burst out, outraged.

Gaius merely shrugged. "Not specifically, Sire. He never actually ordered it. Merlin and I decided they would be better guarded elsewhere."

"And where is that?" Elyan asked, amused.

"Under my bed."

The young sorcerer knew very well the kind of reaction that he would get from Arthur after that assertion.

"Of course!" burst out the king, throwing his hands in the air.

"There's actually a floor panel…"

But Arthur wasn't listening. "What a great idea! Let's put all of the content of the vault under Merlin's bed! Why didn't I think of it?"

"He's being sarcastic, isn't he?" said Galahad under his breath.

"I'm just curious as to what else he keeps under there," replied Gwaine.

"You should all be happy that Gaius thought about it when he was told to evacuate the city," Merlin pointed out as seriously as he could.

Then, without warning, he grabbed Arthur's hand and, with the tip of one of Gaius' small knives, he made a tiny incision in the king's hand.

"Ow! What do you think you're doing?" burst out the king.

Merlin kept on grinning, knowing that it would annoy Arthur the most. "Relax, Sire. I just need a bit of your blood. You are so grumpy today," he said merrily.

Arthur's face became instantly red. "Grumpy?"

But Merlin's attention was turned towards the orange gem now. The words that he was now chanting came from his Book of Magic. However, it was his magic, more than the words in the Old Tongue, which would make the spell work.

As soon as he was done, he turned around sharply and placed the jewel around Elyan's neck. The effect was instantaneous. Under everyone's petrified looks, the young knight's appearance melted away to be replaced by a perfect imitation of King Arthur.

"No," breathed out the real Arthur, shaking his blond head. "I won't allow this. You knew I wasn't going to allow this!"

"This is so weird," breathed out Guinevere who had been silent up until now.

She was glancing nervously from the real Arthur to her brother who now looked like Arthur.

"I'm… not me," murmured Elyan while looking at his hands over and over.

"You're King Arthur," said Galahad, pressing a hand on the knight's shoulder.

Gwaine was having a hard time not to laugh in Arthur's face.

"Is it like when you turn into yourself into an eighty-years-old man?" asked Elyan, slightly panicked.

"No," Merlin replied plainly. "It's an illusion. If you take off the necklace, you will be yourself again and the magic will cease to work."

Gwaine was patting the fake-Arthur on the back. "Just do what King Arthur would do. Order people around. Look concerned while starring at a map. Tell Leon to break out the ale. And it's not even awkward if you hold Gwen's hand because she's your sister."

Merlin glanced at Gwaine with a smile on his face. "Exactly my point. Elyan is the perfect choice."

On that comment, he gave one final farewell hug to Gaius and he turned around to leave. The others seemed quite satisfied with this plan because they began to move out as well.

He had not dared to Arthur's face but he knew that the young king was fuming.

"Does anyone care at all what I think about all this?" he cried out in a high-pitched shriek.

Gwen was fast to react. She took Arthur's face between her hands and pressed a kiss on his lips. The embrace was long enough that it gave Gwaine and Galahad the time to slip out of sight.

"Come back quick and it will soon be only a bad memory," Gwen whispered in Arthur's ear.

Memory. The word brought back a wave a doubt to Merlin's mind. What was he doing? Could he really risk bringing Arthur along?

As he followed the rocky wall to join the others, he heard Gwen's soft voice. "Take care of him, Merlin," she whispered. "And take care of yourself. He needs you."

Outside of the cave, the light was dim. It wasn't even dawn yet. Gwaine and Galahad were already on their horses.

"Don't think I'm letting you off that easily, Merlin," said the king, glaring at him.

Gwaine snorted loudly. "He is kind of grumpy, wouldn't you say?"

But Merlin wasn't listening now. He had turned his thoughts towards his horse Nuada and the long days of riding ahead of them.

We need to make haste, my friend, he said in his mind's voice.

The stallion shook his head and stamped its hooves. I'm not surprised, he puffed. Is that why the Once and Future King looks so upset?

Merlin merely laughed. It was simply ludicrous. He could talk to his horse. He had no idea what kind of sorcery or spell was at work, but it was as unexpected as it was amusing.

"Instead of laughing like an idiot, why don't you tell us where we're going?" growled Arthur.

"Later," replied Merlin.

He then kicked his horse, which was the signal for the others to do the same. One behind the other they rode, with the young sorcerer in the lead, until well into the morning before any of them spoke again. After a few hours, the trees became small and scarce and soon enough they were riding on open fields.

At midday, they stopped to eat the lunch that Gwen had prepared for them. Several times, they asked him to know where they were going, but still Merlin could not bring himself to reveal this information just yet. There was too much explanation to give, and he wasn't ready yet. The truth was that he wasn't even sure of what he was hoping to achieve. Against Morgause and LeNoir, he was a very poor and inexperienced sorcerer. What spell did he know that Morgause had not mastered already? How much knowledge did LeNoir have of the sacred dragonlord gift? After all, all he could do was talk to dragons, nothing more.

He had always felt very alone, but this whole situation was bringing his loneliness to a whole new level.

And perhaps this, more than anything else, was the reason why he needed to do what he was about to do: he didn't want to be alone anymore.

"Still lost in your reverie?"

He had not even noticed that Galahad was starring at him.

It was now dark, on the second day, and they were all sitting around a small fire, having eaten the rest of the food that Gwen had packed for them. Tomorrow they would have to hunt or catch a few fishes.

"It would have helped to know how many days we should have planned for," said Gwaine grumpily as he took a bite of the last apple.

"Don't worry. Merlin will do the hunting," said Arthur with a sneer on his face.

Galahad distinctively gave Arthur a disapproving look but he said nothing.

"I reckon there must be an inn nearby," offered Gwaine cheerfully. "Where there's a road, there's an inn."

"You're assuming that we'll keep to the road," retorted Galahad.

"We have so far," said Arthur blankly.

He had been in a fowl mood since they had left and not knowing where they were going was only making it worst. Merlin suspected that he would soon have to receive some kind of object thrown at his head soon if he remained quiet.

"We're following the road for a few hours tomorrow, and then we turn north. By nightfall, we'll have reached our destination," he said calmly. "If we don't stop too long at the inn."

Galahad peered at him inquiringly. "There's nothing up north around here."

Arthur looked even more concerned. "It's King Lot's kingdom. He's not a friend of Camelot."

"Perhaps he should be," replied Merlin, throwing a handful of herbs into the fire to make it spark. "The only reason why he was never welcomed in Camelot was because he allowed his people to keep their ancient traditions."

Arthur opened his mouth to protest, but Gwaine cut him off. "The Old Religion lives up north, that much is true, Sire. I've heard rumours. There's a monastery where people go to pray. People of every religion. Praying to many gods."

"A monastery?" said Arthur, thoroughly irritated. "What does that have to do with us?"

"Everything," Merlin whispered suddenly, his eyes fixed on the fire. "That's where we're going."

"There's nothing up there!" cried out the king.

Merlin took a few long, calming breathes before he spoke.

"Yes, there is," he finally said. "We're going to see Morgana."