AN:
Long chapter is long.
The violence is a slightly graphic at first but I doubt you'll disapprove.
The Warlock's Gambit
None in the throne room would ever forget her surprised stare when the tip of a blade revealed itself before her and the handle was obscured from sight.
Was he still breathing? Was she? Did the world slow down or his mind speed up? Everything was blurred, colours had become black and white and time nearly stopped. The metal retracted itself from her and revealed her murderer. Merlin didn't know what he was doing but the guard was launched at the wall and fell down with a lot of noise. His armour was dented inwards and those closest to him were able to see the texture of stone imprinted upon it. Merlin held his mother. Did he walk over or did he run? Nothing was important except her. Hunith smiled at her son, her beautiful, crying son. No one interfered. No one dared to. The air seemed to burn his eyes and lungs. Her hand touched his face and it was just as precious as when he was born. She didn't tell him not to cry because he would and neither did she lie that everything would be alright. It didn't need to be said. They understood each other without words. Her tale was coming to an end but she hoped that his would be long and prosperous. She laid her hand on her chest and slowly closed her eyes. He could feel her weight shift but she wasn't dead yet. He gently laid her on the floor and stood up straight with a single thought echoing through his mind. "This isn't how it's supposed to be."
One of the guards was approaching him while Arthur watched him with sympathy. He had warned Arthur and, although his mother would never approve of it, Merlin had every intention of making the King's life a waking nightmare. In the blink of an eye the brave but stupid guard was hurled all the way to the other side of the room and came crashing down with a sharp clang. Arthur stood up out of reflex and it just saved his life. Merlin's eyes just flashed gold and the entire throne was torn to bits.
Men began to shout, "Protect the King!"
They came from all corners of the room and formed a defensive line before their King. Merlin conjured a flame in his hands and made the fires on the torches illuminating the hall grew. In this moment of confusion the warlock unleashed his anger upon the men in front of him. He raised his hand and fire engulfed them. Their armour, capable of protecting them from the fiercest of blows, turned against them and burned them on the inside. It was horrible to watch but Merlin didn't feel any emotion. He only felt anger. The sorcerer's display of power struck fear in the hearts of onlookers. Behind the now defeated guards stood no one. The coward had fled the moment he realised Merlin's magic was beyond their imagination.
He looked back at his mother and feelings came alive once more. He could search the castle for Arthur and kill everyone that came between them but his mother might not be past saving. Today wasn't the day for vengeance, today was a day of fear. He went back to his mother and transported them out of Camelot.
"Sire?" Agravaine asked unsure.
The King was standing in the middle of the hallway, still shocked by what had transpired minutes ago. The warning bells destroyed the silence outside and echoed throughout the citadel but they didn't seem to register in Arthur's mind. Merlin wielded power that was far beyond Morgana's. It was unreal that a man that was once so humble could become so arrogant and bitter.
"Arthur?" Agravaine tried once more and caught his attention.
"Yes, sorry. What were you saying?" Arthur finally responded.
For the first time Morgana's spy had to make an effort not to smile. He enjoyed seeing Arthur with such inner turmoil that it almost made him smile. The best thing about it was that there was no one to blame for it but himself. He was paving the way to his own downfall.
"Nothing, I just wanted to make sure you're alright."
"I'll be fine." Arthur lied.
Already he was living a nightmare. Over the course of little more than a month, his best friend had become his most dangerous enemy. They shared a lot of happy memories but facing the truth it might be better to bury them. It was difficult for Arthur to realise that Merlin really had changed like that but part of it was his fault. Hunith's death - he thought she was dead - was irreversible and so would Merlin's anger towards him. Guilt was finally starting to set in. He, Arthur Pendragon, had brought a blanket of darkness around the world and it was thick enough to blind even the most faithful. A man had lost everything today and it made him a danger to everyone. It wasn't just the sorcerer that was slipping up, it was the king as well. Arthur had not only lost Merlin. He had lost Gwen's faith in him too. When word of Hunith's death would echo throughout the kingdom, Gaius would also start doubting his king.
Arthur went back to his room with a bottle of wine. He just sat there and poured himself a glass of alcohol. All he could do was worry. The wine swirled inside his glass but he didn't even sip it. This was his life. It was a storm in the glass of water but the waters were Camelot. After two hours of sitting, Gwen barged into the room.
"What did you do?" She asked with tears in her eyes.
It was disbelief that brought her before his desk. She didn't want to believe what others told her. She wanted to hear it from him but the horror it had become was unspeakable.
"I just wanted to talk to him." Arthur barely whispered.
He never thought it would get so out of hand. He knew the gravity of what he had done but Gwen didn't see where it had gone wrong.
"What I don't understand is why Hunith..." She trailed off as she saw Arthur avert his gaze in shame.
Something told her that he had made another mistake considering Merlin's mother and she could pretty much guess what it was.
"You didn't tell her anything, did you?" Asked Gwen.
He had never told Hunith why she had been taken from her village. She could have assumed anything.
"He's gone." Said Arthur, "He's not the same and because of me he never will be."
Gwen hesitated. Although he had done it in the wrong way, he did try to make things right again. The idea of lifting the ban on magic had made its home in Arthur's mind but he wanted to know who Merlin really was before deciding and it was only fair that he did. If only the manner in which he had 'summoned' the sorcerer had been different. Merlin was, and had always been, a sensitive soul. The execution had left him confused and possibly indecisive. Arthur's rash decision had clouded Merlin's judgement.
Looking at Arthur she could see that he was close to coming undone. It may have been selfish of her to think that he didn't want to do anything. He needed time to think and she pushed him to do something. She had said that, unless he lifted the ban, they would no longer be a couple. Was it unfair to say that he failed her? She thought so. He cared for her and she still cared for him. Right now, he needed her.
Light still burned inside her little hovel. Morgana couldn't sleep due to the severity of what was transpiring in Camelot. Something disturbed the ground close by. He made no effort to hide his footsteps so far from Camelot. The door opened and revealed her spy.
"What news?" Morgana perked up.
"He came and Hunith tried to escape on her own. She was killed right before his eyes."
The witch sighed. Neither of them deserved that. Hunith was a good woman and Merlin shouldn't need to bear such pain, least of all alone. To watch a loved one pass away before your eyes was something that belonged to nightmares. It caused her pain and directed it at the idiot before her. Did the man not have a mind of his own? Agravaine really was a filthy serpent of a man. He had these disgusting feelings for her and it became more and more obvious how shallow they were. She had been angry at Arthur for involving Hunith but despite her outburst he never asked what she, Hunith, meant to her. Morgana had felt something with Hunith which she hadn't experienced for a long time. Hunith had been motherly. It was a beautiful thing to see and even more delightful to experience. It was one of the things in life that should never be harmed. It was something Agravaine failed to see and failed to protect.
"Can you do nothing right?!" She shouted in anger though she never commanded him to protect her.
"Milady, could this not persuade him to join us?" He tried to show her the brighter side of it.
His stupidity never ceased to amaze her. Did he not see she was angry about Hunith's death? And why the hell did he speak of 'us'? She was the one in charge and apparently he did not realise that he was nothing but a pawn. As for the point he made, she doubted that it was that simple.
Rather than responding to his idiocy, she chose to ignore it and move on.
"Next time Arthur travel passes through, inform me immediately."
"Of course, milady, but I do not see why he would do so." Agravaine spoke his thoughts.
"Of course, you don't." She mocked him, "That's why you're taking orders rather than giving them."
She didn't see how much her bad behaviour affected him, mainly because she didn't care.
"Yes, milady." He replied before turning around, his cloak waving behind him, and left.
On the Isle of the Blessed Merlin laid his mother on the altar where the veil had been torn. He was about to take a great risk for his mother's life and he wasn't even sure that what he had read was truth. The only reason that this may be possible was thanks to the fact that the veil had been torn rather recently. These were the best circumstances possible. Merlin held his mother's hand and an eternity seemed to pass, minutes in which his mother lived, and then he heard a soft humming.
The warlock looked up and saw the Cailleach approach the altar rather casually. She was death itself but he never thought that she took pride in doing her duty. She laughed at how foolhardy people could be but in general, he more or less pitied her. Nonetheless, this was what he had hoped would happen. There where the veil was torn it remained thin for decades and those were the places where one could speak with death itself. This was the kind of knowledge which the druids feared.
"Wait." Merlin addressed her.
"There's a time for everyone, Emrys." She greeted him with a sad smile.
The Cailleach was there when Morgana tore the veil and the course of destiny was altered. She knew what had become of the seer and the dragonlord and saddened with what they had become towards each other.
"I know." Merlin admitted, "But bargains over life and death have been made before."
She shook her head in disbelief at the sound of his stupidity. Meaningless words from a man who should be wiser.
"It is not your time." She reminded him but that was not what he meant.
"It shouldn't be hers either." The warlock spoke with conviction.
Whether it was his fierceness or the opportunity to speak with the living did not matter. The Cailleach decided to keep talking with Emrys.
"And why is that?"
"Because it's wrong." Merlin spoke with great authority in his voice but it faltered as he went on, "I've spent years pursuing destiny, fixing the mistakes of others and making sacrifices. Those who knew about my destiny lied to me. Because of them I have made mistakes that will haunt me forever. How could I do what was right when the truth was withheld from me?"
The Keeper of Souls knew that the warlock suffered but so many people did. She had seen it so very often and it was at its worst once the light faded from the eyes. Never did she believe that he would speak to her about the pain and sacrifice. Never did she think that she would actually care. Maybe she did because it was true. At times, destiny could be a fickle thing. Those closest to him would have been able to steer him and she was not surprised that the dragon had done so. She did not know Kilgharrah personally but a conclusion was easily drawn from the warlock's words.
"I've guided Arthur as best I could but he's too much like his father. Morgana and others will not stop fighting him and one day they will cross the line and give cause to another purge. It is something neither of us wants to happen. If you save my mother's life then I will do everything in my power to bring back the Old Ways. Otherwise I will let the earth burn and not lift a finger to help it."
The Cailleach had not anticipated that he would threaten the Old Religion in this way. It was true that he had a point but who was he to bring a battle of wills before death itself?
"I hold power over life and death, why would I need you?" She asked surprisingly neutral.
Merlin almost smirked. Her question proved that she had an interest. He knew exactly how far her powers reached in the living world. Those were the grounds upon which he was willing to make this gamble.
"You are bound to uphold the balance over life and death. You can take the dead but you can't kill the living. That's what you need me for." He said.
Life was a scale and people were the weights. Both sides were destinies and Emrys was a piece that could tip the balance. The change would wreak havoc on many destinies and many of them would go off the reservation but if the survival of the Old Religion depended on it, then it may be worth it.
"Two people may share a destiny but all roles must be cast for the tale to unfold. Your destiny will be brought upon another." The Cailleach informed him.
"He is not the greatest warlock ever to have lived." Merlin boasted.
"But he will rise up to the challenge."
"And my mother will live." He firmly believed that the good outweighed the bad.
"Not without consequences." She replied.
It took him by surprise. He didn't think there would be consequences in it for her. After all, it was him that was trying to strike a bargain.
"Meaning?"
The Cailleach sighed. She had power over life and death. There was a narrow path between the two that would allow Hunith to live but there were more laws to be upheld.
"She will not remember you." She told him.
He had been very determined and gotten very far but this hit him like a hammer. His own mother would no longer know or even recognize him. They wouldn't be able to share happy memories when this would all be over. What bothered him most was that he didn't see why this was necessary.
"Do you believe she will approve of the destiny you wish to choose?" The Cailleach answered the question he was yet to ask.
It was a fair point to make that fighting Arthur, possibly fighting in a war, would be against her wishes. She would do a lot to try and stop it from happening. The worst that could happen would be her death as it would void their bargain and forfeit her life.
"She will be safe from Arthur, Morgana and everyone else"
"Will she ever remember?" Merlin desperately hoped.
"She'll never fully remember."
Selfish and selfless, he had to make a choice. It was selfish of him to want a new destiny and yet it was selfless to want his mother to live, even if she wouldn't remember him. The inner struggle was that he would remember. Although she would live, he would lose her still. Selfish and selfless, he made a choice.
AN:
Originally, this chapter was a lot shorter and Hunith died in it. I got a lot of responses about the last chapter, both good and bad. They ranged from razing the castle to using the power over life and death to save Hunith. The latter was nearly impossible without the Cup of Life but then I realised that there might be another way: The Cailleach. Hunith lives, Merlin has a new goal in life, and it's time to wreak havoc.
