Chapter 3
The massive ship could've easily held all the people Merlin and Lance were waiting for, but, as usual, they weren't all together. The docked ship, named S.S. Excalibur, was a foreboding presence to the locals, because pirates usually meant interference from the governor, who lived on the neighboring island.
Glorianna, who had jumped first, waited patiently for her friends to jump off the ship. Merlin noticed Morgouse, Eleanor, Moria, and Frederick all jump over the ship and onto the dock. Arthur was last, and it was obvious he was the captain. His orders were overheard by most of the village.
"Alright, everyone, you know the drill" He began enthusiastically. "We are not here to plunder. Use your manners when interacting with the locals, and report back on the signal."
They all nodded in unison and dispersed.
Wanting more information, Merlin approached Frederick cautiously.
"Um, hello." She said nervously.
"Good day, madam. Can I help you?" He responded politely.
She bit her lip. "Are you guys pirates?"
"I guess you could call us that," He chuckled. "but we're kind of like vigilantes. We give to those in need around here, and your island popped up on our captain's list."
"So who do you steal from? The Governor?" Merlin inquired. Morgan had become the governor of these little islands, and was quite intimidating.
Frederick paused, as if he were debating over what to say. "Well, yes, but this last time we took something more than that."
"What was it?"
He stepped back a bit. "I'm afraid you can't know unless you're on the crew."
Just then a medium-sized ship with purple and silver sails burst into the docks and quickly dropped anchor. Out of the boat stepped Leon, Victoria, Gwen, and finally Morgan himself. A sharp whistle emerges from a small cluster of people where Arthur was talking. Frederick shrugs at Merlin and joins his crew, who were all walking to meet the other group.
Lance appears, suddenly. "I was just talking to Eleanor. Do you know what they stole from Morgan?"
"I have no idea," She replied, her eyes glued to the scene. "but they seem pretty mad about it."
Morgan and Arthur meet in the center of an invisible chess board, each respectable group giving the two a little distance.
"Morgan," He says, almost cheery. "we meet again."
Morgan is void of all cheeriness. "Last time I saw you your ship was leaving with something that belongs to me. I want it back."
Arthur laughs a bit. "We've already given all the gold to the people. What're you gonna do, tax them more?"
"You know what I'm talking about," He replies icily, his focus shifting from Arthur to Eleanor. "You shouldn't have left your family, dear."
Eleanor steps up. "No blood of mine that serves you is family."
In the back, Gwen draws her sword, causing everyone else to draw their sword.
"Now hold on just one minute," Lance dashes in the middle of the showdown, causing everyone to jump back. "can't we talk this through like adults?"
He shot a small glance Merlin's way and they were on the same page. She made her way to Eleanor and gestured to the ship. "Come on. If a fight breaks out you don't want to be here."
Eleanor nodded and they both backed out of the group just as Leon declared something loudly and stepped next to Morgan. Lance then draws his sword instinctively and a scrimmage begins.
The two hop on the Excalibur, both watching the fight intently.
"Are you two…?" Eleanor points to Lance casually.
"Oh no, we're like siblings. So you left Morgan the last time Arthur and his crew were at the main island?" She replies, changing the subject quickly.
She nods. "Yeah, I worked as one of his main guards, like what those guys are. I had some relatives living there, but they were all brainwashed to believe that Morgan was a good guy. I found the crew when they were loading gold on the ship and convinced them to let me join."
"And now Morgan wants you back?"
Eleanor turns to Merlin. "Any mutiny, no matter how small, can lead to total anarchy. He doesn't want me back, he wants me dead."
Arthur and the rest of his crew arrived shortly, all peppering Lance with questions. As soon as he saw Eleanor, Arthur made a small hand gesture that ceased all chatter.
"You alright?" She merely nods. He turns to Merlin. "Thank you for helping us out. Your friend here was a huge help. We could really use you two in our crew. As a matter of fact, we have been looking for replacements, so if either of you were interested…" He trails off, shrugging slightly as though offering a position on a pirate ship was a casual thing.
The two barely shot a glance at each other. "It would be our genuine pleasure," Merlin replied for both of them. "When do we start?"
"Right now," Morgouse steps into the conversation. "You two will need different clothes, first off. Merlin, come with me, I think I have something for you. Arthur, find something for Lance."
Morgouse led Merlin into a small room with three beds and trunks lying at the ends. She pops open the lid of the trunk to the far right to reveal an assortment of clothing, all appropriate for plundering. "This'll fit like a charm," She held up a shirt. "You're the same size she was."
"If you don't mind my asking, who are Lance and I replacing?" Merlin asks cautiously, surveying the rest of the sparse room.
She sits on the middle bed and gestures for Merlin to sit on the far right one. "It's probably the best you heard it from me, since I try not to be jaded about it. Just a few weeks ago we had two others in our crew, a boy and a girl. They were excellent at their jobs, they even had strong relationships with some of us. But unfortunately, they wanted more than what we as a whole had to offer. They attempted a mutiny against Arthur and, when he had captured them, he made the girl walk the plank."
Merlin shared a look of mild shock. "What about the boy?"
In response, Morgouse pantomimed a noose tightening around her neck. "They were like family, so don't go talking about it, okay? Some of us aren't quite over it yet. Anyway," She stood up and brushed off her pants. "You'll use that bed right there; Glorianna's here and Moria's to the far left. Eleanor and I are right next door. Frederick and K- I mean Lance, are across the hall. And Arthur's quarters are at the end of the hall. The layout's simple enough. Got it?"
Merlin nodded, standing. "One more question, and then I'll drop the subject: Was that the first mutiny attempted on The Excalibur?"
"As far as Arthur's concerned, yeah. He got this ship from his father, and that era I know nothing about," Morgouse started for the door. "You should change into some pants or something. Skirts and dresses are great for disguise, but they're hard to fight in."
Per request, everyone met in Arthur's quarters after a quick dinner, which Frederick made (he was the only one who knew how to cook). The captain had spread papers over almost every tabletop he could find, each one filled with maps and notes in different handwriting. Merlin and Lance were looking over a map of Morgan's center of operations when Arthur cleared his throat. Everyone immediately looked at him.
"As you know," he started, pacing a small section of the room, "Morgan and his crew have declared war on us for reasons already known. I have received many threats related to turning ourselves in and giving back all we have stolen."
A general groan is let out from the chorus.
"We can't give that stuff back, it went to the people. He knows that, too!" Glorianna interjects.
"Exactly. We can't give in to his ridiculous demands, so we must fight. And tomorrow, we shall fight."
Lance unsteadily raises his hand. "But aren't we outmanned? Outweaponed? Out-everythinged?"
Arthur stops, then resumes his pacing, but with more weight in his steps. "For those of you who don't know, we recently lost two of our members to a failed mutiny. They doubted the power of our group as a whole. They thought they could do better. And they paid the ultimate price for it." He suddenly leans in closely towards Lance. "I know you're new here, so you get a story this time. But do not doubt our group, and what we can accomplish as a whole."
Lance nods. "Forgive me, I've never belonged to a group, really." He flashed them a smile that was sure to win them over. "Merlin and I never really had families, so we were two odd people out. I guess here- here we can belong."
Everyone looks moved by his little speech. Arthur smiles a bit. "Well then, welcome to the family. Everyone's dismissed."
On her way back to the room for the evening, Merlin saw three figures in the hallway having an interesting conversation. She hid herself with magic and eavesdropped.
"All I'm saying is we should wait a little bit longer before-" Glorianna was saying.
Morgouse cut in. "If we wait too long someone will catch on. You saw what happened to-"
"Well he was an idiot!" Moria interjected. "And the only reason she went along with it was because she loved him."
Morgouse looked at her friend with pity. "It was unrequited, Mor. You know that."
"Any emotion directed at him was unrequited. Anyway, I agree with Morgouse. We gotta do it sooner rather than later." She sounded more angry than upset.
Glorianna looked around the seemingly-empty hall. "I don't know about this, guys. It was a fun idea at first, but now-"
"What, you're gonna back out right before the big day?"
"Yeah," She began to walk away, then turned around. "Just like you did, right?"
Moria fumed into the room and slammed the door. Morgouse sighed and followed her friend.
Figuring it was safe, Merlin made herself visible and approached Glorianna.
"I heard some loud talking over here. Is everything okay?"
She sighed, looking tired. "I don't wanna hide this from you, because all the other girls know. Before I tell you, you gotta swear you won't tell Arthur, or Frederick, or even Lance, okay?"
"Uh, okay?"
Glorianna nodded. "Good. So you know about the failed mutiny that ended in some less-than-pretty executions? Well, there was supposed to be a third man in that plan. She was vital to their success, but at the last minute she backed out."
Merlin gasped quietly. "Moria was-?"
"Yeah. It was a terrible shouting match between her and the guy. You could've heard them for miles the night before. He called her a coward and she called him a power-hungry maniac. In the end, they just tried to do it without her."
"Did she tell Arthur or something?"
Glorianna laughs a bit. "She wasn't so blunt about it. But she did ensure somehow that they couldn't leave the ship effectively. I still don't know how she did it."
She nodded, already knowing exactly how she did it. "I hope everything's okay now."
"Yeah. Me too."
Merlin entered the shared room just as Morgouse left. Moria was sitting on her bed, visibly upset about something.
"You alright?" She attempted conversation.
"I know you heard what we were talking about in the hall." Moria replies without flinching.
She doesn't respond right away, trying to find the right words. "I won't stop you if it's truly what you want to do."
The girl looks Merlin directly in the eyes. "I don't want to, but I don't have a choice anymore."
The next day started quickly. The crew had made plans to surprise Morgan from an alternate route and take some more gold for the border islands. The ship started its voyage before the sun rose.
Merlin pulled Lance aside to talk. "I heard rumors of a mutiny happening soon."
"Are you going to try and stop it?" He asked, worried.
"Here's the problem: Moria knows I know," she replied, looking around to ensure nobody could hear them. "I told her I wouldn't interfere. Really, as long as Arthur's safe, why should we care?"
He made a face. "If Arthur finds out you knew about it, he'll kill you. Besides, doesn't Moria usually kill him anyway?"
"We'll just have to kill her first if she tries anything."
"Okay, but I still don't like the idea of keeping quiet."
Around midday, when Merlin was debating travel routes with Eleanor in Arthur's quarters, Frederick burst through the door. "Come quick," He panted. "We've docked, but Morgan knew we were coming. There's gonna be blood."
All three ran to the deck, where Arthur was having a shouting match with Morgan, who was on dry land.
Merlin didn't care to listen to what they were shouting about. Instead she surveyed the different people and how they were reacting. Glorianna looked preoccupied, like something more terrible was about to happen. Frederick and Eleanor were fully invested in what their captain was saying, nodding along to some manifesto he was probably reciting. Morgouse and Moria were both doing the evil smirk expression that seemed to follow them through their different lives. Lance was staring at Morgan, sword ready in case something started. As for the other side, Gwen was copying Eleanor's reaction, but mirrored so her attention was on Morgan. Leon's fingers were twitching near her sword, about as ready to fight as Lance. Victoria, however, seemed unusually distant, like she knew something nobody else did-
Suddenly, Victoria jumps on a docked ship, which looks like it had recently been updated. Morgouse and Moria follow suit, swinging across to the nearby ship with ropes.
"We really hate to disrupt your little scrimmage, really we do," Morgouse taunted. "but some of us here don't like the way you've been running things!"
Both captains stared at the three with dropped jaws. Morgan collected himself first. "Excuse me? After all the captain does for his crew, you dare leave him in a shameful manner?"
"Well, it was supposed to be four of us." Victoria made a point of not looking at anyone.
Arthur stepped towards the mutiny boat. "What the hell are you three doing? This is no time for a mutiny!"
"But you see, it's the perfect time," Moria replied, leaning over the deck towards him. "The last idiots to try this were stupid, because they didn't go in the middle of one of your stupid arguments. God, why'd you think I bailed on them?"
He unsheathed his sword. "Young lady, get over here this instant, or I swear I will-"
But then the ship started sailing away, with all three traitors manning different controls.
"Morgan, get your men on this ship! Now!"
Lance broke from his daze of confusion. "Arthur what the hell are you doing?"
"We need to catch those scoundrels quickly! As much as we hate to say it, Morgan and I will work better together."
Morgan, Leon, and Gwen were already aboard. "We'll pick this up later." He gestured to the dramatic scene that had been stopped.
"Alright," Arthur nodded in agreement. "Let's go, men!"
As directed, Merlin and Frederick were to go through the two girls' things to find any clues as to what they had in mind.
"Did you have any idea before-?" He trailed off as they hurried to the rooms.
She shook her head in response. She hated lying to him, but it was necessary that she didn't get beheaded.
They sifted through Morgouse's things and found nothing but a few clothing items she left behind. It was clear now they had packed last night.
Moria's trunk didn't have much either, but under her bed there was a small notebook.
"Now we're getting somewhere." Frederick grinned.
All the pages with writing were ripped out except a bit of one. The only thing that was printed on the scrap was a date.
"Does this mean anything to you?" Merlin asked.
He sighed. "That was the day the failed mutiny was executed. And look," He flipped through the rest of the blank pages. "Whatever she had to say, it was her final word on things."
Suddenly, loud shouting erupted on the deck. Merlin could hear Morgouse's voice over everyone else's.
"We've got them, come on!"
The deck had erupted into absolute chaos. Swords were clashing, barrels were rolling al around, and ropes had been cut to make the ship turn about.
For a brief moment the two just stood there, surveying the scene that was unfolding.
"How are three people causing this much trouble?" Frederick wondered aloud.
Merlin knew the answer, but she wasn't about to tell him. If he didn't have magic this time, chances were it wasn't a widely-known skill among the crews.
They each drew their swords and ran to help their crewmates. Frederick went to help Leon and Glorianna, who were battling Morgouse, while Merlin joined Lance in his skirmish with Victoria.
"About damn time you showed up! Where are the others?" He yelled, mid-fight.
She reattached some of the ropes that held the sails with a flick of her wrist. "I have no idea. Do you know where Arthur went?"
"No and I-"
Just then Victoria's sword sliced through Lance, causing him to look at the two girls in turn while they had kind of paused in midair. Merlin was in shock; she thought he couldn't get hurt due to his circumstances.
Thankfully, Gwen popped up behind Victoria and hit her over the head with the blunt end of her sword. The traitor fell to the deck, dead.
Lance also started to fall over, but Gwen caught him. "What do you need?" She looked expectantly at Merlin.
"Well, I-" Lance gave her an encouraging look. She somehow knew he'd be okay. "He's been impaled. See to that as best you can. I've got to go find Arthur."
As soon as she said those words, Glorianna called out from the far side of the ship. "The captain is dead!"
A few days have passed and for some reason, they were still here. Merlin had thought that once Arthur died, everyone else would disappear. Maybe since Lance was hurt this time, it would take a bit to start up again with wiping the slate.
Capturing the two left from the mutiny wasn't too tricky. After Arthur was killed, they seemed to give up, like that was the only reason they had mutinied in the first place. They were being held in small cells, waiting for their execution.
Which happened to be today, right after a funeral.
Morgan and his men had stayed aboard after the battle, to pay their respects and see this little mess through. Lance had miraculously recovered, and was almost back to normal.
Frederick had explained to the group that Arthur always admired ancient Vikings, and how he had told a few close crewmates that he wanted to be buried like one. So, everyone threw a torch into the small boat on which he was placed, and they all watched it burn at sea.
Then they brought out the prisoners, and let them have one last request: their form of death.
The two prisoners exchanged a look of understanding, then spoke at the same time.
"Plank."
The plank was set up, and some members of the crew rolled dice to see which one walked first.
Morgouse stepped on the thin expanse of wood, her hands bound behind her. "Any final words?" Morgan calls.
She doesn't even bother turning her head. "None you'd want to hear."
And she vanishes into the glassy abyss.
Next, Moria almost skips up to the plank, and begins walking on it. "And your last words shall be…?" Morgan waits a bit.
The girl simply turns her head, showcasing a perfect smirk. Then she's gone, lost to the waves.
Everyone breathes a collective sigh of relief just as the freeze takes over and pauses them.
Lance and Merlin locate a rowboat and get as far away from the SS Excalibur as they can.
It- hasn't actually been that long.
But it is almost the turn of the century, and industrial life couldn't be more alive.
After the whole pirate debacle, Merlin and Lance found solace in a city setting, then the countryside. It had been so peaceful, until one day-
Red and white striped tents pop up like daisies. Posters advertising the Pendragon Brothers' Circus are scattered throughout the town, with a small note at the bottom.
They're currently hiring.
The time has come.