Chapter 15-Revenge, Magic Style!

Hey guys, so this is the final chapter of the Witchfinder episode. One which I do love but doesn't have a lot of Elizabeth-Arthur moments in it and I'm sorry about that. The next episode, The Sins of the Father will be a lot of Elizabeth-Arthur I promise you that. I have also added one of my old polls back to my profile so please vote! Anyway on with the show I don't know Merlin, but Elizabeth, Laudine and Kay are all my characters. Enjoy...

Merlin came running back into the chambers where Laudine, Kay and I were still sat holding a petal in his hand, "We need to know what this is," he informed us.

That was how we ended up spending our evening flipping through all of Gaius's books. We had been at it for three hours before Kay slammed his book down, "This is hopeless!"

"Keep looking," Merlin argued back.

"We don't even know if this flower means anything," Kay pointed out.

"Here, Belladonna," I jumped up pointing to the page I was on.

""For the alleviation of ulcers, allergies, and muscular inflammation..." This is hopeless," Laudine began to read.

I shook my head, "No, wait. Listen, "Under certain conditions, a tincture of the flower can produce hallucinations.""

"Aredian's witnesses. It wasn't magic they were seeing, it was visions," Merlin scoffed.

Laudine nodded, "It makes sense, if he's faking the evidence. But how can we prove it?"

"No, Aredian's too clever to have given the tincture to them directly. The witnesses, they must've got it from someone else," I said sitting back down.

Laudine looked hopeless, "They could've been getting it from anyone."

"Is there anything, anything at all that these people had in common?" Merlin asked the rest of us.

"They were all women? But that doesn't tell us anything," Kay said softly.

We all sat there in silence for a moment before it hit me, "Yes it does. What's the one thing only women would buy?"

Laudine looked at me and smiled, "Things to make them look beautiful."

Merlin and Kay looked at each other and nodded, "Well none of them are noble so it must be in the lower town."

"There is only one Apothecary there," Laudine said, looking hopeful for the first time.

I nodded, "Merlin and I will go. You two get somewhere safe and stay there. Pack up everything, if this doesn't work, we'll need to run," Kay opened his mouth to argue but I spoke before he could, "If this doesn't work he will come for her. You will keep her safe Kay please."

Kay nodded softly. I took Merlin's arm and pulled him out of the room and the castle down into the lower town with little effort. It was turning into early morning now as I knocked on the door, "My Lady?" The Apothecary said opening the door so Merlin and I could get inside.

"Do you sell a tincture of Belladonna?" I asked not bothering with manners.

"What's this all about?" The Apothecary said getting defensive.

I wanted to shake him but I didn't think that would go down too well, "It's important."

"Well, I, I think I've got some somewhere, but what you'd be wanting with eye drops in the middle of the night, I really don't want to know," The Apothecary dismissed.

"Eye drops?" Merlin questioned.

The Apothecary nodded, "Yes, women use them to make their eyes more beautiful."

"Where did you get this?" Merlin asked picking one up.

The Apothecary looked awkward now, "Well, my usual suppliers."

I spoke this time before Merlin could open his mouth, "Sure you didn't get it from someone else?"

"Of course I'm sure. If it's all the same to you, I'd like to get some sleep," The Apothecary snapped.

"It was Aredian who gave you the Belladonna, wasn't it?" Merlin asked straight out.

"Don't know what you're talking about," he said obviously annoyed.

"But you know that Gaius is going to be executed tomorrow, don't you?" I questioned.

The Apothecary shrugged, "That has nothing to do with me."

"That has everything to do with you! Aredian's witnesses saw visions . Visions produced by the Belladonna in these eye drops! If we can prove this, we have a chance of saving Gaius," Merlin yelled finally getting all his anger out. The apothecary shook his head.

"I will make sure he can't hurt you. I will make sure he pays for his lies," I assured him.

"He forced me to sell it. He, he said he'd kill me if I said anything to anyone," The Apothecary said his voice breaking as he tried to hold back his tears.

"It was him? It was Aredian?" I asked double checking everything.

The Apothecary nodded, "Yes, it was him."

"Thank you," I said pulling Merlin out of the house and back towards to castle.

"We have a witness," Merlin pointed out.

I shook my head, "We're going to need more than that. Aredian can talk his way out of that. They need to see the tincture and Belladonna in his room."

"Well then, I guess we have to get it there ourselves," Merlin smiled at me holding up the tincture and the Belladonna.

I opened the door carefully looking through it to check that Aredian was asleep. Merlin made his way in behind me and raised his hand to the cupboard, whispering the spell we had found, "Hlyste min níehst bebod," while he did that I slowly made my way over to where Aredian was sleeping, "Elizabeth what are you doing?" Merlin hissed.

"Making sure," I said softly before putting my hand over his throat, "Ceolwærc."

By the time we had made it back to Gaius's chambers the sun had just started to rise up in the sky. Laudine and Kay were standing side by side watching for us, "I thought I told you to hide," I said as we came in.

"They're moving the execution," Laudine explained to us.

I collapsed down onto my chair as Merlin looked terrified, "When to?" he asked.

"Now, Gaius just left the Dungeons," Kay said softly.

"We need to find a way to delay it," Merlin said looking at the rest of us for an idea.

"I'll go and talk to Arthur," I said jumping up from my seat and sprinted out of the door and down to the courtyard where all hell was breaking loose.

I pushed my way through the crowds of people who had come to watch the execution. The thought made me sick, "Excuse me, sorry," I said pushing through the swarm of people before I finally had enough and raised my voice, "Princess coming through," I yelled out almost laughing at the way the crowd parted letting me through to Arthur, "Arthur! Arthur, you've got to stop this."

"I can't Elizabeth. You know I can't," Arthur explained watching as Gaius was tied to the pyre.

I shook my head, "Arthur we have proof, he's innocent. It's a setup, please."

"My father's already past sentence. There's nothing I can do," Arthur said quietly.

"For god sake Arthur. You can do the right thing! Where is that amazing man I know, who showed such faith in loyalty. Or are you really going to stand here and watch as an innocent man, a friend even, is burnt alive?" I snapped at him.

"Elizabeth…" Arthur began.

"How many people have you watched burn Arthur?!" I interrupted him, "How many friends? Because I can tell you right now that if you let this happen, you will lose a lot more than just Gaius. You will lose Merlin as well," Arthur looked a little put out about that, "Don't look at me like that, I am your Princess. I thought you were my Prince, so why don't you start behaving like the man I know you are?!" I asked watching out of the corner of my eye as Aredian began to lower the torch to the pyre.

Arthur stared at me for a moment, "Wait!" he yelled out. Aredian paused and turned to glare at me.

"What are you playing at?" Uther snapped at Arthur pulling him away from the pyre.

"It was me sire," I said before Arthur could get in any more trouble. Uther turned to face me as I spoke, "I have evidence that Gaius is innocent of the charges and more than that. That Aredian is the one with the powers," Uther looked at me in reluctant so I tried a different approach, "My Lord Gaius has been loyal to you for a great deal of time now. All I ask for is a hearing in the Court to prove his innocents. If I am right then it will save a man's life."

Uther nodded his head, "We will begin immediately."

I stood in front of Uther in the Throne room with Merlin by my side, after some talking we decided that I would do the speaking as I had more power in the court, "My Lord, the witnesses saw nothing," I started my explanation holding up the petal in one hand, "These petals were put in the eye drops to induce hallucinations by Belladonna. Then they were sold in the shop."

"And you brought this Belladonna from this man?" Uther asked the original witnesses all of whom nodded. Uther then turned to the Apothecary, "Where did you get it from? Don't be afraid, no harm will come to you here."

"The Witchfinder, he gave them to me," The Apothecary said pointing at him.

"Did he tell you what it was for?" Uther questioned.

The apothecary shook his head, "No, only that if I did not sell it, he'd have me burnt at the stake."

"How do you answer to these accusations?" Uther asked turning to Aredian.

Aredian looked at Merlin and I in disgust, "They're absurd. The boy has clearly concocted these lies in the hope of saving his master and your future daughter-in-law has been dragged into it through ignorance."

Merlin moved to step forward but I held up my hand to stop him. Stepping forward staring down Aredian in front of me, "You should remember sir exactly who I am. I am a princess and I see you, I see you perfectly as I always have sire. I am not ignorant any more than you are truthful," before Aredian could respond I turned to face Uther again, "I'm sure that Aredian wouldn't object to a search of his chambers," Uther nodded before turning to face Aredian.

Aredian shrugged, "I have nothing to hide."

We walked into Aredian's room, Merlin and Arthur were behind me while Uther and Aredian were in front. We looked like a funeral precession walking in complete silence, our heads down, well all except for Aredian who looked as confident as ever, I couldn't wait to watch him fall.

By the time we had reached the chambers some of the guards were already tossing it, "You're wasting your time."

The guards seemed to be missing the very obvious cupboard on the wall. I pointed to it, "The cupboard over there."

One of the guards opened it and about a dozen amulets fell out onto them. On the shelf there were stashes of Belladonna tincture, I muttered my spell just as Aredian turned around to face us, "These things don't belong to me! This is a trick!" he coughed, "That boy and the brat are plotting against me!" Aredian tried to clear his throat again. I laughed quietly as Merlin looked at me strangely. Aredian mouth opened and he split out a toad.

"Sorcerer!" Uther yelled, the guards moved towards Aredian.

I turned to talk to Arthur before I felt someone grab my hand and pull me backwards. A dagger ended up at my throat, "Aredian, think carefully about what you're doing. You will never escape from Camelot alive," I heard Uther say.

"I will if you value the life of your future daughter-in-law. Hmm?" Aredain shot back pressing the dagger into my throat so I could feel some blood running down my neck.

"Get your disgusting hands off of me!" I snapped back at him.

Aredain leant close enough so he could whisper in my ear, "If I burn you will burn with me witch."

I watched Merlin's lips move and his eyes flash gold before the dagger heated up against my neck. Aredain let go of it immediately crying out in pain. I pushed myself away from him running into Arthur's arms.

Aredain staggered backwards, tripping up over a box before he tumbled out of the window.

"Can I suggest releasing Gaius from the dungeons now My Lord?" I said to the King holding my neck slightly, "I think I need this to be looked at," I didn't hear Uther's reply as I staggered slightly before the world turned black.

I woke up with a pounding headache, not in the same room as before. It took me a moment to realise that I had been transferred into Gaius's chambers. I sat up and felt the bandage which had been placed on my neck before seeing Gaius and Merlin sitting at the table, they were eating dinner. I came through and sat on one of the chairs, "Good to see you've joined the land of the living again," Gaius said with sarcasm high in his voice.

I rolled my eyes, "I swear before I came to Camelot I had never fainted. Now I do it all the time!" Merlin just laughed, "How's Laudine doing?"

"Happier now he's gone. Kay is with her," Merlin explained.

I nodded, "Then she'll be okay."

"Everything can get back to normal," Merlin smiled into his bowl.

Gaius just looked at the pair of us suspiciously, "What I don't understand is how you knew he'd concealed the evidence in his chamber."

Merlin looked at me, while I just shrugged, "Just a hunch, really."

"I see. And the toad?" Gaius asked.

"That I, er...ahem, I, er...can't explain," Merlin said looking confused.

Gaius raised his eyebrow, "I can hardly explain it myself. Unless, of course, you put it there."

Merlin held his hands up in surrender, "I didn't do anything, honestly."

Both of the men turned to face me, I tried to look innocent but knew I had fail when I got the 'eyebrow', "What? I did tell him I would destroy him," I said with a shrug.

Merlin and Gaius just stared at me for a moment before Merlin burst out laughing, "It was worth it for the look on his face."

Gaius and I joined in before I suddenly remembered something, I got up looking at the table to see that Merlin had finished, "Now I have something to show you Merlin."

"Be careful," Gaius warned me, "I don't want you back in here for a medical reason for a long time now."

I made an X shape over my heart, "Cross my heart," I laughed before taking Merlin's arm and dragging him out of the castle and just beyond the castle walls. There was a field that was complete empty of anything and everything. I looked around quickly before muttering the spell I had been taught a long time ago under my breath. The air around us seemed to flicker for a moment before settling again.

"What did you do?" Merlin asked curiously.

"It's a spell Laudine taught me after the Witch Finder left my home. It shifts reality slightly out of focus so people just look passed us instead of seeing us. We can practice here without being seen, I want to learn more about magic and so you do. We can learn together," I offered, laughing at the happiness that spread across Merlin's face. I knew then that I could help him become the most powerful sorcerer of all time.

Please review and let me know what you think. And a big thank you to everyone who has already reviewed.

Until next time

Artistic-Blue-Eyes

xxx