Adventures of Merlin 11
Previous Chapter: Merlin learns there may be a way to revive Arthur of the ancient magic of Avalon, but it comes at a great cost, and it could end the old ways forever.
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Alban Elued. It means 'The light of the water.' It's the first day of waning, and the mark that the eternal summer the great King Arthur died in truly ended. The grass had gone gray and amber, the dark stone of the castle rose high in that craggy landscape.
Merlin perched; wind in his hair atop the Dragon Keep. Blue on red still marked him, but now the blue was Druid's cape, and red a plummeting scarf, also like the druids kept.
The first day of Autumn, and the equinox. It was one day most deeply flowing for magic.
Reaoch's wrinkled eyes glided along the gleam of a fine sword, sparkling at the hilt and encrusted with a large ruby at its end. As the light moved across the metal, a faint silver runic inscription shimmered. The king brought the sword to the throat of a trembling young man, one faint and thin-boned, with a slim nose and peasant clothing.
The sword cut without warning. The boy clutched the gush of blood pouring out of his throat and collapsed to the side.
"It seems we don't have to conquer them," he said. "We only have to let the gates open, then Camelot will do it. Make sure no more 'heroes' come to kill the 'evil' sorcerers on my land," he ordered lazily. The king wandered almost dazedly away with a deep glare. "It's fine that I cannot take the throne of Avalon Gate. I have a grandson that will do that, and my rule will persist as it should do. One passed to another; it all works out in the twining knots of fate. But even an old man knows he must protect his people. This world needs an annihilator, someone not afraid to destroy future threats to the existence of innocent magic children, mothers, fledgling young men.," he whispered, staring absently into the reflection of the sword, "I can be that for them."
"Your daughter is nowhere to be found in Camelot. The guards must have some warning before our soldiers arrived. They didn't make it to the main gate; Miresaed claimed the others kept getting confused and turning around before they got there."
Reaoch cocked his head. "Camelot's' queen would never allow magic in their citadel. Who could have warned them?"
"They did capture a guard called Ossley. He confirmed what we knew. The woman is long gone in the night." The servant dutifully answered with words that only spoke in the mind of the King.
Reaoch growled, "The woman is still my daughter." He coughed throatily.
A glow of white light cast over Merlin's face. He smiled and leaned back with a fan of black lashes over closed eyes. They'd gone into Avalon Gate's citadel.
There, there were cobbled streets, stables for horses, many long buildings with shops and small homes mismatched together. The little buildings nestled into the landscape, small, and close to the ground. Although the city walls weren't directly attached to the castle, they opened to a path nearby.
A splash of connected wall protected the citadel in a crescent of protection. The citadel and its towns, bleeding into rolling countryside, were cradled into the pine forest of the Valley of the Fallen Kings. Tannic, the newly positioned head knight, guarded hand-on-pummel beside the queen. She had no sword, but a fine scabbard hanging from her waist made easy-grab a sacred object that would be a wand if not for its large size. Merlin and Gillie both kept nearby, but townspeople didn't know them, so they kept in secret.
Merlin teased Gillie. "How's it to be the great protector?" he asked.
Gillie groaned at his gaudy outfit, cloak, and staff included. "I could ask that of you," he grunted. "You're more powerful than me."
"You have your conduit and your spells. You'll be fine," said Merlin. He peaked at Gillie's ring, a flat-topped silver thing around Gillie's middle finger.
Wen, dressed in a half-crown of silver wire, lifted a child's broken broom handle in conversation, "Oh, is this for mummy?" she asked. "Very kind of you," she said. She handed it to Gillie and merlin smiled and looked away while Gillie did his best coarse spell to fit the splintered handle back together. "Now it won't hold forever. Best find a new one soon," he said.
Merlin got a look at the seam inlaid into the handle, where it fit together. He raised his eyebrows; it was good work. It wouldn't hold for long in use, but it was good for magic.
A man pushed through the crowd. "Get out of my way," he bickered with a shop-keeper. He shoved someone off of him. "Majesty, I must know what you plan to do about the troops at the northern border. The castle walls might protect the wealthy from slaughter, but they don't protect us," he claimed loudly, almost in a shout.
Tannic moved between them. "No, Tannic. He deserves an answer," she said. "The troops are on the move away. We've made a treaty with them. The king of Dyfed doesn't want to conquer Avalon. He wanted the Castle's magic to better his army."
"NOT ALL OF US HAVE MAGIC!" shouted the man. "We're simple farmers and want to tend our fields. Is that alright?"
She jumped and scowled at the man. "Then get back to it, and do it without the surety of magic protection," she said darkly. Merlin stepped front, seeing the danger, and put his hand out.
"I'll defecate on your lawn!" yelled the man.
There was a chatter. The man ran, tipping baskets of vegetables from a stand and darting between traders in their practice. The guards chased, sending people to the side, one maid catching herself on the wood of a fruit stand. "By the Gods," she sighed and waved her hand, pulling the girl steady. "Help fix my mom's broom handle. I'll defecate on your lawn. That's not a bad mix for my first time out," she mumbled. Merlin straightened Wen's cloak. "The flag stone spell is working. There's no reason to assume the border isn't secure," said Merlin in a low voice. "And he has drawn back his army."
"Merlin, I feel I need to tell you something," she blurted.
Merlin looked.
She blinked. "Nothing," she said. "There's a banquet tonight. Would you accompany me?"
"What, like officially?"
"Officially," she smiled.
Hunith pulled the cover of her hair away and spun it around her hands before laying it on a bar beside the fire. She pulled away her shawl and let the soak of the rain drip so it might dry. Her face turned to the window. Outside, the shimmer of the glass changed from browning farmland and open fields to narrow passage and towering castle walls. She climbed out the back window, snuck low to the ground and stole clothes hung on a wire. She rented a horse in her new disguise and pushed off , leaving money for a horse rather than letting herself be seen.
Hunith departed for the break of the land into Camelot and pulled a hood over her face. The rain no longer fell. She looked back at the fading house from the town of Ealdor. It shimmered and faded as lake-sand under swelling water. On the horizon, the knights with the red and white banners assembled in long lines on horseback, meticulously and systematically pouring through the narrow streets, searching for a woman with brown hair and kind demeanor.
The sketch of her the face of her younger self fluttered in the wind beneath a passing doorway.
Merlin bowed and amused at the flips and heal-turns of the passing druids. Their long gowns flowed heavily, while two turned, clutching each other's forearms and spinning with massive grins, each nearly stumbling and making, 'Oooh's," as they caught each other.
"You know it is time for ours to move on," said Iseldir. "One more night of merrymaking and most will be off. Our tents are already packed."
Saffer bowed her head. She had a small frown and pulled back. "I'd have thought you were better planning on staying, given your girls are so young up for the court of the Desir."
"I heard," said Iseldir. "We won't be able to keep it secret much longer. Better get your walls assured." He lowered his voice, already almost muffled below the crowd and music, "Your people won't be amused at the implied loss of stability. The Desir is sacred to township people still. Be ready for a backlash."
Merlin's plan was to stay as far from the line of attention as he could. If he could melt into the shadow line cast by the court's pillars he would, but for now his very bright, red and blue colorings stood out more than he wanted them to. Merlin caught multiple courtiers eyeing him suspiciously, sipping from their goblets, whispering as he was a focal point of the evening. Eh was. But he didn't enjoy it.
For some reason, that night kicked up a swell of suspicious cold, which lent everyone to wearing heavy cloaks and garments. Copper buttons, long flowing sleeves, family colors under folded dresses, they all flashed with the accent of magic, peppered gently on the heels of the guests.
The weather aided the courtyard's firelight, though. The performances included knights, even tannic getting up, informally and drunk singing loudly about old battle tales.
Merlin caught those tales happened long before he was born.
"Don't be so sorry," said Meilyr, guarding above at the high railing and leaning over to Merlin, who'd fled to the cover of the spiral stair. "It's supposed to be fun. Your girl will be here soon. That'll be fun."
"Don't refer to her like that," snapped Merlin saltily.
Meilyr made a face and chugged from his goblet. "Ooh," he quipped.
"Have you seen my apprentice?" said Merlin. "He disappeared from his room. I don't want him caught up in whatever servantry these snobs have for him if they catch him." Merlin looked around the room at a very real threat. Half the courtiers from foreign lands, and many from the surrounding Avalon Gate township, had magical servants. Merlin darkened seeing them; taking in their faces.
A very prim Cardel, who Merlin now believed held a position similar to the Steward, walked Wen, holding her turned wrist high, smoothly into the Hall with an unnaturally long gate. Merlin blinked. Her dark robe hid just how vibrant the shimmer of the dress underneath was, but Merlin immediately knew how it shimmered brighter than water on a summer day, a thousand tiny stars piled on top of each other. He squinted to take in how it moved, and noticed her red curls had finally found their way up again, rather than hanging loosely.
The court bowed, and Merlin followed along, making to bow lower than most and knowing he appeased a few disapproving looks across the room while doing so.
"There's got to be some other way to get along with them."
"Follow along," she cooed in mind, "you're doing beautifully."
Gillie passed him, pinching his elbow along the way. He turned on a heel, grinned and turned his ring; spitting a glass surface of water which spilled messily on the polished floor and spit up a spectacle of jumping fish. It was half-made and made a mess, but most people smiled and clapped, as they seemed happy just to see the splashes in the water's surface in multiple places, which was already difficult for sorcerers.
Merlin clapped and flashed Gillie a thumb-up move under his cloak.
Just as one fish broke the surface the queen stepped forward, she dropped informally to sitting perched on her ankles, equaled the eye-line of the magic and trailed her fingers on the surface. The water turned white, crystallizing slowly, catching one or two fish in permanent, spiky formation. The crowd again hissed and cheered politely.
Merlin noticed the wire crown splitting between her wrapped curls had a trail of gold butterflies, some of which seemed to open and close their wings.
She backed away from her work, gathering her dress and folding into the physical protection of Cardel and multiple guard members.
Merlin realized the real purpose of the display when Lords and ladies started calling for displays of magic, clearly the king meant to test the girls prowess. The hissing, whispering started with genres of magic…animal for instance. She ignored this, and seemed not to hear it, a man pulled a bowl of dirt from a table and brought it to her, she scooped a handful of inperceptably small seeds and sprinkled between two fingers, squeezed her hand and the flash of green and then white popped brightly in the bowl.
The was a pause and then a swell of clapping. "That's alright," said a man. "She's very new. She's very new."
Merlin winced. They were expecting an amount of magic even he had rarely seen. She scanned the crowd.
A knight stepped forward with an ornate sword and presented it to her. "Iron," she asked.
The knight responded, his voice booming deliberately and echoing off the walls. The crowd cheered loudly, yelling excitedly. The horrified young queen hid her expression too late for Merlin to miss it. His mouth opened; he eyed the crowd one last time.
The knight demanded, pulling away from her, "Copper."
She closed her eyes with intimidated sigh.
Merlin pursed his lips, lifted his palm skyward covertly, and closed his eyes with a whisper. Merlin caught onto her verbal spell. There was a moment he realized what it was, that it wasn't working; he saw the shoulders of the crowd slink back, and he grudgingly pulled the stunt. The energy pushed behind his eyes.
Wen noticed.
She smoothed her expression of disappointment and presented the sword to a loud cheer and flashing the sword high by the knight.
Her face turned to Merlin. The rest of the requests died out as she nodded to the minstrels to play and held her hand out to Merlin.
"That was deceptive," she accused, hissing low. Merlin approached slowly as she looked over his arms and carefully scooped his arms into position for some traditional dance he'd never seen.
There was a shudder of a laugh as Merlin let her drag him into sway. She clicked her tongue in frustration and pulled him close with a hand on his back. "I didn't want you to fail," he whispered. "We could always …" his eyes traveled up her arm as she pushed her fingers high above his line of sight, then down to her lashes, her collarbones, and lips. Merlin breathed through his nose and tensed. "We could always train for those things later. Right now, it's most important to make the impression."
They'll know," she warned. "You aren't surrounded by Camelot peasants, easily fooled by the wickedness of magic they've never seen. They know what magic is here; deception is equal." She pulled him into a turn, his eyes went up to the faces in the crowd and inevitably caught a few suspicious looks. He bowed and held her hand up as she turned, the way Cardell had.
Others slowly joined the dance and the music, finally, with breath releasing relief, sped up. Merlin bowed, cupped her chin upward until she met her gaze to his and pulled away. Merlin crept into his habit of vanishing, swept himself into a corridor and held his hand out. He looked at his palm; he chanced a peek into the sparkling Hall and kicked open a familiar hidden passage to the Dragon's Courtyard.
The bitter cold swept through Merlin, and he held his arms close to himself. The widows he passed lit brightly with firelight from the nearby brasiers and a few performers were already positioned, as they often were at banquets, around the gaps of ancient stone walls. Merlin stepped over a fallen pillar and trudged into the safety of his well-known haunt, just before the Courtyard, and away from the sight of the guards that chatted there each night for his protection.
Aithusa's pale neck arched dramatically; head resting on a clawed forearm. Merlin took in the sight of the heavily snoring dragon and took stock of the meandering onlookers above, who'd found a place to ogle him. Not having patience for conflict, Merlin's eyes flashed, charged with annoyance, and the firelight in a brasier near the couple promptly died.
Behind him he listened to cheers and looked back at the crack in the grand door. Three girls presented for the "court of the Desir." Merlin heard the name of the Court of the Triple Goddess, and recognized foes that had forced him to choose between two outcomes of destiny, one that could have accepted magic, and one that ultimately punished Arthur with effective lethality.
Merlin frowned, bowed his head, and approached curiously. Just then he realized these smiling, brown-haired young Druid girls weren't just prospectives, chosen traditionally at birth, but they were intended soon. People bowed. People cheered, and some had tears on their faces. The girls, already dressed in the ceremonial, identical garb of the Desir.
He scowled and drew closer, listening intently to what he could in whispers.
"Should we even replace it?" whispered a girl at the door. An unseen man rounded on her. "What do you mean?" he hissed. "The
They closed themselves in a small room.
"The Desir are dead?" said Merlin. "All of them?" He drew back. "How long ago?"
"Long now."
"Why did no one tell me?"
"Because it's still a secret," her eyes flashed.
Merlin settled back into his shoulders and drew closer, leaning intimately over her.
Her eyes traveled up his chest to his face and he caught the flash of affronted glare.'
"It's you," he said, voice tepid and low. "You caused their destruction," he silked.
She raised her head, "No, Merlin."
"Yes, you did. What could have happened to them after you went to visit them?"
"No." she said. "The Desir attacked. I protected. And had you died, Reaoch would have taken the kingdom anyway."
Merlin lightened. "What happened?"
"They tried to invoke the threefold death. At first, I thought it was a joke because it only works on kings. But when I got there, they weren't just prophesying that you'd die, they tried to kill you using the Triple Goddess's power."
Merlin was silent.
"The threefold death has happened since extreme ancient times, when a king was unfit or people starved. The Three-fold Death ensures the gods were appeased by their death. It comprises a stabbing, or impalement, a drowning, and a hanging. Sometimes the people dragged the bodies into sacred water and staked them to the bottom so the body wouldn't rise. At some point, the bodies must have stopped decaying."
"O-Oh, sounds…nice."
"They told me to turn you over, Merlin. They wanted to kill you. I refused and one attacked me. There was a fight in magic, but the first one fell on Tannic's sword. After that it was…" she stopped suddenly, "We tracked them out of the woods and through a mountain pass. The second drowned in the marsh, and the third was hung in a local village."
Small fingers knocked over a well of ink. The spreading black bled over the table.
Merlin's eyes blinked tiredly in the heady, heavy heat of the late night. Candles dotted the Dragon Lord's chamber and his child shadow, Oisan, lingered near. The boy could barely read, but Merlin found he understood how to speak simple spells. He could make small objects move. "Did you know Avalon gate was the Isle of The Blessed?" asked Merlin of the boy.
Oisan winced. "Hm. I guess."
Merlin's eyes narrowed. "Is that some secret?" he said dully.
"No," said the boy simply.
Merlin waited for more, but the boy's attention was elsewhere. He seemed focused on the wall. "Are you missing home?" asked Merlin.
"No," he said simply again. "I don't have a home."
Merlin's jaw slacked open. "Come here," he said. "Get up to the table. I'll teach you how to clean that up."
Merlin drew a candle plate closer, brushed his fingers over some of it, and uttered a spell. The mixture of spilled ink spindled into the air and smoothly drew into the plate. Oisan lifted the metal plate with a smile of awe.
Merlin grinned.
"You put me over your kingdom. All that stuff about protecting your people and you let them die for me? I don't care. I've lost everything. I've done everything wrong. I don't know what you want from me. My destiny is over."
"Dear Merlin. The court of the Desir did wrong by our people. There was nothing I could do to save them. The only thing I did was petition them about what the druids told me of their actions. They tried to use sacred power to kill you. You live."
"The old ways."
"The court will have new members granted by the Druids."
"Children," said Merlin.
"New blood. A new morning. Get some sleep."
"Is this private, Master?" Oisan blinked and rubbed his eyes from his chair.
Merlin drew the curtain around his bed with a purse-lipped frown. He rolled over.
They took their horses and moved through the night through the veil and out of the guard of Avalon Gate Castle's protection. This put them in the Forest, and then the Valley of Fallen Kings.