Chapter 60 A/N I don't own Merlin
"Cassie, my dear, are you quite all right?" Gaius asked as he ran into her on his way back from the corridor he'd been speaking to Edwin in.
"I could be better, Gaius." Cassie said truthfully. "I was just on my way to the library, to find something to read to pass the time."
"Hmm, yes I was going to speak to Geoffrey as well."
"Gaius…" Cassie said, hesitating a little.
"Yes, Cassie?"
"I didn't see any blood in either of Morgana's ears. And I've been with her the whole time, for the most part. I don't think it was a haemorrhage." she said quietly, looking around for any unwelcome guests.
"I don't think so either."
"There's something off about that man. I can't describe it: he just feels...bad."
"Keep those thoughts to yourself, Cassie. He did just save the King's ward."
"Yes, Gaius." Cassie said as they walked into the library and greeted Geoffrey.
"Gaius! Lady Cassie!" he greeted jovially, leaving what he was doing and facing them.
"Hello, Geoffrey. Don't mind if I take a look around, do you. I'm dreadfully bored and I'd like to take a book out."
"Of course, Lady Brannagh just returned the one over there. You might find it entertaining." he answered, pointing towards the far stack and turning to Gaius as he began speaking in low tones.
"Geoffrey. I'm here to ask a favor of you."
"Well, anything for an old friend."
"I wish to see the records for the time of the Great Purge." Gauis told him severely.
"What possible need can you have for those?" he said quietly, making sure Cassie couldn't hear them.
"I fear that the past may have come back to haunt us." Gaius answered just as quietly and even more severely than before.
"All the more reason to keep the records hidden."
"I know that neither of us want to remember that time, but this is a matter of great urgency.
"The records are sealed, they cannot be opened. Uther has forbidden it."
"Geoffrey, I beg of you."
"I'm sorry, Gaius. This time you ask too much. Even for me." he said, going back to what he had been doing before, neither of them noticing the girl had been within earshot.
"Thank you for the book, Geoffrey." Cassie said, kissing his cheek lightly and going out, noticing Gaius hadn't waited for her.
She decided to go and thank the man that saved Morgana and asked a passing servant where he would be.
"Feormian dærst rénian." Cassie heard through the slightly open door as she went to knock on it, hearing Edwin talking to an unknown person. "Why waste a talent like that?And I can teach you." she heard him say smugly.
"Rǽdan ásce géatan." she heard Merlin say.
"Oh, Merlin you fool!" Cassie breathed to herself, running through the citadel quickly, looking for Gaius.
"Cassie, please. We need to talk."
"I don't want to talk to you, Owaine. I c-I can't talk to you just yet. Please, Owaine. Leave me alone." Cassie said, panting as he stood in her way in the middle of the hallway.
"You don't want to talk to me, that's fine. It doesn't mean that I don't want to talk to you. Please, my love. Don't do this to me."
"Like you didn't do that to me!" Cassie replied, regretting her words the moment she said them and backing up. "I won't talk to you right now, Owiane because I might say something I'll regret. Leave me alone."
"Cassie!" he called as she pushed past him gently and walked towards the Physician's tower.
"Gaius?" Cassie asked as she walked into his chambers, looking around and deciding they were empty. "Why are they never around when you need them!?" Cassie murmured to herself in annoyance as she went to her old chambers next door and opened the book she'd borrowed from the library.
"Gaius, I have to talk to you." Cassie said, knocking on his door a few hours later.
"I'm all ears."
"I think Merlin's making a mistake. In trusting Edwin. He has magic." Cassie breathed out with wide, frightened eyes.
"Edwin?" Gaius asked, sighing and taking off the glasses as he leaned back.
"Yes." she said in a small voice.
"I don't trust him. I-Come in."
"Gaius, you've been a good friend to me over the years, and you've done me many kindnesses. I can't deny you this one request." Geoffrey said, walking into the room and nodding to Cassie.
"I'll just…it's getting late anyways. Goodnight, Gaius. Goodnight, Geoffrey." Cassie said, taking the cue to leave in stride.
"I thought you'd be in the Midwife's chambers tonight." Owaine said when she walked in, standing up and walking forward hopefully.
"I'm just here to change clothes. Finish your dinner." Cassie said dully, not looking at him at all.
"Cass."
"Owaine, I just need time!" Cassie said, putting on her nightdress and robe over it and grabbing a change of clothes for tomorrow.
"Please don't go." he called out softly, sighing when she just looked at him with tearful eyes and closed the door behind her.
"Cassie?" Leon asked, startling her out of her reverie. "Cassie, are you okay?"
"No." Cassie said softly, nuzzling against his chest and hugging him tightly as she let her tears fall silently.
"Cassie what's wrong?" he asked, letting his arms wrap around her slight frame and his hands go up to her hair.
But Cassie just shook her head and held tighter to him.
"Come on, I've just got back from patrol and you need some water." he said, leading her slowly to his door a few paces away. "Sit. Drink." Leon said, gently steering her to a chair and handing her a goblet of water.
"Thanks." Cassie said, putting the goblet down untouched and wrapping her arms around herself as she cried some more.
"Are you okay?" he repeated, his cloak laying over the back of the chair as he sat down in front of her.
"No. Have you heard about Morgana?" she asked instead.
"I literally just got back, Cassie. I haven't heard a thing."
"Well, it has to do with that."
"You don't want to talk about it, do you?"
"No. I just…I want…I don't know what I want. I want to feel something else."
"What are you feeling right now?" Leon breathed moving closer to her, his heart racing as his mind yelled at him that she was his friend's wife.
"Anger. Betrayal." Cassie admitted quietly, looking at his eyes. "I don't like it."
"No one likes feeling betrayed." he responded quietly, his eyes drifting to her pouty lips as both their breaths hitched and they leaned towards each other slowly.
"Leon, I can't do this." Cassie breathed just before their lips touched, placing her hand over his racing heart and pushing him away gently.
"I know." he said just as breathily, hanging his head and placing his hand over hers. "I wouldn't hurt you, Cassie. Either of you. I shouldn't have let you in. Good night, Cassie. You should go back to your chambers. With your husband." he told her standing up and going to the door.
"You're right. Good night, Leon." Cassie said, downing the water that was previously untouched before moving to the door.
"This shouldn't have happened, Cassie." he said softly, holding her arm gently.
"Nothing did, Leon." Cassie said, not bothering to look at him.
"I'll see you tomorrow." he said ruefully, closing the door and leaning against it, shame in his eyes as his heart betrayed him and he slid down the wall.
"My Lady?" came the timid voice behind the door the following morning.
"Lady Anne, come on in." Cassie said brightly, closing the book she was finishing and looking up.
"This is embarrassing."
"Whatever you tell me is in the strictest confidence." Cassie said reassuringly.
"I-I was with another man. And now I fear I am pregnant." she said quietly after she closed the door.
"You can go behind the screen for privacy." Cassie said, handing her a bowl with some barley in it and placing the unfinished book in her bookcase to go back to later.
"You won't ask me who…"
"My Lady, it's not my place to ask or judge."
"Why not? Everyone else is going to."
"One of my sisters wasn't my father's daughter. And I loved her."
"I betrayed my husband on a whim. Because we had a fight, a stupid fight. And now I think the child isn't his." she said, sobbing quietly into her hand as Cassie involuntarily thought back to the previous night with Leon.
"I have no way to tell you whose child it is. But I can tell you no matter what that you'll love him. And your other children will love him too. Or her." Cassie said gently, rubbing soothing circles on her back.
"C-can I talk to you? Without it becoming gossip?"
"Of course. I only partake in idle gossip, not something to ruin reputations or harm others. Anything you tell me will stay between us." Cassie said reassuringly, standing up and locking the door so no one would interrupt.
"He, he lay with another. And then I let myself drink too much and lay with the first man I saw. And it snowballed from there." she said through sobs, her frame shaking as she did so.
"Did you-have you...sorry, I'm still not very comfortable asking these questions. Did you and your husband make love after…" Cassie said awkwardly, a blush tingeing her cheeks
"We made up, a few times. And he's sworn never to do so again, but…"
"Somehow you can't believe it?" asked Cassie.
"Yes. He really hurt me, and I stooped so low to get back at him, and here's where I'm at. He'll hate for the rest of his life if he finds 'll hate me even if he doesn't. I'll hate me."
"Anne, does the man you...you know, does he look like your husband?"
"Sort of, I guess."
"Then you just have to pray that your child looks more like you. I'll tell you in a week, my Lady."
"Thank you. For lending an ear, I needed it."
"Of course, I'm here for this."
"You and your husband...whatever the fight is about, you should forgive him and keep him as happy with you as possible. It's written all over your face." Lady Anne said with a small, sad smile when she got to the door, turning towards the younger Lady.
"Th-thank you. I'll take the advice to heart."
"Good."
"My Ladies, there's a council meeting in a half an hour." a guard said when they walked down the stairs to the corridor leading out.
"I should get my husband. Excuse me, my Lady." Anne said going to the noble's wing.
"I have been through the Court medical records with a fine tooth comb, Sire." Edwin said when the King motioned for him to do so, making Cassie furrow her brow in confusion and narrow her eyes in suspicion.
"And were your findings satisfactory?"
"With regret, I would have to say they were not."
'¡Desgraciado! ¿Qué es lo que quiere este tipo?' Cassie thought to herself as she became more alert in response to his answers and his fake tone of voice.
"How so?" Uther asked, leaning forward cautiously.
"Gaius is a great man, thorough, and dedicated."
"But?" the king prompted, making Cassie seethe quietly in rage at his ability to give up on his friends.
"His methods are outdated. He has failed to keep up with the latest developments. This has led to a number of errors." Edwin replied with a 'weary' sigh, one that Cassie saw right through and was already planning how best to show it to others.
"Gaius has served me well for 25 years." Uther said, leaning back against the throne and looking at Edwin cooly.
"And one cannot blame him for the infirmity those years have brought. Age can be a terrible curse." he said.
"Perhaps it is time to lighten his burdens." Uther said, taking the implied suggestion and looking thoughtfully into space. "Have you given any more thought to my offer?"
"Yes. I have considered it very carefully." he said, hiding his smirk behind a polite smile.
"Allow me some time to do the same." Uther said, going over to a pitcher of wine once Edwin had bowed and walked out.
"Yes?" Edwin said, turning around at the corner to stop Cassie, knowing she'd been following him since the council chambers.
"I-I just wanted to, uhm, th-"
"Cassie! Cassie, so glad I found you, one of the villagers was looking for you. Said his wife's in labor." Owaine said, nodding to Edwin as Cassie walked away briskly.
"Who did you say was in labor?" Cassie asked, turning around at the foot of the stairs to bump into his chest.
"I recognized the look in your eyes. Like a startled doe."
"Thank you, Owaine." Cassie said, turning around to walk up the steps with a heavy sigh, knowing he was following her.
"Please talk to me." he pleaded after he closed the door.
"Owaine, I-I don't know what to say. You hurt me!"
"Say just that! But please don't push me away. I love you, Casiopea. And I vowed to never forsake you. Please."
"Stop pleading, Owaine. It's rather unbecoming."
"Cassie, I will go down on my knees and beg your forgiveness if I must."
"You don't have to. I already forgave you. It's my trust that's shattered."
"Then tell me what I can do to have you trust me again. I swear to you, my wife, that I will never harm you again."
"It's not that easy, Owaine."
"I know, why were you looking at Edwin like that?"
"He has magic. I don't know what he plans to do with it, but I have a bad feeling about him. I just needed to find out, and then he cornered me and…you showed up." Cassie said, finishing lamely as she locked the door and cast the silencing spell with a glow of her eyes.
"And you went to him alone!?"
"Well, I couldn't very well leave him to his-"
"Cassie, why do you do this? Why do you insist on putting yourself in danger?"
"I can take care of myself, Owaine." Cassie said harshly, her expression souring.
"Yes, I know you can. That doesn't mean you should go looking for trouble!" Owaine said sharply, taking her hands in his firmly. "Cassie, please, don't go asking for trouble." he said, pulling her close to him and kissing her gently on the lips.
"Owaine, I can't lose my family again." Cassie said, resting her hands on his chiseled chest and looking in his eyes. "I have to do something, anything to protect them."
"Then you can't very well be angry at Gwen and me when we do the same for you."
"But you tricked me, Owaine. Both of you did."
"Yes, we did. But we only did it to protect you from yourself. You are too stubborn for your own good, Casiopea." Owaine said, moving his hands to her hips and kissing her again, much deeper this time.
"You're right. I should apologize to her. I've been even colder to her than I have been to you." Cassie said sheepishly.
"Do you have any rounds to do?" Owaine asked, not letting go of her.
"No, I don't."
"Then your apology to her can wait." he said, grinning cheekily. "First, there's something we must do."
"Owaine," Cassie said, stopping him from kissing her once more. "Before we do anything there's something I must tell you."
"What is it, my Queen?" he asked, looking into her guilty eyes.
"Last night, after I left our chamber Leon found me crying. We-we went to his chambers and-"
"Please don't tell me you made love to him. I'll kill him!" he said, standing straight, walking over and pulling on the locked door. "Open this door, Casiopea!"
"Of course we didn't! I would never betray you like that!"
"Then what? What could possibly have happened for you to look so guilty about it!?" he demanded in a growl.
"I almost kissed him." Cassie admitted looking deep into his eyes.
"Almost. Who stopped it?" he asked, pacing back and forth angrily.
"I did. But Leon didn't- I mean to say that...Leon wasn't the one who started it. All he did was offer a shoulder to cry on."
"Yeah, of course that's all he did!" Owaine snorted sarcastically.
"Owaine, please."
"You're mine!" he growled, kissing her passionately, his hand once more tugging her hips closer to him as he devoured her mouth. "Mine, and no one else's."
"As you are mine, Owaine." Cassie mumbled against his lips with a sultry smile, letting her hands roam over his body of their own accord, becoming very aroused by his possessive words.
"I want you, now!" he said, turning her around and lifting her skirts, leaning over to nip at the back of her throat as he undid the laces of his trousers and entered her with a groan, loving her passionately as their moans mingled with each other in the air and they forgot their previous fight.
"That was…amazing, Owaine." Cassie said with a sated smile, leaning up on the tips of her toes as she used her magic to smooth out the wrinkles in their clothes.
"I love you, my wife."
"And I you, my husband. But don't ever drug me again."
"Don't almost kiss Leon again."
"Deal?" she asked, holding her hand out as she looked up into his eyes, her breathing heavy and her eyes lustful.
"Deal." he said, taking her hand and pulling her closer, already hard again for another round, this time on the bed.
"We've been locked in here all day, Owaine." Cassie said with a giggle once the sun disappeared below the horizon. "I'm sure you'll get in trouble for not showing up to training."
"I'll be punished by having to take night duty up in the battlements for the rest of the week. So what?" he answered, gently biting her shoulder and sucking as his hands traveled down her stomach.
"Owaine, we've been at this all day! You aren't tired?" Cassie asked with a small laugh that turned into a moan as his fingers teased their way in.
"I have quite a few days to make up for, my love. Are you tired?" he said, adding the last as an afterthought with a wary look.
"Not at all." Cassie replied, turning around on the bed and kissing his nose with a giggle. "But it's my turn now." she added, pushing him onto his back and rolling on top of him, having her way with him the rest of the night.