Chapter 61 A/N I don't own Merlin. To secretkeeper298, you completely made my day! I'm going to publish three chapters today, partly because of you and partly because I'm going to be super busy the whole of August. Well, busy in that I'm going on vacation! Thank you again! Read, Review, Favorite, do whatever else you feel like doing. I like criticism- constructive or otherwise.
"Gaius! Uther cannot do this to you!" Cassie and Merlin simultaneously cried as they burst in the following day when they heard the King's proclamation.
"You tried to save Morgana." Merlin said hotly.
"Uther's not to blame." Gaius said placatingly, placing his hand on Cassie's shoulder gently.
"I won't let you leave!" Cassie said, shrugging off his hand and taking out what Gaius had just packed.
"I will speak to Edwin, you can work together." Merlin said.
"Ah si, como no. Ese tal Edwin solo quiso una cosa desde que llegó!" Cassie cried in outrage, taking out everything Gaius put into the box again and again.
"No, you mustn't do anything." Gaius told them, ignoring whatever Cassie had said as neither of them understood her.
"I can't stand by and do nothing!"
"Uther's right, it's time I stepped down." Gaius told them, placing his hands over Cassie's as she tried to unpack the entire box again.
"What are you doing?" Merlin asked when he paused momentarily, seeing the boxes.
"What does it look like, Merlin." Cassie said with a roll of her eyes, making the tears fall down her face.
"I cannot stay here when there's no longer a use for me," Gaius said tiredly.
"You're not leaving?" he asked, his voice thick.
"I believe it's for the best?"
"But it isn't!" Cassie said, the tears falling freely once more.
"Then I will come with you." Merlin said at the same time, his voice thick as well.
"Merlin, you're like a son to me. And you're like a daughter to me, Cassie. I never expected such a blessing so late in life."
"And you're more than a father to me." Merlin said, holding back the tears while Cassie just broke out into quiet sobs, burying her head in Merlin's chest.
"Then, as a father, I must tell you, you must remain here. Camelot is where you belong." Gaius said, looking him in the eyes and placing his hands on his shoulders.
"But you belong here too!" Cassie and Merlin chorused.
"Not anymore." he said, looking warily at Cassie before saying, "Merlin, you must promise me you will not waste your gifts."
"My gifts mean nothing without you to guide me." Merlin said, not caring that Cassie was there.
"You have a great destiny. If I have had a small part to play in that, then I'm pleased." Gaius said, looking into his nephew's eyes.
"There is so much I have yet to learn. I need you to teach me." Merlin said, looking right back into his guardian's eyes, portraying his feelings.
"I'm afraid I am leaving here tonight, Merlin. And there's nothing either of you can do or say that can persuade me otherwise." he said, cutting off Cassie as she had opened her mouth to protest.
"I will not let this happen." Merlin said firmly, stalking out the door without a backwards glance, leaving a sobbing Cassie behind.
"Goodbye, Merlin." he said softly.
"Gaius, please don't go. You know what you mean to me. Please." Cassie begged, her voice light and watery as she breathed in shakily. "Please."
"Cassie. There is no longer need for me here."
"Yes there is! Gaius, I beg of you. Don't go! Please, stay. I need you! Please." Cassie choked out between sobs.
"I cannot, Cassie. I'm leaving tonight." he said, watching her go with a heavy heart as she ran out in near hysterics.
"Cassie?" Owaine said in question, dropping his guard as Leon disarmed him, watching her run through the fields until she reached the edge of the fields, leaning against the wall and dropping her head onto her chest. "My love?"
"Uther sacked Gaius." she said quietly, trying to calm down.
"Come here." he said, hugging her close to his chest and nodding towards the water skin as his brother and Bruin were walking closer with matching worried expressions.
"Here." Leon said, being much closer than the others and throwing his waterskin to Owaine, who just nodded stoically, ignoring his want to throttle the knight.
"Take a drink, Cassie. You need it."
"No quiero." she mumbled against his chest, shaking her head.
"Okay, then let's go up to the battlements. You need to calm down, my love. This will only hurt you."
"Okay." she said softly, nodding her head and lacing her fingers with his as they walked back, not commenting on the way his grip tightened as they passed Leon.
"Owaine?" Cassie said with a raw voice hours later.
"Yes, lambkin?"
"I'm sorry."
"Why? Did you try to kiss Gaius, too?" he asked seriously, chuckling deeply at her soft laugh.
"Obviously not. I-I'm sorry for crying on you for the past few hours. I thought I was all out of tears."
"Cassie, I am your husband. This shoulder is yours to cry on." he said, leaning over to give her a kiss. "Actually, I think it's this shoulder you can cry on. This is the one you bite when we make love." he said teasingly, lifting his shoulders theatrically.
"Come on, you're hungry, I'm sure people in Hispania can hear your stomach growling." Cassie said with a soft smile, letting him pull her up and lacing her fingers with his, "We should give this back to Leon." she said, lifting the waterskin she'd finished when they entered their chambers.
"Done. I'll send for lunch, too." he said, taking the waterskin and going to light the fire.
"I can do that, Owaine." Cassie said, calling her magic up and directing it towards the fireplace where the flames popped up in a heartbeat.
"I'll open the windows. It's not cold enough yet to warrant the fireplace."
"You could've just asked me to light the candles."
"I'm going for food." he said after a moment of looking at her in disbelieving annoyance, smiling to himself as he heard her tinkling laugh follow him out the door.
"Is she okay?" Leon asked him at the end of the corridor.
"Yeah, she will be. Thank you." Owaine said, his smile not meeting his eyes as he held out the waterskin.
"Owaine, we need to talk." Leon said seriously.
"So we do." he agreed
"Owaine?" Cassie asked after they finished their lunch an hour later and were wrapped in each other's embrace on the bed.
"Yes, lambkin?" he said, kissing her bare shoulder over the love bite he'd given her the day before.
"Can't you force him to stay. You know, lock him in the tower or something?" Cassie asked as her eyes pricked angrily, with no more tears left to shed.
"You know I can't do that, my love. Go on, he might not have gone yet, maybe you can catch him before he does go. Give him a proper goodbye."
"I don't know that I can." she said softly, tracing patterns on his forearm.
"If you don't you'll regret it, Cass. I know you too well."
"I suppose so, my Knight.'' Cassie said, summoning her dress with a flash of golden eyes and standing in front of Owaine so he could lace it up.
"Have you seen Gaius anywhere?" Cassie asked one of the village boys after she crossed the courtyard.
"I saw him with a white horse a while ago. He was talking with a girl in a yellow dress by the main gate." he answered.
"Thanks." Cassie said with a beaming smile as she ran to the gate and looked around for him. "Where are you, Gaius?" Cassie said to herself as she walked around the stalls. "Have you seen Gaius?" Cassie asked one of the vendors after fruitless searching.
"He left a few hours ago. Would you like some fruit?"
"Just a few apples, thanks." Cassie said, taking three apples and paying the man with a disappointed smile, willing herself not to break down until she was back in Owaine's arms. But when she got back to their chambers he was nowhere to be found. She left two of the apples on the table and made her way through the castle quietly as she ate the apple, calling on her magic to distract the guards and going down the stairs to speak with the Great Dragon.
"Hello, Llys Dôn. It's been a long time."
"That it has, Kilgharrah." Cassie said sadly. "My friend, Gaius has left. He's-I didn't get to say goodbye, and then I couldn't find anyone and-and I didn't want to be alone."
"It is possible his time had come to leave Camelot, Casiopea."
"No, that man Edwin had something to do with this, I'm sure of it! I just don't know how to prove it."
"Perhaps it is not necessary to prove it. What's done is done, there's no changing the past. But the future is constantly changing."
"He must be after something, I just don't know what! I know he's studied magic, and something about him feels bad, but what it is…"
"This land was mired in chaos for many years. Many people lost their lives, even more children lost their parents."
"Edwin was one of those children?"
"Indeed he was."
"So he's seeking retribution? Vengeance? By healing Morgana? How is th-'A remedy to cure all ills'. He's here to kill the king, isn't he?" Cassie asked breathlessly when the realization hit her.
"He is here to avenge his parents and every other magical being who was killed because of one man's hate and hypocrisy!"
"I can't let this happen!"
"Let your time come. The time of Arthur will bring with it peace and unite the land of Albion. And his time cannot come if Uther still lives."
"No. I can't let this happen." Cassie said, turning around and running back up across the moonlit courtyard.
She hurried through the candle-lit castle to Arthur's chambers to warn him, but was met with an empty room so she went out to the training grounds only to find them empty.
"Where is everybody when you need them?!" she growled out loud, hurrying back into the castle and through the corridors looking for Merlin.
"Merlin! Finally, I've been looking everywhere! There's somet-"
"Merlin! My father has Morgana's illness! We must find Edwin!" Arthur said, stopping Cassie short and running the other way as Merlin dropped the folded laundry and ran, both ignoring Cassie as they did so.
"To the King's it is." Cassie said quietly, running through the castle to the King's chambers.
"Merlin's looking for Edwin, but I can tend to the King until they get here." Cassie said breathlessly to the guards outside the King's door so they'd let her in. "Great, now what do I do?" Cassie mumbled to herself, looking around nervously before she sat down beside the king and called her magic up, letting it spill out into the King and slowly examining him from feet up just as she had Morgana. When she got to his head, however, she recoiled sharply, reeling from the cloud of strong black magic that was surrounding his head. "What the hell did you do, Edwin?" she asked herself shakily, taking in deep breaths and pacing the room to gather her wits about her as she calmed down from the shock.
She took deep breaths sitting down on the bed next to him and placing a wet cloth on his forehead and keeping her hand there, making it easier for Cassie to let her magic out once more, directing it to the cloud she now sensed around Uther's head, trying hard to understand how the enchantment was working so she could undo it.
By the time Merlin and Gaius arrived at the King's chambers, Cassie was shaking and sweating with the exertion it took just to understand the dark magic surrounding the King. She hadn't even had any time to begin to unravel the magic when Gaius' voice interrupted her concentration and made her magic recoil back into herself, knocking the wind out of her and making her vision go black.
"How are we going to get the beetle out before it kills him?" Merlin asked, ignoring Cassie's heavy breathing as she stood up on shaking legs and gave them space, instinctively knowing Merlin would be able to save him.
"It can only be magic." Gaius said, looking warily at Cassie, so warily that her heart fell when she realized that neither of them trusted her enough to tell her.
"Then we are doomed?" she said, looking between the two, begging for them to trust her.
"I'm afraid so, Cassie. Go find Arthur, please." Gaius said softly.
"Yes, Gaius." Cassie said, disappointed and knowing she would just be waiting outside the room for them to finish before going to find him, leaving the door slightly open and holding her breath as she listened in on them.
"We can't use magic on Uther, he'd kill us." Merlin said.
"We don't have a choice."
"Gaius!"
"There are times when it is necessary. It is your right."
"I don't know how."
"If you don't, he's going to die." Gaius said, the room silent for a moment before Cassie heard Merlin utter:
"Bebiede þe arisan ealdu. Áblinnan."
"What's happening?" Gaius asked, voicing Cassie's thoughts. "Has anyone ever told you, you're a genius?"
"Finally!" Cassie breathed, missing Merlin's response as she ran away looking for Arthur.
"Cassie! Is it my father?"
"Gaius and Merlin are there right now. I was looking all over for you, I'm not sure what's happened." she breathed out, holding her side as he ran out the room towards his father's room. "And once again I'm left alone." she mumbled to herself, serving some water in a cup and downing it in one before slowly walking to Gaius' chambers, catching her breath and calming her heart.
"Cassie!?" Gaius said in mid laugh as he and Merlin walked in later that evening.
"Th-the King? Is he…"
"Alive. I figured out how to cure him."
"Tha-that's good." Cassie said dully, trying not to cry at their lack of trust in her.
"About earlier, I am sorry. You must know that." Gaius said as Merlin quickly went up to his room and closed the door.
"I do know that." Cassie said with a sad smile, "I should go. It's quite late. Goodnight, Gaius. I'm happy you stayed;" while she refused to voice her thoughts 'even if it wasn't for me.'
"Goodnight, Cassie." Gaius called after her.
"My Queen?"
"The King's alive. Gaius is staying. All is well." Cassie said, stepping up to him and wrapping her arms around his waist.
"So why are you upset?"
"It's nothing. Kiss me." Cassie said, leaning up and capturing his lips in hers, deepening the kiss and letting him undress her for the fourth time that day. "I love you, Owaine."
"I, my family, and my kingdom are deeply indebted to you. And in honour of this, I not only reinstate you as court physician, but henceforth, you are a free man of Camelot." Uther declared in the Council Chambers the following day, dressed in his ceremonial robes and standing in front of the entire Court of Camelot. He handed Gaius a roll of parchment as he finished his speech and allowed for everyone to clap their hands in congratulations with wide smiles.
"I'm happy for Gaius." Cassie whispered to Owaine as he walked around proudly, a wide smile on his face.
"Yeah, he's certainly done enough to deserve it." Owaine agreed, hooking her arm in his and leading her out. "Have you spoken to Gwen?"
"No, not yet." Cassie said sadly.
"I'm sure she misses you. And I know you miss her. You forgave me, why not her?"
"Because you have something she never will." Cassie said with a sultry smile, pulling Owaine towards a broom closet.
"Does this mean I win the challenge?" he asked with a victorious smirk as he let himself be led over.
"No. The challenge was in an alcove, not a broom closet." Cassie answered with a teasing smile, closing the door behind them and putting up the silencing spell with a flash of her eyes.
"How is it I can see them even in the dark?" Owaine asked, caressing her cheek gently before he kissed it.
"It's not completely dark, my Knight." Cassie replied, letting her hands travel down his body until she found just what she was looking for.
"Hmm, can we be as loud as we want? Or did you just lock it?" Owaine asked against her lips as his hands lifted her skirts.
"Thank you for reminding me." she answered, locking the door with a flash of her eyes and conjuring an orb of blue light. "I forgot to lock the door."
"Can't have someone walking in on us, now can we?" Owaine replied with a teasing smile, holding her tight as she jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist.
"No, we cannot." Cassie agreed, letting out a low groan as he entered her and gently bit her neck.
"I must admit, my love. This is more erotic than anything we've ever done to date." Owaine breathed against the thin skin of her neck, his hot breath bringing her closer to the edge as she moved up and down against him, using his shoulders as an anchor to stay balanced.
"This is more erotic than anything I've ever dreamed, let alone done!" Cassie replied breathlessly, squealing slightly as he pushed her against the wall and began thrusting up harder, both of them moaning loudly in the dark.
"Well, then that will just have to be remedied, my Queen. You'll be having wild, lecherous dreams about me in no time." Owaine whispered against her ear, nibbling slightly at her lobe as she gasped in pleasure, his words making her even more aroused.
"Will I now?" Cassie asked in hitched breaths, closing her eyes and taking control of her magic. "Tell me, my Knight. Exactly what…what will those drea…dreams entail?"
"Well, for starters we'll be in an alcove. In that one in the south wing with the window and the small bench." he told her, setting her down and turning her around against the wall.
"The one with the pair of sconces, or the one on the other end of the hallway?"
"Sconces." he answered after a brief pause while kissing her neck passionately.
"I assume you'll be doing this?" Cassie asked in a low voice, reaching up over her head to pull Owaine's lips against her neck.
"You're learning, my love." he replied, obliging in her unspoken request and sucking on that sweet spot just below her ear as he thrust in quicker.
"OH!" Cassie cried, finally being pushed over the edge and panting hard as she leant against the wall. "I love you, Owaine."
"And I you." he said, giving her a moment to catch her breath before he pulled her to the ground on top of him and kept whispering in her ear about just what he would do to her in the alcove.
"I'm glad to know your stamina is much better than it used to be." Cassie panted as she lay on top of him, smiling against his chest while their clothes lay tangled at their feet a while later.
"It's all your doing, my love." he said, his fingers tracing patterns up and down her naked back.
"We should get dressed, the day's not over yet and there's plenty of things that need to be done."
"There's only one that I can think of." he replied, kissing her nose as his hands wandered down and squeezed her buttocks.
"While I admire your persistence, I'm afraid now it's me that can't keep up with you." Cassie said, slapping his chest playfully and getting up to dress.
"Well, I guess the view from down here is good enough." Owaine said, putting his hands behind his head and winking at her with a lascivious smile.
"Yes, well the view from up here isn't all that good, to be honest my love." Cassie replied with a roll of her eyes as she straightened out her hair.
"Oh? And what part of it isn't good?"
"That smug smile of yours. I'll wipe it off your face tonight, my love." Cassie said, crouching down and kissing him softly. "But for now, you need to dress and go to training. Unless you'd like yet more time on night duty?"
"Fine." he said with a dissatisfied sigh as he sat up and gathered his clothes.
"Oh, I don't think I like that response, my love." Cassie said with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "Perhaps a lesson needs to be taught?" she said, a sickly sweet smile on her face as she used her magic to shrink his clothes.
"What did you do, Cassie?" he demanded softly.
"Oh, let's just say those clothes fit Merlin more than they'd fit you." Cassie said, giggling as she extinguished the blue orb of light and plunged them into near darkness.
"Cassie!"
"Well, I'll pop by later with some clothes for you. Unless you'd like to walk across the castle in your birthday suit? Or wearing clothes too small on you?" Cassie asked, her hand on the door handle.
"Bring my clothes back to size, Cassie!" he growled, standing up in a flash and keeping the door closed.
"Have you learned your lesson?" Cassie asked with a teasing smile, mirth dancing in her eyes.
"Yes." he said, kissing her deeply.
"Sorry, but that wasn't the lesson, my love. You still haven't learned it." Cassie sang, kissing his nose and opening the door, leaving him spluttering.
"Hello, Gwen!" Cassie said cheerfully when she rounded the corner and found the perky brunette.
"Cassie!" she greeted happily, tears forming in her eyes quickly.
"You wouldn't believe what I've just done to Owaine to get back at him." Cassie said, hooking her arm through Gwen's and all but dragging her away.
"I'm afraid to ask." Gwen said nervously.
"Oh, don't worry, I wouldn't do this to you." Cassie said, waving her hand dismissively. "Unless I was far too drunk." she corrected.
"You two are friends again?" Morgana asked brightly.
"Oh yes! I was just about to tell her how I got my revenge on Owaine. It was quite fun." Cassie said. "Although, I will leave out some of the more…intimate details." Cassie said, walking into Morgana's rooms and taking a seat on the settee, and smiling at them expectantly so they'd sit down.
"So what did you do?"
"Quick version? I seduced him in a broom closet and left him there without any clothes."
"So you would seduce me in a broom closet and leave me there without any clothes if you were very drunk?" Gwen asked with a half smile on her lips.
"No. I'd just get you out of your clothes and leave running." Cassie answered.
"Good thing there's no feast any time soon." Gwen commented.
"Long version?" Morgana prompted, serving them all some wine and sitting down across from her.
"How long do you expect to keep the poor man locked in the closet?" Gwen asked a half hour later after she'd finished with the story-omitting the more explicit details.
"Oh, you know. Until he has to go on night duty." Cassie answered cheekily.
"You're evil."
"No I'm not. This is his lesson, one he has to learn. It's a one time thing, but still…I'm having too much fun." Cassie said, happily sipping her wine.
"Good thing I'm not on your bad side, I can just imagine what you'll do to Gwen." Morgana said jokingly.
"Oh, no you can't." Cassie said quickly, her eyes dancing with mirth. "Don't worry, I'm not going to seduce you or anything, Gwen." she joked.
"Perhaps you should, you'd both be satisfied at the end." Morgana joked, eliciting the furious blush on both her friend's faces.
"Morgana!" they both cried in shock.
"Well, I was thinking something less…libertine. More embarrassing." Cassie replied offhandedly, taking a sip of her wine and standing up. "I should go give him his clothes back, it has been nearly an hour. I'm starting to feel bad."
"Have fun." Morgana said with a knowing smirk.
"Good to see you made it home, Owaine." Cassie said with a wide, innocent smile when she got back to their chambers, some of his clothes in her hands.
"Yes, well I got back because a serving girl found me in the closet." he said, walking up to her with a dangerous smile.
"I figured someone found you. You weren't there when I went just now." she said, holding up the clothes before she threw them on the bed.
"How long were you planning on leaving me there, just out of curiosity?" he said, snaking his arms around her waist.
"Planning? Until night duty. But I felt bad after only an hour. Did you learn your lesson?" Cassie asked with a devilish smirk.
"Yes, my love. I did learn my lesson." Owaine answered, holding her close to him as she smiled widely.
"Good. Now you know never to trick me into taking one of those gross potions again." Cassie said, leaning up and kissing him swiftly.
"I certainly learned not to do that again. Was that your plan all along?"
"Yes, it was." Cassie answered with a light giggle.
"You are devious, woman." he said with a hearty laugh, kissing her once more before he went to sit at the table. "Lunch?"
"I'd love some, husband." Cassie said with a wide smile, looking at him lovingly.
"Good, I'm starved. Your lessons can leave a man famished."
"Also left me ravished." Cassie commented with a small smile as she poured some wine out to drink. "In the good sense of the word."
"Yes, I figured that, darling." Owaine said with a lecherous smile, looking her up and down and licking his lips seductively.