Chapter 84 I don't own Merlin. Pretty long chapter! Didn't even realise it! Have fune reading! Please, I want reviews :'{ I really am desperate enough to beg. It's not beneath me. Especially since this is the internet, and no one I know still reads fanfic.
"Good morning, Hunith. I hope you don't mind, I took the liberty of making breakfast for us." Cassie greeted in a quiet voice early the next day as Hunith roused.
"Oh, thank you. Are you sure you've never lived in a small village, you wake up before the rooster crows."
"Positive, I've always woken early to see the sun rise." Cassie answered, handing her a bowl.
"This is good, what'd you use?"
"Love and magic." Cassie told her with a smile, closing her eyes when she saw her stiffen up. "Sugar, plenty of it. I brought some with me from Camelot. Don't worry. I know the 'm' word is taboo here." Cassie told her lowly, looking over her shoulder to the others who were still sleeping.
"Well, it's delicious either way. Thank you." Hunith said gratefully, looking over to her son.
"Hunith, I know." Cassie told her softly, taking her gently by the elbow and steering her over to the farthest corner. "I've known about him since I met him. I've been waiting for him to say anything, but he hasn't. I suppose he doesn't trust me enough, or he's too afraid-I know the feeling, and I won't turn him in. And I'll do everything to keep him from harm."
"Why are you telling me this?" she asked, the fear in her eyes ebbing away as Cassie kept speaking.
"Because I have a feeling that he's going to do something whenever Kanen comes back. The villagers want to fight, but I doubt they'll get very far with just wanting. Merlin's the type that will do anything to protect them. And I mean anything."
"You really care for him, don't you?" she asked quietly, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
"He's like a brother to me. I've already lost my blood family, all of them. I lost my husband and child, my brother-in-law. I don't want to lose anyone else. Hunith, please, you have to talk him out of doing anything." Cassie pleaded, her voice cracking.
"I can try, but I doubt he'll listen. He's stubborn."
"Tell me about it." Cassie agreed looking out the window. "I'm going to go out, start gathering wood to fashion weapons later."
"Be careful!" Huith said, kissing her gently on the cheek and hugging her gratefully.
"I can take care of myself." Cassie told her reassuringly, smiling as she walked out the door.
"You're only just waking up!?" Cassie asked about an hour and a half later and her arms laden with long, strong twigs.
"What are you doing, building something?" Merlin asked as she dropped them all on the doorstep.
"As a matter of fact, yes, I am." Cassie told him, "Pikes, bow and arrow, perhaps a lance if the sticks are long enough. Thank you for volunteering, by the way."
"Volunteering for what?" he asked as Arthur walked up to him with his change of clothes in hand.
"Felling a tree. I'm going to need more wood." Cassie said as if it was the most obvious thing, a dagger in hand to begin to whittle.
"You still not learned to dress yourself?" Morgana teased as she finished tying the vambrace to her wrist, smiling at Arthur.
"You don't have a dog and fetch the stick yourself. No offence, Merlin." Arthur replied with an aloof tone as Merlin straightened out the jacket.
"None taken." Merlin answered quickly.
"Prince Arthur, you didn't finish your breakfast." Hunith said, bringing him his unfinished bowl and looking at him expectantly.
"Come on, eat up." Morgana said with a biting look in her eye as she noticed Arthur's forced smile.
"Hmm." Arthur said, pretending to eat the chunky porridge and dropping the spoon back in before handing the bowl off to Gwen.
"Right, let's get going. We need wood. And lots of it."
"Um, hello? Am I just a painting over here?" Cassie asked as she threw him an angry look, bending the wood enough to make a steady bow.
"You're really good at this." Arthur said in surprise as he looked at the bow she was working on.
"Well, I figure it can't hurt to make them something that'll last." Cassie said. "Besides, I did spend a lot of time alone. In the woods. Just myself and my brains to survive."
"I'm surprised you didn't just talk the animals to death." he said teasingly, stepping over her to get outside.
"An 'excuse me' wouldn't have hurt, Arthur!" Cassie called after him.
"Excuse me, my Lady." he said, turning around and bowing in jest.
"Go on, Merlin. We need more wood." Cassie told him, her eyes glinting with mirth as Morgana left with a smile and Gwen handed the bowl of porridge back to Hunith, having eaten the last of it.
"He must care for you a great deal." Hunith told her son softly as she leant against the wooden wall and moved the spoon around pensively in the bowl.
"Arthur'd do the same for any village it's just the way he is." Merlin answered quickly, walking up to her and looking furtively at Cassie whittling away on their stoop.
"It's more than that. He's here for you." Huntih told him gently, smoothing down his jacket lovingly.
"I'm just his servant." Merlin answered, turning his back on his mother and stretching out his arms so the sleeves fell straight.
"Give him more credit than that. He likes you." Hunith told him emphatically, watching as Merlin grabbed the axe and turned around to look at her.
"That's because he doesn't know me." Merlin answered, leaning in closer after stealing another glance at Cassie and whispering, "And if he did, I'd probably be dead by now."
"You don't really believe that, do you?" Hunith asked him deliberately, watching how Merlin pondered the question before shaking his head and sighing heavily without answering.
"Hunith, would you mind helping me here for a moment?" Cassie asked as Merlin walked past her towards the woods.
"Yes, what would you have me do?" she offered, standing beside her at the ready.
"Hold this upright while I carve the end."
"This is very good woodwork, my Lady."
"I became rather adept at it in my time travelling from Hispania." Cassie told her conversationally. "There's only so many days you can eat berries and leaves before you begin to go mad from hunger. And I've always been handy with my hands."
"I understand." Hunith said, looking beside her at the bows that were already done. "You work fast."
"It's a necessity, it's unknown how long we'll have before Kanen attacks and it's best to be over prepared." Cassie told her. "Oh, I made some mitts from the fabric I found. They're only big enough for a child. Perhaps one of the children can find good use for them?"
"I'm sure they'll appreciate it." she said with a kind smile.
"I need more wood." Cassie told her once she'd finished, leaving a few of the thinner twigs aside and standing up. "Those are for arrows, I'll finish them later."
"Cassie." Hunith said before the blonde girl could go any further.
"Yes?"
"What are you hiding? Your knowledge isn't it, I can tell."
"I have-" Cassie started but was interrupted by someone calling out.
"Hunith, do you have a moment?" one of the village women asked, walking up to the hut and looking at the pile of wooden weapons on the stoop.
"I'll go see Merlin about more wood." Cassie said, leaving the two women and her knife and going towards the woods. She walked through the trees to where she heard Merlin and Will's voices speaking, planning on making her presence known when she heard something that made her think twice.
"Well, so what's stopping you? So what if Arthur finds out?" Will demanded angrily.
"I don't expect you to understand." Merlin replied exasperatedly, standing up and walking away from him.
"Try me." Will challenged, raising his arms.
"One day Arthur will be a great king, but he needs my help. And if anyone ever found out about my powers, I'd have to leave Camelot for good." Merlin answered passionately.
"Are you telling me you'd rather keep your magic a secret for Arthur's sake than use it to protect your friends and family?" Will asked incredulously, watching as Merlin's expression became pained and he looked out through the gap in the trees at the village and they both turned around quickly as a twig cracked under Cassie's foot.
"Cassie!" Merlin said in fear and surprise as he recognized her blonde hair through the branches. "H-how much of that did you hear?" he asked nervously, stuttering and sharing a quick glance with Will.
"Enough." Cassie answered vaguely.
"So much for not telling anyone." Will muttered under his breath shifting from foot to foot as Cassie and Merlin just looked at each other.
"Are you going to tell anyone?" Merlin asked her nervously.
"I haven't told anyone in the time I've known you, why would I now?" Cassie told him meaningfully, "Well, anyone other than Owaine."
"Y-you know?" he said, astonished.
"I overheard you and Gaius when you first arrived in Camelot." Cassie explained without moving an inch, staring right at Merlin and letting him see how hurt she was.
"You knew all this time and you didn't say a word?" Will asked, looking between the two and trying to figure out what was going on in their silent exchange.
"I kept waiting for you to tell me, it's no big deal. Not anymore." Cassie said, shrugging and taking the axe from him. "We need more wood. If you're not getting it, I will." Cassie told him, turning around and swinging the axe angrily at the tree.
"You're going to hurt yourself if you swing it like that." Will said quickly, running up behind her and grabbing the axe before she swung it again. "It's not something a lady should do."
"There's many things I do that I shouldn't, Prince William of Ealdor." Cassie said scathingly, glaring at him. "Think twice before you presume something about someone you don't know."
"Cassie-" Merlin started softly, reaching out for her hand, stopping and backing up at the glare she shot his way.
"I had hoped you'd trust me and tell me before you found out that I knew. Don't make the same mistake with the others. They're hardly as forgiving as I." Cassie told him with an angry tone. "We need more wood. Get it!"
"Cassie! Wait!" Merlin called after her, going to follow her but being stopped by Will's firm grip on his arm.
"Leave her. She's clearly angry and angry women are unpredictable. Trust me." he said with a raised eyebrow.
"You should know. Remember Abi?" Merlin said with a smirk, remembering the fiery brunette who had 'become unpredictable' because of something Will had done to her.
"Vividly. I still don't have them both where they should be." Will said, wincing in remembrance of the pain
"Come on, she'll get even angrier if we don't come back with plenty of wood." Merlin told him, rolling his eyes and turning to the tree she'd struck.
"Where's my wood!" Arthur called out, expecting Merlin to be lugging the wood and turning around with his arms outstretched when he saw no one but Cassie.
"It's not that late in the morning, Arthur. If you can't find it, maybe Gwen can help." Cassie replied angrily, walking up behind him and going around the hut to gather the pieces of wood.
"What's gotten into you?" Arthur asked, taken aback by her sour mood and her unlady-like words.
"You've got crude lances and pikes there. I would make spears if I thought they'd be any useful." Cassie told him, thrusting them into his arms and ignoring his question. "There's four bows, I've yet to make the arrows and you should consider setting a few villagers are no soldiers. They may be fighters, but that's only spiritually. They have no training in them, what strength they have is for farming, not fighting. The best strategy to deal with Kanen is catch him and his men by surprise, corner them and prevent them from escaping before they can fight." Cassie continued,
"Cassie! Stop! What is wrong? Did something happen?" Arthur asked, looking at her worriedly as she finished dispassionately.
"Nothing happened." Cassie said after a sigh, rolling her eyes and continuing. "Just got reminded of my cowardice." she added through clenched teeth. "Take those, go train the men. They need all the help they can get. I"m going to ask around and see who's the best with arrows."
"Cassie, wait. How do you know all this? Battle strategy, war plans? Your brothers may have been generals but no King would let a servant girl into the council chambers while discussing battle plans."
"You're right Arthur. No King would let a servant girl in the council chambers while planning war. That's not to say the Prin-"
"Arthur! The wood, where do you want it?" Merlin interrupted as soon as he saw Cassie speaking angrily with Arthur, his heart hammering in fear as she glared at him and huffed angrily.
"Cassie, wait!" Arthur called out as she shook her head and muttered to herself in Spanish, throwing her hands up angrily.
"What's wrong with her? What was she saying?" Merlin asked cautiously, his nerves getting the better of him.
"She's saying what we're thinking. Gather more wood, she had a point in saying we needed to fence them in."
"So, more wood. Got it." Merlin said, taking the ones he had in his arms to where everyone was gathered and going back out to gather some more wood.
"I won't be able to teach you everything there is to know about fighting with a sword, but you can learn the basics: the stance, how to parry a blow, how to land your own. On my count! One! Two! Three! Four! Now, you may have to watch for the feint. So, keep your feet moving, and only stay in range long enough to land your blow. And again. One! Two! Three! Four!" Arthur dictated, watching as they practised with the wooden weapons Cassie had made.
"He's a natural leader." Hunith commented from behind Cassie, holding out a cup of water for her to take.
"It's what he was born to do." Cassie replied, accepting the cup with a sigh and downing it in one. "Thanks."
"As are you." Hunith told her gently, taking the cup and placing it beside her.
"Whatever do you mean?" Cassie asked, stopping her whittling and looking up at her.
"I've seen you with them. You can control your anger, you're level-headed, you know battle strategy. Merlin's isn't your only secret." she told her knowingly, sitting down next to her and taking one of the sticks and sharpening the end into a point.
"You're right. It's not my only secret. But I wasn't born to lead. I've tried so many times, I've gotten within a split second of telling them all. Every time I do I'm interrupted, I don't know if I can say it or not."
"I'm sure you can. You trust them, right?" Hunith told her, following along with her train of thought.
"I'd say with my life, but that's clearly not true. Not since they helped- never mind." Cassie said, shaking her head and going back to the wooden arrow.
"Helped who?" Hunith prodded gently.
"The people who murdered an entire city in the dark of night." Cassie answered quietly, her voice cracking.
"I know my son, he wouldn't help someone like that." Hunith said gently, rubbing soothing circles on the girl's back.
"They did. They may claim he's just a child, but I've seen those children do horrors and I know that child they saved won't do anything good. He'll be the end of everything." Cassie said hauntedly, her eyes glazed over.
"How? How do you know this? The future is unknown."
"Not to a Seer. A weak one, but still…" Cassie told her in a whisper, her voice barely audible as everyone else went about their business.
"You have magic?" Hunith asked in a whisper, waiting patiently for the girl to answer.
"Yes. I have magic. And that's not my only secret. I'm not a simple peasant girl, I'm royalty. My brother was King, my father before him, his father before him, and so on. My family dynasty all gone in a matter of hours. The Druids are responsible for the end of our line. And the Druids were the people my so-called friends helped." Cassie said in a cracked voice after a few minutes in silence, letting the older woman hug her and crying softly into her shoulder.
"Not all of them. You're still alive." she whispered, smoothing down her hair and kissing the top of Cassie's head in a motherly fashion.
"No, there's a price on my head. The usurper announced it; someone who knows who I am told him about me living here. My days are numbered. There's no reason left for me to fight, anyway. The people I thought I could trust with everything threw it away for a complete stranger. My husband…dead. My child…ripped from my womb. My happiness…gone with the wind." Cassie whispered back slowly, letting go of her and wiping the tears from her face harshly as her eyes went dark.
"Uther took the man I loved away from me as well, Cassie. I know the anger you're feeling. Given time, you'll get over the anger, your wounds will heal. It may seem bleak, but your future is anything but."
"You had Merlin to keep you happy. I have no one." Cassie replied with a shake of her head.
"No, Cassie. That's not true at all." Hunith told her with a heavy sigh, "You have everyone to keep you happy. You know in your heart you do. You just need time to clear the pain away."
"I certainly hope you're right, I would hate to trust them again only to have that trust thrown back in my face." she said as she sharpened the arrow tip.
"Cassie! Cassie!" Gwen cried as she walked closer to Hunith's hut. "Morgana and I were going to try and convince Arthur to let the women fight. We could use you as well." she said, her smile on her face as she neared them.
"I'll go, but who's going to stay with the children?" Cassie told her, finishing the last of the arrows and handing them all to Hunith. "Take those over there."
"Yes, my Lady." she said gently, nodding imperceptibly to her.
"So? Are you coming? The children will be with the older women who can't fight."
"Fine, yes. I'll go." Cassie said in a sigh, looking around her and lifting her arms in defeat. "I've finished with the wood Merlin gave me anyway."
"I'm not twisting your arm, you don't have to if you don't want to, Cassie." Gwen said, her smile falling as she realised Cassie's eyes were red from crying. "Why are you being like this? I thought we were past all that?"
"We are! I'm trying. I am. It just- I remember at the most inopportune moments. I'm sorry. I remember everything, and I remember that every damn time I try to tell you something I get interrupted. So why don't we just go and forget everything. Okay?" Cassie said, stomping away towards the well where Arthur was taking some water and leading Morgana and Gwen over, ignoring their worried, confused looks.
"Looks like the battle's already fought and lost." Morgana commented cooly, the three girls watching as the village men sat around in exhaustion.
"They'll toughen up." Arthur told them, drinking the water as they looked out.
"They need to." Gwen commented.
"How're we doing for weapons?" Arthur asked them, looking at Cassie as she stared out to where Merlin and Will were having a heated discussion.
"There isn't much, but we should be able to scrape together what you need." Morgana said, drawing Arthur's attention away from Cassie.
"Are you kidding? Cassie made a Viking arsenal of weapons!" Arthur scoffed, spotting the pile of wooden weapons.
"It's not the weapons that worry us. It's having enough people to use them." Gwen replied, looking expectantly at him. "We think the women should be allowed to fight."
"You haven't enough men. If they were trained soldiers, maybe you'd stand a chance, but they're not." Morgana said softly, ever the voice of reason.
"It's too dangerous. And, clearly, you don't all share the same opinion." Arthur said immediately, glancing at Cassie momentarily before turning to walk back towards the men. "Right! Back on your feet! Come on, let's go!"
"Cassie! Say something!"
"Why? I agree with him. It is too dangerous. Kanen and his men are barbaric ruffians. They don't care if it's men or women they are fighting. What happens to a village with no women? There's no one to bear the children, raise them right. You know perfectly well that men cannot live without women. No, in an ideal world, I'd keep those who cannot fight and those who should not fight away from the battle."
"It's not an ideal world, Cassie." Gwen said gently.
"Don't I know it. The women with children younger than ten years of age should not fight. They should stay with the children. The others, it is their prerogative whether to fight or not."
"If you were in their position….would you fight?" Morgana asked her.
"In this hypothetical, do I have only one child? Two, three? Are they young, old enough to fend for themselves? What?"
"You decide."
"If it were up to me, this battle wouldn't be happening. I'd get rid of the problem before it even started." Cassie told them as she spotted a certain dark-haired boy, walking towards Merlin and Will and watching as Will walked away awkwardly. "We need to talk."
"I tried to talk to you when we wer-"
"No. Not about that, you idiot!" Cassie said exasperatedly, rolling her eyes and walking farther away as she noticed Gwen and Morgana drawing nearer.
"Then what?"
"You have to tell them. At the very least Arthur."
"Cassie, you know perfectly well that I can't tell him a thing about this!" Merlin hissed back at her, looking around wildly.
"Why? Is it that you don't trust him? You don't consider him a friend? What? Because I may be able to get past that, but Arthur..."
"So this is about that?"
"Yes, it is. Merlin, I don't care that you couldn't trust me enough. I know exactly how you feel. I have ma-"
"Merlin! Cassie! Listen, Gwen and I have a plan," Morgana started, smiling at Merlin and steering Cassie away wordlessly. "I understand your position on women fighting, I do. But without them, there's no way we'd win. So, I volunteered you to go with a few of the younger mothers and find a suitable place to hide with the children."
"Ugh! You didn't understand anything, Morgana! I didn't say that I didn't want to fight! I said the mothers shouldn't fight. They have their children to take care of, to look after. You know better than anyone how horrible it is to be a motherless child!" Cassie told her, her patience already on thin ice as she was interrupted yet again. "I'll go, alone. Find someplace and take the children there early." Cassie told her, running a hand through her hair and going back to Hunith's hut "I'll get some food for everyone tonight as well. Hunt a boar or something." Cassie muttered to herself, taking a shovel, one of the bows, and a quiver of arrows and walking off towards the treeline.
"Merlin, do you know why Cassie's so upset? She's been rather short with us since this afternoon." Gwen asked as they sat in Hunith's hut and waited for her to get back.
"No, I have no idea" he said quickly, looking at his mother in hidden panic.
"Hunith?"
"She confided in me, yes. But I won't betray her confidence. You'll have to speak with her yourself to find out." she answered, gently kissing her son goodnight and going over to her bed. "She can take care of herself, I'm not too worried. We need some sleep for tomorrow."
"Goodnight, Mother." Merlin said, smiling at her and going back to what he had been doing.
"What could she be hiding?" Arthur said pensively, thinking back to a few days earlier and the way she'd spoken.
"I don't know. But whatever it is is weighing heavily on her. Especially since Owaine died." Morgana said, going to her cot on the floor and sitting down cross legged.
"Maybe it has something to do with whatever she's been trying to tell us." Gwen said, mirroring Morgana and watching Arthur closely.
"She does seem to get interrupted quite a bit. I'll talk to her when she gets back." Morgana told them.
"Hunith's right. We should get some rest. Cassie can take care of herself." Arthur told them all, laying on his side and closing his eyes while Merlin and Gwen blew out the candles.
"We don't stand a chance." Gwen whispered a few hours later as everyone was asleep.
"Arthur can't see that. He's too stubborn." Morgana replied in a soft voice, just not soft enough that Merlin didn't wake up.
"Why do you think he came here?" Gwen asked her.
"The same reason we did: Merlin." Morgana told her, saying the name almost lovingly. "Arthur may act like he doesn't care, but he wouldn't be here if he didn't."
"I suppose not." Gwen replied with a small smile, sighing wistfully and turning on her side. "'Night, Morgana."
"Good night, Gwen." she said, doing the same and falling asleep to dreams of Merlin.
"I've found a cave, spent the night digging a makeshift cellar and making a lid for it. I need to speak with the villagers." Cassie greeted them the next morning, barging into Hunith's house unceremoniously and waking them all up. "Oh. Sorry. Forgot I rose too early for you."
"Yeah, I'll get the elders in a bit. What's it about?" Merlin asked her groggily, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and sitting up.
"Contingency plan. If they can't win, at least we can make sure Kanen and his men don't get all the food and grain." Cassie said, taking a drink of water and leaning against the doorway.
"Where's this cave?"
"About an hour north of here, away from Kanen's camp. Perfectly hidden by shrubs and bushes. Deep enough for all the children and the elders, not so deep anyone could get lost. It's perfect. I'll take the women there and make sure there's someone armed and protecting them."
"Armed and protecting?" Arthur asked, stifling a yawn.
"Yes, Arthur. Armed and protecting. You've heard mother bears being over-protective of their cubs? Same goes for humans. Those women will do anything to protect their cubs, as the analogy goes. And wielding a pike isn't very hard. Spears are too long, so the fulcrum point will be different for shorter, weaker people. Pikes, on the other hand, are shorter and, hence, lighter and easier to wield."
"Yeah, okay. I believe you." Arthur grumbled, turning around and closing his eyes once more.
"I'll quickly patrol the surroundings, make sure Matthew's okay. Let you know what I see." Cassie told them, taking her husband's sword and tying it to her waist as she walked away and left them in the pre-dawn light.
"Maybe she was a general like her brothers." Merlin speculated, getting up and walking out the door to wake the elders along with his mother.
"You know what she's hiding, don't you?"
"Yes, but I cannot tell you, Merlin. Just like she respected your wish, I have to respect hers."
"But she didn't respect it, she just didn't say she knew."
"Because you weren't ready to tell her. And she respected that. If you hadn't caught her in the woods, you would have gone on without knowing she knew. She has to be the one to tell you." Hunith said, quieting him with a simple look and knocking on the first elder's door.
"Matthew's alright, he thinks my plan's smart, Kanen's men were, for the most part, asleep, so I slipped some poisonous berries into their stew and left. Are the elder's gathered?" Cassie said as she appeared beside Merlin and Arthur just before they began speaking to a group of men.
"Yes, mother spoke with them. They agreed to let you take the stores and hide them with the children. You should begin to gather the food, some of the women are doing so already." Merlin told her, taking her over to the side and pointing out the women on the other side of the field.
"Okay." Cassie said, leaving him and going up to them. "Hi, are you all right to carry those yourself?" Cassie asked a particularly laden down woman with her newborn child on her back.
"Yes, I'm fine." she answered quickly, not looking at her closely and nodding for her to lead the way.
"Okay, no small talk. I suppose I'll gather the others and we'll make a few trips, make sure you know the way well." Cassie told her with a heavy sigh, tying a few of the bags together and swingin them over her shoulder. "Come, I'll show you the way. Please be quiet and mindful, there's many branches and trunks on the floor, it's not an easy trek."
"Yes, my Lady." one of them said sarcastically, their tone belying how little they thought of her after hearing how she'd told Arthur to keep them from fighting for their village.
"In here, one of you should stay here guarding it while we go back for more." Cassie said quietly, leading them through the thick brush she'd magically grown yesterday and pushing the wooden boards aside. And placing the bags of grain inside.
"You did this yourself?" One of the women asked.
"Last night, yes, the shovel is right there, the scraps of wood as well. I suggest against lighting a fire just now, it'll alert them to the cave. Who's going to stay watch while we bring more of the grain?" Cassie said quietly a little over an hour later.
"I-I will, my Lady." the same woman who carried the child said in a much more respectful tone.
"Here, it's sharper than you'd think but easy to wield. We'll be back in around two hours, then someone will relieve you and you can come back with us." Cassie told her seriously, handing her the sword carefully and motioning for the other women to follow her back.
"May I ask how you got to be so good with woodwork, my Lady?"
"I spent months in the forest with a dagger and plenty of wood. I made myself a bow and arrows for small game and a spear for fishing. It came out of necessity."
"We misjudged you, my Lady. You are braver than we thought."
"You thought me a coward for saying the women shouldn't fight?" Cassie asked them with a smirk, stopping just before a rather large trunk and sitting on it to wipe the sweat off her brow. "I meant no insult to you. But without mothers to care for our children, the world would be worse off. It's your love that keeps them good, makes the future brighter. I've met women who care not for their children and I find it despicable. Unnatural. If this were an ideal world, men like Kanen would not exist and women would have no need to fight. Unfortunately, that's not the case. I am merely keeping the future of this harem bright."
"So you…"
"I do not like to fight. I have seen too much blood shed, it pains me. But I will protect tooth and nail those I care for. And, since I care for Merlin, I care for you by extension. I will do all in my power to keep the casualties low." Cassie said truthfully, standing back up and continuing on wordlessly.
"You did this! Look what you've done! You've killed him!" the women all heard Will shouting as they arrived back at the village, pushing through to see what's happened.
"It wasn't his fault!" Merlin defended quickly.
"If he hadn't been strutting around, treating us like his own personal army, this would never have happened!" Will rebutted, pointing accusingly at Arthur as he looked at Merlin and Matthew.
"These men are brave enough to fight for what they believe in, even if you aren't" Arthur replied back, his expression angry.
"You're sending them to their graves!" Will cried, watching as the anger faded from Arthur's face to be replaced by guilt and sorrow as he saw Matthew's fiancée crying over her love's body. "You've killed one man! How many more need to die before you realise this is a battle that can't be won? When Kanen comes, you haven't got a chance. You're gonna be slaughtered." Will finished, shaking his head and leaving the way he'd come.
"Come on, Cassie. You don't need to see this." Gwen said gently, steering her friend away by the shoulders as she recognized the shock beginning to settle in her blank expression. "Have some water."
"Are you okay, Cassie?" Morgana asked softly.
"Yes, I need to get the rest of the food to the cave. I'm sure Arthur's going to tell them to get their belongings and go as well. At least we'll have advanced a lot." Cassie said, downing the water in one gulp and accepting another cup from Morgana. "I'll stay watch over the food tonight, make sure you send the women and children to the cave before the sun rises tomorrow morning."
"Cass, I don't think you should spend the night alone. Not after…"
"It was my idea to hide everything away from here. It's my responsibility to protect it from the bandits."
"Then I'm staying with you. I'll tell Arthur and Gwen. I'm coming with you." Morgana told her in a tone that brokered no argument.
"Arthur's going to speak tonight. You should be here." Cassie told her with a shake of her head.
"Then so should you!"
"I've a few more trips to make with the food. And I can't send them alone."
"Why not!"
"Because if something happens to them, it's my fault. Their children will grow up motherless because of me." Cassie told her, tears swimming in her eyes.
"Come back and we'll go over together after Arthur speaks with everyone, okay?"
"I can't leave the grain unguarded."
"You said it was well hidden and in the opposite direction of their camp."
"I can't. Just, I can't leave it unguarded. They'll lose everything, I cannot."
"Cassie, this isn't your homeland. A little while won't do anything."
"Okay, fine. I'll see if one of the women can stay while I attend Arthur's meeting. I'll have to take her a sleeping cot and some blankets. We can't afford a fire to attract the brutes." Cassie said with a sigh, going into Hutnith's hut and grabbing her own cot and blankets.
"What about you?"
"I'll be fine." Cassie said, nodding to the other women who were ready and going through the forest with them towards the cave.
"Eira, we have to tell you something. Matthew's dead." one of the women said.
"What?" she asked with fearful eyes, the reality of everything sinking in.
"I'm sorry."
"Your brother?" Cassie asked gently.
"My cousin."
"Go, I'll take you back. Can someone stay here while I do this? I'll come back at night and replace you. Prince Arthur plans to speak to everyone, but we cannot leave the food unguarded and I feel I should be there." Cassie said, looking at them all and hoping one of them would volunteer.
"Go on, I'll stay."
"It'll most likely be overnight, are you sure?" Cassie asked her, making sure.
"Yes, I'm certain. I can be comfortable enough here." she said, smiling at her. "Just tell my husband."
"We will." one of the other women said, closing the lid and leaving the cave quietly.
"Here, in case you get cold. And there's some food here as well." Cassie told the woman, handing over the cot and blanket.
"Thank you, my Lady."
"Tomorrow morning, the women and children should gather what belongings they can carry and go to the woods." Arthur said as many of the villagers were gathered around a fire.
"We're not going anywhere." Gwen interrupted quickly, walking forward and standing up to him.
"I know you want to help. The women can't stay here. It's too dangerous. Lady Cas-" Arthur told her, holding his sword precariously upright.
"The women have as much right to fight for their lives as the men do." Gwen continued, not breaking eye contact with him.
"But none of you know how to fight." Arthur told her gently.
"The more of us there are, the better chance we stand!" Gwen said passionately, smirking as every woman present stood forward.
"This is your home. If you want to fight to defend it, that's your choice. I'd be honoured to stand alongside you. Kanen attacks tomorrow. Kanen's brutal. He fights only to kill, which is why he will never defeat us. Look around. In this circle, we're all equals. You're not fighting because someone's ordering you to, you're fighting for so much more than that. You fight for your homes. You fight for your family. You fight for your friends. You fight for the right to grow crops in peace. And if you fall, you fall fighting for the noblest of causes: fighting for your very right to survive! And when you're old and grey, you'll look back on this day, and you'll know you earned the right to live every day in between! So you fight! For your family! For your friends! For Ealdor!" Arthur said, looking around at each and everyone and lifting his sword as a battle cry at the end, smiling as the villagers all mirrored him and cried, "Ealdor!"
"A word, my Lord?" Cassie asked as she walked up behind him after everyone had left.
"Yeah?"
"You'll make a great King one day. I'm glad you've grown so much since we met. Even if you've much to mature."
"Cassie, I'm confused. Why are you telling me all this? What are you trying to say?"
"Because… because I trust you. And I trust you will one day bring peace to these lands, and I trust you will succeed where your father failed. I have been in the presence of great Kings and leaders; you embody most of what they were."
"Most?"
"There's quite a few things they had that you don't, but different laws, different upbringings, different Kingdoms. I do hope you never forget these words, Prince Arthur. Never let others decide what you should think and feel. It's sound advice given to me by one of your men."
"I still don't understand why you are telling me this. What are you hiding?"
"I'll tell you tomorrow. After the fight, after the outcome." Cassie said, giving him a small smile and going to where Morgana was waiting for her.
"Do you all know the way by now?" Cassie asked them all, nodding as they shook their heads in the affirmative. "Good. I'll expect you in the cave early in the morning."
"Yes, my Lady." they said quietly, nodding their heads and smiling gratefully.
"Tread carefully, the path is dangerous." she warned them just before she and Morgana took off alone through the woods.
"Cassie, what are you hiding?" Morgana blurted out a half hour later, regretting it instantly as they walked on in silence.
"What?" Cassie asked startled, tripping over some roots and standing up quickly.
"You're hiding something, what is it?" Morgana asked more softly.
"I-" Cassie started, stopping and leaning against a tree. "Look, it's not that I- It's just hard for me."
"You opened up to Merlin's mother." Morgana pointed out.
"I know. Okay, I'm just going to blurt it out, and then can we not say anything. Please?" Cassie said, begging her friend with her eyes.
"I won't say a word." Morgana promised solemnly, taking Cassie's hand and squeezing it gently.
"I have royal blood and magic." Cassie blurted out, letting go of a deep breath and closing her eyes in relief. "That felt good to say, I've been trying to say that practically since we first met! Well, the magic part anyway, I don't know if I was ever going to say anything about my bloodline, I wasn't very proud of having run away and abandoned my people. People I am Queen of. And now there's a bounty on my head by a usurper, someone I know well. A man my brother trusted with command of his army. Well, not the highest command, but still… Witteric is a tyrant, and the people will not accept him as King because they think I am still alive and in hiding somewhere and there's been a price on me for so long. And now they've sent assassins after me because Adalberto's son-in-law had a grudge against my father who died before I was even born for some unknown reason and I'm scared." Cassie said in one breath, letting the tears fall silently down her face as Morgana just stood there looking at her with wide, dumbstruck eyes. "Thank you. Let's go, that villager must be getting tired by now."
"Yeah, okay." Morgana said, walking along in quiet contemplation as she processed everything that Cassie had told her.
"My Ladies, it's time for you to go back. Prince Arthur is finishing everything and expects you soon."
"Thank you. Keep these, shoot anything that moves. I made some more arrows last night while I took watch." Cassie said, pointing to a large pile of arrows on the floor by the entrance.
"Good luck."
"Don't worry. Everything will be fine." Morgana told them reassuringly, taking Cassie's hand and leaving the others there.
"We should make haste, Morgana."
"Okay, but we need to speak. Tonight, after the battle's fought." Morgana told her seriously, squeezing her hand reassuringly and smiling at her sweetly. "I am still your friend, if you'll have me."
"I do hope the fight isn't long. They have no endurance. They'll be slaughtered if that's the case." Cassie said, moving on and changing topics.
"They've prepared as best as they could. We just have to hope for the best."
"Yeah, that's true." Cassie said, falling into silence as they ran the rest of the way and quickly changed into the hauberk and vambraces. "I have to climb up onto one of the roofs. Good luck." Cassie said to Morgana with a nod, going over to a married couple and an older villager and nodding at them. "Ready?"
"Anything to protect our home, my Lady." the older man said, motioning for her to climb the ladder first and following.
"Only shoot at clear targets. The slightest shift of the wind can end up steering an arrow to a friend." Cassie told them quietly, reminding them of all they'd practised. "As you know, these are crudely made, poor balance, but they should hit a clear target."
"My Lady, I've been using a bow and arrow almost double the years you've been alive."
"Right, I didn't mean to insult. My first true battle."
"We are all nervous, thank you for coming here and helping." another man said, nodding at her and taking aim behind the chimney as they spotted the horses through the tree line and motioned down to Lady Morgana.
"Something's wrong! The fire's not lit." the woman hissed nervously a few moments later, slowly shifting to see what was wrong, but drawing the attention of one of the men on the horses as she did so.
"Up there!" the bandit said, pointing to the rooftop but being drowned out at the horses panicked neigh when they were surrounded by a ring of fire.
"Come back! Don't run away!" Kanen yelled at them, an arrow narrowly missing his chest as he steered his horse to the side and looked everywhere as his men dispersed.
"Now!" Arthur yelled, running forward with the battle cry of the villagers echoing in the background.
"Remember, only clear targets!" Cassie yelled over the noise of battle below, shooting arrow after arrow at the men on horses and managing to unseat most of them.
"My Lady, we'll run out in no time, they're moving too quickly for any clear targets! What do we do?" the younger man said, firing and hitting one of the men in the back.
"Stay up here, you're more of a hindrance down below. Take these arrows, we'll go down and join the fray." Cassie said, telling the elder man to stay up there and continue firing while the other two nodded and climbed quickly down the ladder, none of them noticing the quickly muttered spell and the newly replenished quiver of arrows behind the man.
"Gwen, look out!" Cassie called as she saw that Gwen was about to be attacked from behind, getting up quickly and stabbing a bandit in the leg when the ladder was pulled from under her making her fall with a loud thud and running over.
"Thanks!" Gwen called back, her focus on the brutes around her as she fought them off.
Cassie made quick work of two men running at her, sword in one hand and dagger in the other as she sliced one of the men's chest and stabbed the other in the leg before quickly stabbing him in the back. She caught a flash of something flying by her ear and spun around to find a smirking man with his crossbow aimed at her head.
"Payback's a bitch, bitch!" he yelled at her, pulling the trigger and watching as Cassie's eyes glowed gold and she moved very quickly to swipe the arrow away.
"Mind your language, brute!" Cassie yelled back at him, throwing her dagger hard and true and watching as the blood spurted from his neck with every heartbeat.
"I didn't think you were coming." Merlin yelled just loud enough for it to reach Cassie's ears as she ran and grabbed her dagger. She turned around and was about to reply when she noticed Will turn around and smirk.
"Neither did I." he replied, quickly standing back to back and fighting the bandits that came at them.
"He gets to have all the fun!" Cassie muttered to herself, going over to help Morgana out of a tricky scrape and nodding at her quickly before running to help a few villagers who were trapped in a corner as they were harassed by a short man. She stood with her back to the wall, watching as the villagers got pummeled and taking deep breaths, letting her magic flow through her to see where the most trouble was. That's when she heard Merlin's words.
"Cume þoden." he said, watching as he conjured a windstorm with his outstretched hand and it spooked the horses and the bandits.
"Dammit!" Cassie muttered to herself, the sudden power in the air knocking her back into the wall and making her clutch her chest, the noise of the wind drowning out the slight crack in her side. "Least they're winning now." she muttered, getting hold of herself and running forward to help with the remaining bandits aside Gwen.
"We did it!" Cassie said with a relieved breath, hugging her and Morgana both in celebration as Kanen walked through the wooden gate.
"Pendragon!" he yelled, brandishing his axe and swinging as soon as he stood next to him. He swung wildly, making it easy for Arthur to dodge and move away, using his shield to stop the next blow and his sword to disarm the brute.
Kanen took a sword out of a dead man, pulling it free and focusing on Arthur once more, their swords locked at the hilts as Arthur swung in a wide circle to disarm, only to be headbutted when Kanen trapped the sword on the ground. Arthur was forced to back up and regain his footing momentarily, but, after the next attack of thrusts and parries, ran Kanen through with his sword, pulling it out and leaving him lying on the ground.
"Who did that?" Arthur demanded, walking away without a second glance and speaking directly to Merlin.
"What?" Merlin asked, his voice full of panic as his eyes found Cassie walking slowly towards them.
"Wind like that just doesn't appear from nowhere." Arthur said, looking between Merlin and Will angrily. "I know magic when I see it. One of you made that happen."
"Arthur…" Merlin began, his eyes determined as he stepped forward.
"Look out!" Will interrupted, pushing Arthur away as he noticed Kanen aiming the crossbow at Arthur and stopping Merlin from saying anything.
"NO!" Cassie yelled in grief, running forward as Will fell back with an arrow embedded in his chest, seeing her husband lying on the floor with an arrow in his chest and not of the village boy.
"You just saved my life." Arthur said incredulously.
"Yeah. Don't know what I was thinking." he muttered with harsh, painful breaths.
"Come on, get him inside!" Arthur ordered, helping Merlin at Will's head and running into Will's house and placing him on the table.
"That's twice I've saved you." Will told Arthur, ignoring as Cassie used her bloodied dagger to rip open the hauberk and began gently prodding his chest with examining eyes.
"Twice?" Arthur repeated.
"Yeah. It was me. I'm the one that used the magic." he said, his forehead glistening with sweat and his voice strained.
"Will don't." Merlin said, barely holding in his tears.
"It's alright, Merlin. I won't be alive long enough for anyone to do anything to me. I did it. I saw how desperate things were becoming and I had to do something." Will said, looking into Merlin's eyes.
"Don't lie." Cassie told him, her eyes steely. "It was me, Arthur, I have magic. I did it all. He's protecting me. Now I must repay the favour." Cassie said, her eyes turning gold as she began to mutter a spell under her breath. "Teon út sé gÁr, áfeorme bæm blóddolh, gerenne, ĝefanga bæm bónlocum ond se ferjgt."
"I command you to stop, Casiopea!" Arthur yelled, his sword at her throat and his eyes hard.
"Ic þe wiþdrife! Anhealdaþ!" Cassie said, pushing him and Merlin against the wall and holding him there with another word. "I can save him! I will save him! He can't die! Owaine can't die!" Cassie cried out, dropping her gaze back to Will and continuing chanting with all her power. "Teon út sé gÁr, áfeorme bæn blóddolh, gerenne, ĝefanga bæm bónlocum ond se ferjgt. Teon út sé gÁr, áfeorme bæn blóddolh, gerenne, ĝefanga bæm bónlocum ond se ferjgt."
She repeated the chant over and over, her eyes glowing golden just as Will's body did. The women huddled in the corner watched on in horrified fascination as Arthur balled his hands into fists and his jaw clenched over and over again, unable to move from where he was held against the wall. They all watched as the arrow floated out of Will's chest, as the gaping hole slowly closed from the inside out and the colour flowed back into Will's body. They watched as his eyes shot open and he looked around in panicked confusion while Cassie kept repeating the chant and the two of them remained haloed in the golden mist.
"Teon út sé gÁr, áfeorme bæn blóddolh, gerenne, ĝefanga bæm bónlocum ond se ferjgt."
"Cassie, stop!" Merlin cried when he saw blood flowing out of her nose and ears, her face paling even further and her hold on them weakening enough so he could manage to free himself and Arthur without anyone noticing his golden eyes. "Cassie, enough!" he repeated, running up beside her and placing a hand on her shoulder, swaying slightly from her immense power. "He's healed, he's alive! You've saved him! Now stop!" he yelled at her, shaking her roughly and putting some magic behind his words to make her pay attention. "He's alive." he whispered once her eyes faded back to blue and her knees gave out.
"I could have saved him!" she cried, the tears from her eyes mingling with the blood from her nose as she sobbed into Merlin's chest. "I let him die! How could I have done that?! How could I have been such a coward?! I could have saved him! I should have saved Owaine! He's dead because of me." she wailed heartbreakingly.
"Don't cry, Cassie." Merlin whispered softly, smoothing down her hair and taking a scrap of dirt-stained cloth and wiping the blood from her face and neck. "There was nothing you could have done for Owaine. He died instantly." he told her in an even gentler voice as her sobs subsided and she fainted in his arms from sheer exhaustion.
"Morgana, Guinevere. We're going." Arthur told them firmly, brokering no argument from either of them as he saw their saddened gaze directed towards her in Merlin's arms.
"Surely you're not going to-" Morgana began only to be interrupted by an irate Arthur as he dragged them out.
"She broke the law! She has magic! She has committed treason!" Arthur said angrily, getting up close to her face in a challenging manner.
"She saved a life!" Morgana yelled back at him, ignoring the villagers as they went about building a funeral pyre for all their fallen neighbours and stared at the two royals in shock. "How many times do you think she's saved yours? Or mine?"
"She has committed treason. The only thing I can do is arrest her."
"Your father will certainly kill her. Without a second thought! Is that how you treat your friends?" Morgana told him in an angry snarl.
"Friends don't lie or withhold such information. Cassie was clearly never my friend." he replied, stomping away as Merlin walked out with Will beside him looking healthier than he had been even before the battle.
"You saved my life. I thank you. We're leaving now. Where's the sorceress?"
"Passed out. Mother's taking care of her right now." Merlin answered disappointedly.
"What are you going to do with her?" Will asked him, his hand disbelievingly clutching his chest where the arrow had been.
"As Prince of Camelot, I have no choice but to arrest her." he replied in a stony voice, looking off into the distance.
"You can forgive. You can forget." Will told him, sharing a look with Merlin. "You can ignore it."
"She broke the laws of the land. If I don't enforce them, who will? No. She has to go back with us and face trial."
"She'll surely die!" Merlin said, horrified.
"Then she should never have learnt magic." Arthur told him firmly, walking away and leaving him there open-mouthed.
"Still think he's the man you thought him to be?" Will asked his friend with a shake of his head.
"He has to be." Merlin answered, watching Arthur's retreating back with an agonised expression.
"For your sake, I hope he is." Will told him, patting him on the shoulder and turning to go back into his house. "I'm going to go thank her if she's awake yet."
"Has she awoken?" Arthur asked stoically, entering Hunith's hut and looking at the girl on the bed.
"No, she hasn't. I realise that magic is illegal and has been for as long as you've been alive, my Lord, but healing someone by using magic is difficult. Nearly impossible, or so I've been told, if the wielder hasn't a pure heart. She brought someone back from the brink of death. I think that speaks greatly to her character." Hunith said, wetting a cloth and wringing it out before placing it back on her forehead.
"Magic corrupts the soul, Hunith. Perhaps that only means we're in time to stop her from falling deeper in its clutches." Arthur told her, looking up when Merlin walked in and back at Cassie, missing the desperate look that passed between mother and son.
"I need more water. Excuse me, my Lord." she said, getting up and walking out, stopping Morgana and Gwen from entering with a silent look.
"Is this what you were going to tell me? That you knew about her?" Arthur demanded when he found themselves alone in her hut: just him, Merlin and Cassie.
"No. I truly had no idea she had magic." Merlin answered truthfully.
"So what was it?" Arthur asked, his jaw clenched as he crossed his arms over his chest and started at her prone form.
"I can't remember." he told him quickly, going over to her and swiping some of the sweat from her brow. "She's boiling!"
"Burned up all her magic, hopefully." Arthur muttered with a scoff.
"She's our friend, Arthur. You're not really sentencing her to death, are you?"
"Not you, too." Arthur said, closing his eyes and rubbing his hands down his face. "I have no choice. It's the law."
"But you don't agree with it?" Merlin asked, a hint of hope in his voice and eyes.
"I never said that."
"So you'd see her burnt because she saved a life?" Merlin challenged, the little hope squashed like a bug.
"Merlin!" Arthur hissed angrily, tired of the same questions from different people.
"You're a good man, Arthur. I know it. You wouldn't kill someone for saving a life. You wouldn't kill someone just because they have magic!"
"You don't know me, then." Arthur told him, closing his eyes and walking out the door. "I need air, don't follow me."
"How is she?" Morgana asked, sitting beside Merlin and taking his hand for support.
"Burning up, Mother went for some colder water." Merlin answered, not reacting to her hand in his.
"I'm glad your friend isn't dead. He didn't deserve it." she continued softly, trying to figure him out.
"Yeah." Merlin answered simply, closing his eyes and leaning back.
"Arthur won't- I mean he can't."
"But he must. You heard him." Merlin replied, taking in a shuddering breath.
"You didn't know?" she asked him in a choked voice, trying in vain to capture his attention as she needed the reassurance that her best friend wasn't going to die.
"I had no clue. I don't suppose that's why she's been so cross with me as of late."
"She told me last night. About her magic and something else."
"There's more?"
"A lot more. She's had to deal with too much. She's lost too much."
"I think that's why she's sick. She had to prove to herself that she could have saved Owaine, so she healed Will with everything she had."
"It was…"
"What? What was it?" Merlin asked, finally looking at her as he dared her to say what he thought she was going to say with agonised eyes.
"I don't know. Beautiful." Morgana said, looking right at him. "The way she healed him was extraordinary."
"I know." Merlin said, looking down at her and wiping away some blood that flowed out her nose.
"Is she going to die?" Morgana asked him in a small voice, her lips quivering as she saw the blood.
"I don't know. I've only been Gaius's apprentice for a short while. Her pupils are fine, as is her breathing and pulse, there's no way for me to tell." Merlin answered truthfully.
"I pray she lives."
"Yeah." Merlin told her, putting his arm around her and letting her cry on his shoulder.
"Arthur?" Gwen called out softly as she walked through the trees to where he'd been standing that morning.
"Guinevere." he greeted, turning away and quickly wiping the tears off his face.
"My Lord, I know you've heard Morgana's opinions. May I give you mine?"
"You spoke up this morning, and I thanked you for it."
"You won't like what I have to say." Gwen told him, looking at him carefully and choosing to not comment on the tear stains down his face.
"Continue."
"She lied by omission, yes. But she comes from another land, and she's said it's not illegal there. We don't know if she's used it within Camelot. I beg of you to show her some leniency."
"She will face a trial in Camelot. It's all I can do. My father is still King and sovereign of the land. I cannot choose which laws to uphold and which ones to ignore." Arthur told her with a heavy sigh.
"I suppose I understand your position. It's difficult. But she's our friend. Your friend. You know she would never do anything to hurt Camelot or us." Gwen told him passionately.
"I don't know that anymore. The girl I knew was innocent and carefree. Since the Druid boy, she's been completely different. She wanted us to let the boy die, even though she shares his magic."
"The Druids where she lived were the ones who slaughtered everyone. That's why she had such a reaction." Gwen told him slowly.
"The Druids are a peaceful people, everyone knows that."
"And they didn't use bloodlines to determine who was in their Royal Guard or who made high command of the army. The laws there, the customs, were much different than ours. The people as well. Let her speak to you before you make a decision." Gwen continued ignoring him.
"I will take your suggestion into consideration, Guinevere. When I left, Merlin said she was boiling. I don't know if I even need to make a decision." he said with a hard voice, keeping his emotions inside.
"I sincerely hope you do, Arthur. You're a good man, a good friend." Gwen said, tears falling down her face. "And you'll make the right decision. For everyone, not just us." she told him, kissing him gently on the cheek before she turned and left.
"And how do I know what that is?" Arthur asked her as she walked away.
"By listening to your heart, not your head." Gwen answered, not turning around as she stopped to answer and walking away after a moments' contemplative silence.