A/N:
I'm on a roll! Thanks to all reviewers and followers new and ongoing. Special shoutout to PadroPedro who reviewed every single chapter last weekend (though I admit the opera and ancient philosopher references went way over my head).
Enjoy!
Ilandrae
Disclaimer: The blanket I got last weekend is actually super snuggley and I have no regrets but still don't own Merlin
CHAPTER 14 – A STORY LONG OVERDUE
The Road to Merlin's Cave
Mel couldn't believe he was gone. She couldn't believe that the one family she had left was gone and that she was leaving the only place she had ever known and called home.
Not even the joy of riding horseback, feeling Comet moving beneath her, could dispel the empty ache that now filled her being. He was gone.
She looked around at the others, for some distraction in the hope of forgetting the keen absence of her father. Emrys, well Merlin as the others seemed to call him, was riding in the lead, followed by Leon and Percival behind him talking between themselves. Then… there was that boy.
From what she could figure, Art was about her age but there was something weird. All he ever really did was stare in awe at Emrys and he'd barely said a word to her back at the village. Most boys she'd talked to never stopped talking about how great they were, or how weird she was.
Her experience included mostly insults, teasing and shoving. She was the girl who should have died, she was the one that the sorcerer first healed.
That was why she had retreated to Emrys' cave so often. She may have been adored by the adults, the village gem they called her, but in the eyes of the children she was a freak.
It probably didn't help that she wasn't afraid to speak her mind, nor pull her punches.
But to Art she was just another girl, a peasant girl maybe, but not a magical freak. Hell, he had magic, if she was a freak so was he.
She still found it funny how he stared at Emrys in awe, as if he was some ancient deity from the heavens when to her, he was just a friend.
She was startled out of her reverie when they reached Emrys' cave. Well the thing that truly startled her was her almost running into Leon's horse as he halted by the entrance.
"Why'd you stop?" she said irritated, urging her horse past his.
He turned to her confused, "Because there's a wall of rock blocking the way".
Mel looked at Emrys who merely grinned and motioned for her to continue. She grinned back when she realised what he wanted.
Casting a sideways glance at the knights, she urged Comet past them Merlin falling in step beside her, "Yeah, a massive wall of rock…"
She heard the collective gasp from behind her as they rode through the illusion. Then because she couldn't help herself, she stopped halfway through and turned around, so only Comet's front half was visible, "Guys, it's an illusion."
Taking only a moment to bask in their wide-eyed looks she turned around and continued inside.
She led Comet and Bay to the stables out back. As she returned to the main chamber, she heard Percival whispering to Leon, "I swear I knocked on that door."
Swallowing her smile, she couldn't help but notice Art. He was looking in wonder all around Emrys' home, just like Mel remembered doing the first time she'd entered.
Shelves lined the stone walls and small wooden bridges criss-crossed the stream that ran through the centre of the cave. On the shelves, and scattered haphazardly on the floor, were jars and pots which she knew to be filled with various herbs and powders.
On one side a small garden ran partway along the wall after which an immense bookshelf concealed the rest, filled to the brim with countless books and tomes on all topics imaginable.
On the other side of the space was a small fireplace, meant to share its warmth with Emrys' bed, dining table and various other pieces of furniture.
Art was taking it all in with a wide-eyed expression.
Leaving Art to his wonder, Mel saw Emrys walking around the cave. Hurrying around he would occasionally pick up an object and shove it in the small bag he carried. She watched him open a cupboard and shove its entirety in the bag. To her surprise he walked away from the now empty cupboard with the bag looking no fuller than before. She chose not to anything about the outright defiance of natural law, she'd learned long ago not to question things when she was around Emrys.
"Do you know what you're going to take" she asked as she perched herself on the desk next to him.
Emrys paused, "I won't be able to take everything right now, there only so much this spell can do" he shook the bag he carried. "I'll have to-"
"What is that?" Art cut him off
"What's what?" Mel asked
"That…feeling. Like… a hum against my skin. Can't you feel it?"
"Nooooo…" Mel drew out the word
But Emrys said with a smile, "It's the magic Art. From all my magical knick-knacks as Mel likes to call them."
"Magical knick-knacks?" Percival queried
"You are currently standing in one of the lands largest collections of magical artifacts and charmed objects. I find the feel of all the magic in here almost… comforting. Isn't it?" he turned to Art.
"Yeah…" Art said absently as he started to wander the cave, gazing in awe.
Mel's eyes also wandered around the space; over the years it had become her retreat when the village children had become too much.
Which was pretty much every day.
She couldn't help but smile at the memories which this space held, knowing that she likely would never be here again. The small garden bed, where she had helped Merlin begin his herb garden. The desk where she'd helped sort through the letters people had sent when their number had become too much for the warlock to handle. He had even taught her the basics of non-magical healing in this cave, of herb lore and first aid.
All her horsemanship she'd learnt in the clearing on his ponies, and it had been with Emrys she'd learnt what little blade-work she knew.
Her eyes rested on the desk, messy as always with papers scattered across it and the segmented box filled with round tokens and amulets.
"Emrys!" she called "do you want these charms and amulets?"
"Ahhhh… yes please Mel" Emrys answered.
"Spelled or unspelled?"
"Both" then he added with a wry smile, "Please don't mix them up this time though Mel. I'm still not sure whether that poor woman has forgiven me for giving her a fertility charm instead of a safety charm. She does love the twins but they were not what she was expecting"
Mel grinned sheepishly as she made doubly sure she sorted the amulets correctly.
As she handed the (hopefully) correctly sorted box to Emrys Art called out, "What are those?" his eyes wide.
Emrys' gaze followed the boy's, "Right. I will definitely need those." The warlock strode over to the objects that had caught the boy's attention, all six neatly aligned on a wall rack, "These are my staves. Magic users can use a staff, or stave, to channel and help control their spells. I have one for each magic discipline, each uniquely crafted and suited for a specific magic type."
"Magic disciplines?"
"There are six. Healing, weather, combat, distortion, nature and psychal or spirit as its sometimes called."
"What he's not saying" Mel whispered to Art, "is that only magic users who are really powerful in a magic type should even use a staff. And at most only need one because they spend their time practising that one to that high a level."
At Art's questioning look she elaborated, "I've spent a lot of time here. I got curious."
Emrys interrupted the whispered conversation, "These are a bit oversized to lugging around as they are though. Mel, get me the box that's under my bed"
Ducking under the bed Mel pulled out a box about the size of a large cushion, "This one?"
"Yes that's the one."
Mel studied the druidic symbol that was carved into the rich red wood lid as she brought it to the warlock, a shape within a shape that she couldn't quite describe. Emrys set the box on a nearby bench and opened the lid revealing… an empty silk-lined interior.
"Was there meant to be something in there, or…" Art asked.
"No it's meant to be empty." Reaching up he took the closest stave, a long metal rod that split into three prongs to form a cradle on top. As soon as Emrys touched the metal a ball of writhing silver sparks zapped into existence in the cradle, the warlock taking no notice as he held it loosely in his hand.
"The box is for this" he took the staff and touched the end to the symbol on the lid of the box, his eyes flaring faintly. Within a few seconds the staff had shrunk so it would easily fit inside the cushioned box.
"Handy" Art said.
"Indeed" Emrys repeated the action with the other magical aids. The rune covered one topped with a red crystal, the one that was made of a type of white wood, another some kind of purple wood, a plain staff that sprouted flowers when Emrys touched it and finally a white wood wand that had shrunk to the size of a toothpick when it was placed in the box.
Mel hadn't seen all the staves at work, only one or two, and Emrys had only shared with her what she'd told Art when she'd asked him.
After all the staves were in the box Emrys continued to roam the cave, packing items here and there.
Mel, seeing that there wasn't much for her to do, sat by the hearth and looked into the fire one of the knights had lit in the fireplace. As she stared into the dancing flames her heart grew heavy.
Everything was changing so fast.
Two days ago, her biggest problem had been the teasing from the other village children.
But now her father was gone. Now she was about to leave the only home she'd ever known. Now she was about to go and live in a completely foreign place.
Though it had been her idea, her mind was only just catching up to the fact that she was actually going, she was leaving Ameldry forever.
Never again would she help Emrys in this cave, never again would they laugh over the idle village gossip. Never again would she see her father smile, hear his laugh.
She would only be haunted by the dead look in his eyes as he lay there in his own blood.
Mel felt a single tear slide down her cheek.
She jumped when she felt someone sit next to her. Even more surprised when she saw it was Art, the blonde boy smiling sadly at her.
"I'm sorry about your father" he said, as if he knew where her thoughts had been.
"Yeah" Mel's voice cracked a little, "So am I. Anyways" she cleared her throat, "It's not like it's your fault."
"Yeah, it's no one's fault other than he who wielded the blade" the conviction Mel saw in Art's eyes surprised her almost as much as the worldly statement he had just uttered.
"You're not like the other boys that I know" she said cautiously.
"You're not a normal girl either, are you?" Art replied with a small smile.
"Something that the other kids never let me forget" Mel said wryly continuing at Art's questioning look, "Emrys saved my life. I was sick and if it weren't for him I'd have died years ago. The other kids thought I was a freak. That's why I started to hang around Emrys a lot, to get away from them." She laughed, "They were too scared to come here." Mel wondered why she was telling this boy her secrets, he was practically a stranger.
"They said that was strange?" Art was incredulous, "They were idiots"
Mel smiled "I never told my dad or anyone about them, hells, Emrys doesn't even know. But now Dad's gone, forever"
"My dad died too" Art said quietly.
"Really?" Mel recalled hearing stories about the old King of Camelot but she couldn't remember any details.
"Yeah, I never even met him because he died before I was born. So, I suppose I don't really know what you're going through, but at least you knew your father."
He was right, Mel realised. She had known her father, shared the memories. The pain would fade, it always did, but she would always be able to remember the good times that they had shared.
"It must be hard" she said, comforting Art, "to not have known your father. Especially being a Prince and all."
"Yeah. But I've been told the stories. So many stories of his courage, loyalty, and devotion to Camelot. Countless tales of him and his manservant Merlin that I feel like I did know him, and that I had already met Merlin before two days ago."
It took a few second for his words to register. They called Emrys Merlin, and he had just said Merlin was a servant!
Emrys had shared storied of his past with her before. She had listened to him tell stories of his time before the village. But now that she thought of it, he had never mentioned Camelot before, other than to tell people to never tell Camelotians of him.
But he had a past that Mel didn't know about, something involving Camelot, something involving royals and servant by the looks of the prince that was sitting next to her and the words he was saying. She was intrigued… what business had Emrys had in Camelot?
"Emrys?" she called standing up.
"Yes Mel?" he looked up from where he was tying his final bags.
"Why…" she faltered, wringing her hands and struggling to formulate the question, "When were you in Camelot? Why were you even there?"
Emrys froze for a second, silent. Then he took a deep breath and, still without a word, finished buckling the last bag..
He glanced at Mel, "That is a long story indeed child" he sounded weary, reluctant, "Are you sure you want to hear it?"
"I too would like to hear why you came to Camelot Merlin" Leon said, settling into a comfortable position on the ground.
"I would like to know why you changed your mind about returning" Percival also seated himself.
Emrys settled himself before he spoke, "Why did I change my mind? Camelot has always been my home. I may have forgotten that for a bit, but Eran's death has reminded me. My life isn't playing mediator between village disputes, it isn't rescuing kittens or finding lost hounds. Sure, that's part of what I can do for people. But the thing I do best? It's protecting. I protected Arthur as best I could for nearly six years, I protected Camelot. I think it's time I do that again and use my power for a purpose."
"You were in Camelot for six years!" Mel was amazed, "how were you not caught?"
"I very nearly was" Emrys laughed, "So many times"
"You were accused of sorcery what? Six times?" Leon said, "But you were never convicted. How in Camelot did you manage that?"
"Even now I don't know Leon. But I do know that I wouldn't be here if it weren't for those who kept my secret. I suppose I'd better start at the beginning. So Mel, you know that I was born in a small village north of here, called Ealdor"
"Yeah" the girl said, "a family came from there once, something about a cursed sheep"
"Well, after I turned 18 my mother feared that people would find out about my magic. So, she sent me to Camelot."
"To the most magic hating city in Albion" Percival sounded doubtful.
"To Gaius" Emrys smiled as the confused looks cleared from the knight's faces.
"So, he knew from the beginning" Leon said.
"Of course. I saved his life the moment I stepped through his door. Anyway, I had a couple of unpleasant interactions with the prat hereby referred to as Prince Arthur, both the stocks and the dungeons were involved and maybe a small touch of magic to teach said Prince a lesson" the knights chuckled.
"Then Gaius got me a job at a feast where I happened to save his most royal highnesses life from a revenge seeking sorceress, not for the last time might I add. I did not know what I had gotten myself into. Uther 'rewarded me'" the sarcasm was very clear, "by appointing me as Arthur's manservant. Now this is where it gets really interesting."
And so Emrys told them tale after tale. Of griffins and pixies. Of goblins and dragons. Of prince and manservant. Of magic and mayhem.
It was late into the night by the time he had finished, and all were staring at him in shock.
"Lancelot knew!" to say the least Leon was surprised.
"He helped me cover up more than once I have to say."
"You knew of Morgana and Agravaine before anyone. Why didn't you say anything?"
"Who would have believed a servant?" Both knights looked a little guilty at that.
"All those falling branches, near miss escapes and magical occurrences and you guys suspected nothing?" Art said disbelievingly.
"Well" Leon was defensive, "It was Merlin, whoever would have thought?"
"He magnetised a man's sword in the middle of a battle for goodness sake!" Mel was amazed, "I feel like that would have been pretty obvious!"
Both knights looked sheepish.
Emrys laughed, "If the knights, not to mention the guards, of Camelot had not been so clueless I would no doubt have been killed within the first week."
"But now you're going back, and everybody knows about the magic" Mel pointed out.
"Well… Not everybody" Leon said, "just the people who were in the throne room, and Gwen swore them to secrecy for now."
Emrys sighed, "We'll deal with tomorrow…tomorrow. For now, I think we all need rest. Especially you Art, I doubt you've ever used as much magic as you have today" with a flash of Emrys' eyes four cots constructed themselves.
Emrys checked to make sure he wasn't burning "Great! No spontaneous combustion!" Mel just shook her head and lay down on a cot. Everyone else doing the same.
Just as hre eyes were closing and sleep taking her, she heard Emrys whisper:
"Sleep well, my friends. Tomorrow, we return to Camelot"
A/N:
So, I don't know if I'll be able to keep up the weekly updates because I need to make sure these chapters fit without any major accidental plot holes. However, I shall persevere do not doubt!
Thanks
I ;)