A/N:
Hi. Its been four months. Soz. But I'm back! I've been trying to get ahead of this story and am now back to being a satisfactory number of chapters ahead of posted chapters. I keep getting distracted by my own WIP but I shall not leave this behind either!
Thank you to all who remain and special thanks to those random ones which followed even when I hadn't updated in three months (helps me get back on track). And thank you to all reviewers, it always makes my day.
Enjoy!
Ilandrae
Disclaimer: I've been reading a lot of Enola Holmes so here's the decoding clue – Alphabet 5x6.
4445243232 61154335 355334154344232441 3521 331543322434.
CHAPTER 19 – REVELATIONS
The Queens Chambers
Gwen gazed at her own scribbled handwriting, eyes narrowing at what had at the time been a word but now was an unintelligible scrawl.
"Tia?" she queried to her maidservant who was finishing tying up her gown, "Do you recall what I meant here?"
The young lady peered around her mistress to look at the parchment, "That was 'honoured guest' and I think you followed with something about the saviour of Camelot."
Enlightenment dawned, "Yes that's right." Tia tied the last tie and the queen began to gather her papers, "Then it was 'friend of all Albion' and what not" she sighed, "This is what happens when I write my speeches at midnight Tia."
"This is what happens when you have literary epiphanies at midnight my lady" Tia corrected eliciting a smile from her mistress.
"If I could have them at lunch I'd choose then, but sadly they like the midnight hours."
A knock sounded at the door and Tia went to answer.
"Your Majesty" Leon greeted his queen.
"Is it time Leon?" Gwen made one last scan of her notes as she made her way to the knight.
"It is. The townspeople are gathered in the courtyard and the knights and the soldiers have been warned to keep a watchful eye."
Gwen nodded and they started down the hall, Tia softly closing the door at their exit and following behind.
"And Merlin?" Gwen asked.
"He's been summoned. Art too, antsy as ever."
At this Gwen looked to him in question. She'd been bit busy of late with the incident and had been admittedly a bit of a neglectful mother.
"It seems your son isn't taking to learning magic as well as he took to learning the sword."
"In what way?"
"How should I know" Leon laughed, "Apparently it isn't just muttering some words and bibbity bobbity boo and what not"
Gwen frowned.
"But not to worry Your Majesty" Leon hurriedly reassured her, "I'm sure Merlin knows what he's doing."
Gwen had to admit he was right. It seemed since he stepped foot in Camelot Merlin was the only one who really knew what he was doing.
Merlin's Chambers
"I have no idea what I'm meant to be doing" Merlin tossed another crumpled shirt across the room. Mel picked it up, folded it and put it on the dresser with the two he had already flung in her vicinity.
Merlin continued his muttering and tossing things about the room, "I swear I never get told anything. I find out with half an hour to spare that Gwen is giving a city-wide speech. Then fifteen minutes before it starts, apparently I'm allowed to show my face again and have to be there!" he slammed a cupboard door shut, "Where the blazes did I put that box?"
The warlock vaguely saw the girl make herself comfortable on his dining table as she answered, "The staves or the amulets?"
"Both! I'm pretty sure I put them in the same place."
"Did you check under the bed?"
A quick toss of the covers resulted in a scrape as the offending boxes were found.
Flicking open his stave box he snatched up the white wooden toothpick brushing it over the lid symbol as he did. Within seconds he held a white ash stave, the runic symbols carved on it moved and shifted before the eyes.
"Distortion right?" Mel asked, "Why are you taking a stave?"
"Because Alice and Myara are right" Merlin rummaged through the amulet box, "It's silly to go into a potentially dangerous situation without a stave. Plus, this one's the easiest to hide" finding the right amulet he shook his head and muttered a spell, watching the leather disc shift to an armband which he slide onto his wrist.
"Are you expecting trouble?"
"These days I always expect trouble, saves me stress" he took the stave, summoning the rune he needed to the surface and pressed it to the matching one on the armband. Soon the wood liquified and flowed on top of the rune, resulting in a leather armband with a white wood slanted F rune.
"Time to go" he waved Mel a hasty farewell and near about sprinted down the corridor.
Arriving at the front doors (because Gwen liked to give her speeches from the castle steps, which seemed like a worry to Merlin because of the ease of assassination) he skidded to a halt, just about running into the group.
"As punctual as ever Merlin" Gwen smiled and Leon gave him a pointed look from where he stood with his knights.
"Well next time give me more than a quarter of an hours warning that you want me here."
"Maybe if you hadn't told the manservant assigned to you to have the next month off you would not take as long to get ready."
"I don't need someone to dress me Gwen I'm used to being on my own."
Gwen sighed, "Well you do clean up nicely I have to say. Very handsome"
"This thing" he plucked at the navy shirt, "Honestly just threw it on. Haven't had time to get the rest of my things yet. I don't even know where this is from"
"It's the outfit Yelene and I forced you into for my birthday last year" Mithian strode in as regal as ever, "You didn't want to come in the first place and after all our pleading we then had to find you an outfit. I believe you had just finished a sandstorm experiment with the crazed weather wizard of yours and saw nothing wrong with coming in dusty robes traipsing sand throughout our castle."
"You were the ones who told me be there no matter what. Not my fault it fell in line with Wez's Weather Week"
"You're a bloody warlock Merlin, I'm sure you could've figured something out."
"If we've finished critiquing my style habits-"
"or lack thereof" Mithian coughed which Merlin chose to ignore as he addressed Gwen
"What is it you intend to actually do?"
"I'm going to talk to Camelot" the Queen said with a shrug , "They've had time to cool off since the marketplace incident and I'm going to reassure the people of your presence and their safety."
"Just like that?"
"Well I'm going to put it a little more eloquently but yes. That's why you need to be there."
"What if they don't like me being there?" Gwen was playing a dangerous game. He had no doubt in her abilities, but he knew situations like this could easily get out of hand. People could get hurt.
"That's why we're here Merlin" Leon said reassuringly "Sir Bedivere and his men are more than capable of handling any situation that should arise."
Grudgingly Merlin agreed. But he still had a nagging feeling that something was about to happen, and over the years he'd come to trust in those feelings. He fingered the leather armband around his wrist, grateful that he'd brought the hidden stave.
Leon pushed open the heavy doors and Merlin squinted in the bright sunlight as they walked outside together.
The courtyard was filled with more people than Merlin had ever seen for a royal announcement, even during Arthur's reign. Gwen stood on the highest step with Art at her side and her guards, including Leon and Percival, surrounding them. Merlin and Mithian stood to the side of the pair and though he tried to remain inconspicuous, Merlin felt the weight of the stares that sought him out.
"People of Camelot!" the whispers that started at their entrance quieted as Gwen spoke.
"We have been through a trying time. And I know many of you are still rebuilding after the events of last week. I stand before you today to thank you for your courage and to inform you on what has happened. There is a threat in these lands, a dark threat that has already taken many of our neighbouring kingdoms, and last week that threat came for Camelot."
"The threat is the same as it's always been!" a voice called from the crowd, "magic is the threat! Magic took our families and burned our homes!" angry muttering started to spread and Merlin thought Gwen better do something soon or there'd be another full-blown riot on their hands.
"You are indeed correct that it was magic that attacked us" Gwen said and Merlin couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the sentence, "You are indeed correct that those who attacked us used magic to destroy your homes and take your family members from this world" she paused for what Merlin assumed was dramatic effect, "But what you do not know, is that it was magic that saved us."
Silence blanketed the courtyard.
"What you do not know is that magic saved my life, and the life of my son and your prince. That it was magic that made every soldier and enemy sorcerer fly from these halls. What you do not know is that Merlin, once manservant and protector to my husband and your former king, King Arthur, returned to us when we were in need and used his magic to save us"
Again, Merlin felt the weight of those stares.
"Merlin is my honoured guest and a saviour of Camelot. And no," the queen shook her head with a smile "I am not under a spell. Merlin is no threat, but in fact is an ally. It is my wi-"
"MAGIC CANNOT BE OUR ALLY!" a voice screamed out of the crowd. Merlin searched for the source, but more screams rang out as people started to panic. The crowd surged and people began to run, "MAGIC IS THE ENEMY! IT'S A CORRUPTING DISEASE AND ONLY ONE THING CAN BE DONE TO CLENSE IT!"
It was then that Merlin sensed it. The cloaking charm. He'd been so intent on the physical threat he'd forgotten about a magical one. He went to reach for his concealed stave but realised that pulling out the magical aid would only cause more panic.
So instead he simply said, "bemelde" and ignored Mithian's questioning look as he felt his eyes flash. He saw flicker in the corner of his eye and turned to face it.
"Emrys!" a figure jumped in front of him and Merlin heard the scrape of steel on steel.
He was surprised when the figure turned and he recognised Sir Bedivere, he hadn't even known the knight was near them. "Where did that knife come from?" the knight's eyes darted around and for a second Merlin had no idea what he was talking about. Then his blood chilled as he realised why the knight had leapt in front of him.
His revealing spell hadn't revealed the offender as he thought it would. Instead, it had uncloaked the dagger that had been heading straight for him. Sir Bedivere had deflected the blade, but the knife had more magic than a cloaking charm on it.
Merlin reached into his power and slowed time, trying to figure out the magic on the still flying blade, trying to figure out why it still travelled.
It was only when he saw where it was now headed that he put the pieces together.
Sighting his destination, he spoke another spell "Æt geonre."
He appeared in front of Art just in time for the knife to pierce his own abdomen instead of the prince's heart.
A/N:
Haha I'm going to go hide in a hole before you come after me for that chapter ending.
But I'll also try and post the next chapter in anther couple of days so don't worry.
Til next time.
I ;)
Spells:
Æt geonre - Be there
Additional decipher clue if you so wish:
44 45 24 32 32 61 15 43 35 35 53 34 15 43 44 23 24 41 35 21 33 15 43 32 24 34
ABCDE
FGHIJ
KLMNO
PQRST
UVWXY
Z