The Golden Effect

the lady catrina

I wasn't going to update today, but my friend Caity kept begging me, so I had to :P Hi, Caity.

Thank you Anne-Lilian for telling me about the Gaius thing - I hadn't even realised until you told me, and I will be changing it slightly in the future if I do find that I had written a particular OOC or strange, misjudged portrayel of Gaius' character. So, thank you for informing me :)

Won't be updating over the weekend though, speech due Monday - have to cram it.

Previously on As It Should Be:

"Ic þé wiþdríf!" Merlynn shouted. Jonas was thrown back against the wall behind him, and knocked unconscious when a vase landed on his head. Raggedly exhausted, Merlynn burst into the Throne Room to see Lady Catrina and Uther kissing. She hadn't made it; a troll was the new Queen of Camelot.

Merlynn felt like collapsing in defeat then and there at the sight of them, and tried to ignore the look Gaius gave her. However, when the troll turned to stare at her new kingdom, she grimaced at the sight of Merlynn. She panted, but gave Catrina a smirk, which clearly meant: 'You're on.'

It was war. Merlynn would win, she was determined to. It wasn't going to end until the troll dropped dead - she would make sure of that.

Merlynn had been too late. The troll had a step ahead of her - she was now royal consort to the King, the Queen of Camelot. But she hadn't given up yet, and there was still a chance for Camelot. She ran shaky fingers through her dark, tangled hair, wincing as she hit a particularly thick knot. Gaius turned to Merlynn, crossing his arms over his chest, looking much like the executioner as she leaned against the door to their chambers.

"Where were you?" he interrogated.

"I was stuck in the damn tunnels," she retorted scathingly, and shifted into the same position as he. "They know about my magic, Gaius. They know everything about it. The ugly thing locked me in her resting place, but I broke out. It was too late."

He sighed. "I was beginning to wonder where you were."

"Gaius, I am so sorry."

"Don't apologise," he replied. "As long as your safe and alive, that's all that matters."

Merlynn bit her lip. "I do agree with you on being alive but I'm not so sure about the safe part. For now, especially."

oOo

Gaius had said that he would discover another way to break Uther from the troll's enchantment, and for her to simply go about her duty and not to worry. She was relieved, to say the least, that he had told her to calm herself. So, she took his advice and grabbed his clothes from the washing room, then hurried up to his chambers to put them away - as sad as it was, doing chores was actually a rather relaxing task.

As she folded and set his clothes into the cupboard, Arthur burst in, diminishing any silence that had ever been in the room. At first Merlynn had smiled at him but at the look on his face a frown formed instead.

"You need to get out of here. The King's ordered me to arrest you," he announced.

"What? Why?" she yelped in alarm.

Arthur simply walked past her and checked through the back door, which he found was deserted. "Catrina's accused you of taking her seal."

"But I didn't," Merlynn said.

"I don't want to know, and you haven't got time to explain. If you value your life, you'll leave Camelot right now," he instructed sharply, yet there was the smallest hint of remorse in his eyes.