The Thief

11

"Myrddin?" I heard a sweet voice call. "Myrddin, can you hear me?" I opened my eyes and saw a beautiful girl standing above me. Her smile shined brighter than the sun. Her eyes, wild like the sea. Her curls were perfect with every move she made. Standing above me was Aetheria, my best friend.

"Hello." I smiled at her.

"What are you doing on the ground?" She asked me.

"I thought I would rest for a moment."

"In the garden?" She raised an eyebrow.

"It's peaceful. Come," I pulled her to the ground right next to me causing her to laugh. "Listen." She calmed her giggles and listened. Birds chirping somewhere in the world above us. The sound of trees dancing with the wind. No noises, but those of nature calling to us.

"Pure bliss." She muttered. I turned to face her. She was staring at me with a smile.

"Bliss." I repeated. She raised herself and turned towards me.

"Why are you such a kind boy?" And she did the unthinkable. She kissed me. I kissed back. I had no idea where it came from, but I didn't care at the moment. She pulled away only a second from my face. She touched my lips and smiled. I stared at her with love. I didn't think I could feel this way towards a princess.

"Aetheria! It's time for tea, my lady!" Someone called from the castle. She looked up and yelled that she was coming.

"Until next time, my knight." She started to get up, but I pulled her down before kissing her again only for a second. She smiled down at me as she stood above. I smiled back and she ran towards the castle. I touched my lips feeling a tingle. I smiled to myself.

"He's getting worst, sire." Someone said to my left. There was no light. Where did she go? Where did my light go?

"Ae... Aether... Aeth..." I tried to call out for her, but all that came out was a whisper.

"He's doing it again." Another voice said. Arthur? Arthur Pendragon! King of Camelot. My destiny. For a moment, I had forgotten who, what, and where I was.

"He tends to talk in his sleep. He talked about this girl a lot." Gaius, the physician of Camelot.

"Who is she?" Arthur asked. I tried to open my eyes, but I felt weak. Maybe a little more sleep. No! I can't handle anymore bad dreams, and I need to get better for Camelot.

"I have no idea. He wouldn't tell me. Something is bothering him and it upsets me that he won't open up." Gaius said. I forced my eyes open.

"Merlin?" Arthur was at my side the moment my eyes opened.

"Arthur." I said back.

"What happened? Are you okay?" He asked me. I looked at him confused.

"What are you talking about? Of course I'm okay. Nothing happened. I'm fine." I tried to convince him and at the same time, convince myself.

"Merlin, you've been out for three days. You were delirious and your fever has gotten worst each day," he touched my forehead and pulled away confused. "Your fever is gone. How can that be?" Gaius felt my forehead. He sighed with relief.

"That's a good sign," Gaius explained, "but unfortunately, I fear that this isn't over."

"What are you thinking?" Arthur questioned him.

"This has been going on for a couple months now. Each day, he would get worse. The nightmares and flashbacks were never normal before. They happened randomly. It doesn't quite make sense now does it?" Gaius explained.

"What are you suggesting?" I asked him completely calm which surprised even me.

"What if magic was involved?" Gaius said. Arthur tensed.

"Who would want to... why spell me like this?" I questioned. If I was spelled, there was only one person who would want to do that.

"I don't know," Gaius answered.

"If magic is involved, how do we fix it?" Arthur asked.

"I don't know that either. I've never seen anything like it. It must be of the old religion. All I know is that there is no sickness that can last this long and drain someone from their energy like this. Merlin can't have a raising fever one minute and completely cool the next." Gaius said.

"Your right. It's strange, but how do we know who and what we're dealing with?" Arthur asked.

"Well, for one, we can check my old books for any spell sicknesses, but as for who, we can't be sure." Gaius said. I remained quiet because if I said Morgana, I would have to explain why, or perhaps Arthur would think it was because of him that I was spelled. Either way, I didn't say a word.

Gaius stood up from his seat and walked out of the room. I could hear him walking about and looking through pages in the other room. I looked up to Arthur. It was like he was studying me, waiting for me to make the wrong move. He doesn't suspect anything, does he? If he knew something, why wouldn't he just say it? A few moments past before he opened his mouth.

"Who's Aetheria?" Arthur asked me.

"No o-one," I answered. He nodded his head and looked around the room.

"You said the same thing to Gwaine when he asked who Elizabeth was. Is Aetheria another one of your surprises too?" Arthur asked.

"She was just an old friend," was all I said.

"Are you going to bring her here the same way you brought Elizabeth and her mother?" He asked. I shook my head. "Why not?" He questioned. Why can't he stop talking about this?

"We end on bad terms the last time I saw her," I explained. He didn't need to know anything else.

"Bad terms?" He asked as if he was interrogating me.

"Yeah," I replied, "Why are you being such a dollop head?"

Arthur smiled, "There's the old Merlin." I raised an eyebrow. What does he mean by old Merlin? Was I not acting the same or something? He stood up and walked out, probably to help Gaius with research. I wanted to help to, but my head began to go fuzzy, and I began to get tired again. No, please stay up, I begged myself, but I couldn't keep my eyes opened much longer.