Arthur was sitting at his desk the next morning scribbling away on a piece of parchment. As he wrote, his thoughts went to all of the new issues he now had to deal with. Morgana, who he recently found out is also a witch, has been lying to everyone ever since she got back to Camelot. She has been working with the sorceress Morgause to bring down Camelot from the inside. Merlin, who he recently found out is a warlock and has been the whole time, has been the one looking out for Arthur all along. And his father, who is hell-bent on destroying everyone that is like Merlin be they good or evil, grows more and more paranoid of magic by the day.
All of these were issues he didn't know how to combat. Merlin, he supposed was easy enough to deal with. He just had to make sure that the idiot kept his magic hidden until the law against magic could be lifted. But when would that be? Certainly not anytime soon, as his father was healthy as an ox and unlikely to die anytime soon, and he would never wish ill against his father no matter how cruel he's been. It occurred to Arthur just then, that he was actually considering lifting the ban on magic in Camelot. And all of it so that one person in his life could be free to be who he was.
He smiled to himself. Hopefully, one day he would be able to help his friend as a way to thank him for all the times Merlin helped him. The gods know that he would never be able to bring himself to say the words without them getting stuck in his throat. Damn the arrogant pride that his father instilled in him.
Suddenly, the prince was interrupted from his thoughts by someone knocking on his door. "Enter," he said, clearing his throat. The door to his bedchamber opened to reveal the aforementioned warlock himself. "Ah, Merlin, come in," Arthur greeted. Merlin did as he was told and shut the door behind him once he was fully in the room. "Arthur, I need your help with something, and it's of grave importance," Merlin blurted out. The prince arched his eyebrow curiously. "What's this about?"
Merlin quickly explained everything that has happened within the last few days since Alice arrived, including the innkeeper incident, and by the time he finished his explanation, Arthur was dumbstruck. "Wait, so Gaius lied to my father about the innkeeper's recovery being of natural causes?" Arthur stammered. The warlock rolled his eyes. "I just told you that Gaius's former lover is harboring a sinister creature of magic within Camelot's walls with poison that could be used to kill any of us, and that was your takeaway?" Merlin ranted.
"Well, what was I supposed to say?" the prince argued.
"That you'll help me figure out what the creature is so that we can figure out a way to stop it," Merlin offered. Arthur found himself sitting taller in his chair once he realized what was going on. Merlin was asking for his help in fighting a mythical creature. Merlin wanted him to help. He was going to see firsthand how Merlin goes about saving the kingdom, and this time he was a part of it. The prince sighed and tried not to let his eagerness show. "What do you need from me?"
* * *
An hour later, the boys were standing just outside the library hiding around the corner. "Okay, so what's the plan again?" Arthur inquired. "I need you to cause a distraction while I sneak into the magic antechamber to find a book on magical creatures so we can find out what we're dealing with," Merlin whispered to him. "Do you think you can do that?" Arthur narrowed his eyes at his servant. "I know how to cause a distraction, Merlin," he retorted. "Good, then go get 'em!" Merlin declared, shoving the prince out from behind the pillar and right into Geoffrey's line of vision.
"Prince Arthur, what a pleasant surprise to see you here," Geoffrey stated with a smile.
"Uh, yes, it is," Arthur floundered. "You see I was doing some research on the kingdom of... Messolia, and I was wondering if you had any books about their history." Geoffrey squinted quizzically. "You said the kingdom of Messolia?" he asked. Arthur inwardly berated himself, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Merlin slap his forehead in exasperation. He couldn't have come up with a more believable fictional kingdom name? Well, too late to change it now.
"Uh, yes, the kingdom of Messolia," Arthur repeated.
This was bad. This was really, really bad.
"Hmm. Interesting," Geoffrey hummed to himself. "I haven't heard anyone ask about that kingdom in many years."
"What?" Arthur balked.
'What?' Merlin said telepathically.
"Yes, the kingdom of Messolia was once the seat of absolute power in all of Britannia. All realms were once united under their banner before the time of the Great Rebellion," Geoffrey explained with gusto. Arthur had to use all his willpower to keep his jaw from falling on the floor. "Uh.." he started. "Well, come with me, Sire, I do believe I have some exquisite books regarding their history," Geoffrey said, standing to his feet. "Follow me."
Arthur glanced back at Merlin who waved at him to go with the wizened bookkeeper. "Uh, yes, absolutely," Arthur replied, nodding a bit too fast. "Please, lead the way." With that, Geoffrey and Arthur walked away from the old man's desk in the direction of the East Wing of the library.
With them gone, Merlin snuck into the library and went to search the shelves for the magical antechamber. Once he found and entered it, he searched around as quickly and quietly as possible until he found an interesting book focusing on ancient creatures of magic. He flipped through the pages, skimming through the excerpts and passages until finally, he landed on a page with the image of the creature he had seen the previous night. "Gotcha!" Merlin announced. Then he closed up the book and left the chamber. When got back into the corridor he heard the voices of Geoffrey and Arthur coming back in his direction and quickly rushed to the exit.
"Thanks again for all your help, Geoffrey. It means a lot," Arthur spoke, struggling to carry the multiple books that the librarian heaped on him.
"Bah, it's nothing, Sire," Geoffrey waved off. "Only doing my civic duty in helping to educate my future king."
"Psst!" Arthur heard someone call out near the exit. He turned and saw Merlin standing there with a large book in his arms urging him to come on. "Well, thanks again, but I must be going now," Arthur smiled politely. Geoffrey bowed to the prince, and Arthur left for the exit.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" the prince asked.
"Yep," Merlin answered eyeing all the books in Arthur's hands. "Did you?" Arthur shot him a withering glare, and said, "Shut up, Merlin."
* * *
When they got back to Arthur's room, the boys set all the books down on the large table in Arthur's chambers. Then, Merlin sat down in the chair at the head of the table and flipped back to the page where he'd seen the creature's image and stopped. "Good Lord!" Arthur gasped when he saw the image of the ghastly-looking creature. "What the hell is that thing?"
"That's what we're going to figure out."
"Look, it says here that it's called a manticore," Arthur pointed out. "The book says that it was first referred to a thousand years ago." Merlin looked to where Arthur was pointing on the page and said, "According to this passage here, the ancients lived in fear of it. It's a creature of magic with ties to the Dark Realm." "What's the Dark Realm?" Arthur asked warily. "It's a netherworld of monsters and spirits that is presided over by the Triple Goddess Lilith."
"The Triple Goddess?" the young prince questioned. "She is one of the two deities that created magic," Merlin explained. "Lilith is her real name, and her sister the White Goddess is called Aurora. They've been around since the dawn of time."
"How do you know all of this?" Arthur said inquisitively. Merlin smiled, "I learned it, studied it."
The prince nodded, seemingly satisfied with that answer and the boys turned back to study the pages once more.
"Hey, Merlin, you said that the manticore had venom right?" Arthur spoke up. "Yes, it comes out of its tail in a thick, black ooze," Merlin responded. "Well, the book says that it's extremely lethal and can kill anyone within up to a day of being exposed to it. It's a very slow, agonizing death."
"What else does it say?"
"Uh, nothing, it just ends."
"Damn!" Merlin swore. "We need to go back to the library tonight to find another book." Then, the warlock got up to leave. "Wait, why tonight?" Arthur inquired. "Because I left Alice alone with Gaius, and I need to make sure she hasn't poisoned him yet," Merlin answered. "Meet me in the library tonight."
"Alright, but--" however, Merlin was already gone out of the room leaving the prince standing in front of a table full of large books. "Gee, thank you, Arthur, for causing a distraction so I could find the book, and finding the information about the manticore poison," Arthur said mockingly. "Oh, you're welcome, Merlin, it was my pleasure to help."
