A Heart For A Heart

Dragon Call Part 1

" I have a letter for you," Merlin announced as he shuffled through his bag and handed the letter to Gaius.

To which the old man replied, "I don't have my glasses."

"I'm Alexandra and this is Merlin," I said pointing to the flustered boy next to me. He realized who we were and lost track of the time for he didn't believe today was Wednesday. Merlin and I gave a questioning look to each other. But Gaius grabbed my shoulder and said that I look just like my mother. I placed my hand on his and smiled warmly. This was going to be a fun experience. Gaius was truly entertaining himself. He instructed us to put our bags in the back room. Merlin pointed to the incident that happened earlier and requested Gaius not to say anything about it. Gaius said thank you. For we did save his life. And the adventure in Camelot awaited us...

Gaius came with a wrap on our door. I had given Merlin the bed and decided to fall asleep on the wooden chair. I picked up the pillow I had propped my head up against. A devilish smile crossed my lips as I slammed the pillow down on Merlin's face. He hastily rolled out of bed and fell onto the floor. I laughed and ran out of the room plopping myself at the table where Gaius had breakfast ready. Merlin grumpily appeared from the bedroom doorway. He sat across from me and started playing with his food. Gaius casually walked by the table knocking over a wooden pail full of water. Merlin's eyes laced gold and stopped the water from splashing all over the floor. I wasn't really paying attention to the rest. I had the same dream as every other night. And to be honest, no matter how many times I had the dream, I still woke up drenched in sweat and panic taking over every feature on my face.
"Alexandra," I quickly snapped out of my daze responding to my name. Gaius gave me a concerned look. I shrugged my shoulders in response. Merlin was mopping up the water that I guess he had let spill.
"Until you two get a job in Camelot, you both can work for me," Gaius offered, but Merlin and I knew it was more of a demand. He began handing us bottles of medicine that went to residents in the castle. Before we left the chamber, Gaius handed Merlin a sandwich. I giggled at Gaius. We already knew that we were fitting in.
As we walked down the hall, Merlin and I decided to split up the work. He went to give the blind official his medication and some other lady of the court. I agreed to deliver the three other remedies. One of the bottles that I had was created for Lady Morgana's nightmares. I wondered if something like this could help me with my night terrors. After a bit of wandering around the halls, I lightly wrapped on the door. To my relief, I heard her airy voice from her chamber. Her servant, which I learned her name to be Guinevere opened the door. She told me just to call her Gwen and offered to show me the town after. I didn't get a good glimpse of the Lady, but I have heard from just servants in the castle that she is a sight.
I finished delivering all the remedies. I had hoped I would have seen Merlin after. The sky was bright and there was not a cloud in sight. The warmth from the sun hit my face and I couldn't help but take in a deep breath. Gwen and I met at the main center of the city. I bounced down the steps and made my way to her. She showed me her house and said her father was a blacksmith. I nodded as she continued to point out certain places and people. And then I laid eyes on Merlin, he was walking toward a group of knights. I knew this couldn't be good. I excused myself and ran towards the group. As I approached, I heard the blonde knight say to give it a try. Merlin couldn't even fight a pig that tried taking his piece of bread back in Ealdor. I pulled Merlin back into my grasp.
"What are you thinking?" Before I could continue my rant, the cocky knight interrupted me.
"Oooo, Merlin needs a girl to save him." I heard Merlin scoff as the rest of the knights laughed.

"Save him from what you..." I replied with the same arrogance he had. His mouth dropped open.

"Look she talks too," they joked. I crossed my arms and that was my mistake for Merlin took a swing at the prat. We soon found out that the knight was the son of the King. I was held back by two knights as Merlin got carried away to the jail. I protested against their grips, but then the prince had the audacity to look at me with a smug smile. I rolled my eyes and his smile grew even bigger.
"Let her go," he told his two guards. I fell to the ground my hands catching the fall. Standing up with embarrassment evident, I walked as fast as I could to get Gaius.

Gaius was two steps behind me. We hurried to the cell where Merlin had stayed all night in. Worry covered my face, I tightly wrapped my hands around the metal bars. "Merlin!" I anxiously called. He seemed to be distracted and looked up at me with a surprised expression.
"Alexandra, Gaius!" He called out excitedly.
"Now, I have managed to pull some strings to get you out," Gaius said. I lightly chuckled because Gaius had told me Merlin's punishment ahead of time.

Gaius and I decided to take a morning stroll. Our eyes immediately landed on Merlin locked in a stock. We laughed as the children threw rotten fruit at him. I gave Gaius a look and he responded with a nod. I joined the children and picked up a tomato that smelled terrible. Holes covered the tomato and left a brown stain. I chuckled as the tomato hit Merlin square in the face. The children ran to get more fruit. I planned on talking to Merlin, but I saw Guinevere step towards him. A sheepish grin appeared on my lips. Gaius and I continued on with our day, helping those who couldn't afford medical care.
We approached the castle steps and made our way back to the physician's chamber to prepare dinner. I decided to let Gaius finish cooking dinner while I roamed the halls. I heard a voice calling out to me. "Alexandra..." The voice was drawn out, but powerful. I knew it was wrong to follow the sinister call, but my curiosity could not resist. I stumbled around corners and leaned my ear against the wall until I find guards sitting around a table gambling. Using a bit of magic, the dice rolled away from the cup. Both guards chased after the dice like lost puppies. Since the opportunity came so easily, I quickly unlocked the prison door with my mind before sneaking down the stone steps. I reached the last step and rapidly came to a halt. The end of the stairs led to an open cave that glistened a rusty blue. Suddenly, a gust of wind sent my hair flying and blew out the torch I brought along. I could not believe what I was seeing! Down came a huge, bat-winged, golden dragon. The scene in front of me was breathtaking as the magnificent beast landed before me.

"How small you are for such a great destiny?" mocked the Dragon. I tried to come up with an answer, but my mouth just hung open.

"You are not Merlin," the Great Dragon stated as if it was not obvious.

"No, wait... what destiny... what do you mean?" I fumbled out into phrases. The Great Dragon chuckled.

"Arthur is the once and future king of Camelot who will unite the land of Albion."

"Okay?" I responded but was cut off.

"But he faces many threats from friend and foe alike."

"I don't see how this involves me or Merlin?"

"Everything! Without Merlin, there will be no Albion..."

"And without you, Arthur will never succeed."

"We won't get involved it is too risky plus Arthur isn't a fan of either of us," I responded having heard enough about destiny and the prat prince.

"None of us can choose our destinies, Alexandra and none of us can escape it."

"No, there must be another way or at least another Arthur. This one's rude and arrogant."

"Perhaps it's your destiny to change that."

"Wait! You can't just tell me that and then fly off." However, he did just that. I ran to the top of the stairs and was lucky no guards were present. I rushed to find Merlin to tell him about all this and to ask if he heard his name being called. Little did he know that it was by a dragon. I dodged servants and rounded corners. I traveled up the staircase before the physician's chambers to be met by Gaius and Merlin who had already enjoyed their dinners.

"Are you quite alright, Alexandra?" Gaius questioned.

"Yes... just out of breath that's all." I sat down across from Merlin and scuffed down the vegetable soup. Merlin reeked to which Gaius made a comment. With Merlin in the bath and Gaius cleaning up, I figured it is in my best interest to retire to bed early.

However, not too far away, Mary Collins was striking. She attacked the camp where Lady Helen was stationed. The witch killed every person there including Lady Helen. Mary Collins used voodoo and spells to transform herself into the beautiful singer.