Happy New Year!!! I hope you all have a great start of the year and that it is better than the last. Xx
If I had thought that my father's state last night was the biggest issue that we would be facing at this very moment, I was about as wrong as a person could be. The next morning, as I awoke, it took a little over an hour before a guard came to inform me that my presence was requested in the great hall. Arthur had requested the meeting with the lords and our father which made me just a little bit nervous. Must've been due to the time he announced his engagement to Sophia Tirman after knowing her for literally a day. Unease settled in my stomach as I entered the hall and I was hoping that the important news wasn't too bad, though seeing Arthur's face, despite his best efforts to hide his nervousness, I could see that it was probably going to be worse than I had originally thought.
"We have had reports that mercenaries are streaming into Cenred's kingdom," Arthur informed us, making me sigh. Of course, we were facing a damn threat of war. And now of all times.
"Do we know why?" father asked from his throne.
When Gaius had gone up to check on him earlier today, the physician had concluded that father seemed to be pretty much back to how he had been before. An arrogant, tyrannical king. Not that Gaius had used those words, but it was the truth, wasn't it?
"There is rumour that Cenred is amassing an army," Arthur answered. "I think we should send a patrol out to assess the situation."
Father didn't reply so I looked over to him to see what had stopped him from answering but what I wasn't expecting to see was that he was staring, wide-eyed, right in front of him. What the hell was he looking at? I looked over to Arthur, who was also looking at him in confusion. Concern etched itself over my brother's face as his eyes connected with mine
"Father?" I said, trying to gain his attention.
Again, father did not respond. Instead, he continued to gaze right ahead making everyone look over to the empty spot that he was staring at. Yet there was still nothing to be seen.
"What is wrong with him?" Morgana subtly whispered to me.
"I don't know," I admitted honestly.
"Should we get him out of here?" Morgana suggested, leaning forward in her seat as though she was ready to jump up right there and then.
"We need to try and do so without causing a scene," I said.
Just then, father got to his feet, still not removing his gaze from ahead of him. I could see that Arthur was debating on what to do so I thought I should lend a hand. But before I could even get up from my seat, things began to escalate even further.
"Leave me alone," father finally said to no one in particular. He raised a shaking hand, pointing at the empty space. "Get out of here."
"Father," I rose from my seat and walked over to him. Cautiously, I rose my hand to place it on his arm. "Perhaps we should—"
"I said get out!" father yelled, moving away from me and towards the space, he had been staring at. "Get out! I'll have you hanged!"
I moved forward and grabbed onto his arm just as Arthur came to my side and helped me pull father away from the crowd, still shouting about having someone hanged. How damn typical of him. So much for not making a scene. Leon then came over and helped us get father out of the hall, Gaius and Merlin following not far behind.
"Get him somewhere that he can't hurt himself or others," I requested to Arthur and Leon, who continued to pull father along as I walked away from their sides.
Instead, I went over to Gaius and Merlin and gestured for them to follow me into a deserted corridor. If anyone was going to have answers or solutions to what the hell was going on, it was gonna be Gaius.
"There must be some explanation to all of this. It can't all be a coincidence," I said, turning to face Gaius when we had found an empty hallway.
Gaius hesitated for a moment, looking between the two of us before he sighed and avoided all eye contact.
"What is it?" Merlin asked.
"During the great purge, Uther drowned many he suspected of sorcery, as you probably know," Gaius began. Of course, I knew of my father's cruelty to those who possessed magic. Everyone did. Let's be honest, it was probably his main characteristic that one would think of when they think of my father. "And some, God help them, were children. Killed for the magic they were born with." Hearing it again made me feel sick to my stomach as I thought of those poor, innocent children whose lives were lost too soon in life. "Maybe his conscience is playing tricks with him. Whatever it is, we can no longer hide this. A king's hold on his people is a very fragile thing. If they start to lose faith in him, I fear for Camelot."
"Well, we won't let things go that far," I said. "Worst comes to the worst, Arthur will step in and rule Camelot. Lord knows he'd do a damn better job at it than my father."
"Does Arthur know about the great purge and the... and the children?" Merlin asked, his voice breaking at the mention of the children.
"Everyone in Camelot knows about the great purge. I don't know how many know about the extent he went to, Arthur included," I answered sadly. "If Camelot's future wasn't at peril here, I would say my father is getting what he deserves. Whatever he saw in there, I hope it knocked some sense into him. Not that I think that's possible anymore. But I do hope that what he saw was so brutal that he may just see that he isn't right in his pursuit of magic."
"Somehow I don't think he will," Gaius admitted, to which I nodded.
A sudden tolling of the bells gained our attention, sending us rushing out to find a guard and see what was happening. Why was it all happening at once? First, we had a king who was freaking out just from looking at an empty space that could potentially be filled with the victims of his past massacres and then we now had whatever emergency the bell was signifying. Just our luck.
The three of us found a guard hurrying around the courtyard who was quick to direct us to the grassland below the wall that surrounded the castle. It was at least twenty feet in the air and guards often were sent off to do rounds of it in the night, preventing any pesky intruders from getting in. And it appeared that one man's life had ended prematurely doing just that.
He was laid across the ground in his Camelot uniform, a dagger sticking out of his stomach and his entire clothing was covered in thick red blood. He looked like he had been there for several hours before discovery.
"Take this man to my chambers," Gaius instructed Leon, who had come down to see what the issue was on Arthur's orders. "Chelsea, if you help Sir Leon. I suppose I had better speak to the two of you about this. It's a matter of urgency."
I paused for a moment, watching curiously as Gaius crouched down and pulled the dagger out of the man's body. I cringed slightly at the squelching sound as the dagger was pulled out, looking over to Merlin as the blood shone on the blade.
I nodded my head and assisted Leon in getting the dead guard to Gaius's chambers before I returned to the great hall where Arthur was waiting, standing at the front of the hall as father had been not so long ago. The main difference was he wasn't screaming at an imaginary force that no one but he could see.
On my arrival, Arthur subtly gestured for me to come and join his side, his arms crossed unnaturally tightly across his chest. As soon as I had stopped by Arthur's side, giving Morgana a small reassuring smile as I did so, Gaius cleared his throat and began to explain what he thought had happened to the poor man.
"The sentry must've been attacked at some point during the night," Gaius began.
"Who could've done this?" Arthur asked.
"That is a sigil of the Blood Guard," Gaius said, pointing out some of the markings on the dagger that had been taken out of the man's body.
He handed the dagger to Arthur who held it just in front of me so that I could see the marking on the dagger handle.
"What's the Blood Guard?" I asked.
"Warrior-priests sworn to protect the high priestesses of the old religion," Gaius answered.
"But surely they were wiped out during the great purge," Arthur said. That damn purge.
"Not all of them," Gaius shook his head.
"So you believe there's a traitor in Camelot?" Arthur said, and I couldn't help the feeling of dread that rose in me. I knew I shouldn't have, but my eyes trialled over to Morgana who was in the corner, watching everything that was going on. Surely not.
"It is possible, sire," Gaius nodded. "The sentry will be able to tell us soon enough."
"He's still alive?" I asked in surprise. "I would've thought that from the state he was in when I saw him that he had passed. I didn't even feel a pulse."
"It appears, your highness, that luck is on our side," Gaius gave me a small smile.
"Well, that's a first," Arthur muttered, making me stifle a small smile.
"Make sure he's alright for questioning soon. Then we can speak with him and have this issue cleared up sooner rather than later," I said.
"Of course," Gaius nodded, offering a smile before he and Merlin left the room.
"Look at you. Taking control of the kingdom," I muttered to Arthur with a smile.
"I'm not taking control, I'm just..." Arthur trailed off, looking over to me. "I'm doing what has to be done."
"Yeah. Taking control," I insisted. "You're doing good." I rested a hand on his shoulder. "Take it as a compliment, brother."
"Well, thank you, then," Arthur said, forcing a smile. "But I'm not taking control."
Everybody then left the hall and I followed after Arthur to make sure that he was alright. I'm sure he wasn't too bad but with everything that was going on, the least I could do was check upon him.
As I reached Arthur's room, I overheard Gaius speaking with him so I hesitated outside the door and leant up against the wall, waiting for them to finish their conversation. They weren't in there for long but when Gaius came out and saw me, he sighed and walked over to me.
"Chelsea, I must ask a favour from you. For the good of the kingdom and its people, you must talk with Arthur and try to make him see sense," Gaius said.
"Sense? Sense about what?" I asked.
"About assuming the control of the kingdom while your father is in his current state," Gaius elaborated.
I nodded my head, knowing exactly what Gaius meant.
"I'll see what I can do," I smiled.
With that, I left Gaius outside the door and made my way into Arthur's room where he was sat at the chair behind his desk, his head rested in his hands.
"Please don't," Arthur said before I had even said anything as I walked over to the desk. But, boy, was I about to say something.
"Arthur, you need to listen to me, okay?" I said, perching on the edge of the table. "I know that you don't want to do this cause, I don't know, it feels like a betrayal to father or something, but the people should come first. They need a leader, a king. Father can't do it, I can't do it—"
"Why can't you do it?" Arthur cut me off, looking up at me from his seat. "You're good with the people. You know what they need and what they want. They trust you. I don't know how to do any of this."
"And you think that I do?" I countered. "It's not like it's permanent or anything. Just until we figure something out. And besides, you won't be alone. I will be by your side and helping in any way that I can."
Getting up from his seat, Arthur sat on the edge of the desk beside me. He wrapped his arm over my shoulder so that I was leaning against his shoulder.
"What the hell are we doing here, Chels?" Arthur sighed.
"We're way out of our league, aren't we?" I said, a small smile playing on my lips.
"You can say that again," Arthur chuckled humourlessly.
"But you'll do it?" I said, looking up at him. Arthur didn't respond straight away. "They just need someone to put their faith and trust into. No one is asking you to give up on father and we're not saying that you have to put a title on this but as the Crown Prince of Camelot, Arthur, you owe a duty to the people in times such as now. You've got to think of the people. If you won't do it for yourself, think of the rest of the kingdom. So I will ask again, Arthur, please can you do this?"
Once again, Arthur was silent for a few moments before he ran a hand over his face and stared straight ahead of him, clearly deep in his thoughts.
"For the people." Arthur finally said.
"For the people," I repeated with a nod. Relief flowed through me, knowing that the people would at least have someone to turn to if things with father went even further downhill.
The door creaked open in the distance to reveal Gaius, who was watching Arthur anxiously.
"He'll do it, Gaius," I smiled, a look of relief falling on the physician's face.
But for how long would Arthur be able to do this with our father in the state that he is? It was all so sudden, unexpected. How can one truly be prepared for such a change in life with so little warning?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After leaving Arthur alone with his thoughts about what he was about to do, I strolled across the courtyard where only a few people were left still out, a sudden strange pull ache in my chest. I raised my hand and pressed it to my chest as the ache got stronger.
"What the hell?" I muttered, rubbing my chest with the palm of my hand.
It was the most strange of feeling that I had never quite experienced before and I had a horrible hunch that it had something to do with ... where was Merlin?
Since the meeting with Arthur and Gaius about the injured guard, I hadn't seen him and he wasn't with Gaius earlier when he visited me and Arthur. Maybe I was just being paranoid again but after everything that we had been through could you really blame me?
After thinking it through, I landed on the idea that it was just my paranoia, I decided that if I hadn't seen Merlin within an hour of waking up the next morning, I'd have to do something that I wasn't sure would work.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Morning came and there was still no sign of Merlin. So while Gaius was out of his house, I snuck straight back into Merlin's room to see that his bed hadn't been slept in. Something was definitely up.
Peering around the room, my eyes landed on the small wooden dragon that Balinor had crafted before his death. Picking it up and putting it safely in my pouch, I started to make my way back into the town to find Leon. If I was going to find Merlin, I would need to leave the castle for a few days and a cover story would be necessary. And who better to go to for help than Leon?
But first things first... I needed a good cover story.
2740 Words