11. Mistrials
Magdelena had wanted to go with Gwen and Merlin but she was summoned by Uther to report to his chambers. She arrived to find an angry Uther glaring at her as she entered, "You are hiding that sorcerer!" he snaps at her harshly, "That is why we are unable to find him! I demand you tell me!"
"I would never give my brother up to you," she says simply she can sense his next move and decides to make her own, "I, Magdelena, order you to not ask me where my brother is now or ever under the bond ask me to give up my brother."
As the order set in his anger grew, "How dare you!" he snapped at her but she just held her stoic expression.
"Would you not do the same for Arthur? Have you not done the same for him?" she asks making him fall quiet and his face softens as he looks at her. He goes to say something but a knight enters the room knocking only slightly.
"Sire, Gaius has requested an audience with you immediately," the knight says and Uther nods, Magdelena takes a deep breath hoping he was back to his old self, that Merlin and Gwen had done it and Merlin was safe once more. Entering the great hall Uther sat and waited for him to enter, which he did not long after they had.
"Sire I would like to apologize for everything that has happened which was my doing," Gaius says, "I was under the influence of a goblin who had somehow possessed me."
"You mean to tell me it was you who was responsible for the er...baldness, the flatulence, the boils, and Arthur's donkey ears?" Uther asks making sure he had understood correctly.
"I fear I was, My Lord. Or at least the goblin was while I was possessed by it," Gaius tells him and Magdelena smiles knowing that Gaius was back.
"Magic has the power to corrupt even the most honourable of men," Uther says making Magdelena roll her eyes before going back to smiling at Gaius who smiled hesitantly at her.
"Indeed," Gaius says, "Though, I must assure you that Merlin was entirely innocent."
"Then he is pardoned," Uther says making Magdelena stand taller and smile brighter than she had before until the creature in the box begins to move around making noise as it struggles.
"May I suggest it is kept where no one will ever open it?" Gaius asks.
"I could kill him," she spits loud enough for the creature to hear making it stop moving around and making noise.
"See that it's placed in the vaults," he tells some knights that had been close by and Magdelena didn't notice till they had been spoken to, "Gaius...do you know who was responsible for releasing the goblin in the first place?"
"I'm afraid I've no idea, My Lord," Gaius says handing the knights the box as Magdelena continues to glare harshly at the box. Gaius is excused and Magdelena makes her way with Uther back to his chambers.
"Thank you for pardoning Merlin," Magdelena says softly, "I know you didn't have to pardon him, and you could have just stuck with your original sentence."
"Well, Gaius said he was innocent I have to believe him," Uther says, "You may go I will be fine tonight. You go join Gaius and your brother in celebrations." She smiles placing a hand on Uther's shoulder allowing him to feel the gratitude she felt for his pardon before she raced from the corridor and began to make her way to the physician's chambers.
"Mags?" she stopped at the sound of the Prince's voice as she looked forward to seeing him standing a few feet from him with a nervous feeling coming from him, "About what happened, in my chambers."
"I petted your donkey ears," she says with a small chuckle, "But anyways yes what about it?"
"I just wanted to tell you thank you for keeping it a secret," he says she smiles at him going to walk past him but he grabs her arm stopping her next to him, "That isn't why I was looking for you."
"Then why did you?" she asks, "It must be important." He goes to speak but clatter from the sound of knights was heard coming toward them, "If you remember you know where to find me." She begins to make her way once more toward the chambers of Gaius thinking nothing could ruin her good mood.
She paused as she got closer to the stairs stopping at the door hearing the two voices of Merlin and Gaius talking, "-the goblin showed me something Merlin that I can't help but worry about and I thought it right to share with you."
"Can he be trusted?" Merlin asks, "I mean he seems to be into tricking people. Are you sure this wasn't a trick of his?"
"He was very serious about it Merlin," Gaius says his tone was very worried almost scared.
"Alright tell me, Gaius you know you can trust me," Merlin says, "Should we wait for Maggie?"
"No!" Gaius says sharply before there was a pause, "No he showed me what happens if she finds all her powers as Death. She turns evil and I fear she may be heading in that direction. She was horrible killing people and she enjoyed it."
"Then we have to tell her!" Merlin says and there was a shuffling before silence.
"What if that is her goal? What if she wants to be all-powerful?" Gaius asks his voice was still so scared and it hurt that he thought that could happen.
"Gaius! This is Maggie we are talking about, she doesn't want to harm anyone! She hates when she has to ferry people to the afterlife," Merlin says defending his sister making her smile softly.
"What if it is all fake! How do we know if she wants to take over the world?" Gaius asks, "I have known her for almost four years and I know the old shy Maggie but recently she has come from her shell."
She goes to enter but thinks better of it and walks from the way and rushes through the halls and eventually ends up in town. She takes deep breaths as she tries to understand what she had heard, that stupid goblin knew who she was and used the darker side of her powers to turn Gaius against her.
"Maggie there you are!" she turns to see Merlin and Gaius walking toward her she thinks about running but puts a fake smile on her face. They were near the training grounds and paused to watch as Arthur knocks over a knight and begins to laugh, some laugh with him until his laugh turns into a bray and she grabs Merlin's shoulder in shock as she smiles brightly at Merlin.
"Merlin," Gaius says in a scolding tone as if to tell him to fix him fully.
"Just one more day. It's too good," Merlin says smiling at his sister nudging her as she chuckles, "Maggie agrees."
"That's what worries me," Gaius mutters so they didn't hear him but both of them heard him, Magdelena took a deep breath and straightened her back as Merlin sends Gaius a warning look.
"We were going to go back to the chambers and celebrate a bit with some nice food. I guess you will be joining us right?" Merlin asks hopefully as he speaks staring at her.
"No," she says, "I wouldn't want to ruin your guy's fun. Besides your celebrating freedom, I am not free yet."
Gaius sends her a suspicious glare, "Free from what?"
"This curse of powers!" she snaps, "I will be moving out of the chambers, by the way, hopefully, Uther won't mind giving me a guest chamber."
"What no! Maggie, please don't move out!" Merlin begs, "Why are you moving out?"
"That chamber was meant for one person, three people is just one too many," she says, "I am sure we will still run into each other in the halls. You are the Prince's servant and I am Uther's."
"No! We never see each other as it is!" Merlin says turning to glare at Gaius, "This is all your fault! She must have heard you talking!"
"Merlin calm down, Gauis has every right to be worried about what he was shown," she says, "Cause its true if I gain too many of the powers of Death I will turn evil due to having to much power. You can't blame him for wanting to keep you safe, just like mom."
"You mean what happened with Trevor? The reason you left Ealdor," he says and she smiles sadly, "You aren't trying to be evil though! Your not an evil person."
"Maggie?" Gaius says finally speaking since the large argument, "Please stay, perhaps pushing you away is not th eright thing to do. Perhaps if you stay with us we can both help you keep from turning evil. I have already lost Morgana I don't want to lose you to."
Maggie smiles softly at Gaius, "You won't lose me, Gaius," she grabs Merlin and pulls him into a hug, "Nor will you Merlin. You've been stuck with me since you arrived."
Merlin kisses the top of her head, "I wouldn't have it any other way."