Chapter Seven, Goblin's Gold Part 2
Merlyn made it back to her chambers and just like she thought Gaius was not impressed with her. Not at all.
"What have I told you about letting your curiosity get the best of you, Merlyn?" Gaius asked crossly before he sighed and thanked her for 'The Bestiary'. Once she'd helped him put away all of the ingredients and all of the potions ready to be delivered or stocked on the shelves, they started to look through their books on magical creatures searching for what Merlyn had unwittingly unleashed upon Camelot. Hoping it wasn't anything too dangerous and that they could find a way to trap it before it does too much damage.
"That's it." Merlyn said, stopping Gaius from turning another page.
"It seems you've unleashed a Goblin." Gaius told her.
"I know that face. It's not good, is it?" Merlyn asked nervously.
"Goblins are the most mischievous of creatures." Gaius explained.
"I gathered that when it threw a large tomb right at me and hit me between my shoulder blades." Merlyn said.
"Let me see." Gaius said, concerned as he pulled the back of the dress down a bit once Merlyn had undone the ties, revealing a large nasty purple bruise. "I'll put some paste on the bruise before you go to bed. It'll take a few days to go down and you will be stiff and sore so take it easy." Gaius instructed firmly. "But back to the Goblin, they are mischievous and dangerous. They will stop at nothing to get their hands on the one thing they value above all others — gold."
"Gaius," Arthur called as he came into the room. "My father needs you with a matter of extreme urgency and delicacy."
"What's wrong?" Merlyn asked.
"It's better if you just see. And I warn you Merlyn don't laugh. Gaius and I value you too much." Arthur said sternly, though to Merlyn and Gaius he was merely worried.
"Let's go then." Gaius said, shooing them out of the chambers. Once they got to the corridor that held Uther's chambers there were two guards stationed outside as was customary, but one of the guards was trying and failing to hold in his laughs as little sniggers fell past his lips.
"If you value your lives then I wouldn't even think of laughing, am I clear?" Arthur asked the guards sternly with a fierce glare.
"Yes, Sire." The guards agreed with a bow of the head. The sniggering guard apologised quietly as Arthur walked past them into his father's chambers.
"Father?" Arthur called, as the chambers appeared to be seemingly empty.
"I'm behind the screen." The muffled voice of Uther came from behind the screen further into the chambers as it stood opposite the fireplace. As Merlyn approached the fireplace she was getting a sense of déjà vu, everything always seemed to happen within Uther's chambers, and to him. But, he has been persecuting all magical beings for as long as Arthur has been alive, which is more than twenty years as he is three years older than her. As she arrived in Camelot when she was only eighteen, she will never forget that day. She didn't agree with their plans for revenge but she did understand why. She just wasn't sure whether this was the cause of revenge or mischievous behaviour or it could be a bit of both as the Goblin did say he'd been in the box more than fifty years. Shaking herself out of her thoughts once again Merlyn followed Arthur and Gaius deeper into the chamber and peered behind the screen cautiously.
Behind the screen sat Uther in one of his dining chairs, his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. But the reason that they had been called and what was so shocking was that Uther was completely bald.
"I'll - I'll try and come up with a potion to stimulate the hair growth, Sire, and Merlyn and I will try and find the cause for this." Gaius said cautiously.
"Then hurry Gaius. I cannot walk around bald! What do I do in the meantime?!" Uther shouted.
"You could always wear a hat, father." Arthur suggested, knowing it would be better coming from him than either Gaius or Merlyn.
"Very well." Uther sighed not without glaring at his son. Gaius bowed his head, Merlyn offering a smaller bow. Before the pair of them left the room they shared a discreet look with Arthur letting him know they'll discuss everything later.
Once they were far enough away from any guards Gaius discussed his conclusion with his niece.
"Only an enchantment could cause Uther to lose his hair like that. I've no doubt the Goblin is to blame. We must catch it before it does any real damage. Don't even think of laughing Merlyn, I know you're trying not to, so bear this in mind: what do you think Uther would do to the person responsible for releasing the Goblin?" Merlyn's eyes widened as her fear came to the forefront of her mind and all traces of laughter left her body.
"We need to catch it. I really am sorry for releasing it, uncle. I tried to put it back three times in the library." Merlyn said apologetically.
"I know Merlyn. But you must think and not let your curiosity and others magic calling you rule you. I do not wish to see you dead. You are a daughter to me Merlyn." Gaius said reproachfully.
"I'll try harder I promise." Merlyn swore. "How do we catch it?"
"We need to set a trap. For that, we need gold and plenty of it." Gaius said as they headed back to their chamber.
Later that night, once Arthur had finished guard duty they filled him in on their plan to catch the Goblin and he loaned them his coffers of gold.
"Are you sure you won't need my help?" Arthur asked, when he came back to their chambers with his chest of gold coins.
"We're sure. Just make sure that no one else bothers us or knows or finds out about the Goblin." Gaius instructed.
"Will do. Err - good luck." Arthur said unsurely. He kissed Merlyn on the cheek gently and left for his chambers to prepare himself for bed. Once it was dark Gaius and Merlyn left to set up the trap in the more quiet part of the castle where they had tracked the Goblin to earlier. Once the chest of gold was safe in the room behind them, Gaius and Merlyn hid behind a pillar as Merlyn rolled a gold coin out into the corridor.
A moment later the Goblin came skulking towards it moaning in delight.
"Oh!" The Goblin crowed delighted, as it picked up the coin. "Oh, lovely gold." Quickly while they had the chance they left a trail of gold to the small room where the chest lay and hid behind the door, Gaius holding a pot and Merlyn a blanket. They waited as they could hear the Goblin's moans coming closer and closer until it breached the doorway. Once it neared the chest Gaius and Merlyn shared a look as Gaius shut the door and Merlyn launched herself at it wrapping it in the blanket while the Goblin growled at her. Like in the library's hidden room the Goblin changed itself into the ball of light. Gaius tried to catch it but it was too fast for him, so Merlyn tried to wrap it in the blanket but missed and distracted Gaius. Unbeknownst to Merlyn the Goblin and flown through Gaius' ear and bound himself to Gaius.
Merlyn looked under the blanket hoping she'd caught it and this mess would all be behind them. But unfortunately that wasn't meant to be as there was nothing under the blanket. Merlyn looked at her uncle with a frown on her forehead as he was acting rather strangely and had a weird look on his face as he stared intently at nothing.
"Gaius, did you see where it went?" Merlyn asked as she took her eyes off her uncle for a moment to look around the room.
"You let it escape, you stupid girl." Gaius said crossly as he slapped Merlyn around the back of the head.
"Ow! Gaius, what was that for?" Merlyn asked, shocked and annoyed as she rubbed the back of her head.
"Now you just stand there like a sack of potatoes." Gaius continued, ignoring her. "Go after it. Go on. Shoo! Shoo!" Gaius said, shooing her out of the room leaving Merlyn feeling very shocked and slightly hurt. Wanting to get away from Gaius for awhile Merlyn left the room and started a long night of searching all the nearby rooms, corridors, antechambers and cupboards. Meanwhile, in the closest Gaius was on all fours, his eyes as wide as saucers as he held the gold and licked his lips. He gathered all of the gold they had left as a trail and the gold the Goblin had stolen and stashed away and put it all in the chest to take back to his chambers. But a chest full of gold wasn't enough for the Goblin. He wanted more. Goblin's are mischievous and dangerous creatures but they were also greedy and it would stop at nothing until he had an abundance of overflowing gold. But first; he had to get some, but how?
Once he was in Gaius' chambers he started ransacking the chamber in his quest for gold. Not caring what he pushed to the floor or what broke as it hit the slated floor. For Gaius was no longer in control of his body the Goblin was now in control, but it was cautious as it didn't want anyone to find out where he was, especially Merlyn who would try to free Gaius from the Goblin if she found out. As Gaius was searching the shelves the door opened revealing a rather exhausted Merlyn who was dead on her feet.
"I've searched the entire palace. There's no sign of the Goblin any — what happened?" Merlyn asked, astonished when she saw the state of the chamber when she turned around.
"It's that pesky Goblin." Gaius exclaimed. "You let it escape and it's ransacked my premises. You've got some cleaning up to do." Gaius ranted.
"Clean. Clean!" Gaius ordered when he noticed Merlyn just looking around in shock. It was worse than Arthur's chambers.
"Where are you going?" Merlyn asked, confused, as Gaius never went out in the middle of the night.
"I'm going to the Tavern." Gaius replied.
"But you never go to the Tavern. You don't even drink." Merlyn argued.
"Then I shall see what I've been missing." Gaius replied with a smile. Merlyn looked astounded at the door before she shook her head.
"I'm too tired for this." Merlyn sighed. Looking around the room her eyes flashed gold as the room righted itself, the tub filled with nice hot water and she had a nice relaxing bath while her magic cleaned up the room.
As she was getting dressed into her nightgown the last of the potion bottles mended, the water disappeared and the room was restored once again. As Merlyn was drifting off to sleep her mind couldn't help but drift to Gaius and his strange behaviour, he never hit her no matter what had happened. She had her suspicions but she would keep an eye on her uncle just to make sure. She only hoped he didn't get himself into any trouble down at the Tavern. Meanwhile, down at The Sun and Moon Tavern the townspeople were chanting and cheering as an arm wrestle was happening, Gaius who had drained several tankards of mead already watched interestedly especially when gold was exchanged. It seemed he'd found a way to make some gold. Getting up before someone else could, Gaius placed four gold coins in front of the large man who'd just won the match.
"Shall we arm wrestle or do you require a moment to recover what little strength you have?" Gaius asked snidely. The man thinking this was an easy win agreed, that is until Gaius beat him and claimed all of the gold he had previously won. Laughing happily Gaius licked his lips in excitement and couldn't help but order more mead to celebrate the small pile of gold he'd just won. It really did seem like he'd found his way to more gold, but still the Goblin wanted more. The only problem was how does he get it?