Merlyn's Final Truth

A Herald of a New Age P2

Unedited
Happy early new year everybody! I'll edit this tomorrow, but hope you enjoy :).

~

"Would you like me to make up the bed, sire, or will you be sleeping on the table again?"

Arthur closed his eyes. He was facing away from the voice, staring out of his window and into the starry night. Perhaps he shouldn't reply, ignore the ghost until it disappeared to bother another troubled soul. Then again, he'd never been any good at ignoring her, no matter how hard he'd tried.

"Is this about me? You miss me? I'm touched."

Arthur could hear the smile in her voice, a glimmer of something he had always strived to see. It hadn't been so frequent before... No. He couldn't play with these fantasies. She wasn't really here.

"Leave me." He ordered, begged of the... Hallucination? Spirit? He couldn't turn to look at her, couldn't see the fresh sorrow in her eyes. The moon was bright, illuminating the castle turrets in an unearthly hue.

"Arthur-"

"Get out!" He bellowed, half expecting his guards to come rushing in. He waited for the inevitable response, the comforting remark or something akin to disappointment, although she'd never admit it. Merlyn would not leave him like this. But as he found the courage to turn his back on his window, scanning the room beyond, he found it empty. She was gone.

Not for the first time, Arthur felt the hot tears building behind his eyes. It was going to be a long night.

~

Percival found himself standing outside Gaius' chambers as if on instinct, his arm raised as if to knock on the hollow door. It was a chilly night; he wished he'd brought his cloak on the long journey to the other side of the castle. Still, he was here now. Gaius' chambers always had an unusual warmth to them, almost supernatural against the cold.

He didn't hear Gaius' reply to his sharp knock, but opened the door anyway, glad to find a little comfort in the candlelight. It did not last for long, however. Gaius was sitting at his desk, an old tome open in front of him. He glanced up at Percival, clearly deeply troubled. Maybe it had been wrong for the knight to assume that Merlyn had attracted Camelot's problems.

"What is it?" He asked, trying to keep his spiking fear at bay. Elyan. His heart started to beat faster. He was fine, surely. There would have been some kind of announcement, the castle would not be sound asleep if the worst had come to pass...

"Did Elyan disturb anything yesterday at the shrine?" Gaius questioned, folding his arms over his chest. He stood, pacing slowly as he thought.

"I'm not sure." Percival said carefully despite his alarm. They hadn't exactly stayed there for long.

Gaius narrowed his eyes. "I need you to be sure, Percival."

The knight wasn't exactly sure how he was meant to be any more certain. Elyan had slipped away for a moment, but it seemed unlikely he'd had the time to break anything. "I don't know, he may have done. I can't exactly keep track of everyone's movements, especially when we're all so worried about..."

He didn't need to finish that though.

Gaius sighed, looking down at the creaking floorboards as he paced closer to the knight. "I'm sorry, Percival. I must admit that I am deeply concerned for Elyan, he hasn't spoken a word since he regained consciousness and I can find no physical symptoms to explain it. The only thing I could find was a pile of salt at the foot of his bed."

"Oh no." Percival whispered, a new chill tingling down his spine. This was very bad indeed.

Gaius furrowed his eyebrows. "What is it?"