AM I THE ONE? | Arthur Pendragon [1]

The Mark of Nimueh

*Merlin's P.O.V.*

I jumped off the stool and decided to look at the books on the table instead of the ones on the shelf. Anna has gone to see how Morgana was holding up, and I was busy trying to find a book about elements. Suddenly I heard the door open, but I didn't look up.

*Annabelle's P.O.V.*

Gaius and I walked together to his chambers. I bumped into him on my way back, and he was coming back from the town. Morgana was still crying, but not as hard as before. We opened the door, only to see Merlin looking through the books that were all over the place.
"Merlin, what are you doing?" Gaius asked, placing his bag that was slung over his shoulder on the table.
"Looking for a book." My brother replied, not looking up.
"Care to tell me which one?" Gaius asked, walking over to him, and me following close behind.
"A book on elements." Merlin replied, still looking through the books.
"Elements?" Gaius asked, surprised.
"Yes. Which one would I find them in?" Merlin asked urgently.
"Well most often the study of base elements is at the very heart of the scientific process." Gaius replied, and I looked at Merlin for a second, before turning my gaze to our guardian.
"But how would that help us kill the Afanc?" I inquired, and both of them looked at me.
"Well the Afanc is a creature made of earth and water." Gaius said, and I nodded.
"But that is only two of the four base elements. What about the other two?" I asked, and Merlin looked at me surprised that I knew that, whilst Gaius was lost in thought.
"Well... Perhaps they would destroy it. Wind and fire. Wind and fire!" Gaius said, and I locked eyes with Merlin. We both nodded, and he quickly stood up. "How did you two find this out?" Gaius inquired looking at Merlin, and my dear brother pointed at me, making Gaius turn his gaze to me instead.
"Um..." I trailed off, trying to make up a believable lie. I felt bad for lying to Gaius, but I don't think The Great Dragon would like it if I told his secret. "I just knew, you know? Part of my powers."
"What else do your powers tell you?" Gaius asked, interested.
"That... We are only one side of the coin." I replied, and Merlin decided to butt in.
"The brighter side obviously." He interjected, making me elbow him in the stomach.
"And who's the other side?" Gaius inquired, and I sighed.
"I think that might be Arthur." Gaius looked at me surprised. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the door being thrown open.
"They're bringing forward the execution." Morgana's voice filled my ears, and I turned around only to see her strolling over to us with tear-stained cheeks and slightly red eyes. "We have to prove Gwen's innocence."
"We're trying." Gaius tried to assure her, but she shook her head.
"Please." She pleaded. "Just tell me what I can do to help.
"We need Arthur." Merlin said seriously, and she looked at him shocked.
"Arthur?"
"There's a monster, and Afanc, in the water supply. That's what's causing the plague." Merlin explained, walking over to us.
"Well we must tell Uther." Morgana said, and we all shook our heads.
"The Afanc is a creature forged by magic. Telling Uther won't save Gwen. He'd just accuse her of conjuring it." I explained, and she nodded in understanding.
"So what are we to do?" She asked.
"We need to destroy it, then the plague will stop, and Uther..." Merlin trailed off and looked at me.
"Might see sense." I finished for him.
"And that's why you need Arthur." Morgana nodded in understanding.
"He's our best chance." Merlin said. "But he won't want to disobey the King." Merlin looked at Morgana pointedly, and she nodded.
"Leave that to us." She said, and turned around to walk away, but I looked at her confused.
"Us? Wha-Morgana!" I exclaimed as she grabbed my wrist and pulled me with her.

*5 minutes later*

"I still can't believe you got me to do this!" I whispered to Morgana as we waited for Arthur in his chambers, but she just waved me off.
"You have a bigger chance of persuading him than I." She replied, and I opened my mouth to say something, but was interrupted by footsteps from the other side of the room. We both turned our heads, only to see Arthur walking over to us. He looked quite shocked to see us. Well, particularly me.
"You two alright?" He asked with worry. Morgana and I looked down, and he looked down at the table in front of us, that was covered in so much food that if I didn't know any better, I'd think someone had a food fight in here. "Sorry about all this. Merlin's not been in today."
"Poor Merlin." Morgana stated.
"Yeah." Arthur nodded, a little sarcastically.
"He's a wreck ever since Gwen's been sentenced to death." I said, my voice cracking slightly at the end.
"He offered to give up his life to save her's." Morgana nodded, and then looked at Arthur. "I certainly can't imagine any man loving me so much." Arthur shook his head.
"No, I certainly can't imagine that either." He stated, and Morgana looked down with a smirk, whilst I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing.
"That's because you're not like Merlin." Morgana stated. "He's a lover." Arthur nodded.
"Yeah, maybe that's... 'Cause I haven't found the right person to love." He teased, but I noticed him glance at me for a second. Morgana elbowed me gently in the ribs, letting me know to say something.
"Sadly the age of gallantry seems to be dead." I called after him as he walked over to the other side of the room. He turned around to face me, and I took that as my cue to continue. "You look around and all you see are small men, not big enough to fill their armor." Arthur raised his eyebrows at me, so I looked down, but continued with a small smirk. "It's not one of them that is able too stand up for what is right." I looked up once I heard him stop right next to me. He gave a defeated sigh.
"What do you want me to do?"
Morgana and I shared a smirk.