YOU CAN'T ESCAPE DESTINY | Arthur Pendragon [2]

The Curse of Cornelius Sigan

*Annabelle's P.O.V., Night*

        "How do you think he died?" I asked Gaius as Merlin knelt down by the dead man. We were now in a tomb underneath the castle that Uther ordered to be searched in case there was any treasure to be found. Arthur ordered Merlin to come down and tell the workers to stop the excavation, seeing as the noise restricted everyone in the castle from getting a good night's sleep. As Merlin came down here, the workers all ran away in panic, and Merlin found one of them dead in the tomb. But the man was killed in an unnatural way; it looked like the life was drained out of him. His skin was gray and slightly wrinkly, his eyes were bloodshot, dark veins were visible all over his face, and his expression was one of horror, "Gaius?" I asked again after a moment of silence, only to see Gaius staring at the stone grave in the middle of the tomb.
        "Hmm?" Gaius gave an answer as Merlin stood up, and he and I looked around the tomb as Gaius continued to stare at the grave.
        "Do you know whose tomb it is?" I asked.
        "Not sure," Gaius replied, but I couldn't help but feel like he wasn't telling us the truth.
        "Do you think it might be cursed?" Merlin asked as he looked down at the dead body.
        Without giving us an answer, Gaius took a step towards the stone grave, but my eyes widened as the brick beneath his foot lowered, and I realized it was one of the traps as a dart shot out from a stone bird's mouth, flying right at Gaius. Reacting as quickly as I could, my eyes flashed gold and one of the golden plates decorated with jewels on the edge flew up and stopped in front of Gaius's face, shielding him from the dart. The dart hit the plate, and the fell to the ground, leaving Gaius unharmed, which made me give a sigh of relief, while Gaius looked at the stone bird with wide eyes before turning to look at me.
        "You just saved my life," he said, but I was too busy staring at the stone bird with wide eyes to answer, "Thank you," he breathed out, just as voices sounded from outside, which made me whip around and drop the plate, which rolled on the ground towards the entrance, with Merlin chasing after it. He managed to catch up with it and pick it up just as it stopped rolling at the King's feet.
        "Idiot," Uther said, glaring down at Merlin, which made my jaw clench as he stepped around my brother.
        "Were you born clumsy or do you work at it?" I heard Arthur murmur to Merlin as he entered the tomb and walked towards the grave.
        "It's just one of my many gifts," Merlin answered with a small grin as Arthur gave me a small smile in acknowledgement, to which I curtsied in return.
        "Well, this is quite a find," Uther smiled as he looked around, not seeming to care that one of the workers was killed, "You see, Gaius, I was right," he spoke as he and Arthur walked around, "There is treasure to be found under Camelot. Which of my predecessors do I have to thank for all this?" he asked as he picked up a golden ring, before putting it down and walking over to the grave with a marble outline of the body that was buried inside. What surprised all of us was the glowing blue jewel in the shape of a heart that was placed in the spot where that person's real beating heart once was. "Gaius?"
        "Uh, I'd have to look into it, Sire," Gaius replied as he also looked at some of the treasure in the tomb.
        "How did he die?" Uther asked, not seeming to really care that one of the workers is dead, as he barely noticed the body.
        "He seems to have unwittingly triggered a trap here," Gaius answered.
        "To deter grave robbers," Arthur nodded.
        "Well, there's plenty in here people would want to steal," Uther nodded as he looked around with, what seemed to be, greed in his eyes, and picked up one of the larger jewel cases, "Have them secure the tomb. Guarding it is your responsibility, Arthur," he ordered.
        "Yes, Father," Arthur nodded, though he didn't seem happy with the idea.

*The Next Day, Evening*

        Gaius and I both looked up as the door to our quarters opened, only to see Merlin entering. I finished work only about ten minutes ago, and was chatting to Gaius for past five minutes as he studied something in one of his books.
        "What's wrong?" I asked as I saw the sad and slightly annoyed look on my brother's face.
        "I saved Arthur's life on the hunt, someone else got the credit," Merlin answered, "Just the usual," he said, before turning to look at Gaius. "What are you doing?"
        "I found this inscription on the scepter," Gaius replied as Merlin took off of the bag that was throne over his shoulder and I walked up to stand on Gaius's side, with my brother standing on his other.
        "What language is that?" I asked as I looked at the writing on the piece of paper Gaius was holding, not understanding a singe word. I couldn't even make out the letters!
        "I don't know," Gaius said. "Sigan would've known many languages,"
        "'Sigan'? Merlin asked, not knowing whom Gaius was talking about. I didn't know either.
        "It's his tomb,"
        "Who was he?" Merlin asked as he grabbed a stool and pulled it over so that he could sit down, while I settled for standing.
        As soon as Gaius heard my brother's question, he looked over at him in slight disbelief.
        "Merlin," he began, disbelief and surprise clear in his voice. "He was the most powerful sorcerer to have lived,"
        "Really?"
        "You and Anna didn't grow up in Camelot, but for those of us that did, Cornelius Sigan was a figure of nightmare," Gaius said.
        "Why?" I asked, seeing that he was deadly serious.
        "Sigan's powers. He could change day into night, turn the tides, and legend has it, his spells helped build Camelot itself,"
        "What happened?" I asked after a moment of silence.
        "In the end, he grew too powerful and the king at that time ordered his execution," Gaius explained.
        "If he's dead, why are you so worried?" Merlin asked.
        "Sigan couldn't bear the thought that his wealth and power would die with him, so he became obsessed with finding a way to defeat death itself,"
        "You think he might have succeeded?" I asked, afraid of what I was going to hear next.
        "Let's hope not," Gaius answered after a while. "For all our sakes,"