Gwaine (Merlin 3)

Chapter 3

Strange Swords and Secrets

“What did you do?” Kiara asked as Merlin returned to their chambers with a nasty cut on his finger. It was deep, and bleeding pretty badly. She would have wanted to heal it with her magic, but Gwaine was there, so she had to settle for Gaius tying a bandage.

“Sword.” He replied, “To the eye the sword looked blunt, but when I touched it…” he nodded towards his finger.

“You were lucky. I’ve seen those blades in action. They’re forged using sorcery,” Gwaine told them, and Kiara’s interest picked up. She had heard of certain weapons which were made using magic, but she hadn’t actually seen any herself.

“What would they want with such a blade?” Gaius asked, peering over the top of his glasses.

“I think they mean to kill Arthur in the melee.” Merlin replied, glancing around at the other three.

“But in front of all those people?” Gaius questioned.

“It’s the perfect cover.” Gwaine commented, “If they succeed, no-one would suspect it was intentional.”

“And I suppose this means you’re going to do something dangerously stupid to ensure that Arthur isn’t murdered.” Kiara rolled her eyes at Merlin, but she knew that it was necessary. If the prophecy was going to come true, then Arthur couldn’t die any time soon.

“I need to warn Arthur,” he replied at once, already moving to stand up from his seat – despite the fact that Gaius hadn’t finished tying the bandage.

“Merlin, Sir Oswald is a knight. He comes from a well-respected family, you can’t accuse him without proof.” He explained, and Kiara tilted her head to one side as she leant against the table.

“We need to get those blades.” Merlin stood up.

“Dangerously stupid,” Kiara repeated.

“We can’t let Arthur die.” Merlin turned to her, and she let out an exasperated sigh.

“I know.” She agreed.

“I’ll get it,” Gwaine offered, but Merlin shook his head.

“What if they catch you? What reason would you have to be in Sir Oswald’s chambers?” he countered. “No, it’s safer if I do it.”

Kiara frowned, wondering just how much danger Merlin himself would be in if he was caught. She wasn’t overly happy with that plan, but she knew there wasn’t really another option. Merlin was going to wait until the knights would be fast asleep, which would reduce the risk of him being caught. They waited somewhat worriedly in Gaius’ chambers, and Kiara distracted herself by rearranging the various vials full of different remedies on the shelf.

She was surprised when Gwaine wandered over and showed genuine interest in what was in each bottle. “This is to cure fever,” she explained, holding one of bottles in her left hand,

“And this one is to fight against infection in wounds.” It wasn’t until she noticed that Gwaine’s eyes focused on the inside of her wrist, and not the bottles she was holding, that she realised the sleeve of her dress had somehow rolled up – revealing her Druid tattoo.

“What’s that on your wrist?” he asked, before Kiara managed to yank her sleeve back down and cover up the one unfortunate symbol which showed her true nature. Instantly both Gaius and Merlin’s heads turned in their direction, their eyes filled with horror.

“Just a smudge of ink,” Kiara easily lied, “Something I read of Gaius’ must still have had been wet.”

Gwaine looked completely unconvinced and he couldn’t help but bite her lip as she wondered for how long he’d manage to examine the symbol without her realising. If he got a clear view of it, then there would have been no mistaking what she was.