Out of Time

Chapter 19

Merlin sat in the seat beside Arthur, a sick feeling coiling in his stomach. The vision of Mordred cutting Arthur down flared in front of his eyes, taunting him. But what could he do? How could he possibly convince Arthur that he couldn't trust his own family?

He held his tongue, but it almost killed him to do so. When he looked up, he saw Danielle, with Arleigh and Alden at her sides, glaring at Mordred. Again, he wondered what the woman knew, and how could she possibly know anything? He had spent countless hours studying her, sensing everything about her, but he never felt even an ounce of magic about her. No power at all.

Rubbing his chin, Merlin turned back to Mordred as a smirk and just a dash of malevolent glee crossed his face before he returned to that mask of youthful shyness and hesitant awkwardness. But Merlin had seen it, and he couldn't unsee it. Now how in the many realms could he possibly dislodge Mordred from Arthur's side without hurting him? And could he? After all, he'd never managed to change any of this before. Why would now be any different, even with Danielle in the picture.

#

Dani stared at her food, eating only when Arleigh or Alden badgered her into taking another bite.

"I'll make sure she eats," Merlin said over her shoulder as he shooed her companions away. He sat next to her, not bothering to give much personal space. "So, you heard the news?"

"No, I just don't like Mordred."

Merlin raised his eyebrows. "And why is that?"

"I have my reasons."

Merlin frowned and his gaze returned to the two at the head table. "Arthur has accepted Mordred as one of his knights."

Dani nearly choked on the bit of food in her mouth. Her throat ached from where it had gone down the wrong way. She coughed a few times, rubbing her throat and chest to try to ease the sensation.

Merlin rubbed her back. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just dandy."

"So, what do you plan to do about it?"

"About what?" Dani popped another chunk of bread in her mouth.

"About Mordred."

Dani only barely managed not to choke on her food again. "What? Why would I do anything about that? I'm nobody."

"I highly doubt that."

Dani's eyes narrowed on Merlin. "What do you mean by that?"

He shrugged. "No one is nobody, as you put it. We all have our roles to play. Somehow, I think you have a much larger role than most."

Dani scoffed. "And why would you think that?"

"I have my reasons."

Dani shook her head. What was he thinking? And why was he looking at her as if expecting her to change the world.

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. "I don't know, okay? How should I know what I would do?" She waved her hands in the air. As the said the words, she realized she wasn't just talking about the threat Mordred posed to Arthur and Camelot, but to herself as well. Her mind drifted back to that day in the stables, and she shivered.

And of course Mordred caught the action and smirked. Dani resisted the urge to shiver once more and instead glared at him. God, how she wanted to pummel him right then. And with the work she'd been doing in the bailey, she felt she just might be able to do it now.

#

Over the next few days, Alden's fussing seemed to make more and more eyes turn toward Dani with curiosity and dawning comprehension. No one said anything in anything above a whisper, but Dani saw nonetheless. She saw as they spoke behind covered mouths. She saw as they looked upon her with confusion or even horror.

Dani tried to ignore them, but it got harder every day. She hated that Alden insisted on worrying over her, as it was a dead giveaway more than anything else. Alden just wasn't the type to act like that over a boy. She scolded him and punched him when he went overboard, but it did no good whatsoever. He wouldn't be dissuaded.

And at random intervals, Merlin would seem to materialize out of nowhere and challenge her to speak up about who and what she is. It had gotten to the point that Merlin would bring it up at least once per day. She wanted to strangle him or throw him across the room, but of course she wasn't strong enough for either action, and her heart really wasn't in it anyway.

Well, at least Mordred was gone.

She sighed. She missed her walks with Arthur, but Arthur had stopped going for walks with her about the same time he'd starting commanding her to help him in his offices every day. Dani didn't know if she could deal with another day stuck indoors.

#

Arthur sat down to eat and found himself watching his people with a puzzled expression on his face. A tone, an undercurrent, seemed to be passing over the group. And somehow it all seemed to be focused on Danny. Furtive glances shifted to him from time to time, and he could see the normal gossip, but those gossips often found themselves looking at Danny as if the words they spoke pertained to him.

He shook his head, feeling sorry for Danny as the quiet, foreign, and overly self-conscious boy wouldn't appreciate all that attention drawn his way. In fact, Danny had his head tilted downward toward his food, focusing solely on that and trying fairly desperately to ignore them.

Arthur smiled, and shook his head when he realized he'd called Danny quiet in his head. The boy was hardly quiet. Stubborn, he spoke his mind with little regard for the consequences... at least around Arthur. He'd noticed that the boy had a tendency to focus solely on the task at hand, often not speaking to anyone except maybe Merlin.

He liked that Merlin had taken a shine to the boy. He especially liked that this had been the longest time period that Merlin had been home consecutively in years. Arthur only hoped that the trend would continue. He always missed Merlin when he was gone.

#

The weather turned warm without warning. One day, it was blistering cold. The next? Dani would have been comfortable in a light jacket back home. Dani had been fighting her weight and figure for weeks, and by then, most everyone seemed to suspect she was a girl... other than Arthur.

As time passed, she also became more and more anxious about Mordred's return. She didn't know how far away he lived, and she knew that it took much longer to travel in these times than it did in modern times, but he had to be back soon, right?

She gnawed on her upper lip as she sat on the keep steps, enjoying the warmth and the sun. The stone steps retained the chill from previous days, but it served as a wonderful contrast, and she reveled in it. She would happily take a thousand days like this.

"Would you care to go for a walk?" Arthur called over her shoulder.

"Gah!" she cried out, jumping sideways and holding her chest to keep her heart in place. "Don't sneak up on a person like that."

Arthur laughed and straightened from where he'd leaned toward her to speak. "Apologies. I was only thinking that it was such a beautiful day, and that it would be a shame to waste it inside stone walls."

Dani nodded. She couldn't agree more.

"Shall we?"

"Sure." She shrugged and stood to follow him. I walk would be just perfect.    

Author's Note: Happy Christmas!  Hope everyone had a good holiday.