To Break a Curse

Chapter 20

'Ready?' Oliver looked up as Rose knocked on his open door.

He stood up; fastening his cloak and feeling his heart skip a beat as Rose smiled at him.

Like him and Will, she was dressed in the clothes they had first arrived in but with the extra addition of a cloak by order of Queen Guinevere in case they caught a cold.

'What?' she asked as he continued to stare at her.

Oliver grinned and picked up his bundle of Camelot clothes, which promptly tumbled out onto the floor.

Rose helped him scoop them up and tie them back together. When they had finished, they paused for a moment, aware of how close their faces were to each other. Oliver kissed her but broke away ruefully as they heard footsteps coming towards them.

Oliver stood up and grinned as he offered a hand to Rose who swatted at him playfully and got to her feet herself.

'Are you coming?' Torrent arrived, looking impatient.

'Yep,' they followed him to Gaius' chambers where the king, queen, Tom and Will were finishing putting on cloaks ready to go. Merlin was feverishly looking through one of the magic books, muttering to himself.

'Merlin, it'll be fine,' said Oliver. 'Second time lucky and all that.'

Merlin attempted a queasy smile, 'I know.'

It was obvious that Merlin was still blaming himself for not protecting them last time.

'Nothing will happen,' said King Arthur firmly, showing them the sword he had concealed under his cloak.

Queen Guinevere raised an eyebrow, 'I thought we agreed no swords, dear?'

King Arthur went red, 'you never know,' he mumbled.

'If Morgana does appear,' said the queen. 'Magic will be by far more effective than a sword.'

'Can I just take it in case?' he asked.

'It will be heavy to carry,' she warned.

'Please?'

'Very well,' sighed his wife.

'I think swords are cool, too, dad,' Tom told him out of his mother's earshot.

Father and son shared fugitive grins and then turned back to the group just as the door burst open and:

'Rose! Rose!' Storm came running into the room, closely followed by Gaius. She threw a hasty curtsey in the royal's direction and turned back to Rose. 'He's taking me on as his next apprentice! I'm going to be a physician!'

Rose grinned, 'well done! That's amazing!'

Storm gave her a hug, 'thanks so much for getting me to ask!'

'Hem hem,' Will pretended to look put out. 'If I remember rightly, it was me that had that particularly wonderful idea...'

Storm laughed and gave Will a hug too before he could escape.

'Everyone ready now?' asked Merlin, tying on his cloak.

As they walked through the city of Camelot, towards the main gates, Tom, Will, Oliver and Rose remembered what it had been like when they had been brought to Camelot all those weeks ago. Now, instead of being taken through the tunnels, they were walking through the sunlit market place, being greeted with smiles by everyone who saw them.

'Think how much has changed in three weeks,' said Rose.

'I know,' Will replied. 'We lifted the curse and found the missing heir-'

'Technically you knew me all along,' interrupted Tom.

'Yeah, but we didn't know it was you,' Oliver said.

'There's been other changes as well,' Rose grinned at Storm, who was walking with them to the gates. 'There's going to be the first woman physician, chef's nicer to his workers-'

'Only 'cause he knows it's that or his job,' chuckled Oliver.

'I've worked out how to stop my farm from getting into debt,' said Will.

'If you need any help with getting the B&B ready, I'm happy to help,' offered Oliver.

'Thanks,' Will was surprised. Rose hid a smile.

'And you get to help run your farm,' Will said to Rose.

'At last,' she grinned.

'Have you worked out how to tell your parents about the rugby?' Rose asked Oliver.

'Yeah, I think I'll tell them and then leg it,' Oliver laughed.

Rose giggled and rolled her eyes.

***

'Right,' said Merlin. 'If something happens, just run and I'll deal with it.'

Him, Rose, Will, Oliver, Tom, King Arthur and Queen Guinevere were close to the Stone Circle now, soon they would see it through the trees.

'We will deal with it,' corrected King Arthur firmly.

As the Stone Circle came into sight, everyone began to look for signs that the stones were transporting someone into Camelot. Thankfully, they seemed to be dormant.

'Farewell,' King Arthur shook their hands solemnly.

Merlin strode into the circle whilst Will, Oliver and Rose said their goodbyes to Tom and started performing the spell.

Everyone turned to look as the stones began to glow silver as they had all those weeks ago.

'Come on,' Merlin beckoned them in.

Will, Rose and Oliver entered cautiously, watching as the stones gave off the soft silver sparks. Almost without realising they were doing it, they all took each other's hands.

Will looked back to where Tom was standing with his parents, waving them off. He turned back to the others just as he heard Merlin finish the spell.

For a second, nothing happened, but then they all had the sensation of being swept off the ground and spun away.

***

A/N   Second time lucky eh? Let me know what you think, and once again - vote!