Forbidden Love - Merlyn [2]

Chapter Nine: I Love You

Leon had led the group all the way to one of the far corridors of the castle were a dead guard lay, tucked away behind a curtain. Gaius swiftly inspected the body in order to determine the cause of death, however, it was easy to tell what it was from. Merlyn could tell that the guard's neck was at a funny angle. But that didn't mean the king did.

"Can you determine a cause of death?" Uther asked clearly nervous. It was like he knew what had happened, who had done this.

"His neck's been broken. There's scarcely a mark on the flesh. Whoever killed him knew exactly what he was doing" Gaius said seriously. All of them there knew what his words meant - it was a professional job.

"Earlier this evening, an intruder was spotted in the lower town" Leon suddenly spoke up. This was definitely a professional job, there was an assassin in Camelot ... but who was he here for?

"Then I fear it's true, Odin has sent an assassin to kill Arthur" Uther muttered.

"An assassin?" Merlyn questioned, she hadn't heard anything about this. Normally the king would not be happy if a servant spoke but in this case Uther was too concerned with the fact his son was in danger. At the sound of her voice, Uther looked over to the girl he now associated with his son.

"Have you any word from Arthur since he left for the northern borders?" Uther asked desperately. Immediately Merlyn's mind launched to Arthur being in Gwen's home. He was in great danger. She had to get to Arthur now!

"No. None" Merlyn answered.

"With this assassin in Camelot, we must be thankful Arthur isn't here. Search the entire town. I want the assassin found before Arthur returns" Uther ordered as he left the corridor, worry clearly on his face.

"Yes My Lord" Leon answered whilst Merlyn began to worry her nail with her teeth. This was unbelievable. As soon as Uther left, Gaius moved back to the body whilst Merlyn pulled Leon over to the side, her face filled with concern. But before she could even speak Leon spoke first.

"You need to find Arthur and tell him now" Leon ordered strictly. Merlyn was completely surprised by his tone of voice and more significantly his words.

"Arthur is on a hunt" Merlyn lied, however Leon just stared at her as if she was an idiot. In that moment Merlyn was certain that Leon knew about Arthur still being in Camelot, she didn't know how he knew but he knew.

"We both know that's not true" Leon confirmed, leaving Merlyn gobsmacked. They had been so careful to keep Arthur's whereabouts a secret. "You never leave Arthur's side that means he's here in Camelot, and you most certainly wouldn't be working for another knight which means Arthur is Sir William." It was simple but brilliant logic. Leon knew her too well. "Look the assassin's called Myror, he is a bald black man with an ear-piercing; you have to protect Arthur ... by any means necessary." Merlyn knew Leon was hinting at her magic there. She nodded in confirmation; often protecting the prince involved using her magic in situations she really didn't want to use her magic in. Giving the man a grateful smile, Merlyn went to leave when a thought suddenly occurred to her. Looking back to Leon, Merlyn narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"You knew it was Arthur, you knew it was him you were jousting against .... Did you throw the joust?" Leon took a deep breath at her words, his face completely neutral. Arthur would be fuming to find out once again that Leon had let him win - after all he had gone through all this to prove such a point.

"Let's not go there."

~8~

Elsewhere in Camelot, Arthur and Gwen were sat down eating their dinner that Gwen had made; a much easier atmosphere filled the house compared to previous nights. This time there was not a sense of them being prince and servant but actually being friends. Eventually their pleasant topic turned to one of a more serious nature.