Merlyn's Fate

The Beauty and the Beast P3

Gaius had been called back to the throne room early the next morning, but had returned to his chambers sour, frustrated with Uther's blindness where Catrina was concerned.

"It's no good. I can tell him she's a troll until I'm blue in the face, he simply won't listen. He sees a charming, beautiful woman." The physician moaned, pacing up and down the room.

Merlyn scowled, "Yeah, with a body like a tree trunk." she winced at the image, appalled by the troll's appearance. She thought that she could have bad hair days, but it was nothing compared to the strangled, grisly grey string stamped to that thing's head.

"But we only know that because you saw her in her true form." Gaius thought aloud, still trying to understand their position.

"So what do we do now?" Merlyn sighed, leaning back against a work bench.

The physician thought for a moment, trying to find his next words. "We must open Uther's eyes. Show her for what she really is."

"Using magic?" The witch grinned, probably feeling the wrong emotion for the situation. It was rare that Gaius didn't reprimand her input when it came to sorcery, but on this occasion, he was desperate.

He nodded slowly. "It's the only way to reveal her true form."

"But she never leaves the King's side." Merlyn's eyes widened, realising what she'd have to do.

"I know." The physician frowned, folding his arms worriedly.

She stood, pacing herself as she thought of the consequences. "He's already suspicious about my heritage, if anything unusual happens, he's bound to blame me."

"I'm sorry Merlyn, I know how dangerous this is. But we cannot allow Catrina to gain any further control over him. Who knows what the consequences might be."

Merlyn accepted it, praying that Uther would be preoccupied with the whole Catrina being a troll thing to worry about who revealed her. "Just one problem. I know nothing about troll magic."

Gaius moved, selecting a few old books from his shelves. "Then we have work to do."

∆

The physician had fallen asleep, unsurprising considering how boring the tomes turned out to be. You'd think stories about trolls and magic would be fascinating, but the authors were obviously dry, mirthless men, people with absolutely no flair whatsoever. Finally, she found an inscription that looked important, or at least, more useful than everything else she'd read, not that the bar was particularly high.

"Here! The spell of revelation." she shook Gaius' shoulder, forcing him from his slumber. "... with which the true nature of a thing may be revealed."

She moved around the table, placing the book in front of the physician, pointing to an illustration and the Latin words written underneath it.

"But this applies only to objects, not to living creatures." Gaius noted, slumping a little in defeat.

"I know, but the principle's the same, isn't it?" he didn't look convinced by her logic, but it was all she had. "I have to try it. What other choice do we have?"

"Very well. But Merlyn, choose your moment carefully. Trolls are vicious creatures." Gaius warned, taking off his reading glasses.

There was a knock on the door, the respect implying that whomever was on the other side wanted the physician rather than the servant. "Come in." Gaius called, surprised when a young knight, Sir Richard if Merlyn remembered correctly, entered the room. She liked him: he was eager to learn and often asked her to help him with his drills.