Merlyn's Fate

The Beauty and the Beast P6

Gaius and the council had decided to convene with Uther to point out to him that his wife was a troll, a meeting that, shockingly, hadn't gone very well. Apparently he didn't appreciate Leon telling him that Catrina had, as he put it, "tusks".

"Uther must be enchanted, it's the only explanation." Gaius stated the obvious, pacing as Merlyn looked through her magic books, hoping to find something to lift the curse. She briefly worried that Morgana, with her newfound knowledge of sorcery, would do something stupid, but decided that the ward wouldn't risk revealing her magic to the King if whatever plan she chose backfired. No, she would look for other answers first.

"Which is why we have to break it." she turned over the page, sighing as she found some fascinating entries on emotional healing, but nothing particularly relevant to her current situation.

"You won't find anything in your magic books, troll enchantments are too strong." the physician realised, sitting down on the bench in front of the witch.

"Then what are we going to do?"

Gaius didn't look very happy about whatever conclusion he'd come to. "You must speak to the dragon. If there's a way to break Catrina's hold on Uther, he'll know it."

Merlyn was going to open her mouth to say that she'd already seen Kilgharrah, but she hadn't asked him anything about troll enchantments specifically. He hadn't been particularly useful then, just laughed about the King being married to a troll and cryptically told her that the beasts have very strong magic. Hopefully this trip would prove more fruitful. As she walked past a servant carrying a wheelbarrow full of stinking horse faeces, probably for the new Queen, the witch could only hope they found a solution quickly, otherwise, the whole castle would smell like dung by the end of the week.

∆

After laughing again, a rather disconcerting expression for something so deadly, the dragon managed to sober himself, steeled by Merlyn's remarks on the fate of Albion in the hands of a troll. She supposed that magic would be brought back more quickly, but she couldn't really deal with Camelot constantly smelling like shit, so she decided that she might just wait for Arthur. He could smell funny, especially after a long day's training, but nothing a bath couldn't fix.

"How can we break the enchantment?" Merlyn asked, not really in the mood for small talk.

"These are not trifling tricks, troll magic is very powerful." Kilgharrah obviously didn't quite grasp the urgency.

Merlyn did her best not to roll her eyes. "There must be a way." she pleaded, unable to believe her destiny was already taken from her.

"The only way is if Uther were to cry tears of true remorse." Kilgharrah explained. Merlyn reckoned it would be easier to convince him that magic was actually, not that bad, but short of killing Arthur, she didn't really have any other ideas.

"How do we do that?"

"That I can't answer. Uther's heart is as cold as stone. He's never been sorry for anything." The Great Dragon spoke snidely, using the opportunity to insult the King.

The witch looked up at the golden creature, nodding her head in slow understanding. "Thanks, I think." she muttered, turning away from the beast.

"Merlyn, it was some time ago you promised to set me free. The help I give is not unconditional."

Merlyn paused, but nodded once in understanding, leaving the cave with the thought of Kilgharrah's freedom weighing heavily on her mind.

∆

Uther had ordered taxes to be raised and accepted an invitation from Bayard of Mercia to honour his marriage to Catrina. Slowly, Camelot was beginning to crumble, and if Merlyn didn't come up with a plan to make Uther cry, they would all be doomed.