Lady of Magic

XII

Ava slides off her horse to inspect the muddy body. Her heart beating so fast and loud, she swears everyone can hear it. As the princess goes to touch the shoulder, she hears a groan and he shifts. The man sits up to reveal a safe Merlin. She lets out a cry of joy, wrapping her arms around him. His arms wrap around her, pulling her close.

"I was so afraid I lost you," she cries softly.

"It would take a lot more for you to loose me."

"I hate to break this moment up," Gwaine calls, "but we should hurry back to Camelot before Arthur starts thinking we got lost."

The couple pull apart and they mount the horse together, riding back to the citadel. They move so fast, they arrive before noon. Gaius pushes through the crowds to find his ward helping the princess off the steed. He smiles, hugging the young man. Arthur also gives Merlin one once he sees his servant has returned.

"Get a bath," the king orders. "You smell terrible. Then you can tell us how you managed to escape."

"Will do," the dark hair sorcerer laughs. He goes off with Gaius to their house. Arthur turns to his sister. He is dressed like he is about to go on a search.

"Were you nervous?" she jokes.

"Three days, Ava. I was worried about both of you."

"Well we made it."

"You have mud all over you by the way."

"Same to you now."

He chuckles and they head inside. She goes to change into some clean clothes quickly before heading back out and to the home right off the castle. She knocks on the door, to have it opened by the older physician.

"He should be out of his room any minute now," he tells her. Just as soon as he finishes that, Merlin is walking down the stairs, hair dripping a bit with water. He smiles at the sight of her. The two embrace each other. She finally feels content once again. Three days of not knowing where he was was torturous to her. Now here he is and she can breathe once again. The two pull away and he sits on the bench.

"What happened?" she asks.

"The bandits took me hostage to get information. First chance I got, I escaped."

Gaius puts a bowl of soup in front of him.

"Made your favorite," the older man smiles. Merlin takes a spoonful and shoves it in his mouth. His face scrunches up and he pushes it away.

"You should stick to potion making," he tells the physician. The sorcerer gets up and start looking at the poison section. "I had a chance to poison the captors, I just didn't have any on me. What is the most potent?"

"Aconite," Gaius cautiously answers. Merlin looks among the bottles, grabbing a small one before leaving. The two remaining look at each other. "That was odd."

"Yeah. I should keep an eye on him."

He agrees and the princess hurries out of the house. She looks around, unsure where he went. Some knights pull her to the side, trying to talk about the weaponry and taking care of them. She tells them to stick to the usual check and fix as needed. Gwen is moving by quickly and Ava uses it as an excuse. She hurries over to the maiden.

"Have you seen Merlin?" she asks.

"He was quite rude because I made Arthur's lunch. I need to talk to Gaius anyway. The pigs all died."

Ava puts two and two together and hurry off. The fact Merlin grab the poison and the pig died the same day is off. And he was angry someone else took one of his jobs is weird. The princess moves through the hall and come across Leon.

"Have you seen Merlin?" she asks.

"I guess you would want to see him," the knight chuckles. "I saw him in the armory."

"What was he doing there?"

"He was looking at crossbows. Guess Arthur is finally pushing him over the edge."

Leon chuckles at the thought he had. The red head quickly tells him bye before heading off to her brother's chambers. That is where he probably is. Arthur exits his room, seeing his sister.

"Merlin is in there," the blond states. "Told he could have the day off but insisted on going straight to work."

"Probably just needed things to return normal," she lies through a smile. The king leaves and she heads inside the chambers. Merlin is laying on the ground, unconscious. He stirs some, so she picks up a metal pitcher, hitting him upside the head with it. Gaius and Gwen rush in to see the sight. Ava lets out a sigh, dropping the metal container. The three work to carry the sorcerer to Gaius' home. They slump him on a chair, leaning forward some. The princess ties his hands to the chair while Gaius looks at the back of his neck.

"This looks like Fomorroh," he states.

"A what?"

"A Fomorroh. The priestesses of the Old Religion would use it to control people."

"Can it be removed?"

"I can try. Gwen, hand me the blade, will you? And Ava, I need a paralyzing powder."

The red head quickly goes to mix a few herbs together while Gwen gets a knife. They hand these to the physician, who gets to work. He first paralyzes the creature before making a small incision just above it. He pulls out a small serpent and tosses it to the ground. Ava uses her heel to make sure it is crushed. 

"That should help," Gaius concludes.

"Hopefully," she responds, letting out a sigh. Morgana must have devised a plan to get Arthur killed, but this would be a failure for her. A win for the kingdom if this worked.