The Secret Memory

Three

He couldn't do it, his arm extended at the pile of scrolls and books. All he had to do was whisper the spell and focus his mind.

Merlin dropped his hand, releasing a sigh. He had told Arthur he forgot something in the antechamber and had come back to the table where they piled their morning's research. They had gathered all the recent records of people who may have been using magic. People on Arthur's hit list.

A fire burnt inside him when he thought of how these people were like him. He could have been on this list. He wanted to raze the records and disrupt Arthur's stupid attempt at proving himself to his father.

But it was too careless. The burnt books and scrolls would cause suspicion. Merlin swallowed and turned around. It was useless. He was useless at doing nothing except hiding. The thought ignited his anger again.

But maybe there was still something he could do. If Arthur caught someone who didn't deserve to be punished for their magic, he would make sure they escaped. This time Arthur might have shut away his merciful side, but Merlin won't.

He walked out of the small chamber, lost in his own head, unmoved by the shadows and quiet footfalls around him.

***

'He's in...there?' Merlin asked Geoffrey of Monmouth.

The old man nodded, sitting at his desk at the library entrance.

Merlin entered the archway into the main hall. 'You're up early,' he said, finding Arthur standing in front of one of the shelves. The prince looked like he skipped breakfast. Or even sleep.

When he found Merlin his eyes were hard. 'Does it make sense to you that we have no books that tell you anything solid about magic?'

'Magic?' Merlin's brow rose up.

'If it's the very thing we're fighting, shouldn't we have proper knowledge about it?' Arthur snapped close the book he was holding.

'I suppose the king doesn't want anyone to look into it. Magic is forbidden, after all.' Merlin's voice became unintentionally quiet as he said it.

Arthur walked forward to him. 'Forget the king for a moment. Aren't you curious?'

'What?'

'About magic. Where it comes from, how it works?'

'I...never thought about it, I guess. I always assumed...' Lying when someone was looking right at you was not easy.

'Assumed what?'

'That it was evil,' Merlin blurted. He sounded like a puppet.

Arthur gave a half-smile. 'Of course.'

Why did Arthur have an odd, bitter shadow in his eyes?

'Which is why we're going on a quest to vanquish it. At least a user of magic, anyway.'

'When?' asked Merlin, following the Prince out of the library.

'We leave after lunch.'

***

After going through the "Awaiting Evidence"s, Arthur had finally decided on a case to pursue.

'So the ring cannot be used by anyone without magic?' Merlin asked.

'It would appear so. This Ulrich allegedly cast a spell on the ring. In order for it to work, he has to put it on then incant another spell. And that was how his uncle's memory was altered.'

Merlin nodded. They were after a man who used a memory-wiping spell to disinherit his cousin. Ulrich made his uncle forget entirely the existence of this cousin, the one who was set to inherit from their uncle. Then his uncle mysteriously turned up dead and Ulrich was the one who inherited his wealth. 'What happens once we find Ulrich? Will he be executed?'

'If proven, yes.' Arthur settled on the ground around a campfire he had going.

'Will we go back to Camelot once we find him, and return with the knights?'

'Perhaps,' Arthur said mysteriously.

'You can't be serious? There's only two of us. If he's truly a sorcerer, he can easily take us on.'

'You underestimate one of us.'

'Yes, sure, a knight of Camelot is a skilled warrior. But even so, there's only one of you. And what if he has mercenaries working for him? He won't even need magic to take us down.'

'Trust me, I won't be walking in there without a plan. Now, we should rest for the night.'

Arthur had his eyes open to the murky blue of the sky peeking through the tree canopy above them. There was a ticking sound of some insect along with Merlin shuffling from side to side in his sleep.

His plan wasn't going to work. He might as well shove Merlin awake this minute and tell him. But then he remembered the anger he felt at Merlin as he watched him in the antechamber. No, this had to be foolproof so that whatever happened was undeniable.

It was time to get up and do his work.