Audience Chamber, Camelot, Friday Evening Fandom Time
It had been less than a few hours in Fandom, yes, but in Camelot over a day and a half had passed since Arthur's guests had arrived.
A day and a half. It was some kind of and Arthur might have found that amusing if he wasn't absolutely petrified right now. He was seated at Uther's right hand, watching a woman confess to seeing 'terrible magic' with fear slowly coiling around his heart.
Uther
The mood that clung to every inch of the audience chamber was grim, tense, waiting for an explosion. On the thrones on either side of the King's sat Arthur and Morgana, both looking strained; it was the best they could do to keep the fear from seeping out.
The king stood. He had paced across the hall until he could look the woman straight in the eye.
"It was sorcery," he said, pointing a finger at her. "You're sure of it?"
"Yes, sire," she said, "I saw it with my own eyes!" Her fingers were wrapped tightly around each other, with terror and admiration alike.
"And you swear this before your king?" Uther demanded.
She nodded. "I swear it."
Arthur
Arthur had gotten up from his chair about halfway through. He was now draped over the top of it, leaning, forcefully keeping his features relaxed. "Are you sure your eyes didn't deceive you?" he asked, deceptively calm. "A trick of the light?"
"The smoke was alive, I tell you!" she said. "I feared for my life!"
Uther
"I thank you for bringing this to my attention," said King Uther, at last. The girl was trembling, and he had no interest in upsetting her further. This was a grave issue, indeed. "Your loyalty will not go unrewarded."
She bowed her head, and left.
"This cannot continue," Uther said, relaxing slightly.
Arthur
Arthur reserved the right to choke both Merlin and Karla with his bare hands, he did. "I will find those responsible, father. I promise they will not escape unpunished."
Like with a good three whacks over the head. Idiots.
Uther
"No," Uther said, thoughtfully. "Stronger methods are called for. Send for the Witchfinder!"
A wave of shock passed through the room. Even Arthur had trouble hiding the alarm on his face, though he had plenty of practice.
Katchoo
Thank frikkin' everything for the fact that by now, Katchoo was used to trying to blend in in Camelot, which had been quite a learning curve even with DUCk experience. If not, she'd have dropped the tray in her hands before Uther even got the word 'Witchfinder' out of his mouth.
Though with the palpable reaction running through the chamber, she didn't think anyone would have faulted her if she had.
But really, the last goddamn thing any of them needed -- this felt exactly like Darcy calling Tambi in to deal (terminally) with a problematic operative -- was to have any attention drawn their way.
Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit.
Francine
The learning curve had, ironically, been easier for Francine; dresses and housework and being the girliest girl ever were natural to her, and the time she'd spent in Firekeeper's world helped with translating that to medieval terms. Dusting a coat of arms, as she'd been doing when the townswoman was admitted to the audience chamber? No problem.
The time she'd spent in Firekeeper's world did anything but help now, though, with Merlin's always-golden eyes a sudden reminder not just of the price people with magic paid there, but of how vulnerable it left him now. Dusting a coat of arms while not looking like she'd just heard the king tell them to send for the Kitten-Grinder? Problem.
Katchoo
Katchoo tried to catch Francine's eye from halfway across the chamber -- harder than you'd think when she couldn't, you know, yell the way she usually would.
Francine
Especially when Francine's immediate, stupid reaction was to look worriedly towards Merlin and Karla. Luckily, Francine, you are a dumbass was never far from her mind, so that glance ended quickly enough for her to pick up Katchoo's.
She had absolutely no worries, at least, about Katchoo's ability to translate her nonverbal #%$#%^$#$!!.
Katchoo
Katchoo had some nonverbal #$*&_@)(#*#$)(*)#$@!!!$#*$# of her own going to match Francine's #%$#%^$#$!!.
Because no, it hadn't escaped her that Francine was possibly in just as much trouble as Merlin and Karla might be, and while she'd never paid much attention to that Arthur Miller play or the actual historical incident on which it was based, she'd had immediate life lessons in the same sort of human tendency.
There wasn't enough #%$#%^$#$!! in the world to express how very not good any of this was.
She all but shoved the last full glass on her tray at a passing courtier as an excuse to head out of the room by way of that well-dusted coat of arms.
Gaius
Their departure went thankfully unnoticed, because discussion was still going on in the hall. It had taken a moment or two for the noise to die down, but when it did, Gaius, the court physician finally stepped forward.
"Sire," he said, cautiously, "Is it necessary to resort to such methods?"
Uther
Uther gave him a stern look across the hall. He would not be questioned on this, though Gaius always held a little leeway of his own. "Aredian is a valuable ally, Gaius. His help will be invaluable."
Gaius
"Of course," said Gaius, demurely.
He was going to give Merlin a piece of his mind, and soon. That boy was going to be his undoing some day.
Karla
Karla wasn't entirely certain what a Witchfinder was or did, but the name seemed fairly self-explanatory. And as the current witch-in-residence here, she was starting to get just a liiiiiittle bit nervous. Uther did not look like he was willing to accept explanations.
So she would just stand here and look all maid-y and properly horrified and try very, very hard not to look guilty. Or indignant.
As one might guess, the former was easier to accomplish than the latter.
Merlin
...well, Merlin was just going to hide now. Hide a whole lot.
He tried very hard to make himself invisible without using any magic to accomplish just that.
Francine
Francine didn't have to be asked twice -- or once, even. She scuttled out the door behind Katchoo as fast as she could sort of kind of maybe not look like she was scuttling. As soon as they were out in the corridor and hopefully out of earshot of anyone who would care, she turned troubled eyes Katchoo's way.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Someone had to contribute to Juliet Skywalker's college fund say it.
Katchoo
"Half a dozen of 'em," Katchoo muttered under her breath, or as close to it as she could when her voice was cracking every other word. "More, if Arthur doesn't get to 'em first."
It really couldn't come out sounding like that much of a joke under the circumstances.
"And there's no way in hell we can hightail our asses out of Camelot now; that'll just make things worse."
Some things were more or less true across worlds and centuries. Dammit.
Francine
"It's not us I'm worried about; it's Merlin and Morgana and Karla." The Francine You Are An Idiot was working ahead of the game on that one; she was smart enough not to say those names louder than needed to cross three inches of space.
Katchoo
Katchoo reached out to point a finger, if not tap it directly against, the spot where Francine had a certain lily-shaped scar. Said finger might have been shaking just a bit, and her voice cracked again. "And you, Francie."
Francine
"Me?" Francine might have forgot about the three-inch whisper for a second. "I don't do magic. Not like..." Inside voice, Peters. Inside voice. "Not like them. Nobody would look twice at me."
Katchoo
"Not in their right minds," Katchoo said pointedly.
Francine
That set Francine silent for a moment; she wasn't wrong. Arthur's dad saw witchcraft lurking behind every suit of armor and potted plant already; who knew what this guy who did it for a living was going to be like?
"You're right, I guess. Anybody who so much as sneezes funny might be in danger."
Katchoo
Did saying Katchoo's name count, then?
"And us without any Benadryl," Katchoo muttered acerbically. "Damn. Okay. Let's just stay calm, all right, Francie?"
Stay calm, she'd said, like there was no reason to so much as raise an eyebrow at the fact that Arthur's dad had just called out the Inquisition on their friends, and she was pretty sure this wasn't a comfy-chair kind of Inquisition. If it wasn't so bad, she'd be laughing her ass off at what had just come out of her mouth.
"No need to give 'em reason to think you just sneezed."
Fra--atchoo
"Right."
WHY DID HER NOSE HAVE TO CHOOSE NOW TO ITCH?
"Achoo!"
Katchoo
. . .
GOD )%&*$#)!@^#@!ING DAMMIT, UNIVERSE, THAT WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE A SUGGESTION.
"Figure of speech, Francie!"
You know, just in case anyone was starting to panic.
Francine
"Sorry!"
[[ nfb, nfi, ooc-okay, and taken from the Merlin season 2 episode 'The Witchfinder'. Preplayed with the brilliant bigdamndestiny, glacial_witch, thismaskiwear and thatsamilkshake. ]]
A day and a half. It was some kind of and Arthur might have found that amusing if he wasn't absolutely petrified right now. He was seated at Uther's right hand, watching a woman confess to seeing 'terrible magic' with fear slowly coiling around his heart.
Uther
The mood that clung to every inch of the audience chamber was grim, tense, waiting for an explosion. On the thrones on either side of the King's sat Arthur and Morgana, both looking strained; it was the best they could do to keep the fear from seeping out.
The king stood. He had paced across the hall until he could look the woman straight in the eye.
"It was sorcery," he said, pointing a finger at her. "You're sure of it?"
"Yes, sire," she said, "I saw it with my own eyes!" Her fingers were wrapped tightly around each other, with terror and admiration alike.
"And you swear this before your king?" Uther demanded.
She nodded. "I swear it."
Arthur
Arthur had gotten up from his chair about halfway through. He was now draped over the top of it, leaning, forcefully keeping his features relaxed. "Are you sure your eyes didn't deceive you?" he asked, deceptively calm. "A trick of the light?"
"The smoke was alive, I tell you!" she said. "I feared for my life!"
Uther
"I thank you for bringing this to my attention," said King Uther, at last. The girl was trembling, and he had no interest in upsetting her further. This was a grave issue, indeed. "Your loyalty will not go unrewarded."
She bowed her head, and left.
"This cannot continue," Uther said, relaxing slightly.
Arthur
Arthur reserved the right to choke both Merlin and Karla with his bare hands, he did. "I will find those responsible, father. I promise they will not escape unpunished."
Like with a good three whacks over the head. Idiots.
Uther
"No," Uther said, thoughtfully. "Stronger methods are called for. Send for the Witchfinder!"
A wave of shock passed through the room. Even Arthur had trouble hiding the alarm on his face, though he had plenty of practice.
Katchoo
Thank frikkin' everything for the fact that by now, Katchoo was used to trying to blend in in Camelot, which had been quite a learning curve even with DUCk experience. If not, she'd have dropped the tray in her hands before Uther even got the word 'Witchfinder' out of his mouth.
Though with the palpable reaction running through the chamber, she didn't think anyone would have faulted her if she had.
But really, the last goddamn thing any of them needed -- this felt exactly like Darcy calling Tambi in to deal (terminally) with a problematic operative -- was to have any attention drawn their way.
Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit.
Francine
The learning curve had, ironically, been easier for Francine; dresses and housework and being the girliest girl ever were natural to her, and the time she'd spent in Firekeeper's world helped with translating that to medieval terms. Dusting a coat of arms, as she'd been doing when the townswoman was admitted to the audience chamber? No problem.
The time she'd spent in Firekeeper's world did anything but help now, though, with Merlin's always-golden eyes a sudden reminder not just of the price people with magic paid there, but of how vulnerable it left him now. Dusting a coat of arms while not looking like she'd just heard the king tell them to send for the Kitten-Grinder? Problem.
Katchoo
Katchoo tried to catch Francine's eye from halfway across the chamber -- harder than you'd think when she couldn't, you know, yell the way she usually would.
Francine
Especially when Francine's immediate, stupid reaction was to look worriedly towards Merlin and Karla. Luckily, Francine, you are a dumbass was never far from her mind, so that glance ended quickly enough for her to pick up Katchoo's.
She had absolutely no worries, at least, about Katchoo's ability to translate her nonverbal #%$#%^$#$!!.
Katchoo
Katchoo had some nonverbal #$*&_@)(#*#$)(*)#$@!!!$#*$# of her own going to match Francine's #%$#%^$#$!!.
Because no, it hadn't escaped her that Francine was possibly in just as much trouble as Merlin and Karla might be, and while she'd never paid much attention to that Arthur Miller play or the actual historical incident on which it was based, she'd had immediate life lessons in the same sort of human tendency.
There wasn't enough #%$#%^$#$!! in the world to express how very not good any of this was.
She all but shoved the last full glass on her tray at a passing courtier as an excuse to head out of the room by way of that well-dusted coat of arms.
Gaius
Their departure went thankfully unnoticed, because discussion was still going on in the hall. It had taken a moment or two for the noise to die down, but when it did, Gaius, the court physician finally stepped forward.
"Sire," he said, cautiously, "Is it necessary to resort to such methods?"
Uther
Uther gave him a stern look across the hall. He would not be questioned on this, though Gaius always held a little leeway of his own. "Aredian is a valuable ally, Gaius. His help will be invaluable."
Gaius
"Of course," said Gaius, demurely.
He was going to give Merlin a piece of his mind, and soon. That boy was going to be his undoing some day.
Karla
Karla wasn't entirely certain what a Witchfinder was or did, but the name seemed fairly self-explanatory. And as the current witch-in-residence here, she was starting to get just a liiiiiittle bit nervous. Uther did not look like he was willing to accept explanations.
So she would just stand here and look all maid-y and properly horrified and try very, very hard not to look guilty. Or indignant.
As one might guess, the former was easier to accomplish than the latter.
Merlin
...well, Merlin was just going to hide now. Hide a whole lot.
He tried very hard to make himself invisible without using any magic to accomplish just that.
Francine
Francine didn't have to be asked twice -- or once, even. She scuttled out the door behind Katchoo as fast as she could sort of kind of maybe not look like she was scuttling. As soon as they were out in the corridor and hopefully out of earshot of anyone who would care, she turned troubled eyes Katchoo's way.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Someone had to contribute to Juliet Skywalker's college fund say it.
Katchoo
"Half a dozen of 'em," Katchoo muttered under her breath, or as close to it as she could when her voice was cracking every other word. "More, if Arthur doesn't get to 'em first."
It really couldn't come out sounding like that much of a joke under the circumstances.
"And there's no way in hell we can hightail our asses out of Camelot now; that'll just make things worse."
Some things were more or less true across worlds and centuries. Dammit.
Francine
"It's not us I'm worried about; it's Merlin and Morgana and Karla." The Francine You Are An Idiot was working ahead of the game on that one; she was smart enough not to say those names louder than needed to cross three inches of space.
Katchoo
Katchoo reached out to point a finger, if not tap it directly against, the spot where Francine had a certain lily-shaped scar. Said finger might have been shaking just a bit, and her voice cracked again. "And you, Francie."
Francine
"Me?" Francine might have forgot about the three-inch whisper for a second. "I don't do magic. Not like..." Inside voice, Peters. Inside voice. "Not like them. Nobody would look twice at me."
Katchoo
"Not in their right minds," Katchoo said pointedly.
Francine
That set Francine silent for a moment; she wasn't wrong. Arthur's dad saw witchcraft lurking behind every suit of armor and potted plant already; who knew what this guy who did it for a living was going to be like?
"You're right, I guess. Anybody who so much as sneezes funny might be in danger."
Katchoo
Did saying Katchoo's name count, then?
"And us without any Benadryl," Katchoo muttered acerbically. "Damn. Okay. Let's just stay calm, all right, Francie?"
Stay calm, she'd said, like there was no reason to so much as raise an eyebrow at the fact that Arthur's dad had just called out the Inquisition on their friends, and she was pretty sure this wasn't a comfy-chair kind of Inquisition. If it wasn't so bad, she'd be laughing her ass off at what had just come out of her mouth.
"No need to give 'em reason to think you just sneezed."
Fra--atchoo
"Right."
WHY DID HER NOSE HAVE TO CHOOSE NOW TO ITCH?
"Achoo!"
Katchoo
. . .
GOD )%&*$#)!@^#@!ING DAMMIT, UNIVERSE, THAT WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE A SUGGESTION.
"Figure of speech, Francie!"
You know, just in case anyone was starting to panic.
Francine
"Sorry!"
[[ nfb, nfi, ooc-okay, and taken from the Merlin season 2 episode 'The Witchfinder'. Preplayed with the brilliant bigdamndestiny, glacial_witch, thismaskiwear and thatsamilkshake. ]]