The Edge of Darkness (4/7)
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Sitting beside the fire, Arthur listened to the murmurs of his men's voices, but their conversations weren’t sinking in. He was keeping an eye on Merlin and the child without appearing to watch them. He had to admit that Merlin had proven to have a way with the child. Arthur had expected crying and tantrums the whole trip. So far, the child, Constantine was his name, had yet to cry. It was hard to tell that he was even along on the trip as smooth as everything had been.
Merlin had taken him up in front of him on his horse and had told him stories in a low voice most of the morning. After a few hours, the boy had fallen asleep. Arthur had taken pity on Merlin then and rode up beside him asking if Merlin thought that it would wake the child if he took him for a while. Merlin had lifted the child's hand, let it drop heavily back to his lap, and pronounced that he thought the child would sleep through it.
After Arthur took the boy and got him situated in what he felt to be a comfortable position in front of him, he suddenly realized the danger that came with small children. When he had voiced his concern to Merlin, it earned him a grin that he didn’t see nearly enough of these days, as Merlin explained that he had positioned dried moss between the cloths covering the child and a cloth that he had oiled to make almost waterproof. Merlin's ingenuity astounded Arthur. Why did he not display that ingenuity when working for Arthur?
"Where are you going now?" Arthur murmured to himself as he saw Merlin pick up the blanket wrapped child and walk into the woods. Arthur got up and walked into the shadows beyond the fire's light, and made his way to where he had seen Merlin and the child disappear. Merlin knew better than to leave the group. "It would be just like him to try to sneak off to Ealdor alone so that he doesn’t have to wear that dress." Arthur mumbled to himself in a low voice.
Hearing a childish giggle only, a few feet into the woods from where Merlin disappeared, he stealthily moved in that direction. He stopped abruptly when saw Merlin and the little boy facing a tree. The child was wearing only a tunic rolled up above his waist. From the waist down, he wore nothing. Arthur was puzzled and about to ask what was going on when he heard Merlin talking.
"Very good, I knew that you could do it." He praised the boy. He seemed to fumble with the laces on his breeches then moved behind the boy to pick him up underneath his arms, take a step back away from the tree and swing him around in a circle, eliciting laughter from the boy.
"Let's get you back into your clothes," Merlin said as he laid the boy on a blanket that Arthur noticed spread on the ground and started putting him back into his clothes. Arthur had to smile that the boy was not making it easy for him. As it looked as if Merlin was almost finished Arthur made his way back to the shadows just outside the firelight near where he expected Merlin to pass.
"Where have you been?" He asked as Merlin drew near. "You know it is dangerous to sneak away from the group. I was about to follow you."
"I was just beyond the light. I had to relieve myself. We do usually do that without the group watching. At least I do." Merlin flippantly replied.
"And I suppose you took him to guard you?" Arthur gestured at the boy.
"No, actually, I was trying to teach him to do it, instead of wetting himself." Merlin grinned at the boy. "It worked. Constantine did very well. He is a smart little one."
The boy smiled at Merlin and seemed to cuddle closer in his arms while Arthur scowled. Merlin started walking toward the fire and sat down, swaddling the child in blankets like an infant then picking him up and cuddling him close again.
Arthur had followed and stood near as he heard Merlin talk softly to the boy. "It's going to be an adventure tonight like the stories I was telling you today. I will hold you until you go to sleep. After you are asleep, I am going to lie down here beside you. I will be right here beside you all night. If you wake up you can wake me if you want to. I won't get mad. If you want us to go wet that tree down again, you can tell me. I like that game.”
Merlin started rocking the boy and Arthur heard him softly humming an old nursery rhyme. Standing over him Arthur could see when the boy's eyes shut and didn’t open again. Giving him a few minutes, he moved closer and sat down on the ground beside Merlin.
"How do you know these things about caring for children?"
"Like I told you, I get lots of practice with you." Merlin grinned what Arthur was sure was supposed to look like an innocent grin.
Arthur reached over and gently pushed his arm making him sway sideways a bit, but not enough to wake up the sleeping child in Merlin's arms.
"I asked some of the servants yesterday, especially Mary from the kitchens. She has eight children of her own. She was a world of information." Merlin sat quietly after he finished explaining.
"You would make a good father." Arthur dropped quietly into the silence that had grown over the last couple of minutes.
Merlin had a wistful smile on his face when he answered. "Maybe, I don't know. When I was growing up, I used to expect to marry and have children someday. I wanted to make sure that my children knew me since I didn't have a father around as I grew up. Since I came to Camelot, it seems that my life may lead in a different direction. Who knows?"
"Merlin, servants can get married and have children. After all, look at...Mary. On the other hand, you may decide to leave my service and be, I don't know, a farmer and have several little Merlins to help you on the farm." Arthur sat grinning at Merlin.
Merlin grinned back. “Yeah, but I’ll probably just be happy to bounce your children my knee and teach them how to grow up not to be a prat like their father.”
The men began to move to their bedrolls around the fire. "Get some sleep; I'll see you in the morning." Arthur moved toward his own bedroll that Merlin had laid out earlier and watched as Merlin stood, moved near him to lay the sleeping boy on one side of his bedroll, lie down to curl his long body around him, cover them both then cuddle the child even closer. He wondered what Merlin thought was standing in his way of having children. Could whatever it was, be what had been bothering him lately.
* * * * *
Looking around the village as they rode into it, Arthur realized that it seemed much the same as Ealdor had been. He imagined that they were just as proud and protective of what they had managed to scrabble out as the people of Ealdor, also. As people began to notice them, several people started gathering in what was probably the center of town. When they drew near the people bowed and one man came forward.
“Sire, welcome to Ascetir.”
“Thank you.” Arthur nodded before dismounting and handing his reins to Merlin. “I am Arthur, Crown Prince of Camelot. Who am I addressing?” He nodded to the man who was evidently the spokesman.
“I am called Gamel, Sire.” The man bobbed his head again.
Arthur had taken the several steps necessary to reach the small knot of people while the man was talking. He stopped in front of the man, who again nervously bobbed his head to Arthur as if he wasn’t sure exactly what he should be doing. Arthur took matters into his own hands and spoke." Word has reached my father, the King, that you are having many people either sickened or ensorcelled.”
The man’s face seemed to pale at the word ensorcelled and glancing up Arthur noted that everyone seemed to become nervous.
“What can you tell me of these people? Have you had any deaths?”
“Yes, Sire, we have had five deaths as yet. All with less than twenty summers, except one who was very elderly.” Arthur raised his eyebrows at that information because it seemed to be the same age group affected in Camelot’s lower village. He allowed the man to continue uninterrupted. “So far, most of our youth and some of our older people are affected. At last count, we had fourteen people still ailing with convulsions or speaking to those not there as if they are having a conversation with them. Most also have stomach complaints. Most of our livestock have also become ill. Some start jumping around and acting as if stung by bees. Usually by the next day, they fall over dead. Last week a horse started jumping, kicking and running in the middle of town and trampled a child to death. It fell dead minutes later, too. Some of the livestock have been limping and a few have lost tails, feet, or ears. They just turn black and fall off with no blood. Three of those have died. We have also found many birds that seem to have just fallen out of the sky.”
Arthur shuddered to think about the limbs falling off. So far, he had only heard of Constantine's father suffering that. He would have to check the livestock when he got home. “Is there someone who can direct the wagon of grain where you need it?” As the man motioned several men came forward from the crowd. Arthur turned to the man. “Now I need you to show me where our animals may be kept and then show me some of the people and animals that have been afflicted.”
“Yes, Sire.” The man was quick to motion them to follow him as he lead them to a stable near the other end of the village than the one they had come in on. “It is not nearly fine enough for your horse and those of your men, but it is the only stable we have in the village that is large enough to hold them.”
The stable was against the side of the blacksmith’s shop. It would do for the few days that they would be there. He looked up and noticed a loft overhead that looked as if it had some hay and straw in it. Looking around he found a ladder about mid-way along the corridor and climbed it into the loft to look around. Sure enough, there was a pile of straw on one end and a pile of hay on the other. Although it was expected of the people to give them shelter, he decided that he and his men would stay here. Since it overlooked the stable area, no one could sneak up on them and a small door on each end of the building would allow air to circulate. They could all be together and the straw would make a better bed than the forest floor that they had slept on last night.
“My men will sleep here also.” Arthur announced as he swung off the ladder several rungs from the bottom.
“I want the Knights with me. Guy and Iwain have your Squires see to all the horses. Kay, I noticed that your Squire was good with Merlin’s little charge here. He shall care for him until we return. Merlin I also require you to come along since you are a physician’s assistant. Maybe you will notice something that we don’t know to look for.” Arthur turned and motioned Gamel to lead the way.
The first place that Gamel led them was to a house across from the stable. He knocked on the door and started explaining as they waited that there were four children in the household and they were all acting very differently lately.
Arthur could hear a baby inside crying before they got to the house. He began to dread being in an enclosed space with a crying baby.
As he feared, the crying got louder when the door opened. The woman that answered the door looked very weary. The weariness turned to shock when she realized that the Prince was standing at her door.
“Sire.” She sank into a curtsy. “My home is very humble, but you are welcome.” She stood back and indicated for them to enter. “Please, have this chair.” She moved a couple steps, pulled the lone chair away from the long scrubbed table and pushed it toward him as two small children gazed at him from one corner where they seemed to be playing with a crudely carved wooden figure. “If you will excuse me I must tend the baby.” She gave another curtsy and at Arthur’s nod of permission, she walked across the room to a cradle and picked up the crying baby.
Arthur allowed his eyes to sweep around the room. It was very simple, similar to the one Hunith lived in when they had visited her, except it was perhaps a bit larger, as was the table with benches on three sides and a lone chair. Just as at Hunith’s house, two large pieces of coarsely woven cloth acted as curtains to provide the only privacy in the house. Unlike Hunith, the family didn’t seem to have a bed. All he could see was the edge of a stack of pallets behind a pushed back curtain.
He supposed that even the woman and her husband slept on the floor.
The woman returned with the crying baby and interrupted his inspection. The volume had gone down a bit when the woman picked the baby up, but it was still crying piteously.
“I am sorry, Sire. He cries almost all the time now. Nothing I do will to make him to stop more than a minute or two. He hardly sleeps now, it seems.”
Arthur gave her a look of sympathy as she cradled the baby against her breast and swayed back and forth. No wonder she looked so weary.
“What are you called?” He asked her softly.
“Elsa, Sire.”
“How long has he been like this, Elsa?” Arthur asked.
“This crying all the time started about two weeks ago. Like this anyway. He has always been a fussy baby, much more trouble than the other three, right from the first. Now sometimes he starts shaking and just bends backwards. I see it and think that his little backbone is going to snap. He seems to be getting weaker. He can hardly even nurse now. I don’t expect to have him long.” She looked down at the baby with sad eyes. “I…”
A noise between gurgling and groaning in the corner interrupted her.
“Mum,” called one of the little boys there.
Arthur looked up to see one of the boys shaking and swaying. Merlin had reacted when the noise started and was already laying the child down on his side. Arthur saw him run a finger into the child’s mouth and evidently was bitten if the shake he gave his finger was any indication.
“What are you doing?” Elsa cried out in a frightened voice.
Arthur glanced back at the mother who was still cradling the baby, but had moved across the floor behind Merlin. “He is a physician’s assistant, Elsa. He has dealt with this many times.”
Merlin lifted the boy and cradled him, much as his mother was doing the baby. Suddenly the boy started screaming and looking toward the Knights with a glassy eyed start. “Run away or I will tell my father that you are here.”
The Knights looked around at each other as the boy kept on. “Don’t hurt me. No. Stop. I’m burning Mummy. Get me out of the fire. Father, can we skip rocks together. It’s too hot.”
By now, the other boy was crying and the mother had moved toward him and slid down the wall so that he could climb into her lap cradled along with the baby. Her eyes never left her little boy in Merlin’s lap that continued to scream and talk. If Arthur didn’t know better he would think the boy burning on the stake from some of the things that he said.
When the drama kept playing out, seemingly with no end in sight, Arthur moved over near the woman and her children and squatted down in front of them. “What of your other child, does it have these afflictions too? And this little one, what of him?”
“The oldest and this one so far have complained only of bouts of dizziness and fingers and toes tingling.” Elsa’s eyes never left the child thrashing in Merlin’s lap, but suddenly as quickly as it had started the thrashing and yelling stopped, but the child started up a mewling sound.
Merlin scooted toward the mother. “Perhaps if you would give me the baby I could examine him and you could comfort this little one.” He told her gently.
Elsa handed over the baby, practically snatched the little boy from Merlin, and cradled him to her breast as she had been doing the baby and the older boy. Arthur watched him begin to calm down a bit as she stroked his hair.
Arthur stood and walked toward the table where Merlin had taken the baby and was in the process of unwrapping him. Arthur could tell by his expression that there was something wrong and moved closer to see if he could spot it without drawing attention of the mother. When he looked down, he didn’t notice anything at first until Merlin gently picked up a tiny foot and he saw it then. One of the tiny toes was becoming black on the end. It was just a small spot, but he had seen gangrene before, so he knew that was what he was looking at. Merlin redressed the still crying baby.
“Can you hold him?” He asked Arthur.
Once he deposited the baby into Arthur's arms, he rummaged around in the bag that he had brought with him and withdrew a small bottle. He looked around and walked toward a bucket of water. He reached up to a shelf on the wall, brought down a small bowl, and filled it full of water. Sitting it down he opened the bottle, poured one drop into the water, and stirred it with a small, shinny wooden stick he had pulled out of his pocket.
“Do you have clean cloths?” he asked the woman quietly. She pointed to a shelf behind one curtain. He walked over to retrieve one that he dipped the very tip of the corner into the water and brought it to the baby that Arthur was now holding. Holding the corner of the rag over the baby’s crying mouth, Merlin squeezed a drop out of it, making sure it slid down the tongue and not just dropping into the throat where it would choke the baby. Still the baby lurched in Arthur’s arms and gave a tiny cough before swallowing and opening his mouth to wail again. Arthur automatically started swaying as he had seen the woman do.
Merlin dipped the rag again and followed the same procedure four more times then went to let the boy that the woman was holding suck some of the water out of it several times, also. Merlin was telling the woman how to use the potion for each of her children when the wailing child in his Arthur's arms quieted a bit. After a few more minutes, it stopped completely. Arthur looked down at the small form in his hands with a bit of surprise.
Merlin stood and came to him to take the baby to put into the crib. Going to the stack of pallets behind the curtain, he removed three of them and laid them on the floor. He went back to the woman, removed the now sleeping little boy from her arms, and laid him on one of the pallets.
“I suggest that the two of you try to get some rest while the two little ones are out.” He told the woman.
Arthur looked around at his men and Gamel and nodded his head toward the door. They all trooped outside and he closed the door and joined them to wait for Merlin who showed only moments later with an expression that Arthur had never seen him wear. He knew that no one in the group was looking forward to the rest of the day.
“How are your crops and grain doing this year?” Arthur asked Gamel to distract himself from what he had seen and what was to come.
“We have had a very rainy spring so we thought that we might have a good harvest this year, but some of the grain now looks as if it will have the same blight that we had last year that made us have a small yield. I fear that we may be contacting the King again before a year has passed for another ration of grain to get us through until next year’s harvest.” Gamel motioned them toward another house. “Here we are. A boy here has already lost an ear and is in danger of losing his other ear and even some fingers and toes are beginning to show black spots.”
* * * * *
Several hours later Arthur was walking on the edge of a grain field with Merlin dogging his footsteps. Arthur had been searching for somewhere quiet, a commodity that was scarce in the small village. He had been shocked and appalled at the shape of some of the people of the town. As Gamel had mentioned, a large portion of the youth and the animals were affected by whatever was happening. There were a scattering of elderly and only two men over thirty, but probably no more than forty.
The people and animals that had what looked like dry rot on their appendages had made him sick to his stomach. He stopped in the shade from the nearby woods and let Merlin catch up so they might talk without raising their voices.
“What did you think? “ He crossed his arms over his chest and waited while Merlin reached out and popped the head off the grain near him and started shredding it from the stalk.
“I don’t think that most of those people have a chance. Some of the ones in Camelot seemed to be making a recovery when we left, but everyone here seems so much worse. So far Camelot has only had one person to start losing appendages, but there are so many children here that are losing fingers and toes.”
“What about the potions that you were giving them?” asked Arthur.
Merlin shook his head. ”Gaius hasn’t really found anything that helps any of them, but a mild sleeping draught can help everyone get some much needed rest. He made up an especially mild one for small children and babies. Well, you saw how it is given.”
“What about that little boy at the first house that was talking like he was being burned on a pyre? Do they always do that?”
“A lot of them talk out of their heads.” Merlin told him. “We have treated people in Camelot that have said things that didn’t even make sense, but you would swear from the way they talked and the way they looked at a spot as if someone was there that they were holding a conversation with a ghost. They almost never make any sense though. It either isn’t really words or like the little boy with thoughts just all over the place and disconnected. Most people say that their skin burns, so that is probably why you thought he was on a pyre.”
“And Gaius can’t find a cause?
Merlin shrugged. “He hasn’t yet, but he is still working on it. You sound as if you are convinced that it is a sickness now and not sorcery.”
It was Arthur’s turn to shrug. “All sorcery that I have come in contact with so far has had a point. What is the point of making poor people sick? I don’t see anything for a sorcerer to gain, so I have a hard time contributing it to sorcery.”
While they had been walking, Merlin had been up to his usual popping the heads off the grain and shredding the grains from the stalk. Suddenly he stopped and looked at his hand. “Ew. This one is weeping. Look! The grains are much larger than the others and black.” He started walking into the field and looking at the numerous stalks that contained the blackened heads. “I guess that Gamel was right. It looks like they do have some kind of blight this year. It is something I have never seen before. I hope that the rest of the Kingdom has an excess. It looks like they are going to need more grain deliveries next year." Merlin threw the grain from him and wiped his hands down his pants.
* * * * *
Arthur awoke to a mischievous ray of sunlight winking in and out between cracks in the barn right into his eyes. He had been awakened during the night by a downpour and was glad that they had the barn to shelter them, though he had heard a few of his men shifting their pallets around to get out from under leaks. That playful little sunbeam gave him hope that the day would continue to clear up and be dry. He hated traveling in the rain. He sat up and stretched his arms over his head yawning. Using his toes, he reached out and tickled Merlin's nose, barely holding in the laughter as Merlin wrinkled his nose and swatted at his foot. Merlin rolled away, but Constantine was lying on his arm so he couldn’t roll all the way over. Standing to get a better angle, Arthur tickled Merlin's ribs with is toes. Constantine was still preventing Merlin from rolling further away, he squirmed then rolled back toward Constantine, almost felling Arthur in the process as his foot was trapped between Merlin and Constantine.
Arthur woofed out a gush of air in surprise and flung his arms about, much like a windmill, trying to keep his balance, all the time trying to jerk his foot out from between Merlin and Constantine. Suddenly he felt something warm around his other ankle, the one he was using for balance. He barely kept a girlish squeak of surprise from escaping. A sudden, surprisingly strong, jerk of that ankle had him toppling backwards to land on his backside on the pallet he had slept on. Thankfully it was padded well with straw underneath. He looked toward Merlin to see him looking back at Arthur with a smile on his face.
"We need to get moving," Arthur said softly to Merlin.
Merlin carefully pulled his arm out from under Constantine and sat up. His hands went quickly to his head as if he was trying to keep it on his shoulders. Arthur was sure that he hadn’t been out drinking with some of the men last night. He had seen him rocking Constantine and listening to stories the villagers were telling around the fire at the center of town. He had seen him leave after the first one finished, carrying the sleeping child to put to bed. Merlin had already been asleep when he had left the fire not long after to seek his own bed. Having evidently decided that his head was going to stay where it was supposed to, Merlin rose and rolled up Arthur's bedding. Moving over to roll Constantine carefully off the pallet onto the straw, he rolled his own bedding. He picked up both their packs and the two bedrolls then stooped and started to pick up the sleeping child.
"I'll get him." Arthur surprised himself by saying. Bending, he picked up the sleeping child and held him in one arm, placing the little head carefully on his shoulder. He descended the ladder, using only one hand and carefully clutching the child to him with the other.
They had paid one of the villagers for the use of two carthorses and a small cart. The horses they had brought were all too fine to give the illusion that they were peasants. Arthur had entrusted his pack with his seal and clothing to Sir Kay. He would be traveling with a pack and clothing much like those Merlin wore.
When he got to the cart, he noticed that Merlin had already put some straw into the bottom and was now unrolling the pallet that he and Constantine had slept on. Arthur laid the small boy on the pallet and covered him. Merlin had already gone ahead to lead out one of the carthorses and began hooking it to the cart. The stable boy brought the other one and hooked it up. Arthur was pleased to note that when the stable hand went to get the feedbags for the horse and a small ration of grain for them that Merlin quickly went around checking the rigging that the stable boy had done. Merlin left and came back with two bowls and a small cloth wrapped parcel. He handed one of the bowls to Arthur, but all Arthur could do was look at it and reach into his pocket where he had stowed away some of the dried meat that he had smoked over the fire during the last several days they had been in the village. He had learned long ago that the rye porridge that village people ate was an acquired taste that he did not feel that he would ever acquire. Merlin simply transferred the porridge into a cleaned gourd that he had brought along for Constantine, covered it with a cloth and nestled it into the straw. Swinging the skin of water off his shoulder Merlin buried it in the straw where it would be easy to reach from the seat. Picking up the other bowl, he made quick work of eating the contents then looked up at Arthur.
"I guess we are ready to go. I will feed Con when he wakes up, but I would rather he sleep until he is ready to wake. It is almost two hours before his normal rising time."
"Where is your dress? You need to put it on now." Arthur used his best commanding voice toward Merlin.
"Arthur, I am not wearing a dress." Merlin shot back.
"But I am the Prince and I told you to wear a dress so we would look like a peasant couple. You are to obey my orders." Arthur was hoping he could force Merlin back into the fun they used to have bantering.
"If you want us to look like a couple then you should wear the dress. You are much prettier than I am. You would make a better woman." Merlin sounded as if he was not having fun.
"Ah, you finally admit that I am good looking." Arthur did not know which surprised him more, the pink color that bloomed from the edge of Merlin's collar up over his face and ears or how pleased he felt by it. He did what he always did when he was uncomfortable and teased Merlin even more. "Still, I told you, I commanded you as your Prince to bring a dress to wear." Arthur prodded one more time.
"Arthur, I am not wearing a dress into Ealdor to be humiliated in front of my mother and the people I grew up around and that is final. If you insist I shall quit your service and just take Constantine and travel back to Ealdor on foot without you and stay there." Merlin looked Arthur in the eye, challenging him.
"You don't have to quit Merlin. I was only teasing you, though if you had worn a dress I would not have admitted it." Arthur tried to appease Merlin. He wondered if Merlin really would have quit his service if he had pushed and he felt a tingle of something that he dare not name run over him as he climbed up onto the wooden seat of the cart. When Merlin settled on the other side, he put the horses into motion.
As they rode out of the village, Arthur noticed that some of the farmers were already piling wood into a pyre outside and downwind of the village where they would again burn the animals that were dying daily. They had been in this village for over a week helping the people as much as they could. At first, the villagers were just dragging the animals to the edge of the village and leaving them. Merlin had told them that with as many carcasses as they had that they needed to burn them to keep the vermin and illnesses down. The Knights were going to stay and help the villagers while he and Merlin took Constantine to Ealdor. Arthur had planned to stay for a week because Merlin felt that it was important for the boy to have someone near that he knew until he became comfortable around other people. Merlin feared that just dropping him off to strangers would be detrimental after what he had suffered already. Arthur hoped that the short distance they were traveling in Cenred's Kingdom between the border and Ealdor would go unnoticed. Since Cenred did not take much notice of the outlying villages he did not feel that they would have much trouble once they reached Ealdor, but he knew that Cenred guarded his borders carefully, looking for an excuse to go to war with Camelot.
Merlin had been quiet on the trip. All of Arthur's efforts to draw him out had been fruitless. They were nearing Ealdor when Constantine finally awakened. Arthur was surprised to hear the whining that turned into soft crying. Constantine had rarely cried on the trip, generally being a good-natured lad. Merlin crawled into the back of the wagon with him.
"Ewwwww, boy you stink." Merlin told the small boy as he began to dig through the pack he had brought for clean cloths to change for the soiled ones. After tipping the water skin over a clean cloth to wet it then taking a drink himself, Merlin offered the skin to Arthur. Arthur merely reached for it and took a long drink instead of chastising Merlin for not offering it to him first.
While Merlin dealt with the dirty bottom of the child, Arthur avoided looking back. The smell was bad enough; he did not want to see it. Minutes later his stomach lurched as he heard the obvious sounds of Merlin heaving over the side of the cart. Considering some of the things that Gaius and Merlin saw and handled, it surprised Arthur that a small boy had managed to bring Merlin to his knees.
A few minutes later a less smelly Constantine was plopped on the wagon seat beside Arthur, still crying a bit. Merlin crawled onto the other side of the seat with the porridge in his hand. After removing the cloth tied to the top, he offered some to the boy in the small wooden spoon he had carved.
"Nhh." The boy whined, turning his head away from the spoon and resuming crying.
"Smart boy," Arthur praised. "I have been meaning to ask, how can you eat that, Merlin?"
Merlin shrugged. "I grew up eating it. I guess you just get used to it. Some winters it was all we had. It is better than starving. "
A few tries with the same results later Merlin seemed to give up, raked the porridge over the side of the wagon, and turned to put the gourd bowl behind him in the straw. Turning back around, he scooped the boy up into his lap. The boy laid his head down on Merlin's shoulder. A few minutes later Merlin was taking off his jacket and wrapping the boy with it.
Arthur looked over toward them. "Is he cold?" He asked. "You don't think he is getting sick do you?"
"He does not feel hot like he has fever, but he is shivering and I have never seen him cry like this." Merlin looked up and turned his head all around him for a few minutes. "Good, just beyond that rise is Ealdor."
Within minutes, people were coming out to meet them, wary of strangers in their small town. When they recognized Merlin and Arthur a whoop went up that brought even more people to see what was going on. Arthur saw Hunith come out of her house and Merlin bailed off the wagon, Con clutched to him and went running to meet her. Arthur saw Hunith enfold Merlin, Constantine and all, right before some of the men that he had met on his last visit were bowing to him and offering to take his wagon and deal with it. Arthur reached behind him into the straw and brought out his sword then climbed down, while another man took all their packs and bedrolls out of the bed of the wagon, and started toward Hunith's house. He had started slowly toward Merlin and his mother, giving them time to themselves when Hunith looked up and saw him. She smiled at him and held her arms out to him as if he, too, were one of her long lost sons. Arthur stepped toward her and found himself swallowed in her embrace much the way Merlin had been. Arthur awkwardly put his arms around her, returned the embrace, and wondered if this is what it would be like to have a mother when he returned home. He decided that he could very well grow to like it. Hunith kissed his brow and backed up to look at all three of them.
"And who have we here?" she questioned as calmly as if Merlin bringing home a small child was a common occurrence.
"Mum, this is Constantine." Merlin said. "His parents are both dead and we could not find relatives for him. He has no one to go to so I brought him here. He is usually quite sunny, but he does not seem to feel well today." Merlin was looking down at the boy clinging to him as he spoke. The soft crying had gotten louder.
“Well, get inside." Hunith shooed them toward her door.
"Oh, Con, not again." Merlin complained as they got inside the door.
"I'll get you some warm water." Hunith said as she evidently got a whiff of what had caused Merlin's comment and moved toward the fireplace. "You can lay him on my bed. Do you need anything else?"
Merlin looked around for his pack and Arthur held up a finger, opened the door where he had seen them deposited and brought all their things inside. He could hear Merlin telling his mother that he had clean cloths and some extra moss in his pack. When Arthur came back inside, he noticed Merlin on the floor. He must have decided not to chance Hunith's linens to Constantine.
"It looks as if he might have some tummy troubles." Hunith said. "No wonder he is not happy."
"Yeah, he woke up in a bad mood today and he wouldn't eat anything for me." Merlin told his mother.
"I will just make him up some stomach tea then." Hunith told Merlin. As she picked up a bucket she said, "I just need to get some water first."
"I'll get that." Arthur said as he sprung toward her, taking the bucket from her hands. It was his turn to arch a brow as she opened her mouth to refuse. "You stay and talk to Merlin."
She finally gave in. "Thank you, Arthur." She reached toward some herbs hanging from the beam above her as he was going out the door.
As Arthur went toward the well that provided water for the village, he could not help but think how different the lives of these people were from his. They did not have as many advantages as he had, but they still seemed happy with their lot in life. There were times that he would like to forget about his crown and live like these people. He knew it was just a daydream and he could never turn away from his people, yet still it was nice to be able to walk through the village with no cares on his shoulders.
As he returned with the water, Merlin was sitting on one of the benches at the table with Con on his lap telling his mother about their journey. Hunith was busy around the kitchen chopping and grinding things. Arthur put the bucket back where it had been and took a seat on the other bench at the table. He just let the conversation swirl around him as Hunith and Merlin talked, while he sat there comforted by the feeling of closeness and warmth they gave off. He realized that this was what he had missed the most in his rearing. He and Uther would never be this way.
* * * * *
Arthur awoke alone the next morning. During the night, Constantine had fallen into an exhausted sleep, but just before daybreak, he had wakened everyone with his screams. Merlin had gotten up and after changing him, taken him outside. Hunith had followed and Arthur had laid there feeling useless, not knowing how to care for a sick child, until he had fallen back to sleep. Since the sun was shining, he decided it was time to get up. He sat up, pulled on his boots, and rose up from the pallet on the floor that he had again insisted on taking instead of Hunith's bed. A quick splash of water on his face from the bowl left near the low burning fire and a swipe with the cloth lying near and he headed out the door to search for his missing servant. Looking up and down the hard packed path through the village used as a road, he saw several of the villagers that he recognized and raised his hand to return the greetings from them. Seeing neither Hunith nor Merlin, he decided that it was time to relieve himself and walked behind the small house to find the privy that was a short distance away. As he rounded the corner, he stopped when he saw Hunith sitting on the chopping block holding Constantine and crying copiously with Merlin standing beside her, holding her as if he was the only thing keeping her together. From the hitch in his shoulders, Arthur guessed that he was crying, also. Arthur just stood there for some time, unsure whether he should bother the two in their grief, but also concerned that the grief was for the still baby on Hunith's lap. Finally, he took a step back around the corner so that he was out of their sight and slid down the wall.
Arthur was not a crier. He had learned at an early age to stuff his emotions down so far that they could not surface. As a Knight, he could not afford emotions. He sat there and used every method taught to him by his father and the Knight he had Squired to tamp down the burning emotions that were trying to escape when he thought about the small boy that he had grown more attached to during the journey than he would ever have thought possible. He did not know how long he sat there, but eventually crying brought him to his feet; Constantine's crying. He was up and moving around the corner of the house before he even thought about it. Merlin was holding Constantine and Hunith was wiping her eyes on the corner of the apron she was wearing.
"He's alive," rushed out of Arthur's mouth before his mind could even form coherent thought.
Merlin turned toward him with a questioning frown. "Yes, he's alive. What would make you think that he was not?"
Arthur surprised himself as much as the others when he walked toward Merlin and took the baby that was now mewling like a kitten. He gently swayed him and surprised himself further when he planted a kiss on the tiny forehead. "I was coming around the house and I saw Hunith crying." He cast and apologetic look toward Hunith. "Constantine was lying so motionless on her lap that I thought she was crying because he had passed."
"No, I had just delivered some bad news to her." It was Merlin's turn to look apologetically toward Hunith. That look was back on Merlin's face, the one he had worn since the dragon attack, the one that looked like he would break out sobbing any second. Arthur hated that look. He wondered what news Merlin had that was causing him and Hunith that much grief. Suddenly he wondered if Merlin might be sick, too. The thought sent a chill down his back and clutched an icy hand around his heart.
"Well then I will leave the two of you to talk. Shall I take this little one with me?" Arthur glanced down at the mewling boy in his arms then up at Merlin and Hunith who exchanged a look that he could not fathom and then back at him.
"I'll take him." Merlin told him. "I need to give him some more stomach tea and try to get him to eat or drink something."
"Do you think he will be all right?" Arthur could not help keep the concern out of his voice as he handed the toddler back over to Merlin. He refused to think of the children he had seen so ill in Ascetir.
"I don't think he is as ill as the children we have been trying to help." Merlin put voice to his fears anyway.
All Arthur could do was nod then turn to Hunith with another nod as he prepared to leave. "Hunith."
"Breakfast will be ready soon Arthur, so don't go far." Hunith told him. “I have eggs for you this morning since I noticed that you did not seem to care for porridge when you were here before."
"Thank you, Hunith." Arthur felt a lump swell in his throat at her concern for him. This peasant woman did not treat him with the deference owed to his station; it was different, more as she would treat a son. It was something that took getting used to for Arthur.
Part Five
Part Two
Part Three
Sitting beside the fire, Arthur listened to the murmurs of his men's voices, but their conversations weren’t sinking in. He was keeping an eye on Merlin and the child without appearing to watch them. He had to admit that Merlin had proven to have a way with the child. Arthur had expected crying and tantrums the whole trip. So far, the child, Constantine was his name, had yet to cry. It was hard to tell that he was even along on the trip as smooth as everything had been.
Merlin had taken him up in front of him on his horse and had told him stories in a low voice most of the morning. After a few hours, the boy had fallen asleep. Arthur had taken pity on Merlin then and rode up beside him asking if Merlin thought that it would wake the child if he took him for a while. Merlin had lifted the child's hand, let it drop heavily back to his lap, and pronounced that he thought the child would sleep through it.
After Arthur took the boy and got him situated in what he felt to be a comfortable position in front of him, he suddenly realized the danger that came with small children. When he had voiced his concern to Merlin, it earned him a grin that he didn’t see nearly enough of these days, as Merlin explained that he had positioned dried moss between the cloths covering the child and a cloth that he had oiled to make almost waterproof. Merlin's ingenuity astounded Arthur. Why did he not display that ingenuity when working for Arthur?
"Where are you going now?" Arthur murmured to himself as he saw Merlin pick up the blanket wrapped child and walk into the woods. Arthur got up and walked into the shadows beyond the fire's light, and made his way to where he had seen Merlin and the child disappear. Merlin knew better than to leave the group. "It would be just like him to try to sneak off to Ealdor alone so that he doesn’t have to wear that dress." Arthur mumbled to himself in a low voice.
Hearing a childish giggle only, a few feet into the woods from where Merlin disappeared, he stealthily moved in that direction. He stopped abruptly when saw Merlin and the little boy facing a tree. The child was wearing only a tunic rolled up above his waist. From the waist down, he wore nothing. Arthur was puzzled and about to ask what was going on when he heard Merlin talking.
"Very good, I knew that you could do it." He praised the boy. He seemed to fumble with the laces on his breeches then moved behind the boy to pick him up underneath his arms, take a step back away from the tree and swing him around in a circle, eliciting laughter from the boy.
"Let's get you back into your clothes," Merlin said as he laid the boy on a blanket that Arthur noticed spread on the ground and started putting him back into his clothes. Arthur had to smile that the boy was not making it easy for him. As it looked as if Merlin was almost finished Arthur made his way back to the shadows just outside the firelight near where he expected Merlin to pass.
"Where have you been?" He asked as Merlin drew near. "You know it is dangerous to sneak away from the group. I was about to follow you."
"I was just beyond the light. I had to relieve myself. We do usually do that without the group watching. At least I do." Merlin flippantly replied.
"And I suppose you took him to guard you?" Arthur gestured at the boy.
"No, actually, I was trying to teach him to do it, instead of wetting himself." Merlin grinned at the boy. "It worked. Constantine did very well. He is a smart little one."
The boy smiled at Merlin and seemed to cuddle closer in his arms while Arthur scowled. Merlin started walking toward the fire and sat down, swaddling the child in blankets like an infant then picking him up and cuddling him close again.
Arthur had followed and stood near as he heard Merlin talk softly to the boy. "It's going to be an adventure tonight like the stories I was telling you today. I will hold you until you go to sleep. After you are asleep, I am going to lie down here beside you. I will be right here beside you all night. If you wake up you can wake me if you want to. I won't get mad. If you want us to go wet that tree down again, you can tell me. I like that game.”
Merlin started rocking the boy and Arthur heard him softly humming an old nursery rhyme. Standing over him Arthur could see when the boy's eyes shut and didn’t open again. Giving him a few minutes, he moved closer and sat down on the ground beside Merlin.
"How do you know these things about caring for children?"
"Like I told you, I get lots of practice with you." Merlin grinned what Arthur was sure was supposed to look like an innocent grin.
Arthur reached over and gently pushed his arm making him sway sideways a bit, but not enough to wake up the sleeping child in Merlin's arms.
"I asked some of the servants yesterday, especially Mary from the kitchens. She has eight children of her own. She was a world of information." Merlin sat quietly after he finished explaining.
"You would make a good father." Arthur dropped quietly into the silence that had grown over the last couple of minutes.
Merlin had a wistful smile on his face when he answered. "Maybe, I don't know. When I was growing up, I used to expect to marry and have children someday. I wanted to make sure that my children knew me since I didn't have a father around as I grew up. Since I came to Camelot, it seems that my life may lead in a different direction. Who knows?"
"Merlin, servants can get married and have children. After all, look at...Mary. On the other hand, you may decide to leave my service and be, I don't know, a farmer and have several little Merlins to help you on the farm." Arthur sat grinning at Merlin.
Merlin grinned back. “Yeah, but I’ll probably just be happy to bounce your children my knee and teach them how to grow up not to be a prat like their father.”
The men began to move to their bedrolls around the fire. "Get some sleep; I'll see you in the morning." Arthur moved toward his own bedroll that Merlin had laid out earlier and watched as Merlin stood, moved near him to lay the sleeping boy on one side of his bedroll, lie down to curl his long body around him, cover them both then cuddle the child even closer. He wondered what Merlin thought was standing in his way of having children. Could whatever it was, be what had been bothering him lately.
* * * * *
Looking around the village as they rode into it, Arthur realized that it seemed much the same as Ealdor had been. He imagined that they were just as proud and protective of what they had managed to scrabble out as the people of Ealdor, also. As people began to notice them, several people started gathering in what was probably the center of town. When they drew near the people bowed and one man came forward.
“Sire, welcome to Ascetir.”
“Thank you.” Arthur nodded before dismounting and handing his reins to Merlin. “I am Arthur, Crown Prince of Camelot. Who am I addressing?” He nodded to the man who was evidently the spokesman.
“I am called Gamel, Sire.” The man bobbed his head again.
Arthur had taken the several steps necessary to reach the small knot of people while the man was talking. He stopped in front of the man, who again nervously bobbed his head to Arthur as if he wasn’t sure exactly what he should be doing. Arthur took matters into his own hands and spoke." Word has reached my father, the King, that you are having many people either sickened or ensorcelled.”
The man’s face seemed to pale at the word ensorcelled and glancing up Arthur noted that everyone seemed to become nervous.
“What can you tell me of these people? Have you had any deaths?”
“Yes, Sire, we have had five deaths as yet. All with less than twenty summers, except one who was very elderly.” Arthur raised his eyebrows at that information because it seemed to be the same age group affected in Camelot’s lower village. He allowed the man to continue uninterrupted. “So far, most of our youth and some of our older people are affected. At last count, we had fourteen people still ailing with convulsions or speaking to those not there as if they are having a conversation with them. Most also have stomach complaints. Most of our livestock have also become ill. Some start jumping around and acting as if stung by bees. Usually by the next day, they fall over dead. Last week a horse started jumping, kicking and running in the middle of town and trampled a child to death. It fell dead minutes later, too. Some of the livestock have been limping and a few have lost tails, feet, or ears. They just turn black and fall off with no blood. Three of those have died. We have also found many birds that seem to have just fallen out of the sky.”
Arthur shuddered to think about the limbs falling off. So far, he had only heard of Constantine's father suffering that. He would have to check the livestock when he got home. “Is there someone who can direct the wagon of grain where you need it?” As the man motioned several men came forward from the crowd. Arthur turned to the man. “Now I need you to show me where our animals may be kept and then show me some of the people and animals that have been afflicted.”
“Yes, Sire.” The man was quick to motion them to follow him as he lead them to a stable near the other end of the village than the one they had come in on. “It is not nearly fine enough for your horse and those of your men, but it is the only stable we have in the village that is large enough to hold them.”
The stable was against the side of the blacksmith’s shop. It would do for the few days that they would be there. He looked up and noticed a loft overhead that looked as if it had some hay and straw in it. Looking around he found a ladder about mid-way along the corridor and climbed it into the loft to look around. Sure enough, there was a pile of straw on one end and a pile of hay on the other. Although it was expected of the people to give them shelter, he decided that he and his men would stay here. Since it overlooked the stable area, no one could sneak up on them and a small door on each end of the building would allow air to circulate. They could all be together and the straw would make a better bed than the forest floor that they had slept on last night.
“My men will sleep here also.” Arthur announced as he swung off the ladder several rungs from the bottom.
“I want the Knights with me. Guy and Iwain have your Squires see to all the horses. Kay, I noticed that your Squire was good with Merlin’s little charge here. He shall care for him until we return. Merlin I also require you to come along since you are a physician’s assistant. Maybe you will notice something that we don’t know to look for.” Arthur turned and motioned Gamel to lead the way.
The first place that Gamel led them was to a house across from the stable. He knocked on the door and started explaining as they waited that there were four children in the household and they were all acting very differently lately.
Arthur could hear a baby inside crying before they got to the house. He began to dread being in an enclosed space with a crying baby.
As he feared, the crying got louder when the door opened. The woman that answered the door looked very weary. The weariness turned to shock when she realized that the Prince was standing at her door.
“Sire.” She sank into a curtsy. “My home is very humble, but you are welcome.” She stood back and indicated for them to enter. “Please, have this chair.” She moved a couple steps, pulled the lone chair away from the long scrubbed table and pushed it toward him as two small children gazed at him from one corner where they seemed to be playing with a crudely carved wooden figure. “If you will excuse me I must tend the baby.” She gave another curtsy and at Arthur’s nod of permission, she walked across the room to a cradle and picked up the crying baby.
Arthur allowed his eyes to sweep around the room. It was very simple, similar to the one Hunith lived in when they had visited her, except it was perhaps a bit larger, as was the table with benches on three sides and a lone chair. Just as at Hunith’s house, two large pieces of coarsely woven cloth acted as curtains to provide the only privacy in the house. Unlike Hunith, the family didn’t seem to have a bed. All he could see was the edge of a stack of pallets behind a pushed back curtain.
He supposed that even the woman and her husband slept on the floor.
The woman returned with the crying baby and interrupted his inspection. The volume had gone down a bit when the woman picked the baby up, but it was still crying piteously.
“I am sorry, Sire. He cries almost all the time now. Nothing I do will to make him to stop more than a minute or two. He hardly sleeps now, it seems.”
Arthur gave her a look of sympathy as she cradled the baby against her breast and swayed back and forth. No wonder she looked so weary.
“What are you called?” He asked her softly.
“Elsa, Sire.”
“How long has he been like this, Elsa?” Arthur asked.
“This crying all the time started about two weeks ago. Like this anyway. He has always been a fussy baby, much more trouble than the other three, right from the first. Now sometimes he starts shaking and just bends backwards. I see it and think that his little backbone is going to snap. He seems to be getting weaker. He can hardly even nurse now. I don’t expect to have him long.” She looked down at the baby with sad eyes. “I…”
A noise between gurgling and groaning in the corner interrupted her.
“Mum,” called one of the little boys there.
Arthur looked up to see one of the boys shaking and swaying. Merlin had reacted when the noise started and was already laying the child down on his side. Arthur saw him run a finger into the child’s mouth and evidently was bitten if the shake he gave his finger was any indication.
“What are you doing?” Elsa cried out in a frightened voice.
Arthur glanced back at the mother who was still cradling the baby, but had moved across the floor behind Merlin. “He is a physician’s assistant, Elsa. He has dealt with this many times.”
Merlin lifted the boy and cradled him, much as his mother was doing the baby. Suddenly the boy started screaming and looking toward the Knights with a glassy eyed start. “Run away or I will tell my father that you are here.”
The Knights looked around at each other as the boy kept on. “Don’t hurt me. No. Stop. I’m burning Mummy. Get me out of the fire. Father, can we skip rocks together. It’s too hot.”
By now, the other boy was crying and the mother had moved toward him and slid down the wall so that he could climb into her lap cradled along with the baby. Her eyes never left her little boy in Merlin’s lap that continued to scream and talk. If Arthur didn’t know better he would think the boy burning on the stake from some of the things that he said.
When the drama kept playing out, seemingly with no end in sight, Arthur moved over near the woman and her children and squatted down in front of them. “What of your other child, does it have these afflictions too? And this little one, what of him?”
“The oldest and this one so far have complained only of bouts of dizziness and fingers and toes tingling.” Elsa’s eyes never left the child thrashing in Merlin’s lap, but suddenly as quickly as it had started the thrashing and yelling stopped, but the child started up a mewling sound.
Merlin scooted toward the mother. “Perhaps if you would give me the baby I could examine him and you could comfort this little one.” He told her gently.
Elsa handed over the baby, practically snatched the little boy from Merlin, and cradled him to her breast as she had been doing the baby and the older boy. Arthur watched him begin to calm down a bit as she stroked his hair.
Arthur stood and walked toward the table where Merlin had taken the baby and was in the process of unwrapping him. Arthur could tell by his expression that there was something wrong and moved closer to see if he could spot it without drawing attention of the mother. When he looked down, he didn’t notice anything at first until Merlin gently picked up a tiny foot and he saw it then. One of the tiny toes was becoming black on the end. It was just a small spot, but he had seen gangrene before, so he knew that was what he was looking at. Merlin redressed the still crying baby.
“Can you hold him?” He asked Arthur.
Once he deposited the baby into Arthur's arms, he rummaged around in the bag that he had brought with him and withdrew a small bottle. He looked around and walked toward a bucket of water. He reached up to a shelf on the wall, brought down a small bowl, and filled it full of water. Sitting it down he opened the bottle, poured one drop into the water, and stirred it with a small, shinny wooden stick he had pulled out of his pocket.
“Do you have clean cloths?” he asked the woman quietly. She pointed to a shelf behind one curtain. He walked over to retrieve one that he dipped the very tip of the corner into the water and brought it to the baby that Arthur was now holding. Holding the corner of the rag over the baby’s crying mouth, Merlin squeezed a drop out of it, making sure it slid down the tongue and not just dropping into the throat where it would choke the baby. Still the baby lurched in Arthur’s arms and gave a tiny cough before swallowing and opening his mouth to wail again. Arthur automatically started swaying as he had seen the woman do.
Merlin dipped the rag again and followed the same procedure four more times then went to let the boy that the woman was holding suck some of the water out of it several times, also. Merlin was telling the woman how to use the potion for each of her children when the wailing child in his Arthur's arms quieted a bit. After a few more minutes, it stopped completely. Arthur looked down at the small form in his hands with a bit of surprise.
Merlin stood and came to him to take the baby to put into the crib. Going to the stack of pallets behind the curtain, he removed three of them and laid them on the floor. He went back to the woman, removed the now sleeping little boy from her arms, and laid him on one of the pallets.
“I suggest that the two of you try to get some rest while the two little ones are out.” He told the woman.
Arthur looked around at his men and Gamel and nodded his head toward the door. They all trooped outside and he closed the door and joined them to wait for Merlin who showed only moments later with an expression that Arthur had never seen him wear. He knew that no one in the group was looking forward to the rest of the day.
“How are your crops and grain doing this year?” Arthur asked Gamel to distract himself from what he had seen and what was to come.
“We have had a very rainy spring so we thought that we might have a good harvest this year, but some of the grain now looks as if it will have the same blight that we had last year that made us have a small yield. I fear that we may be contacting the King again before a year has passed for another ration of grain to get us through until next year’s harvest.” Gamel motioned them toward another house. “Here we are. A boy here has already lost an ear and is in danger of losing his other ear and even some fingers and toes are beginning to show black spots.”
* * * * *
Several hours later Arthur was walking on the edge of a grain field with Merlin dogging his footsteps. Arthur had been searching for somewhere quiet, a commodity that was scarce in the small village. He had been shocked and appalled at the shape of some of the people of the town. As Gamel had mentioned, a large portion of the youth and the animals were affected by whatever was happening. There were a scattering of elderly and only two men over thirty, but probably no more than forty.
The people and animals that had what looked like dry rot on their appendages had made him sick to his stomach. He stopped in the shade from the nearby woods and let Merlin catch up so they might talk without raising their voices.
“What did you think? “ He crossed his arms over his chest and waited while Merlin reached out and popped the head off the grain near him and started shredding it from the stalk.
“I don’t think that most of those people have a chance. Some of the ones in Camelot seemed to be making a recovery when we left, but everyone here seems so much worse. So far Camelot has only had one person to start losing appendages, but there are so many children here that are losing fingers and toes.”
“What about the potions that you were giving them?” asked Arthur.
Merlin shook his head. ”Gaius hasn’t really found anything that helps any of them, but a mild sleeping draught can help everyone get some much needed rest. He made up an especially mild one for small children and babies. Well, you saw how it is given.”
“What about that little boy at the first house that was talking like he was being burned on a pyre? Do they always do that?”
“A lot of them talk out of their heads.” Merlin told him. “We have treated people in Camelot that have said things that didn’t even make sense, but you would swear from the way they talked and the way they looked at a spot as if someone was there that they were holding a conversation with a ghost. They almost never make any sense though. It either isn’t really words or like the little boy with thoughts just all over the place and disconnected. Most people say that their skin burns, so that is probably why you thought he was on a pyre.”
“And Gaius can’t find a cause?
Merlin shrugged. “He hasn’t yet, but he is still working on it. You sound as if you are convinced that it is a sickness now and not sorcery.”
It was Arthur’s turn to shrug. “All sorcery that I have come in contact with so far has had a point. What is the point of making poor people sick? I don’t see anything for a sorcerer to gain, so I have a hard time contributing it to sorcery.”
While they had been walking, Merlin had been up to his usual popping the heads off the grain and shredding the grains from the stalk. Suddenly he stopped and looked at his hand. “Ew. This one is weeping. Look! The grains are much larger than the others and black.” He started walking into the field and looking at the numerous stalks that contained the blackened heads. “I guess that Gamel was right. It looks like they do have some kind of blight this year. It is something I have never seen before. I hope that the rest of the Kingdom has an excess. It looks like they are going to need more grain deliveries next year." Merlin threw the grain from him and wiped his hands down his pants.
* * * * *
Arthur awoke to a mischievous ray of sunlight winking in and out between cracks in the barn right into his eyes. He had been awakened during the night by a downpour and was glad that they had the barn to shelter them, though he had heard a few of his men shifting their pallets around to get out from under leaks. That playful little sunbeam gave him hope that the day would continue to clear up and be dry. He hated traveling in the rain. He sat up and stretched his arms over his head yawning. Using his toes, he reached out and tickled Merlin's nose, barely holding in the laughter as Merlin wrinkled his nose and swatted at his foot. Merlin rolled away, but Constantine was lying on his arm so he couldn’t roll all the way over. Standing to get a better angle, Arthur tickled Merlin's ribs with is toes. Constantine was still preventing Merlin from rolling further away, he squirmed then rolled back toward Constantine, almost felling Arthur in the process as his foot was trapped between Merlin and Constantine.
Arthur woofed out a gush of air in surprise and flung his arms about, much like a windmill, trying to keep his balance, all the time trying to jerk his foot out from between Merlin and Constantine. Suddenly he felt something warm around his other ankle, the one he was using for balance. He barely kept a girlish squeak of surprise from escaping. A sudden, surprisingly strong, jerk of that ankle had him toppling backwards to land on his backside on the pallet he had slept on. Thankfully it was padded well with straw underneath. He looked toward Merlin to see him looking back at Arthur with a smile on his face.
"We need to get moving," Arthur said softly to Merlin.
Merlin carefully pulled his arm out from under Constantine and sat up. His hands went quickly to his head as if he was trying to keep it on his shoulders. Arthur was sure that he hadn’t been out drinking with some of the men last night. He had seen him rocking Constantine and listening to stories the villagers were telling around the fire at the center of town. He had seen him leave after the first one finished, carrying the sleeping child to put to bed. Merlin had already been asleep when he had left the fire not long after to seek his own bed. Having evidently decided that his head was going to stay where it was supposed to, Merlin rose and rolled up Arthur's bedding. Moving over to roll Constantine carefully off the pallet onto the straw, he rolled his own bedding. He picked up both their packs and the two bedrolls then stooped and started to pick up the sleeping child.
"I'll get him." Arthur surprised himself by saying. Bending, he picked up the sleeping child and held him in one arm, placing the little head carefully on his shoulder. He descended the ladder, using only one hand and carefully clutching the child to him with the other.
They had paid one of the villagers for the use of two carthorses and a small cart. The horses they had brought were all too fine to give the illusion that they were peasants. Arthur had entrusted his pack with his seal and clothing to Sir Kay. He would be traveling with a pack and clothing much like those Merlin wore.
When he got to the cart, he noticed that Merlin had already put some straw into the bottom and was now unrolling the pallet that he and Constantine had slept on. Arthur laid the small boy on the pallet and covered him. Merlin had already gone ahead to lead out one of the carthorses and began hooking it to the cart. The stable boy brought the other one and hooked it up. Arthur was pleased to note that when the stable hand went to get the feedbags for the horse and a small ration of grain for them that Merlin quickly went around checking the rigging that the stable boy had done. Merlin left and came back with two bowls and a small cloth wrapped parcel. He handed one of the bowls to Arthur, but all Arthur could do was look at it and reach into his pocket where he had stowed away some of the dried meat that he had smoked over the fire during the last several days they had been in the village. He had learned long ago that the rye porridge that village people ate was an acquired taste that he did not feel that he would ever acquire. Merlin simply transferred the porridge into a cleaned gourd that he had brought along for Constantine, covered it with a cloth and nestled it into the straw. Swinging the skin of water off his shoulder Merlin buried it in the straw where it would be easy to reach from the seat. Picking up the other bowl, he made quick work of eating the contents then looked up at Arthur.
"I guess we are ready to go. I will feed Con when he wakes up, but I would rather he sleep until he is ready to wake. It is almost two hours before his normal rising time."
"Where is your dress? You need to put it on now." Arthur used his best commanding voice toward Merlin.
"Arthur, I am not wearing a dress." Merlin shot back.
"But I am the Prince and I told you to wear a dress so we would look like a peasant couple. You are to obey my orders." Arthur was hoping he could force Merlin back into the fun they used to have bantering.
"If you want us to look like a couple then you should wear the dress. You are much prettier than I am. You would make a better woman." Merlin sounded as if he was not having fun.
"Ah, you finally admit that I am good looking." Arthur did not know which surprised him more, the pink color that bloomed from the edge of Merlin's collar up over his face and ears or how pleased he felt by it. He did what he always did when he was uncomfortable and teased Merlin even more. "Still, I told you, I commanded you as your Prince to bring a dress to wear." Arthur prodded one more time.
"Arthur, I am not wearing a dress into Ealdor to be humiliated in front of my mother and the people I grew up around and that is final. If you insist I shall quit your service and just take Constantine and travel back to Ealdor on foot without you and stay there." Merlin looked Arthur in the eye, challenging him.
"You don't have to quit Merlin. I was only teasing you, though if you had worn a dress I would not have admitted it." Arthur tried to appease Merlin. He wondered if Merlin really would have quit his service if he had pushed and he felt a tingle of something that he dare not name run over him as he climbed up onto the wooden seat of the cart. When Merlin settled on the other side, he put the horses into motion.
As they rode out of the village, Arthur noticed that some of the farmers were already piling wood into a pyre outside and downwind of the village where they would again burn the animals that were dying daily. They had been in this village for over a week helping the people as much as they could. At first, the villagers were just dragging the animals to the edge of the village and leaving them. Merlin had told them that with as many carcasses as they had that they needed to burn them to keep the vermin and illnesses down. The Knights were going to stay and help the villagers while he and Merlin took Constantine to Ealdor. Arthur had planned to stay for a week because Merlin felt that it was important for the boy to have someone near that he knew until he became comfortable around other people. Merlin feared that just dropping him off to strangers would be detrimental after what he had suffered already. Arthur hoped that the short distance they were traveling in Cenred's Kingdom between the border and Ealdor would go unnoticed. Since Cenred did not take much notice of the outlying villages he did not feel that they would have much trouble once they reached Ealdor, but he knew that Cenred guarded his borders carefully, looking for an excuse to go to war with Camelot.
Merlin had been quiet on the trip. All of Arthur's efforts to draw him out had been fruitless. They were nearing Ealdor when Constantine finally awakened. Arthur was surprised to hear the whining that turned into soft crying. Constantine had rarely cried on the trip, generally being a good-natured lad. Merlin crawled into the back of the wagon with him.
"Ewwwww, boy you stink." Merlin told the small boy as he began to dig through the pack he had brought for clean cloths to change for the soiled ones. After tipping the water skin over a clean cloth to wet it then taking a drink himself, Merlin offered the skin to Arthur. Arthur merely reached for it and took a long drink instead of chastising Merlin for not offering it to him first.
While Merlin dealt with the dirty bottom of the child, Arthur avoided looking back. The smell was bad enough; he did not want to see it. Minutes later his stomach lurched as he heard the obvious sounds of Merlin heaving over the side of the cart. Considering some of the things that Gaius and Merlin saw and handled, it surprised Arthur that a small boy had managed to bring Merlin to his knees.
A few minutes later a less smelly Constantine was plopped on the wagon seat beside Arthur, still crying a bit. Merlin crawled onto the other side of the seat with the porridge in his hand. After removing the cloth tied to the top, he offered some to the boy in the small wooden spoon he had carved.
"Nhh." The boy whined, turning his head away from the spoon and resuming crying.
"Smart boy," Arthur praised. "I have been meaning to ask, how can you eat that, Merlin?"
Merlin shrugged. "I grew up eating it. I guess you just get used to it. Some winters it was all we had. It is better than starving. "
A few tries with the same results later Merlin seemed to give up, raked the porridge over the side of the wagon, and turned to put the gourd bowl behind him in the straw. Turning back around, he scooped the boy up into his lap. The boy laid his head down on Merlin's shoulder. A few minutes later Merlin was taking off his jacket and wrapping the boy with it.
Arthur looked over toward them. "Is he cold?" He asked. "You don't think he is getting sick do you?"
"He does not feel hot like he has fever, but he is shivering and I have never seen him cry like this." Merlin looked up and turned his head all around him for a few minutes. "Good, just beyond that rise is Ealdor."
Within minutes, people were coming out to meet them, wary of strangers in their small town. When they recognized Merlin and Arthur a whoop went up that brought even more people to see what was going on. Arthur saw Hunith come out of her house and Merlin bailed off the wagon, Con clutched to him and went running to meet her. Arthur saw Hunith enfold Merlin, Constantine and all, right before some of the men that he had met on his last visit were bowing to him and offering to take his wagon and deal with it. Arthur reached behind him into the straw and brought out his sword then climbed down, while another man took all their packs and bedrolls out of the bed of the wagon, and started toward Hunith's house. He had started slowly toward Merlin and his mother, giving them time to themselves when Hunith looked up and saw him. She smiled at him and held her arms out to him as if he, too, were one of her long lost sons. Arthur stepped toward her and found himself swallowed in her embrace much the way Merlin had been. Arthur awkwardly put his arms around her, returned the embrace, and wondered if this is what it would be like to have a mother when he returned home. He decided that he could very well grow to like it. Hunith kissed his brow and backed up to look at all three of them.
"And who have we here?" she questioned as calmly as if Merlin bringing home a small child was a common occurrence.
"Mum, this is Constantine." Merlin said. "His parents are both dead and we could not find relatives for him. He has no one to go to so I brought him here. He is usually quite sunny, but he does not seem to feel well today." Merlin was looking down at the boy clinging to him as he spoke. The soft crying had gotten louder.
“Well, get inside." Hunith shooed them toward her door.
"Oh, Con, not again." Merlin complained as they got inside the door.
"I'll get you some warm water." Hunith said as she evidently got a whiff of what had caused Merlin's comment and moved toward the fireplace. "You can lay him on my bed. Do you need anything else?"
Merlin looked around for his pack and Arthur held up a finger, opened the door where he had seen them deposited and brought all their things inside. He could hear Merlin telling his mother that he had clean cloths and some extra moss in his pack. When Arthur came back inside, he noticed Merlin on the floor. He must have decided not to chance Hunith's linens to Constantine.
"It looks as if he might have some tummy troubles." Hunith said. "No wonder he is not happy."
"Yeah, he woke up in a bad mood today and he wouldn't eat anything for me." Merlin told his mother.
"I will just make him up some stomach tea then." Hunith told Merlin. As she picked up a bucket she said, "I just need to get some water first."
"I'll get that." Arthur said as he sprung toward her, taking the bucket from her hands. It was his turn to arch a brow as she opened her mouth to refuse. "You stay and talk to Merlin."
She finally gave in. "Thank you, Arthur." She reached toward some herbs hanging from the beam above her as he was going out the door.
As Arthur went toward the well that provided water for the village, he could not help but think how different the lives of these people were from his. They did not have as many advantages as he had, but they still seemed happy with their lot in life. There were times that he would like to forget about his crown and live like these people. He knew it was just a daydream and he could never turn away from his people, yet still it was nice to be able to walk through the village with no cares on his shoulders.
As he returned with the water, Merlin was sitting on one of the benches at the table with Con on his lap telling his mother about their journey. Hunith was busy around the kitchen chopping and grinding things. Arthur put the bucket back where it had been and took a seat on the other bench at the table. He just let the conversation swirl around him as Hunith and Merlin talked, while he sat there comforted by the feeling of closeness and warmth they gave off. He realized that this was what he had missed the most in his rearing. He and Uther would never be this way.
* * * * *
Arthur awoke alone the next morning. During the night, Constantine had fallen into an exhausted sleep, but just before daybreak, he had wakened everyone with his screams. Merlin had gotten up and after changing him, taken him outside. Hunith had followed and Arthur had laid there feeling useless, not knowing how to care for a sick child, until he had fallen back to sleep. Since the sun was shining, he decided it was time to get up. He sat up, pulled on his boots, and rose up from the pallet on the floor that he had again insisted on taking instead of Hunith's bed. A quick splash of water on his face from the bowl left near the low burning fire and a swipe with the cloth lying near and he headed out the door to search for his missing servant. Looking up and down the hard packed path through the village used as a road, he saw several of the villagers that he recognized and raised his hand to return the greetings from them. Seeing neither Hunith nor Merlin, he decided that it was time to relieve himself and walked behind the small house to find the privy that was a short distance away. As he rounded the corner, he stopped when he saw Hunith sitting on the chopping block holding Constantine and crying copiously with Merlin standing beside her, holding her as if he was the only thing keeping her together. From the hitch in his shoulders, Arthur guessed that he was crying, also. Arthur just stood there for some time, unsure whether he should bother the two in their grief, but also concerned that the grief was for the still baby on Hunith's lap. Finally, he took a step back around the corner so that he was out of their sight and slid down the wall.
Arthur was not a crier. He had learned at an early age to stuff his emotions down so far that they could not surface. As a Knight, he could not afford emotions. He sat there and used every method taught to him by his father and the Knight he had Squired to tamp down the burning emotions that were trying to escape when he thought about the small boy that he had grown more attached to during the journey than he would ever have thought possible. He did not know how long he sat there, but eventually crying brought him to his feet; Constantine's crying. He was up and moving around the corner of the house before he even thought about it. Merlin was holding Constantine and Hunith was wiping her eyes on the corner of the apron she was wearing.
"He's alive," rushed out of Arthur's mouth before his mind could even form coherent thought.
Merlin turned toward him with a questioning frown. "Yes, he's alive. What would make you think that he was not?"
Arthur surprised himself as much as the others when he walked toward Merlin and took the baby that was now mewling like a kitten. He gently swayed him and surprised himself further when he planted a kiss on the tiny forehead. "I was coming around the house and I saw Hunith crying." He cast and apologetic look toward Hunith. "Constantine was lying so motionless on her lap that I thought she was crying because he had passed."
"No, I had just delivered some bad news to her." It was Merlin's turn to look apologetically toward Hunith. That look was back on Merlin's face, the one he had worn since the dragon attack, the one that looked like he would break out sobbing any second. Arthur hated that look. He wondered what news Merlin had that was causing him and Hunith that much grief. Suddenly he wondered if Merlin might be sick, too. The thought sent a chill down his back and clutched an icy hand around his heart.
"Well then I will leave the two of you to talk. Shall I take this little one with me?" Arthur glanced down at the mewling boy in his arms then up at Merlin and Hunith who exchanged a look that he could not fathom and then back at him.
"I'll take him." Merlin told him. "I need to give him some more stomach tea and try to get him to eat or drink something."
"Do you think he will be all right?" Arthur could not help keep the concern out of his voice as he handed the toddler back over to Merlin. He refused to think of the children he had seen so ill in Ascetir.
"I don't think he is as ill as the children we have been trying to help." Merlin put voice to his fears anyway.
All Arthur could do was nod then turn to Hunith with another nod as he prepared to leave. "Hunith."
"Breakfast will be ready soon Arthur, so don't go far." Hunith told him. “I have eggs for you this morning since I noticed that you did not seem to care for porridge when you were here before."
"Thank you, Hunith." Arthur felt a lump swell in his throat at her concern for him. This peasant woman did not treat him with the deference owed to his station; it was different, more as she would treat a son. It was something that took getting used to for Arthur.
Part Five