Pendragon's Folly, Chapter 6
Title: Pendragon's Folly
Pairing: M/A, eventually.
Characters: in this chapter - Merlin, Gaius, Gwen, Will, Miss Kay.
Rating: PG maybe even U
Chapter Word Count: 9,600
Warnings: No sex
Summary: There's an out of work wizard, a museum, a sizeable donation that turns it into a building site, suspicious happenings and magic. A sort of 'take your fandom to work' story.
Author's note 1: When it comes to romance, this story is the definition of 'slow burn'.
Comments are always greatly appreciated, loved and cherished.
Author's note 2: More thanks than I can say to my beta, plot wrangler and best friend, sparrow2000. And many, many thanks to DJ for (hopefully) catching the typos we missed. If you spot any more, please do let me know.
Disclaimer: I write fan fic. All the characters from the Merlin series are the property of the BBC and Shine, etc. No infringement is intended and no profit is being made from this writing.
Chapter 6
Trudging down Market Street in the predawn gloom after far too little sleep, Merlin wished Camelot was big enough to support a 24-hour coffee shop culture. There might have been an all-night caff behind the station, for the taxi drivers on the graveyard shift, but that was a longer walk than going home to Francis Street. He hugged his jacket around his chest against the chill of what promised to be a fine spring morning and soldiered on.
There had been no time for more than a few quick gulps of bitter, black Nescafé in Arthur's room before they left. Arthur was obviously impatient to be on the road and Merlin didn't want to delay him.
"Leave that," Arthur said when he saw Merlin trying to fold his bedding. "That's what room service is for."
"Won't they charge you extra, for double occupancy?"
"So what if they do? Here, drink this." He poured boiling water into two of the small cups on the tray next to the kettle and handed one to Merlin. "I'll be ready to go in ten." Leaving his own cup where it was, he disappeared into the bathroom. Merlin considered the tiny UHT milk and cream tubs and decided he wasn't that desperate. Instead, he satisfied himself with adding three sachets of sugar.
By the time Arthur reappeared, Merlin had packed away his bedding and got fully dressed, even having his backpack on his shoulder. They stood awkwardly in the middle of the floor, drinking their coffee because it needed to be done. Then Arthur picked up his briefcase and led the way out.
Twenty five minutes later there was a definite lightening in the sky to the east, although the sun had not yet risen. Merlin dug in his pocket for his keys and let himself into the house.
***
Gaius got up at 6:30. He grunted when he saw Merlin, but didn't say anything as he shuffled through to the bathroom. When he reappeared Merlin passed him a cup of tea and went through to the kitchen to make porridge. He had had the radio on since he finished his shower and he could still hear it from where he stood at the cooker.
Speculation had been running high since the station opened at 5:20. Uther's dramatic breakdown had been the second item in the news roundup after the Shipping Forecast and it appeared from what the radio said that, although it had been too late for the first editions of the newspapers, they had all picked it up for their second. It also seemed to be a slow news day, which could only make matters worse for Uther.
As he poured porridge oats and water into a pan the coverage began again and a moment later the volume of the radio abruptly increased. Merlin peered through the kitchen door to see Gaius standing in front of his hi-fi, leaning against the edge of the sideboard on braced arms.
Evan Davis introduced a clip from Question Time. A commentator summarised the rest, calling Uther 'an influential and respected businessmen'. When he described Uther's breakdown, he sounded almost embarrassed, as if it was something unsightly that had to be dealt with, but was best not dwelt on. The implicit admission of potential wrongdoing, however, was fair game and there were promises of more interviews and insights later in the programme. John Humphrys', "We did ask for a representative from the company to come on to talk to us, but no one was available," sounded like some sort of admission of guilt on Uther's behalf.
By 7:15 the company had issued a statement about things said being taken out of context. Merlin dropped a couple of slices of bread into the toaster. He wondered if Arthur had spent the whole of his drive down the M1 on the phone to his father's senior staff.
The radio moved temporarily on to other things. "Who's Geoffrey?" Merlin called through to Gaius. "Was he around when you worked for Uther? Arthur phoned someone called Geoffrey, last night."
"That would be Geoffrey Monmouth," Gaius said. He came and stood in the doorway. "He's Uther's Chief Operations Officer. He's been with him for years. Yes, I knew him. He's a good man. Solid and reliable. Loves Pendragon's."
Merlin served up porridge for both of them and took it through. Gaius sat down at the table and Merlin went back to the kitchen for the toast and his coffee. "Oh, happy birthday," he said as he handed over the golden syrup and placed a plate piled with six slices of toast on the table. "I bought you a bottle of brandy, but I gave some of it to Arthur last night. I'll get you another."
"Don't worry, my boy. I can't imagine you sat up and drank it all. If there's a little bit gone, well, it went to a good cause."
"We didn't," Merlin agreed, opening his bag and retrieving the cognac. "I've never seen him like that. He was really shaken up, but he was on the road just after four." He handed the bottle over with due solemnity and Gaius took it by the neck with a smile, holding it up to the light to check the level. He examined the gift tag and then the label. "Thank you very much," he said. "I shall enjoy this."
In the background the Today programme was discussing football. "This business with Uther is very odd," Gaius said. "You saw it all? Tell me what happened."
So Merlin took his seat and alternated spoons of porridge and sips of coffee with recounting what he had seen of Question Time. "And then he said he was going to repossess a building that was part of his family heritage."
"What?"
Merlin racked his brain to remember Uther's exact words. "It was something like, ‘legal measures to take back a building that has been neglected. He said it is part of his family's heritage and its potential is being wasted."
Gaius sat back in his chair. He shook his head. "No," he said. "No. He wouldn't do something like that. He gave us money to… It must be something else."
"That's what Arthur said."
"Well there you are, then. What did Arthur say he was talking about?"
"He didn't know."
"But you said -"
"I know. He said it couldn't be the Folly, but when I asked what else it could be, he couldn't think of anything."
"But Uther was so enthusiastic about the museum. You heard him. He, he said it had such potential. He wants to repair it properly and…"
"I know Uncle Gaius."
"He promised," Gaius said. "He said to me that he'd see the Folly restored to its original greatness and a place people want to visit again. Everybody wants to visit."
"He said that?"
"Yes, he said," Gaius paused and stared up at a corner of the ceiling. "I promise, he said, I promise all of Camelot will love what we're going to do with this place."
Merlin bit his lip, a slow fear building in his stomach. "Did he actually say it would still be a museum?" he asked.
Gaius started and stared at him. "What else would it be? He must have. I'm sure, he must have."
"I don't know, Uncle Gaius, but…"
"No, Arthur got Gwaine to draw up those new plans. He wouldn't do that if…"
"Unless he didn't know better," Merlin said.
Gaius slumped. "Oh my God," he whispered. "If Arthur didn't know…"
"He didn't. That's part of why I stayed over," Merlin said. "He was... He really didn't know what was going on."
"How was he?" Gaius asked. "I mean..."
"Confused. Really, really worried about his dad."
"Oh. Oh, yes, of course. Uther had a breakdown?"
"Yeah. I didn't think he'd be stupid enough to drive, but…"
"But you decided to play guard dog, anyway. I can understand that."
Merlin nodded. "I'm not sure he was totally safe when he did go, but he swore he was legal and he'd be careful. The way they're reporting it, I wish he had been able to leave last night. Although…"
"Although there would have been nothing he could have done for Uther. I imagine he's up to his neck in meetings now, however." Gaius pushed his empty bowl aside. "Uther will reappear soon. He was never a man to hide and, embarrassing as a public breakdown may be, it's his admission of improper behaviour that will matter. He'll need to deal with that immediately."
"He didn't actually admit to that."
"That's not how it'll play, though. You heard them. They're looking for illegality."
"And his plan to repossess the Folly?"
"If that's what it was."
"Uncle Gaius, I do think that's what he was talking about."
"No," Gaius said. "I'm not going to worry about it until we know more. I might buy the paper on my way in this morning, though." He picked up his knife and moved the butter dish closer to his plate.
Merlin reached over and put the marmalade jar next to it. "What do you think happened?" he asked. "To Uther, I mean."
"I can't even begin to imagine," Gaius said. "He never struck me as the type of man to crack, but it's been a long time. I don't suppose I can claim to know him anymore."
Merlin chewed at his lower lip as he scraped at the remnants of porridge stuck to his bowl. He drew his spoon over his front teeth to clean it off. "I've been thinking," he said, putting the spoon down. He caught Gaius's eyes and, taking a deep breath, asked, "Do you think it could be magic?"
Seeing the reflex denial in Gaius's face, he kept talking. "When the bust of Thomas Pendragon fell and almost hit everyone yesterday, I don't think that was an accident."
"Of course it was."
"It was more than that."
His brows drawn together, Gaius paused. "But magic? That's a bit of a stretch."
"If I can do it, that means it's possible. There's no reason to think I'm the only one in the world."
With a slight shake of his head Gaius took a slice of cold toast from the pile. His voice was deliberate when he said, "Merlin, I've known about your magic since you were a baby." He scooped a large dab of butter onto his knife. "And I've spent years researching, as a result. If anyone in Camelot had been doing anything out of the ordinary, I'd have noticed and I wouldn't have rationalised it away as most people would."
"I know, so that means something's changed."
"Or, it means you're allowing your imagination to run away with you."
"Uncle Gaius, I know what I felt," Merlin said. "There's something, someone, out there. Someone close by."
He paused and marshalled his thoughts. "When the bust fell, I felt something strange. The air in the room tasted hot and sort of brittle." Gaius's hand paused in the act of reaching for the marmalade and he looked up. His eyes narrowed as he completed the movement. "It was weird," Merlin said. "And it hung around for ages. Even when we were upstairs." He passed Gaius a teaspoon and Gaius spooned marmalade onto the edge of his plate. "Afterwards, while I was working in the Ticket Office, I realised that when Arthur tripped and almost fell under that car, there was something, something similar. Like, like ozone... But not."
Gaius raised an encouraging eyebrow and Merlin pursed his lips as he tried to verbalise the sensation he remembered. "It's not really a taste. It's more… sort of like a colour tickling at the back of my brain." He was staring at Gaius so intently he could almost see Gaius's thoughts before he spoke them. "I'm not imagining it. And I'm not rationalising after the event. It really was there."
Gaius sat back in his chair. "Okay," he said. "You're the one with first-hand knowledge of magic, so let's say I believe you." He held up a staying hand. "I'm not accusing you of lying. Let's accept that you are not mistaken. How do we find out who it is and why they're doing it? Who would do such a cruel thing?"
"I don't know, but I think I know who to ask."
"Who?"
"Miss Kay. I think… I think she has magic, or at least knows about magic."
Gaius put his knife down on the table, smearing buttery marmalade across the cloth. "Has everybody in Camelot suddenly developed a knowledge of the arcane without telling me?" he demanded. "Miss Kay? Are you sure?" Merlin opened his mouth to answer, but Gaius held up his hand again to forestall him. "Of course you're sure," he said.
Merlin grinned with relief, poured more tea into Gaius's mug and got up to make himself another coffee. Speaking from the kitchen as the kettle boiled, he told Gaius all the things he hadn't said before about his and Arthur's visit to Miss Kay. Including the moment of terror he had felt when she looked at him, after his attempt to probe behind her mask.
"Miss Kay?" Gaius said again. Merlin could understand his incredulity. Miss Kay appeared so normal. Usually.
Gaius waited until Merlin sat down with his coffee before he spoke again and when he did, he surprised Merlin. "Is she dangerous?" he asked. "Are you sure you should go back?"
It was more of a relief than Merlin had expected that Gaius believed him so completely, but having spoken the incident out loud, he was also able to put it into context. "I think so," he said. "I don't know what she is, but I don't think she means me any harm." He looked down into his mug and watched a small patch of undissolved coffee granule circulate slowly around the rim. Looking up again, he said, "I'm not even sure she was aware of how I felt. I don't think she's totally human and I think I saw that. Or something." He shook his head. "I can't explain," he admitted, "but I don't think she intended to frighten me. I don't know how I know, but I'm sure she's safe."
Gaius still didn't look happy, so Merlin said, "I'll wait until tomorrow. Think about it some more. But I do think she's the only person I can ask who might know something."
Gaius nodded, but all he said was, "Well, as long as you promise to be careful."
***
On their way to the museum they stopped at the corner shop to buy a copy of each of the broadsheets. "Not that we'll be able to confirm magic from anything they say," Gaius complained wryly, "but at least we'll get an idea of the size of the scandal." On impulse, Merlin also picked up a copy of the Daily News.
When they got to the office, Gaius spread the papers across his desk and they went through them.
The Guardian, The Times and The Independent were all running the story on inside pages. They all quoted Uther's admissions, but it was apparent they had been taken by surprise. The coverage was diverse and Gaius and Merlin took it in turns to read passages aloud.
The Guardian's main coverage was on page three and was worked around the twin tracks of dishonesty in business and the toll that the stress of overwork can place on a person's mental health. In addition to the news story, The Independent's opinion piece used phrases like 'alleged misconduct' and called for an official enquiry into historic business practices. The Times considered the various political and cultural donations Uther had made over the years and speculated on whether the political ones would have to be paid back. It made Merlin wonder what would happen once they had all had a chance to dig a bit and check their facts.
"I'll look at the on-line versions, later," he said. "Just in case they have any updates. I should be safe, as long as I avoid the comments."
It was the tabloid Daily News that had the most uncompromising coverage. A side column story on the front page had the headline 'Scandal on Prime Time'. In short, easily digested paragraphs the article demanded to know exactly what laws Uther had bent, exactly which workers he had abused and sacked and exactly what crooked deals he had done to build his empire. The tone was accusatory and the impression it gave of Uther was of a fabulously rich man who was, in all probability, the next worst thing to a mass murderer.
It was not all empty accusation, though. Specific cases were quoted - the Docklands development in Caerleon, a shopping centre in Norwich, a paper warehouse and an industrial park in Preston and a psychiatric hospital site in Leeds, most of them dating back to the 80s and early 90s. Arthur was mentioned prominently as being Uther's heir and right-hand man. There was no clear statement that they were crooked, but the implication was there.
It was only when he had finished reading that Merlin looked up at the top of the page. The byline on the article was William Birch. He picked up his phone. When Gaius raised a questioning eyebrow, he tossed the paper across the desk to him, pointing at the name. The phone rang and clicked through to voicemail. He put it down and pulled his laptop out of his bag.
Ten minutes later he closed Firefox and picked up the phone again. This time, when he punched in the number, it only rang once. "Daily News," a bright voice announced.
"Could I speak to Will Birch, please? It's important." Opposite him, Gaius finished reading the article and pushed the paper away.
Will's voice came on the line. "Hello? William Birch."
"Will," Merlin said. "What are you doing?"
There was a momentary pause. "Merlin?" Will asked.
"Yes, it's Merlin."
"Well hello to you, too." Will sounded faintly amused and a little puzzled. "Why are you calling?" There was another pause. "It's not even nine. How did you know I'd be in?"
"Your mobile's off. Stop stalling. What the hell are you doing?"
The pause that followed that was decidedly frosty. Or possibly shocked. "What do you mean, what am I doing?" Will asked. "Are you talking about the Pendragon piece?"
"Of course I'm talking about the Pendragon piece," Merlin said. "Why did you do it? Arthur's not like that and you have no evidence to support your accusations." He glanced over at Gaius and found himself the subject of a very intense stare.
Will's response to his challenge broke their gaze. "The lawyers approved every word in that article," Will said. "Uther has a reputation in the city for being both ruthless and focused."
In spite of Gaius's continued attention, Merlin asked, "And Arthur? Has he got a reputation, too?"
Will sighed down the line. "Maybe. Maybe not," he admitted. "But he has been working for his dad for years."
"He was at university until three years ago."
"Which means he's had three years of intimate involvement in everything his father does. Plus, he worked for Pendragon's when he was a student. Merlin, he's not a beginner at this. He's been working with his father for more than six years, and taking more and more of the decisions with each one. It's a private company. Rumour is Uther inherited a lot of money from his wife and given what he said about her last night..." He stopped talking and took a breath, before continuing in a calmer voice. "Your Arthur is Uther's son and a member of the company board. What makes you think he's ignorant? Do you have reason to believe he's too stupid to see what his dad's been doing?" Merlin looked up at Gaius and smiled tightly. At the other end of the phone line Will said, "Even if he's not an active cheat himself, he's guilty by association."
Gaius smiled back encouragingly.
"Even if what you say is true," Merlin objected, "it was all years ago, Will, when Arthur was still at school."
"The cases I've dug up so far were," Will said, "but if he was doing it back then-"
Interrupting, Merlin said, "Exactly. If anyone was doing anything, it was Uther, not Arthur. Why have you tried to smear him with the same brush?"
There was a snort of sour amusement at the other end of the phone line. "Same brush? Good one Merlin."
Sitting back, Merlin glared up at the ceiling. "Oh, for goodness sake, Will."
Abruptly serious again, Will cut in. "No, Merlin. He's Director of Special Projects, but that's just to give him a title that explains why he's at the same level on the totem pole as Geoffrey Monmouth. Who knows what his real job is?"
Merlin looked across the desk at Gaius, who was still watching him, now with a frown. He grimaced and Gaius winced. "Arthur is Uther's son." he said. "Of course he's on the Board. Come on, Will. No other paper took that angle. We got them all and I've checked."
"No other newspaper's been investigating Uther Pendragon for the last four weeks," Will retorted. "It won't take them long to take hold of what I've given them and run with it. Plagiarising tossers!" Changing his tone from defence to attack, he asked, "Anyway, what's with you? You were the one complaining at me every time we talked, when he first arrived."
Merlin gasped and Gaius opened his mouth. Merlin shushed him with a gesture and looked away so he could concentrate on Will. "What?" he asked. "You cannot be claiming I set you off to write this."
"You told me what your uncle said about Uther Pendragon. You said Arthur Pendragon was a tosser. I did some digging and just when I was ready to submit my piece, Dad admits his crimes on television. Honestly, Merlin, the timing couldn't have been more perfect." He laughed. "Question Time, too. What a venue to choose."
Merlin refused to give up too easily. "What evidence do you have to support your accusation against Uther and why do you think Arthur's involved in whatever he might have done?" he asked.
Will snorted and Merlin could tell he was getting annoyed again. "So you think Arthur Pendragon's pretty," Will said. "You've got a crush. Well that doesn't make him a good guy, okay?" He paused and Merlin heard him take a deep breath and let it out. "Listen," he said more calmly. "If it's any consolation, I haven't found anything on your boyfriend. Yet. But the Pendragons have no grounds to sue. I said nothing in that article that he, or anyone else, could object to. Anyone who isn't you." He was quiet for a moment. "I've got to go," he said. "I'll speak to you later, when you're thinking more like a sane person, yeah?"
The line went dead and Merlin put the phone down. "He says he's got nothing on Arthur, but he's still digging."
"Don't blame yourself, my boy," Gaius said. "Will's a journalist. It's his job to go after rumours and expose the truth."
"Yeah. Makes me realise I need to be careful what I say to him in future though."
"And that's sad," Gaius agreed. "But this stuff -" he pointed at the copy of the Daily News, "is all old hat. It will cause the company and Uther problems, but it doesn't touch Arthur. And that's your real concern, isn't it?"
Merlin opened his mouth, decided he didn't know himself what he thought about Arthur, so closed it again. He picked up the paper and glanced down the article. The words 'Docklands', 'Caerleon' and '1983' caught his eye and he looked back at Gaius. "You worked for Pendragon's in the 80s and 90s, didn't you?" he said.
Gaius frowned, his face suddenly guarded. "Yes," he admitted. "I left in 1994."
"Did you..? Is what Will's dug up true?"
"I was never close enough to Uther's business to really know," Gaius said.
"You said you were his Personnel Manager."
"Yes, I was." Gaius looked away towards the window and blinked a couple of times, his mouth pursed.
Grasping at straws, Merlin asked, "Is that why you left? Because you found out?"
The sharp clip of heeled footsteps on the marble floor of the balcony outside caused Gaius to turn towards the door, listening, but Gwen didn't stop and the footsteps faded. Gaius settled back in his chair, his face calm. "Is that why I left?" he asked. "I wish I could say that it was. But if I'm honest with myself, I made sure that I didn't know the details of Uther's business practices. I closed my eyes to things I didn't want to see." He sighed. "It was a different time. Thatcher's Britain. And Uther was exactly the man to prosper in such an environment. I suspected that his dealings were not totally above board. I don't believe he would do anything that was actually illegal, but..." He looked down at his hands and when he looked up to meet Merlin's eyes, his face was heavy with sadness, or regret. "In the end, yes, I suppose that was one of the reasons I left. But the truth is, I stayed as long as I needed to and I didn't leave until I had enough money saved to give me a comfortable cushion. Enough so I didn't have to work, if I didn't want to.
Merlin reached across the desk and laid a hand over one of Gaius's. "It's okay," he said, but the return of the clipping footsteps, followed by the door opening to admit Gwen, prevented him from saying anything more. Instead he jumped to his feet and cried, "Coffee?" as he walked over to the kettle, drawing her with him.
They made coffee for themselves and tea for Gaius. Merlin engaged Gwen in the sort of light conversation that held her attention on him and by the time they took their mugs across to Gaius's desk, Gaius had composed himself. He smiled with genuine warmth when Gwen presented him with a card and a beautiful brass photo frame made by her father.
"I'll use it for that picture of your mother holding you back from the edge of the lake, when you were two," he said smiling at Merlin, who scowled back at him. His smile growing into an honest grin he said to Gwen, "He was determined to prove he could swim. Or possibly drown."
Inevitably the conversation turned to Question Time. Gwen had watched it and they talked it all through, with Gwen adding additional details that Merlin had missed. Gwen had also guessed that the building Uther had mentioned was the Folly and, like Gaius and Merlin, she was worried with no idea of a solution. Gaius agreed to speak informally to those board members he knew well enough, but he was almost as concerned about encouraging rumours as he was that their fears were true. Eventually they had to agree they had no idea what the next sensible move was. All they could do, immediately, was continue as they were and wait for Arthur.
At 10:30, Merlin finished going through the revised work schedule with Leon and was walking back through the Great Hall when he took a call from a clerk at Pendragon's, arranging delivery of a portacabin that afternoon. He went to give Gwen the good news.
They heard nothing from Arthur that day. The rest of Merlin's morning was spent helping Gwen to prepare for the portacabin's arrival. Once it was safely installed on the front lawn, they worked late into the evening, setting it out ready for the Museum Club to meet.
*****
The next morning Merlin woke early and popped out to the newsagents before breakfast. In Mr Kumar's tiny shop, crowded with newspapers and magazines along one wall and shelves of sugar, tinned soup and teabags along the other, he scanned the dailies. There didn't seem to be anything more about Uther. He skimmed through the first few pages of The Sun and the Daily Mail, before checking the Daily News. Nothing.
He had just put down the Mirror, when he realised Mr Kumar was frowning at him, so he guiltily bought the Saturday edition of the Camelot Echo and a copy of The Times.
Over their porridge, Gaius read through the Echo while Merlin scoured the news, business and even the cultural sections of The Times. There was a profile of Uther, but the only new information the article contained was that Uther had been admitted to a private nursing home. Other than that there was only a report on the falling share price of a company that relied heavily on Pendragon's for work.
The Echo on the other hand had dedicated most of its front page and the next two to the story, but the content was mostly a rehash of previous articles in other papers. "They say: There's no clarity as to the building Mr Pendragon referred to, but this correspondent has been assured that it is not the Camelot museum." Gaius said. "Who would have assured them, do you think? Arthur?"
"I don't know"
"Well, apart from that there's nothing new here." Gaius tossed the paper on the floor beside his chair.
"Maybe it's over," Merlin suggested.
Gaius shook his head. "I fear that is too optimistic. Geoffrey and Arthur have managed to close the lid on more revelations, which is pretty impressive. Arthur must command significant loyalty from his people, because you can be sure all his senior staff are being hounded by now. I'm almost surprised no one's tracked me down yet. But it's not a big enough story to warrant front-page speculation. After yesterday's revelations they'll be gathering more to release tomorrow, or on Monday. Although it's possible the long weekend will slow things down."
"Why do you say Arthur must command loyalty? Why not Uther?"
"Because a leader can only earn loyalty by demonstrating loyalty. Uther has always been too ruthless for that. Arthur is a different sort of man."
"I'm glad you think so."
"I'll feel a lot better when I hear what's going to happen to the museum, though," Gaius said. "Given what the Echo says, there's a chance he was not referring to the Folly."
Merlin glanced across at his backpack, resting against the sideboard. "I think you should see the programme," he said. "We can go into the office and you can watch it on the iPlayer on my laptop. The connection's faster there and Miss Kay doesn't know I'm coming, so it's not like I'll be late. I need to check the bus times anyway, I forgot yesterday, in all the rush with Gwen."
"You're still going, then?"
"Yes," Merlin said.
They watched the programme together, sitting at the round table in Gaius's workroom. But as soon as it was over, Gaius shooed him off. "Away with you," he said, "if you've got to go. I need to think and I don't need you fidgeting at me while I do so."
Merlin went. He had fifteen minutes to get to Market Square to catch the first bus to Staubridge.
Although he had no idea how he was going to broach the subject of magic with Miss Kay, he spent the journey looking out of the widow at the passing countryside and couldn't find it in himself to worry about it. It was a beautiful day. Wide feathers of white had painted themselves against a sky of such a rare blue it almost wasn't there. He might end up playing the fool and facing the scorn of a well brought up old lady, but he doubted it. Miss Kay had not said the things she had by accident. And there was nothing senile about her, whatever she turned out to be.
At ten to eleven the bus pulled up and the driver shouted, "Red Dragon."
Merlin got off and stood on the grass verge as the bus pulled away. He looked around. The pub on the opposite side of the road was a solid, stone-built building with outhouses that had obviously once been stables and a barn. The road was empty of traffic and it was the only house in sight. But a few yards along the road a gate was set into the hedge. Merlin walked over to inspect it.
It was a heavy wooden affair, well maintained and oiled, with the words 'Heythorpe House' carved deeply into its top rail. He pushed it open and went through. A flagstone path was almost hidden in a narrow stretch of long, sunlit grass, before plunging into woodland. He followed it and entered a dappled green world. Within fifteen yards, looking back he could no longer see either the road or the pub.
The path followed as even a route as possible, but as a result it didn't take a straight course through the trees. The air smelt moistly of wild garlic. After a further hundred yards a narrow stream tricked down the slope on his right and under one wide flag. After another hundred, a little daylight was visible ahead and shortly after that the prospect abruptly opened out. The flagstones ended and a yellow cinder path continued straight along the edge of a trimmed square of lawn in which were set white croquet hoops. It was bordered by narrow flowerbeds full of dwarf daffodils, crocuses and primulas. Beyond that was Heythorpe House.
The back door opened as he approached and Miss Kay stepped out. She smiled. "Welcome, young warlock," she said.
"Oh, um, hello," Merlin said. "I hope you don't mind me coming in this way, but you said-"
"I know what I said," Miss Kay replied. "You are welcome here. Come in."
She stepped back and Merlin walked past her into a large kitchen dominated by a scrubbed wood table on which stood two mugs, a sugar bowl and a small jug. "Sit," she instructed and Merlin did as he was told.
Leaving the door to the garden open, Miss Kay crossed behind him and around the end of the table. She took the seat opposite him, her back to the door leading further into the house, and placed a plate of thick cheese sandwiches between them. Indicating the mug in front of him, she said, "Coffee."
Merlin nodded helplessly. "Yes, thank you. How, how did you know?"
At that Miss Kay laughed. "There is no magic involved, young Merlin. I saw your face when I served you tea. You are a confirmed coffee drinker, I think."
"Yes, I mean, I like tea, too, but..." He stopped. "You were expecting me."
"I know when the first bus from Camelot passes the Red Dragon and after Uther's performance two night ago I thought it probable you would come." She smiled. "You might not, of course. You have free will. But since I invited you, I thought you might."
A light breeze blew across the back of Merlin's neck. "Did you know what was going to happen?" he asked.
Miss Kay sat back in her chair and regarded him levelly. There was a note in her voice when she spoke that Merlin couldn't identify, but sounded a little like satisfaction. "I felt something moving on Thursday." She picked up a teaspoon and stirred her mug, although she had added nothing to it. "Where were you when the spell climaxed?"
"Umm... I, I went with Arthur to watch TV. Why do you ask?"
"Of course you were with Arthur," Miss Kay said quietly and Merlin thought she was talking to herself, rather than to him. "That was why I couldn't see."
Merlin spooned sugar into his own mug, to cover for the bubble of nervous excitement that was building in his chest, and topped it up with a splash of milk.
Miss Kay shifted slightly in her chair. "Like calls to like, young Warlock," she said.
Merlin looked up sharply. "Like?" he asked, the bubble bursting into hope. "Are, are you saying Arthur does have magic?"
"No." Miss Kay shook her head and although it felt like a splash of cold water to the face, Merlin didn't doubt her word. "You are two sides of the same coin, you and he," she said. "But the faces of a coin are different." She placed both her hands around her mug, but didn't pick it up to drink. "You are magic," she explained. "He was created by magic."
"What?" Merlin sat forward, put his put his forearms on the table and leaned over them. "He was created...? I don't understand.... How?"
Miss Kay pushed her mug aside and mirrored his pose. "Uther wanted a son," she said. "He made his wife's life miserable with that desire. They went to doctors, but the children the doctors bred in their test tubes would not lodge in Ygraine's womb. So she went looking for other help. And she found it. The ignorant call it New Age, but it is older than the hills. In these benighted times, most is nothing more than human sentiment and half remembered myth, but Ygraine found one who was not deluded, nor a charlatan. She found real power, hiding in plain sight." Miss Kay leaned further forward and Merlin responded instinctively, sitting back in his chair. Realising what he had done, he straightened, but Miss Kay seemed not to have noticed. "Uther made a deal," she said, "however unknowingly and Ygraine died. To create a life, a life must be given. That-"
"Hang on," Merlin said. "Uther made a deal?"
A slight smile twisted one corner of Miss Kay's mouth. "He did," she confirmed. "In the presence of the witch he told Ygraine that a barren wife was worthless to him and he needed a son."
"But that's awful. How could he say- And that was enough? But Arthur said his father loved his mother. He still misses her."
"That was enough. Guilt can appear as love, to those on the outside. And when she was finally pregnant... I may perhaps be generous and imagine that, for those few months, he did indeed love her."
Which was all horribly fascinating and answered many of the questions Merlin hadn't known how to ask, while giving him much more to think about, but it was not the primary reason for his visit. "What happened on Thursday?" he asked.
"There is magic at work," said Miss Kay. "Wild magic. Untrained magic." She lowered her brows and looked across at Merlin from under them. It added even more weight to her words. "Physically changing the fabric of the world is powerful magic. It is beyond the capacity of an untrained human, unless they have an object of power to give them focus. Even then it is exhausting for the wielder of the magic. It sets off ripples that spread far beyond the influence of the spell. Ripples that can be sensed, by those who know what to look for."
She stopped speaking and watched him take that in, waiting patiently while he adjusted his world view to include the sure knowledge that there were other people in the world with magic. After a while, he said, "I'm untrained."
"Yours is not wild magic," Miss Kay said. "You are magic and with every breath of the world you take into yourself, with every exhalation, you exchange the essence of magic. You are improving your balance just by breathing."
"Is that special somehow, then?"
"That is different. It is even unique."
"And this other magic using person?"
"Is attempting to direct the storm. Untrained, she risks her mind and her soul with every spell cast. She may be lucky." Miss Kay left that hanging and the implication of the unknown's chances of being so lucky were clear.
"Her soul?" Merlin asked.
Miss Kay laughed, a deep and gravelly sound that didn't fit with her genteel appearance. "Curb your lurid imagination, young Warlock; there is no devil involved. Magic is a natural force, neither on the side of your Christian good, nor that of your concept of evil."
"Okay. But she? It's a woman then?"
"It is."
"And that's it? You can't tell me who? How am I supposed to stop them if I don't know who I'm stopping?"
"That is not your immediate concern," Miss Kay said firmly. "To save your museum and your dreams, to save Arthur, you must first discover the means by which Uther plans to achieve his ends."
Accepting the switch in conversational gears, Merlin asked, "So it's true, it is the Folly he wants?"
"Obviously," Miss Kay agreed. If she had not been such a very proper lady, Merlin might have described her expression as smug. She smiled slightly but there was no warmth in it. "He has always yearned for more than he has managed to build. He resents the profligacy of his ancestors."
"Do you know what we should do?"
"I have already told you. Search and you will find what you seek."
"But what about-?"
"Enough. I have said all I am going to say." She smiled again, more warmly, and suddenly she was just an elderly lady in a tweed twinset. "The bus comes back past the Red Dragon in ten minutes. You will have to hurry if you are to catch it." She got up and Merlin automatically stood too. With a regal nod, she turned away and disappeared into the house.
Perplexed and confused, Merlin stood where she had left him. He wanted her to explain, to tell him more, to tell him what he was looking for and where to find it, but manners dictated that he couldn't follow her. He turned on his heel, left the house and ran.
***
Where the journey out had been one of idle speculation, spiced by a mere touch of nervous anticipation, the trip back to Camelot was a jumble of chaotic thoughts and impressions. The bus had pulled up at the bus station and the driver was telling him it was going out of service before Merlin realised they were back in town. Reluctantly, he hauled himself off and wandered aimlessly around the shopping streets, until he found himself in front of the library in Market Square. On impulse, he went in.
It turned out that the lending library had very few law texts of any sort, let alone books specialising in property law. The reference section was better stocked, but that was where he hit his next problem - regardless of which book he picked up, within a page or two he was totally lost. The language would have defeated him had he been in a fit state to concentrate. As it was, every time he tried to re-read a sentence, his brain would skitter off to worry at the things Miss Kay had said.
After an hour he gave up on proper law books, pulled his laptop out of his bag and went in search of 'Property Law for Dummies' on the web. He managed to push the question of magic to the back of his mind by focusing on Google search terms. For some reason, it was always easier to read and absorb text from the screen, although there was the perennial problem of telling when pages were American and which were British. Even when he limited his search to UK hosted sites, he kept getting American content. One particularly promising site turned out to be anything but, when, after spending twenty minutes fighting his way through the terminology he noticed accreditation to The American Bar Association at the bottom. With a groan, he gave up.
It was only 2:30 and he decided to go to the Folly, to talk everything through with Gaius. Gwen would have finished for the day, but Gaius would hang around until 4:00, to lock up.
The automatic doors had opened in front of him and he was about to step out into the street, when he had a different idea and veered off to the desk.
The librarian seemed pleased to have a customer and was happy to show him where the local history collection was kept. She pointed him towards all the resources they had, demonstrated the catalogue system and would probably have stayed to help him search, except that another visitor interrupted to ask for a book that had been laid aside for him. Left alone, Merlin pulled the archive boxes labelled 'Camelot 1882' down from the shelf and took them across to one of the tables. There was a shelf of similar boxes in Gaius's workroom and his weeks at the museum had taught him about handling historical artefacts. He worked his way carefully through the first box, studying each of the letters and documents in turn, before putting them aside. Most of the contents referred to the Pendragon & Burnt factory, an industrial dispute that had apparently closed the works for two weeks and the work of the Poor Relief Society in the back streets behind the railway station. It was fascinating in its way and he found the exercise soothing, but it was not what he was looking for.
The second box contained a scrapbook full of articles cut from local newspapers. One account announced the opening of the Pendragon Memorial Museum with long sentences and dense type. But the reporter concentrated on the benevolence of Mr Thomas Pendragon and the sad loss of his son: 'a flower cut down in the promise of his youth and so prevented from growing into another tall pillar of society, but as a result of whose sad demise, a jewel of educational wonder and delight has been bequeathed to the town'. There was no mention of anything that Uther might be using as an excuse to take the Folly back into his own ownership, but given the tone of the piece that was not surprising.
The rest of the scrapbook was dedicated to announcements of births, obituaries and social events, such as the staging of the Pirates of Penzance at the Camelot Opera House and Musical Hall and the 'coming out' balls of various young ladies of the area and their later marriages. One such that caught his eye was the marriage of a Miss Gwendolyn Chapman to a Mr Charles le Fay. He wondered if they were Morgana's great-grandparents or, doing his sums, her great-great-grandparents.
After another hour he admitted that there was little chance he would find anything useful, but it was only when the library closed that he packed everything away and left.
The sun was slanting over the roof tops as he walked across the cobbles of Market Square and paused to wait for a space in the traffic, to cross the road. He was standing exactly where Arthur had almost gone under a car. Turning, he looked up at the windows of the DuLac & Lott offices. The blinds were drawn across the bay windows, only the window to Morgana's office in the attic stood bare and dark against the white paintwork.
With a shake of his head, he crossed over, left the square and headed towards the Folly. As he approached the T-junction that offered a left turn to the Folly, or a right turn for home, he checked his watch. It was a quarter past five. He turned right.
***
Gaius was waiting for him with supper on the table when he got in and over sliced ham and salad he recounted his visits to Heythorpe House and to the library. "If it was something to do with the bequest, I thought it might be in the papers at the time," he concluded, "but that was a long shot. I didn't find anything. "
"Tell me again what Miss Kay said," Gaius asked.
"After the thing about Arthur and magic?" Gaius nodded and Merlin grinned. In telling Gaius about Miss Kay, the excitement and trepidation he had felt in her presence had returned. "You know, it's sort of amazing, Uncle Gaius. It's like... I've spent my whole life thinking I was the only one who could do this stuff. I've had to hide it, so I wasn't a freak. And she just comes out and says it. Like it's no big deal. Like everyone knows about magic." He shook his head. "I still can't believe it really."
"It is certainly a shock. I've known Miss Kay, to say hello to, for years, and…" Gaius petered out.
"Yeah," Merlin agreed.
Gaius rested his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together over his plate. "Putting the magic aside for a moment." He caught Merlin's eye. "Yes, I know," he said, "but let's try. Uther's television appearance has caused a great deal of concern among the members of the Board. I spoke to George Simms this morning. He says Herbert Parker is quite angry."
"Who are George Simms and Herbert Parker?"
"They've been on the Board of Trustees longer than anyone. Quite vocal and influential. Not particularly popular with the other members, but until now I've always got along with them all right."
"Well, I'm not surprised they're annoyed," Merlin agreed. He caught something in Gaius's expression. "Not with you?" he asked.
Shrugging, Gaius sighed. "I got Uther involved." He picked up his fork and speared a segment of tomato. "They're searching for a scapegoat."
"That's stupid!"
"Possibly. But it's also human nature. However, James Borden at the County Records Office is a friend. I'll call him on Tuesday, to see whether he thinks he has anything. He should have the actual minutes of the meeting where the bequest was discussed. Not that I hold out much hope that they'll tell us anything. In my experience, those minutes are written to give nothing away. I imagine there's an art to it."
"And we don't even know what we're looking for."
"Then we must hope we recognise it when we see it."
***
The following day being Sunday, Gaius retreated to his office in the front room to work on the article he was writing, while Merlin searched through his magic book, looking for inspiration. All the seeking and direction spells mentioned seemed to require a focus, but they gave no hints to what a focus was, or how it was used.
Near the back of the book was an isolated quote that, if read in a certain way, appeared to describe the sensation for a practitioner of touching someone else's magic. Merlin lay on his back on top of his bed and consciously relaxed.
Within moments he felt Gaius, sitting like a warm, mossy log on the edge of his awareness. He rolled across the surface of Gaius's existence and for the first time tried to sink below it. A picture of a barrow grave formed in front of his mind's eye, along with the names Aethelbert, Wulfgar and Oswy.
Drawing away from Gaius, he inserted himself into the outside world, spreading his sense of touch like a cobweb blanket across the houses, not probing anywhere in particular, but aware of everywhere. The Tor stood like a beacon of light on the horizon of his mind and elsewhere there were bubbles and starbursts of activity disrupting the fog. But each time he focused on them they dissipated. He spread further, out of the town and into the fields and villages beyond. He lapped around the base of the Tor and swirled into the well beneath the duck pond on Rosebeck's village green, to taste the texture of history still buried there. He felt the Fox in the hedgerow behind Home Farm in Lillebrook and the badgers curled in their den in the woods below Oswald Green. And the people. So many people, all living and gloriously breathing, and laughing, and crying, and praying. And sometimes sending a spark of light up like a signal - the occasional magic of everyday folk, so similar and so different from the salty flashes of the feral cats, or the stone hard somnolence of the cattle in the fields. There were so many different flavours of magic in the world and Merlin floated above, around and through them all, cataloguing each in turn and almost bursting with the pure love of existence.
His absorption was such that he almost missed the hole in the world to the west. It was not until it prodded him with the voice of a mellow bell and coarse gravel that his focus was drawn down and in towards that spot.
"Take care, young warlock," the colours whispered - brown and green and hard edged. "You are playing with dangerous fire."
"Why? What?" Merlin wondered.
The voice danced back in stately measures, "Test yourself by all means, but do not lose yourself. This corner of this ancient land needs you to remain in your body for a few years more."
Merlin frowned and the deepness chuckled. "You are strong," it said, "but you are young. Look back over your shoulder and tell me what you see."
Merlin turned his metaphorical head and looked. The landscape of Albionshire was spread below him like the satellite view on Google maps. And across it all was Merlin, spread thin like a sheet of tissue paper.
Far, far away, at the edge of his awareness, where the salt sea crashed against the cliffs, the tissue was beginning to fray. The voice from deep below the hill whispered, "Do not lose yourself yet. You are only one side of the coin. Look to the south."
If the Tor had been bright, the blaze of Arthur was a true beacon. Even surrounded by the mass of human sparks that was London, he still flared strongly and Merlin was drawn towards him. The cold power that pulled him back was alien and it spoke with the voice of bells and stone. "No," it said, and he was rolled up like a ball and thrown back into his body.
Arms, legs and lungs came to awareness with a shock that left him winded. He lay on his back, gasping, while his phone buzzed in his pocket. Fumbling with hands that didn't yet belong to him again, he pulled it out and answered.
"Don't do that again," Miss Kay's voice ordered. "Your and Arthur's destiny will not be served by you losing yourself across the land."
"It… I felt…" Merlin stumbled in trying to find functional language.
"It is bliss," Miss Kay agreed, and Merlin was still far enough into the wonder to recognise that her voice was soft with longing and loss. "But it is not time. You will know when it is. When you and Arthur will unite to save the land." Her voice became more business-like. "You have to save Arthur first," she said.
The line clicked off against his ear and he dropped the phone while he concentrated on breathing. It was almost painful and it brought him slowly back to life.
He spent the rest of the morning talking to the next door cat stretched out on top of the backyard wall beside his bedroom window and trying to get beyond the vague sense of 'alert-protectiveness-for-here', that was all he could feel from her.
But while the cat was no conversationalist, concentrating on her had apparently allowed the rest of his mind to consider his larger problem and come up with an idea.
"I need to go to London," he said over lunch. "If Arthur doesn't get in touch and tell us it's all okay, that he's stopped Uther's plans."
The Sunday papers had all covered the Uther story, with more about his background, but no more insights into what he had meant by what he had said.
"The Echo may say more in its next edition," Gaius said.
"Yeah, but that's not until Wednesday. I can get to London, see Arthur and be back by then. With real information."
Gaius looked at him from beneath lowered brows. "And what would you do there?" he asked.
It took a moment for Merlin to formulate his answer. He cleared his throat and asked, "Do you, do you think I could do something to make Uther change his mind?"
Pausing in the act of cutting his roast chicken, Gaius stared at him. "With magic?" he asked. Merlin nodded slightly, not meeting his eye. "That would be highly unethical," Gaius said.
Merlin smiled, feeling a weight lift from his soul. "So that's a no, then?"
Frowning thoughtfully, Gaius said, "I don't know if you could or couldn't do it. The question is, would you?"
"No, I don't suppose so. It doesn't really feel right."
"Good!" Gaius said, nodding once. He looked down at the green beans on his plate and his brows drew together slightly.
Merlin passed him the butter. "But we have to do something."
"Yes, we do," Gaius agreed. He cut a lump of butter free from the block and dropped it on his beans. "What about your friend Will?" he asked. "He's covering the financial desk, isn't he?"
"Yes. I suppose I could ask him if he's heard anything. He's probably forgiven me by now."
"Well, that would be a start." Gaius agreed.
Pendragon's Folly, Chapter 7
Pairing: M/A, eventually.
Characters: in this chapter - Merlin, Gaius, Gwen, Will, Miss Kay.
Rating: PG maybe even U
Chapter Word Count: 9,600
Warnings: No sex
Summary: There's an out of work wizard, a museum, a sizeable donation that turns it into a building site, suspicious happenings and magic. A sort of 'take your fandom to work' story.
Author's note 1: When it comes to romance, this story is the definition of 'slow burn'.
Comments are always greatly appreciated, loved and cherished.
Author's note 2: More thanks than I can say to my beta, plot wrangler and best friend, sparrow2000. And many, many thanks to DJ for (hopefully) catching the typos we missed. If you spot any more, please do let me know.
Disclaimer: I write fan fic. All the characters from the Merlin series are the property of the BBC and Shine, etc. No infringement is intended and no profit is being made from this writing.
Chapter 6
Trudging down Market Street in the predawn gloom after far too little sleep, Merlin wished Camelot was big enough to support a 24-hour coffee shop culture. There might have been an all-night caff behind the station, for the taxi drivers on the graveyard shift, but that was a longer walk than going home to Francis Street. He hugged his jacket around his chest against the chill of what promised to be a fine spring morning and soldiered on.
There had been no time for more than a few quick gulps of bitter, black Nescafé in Arthur's room before they left. Arthur was obviously impatient to be on the road and Merlin didn't want to delay him.
"Leave that," Arthur said when he saw Merlin trying to fold his bedding. "That's what room service is for."
"Won't they charge you extra, for double occupancy?"
"So what if they do? Here, drink this." He poured boiling water into two of the small cups on the tray next to the kettle and handed one to Merlin. "I'll be ready to go in ten." Leaving his own cup where it was, he disappeared into the bathroom. Merlin considered the tiny UHT milk and cream tubs and decided he wasn't that desperate. Instead, he satisfied himself with adding three sachets of sugar.
By the time Arthur reappeared, Merlin had packed away his bedding and got fully dressed, even having his backpack on his shoulder. They stood awkwardly in the middle of the floor, drinking their coffee because it needed to be done. Then Arthur picked up his briefcase and led the way out.
Twenty five minutes later there was a definite lightening in the sky to the east, although the sun had not yet risen. Merlin dug in his pocket for his keys and let himself into the house.
***
Gaius got up at 6:30. He grunted when he saw Merlin, but didn't say anything as he shuffled through to the bathroom. When he reappeared Merlin passed him a cup of tea and went through to the kitchen to make porridge. He had had the radio on since he finished his shower and he could still hear it from where he stood at the cooker.
Speculation had been running high since the station opened at 5:20. Uther's dramatic breakdown had been the second item in the news roundup after the Shipping Forecast and it appeared from what the radio said that, although it had been too late for the first editions of the newspapers, they had all picked it up for their second. It also seemed to be a slow news day, which could only make matters worse for Uther.
As he poured porridge oats and water into a pan the coverage began again and a moment later the volume of the radio abruptly increased. Merlin peered through the kitchen door to see Gaius standing in front of his hi-fi, leaning against the edge of the sideboard on braced arms.
Evan Davis introduced a clip from Question Time. A commentator summarised the rest, calling Uther 'an influential and respected businessmen'. When he described Uther's breakdown, he sounded almost embarrassed, as if it was something unsightly that had to be dealt with, but was best not dwelt on. The implicit admission of potential wrongdoing, however, was fair game and there were promises of more interviews and insights later in the programme. John Humphrys', "We did ask for a representative from the company to come on to talk to us, but no one was available," sounded like some sort of admission of guilt on Uther's behalf.
By 7:15 the company had issued a statement about things said being taken out of context. Merlin dropped a couple of slices of bread into the toaster. He wondered if Arthur had spent the whole of his drive down the M1 on the phone to his father's senior staff.
The radio moved temporarily on to other things. "Who's Geoffrey?" Merlin called through to Gaius. "Was he around when you worked for Uther? Arthur phoned someone called Geoffrey, last night."
"That would be Geoffrey Monmouth," Gaius said. He came and stood in the doorway. "He's Uther's Chief Operations Officer. He's been with him for years. Yes, I knew him. He's a good man. Solid and reliable. Loves Pendragon's."
Merlin served up porridge for both of them and took it through. Gaius sat down at the table and Merlin went back to the kitchen for the toast and his coffee. "Oh, happy birthday," he said as he handed over the golden syrup and placed a plate piled with six slices of toast on the table. "I bought you a bottle of brandy, but I gave some of it to Arthur last night. I'll get you another."
"Don't worry, my boy. I can't imagine you sat up and drank it all. If there's a little bit gone, well, it went to a good cause."
"We didn't," Merlin agreed, opening his bag and retrieving the cognac. "I've never seen him like that. He was really shaken up, but he was on the road just after four." He handed the bottle over with due solemnity and Gaius took it by the neck with a smile, holding it up to the light to check the level. He examined the gift tag and then the label. "Thank you very much," he said. "I shall enjoy this."
In the background the Today programme was discussing football. "This business with Uther is very odd," Gaius said. "You saw it all? Tell me what happened."
So Merlin took his seat and alternated spoons of porridge and sips of coffee with recounting what he had seen of Question Time. "And then he said he was going to repossess a building that was part of his family heritage."
"What?"
Merlin racked his brain to remember Uther's exact words. "It was something like, ‘legal measures to take back a building that has been neglected. He said it is part of his family's heritage and its potential is being wasted."
Gaius sat back in his chair. He shook his head. "No," he said. "No. He wouldn't do something like that. He gave us money to… It must be something else."
"That's what Arthur said."
"Well there you are, then. What did Arthur say he was talking about?"
"He didn't know."
"But you said -"
"I know. He said it couldn't be the Folly, but when I asked what else it could be, he couldn't think of anything."
"But Uther was so enthusiastic about the museum. You heard him. He, he said it had such potential. He wants to repair it properly and…"
"I know Uncle Gaius."
"He promised," Gaius said. "He said to me that he'd see the Folly restored to its original greatness and a place people want to visit again. Everybody wants to visit."
"He said that?"
"Yes, he said," Gaius paused and stared up at a corner of the ceiling. "I promise, he said, I promise all of Camelot will love what we're going to do with this place."
Merlin bit his lip, a slow fear building in his stomach. "Did he actually say it would still be a museum?" he asked.
Gaius started and stared at him. "What else would it be? He must have. I'm sure, he must have."
"I don't know, Uncle Gaius, but…"
"No, Arthur got Gwaine to draw up those new plans. He wouldn't do that if…"
"Unless he didn't know better," Merlin said.
Gaius slumped. "Oh my God," he whispered. "If Arthur didn't know…"
"He didn't. That's part of why I stayed over," Merlin said. "He was... He really didn't know what was going on."
"How was he?" Gaius asked. "I mean..."
"Confused. Really, really worried about his dad."
"Oh. Oh, yes, of course. Uther had a breakdown?"
"Yeah. I didn't think he'd be stupid enough to drive, but…"
"But you decided to play guard dog, anyway. I can understand that."
Merlin nodded. "I'm not sure he was totally safe when he did go, but he swore he was legal and he'd be careful. The way they're reporting it, I wish he had been able to leave last night. Although…"
"Although there would have been nothing he could have done for Uther. I imagine he's up to his neck in meetings now, however." Gaius pushed his empty bowl aside. "Uther will reappear soon. He was never a man to hide and, embarrassing as a public breakdown may be, it's his admission of improper behaviour that will matter. He'll need to deal with that immediately."
"He didn't actually admit to that."
"That's not how it'll play, though. You heard them. They're looking for illegality."
"And his plan to repossess the Folly?"
"If that's what it was."
"Uncle Gaius, I do think that's what he was talking about."
"No," Gaius said. "I'm not going to worry about it until we know more. I might buy the paper on my way in this morning, though." He picked up his knife and moved the butter dish closer to his plate.
Merlin reached over and put the marmalade jar next to it. "What do you think happened?" he asked. "To Uther, I mean."
"I can't even begin to imagine," Gaius said. "He never struck me as the type of man to crack, but it's been a long time. I don't suppose I can claim to know him anymore."
Merlin chewed at his lower lip as he scraped at the remnants of porridge stuck to his bowl. He drew his spoon over his front teeth to clean it off. "I've been thinking," he said, putting the spoon down. He caught Gaius's eyes and, taking a deep breath, asked, "Do you think it could be magic?"
Seeing the reflex denial in Gaius's face, he kept talking. "When the bust of Thomas Pendragon fell and almost hit everyone yesterday, I don't think that was an accident."
"Of course it was."
"It was more than that."
His brows drawn together, Gaius paused. "But magic? That's a bit of a stretch."
"If I can do it, that means it's possible. There's no reason to think I'm the only one in the world."
With a slight shake of his head Gaius took a slice of cold toast from the pile. His voice was deliberate when he said, "Merlin, I've known about your magic since you were a baby." He scooped a large dab of butter onto his knife. "And I've spent years researching, as a result. If anyone in Camelot had been doing anything out of the ordinary, I'd have noticed and I wouldn't have rationalised it away as most people would."
"I know, so that means something's changed."
"Or, it means you're allowing your imagination to run away with you."
"Uncle Gaius, I know what I felt," Merlin said. "There's something, someone, out there. Someone close by."
He paused and marshalled his thoughts. "When the bust fell, I felt something strange. The air in the room tasted hot and sort of brittle." Gaius's hand paused in the act of reaching for the marmalade and he looked up. His eyes narrowed as he completed the movement. "It was weird," Merlin said. "And it hung around for ages. Even when we were upstairs." He passed Gaius a teaspoon and Gaius spooned marmalade onto the edge of his plate. "Afterwards, while I was working in the Ticket Office, I realised that when Arthur tripped and almost fell under that car, there was something, something similar. Like, like ozone... But not."
Gaius raised an encouraging eyebrow and Merlin pursed his lips as he tried to verbalise the sensation he remembered. "It's not really a taste. It's more… sort of like a colour tickling at the back of my brain." He was staring at Gaius so intently he could almost see Gaius's thoughts before he spoke them. "I'm not imagining it. And I'm not rationalising after the event. It really was there."
Gaius sat back in his chair. "Okay," he said. "You're the one with first-hand knowledge of magic, so let's say I believe you." He held up a staying hand. "I'm not accusing you of lying. Let's accept that you are not mistaken. How do we find out who it is and why they're doing it? Who would do such a cruel thing?"
"I don't know, but I think I know who to ask."
"Who?"
"Miss Kay. I think… I think she has magic, or at least knows about magic."
Gaius put his knife down on the table, smearing buttery marmalade across the cloth. "Has everybody in Camelot suddenly developed a knowledge of the arcane without telling me?" he demanded. "Miss Kay? Are you sure?" Merlin opened his mouth to answer, but Gaius held up his hand again to forestall him. "Of course you're sure," he said.
Merlin grinned with relief, poured more tea into Gaius's mug and got up to make himself another coffee. Speaking from the kitchen as the kettle boiled, he told Gaius all the things he hadn't said before about his and Arthur's visit to Miss Kay. Including the moment of terror he had felt when she looked at him, after his attempt to probe behind her mask.
"Miss Kay?" Gaius said again. Merlin could understand his incredulity. Miss Kay appeared so normal. Usually.
Gaius waited until Merlin sat down with his coffee before he spoke again and when he did, he surprised Merlin. "Is she dangerous?" he asked. "Are you sure you should go back?"
It was more of a relief than Merlin had expected that Gaius believed him so completely, but having spoken the incident out loud, he was also able to put it into context. "I think so," he said. "I don't know what she is, but I don't think she means me any harm." He looked down into his mug and watched a small patch of undissolved coffee granule circulate slowly around the rim. Looking up again, he said, "I'm not even sure she was aware of how I felt. I don't think she's totally human and I think I saw that. Or something." He shook his head. "I can't explain," he admitted, "but I don't think she intended to frighten me. I don't know how I know, but I'm sure she's safe."
Gaius still didn't look happy, so Merlin said, "I'll wait until tomorrow. Think about it some more. But I do think she's the only person I can ask who might know something."
Gaius nodded, but all he said was, "Well, as long as you promise to be careful."
***
On their way to the museum they stopped at the corner shop to buy a copy of each of the broadsheets. "Not that we'll be able to confirm magic from anything they say," Gaius complained wryly, "but at least we'll get an idea of the size of the scandal." On impulse, Merlin also picked up a copy of the Daily News.
When they got to the office, Gaius spread the papers across his desk and they went through them.
The Guardian, The Times and The Independent were all running the story on inside pages. They all quoted Uther's admissions, but it was apparent they had been taken by surprise. The coverage was diverse and Gaius and Merlin took it in turns to read passages aloud.
The Guardian's main coverage was on page three and was worked around the twin tracks of dishonesty in business and the toll that the stress of overwork can place on a person's mental health. In addition to the news story, The Independent's opinion piece used phrases like 'alleged misconduct' and called for an official enquiry into historic business practices. The Times considered the various political and cultural donations Uther had made over the years and speculated on whether the political ones would have to be paid back. It made Merlin wonder what would happen once they had all had a chance to dig a bit and check their facts.
"I'll look at the on-line versions, later," he said. "Just in case they have any updates. I should be safe, as long as I avoid the comments."
It was the tabloid Daily News that had the most uncompromising coverage. A side column story on the front page had the headline 'Scandal on Prime Time'. In short, easily digested paragraphs the article demanded to know exactly what laws Uther had bent, exactly which workers he had abused and sacked and exactly what crooked deals he had done to build his empire. The tone was accusatory and the impression it gave of Uther was of a fabulously rich man who was, in all probability, the next worst thing to a mass murderer.
It was not all empty accusation, though. Specific cases were quoted - the Docklands development in Caerleon, a shopping centre in Norwich, a paper warehouse and an industrial park in Preston and a psychiatric hospital site in Leeds, most of them dating back to the 80s and early 90s. Arthur was mentioned prominently as being Uther's heir and right-hand man. There was no clear statement that they were crooked, but the implication was there.
It was only when he had finished reading that Merlin looked up at the top of the page. The byline on the article was William Birch. He picked up his phone. When Gaius raised a questioning eyebrow, he tossed the paper across the desk to him, pointing at the name. The phone rang and clicked through to voicemail. He put it down and pulled his laptop out of his bag.
Ten minutes later he closed Firefox and picked up the phone again. This time, when he punched in the number, it only rang once. "Daily News," a bright voice announced.
"Could I speak to Will Birch, please? It's important." Opposite him, Gaius finished reading the article and pushed the paper away.
Will's voice came on the line. "Hello? William Birch."
"Will," Merlin said. "What are you doing?"
There was a momentary pause. "Merlin?" Will asked.
"Yes, it's Merlin."
"Well hello to you, too." Will sounded faintly amused and a little puzzled. "Why are you calling?" There was another pause. "It's not even nine. How did you know I'd be in?"
"Your mobile's off. Stop stalling. What the hell are you doing?"
The pause that followed that was decidedly frosty. Or possibly shocked. "What do you mean, what am I doing?" Will asked. "Are you talking about the Pendragon piece?"
"Of course I'm talking about the Pendragon piece," Merlin said. "Why did you do it? Arthur's not like that and you have no evidence to support your accusations." He glanced over at Gaius and found himself the subject of a very intense stare.
Will's response to his challenge broke their gaze. "The lawyers approved every word in that article," Will said. "Uther has a reputation in the city for being both ruthless and focused."
In spite of Gaius's continued attention, Merlin asked, "And Arthur? Has he got a reputation, too?"
Will sighed down the line. "Maybe. Maybe not," he admitted. "But he has been working for his dad for years."
"He was at university until three years ago."
"Which means he's had three years of intimate involvement in everything his father does. Plus, he worked for Pendragon's when he was a student. Merlin, he's not a beginner at this. He's been working with his father for more than six years, and taking more and more of the decisions with each one. It's a private company. Rumour is Uther inherited a lot of money from his wife and given what he said about her last night..." He stopped talking and took a breath, before continuing in a calmer voice. "Your Arthur is Uther's son and a member of the company board. What makes you think he's ignorant? Do you have reason to believe he's too stupid to see what his dad's been doing?" Merlin looked up at Gaius and smiled tightly. At the other end of the phone line Will said, "Even if he's not an active cheat himself, he's guilty by association."
Gaius smiled back encouragingly.
"Even if what you say is true," Merlin objected, "it was all years ago, Will, when Arthur was still at school."
"The cases I've dug up so far were," Will said, "but if he was doing it back then-"
Interrupting, Merlin said, "Exactly. If anyone was doing anything, it was Uther, not Arthur. Why have you tried to smear him with the same brush?"
There was a snort of sour amusement at the other end of the phone line. "Same brush? Good one Merlin."
Sitting back, Merlin glared up at the ceiling. "Oh, for goodness sake, Will."
Abruptly serious again, Will cut in. "No, Merlin. He's Director of Special Projects, but that's just to give him a title that explains why he's at the same level on the totem pole as Geoffrey Monmouth. Who knows what his real job is?"
Merlin looked across the desk at Gaius, who was still watching him, now with a frown. He grimaced and Gaius winced. "Arthur is Uther's son." he said. "Of course he's on the Board. Come on, Will. No other paper took that angle. We got them all and I've checked."
"No other newspaper's been investigating Uther Pendragon for the last four weeks," Will retorted. "It won't take them long to take hold of what I've given them and run with it. Plagiarising tossers!" Changing his tone from defence to attack, he asked, "Anyway, what's with you? You were the one complaining at me every time we talked, when he first arrived."
Merlin gasped and Gaius opened his mouth. Merlin shushed him with a gesture and looked away so he could concentrate on Will. "What?" he asked. "You cannot be claiming I set you off to write this."
"You told me what your uncle said about Uther Pendragon. You said Arthur Pendragon was a tosser. I did some digging and just when I was ready to submit my piece, Dad admits his crimes on television. Honestly, Merlin, the timing couldn't have been more perfect." He laughed. "Question Time, too. What a venue to choose."
Merlin refused to give up too easily. "What evidence do you have to support your accusation against Uther and why do you think Arthur's involved in whatever he might have done?" he asked.
Will snorted and Merlin could tell he was getting annoyed again. "So you think Arthur Pendragon's pretty," Will said. "You've got a crush. Well that doesn't make him a good guy, okay?" He paused and Merlin heard him take a deep breath and let it out. "Listen," he said more calmly. "If it's any consolation, I haven't found anything on your boyfriend. Yet. But the Pendragons have no grounds to sue. I said nothing in that article that he, or anyone else, could object to. Anyone who isn't you." He was quiet for a moment. "I've got to go," he said. "I'll speak to you later, when you're thinking more like a sane person, yeah?"
The line went dead and Merlin put the phone down. "He says he's got nothing on Arthur, but he's still digging."
"Don't blame yourself, my boy," Gaius said. "Will's a journalist. It's his job to go after rumours and expose the truth."
"Yeah. Makes me realise I need to be careful what I say to him in future though."
"And that's sad," Gaius agreed. "But this stuff -" he pointed at the copy of the Daily News, "is all old hat. It will cause the company and Uther problems, but it doesn't touch Arthur. And that's your real concern, isn't it?"
Merlin opened his mouth, decided he didn't know himself what he thought about Arthur, so closed it again. He picked up the paper and glanced down the article. The words 'Docklands', 'Caerleon' and '1983' caught his eye and he looked back at Gaius. "You worked for Pendragon's in the 80s and 90s, didn't you?" he said.
Gaius frowned, his face suddenly guarded. "Yes," he admitted. "I left in 1994."
"Did you..? Is what Will's dug up true?"
"I was never close enough to Uther's business to really know," Gaius said.
"You said you were his Personnel Manager."
"Yes, I was." Gaius looked away towards the window and blinked a couple of times, his mouth pursed.
Grasping at straws, Merlin asked, "Is that why you left? Because you found out?"
The sharp clip of heeled footsteps on the marble floor of the balcony outside caused Gaius to turn towards the door, listening, but Gwen didn't stop and the footsteps faded. Gaius settled back in his chair, his face calm. "Is that why I left?" he asked. "I wish I could say that it was. But if I'm honest with myself, I made sure that I didn't know the details of Uther's business practices. I closed my eyes to things I didn't want to see." He sighed. "It was a different time. Thatcher's Britain. And Uther was exactly the man to prosper in such an environment. I suspected that his dealings were not totally above board. I don't believe he would do anything that was actually illegal, but..." He looked down at his hands and when he looked up to meet Merlin's eyes, his face was heavy with sadness, or regret. "In the end, yes, I suppose that was one of the reasons I left. But the truth is, I stayed as long as I needed to and I didn't leave until I had enough money saved to give me a comfortable cushion. Enough so I didn't have to work, if I didn't want to.
Merlin reached across the desk and laid a hand over one of Gaius's. "It's okay," he said, but the return of the clipping footsteps, followed by the door opening to admit Gwen, prevented him from saying anything more. Instead he jumped to his feet and cried, "Coffee?" as he walked over to the kettle, drawing her with him.
They made coffee for themselves and tea for Gaius. Merlin engaged Gwen in the sort of light conversation that held her attention on him and by the time they took their mugs across to Gaius's desk, Gaius had composed himself. He smiled with genuine warmth when Gwen presented him with a card and a beautiful brass photo frame made by her father.
"I'll use it for that picture of your mother holding you back from the edge of the lake, when you were two," he said smiling at Merlin, who scowled back at him. His smile growing into an honest grin he said to Gwen, "He was determined to prove he could swim. Or possibly drown."
Inevitably the conversation turned to Question Time. Gwen had watched it and they talked it all through, with Gwen adding additional details that Merlin had missed. Gwen had also guessed that the building Uther had mentioned was the Folly and, like Gaius and Merlin, she was worried with no idea of a solution. Gaius agreed to speak informally to those board members he knew well enough, but he was almost as concerned about encouraging rumours as he was that their fears were true. Eventually they had to agree they had no idea what the next sensible move was. All they could do, immediately, was continue as they were and wait for Arthur.
At 10:30, Merlin finished going through the revised work schedule with Leon and was walking back through the Great Hall when he took a call from a clerk at Pendragon's, arranging delivery of a portacabin that afternoon. He went to give Gwen the good news.
They heard nothing from Arthur that day. The rest of Merlin's morning was spent helping Gwen to prepare for the portacabin's arrival. Once it was safely installed on the front lawn, they worked late into the evening, setting it out ready for the Museum Club to meet.
*****
The next morning Merlin woke early and popped out to the newsagents before breakfast. In Mr Kumar's tiny shop, crowded with newspapers and magazines along one wall and shelves of sugar, tinned soup and teabags along the other, he scanned the dailies. There didn't seem to be anything more about Uther. He skimmed through the first few pages of The Sun and the Daily Mail, before checking the Daily News. Nothing.
He had just put down the Mirror, when he realised Mr Kumar was frowning at him, so he guiltily bought the Saturday edition of the Camelot Echo and a copy of The Times.
Over their porridge, Gaius read through the Echo while Merlin scoured the news, business and even the cultural sections of The Times. There was a profile of Uther, but the only new information the article contained was that Uther had been admitted to a private nursing home. Other than that there was only a report on the falling share price of a company that relied heavily on Pendragon's for work.
The Echo on the other hand had dedicated most of its front page and the next two to the story, but the content was mostly a rehash of previous articles in other papers. "They say: There's no clarity as to the building Mr Pendragon referred to, but this correspondent has been assured that it is not the Camelot museum." Gaius said. "Who would have assured them, do you think? Arthur?"
"I don't know"
"Well, apart from that there's nothing new here." Gaius tossed the paper on the floor beside his chair.
"Maybe it's over," Merlin suggested.
Gaius shook his head. "I fear that is too optimistic. Geoffrey and Arthur have managed to close the lid on more revelations, which is pretty impressive. Arthur must command significant loyalty from his people, because you can be sure all his senior staff are being hounded by now. I'm almost surprised no one's tracked me down yet. But it's not a big enough story to warrant front-page speculation. After yesterday's revelations they'll be gathering more to release tomorrow, or on Monday. Although it's possible the long weekend will slow things down."
"Why do you say Arthur must command loyalty? Why not Uther?"
"Because a leader can only earn loyalty by demonstrating loyalty. Uther has always been too ruthless for that. Arthur is a different sort of man."
"I'm glad you think so."
"I'll feel a lot better when I hear what's going to happen to the museum, though," Gaius said. "Given what the Echo says, there's a chance he was not referring to the Folly."
Merlin glanced across at his backpack, resting against the sideboard. "I think you should see the programme," he said. "We can go into the office and you can watch it on the iPlayer on my laptop. The connection's faster there and Miss Kay doesn't know I'm coming, so it's not like I'll be late. I need to check the bus times anyway, I forgot yesterday, in all the rush with Gwen."
"You're still going, then?"
"Yes," Merlin said.
They watched the programme together, sitting at the round table in Gaius's workroom. But as soon as it was over, Gaius shooed him off. "Away with you," he said, "if you've got to go. I need to think and I don't need you fidgeting at me while I do so."
Merlin went. He had fifteen minutes to get to Market Square to catch the first bus to Staubridge.
Although he had no idea how he was going to broach the subject of magic with Miss Kay, he spent the journey looking out of the widow at the passing countryside and couldn't find it in himself to worry about it. It was a beautiful day. Wide feathers of white had painted themselves against a sky of such a rare blue it almost wasn't there. He might end up playing the fool and facing the scorn of a well brought up old lady, but he doubted it. Miss Kay had not said the things she had by accident. And there was nothing senile about her, whatever she turned out to be.
At ten to eleven the bus pulled up and the driver shouted, "Red Dragon."
Merlin got off and stood on the grass verge as the bus pulled away. He looked around. The pub on the opposite side of the road was a solid, stone-built building with outhouses that had obviously once been stables and a barn. The road was empty of traffic and it was the only house in sight. But a few yards along the road a gate was set into the hedge. Merlin walked over to inspect it.
It was a heavy wooden affair, well maintained and oiled, with the words 'Heythorpe House' carved deeply into its top rail. He pushed it open and went through. A flagstone path was almost hidden in a narrow stretch of long, sunlit grass, before plunging into woodland. He followed it and entered a dappled green world. Within fifteen yards, looking back he could no longer see either the road or the pub.
The path followed as even a route as possible, but as a result it didn't take a straight course through the trees. The air smelt moistly of wild garlic. After a further hundred yards a narrow stream tricked down the slope on his right and under one wide flag. After another hundred, a little daylight was visible ahead and shortly after that the prospect abruptly opened out. The flagstones ended and a yellow cinder path continued straight along the edge of a trimmed square of lawn in which were set white croquet hoops. It was bordered by narrow flowerbeds full of dwarf daffodils, crocuses and primulas. Beyond that was Heythorpe House.
The back door opened as he approached and Miss Kay stepped out. She smiled. "Welcome, young warlock," she said.
"Oh, um, hello," Merlin said. "I hope you don't mind me coming in this way, but you said-"
"I know what I said," Miss Kay replied. "You are welcome here. Come in."
She stepped back and Merlin walked past her into a large kitchen dominated by a scrubbed wood table on which stood two mugs, a sugar bowl and a small jug. "Sit," she instructed and Merlin did as he was told.
Leaving the door to the garden open, Miss Kay crossed behind him and around the end of the table. She took the seat opposite him, her back to the door leading further into the house, and placed a plate of thick cheese sandwiches between them. Indicating the mug in front of him, she said, "Coffee."
Merlin nodded helplessly. "Yes, thank you. How, how did you know?"
At that Miss Kay laughed. "There is no magic involved, young Merlin. I saw your face when I served you tea. You are a confirmed coffee drinker, I think."
"Yes, I mean, I like tea, too, but..." He stopped. "You were expecting me."
"I know when the first bus from Camelot passes the Red Dragon and after Uther's performance two night ago I thought it probable you would come." She smiled. "You might not, of course. You have free will. But since I invited you, I thought you might."
A light breeze blew across the back of Merlin's neck. "Did you know what was going to happen?" he asked.
Miss Kay sat back in her chair and regarded him levelly. There was a note in her voice when she spoke that Merlin couldn't identify, but sounded a little like satisfaction. "I felt something moving on Thursday." She picked up a teaspoon and stirred her mug, although she had added nothing to it. "Where were you when the spell climaxed?"
"Umm... I, I went with Arthur to watch TV. Why do you ask?"
"Of course you were with Arthur," Miss Kay said quietly and Merlin thought she was talking to herself, rather than to him. "That was why I couldn't see."
Merlin spooned sugar into his own mug, to cover for the bubble of nervous excitement that was building in his chest, and topped it up with a splash of milk.
Miss Kay shifted slightly in her chair. "Like calls to like, young Warlock," she said.
Merlin looked up sharply. "Like?" he asked, the bubble bursting into hope. "Are, are you saying Arthur does have magic?"
"No." Miss Kay shook her head and although it felt like a splash of cold water to the face, Merlin didn't doubt her word. "You are two sides of the same coin, you and he," she said. "But the faces of a coin are different." She placed both her hands around her mug, but didn't pick it up to drink. "You are magic," she explained. "He was created by magic."
"What?" Merlin sat forward, put his put his forearms on the table and leaned over them. "He was created...? I don't understand.... How?"
Miss Kay pushed her mug aside and mirrored his pose. "Uther wanted a son," she said. "He made his wife's life miserable with that desire. They went to doctors, but the children the doctors bred in their test tubes would not lodge in Ygraine's womb. So she went looking for other help. And she found it. The ignorant call it New Age, but it is older than the hills. In these benighted times, most is nothing more than human sentiment and half remembered myth, but Ygraine found one who was not deluded, nor a charlatan. She found real power, hiding in plain sight." Miss Kay leaned further forward and Merlin responded instinctively, sitting back in his chair. Realising what he had done, he straightened, but Miss Kay seemed not to have noticed. "Uther made a deal," she said, "however unknowingly and Ygraine died. To create a life, a life must be given. That-"
"Hang on," Merlin said. "Uther made a deal?"
A slight smile twisted one corner of Miss Kay's mouth. "He did," she confirmed. "In the presence of the witch he told Ygraine that a barren wife was worthless to him and he needed a son."
"But that's awful. How could he say- And that was enough? But Arthur said his father loved his mother. He still misses her."
"That was enough. Guilt can appear as love, to those on the outside. And when she was finally pregnant... I may perhaps be generous and imagine that, for those few months, he did indeed love her."
Which was all horribly fascinating and answered many of the questions Merlin hadn't known how to ask, while giving him much more to think about, but it was not the primary reason for his visit. "What happened on Thursday?" he asked.
"There is magic at work," said Miss Kay. "Wild magic. Untrained magic." She lowered her brows and looked across at Merlin from under them. It added even more weight to her words. "Physically changing the fabric of the world is powerful magic. It is beyond the capacity of an untrained human, unless they have an object of power to give them focus. Even then it is exhausting for the wielder of the magic. It sets off ripples that spread far beyond the influence of the spell. Ripples that can be sensed, by those who know what to look for."
She stopped speaking and watched him take that in, waiting patiently while he adjusted his world view to include the sure knowledge that there were other people in the world with magic. After a while, he said, "I'm untrained."
"Yours is not wild magic," Miss Kay said. "You are magic and with every breath of the world you take into yourself, with every exhalation, you exchange the essence of magic. You are improving your balance just by breathing."
"Is that special somehow, then?"
"That is different. It is even unique."
"And this other magic using person?"
"Is attempting to direct the storm. Untrained, she risks her mind and her soul with every spell cast. She may be lucky." Miss Kay left that hanging and the implication of the unknown's chances of being so lucky were clear.
"Her soul?" Merlin asked.
Miss Kay laughed, a deep and gravelly sound that didn't fit with her genteel appearance. "Curb your lurid imagination, young Warlock; there is no devil involved. Magic is a natural force, neither on the side of your Christian good, nor that of your concept of evil."
"Okay. But she? It's a woman then?"
"It is."
"And that's it? You can't tell me who? How am I supposed to stop them if I don't know who I'm stopping?"
"That is not your immediate concern," Miss Kay said firmly. "To save your museum and your dreams, to save Arthur, you must first discover the means by which Uther plans to achieve his ends."
Accepting the switch in conversational gears, Merlin asked, "So it's true, it is the Folly he wants?"
"Obviously," Miss Kay agreed. If she had not been such a very proper lady, Merlin might have described her expression as smug. She smiled slightly but there was no warmth in it. "He has always yearned for more than he has managed to build. He resents the profligacy of his ancestors."
"Do you know what we should do?"
"I have already told you. Search and you will find what you seek."
"But what about-?"
"Enough. I have said all I am going to say." She smiled again, more warmly, and suddenly she was just an elderly lady in a tweed twinset. "The bus comes back past the Red Dragon in ten minutes. You will have to hurry if you are to catch it." She got up and Merlin automatically stood too. With a regal nod, she turned away and disappeared into the house.
Perplexed and confused, Merlin stood where she had left him. He wanted her to explain, to tell him more, to tell him what he was looking for and where to find it, but manners dictated that he couldn't follow her. He turned on his heel, left the house and ran.
***
Where the journey out had been one of idle speculation, spiced by a mere touch of nervous anticipation, the trip back to Camelot was a jumble of chaotic thoughts and impressions. The bus had pulled up at the bus station and the driver was telling him it was going out of service before Merlin realised they were back in town. Reluctantly, he hauled himself off and wandered aimlessly around the shopping streets, until he found himself in front of the library in Market Square. On impulse, he went in.
It turned out that the lending library had very few law texts of any sort, let alone books specialising in property law. The reference section was better stocked, but that was where he hit his next problem - regardless of which book he picked up, within a page or two he was totally lost. The language would have defeated him had he been in a fit state to concentrate. As it was, every time he tried to re-read a sentence, his brain would skitter off to worry at the things Miss Kay had said.
After an hour he gave up on proper law books, pulled his laptop out of his bag and went in search of 'Property Law for Dummies' on the web. He managed to push the question of magic to the back of his mind by focusing on Google search terms. For some reason, it was always easier to read and absorb text from the screen, although there was the perennial problem of telling when pages were American and which were British. Even when he limited his search to UK hosted sites, he kept getting American content. One particularly promising site turned out to be anything but, when, after spending twenty minutes fighting his way through the terminology he noticed accreditation to The American Bar Association at the bottom. With a groan, he gave up.
It was only 2:30 and he decided to go to the Folly, to talk everything through with Gaius. Gwen would have finished for the day, but Gaius would hang around until 4:00, to lock up.
The automatic doors had opened in front of him and he was about to step out into the street, when he had a different idea and veered off to the desk.
The librarian seemed pleased to have a customer and was happy to show him where the local history collection was kept. She pointed him towards all the resources they had, demonstrated the catalogue system and would probably have stayed to help him search, except that another visitor interrupted to ask for a book that had been laid aside for him. Left alone, Merlin pulled the archive boxes labelled 'Camelot 1882' down from the shelf and took them across to one of the tables. There was a shelf of similar boxes in Gaius's workroom and his weeks at the museum had taught him about handling historical artefacts. He worked his way carefully through the first box, studying each of the letters and documents in turn, before putting them aside. Most of the contents referred to the Pendragon & Burnt factory, an industrial dispute that had apparently closed the works for two weeks and the work of the Poor Relief Society in the back streets behind the railway station. It was fascinating in its way and he found the exercise soothing, but it was not what he was looking for.
The second box contained a scrapbook full of articles cut from local newspapers. One account announced the opening of the Pendragon Memorial Museum with long sentences and dense type. But the reporter concentrated on the benevolence of Mr Thomas Pendragon and the sad loss of his son: 'a flower cut down in the promise of his youth and so prevented from growing into another tall pillar of society, but as a result of whose sad demise, a jewel of educational wonder and delight has been bequeathed to the town'. There was no mention of anything that Uther might be using as an excuse to take the Folly back into his own ownership, but given the tone of the piece that was not surprising.
The rest of the scrapbook was dedicated to announcements of births, obituaries and social events, such as the staging of the Pirates of Penzance at the Camelot Opera House and Musical Hall and the 'coming out' balls of various young ladies of the area and their later marriages. One such that caught his eye was the marriage of a Miss Gwendolyn Chapman to a Mr Charles le Fay. He wondered if they were Morgana's great-grandparents or, doing his sums, her great-great-grandparents.
After another hour he admitted that there was little chance he would find anything useful, but it was only when the library closed that he packed everything away and left.
The sun was slanting over the roof tops as he walked across the cobbles of Market Square and paused to wait for a space in the traffic, to cross the road. He was standing exactly where Arthur had almost gone under a car. Turning, he looked up at the windows of the DuLac & Lott offices. The blinds were drawn across the bay windows, only the window to Morgana's office in the attic stood bare and dark against the white paintwork.
With a shake of his head, he crossed over, left the square and headed towards the Folly. As he approached the T-junction that offered a left turn to the Folly, or a right turn for home, he checked his watch. It was a quarter past five. He turned right.
***
Gaius was waiting for him with supper on the table when he got in and over sliced ham and salad he recounted his visits to Heythorpe House and to the library. "If it was something to do with the bequest, I thought it might be in the papers at the time," he concluded, "but that was a long shot. I didn't find anything. "
"Tell me again what Miss Kay said," Gaius asked.
"After the thing about Arthur and magic?" Gaius nodded and Merlin grinned. In telling Gaius about Miss Kay, the excitement and trepidation he had felt in her presence had returned. "You know, it's sort of amazing, Uncle Gaius. It's like... I've spent my whole life thinking I was the only one who could do this stuff. I've had to hide it, so I wasn't a freak. And she just comes out and says it. Like it's no big deal. Like everyone knows about magic." He shook his head. "I still can't believe it really."
"It is certainly a shock. I've known Miss Kay, to say hello to, for years, and…" Gaius petered out.
"Yeah," Merlin agreed.
Gaius rested his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together over his plate. "Putting the magic aside for a moment." He caught Merlin's eye. "Yes, I know," he said, "but let's try. Uther's television appearance has caused a great deal of concern among the members of the Board. I spoke to George Simms this morning. He says Herbert Parker is quite angry."
"Who are George Simms and Herbert Parker?"
"They've been on the Board of Trustees longer than anyone. Quite vocal and influential. Not particularly popular with the other members, but until now I've always got along with them all right."
"Well, I'm not surprised they're annoyed," Merlin agreed. He caught something in Gaius's expression. "Not with you?" he asked.
Shrugging, Gaius sighed. "I got Uther involved." He picked up his fork and speared a segment of tomato. "They're searching for a scapegoat."
"That's stupid!"
"Possibly. But it's also human nature. However, James Borden at the County Records Office is a friend. I'll call him on Tuesday, to see whether he thinks he has anything. He should have the actual minutes of the meeting where the bequest was discussed. Not that I hold out much hope that they'll tell us anything. In my experience, those minutes are written to give nothing away. I imagine there's an art to it."
"And we don't even know what we're looking for."
"Then we must hope we recognise it when we see it."
***
The following day being Sunday, Gaius retreated to his office in the front room to work on the article he was writing, while Merlin searched through his magic book, looking for inspiration. All the seeking and direction spells mentioned seemed to require a focus, but they gave no hints to what a focus was, or how it was used.
Near the back of the book was an isolated quote that, if read in a certain way, appeared to describe the sensation for a practitioner of touching someone else's magic. Merlin lay on his back on top of his bed and consciously relaxed.
Within moments he felt Gaius, sitting like a warm, mossy log on the edge of his awareness. He rolled across the surface of Gaius's existence and for the first time tried to sink below it. A picture of a barrow grave formed in front of his mind's eye, along with the names Aethelbert, Wulfgar and Oswy.
Drawing away from Gaius, he inserted himself into the outside world, spreading his sense of touch like a cobweb blanket across the houses, not probing anywhere in particular, but aware of everywhere. The Tor stood like a beacon of light on the horizon of his mind and elsewhere there were bubbles and starbursts of activity disrupting the fog. But each time he focused on them they dissipated. He spread further, out of the town and into the fields and villages beyond. He lapped around the base of the Tor and swirled into the well beneath the duck pond on Rosebeck's village green, to taste the texture of history still buried there. He felt the Fox in the hedgerow behind Home Farm in Lillebrook and the badgers curled in their den in the woods below Oswald Green. And the people. So many people, all living and gloriously breathing, and laughing, and crying, and praying. And sometimes sending a spark of light up like a signal - the occasional magic of everyday folk, so similar and so different from the salty flashes of the feral cats, or the stone hard somnolence of the cattle in the fields. There were so many different flavours of magic in the world and Merlin floated above, around and through them all, cataloguing each in turn and almost bursting with the pure love of existence.
His absorption was such that he almost missed the hole in the world to the west. It was not until it prodded him with the voice of a mellow bell and coarse gravel that his focus was drawn down and in towards that spot.
"Take care, young warlock," the colours whispered - brown and green and hard edged. "You are playing with dangerous fire."
"Why? What?" Merlin wondered.
The voice danced back in stately measures, "Test yourself by all means, but do not lose yourself. This corner of this ancient land needs you to remain in your body for a few years more."
Merlin frowned and the deepness chuckled. "You are strong," it said, "but you are young. Look back over your shoulder and tell me what you see."
Merlin turned his metaphorical head and looked. The landscape of Albionshire was spread below him like the satellite view on Google maps. And across it all was Merlin, spread thin like a sheet of tissue paper.
Far, far away, at the edge of his awareness, where the salt sea crashed against the cliffs, the tissue was beginning to fray. The voice from deep below the hill whispered, "Do not lose yourself yet. You are only one side of the coin. Look to the south."
If the Tor had been bright, the blaze of Arthur was a true beacon. Even surrounded by the mass of human sparks that was London, he still flared strongly and Merlin was drawn towards him. The cold power that pulled him back was alien and it spoke with the voice of bells and stone. "No," it said, and he was rolled up like a ball and thrown back into his body.
Arms, legs and lungs came to awareness with a shock that left him winded. He lay on his back, gasping, while his phone buzzed in his pocket. Fumbling with hands that didn't yet belong to him again, he pulled it out and answered.
"Don't do that again," Miss Kay's voice ordered. "Your and Arthur's destiny will not be served by you losing yourself across the land."
"It… I felt…" Merlin stumbled in trying to find functional language.
"It is bliss," Miss Kay agreed, and Merlin was still far enough into the wonder to recognise that her voice was soft with longing and loss. "But it is not time. You will know when it is. When you and Arthur will unite to save the land." Her voice became more business-like. "You have to save Arthur first," she said.
The line clicked off against his ear and he dropped the phone while he concentrated on breathing. It was almost painful and it brought him slowly back to life.
He spent the rest of the morning talking to the next door cat stretched out on top of the backyard wall beside his bedroom window and trying to get beyond the vague sense of 'alert-protectiveness-for-here', that was all he could feel from her.
But while the cat was no conversationalist, concentrating on her had apparently allowed the rest of his mind to consider his larger problem and come up with an idea.
"I need to go to London," he said over lunch. "If Arthur doesn't get in touch and tell us it's all okay, that he's stopped Uther's plans."
The Sunday papers had all covered the Uther story, with more about his background, but no more insights into what he had meant by what he had said.
"The Echo may say more in its next edition," Gaius said.
"Yeah, but that's not until Wednesday. I can get to London, see Arthur and be back by then. With real information."
Gaius looked at him from beneath lowered brows. "And what would you do there?" he asked.
It took a moment for Merlin to formulate his answer. He cleared his throat and asked, "Do you, do you think I could do something to make Uther change his mind?"
Pausing in the act of cutting his roast chicken, Gaius stared at him. "With magic?" he asked. Merlin nodded slightly, not meeting his eye. "That would be highly unethical," Gaius said.
Merlin smiled, feeling a weight lift from his soul. "So that's a no, then?"
Frowning thoughtfully, Gaius said, "I don't know if you could or couldn't do it. The question is, would you?"
"No, I don't suppose so. It doesn't really feel right."
"Good!" Gaius said, nodding once. He looked down at the green beans on his plate and his brows drew together slightly.
Merlin passed him the butter. "But we have to do something."
"Yes, we do," Gaius agreed. He cut a lump of butter free from the block and dropped it on his beans. "What about your friend Will?" he asked. "He's covering the financial desk, isn't he?"
"Yes. I suppose I could ask him if he's heard anything. He's probably forgiven me by now."
"Well, that would be a start." Gaius agreed.
Pendragon's Folly, Chapter 7