Crash Landed In Camelot

We made it through the main gates a little after midday. As we entered, I could sense that the atmosphere had changed. The people were staring at us as we passed. This wasn’t a good sign. When we reached the citadel we were met with guards.

“What’s going on?” I asked as I slid off my horse.

“We were sent to escort you both to the king,” one of the guards replied.

“Have we done something wrong?” I asked as the guards took a place on either side of Merlin and I.

“We were just told to escort you,” the guard said solemnly. I looked to Merlin, judging by the look in his eye we had the same thought. Something was wrong in Camelot. We reached the throne room and there sat Uther with Arthur to his right and Morgana to his left. Standing to the right of Arthur was Tristiana. She had her hand on his shoulder.

“Leave us,” Uther commanded the guards and those in the room, leaving only him, Arthur, Tristiana, Merlin, and I. “Where have you two been? When Tristiana told me you two had run off together, I didn’t believe her. What were you thinking Cadi? Running off with a servant? He is below your station. And you. You knew better then to go above your station,” Uther scolded.

Tristiana told him lies. We didn’t run away together. I had asked to borrow Merlin right in front of them. “Sire, I beg your pardon, but I do not know what you are talking about. Merlin and I were out in the forest looking for herbs for Gaius,” I tried to explain.

“Gaius denies asking for herbs. And if you were picking herbs, where are they?” Uther demanded.

“They are in the saddle bags on the horse,” I lied.

“Arthur, go check the bags,” Uther said to his son. Crap. The bags were empty; they had held our food but not herbs. I never thought that we would be interrogated about our trip. I started to become nervous about his return but I couldn’t let Uther know, all I could think of was the herbs, or lack thereof and as quickly as it came, a warmth spread through my body and left. Strange. Merlin was smart to let me do that talking, after all I technically had a higher status than him. Arthur returned.

“She is telling the truth. There were herbs in their saddle bags,” Arthur answered. Check one to my magic.

“Of course they would be. It wouldn’t be a cover story if they didn’t have the herbs,” Tristiana added. Of course. This is her doing.

“I’m not lying. Why would I need to lie?” I stated, softly.

“You were out in the forest for three days with a man. A man that is a servant no less. What do you have to say for yourselves?” Uther demanded. I was at a loss. Uther would see no reason; he was under Tristiana’s spell, whatever it was.

“Sire, I have already told you the truth. There is nothing else I can say,” I quietly submitted.

“Right, if you do not want to tell the truth, then I think some time in the cells will make you change your mind. The servant boy also,” Uther demanded. The doors were opened and the guards came in and led us to the dungeons. However, they did separate the two of us into two different cells.

“Cadi, do you have the book with you?” Merlin whispered in the cell next to mine.

“Yes, I managed to hide it,” I replied. Luckily, something told me to hide the book when we entered Camelot. “But it’s not going to do us much good in these cells.”

“I know but it’s safer in our hands than that of Tristiana’s.” Suddenly, I realized something, “Oh no. Merlin. The spell. It’s going to take you over again.”

“I know. I just thought about that too. But I’ll be okay for a few hours at least,” he answered. We had to get out of here and sooner rather than later. I heard the clatter of the keys moving, I quickly hid my book under the hay before my cell door opened. The guard ushered me out. I followed to one of the more isolated cells to find Tristiana waiting.

“Leave us,” she said to the guard. “So, you and Merlin managed to break through my spell,” she started. I decided ignorance was my best option.

“Spell? Are you talking about magic? It's illegal,” I asked, trying to look confused.

“Please, don’t lie. It’s obvious that you were never enamored with me. This makes me ask. Who are you?” she questioned. I debated my options. If I continued my ignorance she may tire and return me to my cell. Or if I played along I might get some answers.

“Well, honestly. My name is Cadi. I’m the daughter of the late King William of Allerion, sister to the new King.”

“Hmmm, is that it? You’re lying,” she said pursing her lips.

“What is it you wish to know?” I asked exasperated.

“I want to know how you breached my spell!” she exclaimed. Someone’s getting mad.

“Does the king know that you can do magic?” I asked gauging her.

“No and he doesn’t need to. This spell works wonders for persuading people to do your bidding.”

“Is that it? You just wanted to be in control of people?” I felt the warmth return.

“Well, it was the only way I could get close enough to Uther and his son,” she replied coolly.

“Arthur? What do you want with him?”

“Didn’t you hear the news? Arthur and I are engaged. Yes, we are to wed in two days from today,” she said smiling.

“So, you just wanted to marry a prince? That’s all this is for? Seems rather drastic and risky for something so simple for the daughter of a knight.” Hopefully, I would get more answers.
“It would be, if I were actually the daughter of Sir Bilius. However, both he and his daughter are actually dead,” she sneered.

“So if you’re not Tristiana, who are you? Why are you doing this?”

“If you must know, my real name is Artaith. Uther murdered my entire family during the Great Purge. This is my revenge,” she answered quietly.

“Marrying the prince? What good does that do?” How does that get revenge? It’s not really harmful to them.

“That’s just part one. But in order to get to part two. I must rid the world of you. You see. Not only do you know who I am, you seem to be immune to this particular spell. Now, I can’t just kill you, people would suspect. My spell is strong but not strong enough to change how people seem to feel about you. So it seems I’ll just have to wipe your memory. Take this---“ I interrupted her before she finished her spell, “Wait, if you’re going to wipe my memory, indulge me by telling me how to break the spell.”

“It’s simple really. I spelled my necklace. As long as I wear it, people become my loyal servants,” she smiled. Now. Take this maiden and make her forget. Make her forget everything,” her eyes did the same thing Merlin’s did when he said a spell, they glowed. And that’s all I remembered before I passed out, that and how warm I felt.

When I woke up, I was back in my cell. My thoughts were fuzzy. I looked through the window and saw that it was night. I groaned when I moved because my neck was tight from sleeping in an awkward position.

“Cadi, are you alright?” I heard someone ask. I knew the voice. Why did I know that voice? Where am I? “Cadi, answer me.”

“Where am I?” I asked him.

“What happened to you?” he asked in reply.

“I don’t know. I don’t know where I am or who you are or how I got here. I just woke up here,” I answered. How did I know this voice? I heard the man curse.

“Cadi, I’m going to get us out of here. I need you to follow my lead, okay?” he said, urgently.

“How do I know I can trust you?” Something told me I could, I just needed justification. Why couldn’t I remember anything?

“There’s nothing I can say right now that will make you trust me, you just have to. I promise, you can trust me,” he replied. I told him I would follow and he proceeded to escape from his cell.

“Open,” he said and my cell door opened. He entered and dug through the hay for something. He paused and pulled a book out. Tucking the book into his arm, we left the room and I saw that the guards were passed out.

“Your work?” I asked with an eyebrow raised.

“Yes, but we must hurry before someone notices,” he said taking my arm and leading me up the stairs. We headed through many hallways and when we saw people we hid in the shadows. As we walked, I started to remember what I was doing here. My cold body started to warm as I remembered more of myself.

“Merlin, where are we going?” I asked as we left the castle.

“Cadi! You’re back? How?”

“I don’t know, it just came back? It’s hard to explain. But we have to stop her,” I said urgently. The warning bells rang.

“Let’s get to shelter, then we can discuss what to do,” he said as he took my hand and we started to run deep into the forest. We paused to hide our tracks and catch our breath. Eventually, we found a cave and hid inside. “What happened when you were with Tristiana?”
“Well, first of all. Apparently her name isn’t Tristiana, it’s Artaith. And well she is marrying Arthur in two days.”

“But what does that gain her?” He was confused and frankly so was I. How does marrying the prince help her get revenge? What was the second part of the plan? But wait. No.

“If Uther were to die, Arthur would become king and Artaith queen, right?” I asked.
“Yes but why would she kill the king?”

“Uther had her family murdered during the Great Purge. I think she might be trying to take the throne. Being that she otherwise has no claim, if she marries Arthur, she can take the crown.” Merlin’s eyes widen. Her plan was actually quite brilliant really. Only there was one flaw. She didn’t take me into account.

“You still didn’t tell me what happened when you were with her. Why couldn’t you tell who I was?”

“She cast a spell on me to wipe my mind clean. But it only lasted for a little while. In the book, it says that other people’s magic doesn’t affect me the way it does others,” During the trip back to Camelot I had managed to read a majority of the book. It was really very fascinating and enlightening. It appeared as though I was more powerful than even Merlin because of the uniqueness of how my powers worked. I was about to start the chapter on soul mates but we arrived in Camelot.

“That also explains why her spell does nothing to you.”

“Oh! I know what she did. It’s her necklace, as long as she wears it, people are her loyal servants,” I exclaimed.

“So we have to get the necklace from her. Simple,” he said.

“You’re forgetting. We are now fugitives. I’m sure now that we’ve escaped Artaith has added guards around her as a precaution. She’s confident but not stupid.”

“We can sneak in at night and knock out her guards,” he suggested.

“Then we risk getting caught when they fall. I think the best time is when everyone is most distracted.”

“The wedding?” he asked. I nodded my response. “Why then?”

“She won’t expect us to attack in broad daylight during her wedding. And the people will be focused on her,” I explained. “We’ll pretend to be guests at the wedding and we can get her as she walks to the throne room.” We continued to plan out attack throughout the day. When night came we started a fire and cooked rabbits we managed to catch. We decided that tonight, someone should keep watch and I took the first shift. I started reading the book again, which was a bad idea because I fell asleep laying next to Merlin.