Crash Landed In Camelot

I woke up when I felt something drape across my stomach. As I opened my eyes, I realized it was Merlin’s arm. His deep breaths told me he was still sleeping. The sun was just coming over the horizon and so we would soon need to be up. I turned my body so that I rested on my right side, I was now facing Merlin.

“Merlin,” I whispered. He didn’t stir. “Merlin,” I repeated a little louder, tapping his shoulder. He jumped and proceeded to wake up. “Morning,” I smiled.

“Morning,” he said groggily. “You forgot to wake me up for watch,” he said when he fully realized it was morning.

“I kinda fell asleep also,” I said, embarrassed. We were both lying on our sides facing each other. We stayed there in silence for a few moments, staring at one another just relaxing. Merlin moved first to start a fire for breakfast. Today we were going over our plan and preparing for tomorrow’s wedding.

“I wish we had more intricate clothing,” I said as we ate the last of the rabbits we caught.

“We can say we’re farmers coming to watch our prince marry,” Merlin offered.

“The guards will remember our attire. And a woman would not go into the city in trousers. I’ll draw too much attention. Do you know any spells to rearrange out clothes?” I asked. Merlin shook his head no. “Hmm. I think I’m starting to understand how my magic works.” Merlin looked over with interest, waiting for me to go on. “Yeah. It’s just something I’ve noticed lately. First it’s very instinctive. When I’m in trouble, it knows and tries to protect me. Second, when I access my magic, I get a warm feeling all over my body, like the magic is flowing through me. I just haven’t quite figured out the trigger.”

“Maybe it’s tied to your emotions,” he suggested. “My magic is also instinctive at times and I don’t always have to say spells to cast them.”

“How do you do those spells?”

“It’s partly instinctive but I sort of focus on what I am trying to do,” he explained. Focus. Okay. I started to look down at my clothes, willing them to change form. The familiar warmth never came.

“Maybe if you tried speaking in the ancient language?”

“But when I read or hear it, it comes out normal. No, I think that I’m approaching this the wrong way. Every time I’ve done magic, I’ve focused on what I wanted to happen, not willing them. Hold on.” We both stopped our talking and just sat. I again focused on my clothes this time I imagined how I wanted my clothes to look. I saw the color and style I wanted. I felt the warmth flow through my body. My clothes started to shift. I watched as my brown slacks changed to a red skirt and my tunic turn into a matching bodice.

“Wow,” Merlin watching in amazement.

“I did it. I’m not sure how but I did. Now your clothes,” I said rubbing my hands together. I pictured the matching set to my dress. It took a few minutes but soon the warmth returned and his plain clothes became more elegant. “Wicked,” I said when I finished.

“Whoa,” was all Merlin could manage.

“I guess I’m getting the hang of this magic thing,” I chuckled.

“We should work on your fighting skills,’ he said. “You’ll need to know how to defend yourself in case something happens to me.”

“Hmm I see your point. Are we talking magical practice or physical?” I questioned.

“Well my expertise is in magic but, I can do a few basic fighting stunts.”

“How about, I teach you what I know and you teach me what you know,” I suggested. He agreed.

We started with magical practice. After changing our clothes back, Merlin sent objects towards me and I tried to stop them with magic. This managed to injure Merlin more than me. My magic knew the objects were coming before I could find them. The objects then preformed a return to sender. Merlin spent most of the time dodging stick and stones.
“Okay, so I guess you’ve got your magic down,” Merlin said after I helped him up for the twentieth time.

“Sorry. I can’t really control it. My body senses the danger and just reacts. Plus side? I’ve got the best defense system. How about we practice melee fighting?” I finished picking up two sword worthy sticks, tossing one to him. We took our places and began to spar. At first, I could tell Merlin was holding back. “Come on! I won’t learn if you don’t try. We’re using sticks. The worse that could happen is we get bruises or a few broken bones.” Merlin picked up his fighting. We were evenly matched. Both of us amateurs. Finally we called a truce as the sun began to set.

“Where did you learn to fight like that?” Merlin asked, shocked.

“Growing up my friends and I would pretend to be pirates and duelists, so we learned to semi sword fight,” I explained.

“Well it seems that it’s going to come in handy. But I have to warn you that my fighting is nothing like other peoples. I’m easy compared to them.” We took a seat next to the fire pit. I started a fire and Merlin started dinner. After dinner, we sat hip to hip and watch the sun set.

“You ready for tomorrow?” I asked as I rested my head on his shoulder.

“The fate of Camelot depends on our success. It seems like Camelot’s fate always depends on me.”

“You’re just that awesome you can handle it. One day you’ll be able to freely use magic and it’ll be because of you. You’re just as important as Arthur, maybe even more important. At least to me. Even if my arrival here was strange and kind of sad, I’m glad it happened. I’m glad I got to come to Camelot and meet you. After spending so much time here it feels like I was always meant to be here. I suppose it was just destiny. I think that part of me knew I was supposed to be here,’ I said. Merlin turned his head to look at me.

“What do you mean?” he questioned.

“When learning about history, nothing would stick except, the Arthurian legends. I was fascinated about learning about Arthur, you, and magic. Even the fashion of this time. I always wanted to go back in time and experience the medieval period. I was always looking for something more and since I am Armes, I think my magic was preparing me mentally. When I died, my magic took me back here. To save me. The book never said when I would appeared, only that I would change magic forever. Has anyone time traveled before me?” I asked. He replied in the negative.

“And have you ever heard of magic that works so instinctively?” I continued. He again replied in the negative. “My magic works so differently that people view it weird. My knowledge of the future can easily be explained by my being from the future. It makes sense, right?”

“You’re right. Who knows, had you not died, something else might have triggered your magic then.”

“Maybe but it doesn’t matter now. There’s nothing I can do about how I got here. It’s what I do now that I’m here.” We continued to just watch the sun. After the last of the light left the horizon, we got ready to sleep, foregoing a guard. We were still cautious of the spell and held hands. Personally it was becoming comforting to me.

I woke up in the same position as the day before, in Merlin’s arms. It was comforting; I didn’t want to move but knew we had little time before the day started. We had to get to Camelot quickly. I woke Merlin up and changed our clothes back to the design I imagined yesterday. I fixed my hair and made Merlin’s longer to make it harder to recognize him. If anyone asked we were a newlywed couple come to watch the prince marry.

Merlin led the charge into the castle. We managed to sneak in with a crowd of people. We were near the entrance to the throne room when we were stopped. “Halt. Declare yourselves!” said one of the two guards that stopped us.

“I am Derek and this is my wife, Katherine. We were invited to witness the prince’s marriage to the fair Tristiana,” Merlin answered. The guards looked skeptical at his answer.

“This one looks like Arthur’s old servant, the one they’re looking for,” the other guard said, analyzing Merlin.

Hey you’re right,” his partner replied. I was starting to get nervous. What should I do? I could try to… no. That wouldn’t work. Or would it? You don’t know if you don’t try. I felt the warmth spread through my body and spoke, “We are not the people you are looking for.”

“You are not the people we are looking for,” one of the guards replied. It’s working!

“Move along,” I continued.

“Move along,” the guard commanded. We moved towards the entrance again and when the guards were gone, went deep into the castle.

“How did you manage that?” asked Merlin.

“I’ve always wanted to do that. I saw it once in a movie and I guess it finally came in handy,” I giggled.

“Movie?” Merlin questioned.

I sighed, “When we have more time, I’ll explain it to you.”

We found our hiding place and hid. Now all we had to do was wait. It wasn’t long before the wedding started. When we heard Tristiana’s footsteps. Merlin whispered in my ear, “Remember, we can’t let her know we have magic.” I nodded my acknowledgment.

Apparently confident of security and herself, Tristiana had no guards with her. I was going to be the distraction and Merlin was going to get the necklace.

“Tristiana. We meet again. Or should I say Artaith.” I said as stepped out of the shadows. Tristiana stopped dead in her tracks and paled.

“How do you know who I am? I thought I was finished with you,” she said, indignantly.

“Well it seems like your magic isn’t as powerful as you think it is,” I snickered.

“How did you manage to get past the guards?” she said, curtly.

“Well you did make enemies of the prince’s servant and he does know the castle pretty well,” I explained. “Not the best planner, are you?” I asked, endearing her. Merlin was now behind her. Just a few more minutes.

“I don’t have time for this. I’m getting married now,” she said moving towards me. I held up my hand. “Whoa there. Just hold on a moment. They won’t start the wedding without you,” I teased. She growled in response. “Guards!” she called as she started running towards the throne room. “Guards!” she repeated. Merlin and I quickly followed after her. I managed to get the jump on her and grabbed her around the waist and brought her to the floor. I could hear the pounding of footsteps in the hallway. Tristiana and I wrestled for the advantage. She had me pinned but I had Merlin on my side. Merlin moved quickly to unclasp the necklace around Tristiana’s neck as the guards appeared.

“What’s going on here?” I heard Arthur ask.

“Arthur! She—She attacked me!” Tristiana cried as she stumbled over to him. Arthur looked from me to her.

“Who are you?” he asked Tristiana.

“What? I am your bride, we’re getting married today,” she said, simply. I looked over at Merlin who was holding the necklace still. This time, I could feel the magic that emanated from it.

“I don’t know who you are, or why you are here but attacking a lady is a crime. Lady Cadi will not be treated this way,” Arthur commanded. Tristiana looked in shock as the guards came towards her to arrest her.

“But how are you resisting me?” she exclaimed. Arthur looked confused.

“I believe I have the answer to that,” I finally spoke up, getting up from the floor and taking the necklace from Merlin. “Look familiar?” I dangled the gems in front of her face. She tried to snatch it from me.

“Give it here! It’s mine!” she growled.

“No,” I shook my head. “I don’t think I will. It’s evidence.”

“Evidence? Evidence of what?” asked Arthur. Before I could explain, the castle began to rumble. Tristiana broke free from the guards and was headed for Arthur. I could sense the magic in her swell. She was casting a spell! As she spoke the deadly words, I jumped in front of Arthur, shielding him from the spell. I was thrown back, colliding with Arthur and knocked out cold. My body was burning up as I passed out from the heat.