Werewolf of London: Chapter 9
Tintagel Manor Bromely Green February 6th, 1851
Merlin stretched his back before he got into bed. They were going to leave Tintagel Manor tomorrow. Arthur had pushed and pushed himself until he was able to walk on his own. Gaius had yelled him, but Arthur waved him off.
“I want to go to London. I want my life back,” he had growled.
Gaius nodded slowly and left him alone. Merlin, however, did not. He followed Arthur around the manor, making sure he didn’t harm himself in any way. Arthur had gotten angry with him, but Merlin didn’t care. He finally left Arthur alone when Hunith said something to him.
“Arthur is a proud young man,” she had said as he helped her up the stairs one night.
“I know,” Merlin replied.
“He was a capable man before Romania. He never needed help walking around. He was not sick all the time. It must have been awful for him to be an invalid. And now, here he is, walking on his own and being able to eat anything he sets his eye on. Then you keep following him, making him feel smothered and like he is unable to do anything on his own.”
“I am just looking out for him!” Merlin exclaimed. He opened her bedroom door and led her to the bed.
“I know dear,” Hunith replied as she pat his arm. She sat down and sighed. “You must see it from his point of view, though.”
Merlin frowned, but nodded. “I will.”
After that talk, Merlin still watched out for Arthur but ceased to follow him constantly. Then, Arthur came to everyone and said he was ready to leave. Gaius checked him over once more before agreeing. Now, everyone was packed and ready to go in the morning. Merlin didn’t really want to go; he wasn’t sure what would happen with Arthur in London.
Just as he was about to get into bed, a flash of gold appeared by his bed and led outside. Merlin sighed, put on a pair of shoes, which looked awkward with his pajamas, and followed the golden glitter out of the house. They took him to a nearby faerie circle.
“Figures,” Merlin sighed. “All right Freya, let us chat some more.” He turned in a circle when Freya didn’t suddenly appear. “Where are you?”
“Here,” a voice said behind him.
Merlin froze. He didn’t recognize the voice. He turned slowly and faced a woman he had only seen in paintings. She had light blond hair, it was almost white, and bright blue eyes. She wore a white dress that almost blended in with her pale skin except for the silver that lined the dress.
“Igraine?” he squeaked.
“I am,” she smiled softly at him.
“You are dead?”
“I am. However, the faeries let me speak to you before you left. I need you to protect my son from everyone and everything that might harm him. You will have to protect him from Uther as well.”
“I will,” Merlin paused. “Wait. Why Uther?”
Igraine sighed and looked away. “I have been watching over my son and husband ever since I died. Uther has become more militant against magic then ever before.”
“I never understood why he hated it to begin with. Magic did not kill you.”
“No,” Igraine laughed. “He believes it did though.”
Merlin scratched his head and furrowed his brow. “I do not understand.”
Igraine laughed. “You might want to sit down Merlin. This could take awhile to explain.”
He nodded and conjured up a blanket, which he spread across the ground to sit on. Igraine sat down as well, though Merlin noticed that she didn’t touch the blanket, she just hovered over it. He must have made a strange face, for Igraine laughed once again.
“I know, it is still very strange for me as well. Now, where should I begin. Ah!” she uttered. “I know! When I was a little girl, living here, I would come to this faerie circle and play with the faeries. It seems strange now, since I do not have any magic, but that never bothered them. As I became older, they would not come to see me as much and soon they did not come at all. I was very saddened by it, but I knew why it had to happen. When I turned eighteen, Freya came to me in a dream and showed me a grown up Arthur. I knew he would be my son and that he would be important. The next day, I met Uther,” Igraine paused, gathering her thoughts.
“We wed a few months later. We loved each other very much and while he was always suspicious of anything he could not see, he laughed and indulged me when I told him of the faeries and magic. By the time I was twenty-one people were beginning to talk. I had not had a child yet, not even a miscarriage. They began to wonder about me, especially Uther’s parents, as they were anxious for a grandchild. I went to Gaius and asked him to help me. I knew that he used to do magic and I wanted to know if I would ever have a child.
“Gaius was hesitant, but even Uther asked him to use magic to help me. Gaius said some spell and found out that I was unable to have a child through normal means,” Igraine’s eyes began to tear up. She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. “We were devastated. We came back to Tintagel Manor to get away from the prying eyes of London. I could not sleep that night and wandered here, to this faerie circle. It was here that I begged and pleaded for help. I knew Arthur was my son with Uther, so he must be conceived with magic if he could not be conceived through normal means. A powerful faerie named Nimueh came to me and agreed to help. She told me that because I had asked the Old Religion for help, something would be taken.”
“I do not get it,” Merlin interrupted. “What does that mean?”
“I do not quite understand it myself but from what I gather a life must be taken if a life is given. Since the Old Religion gave me Arthur, a life, it must take my life in return.”
“But you did not die in childbirth! I have seen you in paintings when Arthur was two.”
“Yes. Once Nimueh gave me the ultimatum, I agreed and rushed back to the manor. I awoke Uther and told him what had happened. He was furious! He shouted and raged at me.”
Merlin winced at the thought of an angry Uther yelling at his wife.
“Oh no,” Igraine protested. “He never laid a hand on me, just yelled. Loudly. Uther demanded to be taken to the faerie circle, which I did. As soon as we got here, Uther yelled for Nimueh to come and speak to him and she did, almost unwillingly. He ordered her to take back what I had done. Nimueh said she could not. Uther asked what she could do. Nimueh replied she could do nothing.
“That is when a bright light descended upon the circle. I could not tell what it was, but I knew it was more powerful than Nimueh. It had no formal shape, it just seemed to be a ball of light. It spoke to us saying that it could grant me more time, but it did not know how much. Uther agreed and we left the circle. We made love that night and a week later, I was pregnant.”
“What was the light?” Merlin asked in anticipation.
“I cannot tell you,” Igraine smirked. “You must find out for yourself.”
Merlin sighed. “I see. What happened after Arthur was born?”
“I was weak for a year after Arthur’s birth, but I soon regained my strength. Uther and I hoped that I would live forever, but it was not to be. The Old Religion gave me more time, but it did not count on Mother Nature. I became ill around the time Arthur was four. Gaius assessed me and found it was form of sickness there was no cure for. I died when Arthur was six and I have watched over him and Uther ever since then.
“It broke my heart when Uther remarried Catrina, even though I knew why he did. Then I was saddened to see Uther disavow magic and anything related to magic. He forbid Arthur to mention it and even told him that he destroyed the books I used to read to him.” Igraine smiled faintly. “He did not though. He just stored them up in the attic somewhere. Then he began to change for the worse.” She frowned and Merlin thought it didn’t suit her.
“How so?”
“He left Arthur, and later Morgana, with Catrina as he traveled the world looking for anything magical and finding ways to destroy it.”
“But,” Merlin said confusedly, “magic did not kill you.”
“Uther could not believe that. No matter what Gaius told him, he was convinced that magic had killed me. He even forced Gaius to give up magic. The Old Religion had planned on me dying when Arthur was ten or eleven, even it was surprised to see me die. I tried to make contact with Uther, but I could not. His heart had been closed off to me. I had to watch as Catrina treated my son and daughter with contempt.”
“Morgana is not yours though.”
“She ought to have been,” Igraine said forcefully. “She is full of magic and needed a mother who would be there for her.”
“You know,” Merlin mused, “I have never seen Morgana’s mother.”
“She left with a stable hand,” Igraine sneered. “It was when Arthur was seventeen and Morgana was only twelve. Uther is still married to her, but I do not know where she is.”
“So you think Uther would hurt Arthur?”
Igraine paused. “I do, sadly. He was always hard on Arthur, since he was the heir to the Pendragon name. Uther’s father was hard on him, so Uther followed his father’s footsteps. Uther loves Arthur very much, but he cannot relate to him. Since Uther hates anything having to do with magic, I fear that he will harm Arthur if he finds out our son is a werewolf.”
Merlin paled. “Would he kill him?”
Igraine said nothing, just stared at Merlin. Finally she said, “I do not know. That is why you must protect him.”
“I will. I promise. No harm will come to Arthur Pendragon as long as I am around.”
“Good,” Igraine smiled widely at him. “I know my son is in good hands.” She stood up and began to float away.
“Wait!” Merlin called out.
She paused halfway to the tree line. “Yes?”
“Morgana has magic?”
Igraine laughed and drifted off. “In time, Merlin Emrys, in time.”
Merlin scowled after her. “I hate being left in the dark,” he muttered. The lights around the faerie circle went out at that moment. “Bugger.” Merlin felt his way out of the circle, muttered a light spell and trudged back to the manor.
Chapter 10