Once Upon a Camelot Curse - Chapter Ten
It was the heat making him hallucinate.
It had to be.
At least, that was what Gwaine was repeating to himself. Yet, he had sprinted away from the stables, separating himself from Gwen and Arthur. Yet, he was still searching the mingling crowds for any sight of Merlin or one of Morgana’s knights. None of them knew what they were doing, surely, and they all thought it was an act, he was guessing.
Wasn’t it? Wasn’t it all an act that they were living out?
But he couldn’t help feeling that those images in his head were the real world. They felt far too familiar and too much like… well, like home. Sparring with Percy and fighting alongside Arthur. It all felt a little foreign to Gwaine, who enjoyed being the guy the tourists threw tomatoes at and announcing the jousting tournaments. The closest he got to being a knight around the faire was introducing them to the crowds before they beat one another up with lances. And that was fine with Gwaine.
Protecting Merlin just felt like a natural thing, though. It was something that he did in this world and any other world, apparently.
So he slipped through the crowds, not sure what he was looking for other than the deep green cloaks of Morgana’s men.
A brilliant flash of blonde hair caught his attention and Gwaine immediately turned to follow the beacon. Juliana. Morgana’s right hand… whatever she was. The girl was always at Morgana’s side, along with Lancelot, so surely she knew what was going on, right? Although, Juliana always seemed a bit bubble headed, especially compared to someone like Morgana. But even the most vague of people picked up on the secrets of their companions.
“Juliana!” Gwaine shouted, gaining her attention as she turned to see who was shouting her name. Instantly, he saw her blush at the sight of him. Many of the girls at the faire seemed to enjoy Gwaine’s company, just as much as he enjoyed theirs. Juliana was always one at the forefront of the group in particular.
“Gwaine! Shouldn’t you be at the stocks?” Her voice was pretty and petite, and Juliana had always been someone Gwaine had wanted to have drinks with, perhaps even do more with while they were flouncing about the faire. But now he had to ignore those pretty blue eyes.
He couldn’t confront her immediately, of course. Brute force, despite something he desperately wanted to use right now, wouldn’t get him anywhere with Juliana. Soft charm, however…
He waved a hand through the air, dismissing her concern about his job and what he was supposed to be doing at that moment. “I got someone to cover me today. Didn’t really feel like combing tomato out of my hair this morning.” He smiled, putting on all the charm he could. It seemed to work as she giggled and blushed even more. Gwaine felt bad, using his powers for evil, but it was the only way to figure out where Merlin was. “Listen, I was supposed to meet Merlin--”
The blank look on Juliana’s face when he mentioned Merlin made him want to groan. Of course, Merlin was practically invisible compared to someone like Arthur or even Gwaine.
“The young bloke who runs the game booths,” he clarified and Juliana’s eyes lit up as she nodded, a young student finally getting an answer right. Gwaine smiled, hoping that it would praise her enough to get some answers. “But I can’t find him anywhere. Would you happen to know where he’s gone off to?”
It didn’t matter that Juliana barely knew Merlin. He watched her face for any tell tale sign of even knowing a bit of information. But there was nothing there. No uneasy look on her face, any sort of inclination that she felt guilty for something, or anxious about it.
Just a smile as she shook her head.
“No, sorry, Gwaine. I’ve been running errands for Morgana all morning. Picking up some strange ingredients from around the faire for her.” Gwaine frowned as Juliana shrugged, her fingers going to the edges of her sleeves, picking at the lace there.
Ingredients… Morgana was behind this, obviously, which meant that Merlin was with her. So he switched gears.
“Yet your arms are empty, dear Juliana. Where are you taking these ingredients?” He dropped his voice to a low whisper, hoping to enchant her. But Juliana merely blinked at him. Gwaine wasn’t sure if she was suspicious of the subject change and how interested he was in her errands compared to the location of his friend, but Gwaine didn’t particularly care. Neither, apparently, did Juliana.
“Oh, I just gave some to Lancelot. That’s what I was supposed to do.” She tilted her head behind Gwaine. He turned.
And that’s when he saw Lancelot.
Most of Morgana’s men were easily shuffled through, nobody particularly important or noteworthy, even in the pretend world that they worked in. Supposedly pretend world, anyway, with what Gwaine had been going through in the past few minutes. No one stuck out, even in Morgana’s court, except for Lancelot and Juliana, a girl he knew had a crush on him forever.
Come on, who wouldn’t have a crush on Gwaine?
“Thanks, Juliana!” Gwaine cried, bolting from the girl and slipping through the crowds to get to the retreating form of the head knight. Lancelot was important. Another confidant, if Gwaine was correct. “Lancelot!” He shouted over the din of chatting Normals, getting the knight’s attention.
Lancelot turned, facing Gwaine with arms filled with glass jars. The knight frowned at the sight of Gwaine and moved to keep walking in his original direction. Gwaine caught up in a few long strides and clapped down a hand on Lancelot’s shoulder.
“Lancelot, dear friend,” Gwain greeted, although they were nothing of the sort, at least not in this world, especially if Lancelot was dealing with Morgana. “Could you tell me where Merlin is?”
The frown deepened as Lancelot tried to keep walking. “Don’t know. Haven’t seen him, Gwaine. Don’t you have a job to be doing somewhere else? Like getting pelted with tomatoes or something?”
The answer was hostile, far too defensive for Gwaine’s liking. He knew his charm wouldn’t work on Lancelot like it had on Juliana, but he had hoped it wouldn’t turn into something a bit more heated. He sighed and his grip tightened, fingers curling into Lancelot’s cloak. The knight turned his head in surprise at the reaction, but didn’t have time to react to more than that as Gwaine dragged him off of the main road and in between two stalls, disappearing into shadow and away from the attention of tourists.
“Oi! Get your hands off of me!” Lancelot shouted, but Gwaine was not having any of it. His patience was wearing thin. His fingers gripped Lancelot, both hands now, and he shoved the man into one of the surrounding walls, hopefully knocking any air and protesting words from his chest. The glass jars rattled against one another, threating to fall and break.
“No. And you listen to me, Lancelot,” Gwaine snarled. Panic was beginning to bubble up in his chest and he had to ignore it, or convert it into something vicious in order to get what he wanted right now. All of this was far too much of a coincidence not to be real and he was going to roll with it. “You tell me where Merlin is, right now, and I won’t have to hurt you, understand?”
It must have been something in his face, or in his voice, but Lancelot nodded after a silent beat. Gwaine didn’t want to hurt the guy, that wasn’t his intention. Lancelot didn’t know better and surely was under some sort of influence by Morgana. But Merlin was the more important target right now.
“I took him to Morgana. It’s just a joke, a scripted stunt to rile up the tourists, you know? He’ll end up in the stocks later.” But Lancelot didn’t seem too sure about his answer and let his eyes fall down to the glass jars in his arms. “I think, anyway.”
“Where are they, Lancelot?” Gwaine didn’t like that Lancelot assumed Merlin was all right and it was all scripted. The man would surely believe anything that Morgana had said to him, reassuring him that Merlin would be fine and it was all play-acting.
“Dungeon.” Lancelot replied simply.
Gwaine’s fingers unknotted from Lancelot’s cloak, letting the man go. “Do not warn her, you understand me, Lancelot?”
The knight nodded in return, keeping silent.
“Good.” Gwaine turned on his heel and took off toward the castle that housed the dungeon exhibit, hoping that he wasn’t too late for whatever Morgana was planning on doing to Merlin or anyone else for that matter.
It had to be.
At least, that was what Gwaine was repeating to himself. Yet, he had sprinted away from the stables, separating himself from Gwen and Arthur. Yet, he was still searching the mingling crowds for any sight of Merlin or one of Morgana’s knights. None of them knew what they were doing, surely, and they all thought it was an act, he was guessing.
Wasn’t it? Wasn’t it all an act that they were living out?
But he couldn’t help feeling that those images in his head were the real world. They felt far too familiar and too much like… well, like home. Sparring with Percy and fighting alongside Arthur. It all felt a little foreign to Gwaine, who enjoyed being the guy the tourists threw tomatoes at and announcing the jousting tournaments. The closest he got to being a knight around the faire was introducing them to the crowds before they beat one another up with lances. And that was fine with Gwaine.
Protecting Merlin just felt like a natural thing, though. It was something that he did in this world and any other world, apparently.
So he slipped through the crowds, not sure what he was looking for other than the deep green cloaks of Morgana’s men.
A brilliant flash of blonde hair caught his attention and Gwaine immediately turned to follow the beacon. Juliana. Morgana’s right hand… whatever she was. The girl was always at Morgana’s side, along with Lancelot, so surely she knew what was going on, right? Although, Juliana always seemed a bit bubble headed, especially compared to someone like Morgana. But even the most vague of people picked up on the secrets of their companions.
“Juliana!” Gwaine shouted, gaining her attention as she turned to see who was shouting her name. Instantly, he saw her blush at the sight of him. Many of the girls at the faire seemed to enjoy Gwaine’s company, just as much as he enjoyed theirs. Juliana was always one at the forefront of the group in particular.
“Gwaine! Shouldn’t you be at the stocks?” Her voice was pretty and petite, and Juliana had always been someone Gwaine had wanted to have drinks with, perhaps even do more with while they were flouncing about the faire. But now he had to ignore those pretty blue eyes.
He couldn’t confront her immediately, of course. Brute force, despite something he desperately wanted to use right now, wouldn’t get him anywhere with Juliana. Soft charm, however…
He waved a hand through the air, dismissing her concern about his job and what he was supposed to be doing at that moment. “I got someone to cover me today. Didn’t really feel like combing tomato out of my hair this morning.” He smiled, putting on all the charm he could. It seemed to work as she giggled and blushed even more. Gwaine felt bad, using his powers for evil, but it was the only way to figure out where Merlin was. “Listen, I was supposed to meet Merlin--”
The blank look on Juliana’s face when he mentioned Merlin made him want to groan. Of course, Merlin was practically invisible compared to someone like Arthur or even Gwaine.
“The young bloke who runs the game booths,” he clarified and Juliana’s eyes lit up as she nodded, a young student finally getting an answer right. Gwaine smiled, hoping that it would praise her enough to get some answers. “But I can’t find him anywhere. Would you happen to know where he’s gone off to?”
It didn’t matter that Juliana barely knew Merlin. He watched her face for any tell tale sign of even knowing a bit of information. But there was nothing there. No uneasy look on her face, any sort of inclination that she felt guilty for something, or anxious about it.
Just a smile as she shook her head.
“No, sorry, Gwaine. I’ve been running errands for Morgana all morning. Picking up some strange ingredients from around the faire for her.” Gwaine frowned as Juliana shrugged, her fingers going to the edges of her sleeves, picking at the lace there.
Ingredients… Morgana was behind this, obviously, which meant that Merlin was with her. So he switched gears.
“Yet your arms are empty, dear Juliana. Where are you taking these ingredients?” He dropped his voice to a low whisper, hoping to enchant her. But Juliana merely blinked at him. Gwaine wasn’t sure if she was suspicious of the subject change and how interested he was in her errands compared to the location of his friend, but Gwaine didn’t particularly care. Neither, apparently, did Juliana.
“Oh, I just gave some to Lancelot. That’s what I was supposed to do.” She tilted her head behind Gwaine. He turned.
And that’s when he saw Lancelot.
Most of Morgana’s men were easily shuffled through, nobody particularly important or noteworthy, even in the pretend world that they worked in. Supposedly pretend world, anyway, with what Gwaine had been going through in the past few minutes. No one stuck out, even in Morgana’s court, except for Lancelot and Juliana, a girl he knew had a crush on him forever.
Come on, who wouldn’t have a crush on Gwaine?
“Thanks, Juliana!” Gwaine cried, bolting from the girl and slipping through the crowds to get to the retreating form of the head knight. Lancelot was important. Another confidant, if Gwaine was correct. “Lancelot!” He shouted over the din of chatting Normals, getting the knight’s attention.
Lancelot turned, facing Gwaine with arms filled with glass jars. The knight frowned at the sight of Gwaine and moved to keep walking in his original direction. Gwaine caught up in a few long strides and clapped down a hand on Lancelot’s shoulder.
“Lancelot, dear friend,” Gwain greeted, although they were nothing of the sort, at least not in this world, especially if Lancelot was dealing with Morgana. “Could you tell me where Merlin is?”
The frown deepened as Lancelot tried to keep walking. “Don’t know. Haven’t seen him, Gwaine. Don’t you have a job to be doing somewhere else? Like getting pelted with tomatoes or something?”
The answer was hostile, far too defensive for Gwaine’s liking. He knew his charm wouldn’t work on Lancelot like it had on Juliana, but he had hoped it wouldn’t turn into something a bit more heated. He sighed and his grip tightened, fingers curling into Lancelot’s cloak. The knight turned his head in surprise at the reaction, but didn’t have time to react to more than that as Gwaine dragged him off of the main road and in between two stalls, disappearing into shadow and away from the attention of tourists.
“Oi! Get your hands off of me!” Lancelot shouted, but Gwaine was not having any of it. His patience was wearing thin. His fingers gripped Lancelot, both hands now, and he shoved the man into one of the surrounding walls, hopefully knocking any air and protesting words from his chest. The glass jars rattled against one another, threating to fall and break.
“No. And you listen to me, Lancelot,” Gwaine snarled. Panic was beginning to bubble up in his chest and he had to ignore it, or convert it into something vicious in order to get what he wanted right now. All of this was far too much of a coincidence not to be real and he was going to roll with it. “You tell me where Merlin is, right now, and I won’t have to hurt you, understand?”
It must have been something in his face, or in his voice, but Lancelot nodded after a silent beat. Gwaine didn’t want to hurt the guy, that wasn’t his intention. Lancelot didn’t know better and surely was under some sort of influence by Morgana. But Merlin was the more important target right now.
“I took him to Morgana. It’s just a joke, a scripted stunt to rile up the tourists, you know? He’ll end up in the stocks later.” But Lancelot didn’t seem too sure about his answer and let his eyes fall down to the glass jars in his arms. “I think, anyway.”
“Where are they, Lancelot?” Gwaine didn’t like that Lancelot assumed Merlin was all right and it was all scripted. The man would surely believe anything that Morgana had said to him, reassuring him that Merlin would be fine and it was all play-acting.
“Dungeon.” Lancelot replied simply.
Gwaine’s fingers unknotted from Lancelot’s cloak, letting the man go. “Do not warn her, you understand me, Lancelot?”
The knight nodded in return, keeping silent.
“Good.” Gwaine turned on his heel and took off toward the castle that housed the dungeon exhibit, hoping that he wasn’t too late for whatever Morgana was planning on doing to Merlin or anyone else for that matter.