Chapter 4

HELLOOOOOOOOOOOO EVERYONE! I am SO sorry for not updating in such an ungodly long time; school has been absolutely dreadful lately! But I'll spare you my sob story and get on with the update. :D

Enjoy!

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Merlin!"

Gaius pounded his fist down against his workbench, the resounding slam adding emphasis to his shout. The physician had been looking through his herb shelf in search of the ingredients for a new remedy, only to find his bottle of mugwort to be completely empty. Frustration bubbled through him as he recalled a request to Merlin a few days ago to restock his supply; due to his apprentice's forgetfulness, he would now be at least a day behind in his work. He could not understand why Merlin was suddenly slacking off so much, especially when he had directly requested him to refill the bottle.

Gaius had noticed the constant haze of distraction that hung around Merlin nowadays; rather, he had done his best to pretend he did not. He had allowed the boy to slack off in some of his more menial tasks, such as keeping his living space tidy or studying his herbs. However, when Merlin's scatterbrained antics led to the jeopardizing of his patients, Gaius lost his patience.

Hearing no response from Merlin, Gaius shuffled his way up the stairs to his ward's room, heaving an irritated sigh. Miffed, he decided that he had forfeited his right to privacy in the midst of his laziness, and stormed straight in without hesitation. Merlin lay in a heap on a bed surrounded by a sea of worn clothes and other unknown messes, blissfully unaware of the rising sun or the forgotten tasks he was blowing off. Feeling his frustration bubble over, Gaius picked up one of the spare neckerchiefs lying forgotten on the floor and threw it at Merlin's sleeping form, hitting him square in the head.

"Merlin!"

In a flash, the warlock was springing from his bed, his gangly limbs flailing as he cleared the last bit of sleepiness from his system. Fully awake but dazed, his gaze rapidly shot around the room for the source of the disturbance, zeroing in on his mentor's scowling figure in the doorway.

"Gaius, what's going on? What- wait, what time is it?"

"Nearly midday, and high time for lazy apprentices to get up and start at their chores. Honestly, Merlin, what are you still doing lying about?"

"I'm sorry, I really am, I'm just worn out from all the work I've been doing lately." Merlin supplied weakly, rubbing at his eyes.

Gaius scoffed. "'All this work you've been doing?' And what work is it you've been so terribly burdened with lately, might I ask? Certainly none of the things I've asked you to do, seeing as you have about a week's worth of chores you've yet to even touch." At the flabbergasted look on Merlin's face, Gaius only ranted further. "Just look at your room; it's like a pigsty in here! And don't get me started on the errands I've asked you to run!"

"What errands? I thought I'd gotten to everything you'd asked me to do; I mean, I made all the deliveries to the patients and everything-"

"Yes, but what about the supplies I asked you to fetch? I'm running low on many of my herbs I use for the regulars, Merlin. For instance, the mugwort? I asked you to get more of that days ago, and yet here I am with an empty bottle and no replacement in sight. This is unfortunate, considering I need it for an antidote for a rather distinguished patient of mine."

Had he not been so animated in his rant, Gaius would have noticed the subtle, guilty flash in Merlin's eyes at the mention of the mugwort. Being so caught up in his rant, however, he did not; and so Merlin was able to get the flash back under control before he did.

"Alright, Gaius, I'm really sorry. I'll take care of everything, alright?"

Gaius raised his brows, simultaneously surprised and pleased at the defeated tone in Merlin's voice. "Starting with the mugwort?"

The flash of guilt again went unnoticed as it made a second reappearance in the boy's eyes. "Starting with the mugwort."

Xxxxx

Merlin made his way down the ever crowded streets of the Camelot town square, a sense of impending lateness hurrying his step. He avoided eye contact with the many passersby he crossed as he departed the respectable end of town, entering the less crowded outskirts. Small, dingy houses were packed in tight clusters along either side of the narrow street, giving anyone who was unaccustomed to traveling there a sense of claustrophobia. Merlin, however, had become quite used to walking these narrow streets in the past week, and was thus unaffected. Trying to look as inconspicuous and in place as he possibly could, he made his way down to the very end of the street, his eyes locked on the tiny little shack that was dingy even for this part of town. He approached the shack and drummed out a pattern with his knuckles on the door, and waited.

After a few moments, Antigone answered the door, taking her sweet time as Merlin had learned she felt she was entitled to do. She gave him one of her usual scathing looks through those large grey eyes he was only slightly more used to, and stepped aside to let him in.

"Decided to catch up on our beauty sleep today, did we?"

Merlin rolled his eyes. "It wouldn't have taken nearly so long if I didn't have to knock out that ridiculous code every time I wanted to enter. Honestly, why do you insist on making me do that?"

She shrugged, as if her inconveniencing Merlin was none of her concern. "Safety protocol. I have to know it's you entering."

"Why though? It's not as if anyone else is going to come and visit you." Merlin grumbled. Antigone's eyes blazed indignantly, but she offered no immediate response as she flipped her hair over her shoulder and took a seat at the table. Merlin joined her, a cocky smile plastered across his face at his clever remark.

"I can't be that bad. You keep coming around to see me."

His expression dropped with a snort. "I'm hardly here to see you."

"Oh, really? Then what are you here for?"

Merlin was at a loss, for he did not know how to explain their situation. He was certain he was not there for Antigone, for her mere existence grated on his every nerve. However, he was incredibly drawn in by her ideas and plotting, like a moth to a flame. As much as she annoyed him, the time he spent working with Antigone intrigued him all the more with each visit, so that it became the best part of his routine.

He could, of course, never admit this to Antigone herself. Which was why he found he had no retort to be made.

Antigone rolled her eyes, taking Merlin's thoughtful lack of response as a consequence of his slow wit. "What are you here for, Merlin? We haven't any work to do today."

Merlin pinched the bridge of his nose as he recalled the events of that morning. "Gaius woke me up in a tizzy because he was out of mugwort. I have to go get him more, and I was wondering if you didn't need any, as well."

"I don't have anyone to work with today, so no."

"I know, but I was wondering if you didn't just want me to gather enough for you to have your own bottle here."

Antigone quirked her brow in an insolent manner which she had perfected. "You know I don't like having that stuff lying about. It's too incriminating, and besides, I can't stand the smell of it. It's like a donkey's underarm."

"I know, but…" he found himself hesitating. "Gaius was really cross when he found the empty bottle. And I feel bad constantly sneaking supplies from him. I don't know how much longer I can go about doing it before my conscience has me spilling everything."

The large grey eyes were narrowing into two dangerous slits. "Your conscience had better keep its mouth shut, Merlin. I won't have you ruining everything just because you're a goody two-shoes who's too delicate to get his hands dirty."

Merlin frowned. "Well maybe if you weren't too delicate to keep the things you need in your own home as opposed to making me steal them for you, I wouldn't be tempted to run my mouth!"

There was a thoughtful pause as Antigone chewed this over, Merlin's blood boiling all the while at her comment. After a while, she let out a long, begrudging sigh as if she were consenting to something rather unimportant. "Fine. If it will help your delicate constitution, I'll keep my own supply of mugwort in my house. Happy?"

Feeling relieved and much less irritated in lieu of her consent, Merlin shrugged. "Yes, I suppose I am."

Antigone nodded curtly. "Good. Now, if you're quite through complaining to me here, you should be heading out. Gaius won't wait all day."

"Right." Rolling his eyes, Merlin stood to leave, feeling relieved to be escaping the tiny shack. He made his way toward the door, but found his stomach churning with guilt and a sudden surge of companionship; he would be the first to admit that, although the same went for both ends, he had not exactly rolled out the welcome wagon to her. He certainly could be doing more in the way of friendship, although she was strange and arrogant and rude and reminded Merlin of the perfect female equivalent of Arthur Pendragon… but those thoughts only made him feel worse. Arthur was certainly just as bad as Antigone when they first met, but Merlin had given him an admittedly reluctant chance and the two were now thick as thieves; at least, to some respect. He knew he ought to do the same for her, and it was with these thoughts in his head that he checked at the threshold and turned back to see Antigone sitting where he had left her, gazing upon him with an expression of impassive scrutiny.

"Would you like to come with me?" he asked, his voice coming out embarrassingly uncertain.

For the briefest instant, her eyes flared, and Merlin found he was shrinking back; not because of a spell she was about to cast, but because of shock at the ferocity of the excitement sparking in the steely grey. But as quickly as it appeared, the look disappeared, only to be carefully masked behind the same impassive expression.

Her answer was equally uncertain, though marred by a forced sense of coldness, and she did not meet his eyes as she spoke, fingering the gaudy blue stone hanging around her neck. "I can hardly go traipsing about the forest in the middle of the day, Merlin; I have things to do."

Feeling deflated but glad of the effort on his part, Merlin shrugged and turned to leave. The door was swinging shut after him, but he was still able to catch Antigone's muttered, "Thank you, though."

Merlin found himself grinning at this first, strange moment of softness Antigone had shown. Whereas he had expected her to rudely refuse his offer- which, ultimately, she still had- she had at least shown some form of interest. Optimistically, he saw this as a sign of the cold, thick ice which stood between them finally starting to break.

The grin was wiped from his face, however, when he remembered what it was he was set out to do, and just how hard of an herb mugwort was to obtain. His shoulders slumped and he let out a noisy sigh, resigning himself to spending the rest of the day hunting for herbs.

xxxxx

Between the long walk to find the mugwort, the collecting of the mugwort, and the long walk back, the sun was just beginning to set by the time Merlin found himself back in the citadel. Sweaty and exhausted, he entered the lower end of the town, his arms full of vials of the foul smelling mugwort. He had been sure to gather enough to last both Gaius and Antigone for a while, which had proved to add much more time than necessary to his search. But the journey was fruitful, and there was relief in his heart as he returned.

Puffing from the walk, he made a detour into one of the tiny shacks lining the narrow street. He made sure no one was taking any particular interest in him as he knocked out the code to alert Antigone it was he who had come to visit.

Merlin waited, letting out an impatient sigh at how long she was taking. After a few moments, he beat out the code again, this time with more force in both frustration and the hopes that she simply had not heard him. But still he stood outside, waiting for her to answer, and after about two minutes he found himself sneaking to the window and peering in.

No candles were lit inside, leaving the areas where the setting sun did not reach in darkness. No noises came from within, and even from his viewpoint at the window he could tell that the air had not been stirred for at least two hours.

Merlin frowned. It was unlike Antigone to go out on her own; she mostly let Merlin do all the running around. So he left the shack, confused as to her absence but making a mental note to return later. He made his way further through the streets, where the crowd thickened with people still milling about the shops. HSeeking to catch his breath after the long haul to find the mugwort, he slowed to an idling pace to admire the wares in the shops. But he had barely passed two shops when he found himself stopping short. His breath caught in his throat, and he felt as though time and the world and the people around him had in that instant ceased to exist.

His wandering gaze had been caught by a new stall; particularly, the shopkeeper running it. Black hair hung in stringy waves around an oval face, wearing the signature expression of secret shame that he found so endearing.

It was impossible. It could not be…

He was sure it was just a trick of the light, or a girl who looked eerily like her from a distance. He stood for a few seconds, waiting for the illusion to vanish and his head to clear. But as the shopkeeper turned large, sad brown eyes upon him, he knew without a doubt that it was. That face would forever be painfully engrained in his memory. Even though he knew her to be dead, he was without a doubt staring at Freya. His Freya.

A million different emotions bubbled inside his chest as they locked eyes. He was going to call out to her, shout her name, ask her what was going on, tell her all the things he had never got to, anything, but before he could she broke the gaze. Her hangdog expression lifted to be replaced with lopsided, almost arrogant smirk, and she dropped one eyelid into a slow wink. Then she turned away from him, back to the group of customers milling about her stall, and she did not look back to him.

Merlin stood rooted to the spot for a few moments more, waiting for Freya to give him some other form of acknowledgement, but it never came. Instead, her attention stayed rooted firmly on her customers, and after a while he found himself being bumped and pushed along by passersby who had no patience for him blocking the street, even despite his inner turmoil.

He returned to the castle, feeling ill and confused. She had certainly recognized him, but her reaction had been as unlike her as was possible. Why had she not taken the time to stop and talk to him? Or given him any further form of acknowledgement?

Perhaps it really was just his imagination. Or someone who looked eerily like Freya. After all, she was dead; he had been there, it was he who put her body to rest in the lake. The rational part of his mind, though confused, was insistent that this was all it was.

But still, said the even more confused emotional part of his mind, the look in her eyes before she had noticed him…

Merlin was moodily wrapped up in his own thoughts as he stalked to Gaius' room. The physician looked up in mild interest as Merlin kicked the door shut after him and turned to greet him.

"Merlin, you're back," he said, although that obvious fact really could have gone unstated. Before Merlin could reply, Gaius continued in a tone that was somehow both stern and casual. "It certainly took you long enough."

Merlin scowled, still upset by the episode on the streets and thus on edge. "I'm sorry, Gaius, but mugwort isn't exactly the easiest herb to find. I'd like to see you have to trek halfway through the kingdom and back and be punctual about it."

Gaius rolled his eyes. "Don't over exaggerate, Merlin, it makes you sound whiny. I've made that walk plenty of times and have returned with much more haste than you, even in my old age." Merlin was angry and annoyed and prepared to deliver a defensive remark, until he realized the old man was smirking. "Then again, I don't think I've ever set out to retrieve this big of a batch. Honestly, my boy, it looks like you've got enough to make due for an entire year."

Merlin's heart lurched. He had forgotten to hide the stocks he had intended for Antigone, and now Gaius thought they were for him. "These aren't for you." He blurted without thinking.

Gaius frowned. "Oh? Then whatever are they for?"

Merlin gulped under his mentor's suspicious gaze, quickly trying to think of something to say. Awful as he was at improvisation, he needed some sort of excuse. "No… well, not exactly. I mean, they are for you, but I thought… I thought that I might keep them for you."

Gaius' brow was gradually climbing up his forehead, and Merlin knew he had done a shoddy job. "Really now?"

Merlin nodded his head so hard it hurt. "Yeah, um… I figured at the rate you're using it, you'll be done with those bottles I got for you in no time. I figured I would keep the extras so that when you do get done with those, you'll have backups waiting for you that you didn't even know you had…so it'll be a surprise for you! And it'll save me the long walk…"

Stupid, stupid, stupid. He felt himself flush at the stupid explanation tumbling from his mouth, and judging by how high Gaius' brow had risen he could tell he wasn't buying any of it. But Merlin shook his embarrassment off and plastered a wide smile on his face, as if this was the most logical and obvious explanation in the world. Taking advantage of Gaius' silence, he slammed half of the mugwort down on the table before heading back out. He needed to clear his head as well as avoid any more bumbling explanations he might offer.

"Merlin? But where are you off to now?" Gaius called after him, now looking extremely confused. Merlin checked at the door but did not turn back, his face as red as ever.

"Ah, I think I can hear Arthur calling me… I'll see you later, Gaius!" And he took off like a flash, leaving Gaius in a haze of utter bewilderment.

Slipping the mugwort into his pocket, he made his way to Arthur's chambers. At the mention of the prince, he realized just how many chores he had left to do for him, and was hoping to slip in and get some done before he noticed. With thoughts of the Freya look alike still burning in the back of his mind, he slunk into Arthur's room, dread settling heavily on his stomach as he turned to face the mess he had to deal with.

The damage was worse than he had expected. The bed sheets lay strewn halfway onto the floor as Arthur had seen fit to leave them after waking up. Dirty clothes lay in heaps all throughout the room. Plates, bowls, cups, and other eating utensils were cluttering every imaginable surface in the room. There were large white clumps of wax gathered beneath the candles that Arthur had let burn down and then not properly put out. And there was a strange odor hanging in the air, the source of which Merlin was unable to pinpoint. The accumulation of a few days of neglect left the room looking the equivalent of the results of some sort of celebration. Merlin let out a nasally sigh and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, you've really outdone yourself this time, Arthur," he hissed to himself. "You can't even manage the bloody candles?"

Resigning himself to the fate which he had a part in bringing about, he set to work cleaning the mess. That is to say, with a few muttered incantations, the chores were magically doing themselves, while Merlin himself sought to locate the source of the mysterious rank odor; which turned out to be a combination of a pile of clothes Arthur had used for training(still slightly damp with sweat) and a tub of God-knows-how-old bathwater. With his nose plugged, he was just getting the rank clothes together to be washed when he heard footsteps outside the door.

Merlin muttered the spell to get his magical chores to stop doing themselves. The door was cracked open just as the gold faded from Merlin's eyes, only to be replaced with a look of surprise.

"Gwen? What're you doing here?"

Merlin could not tell if Gwen looked more surprised or guilty at the sight of him. She closed the door after him and stood, twiddling her thumbs together.

"Hi, Merlin," she muttered, blushing slightly and altogether avoiding his question. "I'm surprised to see you here; Arthur says you haven't been showing up for work lately."

Worry bubbled inside him as he wondered, not for the first time, exactly how much Gwen and Arthur told each other. He shook the feeling off and offered her a cheeky grin. "I've been busy, but I figured it was about time I showed up before Arthur drowns in his own filth. As you can clearly see, he can't seem to get by on his own."

Gwen chuckled for a moment, before turning a puzzled gaze to Merlin, who found himself squirming. "Busy with what, exactly?"

Trying to be casual, he shrugged it off. "Just, things. It's nothing too important, but it's time consuming."

Gwen took that as a hint that he was not in a mood to share. "I see," she said in a tone which said she really did not see at all, but let it pass. Merlin felt a great rush of affection for her for not butting in, instead opting to change the subject. "I was actually here to leave Arthur a letter- well, a reply, really, seeing as he's the one who sent the first letter to begin with. I didn't think anyone would be here." A dark blush crept to her face as she spoke.

His rush of affection was all at once replaced by a rush of worry. He was happy for Gwen and Arthur and their profound love for one another, but he could almost guarantee Arthur's father and the whole of the kingdom would not feel the same way. "Don't you think you two ought to be more careful?"

Gwen looked both embarrassed and defensive. "We are careful, Merlin. They're just letters; they're one of the few ways we can keep up with each other without anyone knowing or seeing us together."

Merlin sighed. "I know, Gwen, I understand. I'm just worried; what if someone else got a hold of those letters? Then what would happen?"

Gwen worried at her bottom lip, eyes suddenly clouded in anxiety. "We're careful though, Merlin. We hide them and everything. You do have a point though… I don't suppose I ever thought about that…" The last part was murmured quietly under her breath as she chewed away at her lip.

"Just be careful, alright?" Merlin said weakly, figuring it was safe to assume that nothing would stop them. They were doing no harm, and as long as they were careful, there would be no risk. Who was he to take that from them?

Gwen looked relieved for the most part, though worry still shone dully in her eyes. Neither of them spoke for a moment, and then Gwen's expression lifted as she changed the subject. "Have you been into town recently? Lancelot's got himself a shop set up."

Merlin's face broke out in a grin. "Really? I had no idea he had ambition to open a shop, but that's great! What does he sell?"

She was beaming happily. "Oh, just some elixirs. He learned a lot of healing methods while he was out away from Camelot."

Merlin was slightly puzzled. "He never mentioned he knew about healing to me."

Gwen shrugged, not seeing anything strange about that. "Must've slipped his mind or something. But really, you have to go see him and buy something from him. It'll be the busiest shop there is, loads of people are lining up to buy his elixirs." She turned and made for the door, but not before slipping some papers beneath the mattress on Arthur's bed. "I've got to go; I have things I need to get done. It was nice talking to you though, Merlin!"

Merlin shrugged and went back to his work, chewing over their conversation in his mind. Steadily, a frown made its way to his face, and the more he thought the deeper the frown became. He had noticed no new stalls in the market, apart from the one run by the Freya look alike. Surely, he would have noticed if Lancelot, one of his very good friends, had established a shop of his own and was out flogging his wares; especially if it were, as Gwen had said, the busiest shop there was. The shop with the largest crowd around it that he had noticed was, again, the one run by the Freya look alike.

Something was not adding up in his mind. But before he could give it any more thought, a guard came sprinting into Arthur's chambers, casting his frantic gaze about before acknowledging Merlin.

"Is the Prince Arthur in?" he asked, sounding slightly breathless.

Merlin shook his head. "I haven't seen him all day. Why, what is it?"

For a moment, the guard looked reluctant to tell Merlin. He apparently decided Merlin was trustworthy. "The king is having one of his fits."

Merlin set down the clothes he had been seeing to and took off down the hall for Gaius' room. The old man, as per usual, seemed to be one step ahead of him, for Merlin had barely rounded the corner when he found himself face to face with him. Merlin turned on the spot and followed after Gaius as he hobbled along as quickly as his old legs would carry him, barely even acknowledging his apprentice's appearance in light of Uther's fit. Merlin steeled himself for a long and awkward time spent trying to calm the king down as they entered his crowded chambers.

It took an even longer and more awkward amount of time than Merlin would have imagined calming Uther down this time, as nearly an hour later they were finally making their way from the now-quiet king's chambers. Gaius' forehead was beaded with sweat, while Merlin's head was swimming with thought as they made their way back to the physician's quarters. Only after Gaius had closed the door after himself did Merlin speak.

"It's getting worse, isn't it?"

Gaius offered no response, merely turned to his bookshelf and began shuffling the old, leather-bound books about in his search for Merlin could only guess which one. Merlin watched him impatiently and pressed on when it was quite clear that Gaius was not going to answer him.

"The king's fits. They've gotten longer and more… vivid lately. Your medicine isn't helping him as much as it used to."

Gaius finally offered a response, although he did not turn to face Merlin but continued to shuffle through his volumes. "Very observant, aren't we? But you're right, they have gotten worse lately. Which is why I'm looking for….aha!" He turned to Merlin victoriously with a thick looking book, the title of which had long since been worn away. "This ought to help. A volume of sleeping afflictions and their remedies."

Merlin found himself losing patience with Gaius, though why, he did not know. "You can't just keep putting him to sleep. It's getting worse for a reason, and putting him to sleep doesn't keep protect him from anything. If anything, it makes him worse, because the more time he spends sleeping, the more likely he is to have nightmares."

Gaius appeared not to be too interested in what Merlin had to say as he flipped through the book. "I know, Merlin. But between my current remedy and the new ones to be discovered amongst the pages of this novel, I should be able to manage him. Thank goodness I still have this old thing."

Merlin stared at Gaius for a moment before turning and storming out of the room. He wished the physician would listen to him more, and at least give him a straight answer. He had no idea why it was he was getting so frustrated at Gaius, and decided he needed some space. Besides, he still had to take Antigone her mugwort, which offered the perfect escape from the dreary atmosphere which always hung about the castle after one of Uther's fits.

Merlin made his way through the marketplace. The streets were practically emptied, as it was getting rather late. A few shopkeepers were just storing the last of their wares away for the night, and Merlin kept his eyes peeled for any sign of Lancelot and his stall. But again, the only new stall he came across in the entire market place was the one occupied by the eerie Freya look alike, which was now empty. His mind clouded by the same sinister sense of confusion as he had had before, Merlin made his way into the lower town, and for Antigone's shack.

He was glad to see the windows were lit with candlelight, realizing that must mean she was home. However, when he knocked out the secret code, there was once again no answer from within. Merlin felt frustrated; he knew she must be home for there to be candles, and was probably not answering just to get under his skin. Needless to say she was successful, and quickly losing his patience, Merlin magicked the door open and stormed in on his own accord.

He was instantly greeted by a strange odor hanging about in the air; not the same, pungent smell from Arthur's dirty clothes, but one more earthy and sour. Glancing around the room, he found Antigone's slumped form leaning on the side of her cot, and for a moment he was worried she had fainted. That is, until he saw that the bed was occupied by another person, a middle aged farmer whom Merlin had often seen in passing in the marketplace. Antigone had her hand wrapped around the man's wrist, where there emanated a soft golden glow. Merlin watched in fascination as Antigone's eyes fluttered rapidly, and her mouth seemed to be forming silent words in her sleep.

Merlin knew magic when he saw it. Despite the fact that Antigone had told him nothing but the smallest, most vague details of her grand plans, he could venture a guess that what he had stumbled upon had everything to do with them.

He did not know how long it was he just stood there staring down at the two prone forms in fascination before Antigone started to shift. Her eyes began fluttering even more strongly than before, and her body started to twitch like a dog dreaming about chasing a rabbit. Her silent muttering turned into actual talking, and she seemed to be panicking, muttering "no" repeatedly. Merlin could do nothing but watch helplessly as her twitching turned to thrashing, and her panic seemed to be rising. The man also began to twitch and thrash until finally, his mouth open in a silent cry, he gave a shuddering breath and became quite still.

Instantaneously, Antigone awoke with a last, violent jerk. She sat bolt upright and dazedly started around the room for a moment before whipping around and facing the man, her fingers flying to his neck to check for a pulse. She did not seem to even notice Merlin until he spoke, his voice cracking slightly. He could tell something had gone terribly wrong, as the man still lay unmoving.

"Antigone…?"

Her head whipped around to him and her eyes blazed in fury, although she made no move toward him. "Merlin, what the hell are you doing here?"

"I just came to deliver your mugwort, and this is what I walked in on… What's going on here? Is he alright?" He made to step forward and offer assistance, but the look Antigone sent him froze him in his tracks.

"I have it under control," she snarled, turning back to the man. But Merlin could see her tension in the way she held her shoulders as she began murmuring an enchantment softly under her breath, moving her glowing hand down to the man's heart. Merlin let her work for a few moments before his curiosity got the better of him.

"What were you doing?"

"Practicing." She paused in her incantation to reply curtly before picking the chant back up again. This did nothing to answer Merlin's question, and he watched her with a slight scowl.

"Something went wrong though, didn't it? This wasn't part of your plan?"

Antigone did not answer this time. She continued her chant for a minute or so more before she brought her hand away from the still-unmoving man's chest, her shoulders slumped in defeat. She sat there for a few moments before standing and facing Merlin, her eyes steely and her jaw set firm.

"He's dead."

Merlin felt his heart plummet to his stomach, and for a moment he could do nothing but gape at her.

"W-what? What the hell happened?" he spluttered, finally finding his voice.

"He's dead. Things did not go according to plan-"

"I'll say!"

"- and he died down there. We'll need to get rid of the body."

Merlin's was shocked at the almost businesslike way she spoke of this man's untimely death, which had somehow been caused by her.

"Antigone, a man just died in your home and at the mercy of your schemes. How can you just treat that like it's not that big of a deal?"

Her eyes flashed angrily. "What the hell do you want me to do, throw a funeral service for him? I tried reviving him, but it didn't work. He's dead, nothing can change that, there's no use moping around about it. The longer we keep him here the more likely we are to get caught. Might as well accept it and move on."

The look in her eyes told Merlin that she was no longer just talking about the farmer, but he was too much in shock to press the matter. "Very well," he consented, and with a quiet sigh from Antigone they grabbed the body and set out, taking a hidden back door out of her house. She must, Merlin thought ruefully as they shuffled along the back ways to the forest so as to not be seen, be prepared for a situation like this. He could not tell what disgusted him more, the way the man had died or the cold, almost ruthless manner with which Antigone was handling the situation.

They made their way deep into the forest until they came across a tiny clearing where the ground was soft enough to bury the man. Using her magic, Antigone dug a hole in the ground, and the two laid the unfortunate farmer to rest. Only after they had him inconspicuously covered in dirt did Antigone speak.

"I didn't mean for this to happen," she whispered, and Merlin was surprised to hear how shaken she sounded. He felt a brief twinge of pity for her, but he found he had too many unanswered questions for the feeling to linger.

"You two were dreaming together, weren't you?" he demanded, to which Antigone gave a small nod. "What happened?"

"I was just trying to show him what it would feel like to be persecuted like one with magic, just as I've done with the others. But he did not want to think Uther was evil, he rejected it. No matter how hard I tried, he would not accept our ideas. And then I lost control of things…" she trailed off and seemed to steel herself all over again, for when she continued her voice was strong and once again cold. "I messed up. But it won't happen again."

Merlin stared down at her, a silent war of feelings and thoughts raging in his head. He knew what had happened was an accident, but it could not be denied that Antigone was one way or another responsible for this man's death. And Merlin was her accomplice.

"You didn't mention things could go wrong down there. Hell, you didn't even say how things were supposed to go down there. I thought you had this under control."

"I do," she snapped back, sounding irritable. "It was just one mistake."

"One mistake that cost a man his life!" Merlin thundered, finding that the more he thought about the whole thing and how little he knew, and more importantly that he had agreed to this, the angrier he got. "You never told me anything about what goes on down there."

Antigone met Merlin's blazing look with one of her own. "And risk chasing you off? I need you, Merlin. I was going to tell you about it after I was sure I had your complete loyalty to this plan. But things happen… Look, I've done this plenty of times before. This is the first time I lost control. I didn't mean for him to die down there, but people's minds are complicated."

Merlin chewed this over in silence, becoming even more horrified by the second. "So, you mean to tell me we can die from something that isn't even real?"

"Dreams are just as real as reality, Merlin," she snarled, her eyes blazing. After a moment, she sighed. "But yes. If you die in the dream, then you die in real life."

"So…we're murderers then. What we're doing can kill innocent people." It was a statement, one said with a feeling of dawning hopelessness on Merlin's part.

Antigone's expression dropped, and suddenly she was looking up at him with deep agony burning in her eyes. "I had no idea this was going to happen. I can usually control things better."

Merlin stared into her blazing eyes for a moment as he pieced together the rest of her plan, Freya and her shop, Gwen and her letters, and even the very recent death of the farmer far from his mind as if they had happened in a distant past. "And what happens when you go in with Uther and you find you can't control it as well as you thought?

His question was met by silence. After a moment, Merlin turned and headed back for town in disgust, leaving Antigone to stare down at the grave of her first victim.

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Mugwort= an old sleeping drought used to induce sleep and dreams.

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