A/N: Here I am again! Told you I'd update this week! Anyway, thanks so much for all the support, I really appreciate it! I try to answer every review, so I'm sorry if yours didn't get answered :(

disclaimer: None of the Merlynn characters or events are mine, only the original characters and plotlines are mine ^^

dedicated to Jackalyn, 'cause she's just freaking AWESOME! Love you sweetie!

Allons-y!

Chapter 1: The Curse of Cornelius Sigan – part 1

"Don't forget the laundry, Merlynn," Arthur reminded me absently.

It had been several weeks since Arthur had asked me about my confession, and he hadn't mentioned it once. It was as if it hadn't happened at all – if anything, we didn't know how to act around each other anymore. We were both so awkward, Morgana had even commented on it (with an annoying, knowing smirk on her face). Gwen was a little more sympathetic, as she was the only one who actually knew exactly what had happened. There was no way I would ever tell Morgana I'd confessed my love for her adopted brother while he was unconscious.

There was none of the usual banter between Arthur and me anymore, and it made me feel miserable. If one secret could cause such a rift between us, what would he do if he ever found out about my gifts? Sure, he knew about one small part of it, but he wasn't confronted with it every day; in fact, he might have even forgotten about it by now. It would be just like him.

Things were even worse between us now that Uther had suddenly developed a taste for treasure hunting. He had found some ancient text alluding to hidden treasure beneath the castle, and had immediately ordered teams to start digging… day and night. And they were loud. Very loud. And a sleep-deprived prince was not a happy prince.

I had taken to sleeping in the small antechamber next to the prince's bedroom, since he always needed something. On the third night after the digging had started, he sent me down there to tell them to stop. I was more than a little reluctant, but I also didn't want to argue with him, so I just did as I was told.

When I got there, the workers were running the other way, screaming. 'Well, that's not good,'I thought to myself. Logic would dictate that I follow the running men, but then again, I'd never been very logical.

I followed the path and found the tomb they had laid bare. It was filled with precious stones and gold, but what drew my attention was the stone coffin in the centre. The figure of a man had been carved into the top, and, where his heart would have been, a huge, blue, heart-shaped jewel lay, faintly glowing. It drew me in, demanded all my attention. Then I hit my foot on something soft.

Looking down, I saw a man kneeling in front of the coffin. "Hello," I called, and gave the man a slight push. Instantly, I relived the man's last moment, up to the poisoned dart hitting him and killing him. I gasped in fright and ran.

/*/

The next morning, Gaius and I were back in the tomb, examining the dead man and looking for clues as to who it belonged to. I knew Gaius had an idea, but when I asked, he said he wasn't sure.

Uther, when he came down, seemed more preoccupied with all the riches than with the dead man, and Arthur was annoyed and wary.

"Have the tomb secured. Guarding it is your responsibility, Arthur," Uther ordered, and marched out.

"Yes, father," the prince replied.

Of course, the hunt that was scheduled later that day just went on as planned. I did my usual chores, getting Arthur's horse ready and putting a block next to the mare so mounting the horse would be easier. But as soon as the prince sat down in the saddle, the girth sprang loose and he fell to the ground, the horse startled into a run.

"Arthur, are you alright?" I asked, helping him up. He shrugged me off angrily.

"No, I'm bloody well not alright! You didn't do that girth up right!" As usual, when Arthur got embarrassed, he got angry, and I was a convenient target.

"I did that girth up myself, and I checked it, it was perfect!" I hissed. I'd prepared his horse a million times, and this had never happened before.

"Well, obviously it wasn't!" he retorted.

We were interrupted by a man who, in my eyes, had rat-like features. He was fairly nondescript, except that he was leading Arthur's horse back to us. "Shall I do the girth up properly, sire?" he asked, all subservient and respectful. I disliked him already.

"Yes, thank you," the prince replied distractedly.

The rat-like man gave a little bow. "It's an honour to be of service to the prince," he said.

Arthur turned to me, smug smile already on his lips. "An honour. Do you hear that, Merlynn?"

I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Allow me the honour of brushing your clothes down," the man now said, having found a relatively clean brush somewhere. He pretended to pick something off the prince's vest, and I glared. I'd painstakingly washed that vest the previous evening. Even after falling on the ground, it wasn't dirty.

"The honour," Arthur mouthed at me.

"Anything else I can do for you, sire?" the man asked. He was seriously annoying me with his bowing and scraping and almost kissing the earth Arthur walked on.

"You can give Merlynn a kick up the backside," he replied. I was fairly sure he didn't mean it. Then again…

The man started to move towards me, but I glared at him. "One more step, and you'll never use those legs again," I threatened.

Rat-face gulped and turned back to Arthur, who had remained oblivious to the exchange. "I wouldn't wish to deprive you of the pleasure, sir."

Arthur actually smiled at that. I clenched my teeth, but remained outwardly as calm as I could. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Cedric. I've come to Camelot in search of work."

"Good, you can be a beater on the hunt. We're short a man or two," Arthur said, mounting his horse again.

"You're too kind, sire," rat-face said.

I picked up one of the rods used for beating, and walked over to him. "Here, you'll need a beater." I slammed it into his gut, not hard enough to really hurt, but enough to wind the man. "Oops, sorry," I said insincerely.

I guess I wasn't very good with embarrassment either.

/*/

The hunt was absolutely miserable.

I had tried to stay close to Cedric, because I didn't trust him. I saved Arthur's life, again. And, when I couldn't claim to have done so without revealing my gifts, Cedric had taken credit. The little bugger had pretended to be all humble and modest, when I'd seen him cower in fear as the huge boar had stormed Arthur.

And so rat-face had wormed his way into the royal household; as a reward for 'saving the prince's life'. Stupid little miserable excuse for a human being.

In the meantime, Gaius had found out that the tomb had belonged to Cornelius Sigan: the most powerful sorcerer to have lived, and a figure of nightmares. Gaius worried that Sigan might've succeeded in finding a way to cheat death.

/*/

"You mean she had another vision?" I asked. Gwen had found me in the kitchens as I was gathering Arthur's breakfast and told me that Morgana had woken from another nightmare in the middle of the night. "Did she tell you what it was about?"

Gwen shook her head. "She didn't want to say, but… Merlynn, she was scared to death."

I sighed. "I have to run, Gwen – I'm late with Arthur's breakfast – but I promise I'll check up on her today. Ask Gaius in the meantime."

"Thank you, Merlynn."

By the time I got to the prince's chambers, Cedric was already there, with an entire banquet of food. This bloke was laying it on thick. Early on in my service, I'd made it a point not to give Arthur too big of a breakfast, and he'd never had a problem with that. Until now, it seemed.

"Is there anything else that you need doing, sire?" I asked through gritted teeth. To hell with complaining about my chores; they were mine, and I was proud of my job!

"No, I think Cedric's got it all covered," he replied casually. I stood there, jaw clenched, glaring at the other servant. How dare he steal my job like this?

"Oh, I regret, sire, there is one thing I failed to do: muck out your horses."

Fantastic, my favourite thing to do.

"Off you go," Arthur said.

"I can't," I said, but regretted it instantly. I had no reason not to; I just asked for work!

Arthur finally looked up. "And why not?"

"I need to visit the Lady Morgana," I blurted out. It was actually a good excuse.

Arthur frowned. "Morgana?"

"Yes, she had another nightmare. That's why I was late, sire, Gwen was telling me about it."

"So you were gossiping," the prince interpreted flatly.

"No, she was relaying news. I often go to Morgana after she's had a night like this. Aside from Gwen, I'm the only one she feels comfortable telling them to," I said.

Arthur shook his head and dug back in to the enormous meal. "Well, Morgana can wait. She's not dreaming now, is she?" he asked rhetorically.

I clenched my teeth again. "Of course, sire." If I kept doing this, I'd ruin my teeth.

/*/

I woke up lying on something soft, a horrible smell penetrating my nostrils. I cracked open one eye, and was confronted with a most unwelcome sight. I was in the stables, and there was horse dung barely an inch in front of my face. I scrambled up in disgust… only to come face-to-face with a very angry-looking Arthur.

"What are you doing?" he asked, in a relatively neutral tone.

"Nothing," I said quickly, standing up fully. I knew I must've been blushing furiously by now. Had I really fallen asleep in the stables?

"I can see that. Perhaps you were looking for something?" Again, he used that reasonable tone. It didn't bode well for me.

"Looking for something, sire?" I asked. My head hurt, and my brain was still somewhat clouded.

"The horses!" he shouted, losing all pretence of calm now. I looked around and noticed, for the first time, that the horses were indeed gone. I closed my eyes briefly. That explained Arthur's anger.

"Look, one mistake I understand, but this is one thing after another," he said, a little calmer now.

"I don't know what happened," I whispered, more to myself than to the prince.

Arthur looked a little uncomfortable with the situation himself, but was saved from having to reply as Cedric walked in. "Please, sire, don't be too hard on her. She's a good servant, she's just… tired," he said. He stepped forward, intending to put his hand on my shoulder, but I stepped back.

"Don't touch me, that threat still stands. And I am not tired!" I shouted. That little weasel was trying to get rid of me! But why…?

"Maybe if she had the evening off," Cedric went on, though he did keep his distance this time. "A good night's rest…"

"Excuse me?" I said, indignantly. The nerve of that rat!

"I'm more than willing to take over her duties tonight," he continued as if I hadn't spoken at all.

"Perhaps you're right–" Arthur started, but I wasn't just going to let him do this.

"No! Can't you see what he's trying to do? He's trying to get rid of me for some reason, and if you weren't such a clotpole, you'd see that!" I shouted.

"A what?" Arthur asked, his anger clearly flaring again. Okay, so maybe I shouldn't have insulted him, but he was being unreasonable!

I saw Cedric open his mouth again, probably to utter another oh-so-reasonable suggestion, but I wasn't going to let him. "A clotpole," I said, not caring that I'd insulted the prince twice now. "Or would you prefer prat? I've called you that a million times and you haven't cared! You're acting like one, and I never pull punches, you know that!" I screamed.

Arthur clenched his jaw. "Cedric's right, he can look after me tonight. And you can go home and think about whether you want to be my servant or not."

Something in me snapped; I hadn't been this angry in years. "There's no need, sire. I quit!" I said, and stormed out, not even thinking about the repercussions.

I felt a grim satisfaction at seeing the hurt flash across the prince's eyes before I left. He didn't call me back.

/*/

As usual, Gaius had some comforting words to offer as well as some bad news. It appeared that the blue jewel on Sigan's coffin was not just a gem, but contained the evil sorcerer's very soul.

Well, at least my attention was diverted.

That night I was woken by a powerful surge of magic coursing through me. Not knowing what it was, I shoved it to the back of my mind and went back to sleep.

It was not until the next morning that it became obvious what it had been. Cornelius Sigan's tomb had been raided, and the jewel that had once been a vibrant, pulsating blue, was now colourless and empty.

And the only one with access to the keys had been Cedric.

My only problem now was how to tell Arthur that his new favourite servant was not only a thief, but also possessed by a long-deceased, evil sorcerer. I was not looking forward to that conversation.

A/N: Review! Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! ^^