The Camelot Spell - Laura Anne Gilman [14]
“Assuming he hasn’t done it himself,” Robert muttered. “He always was a weird one.”
Gerard, remembering his odd encounter with the wizard months earlier, had to agree. But still, Arthur trusted the enchanter. He had always trusted him. Impossible to believe Merlin would turn on that trust now.
“So where is Merlin the enchanter?” Newt asked. “If he’s asleep, he’s not much use to us or his king.”
“He’s gone,” Gerard said flatly. “He stormed out of the castle a couple of months back.” He still remembered the sound of the front gate slamming shut not by human hands, but by a magical wind that swirled in Merlin’s wake.
Robert nodded his head, remembering. “Huge row with the king. Hasn’t been seen since. He does that every now and then—picks a fight, disappears. I think he does it because he’s bored.”
“A bored enchanter is a dangerous thing,” Dewain said, as though he knew the danger firsthand.
“He wasn’t bored,” Ailis disagreed.
“Right. And you know that—how? Does Merlin confide in you?” Dewain was scornful, taking his uncertainty out on her.
“I was there,” she said defiantly, her expression daring them to challenge her further. “In the room, when the argument began.” She paused, obviously trying to remember exactly what happened. “Arthur said something about the Quest, although he didn’t call it that, then. He called it…a mission? And Merlin said there were other things they should be worried about, like the unhappiness someone was stirring up among the border lords, and…and problems inside the castle, too. And Arthur agreed and wanted Merlin to do something about it, and Merlin said he couldn’t—that he was going to be somewhere else then, and no, he couldn’t tell Arthur where because he didn’t know yet, and then it got sort of confusing.”
There were nods of acceptance around the group. Any discussion with Merlin was bound to become confusing, living backward in time the way he did. Not that any of them really understood what it meant, but it sounded confusing. And none of the adults seemed to understand it either, except the king.
“What all that means is that we have no idea where the only person who could help us is,” Robert said glumly.
“We know he didn’t approve of the Quest,” Tynan pointed out. “Isn’t this the sort of thing an enchanter might do to stop the Quest?”
“If he wanted to stop the Quest, he could have done it without leaving,” Mak said, giving Tynan a look of contempt. “It would have been easier that way. I don’t trust Merlin; I don’t trust any magic-user. But he lives to serve Arthur, same as we all do. And he was the one who sent out the message about the Quest in the first place, so knights outside of Camelot would know about it. Would someone who wanted to stop the Quest do that?”
“We’ll find him.” Gerard spoke before he realized it, then said more slowly, “I’ll find him.” It’s what a knight would do, and he was the closest thing they had to a knight now. The others should stay behind, safe inside Camelot’s walls, with Camelot’s reputation to protect them—at least for a little while.
“And how do you plan to do that?” Newt asked, his expression skeptical but his voice neutral.
“Take me with you,” Ailis said.
Everyone looked at Ailis, and she blushed red all the way up to her forehead. “I know Merlin. I mean, I’ve talked to him.”
“So have I,” Gerard retorted. Only once, true, but…“He knows who I am.” Also true, if still more than a little frightening. “He said…he said that I had impressed him. Would impress him. So maybe he meant that I would find him when he was needed.”
“That’s thin.” Tynan waved a hand in dismissal of the idea.
“It’s more than anyone else has.”
“If he’s such a great enchanter, why doesn’t he know his king’s been put under a spell?” Newt spoke again, his chin jutting out stubbornly.
“I don’t know! I don’t know how he thinks. I don’t want to know how he thinks! If you have a better idea, then tell me.” Gerard didn’t quite fling his arms up into the air in complete frustration, but it was close.
Robert couldn’t refrain