Destined to Be | Arthur Pendragon

Sorcery

"Ada!" Anna jumped to her feet at the sight of her sister falling to the ground.

With great haste, Arthur jumped over the barrier between the spectators and the field. His eyes never leaving the unmoving body of the woman on the ground. He needed to get to her and fast. Her skin was cold to the touch when he pulled her into his arms.

"What happened?" Arthur questioned the woman, who was staring at him with wide eyes.

"I - I don't know," Petra cried, furiously shaking her head. "She congratulated me. We shook hands, and then her eyes rolled into the back of her head. It was all so sudden."

"Sire, we have to get to her Giaus," Merlin approached. "We cannot waste any time."

Swiftly, Arthur lifted the princess into his arms. His eyes never left the younger woman as he did so. He might not have had any proof yet, but she was the one behind all this. There was no denying it.

"Place her on the cot,"Gaius told him, moving quickly around the room. "You're sure there's no external markings or wounds."

"Nothing," Arthur shook his head, holding onto Adeline's hand for dear life as he took a seat in the chair beside her unconscious body.

"She had a substantial breakfast this morning?" The physician continued asking questions in order to figure out what happened to the woman.

"Yes," Mary and Richard answered from the other side of the cot.

This unnerved Giaus a great deal. What could have caused Princess Adeline to collapse if there were no clear signs of an external force, and she wasn't malnourished. There was only one explanation for this.

Sorcery.

"Will our daughter be all right, Giaus?" Mary asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Don't worry, my lady," he answered. "We will get to the bottom of this."

Reluctantly, Gaius kicked everyone out of the room so he could get to work without interruption. Except for Merlin of course. On the surface, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Adeline's pulse was normal. Her breathing wasn't shortened. There were no outward injuries that would suggest the princess was injured. She almost seemed to be in a deep sleep.

"You've got nothing," Merlin spoke after a grueling attempt at trying to figure out what happened to the poor woman lying in front of them.

"No," Giaus answered. "Normally, even a sorcerer leaves a trace of something. Whoever did this to Adeline is very powerful and very skilled. You must keep this in mind, Merlin, when you go after this individual."

"Duly noted," Merlin sighed. "What should I tell everyone?"

"The truth," Giaus said. "Uther will not like it, and this could change the atmosphere of the upcoming weeks, but he; they all, need to know the truth. I will get Adeline up to her room so she can be more comfortable as we try to fix this."

"Ok," Merlin nodded in defeat, exiting the room. "This is going to be awful."

The throne room was deafeningly silent when Merlin entered. Uther sat on his throne, elbows resting on his knees. Richard and Mary wrapped tightly around one another. Mary was crying silently while Richard held her tight. Anna sat at her parent's feet, holding her knees tightly to her chest, rocking back and forth. Lastly, Arthur stood along the far wall, staring out the window, chin in his hand, deep in thought.

A loud cough echoed through the room.

"Merlin," Arthur spoke, joining the others in the center of the throne room. "Please, tell us you have good news."

"Well," the sorcerer rubbed the back of his neck. "It's not good news."

"What does that mean, Merlin?" Mary asked.

"Gaius and I could not find anything physically wrong with Adeline," he looked around the room. "We don't know what caused her to go unconscious."

"You've found nothing?" Uther questioned.

"Unfortunately not," he answered. "And because of this, Gaius believes Adeline has fallen unconscious due to sorcery."

"What?"

No turning back now.

"It's the only explanation he can think of."

"A sorcerer in Camelot. Do they have a death wish?" Uther slammed his fist on the arm rest. "We must find them immediately. Cancel the festivities-"

"Now, now, Uther, just wait a minute," Richard said. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves here."

"Don't tell me how to rule my kingdom, Richard," the king narrowed his eyes at his friend. "An evil being has infiltrated our borders and hurt your daughter. I would have expected you to be with me on this."

"You're jumping to conclusions, Uther," Mary added. "That's all Richard is saying. And to stop the festival now would be -"

"Then what do you suppose we do?" he asked.

"Keep this between us for now," Richard answered. "The less people who know about this the better. Plus, if whoever did this gets wind of us trying to find them, they will run. The best thing is to keep this a secret, and maybe we will be able to figure this out before the potential sorcerer does any more harm."

"Now, if you'll excuse us, we'd like to go see our daughter," Mary grabbed onto her husband's hand, pulling him along towards her daughter's chambers.

+++++

Chloe helped Gaius make Adeline comfortable when Uther, Richard, Mary, Anna, and Arthur entered her chambers. Arthur stood back, watching Adeline's parents and sister rush to her bedside. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought she was only sleeping.

"Oh, my poor girl," Mary cried, running her fingers through Adeline's hair. "I'm so sorry. We're going to fix this."

The prince felt helpless watching the scene unfold before him. Anna knelt on the floor at the side of her sister's bed, crying into her side. Mary and Richard were whispering words of encouragement to her, hoping that their daughter would be able to hear them. Chloe stood behind them, tears glistening on her cheeks. The door burst open behind them. The remaining Dartmouth family members rushed in, joining the king, queen and little sister.

"Merlin," Arthur said to his servant. "Get Chloe. We have a lot to discuss and plan."

*****

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