Forbidden Love - Merlyn [2]

Chapter Thirty-Six: Aredian, The Witchfinder

Night had fallen over Camelot and with it came a most unwelcome sight. One man was driving a horse and carriage that was carrying a large black cage upon the back of it. Shackles hung all around it, a cold lifeless prison for those who were cast as witches. The man was dressed all in black, chains and weapons hidden all over his clothing, his black hat hiding his aged yet hard face. He had a power all his own and fear spread through Camelot upon his arrival.

Arthur had never met this man, had no idea what to expect from such a man. However, his father clearly held a lot of respect for the man and Arthur could swear that his father almost feared the Witchfinder which did nothing to settle his racing heart – Merlyn was in so much trouble. Arthur and Uther were waiting in the council chamber for the Witchfinder's arrival. It seemed the man had been close to Camelot and so had arrived within a day. A knight was leading him to the royals as they spoke.

"So, where's he been all this time?" Arthur asked, he was curious about the man but also, he knew he needed as much information as he could possibly get in order to be able to protect Merlyn if he had to.

"In foreign lands. Wherever the pursuit of sorcery takes him" Uther answered simply.

"He does all this in your name?" Arthur questioned but was thoroughly surprised by the reply he got.

"The Witchfinder serves no one. He's a law unto himself." He was a man outside of laws, a man with no home, no sovereign ... no loyalty but to himself. That made him very dangerous. Arthur was starting to see this man was going to so much more than a hindrance.

"Do you smell it?" a deep voice suddenly spoke. Uther and Arthur snapped around to stare towards the door where a demanding figure stood. He seemed to own everything around him. "Do you smell it, Uther?"

"Aredian" Uther said, his stance automatically hardened as two clearly powerful men faced one another.

"It's all around us, the foul stench of sorcery. It's infected your great city like a contagion" Aredian stated strongly, his opinion not one to be taken lightly.

"I welcome you to Camelot, Aredian" Uther said as he offered the man his hand to shake. Aredian took it with a rough nod. "Thank you for making such haste to be here."

"Well, let's hope I'm not too late, hmm?" Aredian replied. Arthur stood watching from the side-lines completely surprised to find his father allowing Aredian to talk to him in such a fashion. "For every hour counts in the war against sorcery. Unchecked, it spreads like a disease. It seeks out the young and the old, the weak and the able, the fair and the foul of heart alike." Arthur watched as Aredian walked around the king and moved towards himself. Aredian stared strongly at Arthur as he spoke. He talked as if he knew everything about magic and it took everything in Arthur not show any emotions – Merlyn was not diseased. "You've grown lazy, Uther. You've grown idle." Aredian turned his gaze back onto the king, his words harsh and brutal for the ruler. "Your once noble Camelot is rotten to the core. You stand on the brink of dark oblivion."

"I am at your disposal, Aredian. The knights will aid you in any way they can" Arthur interrupted, sick of hearing Aredian talk about his kingdom in such a fashion. The moment he spoke he caught Aredian attention.

"You must be Arthur" Aredian replied, seemingly ignoring Arthur's comment.

"I must be" Arthur said back, fighting the urge to sigh at the man.

"You're a great warrior. The finest this kingdom has ever known" Aredian praised, Arthur nodded his head in gratitude as he waited for the inevitable but that was coming. "So, you won't be offended when I say that I shall have no need of you ... or your knights. The subtle craft of sorcery can only be fought by yet subtler means, methods honed over decades of study, methods known only to myself." Arthur didn't like those words at all. They were words of secrecy, of hidden brutality and corruption. Also, Arthur couldn't warn Merlyn of the methods if he didn't know them.