Caught in the Storm

Chapter Twenty-Two

22. Creepy Bloke 

Magdelena stared at Uther as the chamber emptied looking at him with a look which said so much. They walked toward his chambers for him to eat his lunch in privacy, once they entered the food already sitting at his table he went to eat it, "Alright tell me what you want to say." Uther says having seen that look on his serving girl many times before.

"Tell me Uther, who is this Witchfinder?" she asks staring at him from where she stood across the table.

"A trusted ally who has caught many who had used sorcery," Uther tells her taking a sip of his drink. 

"Does he always find the person or has he made mistakes?" Magdelena asks looking at him, waiting for him to connect the pieces.

"He always gets them," Uther says staring at her curiously, "Why do you ask?"

"Who am I Uther?" she asks staring at him.

"My servant," he says before she can see it clearly in his eyes what she was aiming at, "and a powerful user of magic."

Her hands slam down on his wooden table, "You better hope he is blind," she snaps at him towering over the table holding his gaze with a harsh glare, "Or you better hope that the spell I used a while ago still holds so you aren't injured should he find me out."

"Do the spell again!" Uther snaps, "Go on!" she rolls her eyes and grabs the book flipping through the pages slowly, forcing Uther to wait as she skimmed over each and every page sometimes going back a few just to annoy him.

"Sana ho tuulo' amin umbar," she says, "Guess we will find out if it works or not."

"There is no way to tell now?" he asks and she raises an eyebrow at him, "Nevermind." realizing one of them would have to purposefully hurt themselves to find out. There is a knock at the door and the Prince enters the room.

"He has arrived, father," he says looking over at Magdelena, he knew that if the dreams he had seen were true then she had magic of some sort. Uther nods his head and stands from his seat motioning Magdelena to follow, "Do you really need your servant to come with us?"

"He will need to be shown a chamber," Uther says having to act as he would with a normal servant even though he would rather have her hideaway, "Your servant seems useless." 

"That is my brother you speak of Uther," she growls at him but they ignore her as they begin to walk through the halls toward the council chambers Magdelena behind them trying to hide her nervousness. 

"So where's he been all this time?" Arthur asks his father as they continue to make haste toward the room. 

"In foreign lands. Wherever the pursuit of sorcery takes him," Uther says 

"He does all this in your name?" Arthur asks while they wait for the doors to open to the council chambers.

"The Witchfinder serves no one. He's a law unto himself."

Magdelena can feel the foul feeling from the room as they enter and knew he would be in there waiting, "Do you smell it? Do you smell it, Uther?"

"Aredian."

"It's all around us, the foul stench of sorcery. It's infected your great city like a contagion," Aredian says Magdelena looks at the man with a look as if she was curious if he had head trauma. 

"I welcome you to Camelot, Aredian," Uther says, "Thank you for making such haste to be here." 

"Well, let's hope I'm not too late, hmm? 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," the man says Magdelena tried her best to stay far away from the man, "You've grown lazy, Uther. You've grown idle. Your once noble Camelot is rotten to the core. You stand on the brink of dark oblivion."

"I am at your disposal, Aredian," the Prince says speaking up, "The knights will aid you in any way they can."

"You must be Arthur," the man says looking at the blonde haired Prince.

"I must be."

"You're a great warrior," the man says, "The finest this kingdom has ever known." 

"Thank you."

"So you won't be offended when I say that I shall have no need of you or your knights," Aredian says, "The subtle craft of sorcery can only be fought by yet subtler means, methods honed over decades of study, methods known only to myself."

Magdelena snorts at his words and all three of them look at her, "We are grateful for your help." 

"But gratitude alone can't keep a man alive. You must put food in his belly."

"I will pay your price, Aredian, whatever it may be," Uther assures the man.

"I will bid you goodnight," the man goes to leave the chambers but is brought to a stop. 

"Aredian, when do you begin?" the Prince questions him.

"I've already begun."

"Aredian, I nearly forgot," Uther says, "My servant Magdelena will be yours to use."

"I was wondering who this beauty was," the man says looking at Magdelena who goes stoic, "I almost confused her with the Lady Morgana."

"Sure you did," Magdelena mutters stepping forward, "Please allow me to show you to one of the guest rooms." 

"Please do," the man says making her feel uneasy as she goes to walk in front of him he follows behind her until they turn a corner and are out of ear and eyeshot he goes to walk next to her, "Tell me, does the king use you?" she doesn't pause or stop but simply ignores the mans question, "I mean a beauty such as you-"

"Let me stop you right there Eric," she says saying his name wrong on purpose, "The King is my master and I am his servant nothing more and nothing less."

"Of course. My apologies Magdelena," he says before she opens the door leading to a room, some of his things were already in place. 

"I best go about my duties," she says, "Please do excuse me."

"Since I have you may I ask you a few questions?" Aredian asks, she pauses looking at him over her shoulder, "It won't take long."

"No," she says opening the door, "I have nothing to say to you."