The Gathering: The New Order of Merlin Book 1

87. Truth is a slippery thing

As Merlin watched the white-haired boy happily read a book on his bed, a decision cemented in his mind. He had to do what was necessary to protect the school, even if it meant violating whatever sense of decency he had left. It was time to be the bad guy again.

He whispered, "Swefn," and Jack's head immediately plopped down as he fell into deep slumber.

"I'm sorry, Jack," Merlin said, reaching for Jack's leg, "but I need to know the truth. Let's start with your alibi."

Merlin proceeded to unwrap the bandage and blanched when he uncovered a real wound under it, which, having been handled by him in such a careless way, started bleeding. He reacted instantly with a quick spell to heal it. The uneven laceration was as large as his hand, but it closed itself up under his touch, leaving behind pale healthy skin and not a mark.

Merlin looked back at the unconscious boy and a sick feeling filled his stomach as guilt seeped in. Jack did not lie about getting hurt, but this didn't explain why Elsa didn't heal it for him or why Madam Pomfrey's spells didn't work. He was sure she could handle much worse injuries than this one.

One possible explanation was that Jack's laceration wasn't caused by a broken chair, as he claimed, but by magic. After all, magical injuries were difficult to heal. And the suspicions were back in Merlin's head.

He complained, "If you're innocent, why do you keep lying?"

Jack didn't respond, naturally, still knocked out with the spell.

Merlin wrapped the bloody bandage back around the healthy leg, hoping that Jack would assume Madam Pomfrey's healing worked with delay. Satisfied that his tracks were covered, Merlin retrieved the bottle of Veritaserum from the hidden compartment in his trunk. He hesitated for a couple of breaths, feeling awful for planning something as despicable as drugging an eleven-year-old child but then he remembered the reasons behind this act. It was a life and death situation.

He tilted the boy's head, dropped three drops in his mouth and waited a minute for the serum to start working, during which time he put the bottle away and stood in his earlier spot. He woke the boy with another spell and observed his reaction to the truth serum.

Jack lifted his head and smacked his lips. "What just happened?"

Merlin made an effort to look down at his scarf and feigned that he didn't notice anything strange. "What do you mean?"

Jack looked around the room and blinked a lot. "I feel a little... funny."

Merlin sat on his own bed, facing him. Jack sat up too and looked down at his leg with his brows knitted. "My leg feels better. Cool."

Before they got to the important questions, Merlin wanted to gauge whether the serum was working as intended. "Where were you this morning?"

"Elsa took me to Madam Pomfrey after I hurt myself." Jack knitted his brows in confusion. "I thought I already told you that. Didn't I?"

"How did you hurt yourself?"

"With a broken chair."

Merlin was frustrated because if this was the truth, then it didn't explain any of the concerns he had before. Was the serum even working? "Why didn't Elsa heal it for you?"

Jack made an expression like he was going to dismiss the question and lie but then grimaced as if he couldn't say what he wanted to. He sighed and finally asked, "How did you know she can?"

Merlin shrugged, "I noticed in Herbology, Venomous Tentacula got you and your sister healed you with ease. She's a natural healer."

Jack shook his head. "Her healing will only work on me though. Just like mine will work on her. It's not the same thing."