The Royal Scandal *Book Two*

Such a Clotpole S2 E1

After our little hunting trip, I had returned my horse, Cinnamon to her stables and was planning on doing a bit of reading. Of course a certain someone had other ideas.

I was walking down one of the corridors, minding my own business, when I felt the presence of someone walking beside me.

"We need to talk, now," Merlin told me, grabbing my elbow and pulling me into a nearby cupboard.

"What is it? What's wrong?" I asked.

"I was just talking to Gaius and he told me that he found this inscription on the scepter in the tomb," Merlin explained, showing me a piece of paper.

Obviously, it was slightly too dark to read it very well so I gave Merlin my best puppy eyes and asked him to light a fire with his magic. But the room being too small meant that he had to keep the fire in his hand. 

With the room well lit now, I looked down at the paper and saw a strange language. I had seen it before somewhere but I couldn't read it.

"What language is that?" I asked.

"I don't know and neither does Gaius. Can you read it?"

"Merlin, if I don't know what language it is, how am I supposed to understand it?"

"Good point. Anyway, Gaius said that Sigan would have known many languages."

"Sigan?"

"It's his tomb."

"Who was he?"

"Thank goodness, you don't know him either. According to Gaius, he was the most powerful sorcerer to have lived."

"He can't have been that powerful if he's dead."

"Oh, but he was. Apparently, to those who grew up in Camelot, Cornelius Sigan was a figure of a nightmare."

"Why?" I asked curious.

"Sigan's powers. He could change day into night, turn the tides. And, legend has it, his spells helped build Camelot itself."

"What happened to him?"

"In the end he grew too powerful and the King at that time ordered his execution."

"No change there then," I muttered. "So if he's dead, why are you and Gaius so worried?"

"Sigan couldn't bear the thought that his wealth and power would die with him so he became obsessed with finding a way to defeat death itself."

"But that's impossible. Nobody's that powerful," I said until I saw Merlin still looked worried. "You think he might have succeeded?"

"Let's hope not, for all our sakes," Merlin sighed.

"Don't worry, Merlin. Hopefully, it's all just a silly superstition," I said, lifting his chin so he was looking at me.

"Hopefully," He gave a weak smile.

To try and cheer him up slightly, I reached up on my tiptoes and kissed him softly on the lips. As if acting on instinct, he responded and held me firmly round the waist. I wrapped my arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. 

I could stay there forever, in his arms, but we knew we couldn't and my wishes were ended quickly when I heard my Father's voice walking down the corridor. Such an inconvenience.

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The next day, I decided to go and see Arthur to give him my bow and arrows to look after. Arthur always kept my weapons in his room because according to Father, it wasn't lady like to have weapons in one's room.