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A sorcerer lived just outside of Camelot. The main city of Camelot.
The discovery nearly blindsided Arthur with the intensity of a sledgehammer. Or the sorcerer's spell.
Beside him, Merlin gaped. "What?" He squeaked.
Arthur didn't even bother to reprimand him as he was so regularly wont to do. "What do you mean, a sorcerer lives in Camelot?!" He burst, staring at his father as if he had grown donkey ears.
Because Uther? He was supposed to be spitting fury, sending garrisons of knights to destroy this monster.
And here he sat, looking angry but resigned.
"He has lived there for a few years now," Uther explained, ignoring the disbelief in his son's eyes. "He appeared... in the middle of this throne room." His voice sounded strangled. "And fought off my knights with strange magic we were not aware existed."
"He has new magic?!" Merlin exclaimed.
Other than an irritated look, Uther and Arthur ignored him.
"But even if he was able to escape then, why didn't you send knights after him?" Arthur asked, voice laced with bemusement.
"He did, your Highness," Someone called from the back and then fell silent under Uther's glare.
Uther rubbed his temple. "Of course I sent knights after him!" He snapped. "I called for witchfinders, mercenaries, anyone who could help. Sorcery is evil and nothing will change that!" His eyes glinted with the fervor of loathing. Arthur did not comment, and the King began to speak again. "But this man had disappeared. He was sighted nearly a month later, and there was a house on the outskirts of my city where he resided. Like any monster has a right to live amongst humans!"
Merlin flinched, drawing into himself. Of course Uther would consider people of magic monsters. That was the reason he'd started slaughtering them, wasn't it?
"Then let us storm that house," Arthur said. "He lives there, you said?"
"We... tried," Uther bit out, his hands clenching around his throne, whitening at the knuckles.
There was silence.
"And then what happened?" Arthur demanded.
Uther's lips tightened. "His house is impenetrable. Some blasted magic protects it from being sieged, and none of the anti-magic tools in my possession were able to lift the enchantment." He growled, old anger rising to life in his eyes, right beside the resignation. "He lives upon my lands, within my people, and he mocks me with his very existence! Arthur, you must seek out this sorcerer and find a way to destroy him."
Arthur blinked, then gave a hesitant nod. "... Of course, Sire," he said, then spun on his heels and almost ran out of the room, Merlin racing to follow.
"Arthur," Merlin hissed as soon as they were far, far away. "I, er, I need to do something for Gaius."
Arthur rolled his eyes. Merlin, as usual, was probably just scared. Who wouldn't be, honestly, with a rogue, extremely powerful sorcerer on the loose?
But still... "Not now, Merlin," He said. "I'm sure Gaius can wait. We need to check out that sorcerer's house first."
Merlin made a curious sound at the back of his throat, but then he sighed. "... Yes, sire," he muttered.
Arthur slowed, falling back next to his manservant and slapping him on the back. "Cheer up, Merlin. I'll protect you from the sorcerer." He snickered. "Or even Guinevere can save you."
Merlin's ears reddened, though he didn't look the least embarrassed. "Clotpole," He said under his breath, and before Arthur could snap back, nodded at the stairs. "Are you going to tell Lady Morgana? I noticed she was not there in the meeting."
Arthur's face darkened. "With good reason. Father is still mad at her for the-" His voice lowered. "Druid-boy fiasco."
Merlin winced. Of course he was. Especially since Morgana refused to stop rising up in protest against his brutality. Not that Merlin thought she was wrong - hell, he was a bloody warlock himself, of course he thought she was right! - but standing so blatantly against Uther was doing her no good.
"But I did promise to inform her of anything of import," The prince admitted reluctantly. "After Anhora, she cornered me." He let out a tortured sigh. "Women."
Merlin pretended not to laugh. Arthur sent him a glare.
"And just for that, Mer lin, you get to muck out the stables tomorrow."
"Arthur! That's not even part of my duties!" He complained.
Arthur smirked. "Well, now it is." And he marched off, bounding up the stairs two steps at a time.
Predictably, Morgana was enraged.
"If he hasn't done anything, why is Uther trying to destroy him?!" She demanded. "If he's lived here for years, then he must honestly have no ulterior motive!"
Arthur frowned. "He's a sorcerer, Morgana," he said, as if that explained everything.
Merlin pursed his lips next to the door, ignored by the bickering pair.
Gwen slid into the room beside him, frowning sympathetically. "Uther problems?" She whispered.
Merlin nodded. "When are there any other kind?" He whispered right back, grinning at the way Gwen tried to hide her smile.
"Merlin," She said, shaking her head. "You'll get yourself killed one day, you know?"
"That I do not doubt," Merlin agreed.
"Merlin!" Arthur barked, and the servant straightened instantly.
"Yes, sire?"
"We're going to the sorcerer's house." He pursed his lips. "... And Morgana is coming, so get our equipment ready."
Gwen frowned. "Do you mean to go to Mr. Potter's house?"
Arthur stilled, and everyone turned to look at Gwen. "'Mr. Potter'? What do you know, Guinevere?"
Gwen winced, but before Morgana could rise up to defend her maidservant, the dark-skinned woman cleared her throat. "Everyone knows, your highness. There is only one sorcerer who lives in Camelot so blatantly, and that's Mr. Potter. The King sends Knights to try to raid him every month." She frowned. "Or, well, he used to. He hasn't ordered one, to my knowledge, since the festival on the 20th anniversary of the purge."
"When I came to Camelot," Merlin breathed.
"Oh, don't be an idiot, Merlin. Of course you had nothing to do with my father's decisions." Arthur snapped. "It was probably the barrage of magical events that have us surrounded this past year." He shook his head. "No doubt the work of that sorcerer."
Morgana rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop it, Arthur. You were the one at fault with Anhora, and everything else can be explained away without this stranger's intervention as well."
Gwen covered her mouth, but even her voice was holding a smile. "Mr. Potter doesn't hurt anyone. He hasn't, ever since he's been here, though it has only been three years."
"How did we not know?" Morgana asked pointedly. "Rumors always find their way to me."
"Ha!" Arthur said. "You thought so, didn't you?"
"At least I'm not as oblivious as you. You spend every day with the knights. How did you not know they were raiding a Sorcerer's house every month?"
Arthur blinked and began to blush. Then he cleared his throat and walked towards the entrance. "Come on, then, Merlin," He said without answering a smug Morgana. "We don't have all day."
Snickering, Merlin followed, leaving Gwen to share a small smile with her employer. "Should I get out the day dress, then, my Lady?" She asked.
Morgana smoothed out the wrinkles in her green gown. "No, I believe this will do. Can't let Arthur run off without me, now, can I? Have the day off, Gwen. I know you wanted to spend a bit of time with your father."
And she walked out of the room, head held high, right in Arthur's footsteps.
Gwen smiled. Morgana truly was one of a kind.
The house was inconspicuous in the sense that it was almost exactly like the ones on each side. Still, the knights had pointed the three to this door, so this door it probably was.
"Well?" Morgana asked Arthur with a raised eyebrow. "Are you going to knock or not?"
Arthur looked scandalized. "Knock for a sorcerer?"
"I should think so, if you would like to come in," an entirely new voice said, and a man swept past them and onto the premises of the house. He was black-haired, green-eyed, and surprisingly normal-looking.
Arthur gaped. "You're the sorcerer?!"
The man smiled. "That's what I'm told. Though I prefer the term ‘wizard’, myself." He gave a short nod. "Would you like to come in? Seeing your sword, though, I have to assume Uther sent you."
Arthur bristled. "He is your king," He said coldly. "Treat him with respect."
The sorcerer was just as cold, and even Morgana shivered under his glare. "Respect," he said. "Is earned, and Uther has not earned mine. With the way he slaughters innocent people, I don't believe he ever will."
"He purges only those with magic!"
"And what did magic ever do to him?"
Arthur scoffed. "If you've been in Camelot as long as you profess, you must have realized that magic corrupts, and the corrupted attack Camelot, the last bastion against their foul ways."
Merlin flinched.
Neither Arthur nor the man paid him heed, but Morgana sidled closer and gave his arm a quick, comforting squeeze.
"Do they? Or do they only attack because Uther takes away their lives, their homes, their families? Would you not fight back if someone killed your father? Destroyed your home? Left you no other place to live?" The man smiled coldly. "I should think you have enough love for your family and home that you would seek to avenge them."
"Of course I would!" Arthur snapped. "If someone were to dare-"
"Then why," The man cut off, calm and disappointed. "Would you expect someone else not to do the same?"
And Arthur was struck silent because there was no answer he could give.
The man smiled and motioned to his door. "Would you like to come inside?"
And because Arthur wasn't replying, Morgana returned the smile with a blinding one of her own. "Yes, of course, sir."
And the three stumbled into the small wooden building, half expecting to see magic.
They were so, so, right.
The inside was double the size it should have been, showing an open entryway with such oddly intricate architecture that Morgana just had to gasp. "I have never seen this style before. Nowhere in all of Albion that I have visited." She looked over at Arthur, but he, too, shook his head.
Merlin nodded. "Cenred's kingdom uses the same style as Camelot."
The sorcerer laughed. "And you probably won't find it anywhere else. This is from my home, in a... place you won't be able to visit."
Merlin frowned sadly. "Was it destroyed?"
"No," the man answered. "But it's inaccessible, and I fear that's much the same thing." He shook his head, then led them to a connecting room - to what seemed to be part kitchen, part dining room. "Come on, sit," The sorcerer said. "I won't bite."
Merlin frowned, and Arthur and Morgana tensed.
The man sighed. "It was a joke," He explained.
No one laughed.
"Well," The man said, turning to his odd-looking stove first. "Since I have successfully ruined the mood, let me at least make some tea for you. Chamomile or black? I have some others too, but I have seen you Camelotians seem to enjoy these two the most."
"Black, please," Morgana said, at the same time, Arthur replied with "Chamomile."
They shared a startled laugh.
Their host smiled. "Brother and sister, are you? I know two who were exactly the same."
"Of course not!" Arthur protested. "She could never be my sister."
Morgana scoffed. "More like you could never be my brother," She sneered. "You don't have the brains."
Arthur glared.
Merlin snickered.
The man turned amiably towards him. "And how about you? Which tea would you like?"
Merlin stilled. He didn't feel like the man was out to get Arthur or Camelot or Uther or literally anyone, but... "Uh, I don't like tea," He muttered.
The man hummed. "Hot cocoa, then?"
Merlin blinked. Um. What.
Cocoa? As in the delicacy only royals got to taste?
Arthur frowned but, at Morgana's less-than-delicate shove, didn't say a word.
For a second, Merlin stared at the sorcerer in bemusement, and then he swallowed and nodded. "Er, that would be nice. Thank you?"
The man smiled warmly, and Merlin felt red coloring his cheeks, though he hoped Arthur didn't see. The dollophead would tease him mercilessly, no doubt.
"Perfect!" The man announced. "I'll set the water to boil, then. Sit down while I make everything."
Morgana and Arthur did as they were told, surprisingly, but Merlin chose to follow the sorcerer towards the stove, the excuse of "I'm a servant," at the tip of his tongue.
But the man didn't ask and let Merlin watch over him easily.
He didn't use magic.
That was a relief (and also, somewhat, a disappointment).
In ten minutes, the four sat on the table, Morgana with a cup of steaming black tea, Arthur with Chamomile, and Merlin, of course, with the first cup of hot cocoa he had ever had the chance to taste.
It was dark and smelled absolutely amazing and with a dollop of cream on top that just completed the picture.
The sorcerer sat with an identical cup of chocolate. "So," he said. "Who are you?"
Merlin snorted. Thankfully, he hadn't yet sipped his chocolate.
Arthur was not as lucky. His tea spewed over a section of the table, and the man had to hide a smile and get him a strange, papery handkerchief that Arthur motioned Merlin to use to clean up.
"You let us in without knowing who we are?!" He asked incredulously, and even Morgana looked stupefied.
The man nodded. "I get so few visitors here, you know." He smirked. "Besides, you wouldn't have been able to enter the wards if you held a desire to harm me. And if you exhibit that action now... Well, the wards will throw you out." He grinned wickedly. "In a most embarrassing way."
Arthur glared. "You're using magic-"
"In Camelot, yes, I know. It's not as if you don't already know I have magic. Not using it won't do a bloody thing."
Arthur blinked but could find no reason to refute. "Very well," he said, finally. "I am Arthur Pendragon, the Prince of Camelot."
There was a flare of awareness in the man's eyes. "I see. I was wondering when I would meet... you." He smiled as if there was something they didn't know, and Merlin wondered what that was.
"And I am Lady Morgana, daughter of Sir Gorlois," Morgana said gracefully.
This time, there was a very visible sign of surprise in the man's expression. Still, he said nothing, letting the two nobles squirm in their places as he turned to Merlin. "And you are?"
Merlin blinked in surprise. Well. This was new. "Er, I'm the Prince's manservant, Merlin."
And wasn't that a shock?
The man began to cough, his eyes widening further than for either of the other two. "Merlin?" He choked.
Merlin frowned.
Arthur narrowed his eyes. "How do you know Merlin?" He demanded.
The man took a moment to compose himself before shaking his head. "I really, really don't," He said, looking straight at Merlin with new knowledge in his eyes. "Not at all."
The three frowned. Then Morgana cleared her throat and inclined her head. "And you, sir?"
Arthur bristled at the 'sir'.
The man, surprisingly, looked just as uncomfortable. "My name is Harry Potter, but you can call me Harry."
No, Merlin thought. No recognition at all. He would have to visit Kilgarrah after all.
"So, what brings you folks here to my humble home?" Harry continued, eyes laughing. "Did Uther get tired of me again? I was so confused when he didn't send his pet knights after me for a while."
"That's King Uther to you, Potter," Arthur corrected again.
Harry shrugged again in response. "And like I said, he's not my king, and this is not my home."
"Then where is it? And what are you doing here?" Morgana asked, looking worried behind Arthur's back. Worried not for herself but for this man she had just met. This sorcerer.
Merlin swallowed. Morgana was a far better person than he could hope to be.
"Trust me," Harry answered, his voice dry. "I would if I could. Unfortunately, as I said, my home is inaccessible at the moment, and the only thing that can help me get back is a huge reserve of power that I do not have." He sighed.
Merlin felt a tremor crash through his heart. It was... Sad? Yes, sad, that the man could not return to his home. That he wanted to. That he lived here not because he wanted to but because he had nowhere else to go.
In a corner of his mind, Merlin resolved to sneak away soon so he could visit Harry and find out the truth.
(And if the man meant to hurt Arthur... But if he did, Merlin had a feeling that it would be a difficult battle indeed.)
Arthur, in front of Harry, flinched.
“Still,” Harry continued. “That’s not for you to worry about. Please, tell me what you desire from me.”
Arthur cleared his throat but hesitated, as if coming to the realization that sitting at one’s table and sipping tea was not the opportune moment to come out and say they sought to vanquish their host.
Morgana almost laughed. “We merely came to make your acquaintance, Harry,” She said smoothly and a touch warmly.
Harry nodded with an appraising glance that wasn’t at all objectifying but definitely challenging. “Very well,” He said. “But I doubt Uther would have let you come so openly if it wasn’t about getting rid of me,” He added bluntly. “I don’t blame you, however, but you can relay to your father that I will not vacate the premises. I do not acknowledge the man’s tyranny and will not bow to his demands.” His face darkened. “I was not here for a while, so I could not stop the burning those few months ago, but I will not let another innocent die for his crazy beliefs.”
Arthur narrowed his eyes. “I knew-”
Morgana cut him off yet again. “What about the other magic attacks in the past few months?”
Harry shrugged. “Recall that I said ‘innocent’. While I won’t allow wrongly accused people to burn, those otherwise don’t have the same protection from me.”
“And what about Mordred?” Morgana demanded. “He was just a boy. We have to smuggle him out of Camelot – you never appeared.”
Harry frowned. “What? Uther was hunting a child?” He asked and there was rage in his voice. Then the rage transformed into sadness, and Merlin could feel it in the air. “I… can’t be everywhere,” He said. “It’s no excuse, but sometimes,” He sighed. “Sometimes, I can’t help everyone.”
Morgana softened. “Oh,” She said.
“Well,” Arthur said loudly, finally speaking over the woman. “As I was saying, it may have been different for the boy since he was merely a part of the druids, but Magic corrupts. You can see countless examples of it in the past year alone. Your argument has merit,” He scowled as if admitting it had been difficult. “But that doesn’t excuse the many whose lives we have not touched and who attack us anyway.”
Harry massaged his temple. “I can see this is one discussion that’ll need a lot of time,” He muttered, then his eyes flickered to a circular object on the wall that had numbers written on it.
Merlin’s eyes widened. Could it tell the time? Accurately?
“How about this?” Harry said, and his voice was a little bit more cheerful. “You three come to me for daily lessons in magic.”
Arthur flinched. “I would never touch magic! How dare you?!”
Morgana looked afraid but less so than Arthur.
Merlin decided he ought to look the same, but inside, he was unendingly eager. He had never had a magic teacher, and the fact that someone was willing – even if openly so – was enticing.
Harry rolled his eyes. “Not in that way, idiot,” He said, even as Arthur sat gaping at the insult. “I mean about magic. You have a lot of petty misconceptions, no doubt, because of Uther’s influence. I’ve learned that he began the purge a mere twenty years ago, so you obviously lived alongside magic before that.” He hummed. “It could help.”
“It’s against the law,” Arthur insisted. “You’re against the law.”
Morgana looked even more interested.
Merlin almost laughed. Irony.
Harry shrugged. “Alright, then,” He said. “If you insist.” He gestured to the door. “My house is always here if you change your mind, though. I don’t have a lot of visitors.” He looked a little bit wistful as he said that.
Arthur scoffed. “For obvious reason.”
Harry’s mouth twisted. “Right,” He said, then raised a small stick. It glowed, and suddenly, they were right back outside, landing on their asses with the chairs no longer underneath them.
Morgana scowled as she pushed up. “You idiot!” She shouted. “Did you seriously have to anger the man?”
Merlin silently agreed.
“He is a sorcerer!” Arthur exclaimed. “We do not respect those evil men.”
Morgana glared. “You,” She said. “Are an actual moron. I cannot believe he thought you were my brother.” Then she stormed away in the direction of the castle.
Merlin spared Arthur a look. “You know-” He began.
“Shut it, Merlin,” The prince said and followed.