Merlin: The Depth of Secrets

10-Council

All of the knights,Gwen, and Gaisus were present at the conference taking place . The three older councilmen who knew about Merlin were excluded. The conference was situated in a room similar to the throne room but smaller. It was usually used for meetings smaller than a council. Once everyone had gathered and was seated at the table, Arthur began," As I am sure most of you know we are here to speak of Merlin." He paused and saw most of the people present incline their head in acknowledgement. Therefore he continued," Merlin is currently safely hidden with a Druid encampment who is helping him to heal from the magic-restraining cuffs forced upon him by three of the older councilmen a week ago today." Arthur could see some expressions change to concern as those who didn't know what happened to Merlin were informed. He let those words linger for a short moment before he spoke on," The length of Merlin's remaining stay with the druids will be according to how the council & public react to the repeal of the ban... That amount of time could vary from another week to another month." Everyone around him nodded their understanding before Arthur went on," During this council today and until Merlin returns none of us gathered here shall speak of him in any relation to magic unless to address the predicament with the councilmen involved in Merlin taking leave from the castle." He paused for a moment before asking," Does anyone else have anything to add or a different subject they would like to touch on before the council?" The room was silent for three winks before Percival addressed Arthur," How shall we react towards retaliation against the repeal?" Arthur paused in thought for an instant before replying," We shall attempt to convince them otherwise, but anyone who persists against the repeal shall be removed from the court until they accept the statues the council adjourns with today." Percival nodded along with everyone else and the conference was dismissed.

The council gathered at noon in the throne room. Arthur was at the head of the table. He began his speech. And just after the opening line there were murmurings of disapproval but no one spoke up. Arthur explained how the repeal of the magic ban would work and after he finished that part of the speech, discussion was allowed. Instantly there was a chorus of angry comments. Yet the ones that rang louder above all the others were the remarks of 'Uthur would not be proud.' and the 'His servant enchanted him'. After the comments died down Arthur replied to these two voices in-particular, " I am not and will never rule as my father did. And we shall leave Merlin out of this discussion. Is that understood?' A quiet line of 'Yes's rang through the room.  Now Arthur continued with the second half of his speech and spoke of their allies and enemies and how they were going to be treated from hence forth. This portion of the council was much calmer than the first and everyone agreed rather easily. As the council came to a close he gave everyone except the three eldest councilmen their orders and dismissed all but those three. One of the eldest spoke," Is this about last week, my lord?" And Arthur responded as he attempted to hide his fury from his voice," Indeed it is. Your collective decision to attack my manservant resulted in a major hindrance upon gathering this council. Even if you did not know of my plan for this council it was inappropriate for you to take the law into your own hand instead of coming to me." He paused for a moment to take a breath. This moment allowed one of the men to speak," Yes my lord. But he was just a sorcerer and he is only a servant. It wouldn't have mattered if the boy hadn't escaped." At that Arthur almost hurled his goblet at the man but he restrained himself and continued," If Merlin hadn't escaped he could have died. You would be responsible for one of the best servants at this castle and since you didn't know of my plan to repeal the ban you could have killed one of my closest friends." Two out of three of the men gasped before one of them said," My lord! You knew about his m-magic?!" Arthur nodded before ending his conversation with these men," From this moment forth you will speak nothing of this conversation. You shall not be expelled from this council but this is your only warning. Take anything else into your own hands instead of coming to me and you shall be removed from the council and half of your land shall be given away. Now leave my sight." All three of the men's eyes had widened but when their king finished speaking they hurried to leave for fear of their reputation. 

Arthur sat in the hall for a long while by himself before he stood and left in search of Gwaine. He had not assigned anything to Gwaine because whenever the moment should be clear he would tell the knight to go and would ride to the druid camp for Merlin. He found Gwaine holding an armful of scrolls in the library. He was helping Geoffrey, the scribe and librarian, to check who all of their allies were.When he saw Arthur he smiled and congratulated him on the council work today. When Geoffrey realized Arthur was present he bowed his head to the king, confirmed what he was doing was the right thing, and set back to work on the ally and enemy business. Gwaine set down the scrolls on a nearby table and walked with Arthur through the palace. It was a long while before Arthur asked," Do you think this will work?" In reply Gwaine shook his head before responding," I have no idea. To calculate you would have to ask Merlin. All that I can say is we better hope it will." Arthur nodded and the pair walked in silence once more.