Forbidden Love - Merlyn [2]

Chapter Thirty-Four: The Things We Regret

Merlyn wished she hadn't woken up. In regaining consciousness, the young witch felt the throb on the top of her head from where she was clearly hit by something. Groaning, she slowly pushed herself up onto her knees. As she opened her eyes, she noticed shattered parts of a vase all around her. It didn't take her long to figure out what had happened.

"Shit" Merlyn muttered as she struggled to her feet and looked down at her hands and suddenly realised that her hands were empty! Where was the antidote?!

Panic began to set in. Arthur needed that antidote; he would die without. Then more and more disturbing thoughts flooded her mind. She had been knocked out but for how long? If it was longer than half an hour, Arthur would be dead. Merlyn seriously didn't know what to do as her mind went into overdrive. Merlyn's eyes hurriedly scanned the area around her whilst she ran her fingers through her hair, pushing the tatty strands out of the way. The stone floor that had clearly been swept recently had no sign of any bottle on it. There was no lifesaving liquid anywhere. Logically thinking Merlyn assumed the bottle would roll. But roll to where?

Merlyn began systemically and almost frantically searching for the bottle. She couldn't believe she had lost the damn bottle. As she moved around, Merlyn finally came to the stairs that lay to the right of her. Looking down the steps she suddenly noticed a horrifying puddle of antidote on a step. The shattered glass bottle the liquid had once been held in was amongst the liquid like islands in the sea. Merlyn gasped in shock.

"No, no, no, no, no" Merlyn repeated as she raced down the steps, lifting her dress to ensure it did not land in the liquid. She stared at the liquid completely uncertain of what to do. She needed the liquid but how on earth was she going to get it to Arthur? Thankfully, Merlyn was smart and a plan immediately formed in her mind. Though it wasn't a very nice plan she had to admit.

With a glow of her eyes, the pieces of glass bottle that littered the step moved out of the puddle of antidote, every single shard of glass (small and large) was removed. Once that was complete, Merlyn stared down at the liquid. She couldn't believe she was doing this. The things she did for Arthur...

With a heavy sigh, Merlyn gathered her hair in one hand and kept it out of the way whilst she leant and placed her lips against the antidote that lay upon the floor. Knowing she had to be quick, Merlyn sucked up as much of the liquid as she could before she got to her feet, struggling not to swallow the liquid and made her way to the back door of Arthur's chambers.

Squeezing in, Merlyn crept into the room to find the king staring at Catrina with a look of utter horror on his face, that was stained by two streams of recent tears, whilst Arthur lay on the ground beside the human and troll. It was clear that Uther had found his son and indeed had cried tears of remorse. The plan had worked but Arthur was still in trouble!

"Guards! Seize ... it!" Uther ordered pointing shakily towards his wife. The guards stationed outside Arthur's room ran in upon hearing their king's demand. With a nod, the two guards immediately grabbed their swords and headed for the grotesque troll. Whilst the commotion occurred in the room, Merlyn darted forward and dropped to her knees beside the prince. She had to pray she wasn't too late. She paid no attention to anyone in the room, she ignored the king and leant over the prince. Pressing their lips together gently, Merlyn transferred the little liquid she had been able to gather into Arthur's mouth. The moment the liquid touched the back of his throat Arthur swallowed on reflex. Just as Merlyn was pulling back, she noticed that Arthur had already begun to move, the antidote having more than a swift effect on the prince's body.

Sluggishly the prince woke up, his gaze shifting straight to Merlyn who was smiling brightly at him. The antidote had worked. However, there was another issue. The sound of the guards grunting caught both of Merlyn and Arthur's attentions. Catrina had successfully demobilised the guards who had been stationed outside of Arthur's chambers. As Catrina turned to face the king, Arthur struggled to his feet with Merlyn's help and despite his still drowsy reactions, he ran straight for Catrina, slamming into her back. However, it was like running into a brick wall. Catrina barely moved except to grab at her attacker, though the action did stop her going for the king.