1Chapter 2
The next time Ira woke up she felt slightly stronger. Emotions still raged through her body but she kept the tears from her eye's. She concentrated on pushing herself into a sitting position. For the first time she looked around the modestly sized room. It was quite obvious that it was a physician's place, with papers scattered carelessly around the room and dried herbs hanging from the walls and unidentifiable vials of liquid littering every available surface. However as she looked through the room she did not see Gaius.
"Gaius?" She called out softly.
There was the sudden sound of things falling in the room adjacent to the one she was in. The door opened and a young, black haired boy she had never seen before came rushing out into the main room.
"You're awake." He exclaimed.
"Uh…I'm sorry, do we know each other?" Ira asked slightly confused.
"Oh, of course you don't remember me. I was here while you were sleeping." He said with a goofy looking grin.
Ira's brows furrowed as she watched him. It took him a moment to realize how his statement must have sounded to her.
"I-I didn't mean it like that obviously." the boy said pinching the bridge of his nose "I was simply trying to explain why it is that you haven't seen…me…before."
Ira couldn't stop the slight smile that came across her face at the boy's embarrassment.
"I'm not really helping anything am I?" Ira shook her head "Let me start over, my name is Merlin. I live here with Gaius, I'm his assistant."
"It's nice to meet you Merlin, I'm Ira." She introduced herself.
There was a moment of silence where neither of them knew what to say next. Luckily for them Gaius came through the door. He paused in the door looking at the two of them.
"It's good to see you awake my dear, how are you feeling?" Gaius asked coming to stand in front of her.
He placed a hand on her forehead to check for a fever and was pleased to find that there was none.
"Better than the last time I woke up, but I am a bit sore." she admitted.
"After the past few days you've had I'm not at all surprised. Merlin, go and fetch some water." Gaius ordered "Then send for Arthur."
Ira cocked her head in confusion.
"He asked to be notified when you woke." Gaius explained.
Merlin returned with the cup of water.
"Thank you Merlin."
He grinned in response and went off to find Arthur.
"So I see you have met Merlin." Gaius observed.
"Yes, he seems like a nice enough boy." Ira replied taking a sip of the water.
"He's enough of a pain in my backside, that's for sure."
"So you are fond of him then." She said, smiling good naturedly.
"I would never admit it to him." Gaius said with a laugh "It would go straight to his head."
She kept silent as he gave her a full checkup.
"Other than a few scraps and scratches that need to be cleaned you seem in relatively good shape. You were lucky." He said.
Ira sighed, the fact that she had no injuries came as almost an insult. Memories of the broken bodies of her friends and family flooded her mind, almost becoming too much for her. Why had she survived when so many other good people had not? The question echoed loudly in her mind, it took Gaius's hand on her shoulder to bring her out of her thoughts.
"I'm very sorry for everything you've been through Ira."
Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked up into his kind face.
"I don't understand why any of this happened." She whispered.
"We may never know," Gaius said sadly "you mustn't torment yourself by trying to understand the minds of evil men."
Perhaps he was right, but Ira couldn't see herself taking his advice. Whatever had happened, happened for a reason and she needed to know it. She whipped away the tears with the back of her hand as the door opened and Merlin and Prince Arthur came in.
"It's good to see you looking better." Arthur commented.
"Thank you, I feel better too." Ira spoke softly.
"My father would like to speak with you if you're feeling up to it." He said after a minute of silence.
Shock made Ira's manners falter for a moment. "What could the king wish to speak to me about?"
As soon as Ira had spoken the words, she realized how disrespectful they must have sounded. However when she opened her mouth to apologize Arthur waved his hand dismissively.
"My father feels very strongly about the banishment of magic from this kingdom. The fact that this was even occurred is proof that his work is far from finished, there for he wishes to take a very active role in recovering the ones responsible."
"But surely you have told him everything I have told you?" Ira asked.
"Indeed I have but he believe he may learn more by speaking to you first hand." Seeing her tense expression he went on "My father is a fair and just man, his only wish is to help you find the closure you deserve." Arthur assured her.
Ira simply nodded, unable to speak further. Of course rumors of Uther had spread like wildfire through her village ever sense she was a small girl, however, not all of it was good. She could remember standing behind the door listening as her parents discussed how ruthlessly Uther persecuted those with magic, no one was above his suspicion, and once there, almost no on escaped it. But she could hardly refuse a request from the king, so she put on a passive face as Gaius told Arthur that she would be down in the throne room in an hour.
"Merlin, would you go and get some warm water for Ira to wash up in? Then ask Gwen if she has any spare clothes she could borrow for a day or two." Gaius said once Arthur left.
"I don't wish to be a cause for trouble." Ira protested.
"I don't mind," Merlin spoke up, already heading for the door "besides, you can't go meet the king looking like that."
Ira looked down at her tattered, mud-incrusted dress, of course he was right.
"Oh, not that you look bad now or anything-" he stopped himself then started again "I'm going to go get you your water and clothes."
"He's a strange boy." Was Gaius's only comment.
She nodded in agreement as she stared at the spot were Merlin had been standing a few seconds earlier. As nerves set in Ira took to picking at the tears in her ruined dress.
"Gaius?" She asked few minutes later.
Gaius turned his head to indicate that he was listening.
"You are the court physician correct?" He nodded "So you know Uther?"
The man older man stopped what he was doing to face her.
"You're afraid to speak with Uther." He said.
She nodded "I've heard talk of him in my village before."
"Uther is a good king," Gaius said "whatever he does he does because he believes it to be in the best interest of the kingdom."
A few minutes later Merlin returned with a dress draped over his shoulder, carrying a bucket of hot steamy water. He handed her the dress and went to his room to pour the hot water into the basin for her to wash with.
"It's all yours." Merlin said.
"Thank you again Merlin."
He smiled again nodded, while Ira awkwardly waited for him to move out of the doorway so she could pass.
"Oh," He exclaimed, keeping that goofy looking grin on his face "sorry."
"That's alright." She looked down at the ground as she passed, feeling a sudden wave of shyness overcome her.
Once she was alone in his room she breathed a sigh of relief. Ira had always been a rather shy child, not knowing what to do with herself most of the time. However there was something about Merlin that made her think they could be friends if she stayed in Camelot for any length of time.
She set about undressing and washing herself, she was horrified to find that her entire body, including her face and hair were covered in dirt. She could only imagine what they must have thought of her. When she was done with her body she reached up to feel her how bad her hair was; it was a tangled, matted mess. Great, she thought to herself. With a resolute sigh she plunged her head down into the now cool water and began working out each individual tangle. It was a long and tiresome process but by the time she was down the golden color of her hair was once again visible and she could run her fingers through it without trying to rip herself bald headed.
Ira then set about putting on the dress she had been loaned. It was a simple blue dress soft to the touch, with flowered embroidery around its middle. She promised herself that she would find the servant named Gwen and thank her for her kindness. Feeling a little better she walked out of the room to find Merlin standing there, seemingly waiting for her.
"Gaius went down to speak with the king already. He said to come down when you're ready." He said.
"I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be." She muttered coming to stand beside him.
It didn't take long for Ira to figure out the layout of the castle, most passages were big enough for four people to pass through and ran in the cardinal directions only. The staircases were steeply spiraled and the windows were relatively small.
"You have nothing to worry about you know." Merlin said after a few minutes of silence.
"What do you mean?" Ira asked.
"Gaius told me you are nervous to meet the king. You have nothing to worry about."
"What makes you say that?" She questioned.
"You're here to testify against magic, which will get you points with the king. He hates everything to do with magic. Ergo you have nothing to worry about." He assured her confidently.
"I've never met a noble before, I have no idea how to act." Ira admitted hesitantly.
"Oh, that's easy." Merlin said coming to a stop and turning to face her "Just be sure to speak with respect and say 'sire' or 'your highness' after everything."
"That's it?" She asked disbelievingly.
Merlin scratched his head "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's all…except you have to curtsey when you're first introduced, but that shouldn't be a problem."
Her eye's widened with panic.
"I don't know how to curtsey." She exclaimed.
"Uh," Merlin said thinking hard for a moment "That's okay it's not a big deal. I can teach you."
"You know how to curtsey?"
"I've seen plenty of girls do it before." He waved his hand "How hand could it be? I think you have to start by placing your right foot behind you." Ira copied his movements "Then you just bend down while bowing your head."
It seemed pretty strait forward to her however when Merlin when to bend down he lost his balance and fell on his butt. Ira tried not to laugh by pressing her hand against her mouth but she was relatively unsuccessful as a soft chuckle came out.
"It's not as easy as it looks." Merlin said getting back up.
Ira tried it for herself and although the first time was rather stiff she found that with several practice runs she could do it.
"It must just be a girl thing." He said dismissively.
"Oh, yes of course, that must be it." She found herself teasing him.
"Come on, we better get going, we don't want to keep anyone waiting."
They approached double doors where two imposing looking guards stood watching them. Ira felt the muscles around her stomach constricting painfully but she forced herself to breath. She ventured one last look at Merlin who gave her another reassuring smile before they opened the doors for her. She stepped through having no idea what to expect.
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, there was a bit of Merlin/Ira interaction! let me know what you think of that. Was I to OOC or anything? As always if you have any suggestions let me know I'm always open to them!