CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
THE LABYRINTH OF GEDREF ( i. )

Calliope never joins Arthur for his hunts.

Though she may be an assassin, dealing death like a deck of cards, animal cruelty is where she draws the line. The only time an animal should be killed is if someone is traveling and has no choice but to hunt for their food. They should not be killed for sport.

However, the prince and his knights love to spend many mornings killing deer or boar or whatever they can get their spears into. Arthur always brings back a prize for his father, his eyes glinting as Uther pats his back and tells him it's a job well done. He seeks his father's approval like a lifeline.

So, Calliope is not surprised when he returns in the middle of the afternoon with another token for Uther. Her eyebrows raise as the court awaits him, wondering what dead animal head Merlin will be carrying in this time.

Arthur's footsteps echo against the floor of the throne room, his lips turning up into a proud smile.

"Father," he says in a loud voice before stepping away to reveal what Merlin carries on the pillow in his hands. "A unicorn's horn to grace the walls of Camelot."

"Magnificent," Uther walks over to admire the long, white horn, but Calliope has an unsettling feeling in her gut as she stares at the trophy. "It's the first one I've seen. Gaius, look at this."

The king picks up the horn, holding it out for his physician to see, but Gaius does not look pleased.

"'Tis very impressive, my Lord."

A quiet sigh leaves the king's lips, "What is it, Gaius? Speak your mind."

"Unicorns are rare and mystical creatures. There is a legend that says bad fortune will come to anyone who slays one."

Arthur brushes off Gaius's words with a low chuckle as Uther returns the horn to the pillow.

"Nonsense. It will be the envy of every kingdom."

Uther gives his son a proud pat on his shoulder, "I'm pleased you like it."

By now, after everything Camelot has been through, Uther should have learned to heed Gaius's words, but he remains just as blind and ignorant as ever.

As the horn is taken to be put up as a reminder that all helpless animals should never come near Camelot, Calliope follows Gaius and Merlin out of the throne room. She can sense that Merlin does not agree with the slaying of the unicorn, and its death is still heavy in his thoughts.

The sorcerer shakes his head as they head to the physician's chambers, throwing a look over his shoulder at Calliope and Gaius.

"I don't understand how Arthur could have taken any pleasure from killing the unicorn."

"Arthur's a hunter. It's in his blood, whereas you have something entirely different."

Calliope shrugs, "Even I think it was a stupid decision," the young sorcerer furrows his eyebrows at the assassin. "What? I'm an animal person."

Merlin stops, "It was the most beautiful creature I've ever seen. I wish you two could've been there."

"It's a rare privilege. Alas, there are very few unicorns still alive."

"You try telling that to Arthur," he says through a scoff.

Gaius nods, "I can imagine it'd be difficult."

Reluctantly, Merlin strolls away heading for the prince's chambers to continue his chores for the day.

"Have you had any luck researching more on the blood wraiths?"

Of course, Calliope has not told Gaius the truth and she begged Merlin not to either. He would not be accepting of her dying for all this, and Merlin still thinks there's another way hidden somewhere in some ancient book or myth.

A small sigh filters through her lips, "No," she says in an effortless lie. "It seems they've hidden their secrets well."

The physician puts a hand on her shoulder, "Don't give up hope, Cal. I'm sure you're closer to the answer than you think."

As Gaius leaves her in the courtyard, Calliope pinches the bridge of her nose, her face scrunching in frustration. She hates lying to him, but the truth will only cause pain. At this point, with two weeks left to live, she needs to focus on spending time with the people she cares about before everything slips away in a vast expanse of darkness.

The full moon is approaching, and it will bring death with it's haunting glow.

♛ ♛ ♛

In a very predictable turn of events, Gaius's story about the legend of what happens to anyone who slays a unicorn proves to be true as the fields of crops in the entire kingdom wilt and die overnight.

Uther is shocked and cannot wrap his head around what possibly could be causing this terrible misfortune, but if he would only drag his head out of his ass, maybe he would finally appreciate Gaius more and listen to his warnings. Camelot would be in much better shape that way.

The state of things causes people to go into automatic panic, turning to their leaders for a plausible solution by showing up at the palace with empty baskets, ready for their rations.

"Any idea what caused the crops to die?"

Gaius stands over different bubbling vials in his chamber, "I've yet to complete all the tests, but no disease I've heard of could spread through the entire kingdom in a single night."

"What could kill all the plants other than a disease?" Merlin asks as he paces.

"It's not killing all the plants. The trees and hedges around the crop fields are unharmed. Unfortunately, you cannot eat trees and hedges."

Calliope swings her legs over the bench as she holds a vial for Gaius, "It's only killing plants we can eat."

"It appears so."

Merlin places his hands on the table, "If it's not a disease it must be magic."

"Yeah, it's the unicorn's revenge," Calliope points out.

"We can't assume that. Perhaps there is something in the soil and water that can explain it. I can't tell the king it's caused by sorcery until I am completely certain."

The blonde huffs, shrugging her shoulders, "Nah, unicorn revenge makes more sense to me."

"Of course it does, Cal."

Matters only grow worse as the day goes on. As the sun peaks in the sky, news spreads throughout the city that every source of water has turned to sand. Calliope cannot believe it until she goes to the well and looks herself, bringing up a wooden bucket, and sure enough, there is no water in sight. Only the tan, grainy expanse of sand.

Merlin spends a few hours in his room, running through spell after spell to try and turn the sand back into water, but so far, the magic used to do this prevails above his own.

Calliope can feel her stomach rumbling and her throat going dry. She can only have a small amount of food at dinner to ration out what they have left. No one knows how long this famine and drought will continue, but if it really is the unicorn's revenge, then the blonde knows Camelot will only continue to suffer.

When night falls onto the city, Calliope is searching the castle for Merlin, trying to see if he has come up with any solutions or if he has visited the dragon, who weirdly knows everything and everyone, and she stops when she hears muffled voices and hurried footsteps. What the hell is that?

Then, she sees Arthur and Merlin jump out from behind the corner across the hallway in pursuit of someone wearing a long, white cape. Calliope's eyes widen as she calls out to them.

"What the fuck is going on?"

"Can't talk now. Explain later!"

She shakes her head, sprinting after them, wondering what trouble these idiots are getting themselves into now.

Calliope follows them towards the burial vaults, down several staircases, until her heart is pounding in her ears from all the running.

When they reach the end of the stairs, all of them look around breathlessly. Arthur begins making hand motions at Merlin, silently telling him to go the other way and for Calliope to stick with him, but the sorcerer clearly does not get the message as he turns to follow Arthur down the hallway.

With an annoyed stare, Arthur pushes him back, "That means you go the other way, and cut him off." Merlin nods, and jogs down the opposite hallway. "Come on, Cal. Stay close." She gives him a mocking salute and Arthur rolls his eyes. "You two are so aggravating."

Calliope and Arthur jog down the winding hallways of the burial vaults for several minutes, not getting any signs of the weird man that was stalking around the castle. They keep going until they make a circle and meet up with Merlin in the middle. No luck.

The prince throws out his arms in confusion, but then a large shadow covers the wall across from them as someone walks down the other corridor.

They try to cut him off again, but alas, the plan fails and they end up right back where they originally started by the staircase.

Arthur looks around, "Where is he?"

"I didn't see anyone."

"He was right here," the prince points a finger at Merlin. "Don't tell me you let him get past you."

"Arthur no one passed me."

"Are you blind?"

"Maybe we're hallucinating," Calliope suggests. "Or we're in a very, very weird dream."

Arthur sighs, looking to the blonde, "Calliope, this isn't a joke."

"Are you looking for me?"

All three of them jump at the sudden voice. Calliope's head snaps to the man standing across from them, clad in a robe with a hood over his head, covering his white hair. He carries a tall staff with a shining blue orb at the top of it.

The old man speaks up again, "I am Anhora, keeper of the unicorns."

Calliope's eyes widen as she leans over to whisper, "Unicorn revenge. I knew it!"

Arthur exchanges an extremely annoyed glance at Calliope before looking back to the man.

"Camelot is under curfew. What's your business here?"

"I have come to deliver a message."

"And who is this message for?"

"It is for you, Arthur Pendragon."

The prince takes a step closer to him, "Is it you who is responsible for killing our crops; turning our water to sand?"

"You alone are responsible for the misfortune that has befallen Camelot" Anhora replies.

Anger flashes through Arthur's blue eyes, "Me? You think I'd bring drought and famine upon my own people?"

"When you killed the unicorn you unleashed a curse. For this Camelot will suffer greatly."

The prince cannot accept that fact that this burden lies on him, "If you have put a curse on Camelot, you will lift it or you will pay with your life."

"The curse was not my doing."

Arthur takes another threatening step, "Undo the curse or face execution."

"Only you can do that," the old man says. "You will be tested."

Arthur reaches forward, "You're under arrest."

But the old man vanishes from sight, causing Arthur to stumble forward. He looks around in bewilderment before Anhora's voice rises from the top of the stairs.

"Until you have proven yourself and made amends for killing the unicorn, the curse will not be lifted. If you fail any of these tests, Camelot will be damned for all eternity."

The sorcerer vanishes again, leaving Arthur to contemplate his words.

"Well, that was dramatic," Calliope says.

Arthur turns, shaking his head, "Shut up."

♛ ♛ ♛

When Gaius makes tea from Merlin's bathwater, Calliope cannot stand to stay in the physician's chambers. The thought of drinking that makes her want to vomit, and she has come to a breaking point. Yes, she's gone without food and water before, but this is from Arthur's doing and his inability to see reason.

She will not drink Merlin's fucking bathwater because Prince Arthur refuses to listen to anyone.

So after a short day of training, since there's a limited amount of food and no water, she walks up to him as he eyes his helmet, probably getting ready to go tell Merlin to give it a polish.

Calliope crosses her arms over her chest, facing the prince. He doesn't look up at first. Arthur just sighs as he uses his sleeve to wipe dust off the metal.

"Whatever you're about to say, I'm really not in the mood to hear it."

"Yeah, I'm not in a great mood either," she says. "Maybe if you could stop killing helpless animals, we wouldn't be in this situation, and my mood would be much improved."

"You really think all of this is my fault?"

"I really do," she says bluntly, "and you need to hurry up and pass Anhora's tests before I slip some of Merlin's bathwater tea into your cup while you're sleeping."

"That's disgusting, Calliope."

"I know, and I am not afraid to do it. In fact, I will gladly do it because you drinking Merlin's filthy bathwater may be the only thing that could turn this day around for me."

Arthur steps closer, "Don't you dare."

"Think it over, Arthur," she pats his chest, leaving him paranoid that the next time he picks up his cup, it really will be filled with gross bathwater.

Instead of accepting that the cause for the misfortune falls on him alone, the prince becomes even more determined to catch Anhora and get him to admit he is the one who really cursed Camelot.

He comes up with a plan to guard the grain stock through the night, confident that the sorcerer will be back to bring new hardships to the city.

A brand new level of hunger and thirst have struck Calliope as she leans against the wall by the flickering torchlight, her sword resting beside her. A loud yawn escapes her lips. This is ridiculous, she thinks, we're not going to catch a sorcerer this way.

The only living thing she has seen the past two hours of guarding the door is a family of rats searching for any source of water. Calliope is bored out of her mind; she's hungry and grumpy, and that is never a good combination.

She can hear Merlin snoring from the end of the hall as he sits at a separate entrance to the storage room. This is going to a long night. It feels like it will never end. And where is Arthur anyway? Isn't he supposed to be guarding the grain too? He's probably sleeping soundly in his bed, leaving all the hard work with Calliope and Merlin. Nothing out of the ordinary for the prince.

Then, the sounds of his footsteps echoing down the halls lifts in the air. Calliope pushes herself off the wall as he turns the corner. She motions to the empty corridors, eager to go to bed.

"This is useless," she says. "I'm not spending another minute down here."

"Oh, yes you are," he replies as she matches his footsteps. He can hear Merlin's snores too. "We are going to catch that sorcerer and make him put and end to all of this."

Calliope rolls her eyes at him, spitefully crafted insults flashing in her gaze, "You are just so, so..."

He stops, turning to her, "So what? Go on, I'm anxious to hear what insult you've brewed up this time, sweetheart."

"Hmm, let's see. Well, sometimes I wonder how many times your father dropped you on your head as baby to make you turn out so fucking stupid."

A smirk plasters on his lips. He leans closer to her, "I know what this really is, Calliope."

"Oh, do you?"

"Yeah, you have to put on a clever mask to hide the fact that you're actually extremely attracted to me. I see right through you."

She scoffs, "You couldn't be more wrong."

"It's okay, you don't have to admit it. I know you want me."

She takes a step closer, her eyes drilling into him, "I'd rather drink Merlin's bathwater."

With that, she steps into the next room over, internally stringing about one thousand curses together for the arrogant prince.

And when she turns her eyes down, sure enough, Merlin sits with his head leaned back against a barrel, snoring the night away, his lips smacking loudly.

Arthur shakes his head when he stops at Calliope's side, reaching over to grab a broom. The prince thumps Merlin on the side of the head to wake him from his slumber. Merlin jolts awake, his head flashing to where Arthur whacked him.

Calliope holds in a laugh, watching with amusement as Arthur leans down to the young sorcerer.

"Don't you worry about keeping watch, Merlin. You just make yourself comfortable," Merlin sighs, smacking his lips again as Arthur turns away. "Stop smacking your lips. it's annoying."

He cocks his head to the side, "I'm thirsty."

"We're all thirsty, Merlin."

The blonde walks over to him as Merlin gets to his feet.

"Are you going to whack me with a broom?" he asks.

"Not this time, unfortunately."

Arthur leans his head around the corner at the sight of approaching torchlight. Then, he turns back to Calliope and Merlin.

"Psst. Someone's coming," he motions for them to come over to where he stands.

Cautiously, the three of them step back into the hallway that leads to the grain storage. Calliope can hear the sound of someone rustling around in there as they try to pack their bags full of rations.

She has her sword in front of her, unsure of who they will stumble onto. When they reach the doorway, Arthur steps through first.

He points his sword at the figure in the corner of the room, expecting Anhora to be the one to step out into the light.

"Show yourself before I run you through," he calls out in a commanding voice.

However, it is not the keeper of the unicorns that comes forward. Surprisingly, it's just a regular man with a flash of fear in his brown eyes as he carries a small bag of grain in one hand and a shovel in the other.

Calliope and Arthur both lower their weapons.

"Who are you?" the prince asks.

"My name is...My name is..."

"Speak up."

"My name is Evan, my Lord," the man says, his eyes turning downcast.

"I see you think you can help yourself to our grain reserves. My father has ordered that looters be executed."

The man inhales sharply, "Please, my Lod. I do not steal for myself. I have three children. They have not eaten for two days--they are hungry."

Arthur takes a step in the man's direction, still trying to decide what to do, "It's the same for everyone."

"I know it is wrong to steal. I couldn't bear to see them starve."

"And could you bear for your children to see you executed?" As tears well in the man's eyes, he looks to the ground, shaking his head with remorse. After a moment of contemplation, the prince steps out of his path. "Then you should go home." Disbelief fills the man's eyes as he looks up. "If you're caught stealing again, I will not spare you."

A smile lifts his face, "Yes, my Lord. Thank you."

Evan puts down the shovel and the bag of grain he stole before heading for the door with a gentle nod.

"Wait," Arthur's voice stops him. The prince reaches down and grabs the small bag of grain, tossing it to the man. "Use it sparingly. It might be the last food you and your family get for some time."

How can Prince Arthur be an arrogant prat one second, and then turn around to be such a mature human being the next?

"You have shown yourself to be merciful and kind, my Lord. This will bring its own reward."

Confusion etches onto Arthur's face at his words, but the next day, water runs through all of Camelot, and Calliope does not have to resort to drinking disgusting bathwater.

♛ ♛ ♛

hello everyone! here is my 3rd update in the past 24 hours lmao. sorry for any typos, as i have said, i am trying to get these out asap. my goal is to finish up season 1 before i start back to college in the next few weeks bc my updating will slow down a lot after that.

as always, remember to vote and leave your thoughts in the comments :)