It's All In The Cards - 01: The Magician
Jan. 2nd, 2010 05:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nyxelestiaTitle: 01 - The Magician
Rating: G
Summary: My little Tarot-based Merlin project. A one shot for each card.
Warnings: none
Episode warnings: None
Beta: None
Notes: Card and Fic both under the cut. One card every week.
~*~
~The Card On My DeviantArt~
~*~
"The power to create and communicate with great skill, to see the possibilities laid before him, and to be able to use a sleight of hand with a touch of skillful wisdom. Both wise and sly."
~*~
“Goodnight, Morgana,” Merlin said, lightly, as she left Gaius’s chambers.
As he slipped to his room, he collapsed onto his bed as he wondered when everything had gone so mad. Instead of going to Gaius, Morgana now came to Merlin with her nightmares – because he was the only one who knew of her magic.
She hadn’t even told Gwen, which Merlin knew was a testament to how terrified Morgana was. Yet she told Merlin every single detail of her latest dreams.
Which was another problem. Arthur was going to be wounded badly in a battle in the upcoming border campaigns. But not badly enough that Uther will let Arthur stay out of the next tournament. Arthur is going to be wounded even worse in that tournament because the other knight didn’t…er, won’t…know about the previous wounds. And Uther is going to have him killed when Arthur nearly dies.
So how the hell was Merlin supposed to stop this?
Sighing, he dropped his face into his hands, before idly summoning his book from beneath the floorboards under the bed.
It floated in front of him as Merlin flicked through the pages, looking for spells to reinforce Arthur’s armor, and Merlin sighed in relief when he found one – then wondered if it would be enough, as his magic put the book back under, flopping back onto his bed, keeping an ear out for Gaius so’s to look busy if the man came by.
Perhaps…
Merlin blinked at the ceiling as he remembered Arthur raging against the battle, its pointlessness, the losses it would cause, how much damage it could do to their army and how little gains they would get on the border…
But how to tell Arthur, when he still didn’t know just how true Morgana’s dreams were?
He sighed.
Then…he slowly grinned.
Arthur didn’t know Morgana’s dreams were prophecies, but he did seem to at least trust in her intuition.
If she put him in doubt…all he would need is a reason to go through the effort of arguing with his father over this.
All it would take is a bit of cunning and timing on Merlin’s part, and…
He sat up straight and re-summoned the book, having forgotten the spell to make a horse ridiculously fleet of hoof. He was going to need it to get to the border by morning, and he’d need to ask Gaius to cover for him, say he’s ill or something, but this could work…
~*~
“Enter,” Uther’s voice rang through the doorway Arthur knocked on, two days later.
Merlin obediently followed Arthur into the king’s study, where Arthur immediately walked right up to his father’s desk and set the bit of parchment down on the table.
“We have word from our spy,” Arthur said. “We are going to have to move the battle, maybe even postpone it.”
“For what reason?” Uther asked, picking up the note and leaning back as he read it and listened to Arthur at the same time.
“It seems the soldiers don’t know where to go – there was some sort of freak flash flood which destroyed a camp, and only one tent caught on fire in the resulting chaos…the one with all the maps in it.”
Uther’s eyebrows rose. Gaius would be proud.
“Very well,” Uther said. “You got your wish, after all – we will postpone the battle until we can confirm their locations.”
After they were dismissed, Arthur breathed a sigh of relief, and Merlin smiled.
“Good, then?” Merlin asked, as they headed back towards Arthur’s chambers.
Arthur, himself, was grinning, and he nodded as he went inside and headed straight for his desk. “This is excellent. If we can delay the conflicts enough, we can get enough time to talk to the nobles, themselves, instead of Odin, and stave off this battle all together.”
Merlin smiled as he set up the parchments and inks and quills for Arthur to write his messages to them. “Sounds good.”
“It is!” the delighted prince said, sitting down in the chair eagerly and nearly grabbing the inkwell instead of the quill, itself. “Apparently, the gods are on my side – this was a marvelous streak of luck.”
Merlin smiled and set to his chores, grinning at the thought of Arthur having no idea that this streak of luck was right here in front of his eyes.
Rating: G
Summary: My little Tarot-based Merlin project. A one shot for each card.
Warnings: none
Episode warnings: None
Beta: None
Notes: Card and Fic both under the cut. One card every week.
"The power to create and communicate with great skill, to see the possibilities laid before him, and to be able to use a sleight of hand with a touch of skillful wisdom. Both wise and sly."
“Goodnight, Morgana,” Merlin said, lightly, as she left Gaius’s chambers.
As he slipped to his room, he collapsed onto his bed as he wondered when everything had gone so mad. Instead of going to Gaius, Morgana now came to Merlin with her nightmares – because he was the only one who knew of her magic.
She hadn’t even told Gwen, which Merlin knew was a testament to how terrified Morgana was. Yet she told Merlin every single detail of her latest dreams.
Which was another problem. Arthur was going to be wounded badly in a battle in the upcoming border campaigns. But not badly enough that Uther will let Arthur stay out of the next tournament. Arthur is going to be wounded even worse in that tournament because the other knight didn’t…er, won’t…know about the previous wounds. And Uther is going to have him killed when Arthur nearly dies.
So how the hell was Merlin supposed to stop this?
Sighing, he dropped his face into his hands, before idly summoning his book from beneath the floorboards under the bed.
It floated in front of him as Merlin flicked through the pages, looking for spells to reinforce Arthur’s armor, and Merlin sighed in relief when he found one – then wondered if it would be enough, as his magic put the book back under, flopping back onto his bed, keeping an ear out for Gaius so’s to look busy if the man came by.
Perhaps…
Merlin blinked at the ceiling as he remembered Arthur raging against the battle, its pointlessness, the losses it would cause, how much damage it could do to their army and how little gains they would get on the border…
But how to tell Arthur, when he still didn’t know just how true Morgana’s dreams were?
He sighed.
Then…he slowly grinned.
Arthur didn’t know Morgana’s dreams were prophecies, but he did seem to at least trust in her intuition.
If she put him in doubt…all he would need is a reason to go through the effort of arguing with his father over this.
All it would take is a bit of cunning and timing on Merlin’s part, and…
He sat up straight and re-summoned the book, having forgotten the spell to make a horse ridiculously fleet of hoof. He was going to need it to get to the border by morning, and he’d need to ask Gaius to cover for him, say he’s ill or something, but this could work…
“Enter,” Uther’s voice rang through the doorway Arthur knocked on, two days later.
Merlin obediently followed Arthur into the king’s study, where Arthur immediately walked right up to his father’s desk and set the bit of parchment down on the table.
“We have word from our spy,” Arthur said. “We are going to have to move the battle, maybe even postpone it.”
“For what reason?” Uther asked, picking up the note and leaning back as he read it and listened to Arthur at the same time.
“It seems the soldiers don’t know where to go – there was some sort of freak flash flood which destroyed a camp, and only one tent caught on fire in the resulting chaos…the one with all the maps in it.”
Uther’s eyebrows rose. Gaius would be proud.
“Very well,” Uther said. “You got your wish, after all – we will postpone the battle until we can confirm their locations.”
After they were dismissed, Arthur breathed a sigh of relief, and Merlin smiled.
“Good, then?” Merlin asked, as they headed back towards Arthur’s chambers.
Arthur, himself, was grinning, and he nodded as he went inside and headed straight for his desk. “This is excellent. If we can delay the conflicts enough, we can get enough time to talk to the nobles, themselves, instead of Odin, and stave off this battle all together.”
Merlin smiled as he set up the parchments and inks and quills for Arthur to write his messages to them. “Sounds good.”
“It is!” the delighted prince said, sitting down in the chair eagerly and nearly grabbing the inkwell instead of the quill, itself. “Apparently, the gods are on my side – this was a marvelous streak of luck.”
Merlin smiled and set to his chores, grinning at the thought of Arthur having no idea that this streak of luck was right here in front of his eyes.
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Date: 2010-01-03 02:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-03 08:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-03 07:02 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2010-01-04 02:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-04 05:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-04 06:32 am (UTC)On the upside, that would also end up right around summer, where I would get a considerably higher amount of time, so it would actually be possible. I'm mostly just going to see how the Major Arcana work for me right now and if it goes well, then I'll do Minor. I'm hoping I can, but I'm also holding out for the reality that time simply might not be on my side. (Then again, I've ignored time constraints often enough for the sake of fanworks, so...:D).
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Date: 2010-01-03 08:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-03 01:56 pm (UTC)Loved it ♥ ♥ ♥
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Date: 2010-01-04 02:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-04 03:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-03 02:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-04 03:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-03 06:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-04 02:15 am (UTC)Specifically, I really like how this was spaced out. Letting us know that Merlin had a plan, not really saying what it was, and then let us find out from a gleeful Arthur about how everything was coming up roses.
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Date: 2010-01-04 03:13 am (UTC)And I'm glad you like the way I gave the plan. Happy you liked it!
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Date: 2010-01-04 02:22 am (UTC)I love how Merlin "fixed" the problem, especially since he didn't just jump in with magic, or think his original solution is the best one. (Like he's been known to do…)
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Date: 2010-01-04 03:14 am (UTC)Glad you liked Merlin's plan - I figure this is one more small step towards him being the famous wizard he's known as. :D
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Date: 2010-01-05 12:01 am (UTC)Yup!
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Date: 2010-01-05 07:00 am (UTC):D
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Date: 2010-01-05 08:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-04 03:53 am (UTC)I like this tarot fic series that you have set up - what a great idea! :)
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Date: 2010-01-04 06:33 am (UTC)