Arthur; The Legend and Myth Chapter 127

127.

Merlin back in his cavern leaned back on the working table. That table served him well although he favoured none until he came to Camelot. It was a secret of his all the time but he had shared it with Arthur. A silly thing to do then but he had trusted Arthur. That King was one of his favourite then, and groomed by him. He was upset that Arthur have blurted to Guinevere.

It went back to the day he met Pendragon. He had tamed the dragons that were plaguing the building of the castle by trapping it in the oak tree. The oak tree held the magical properties to contain the spell then. He lured the dragons to secluded area to meet them.

“I am the White Dragon, and she is the Red Dragon.” The male figure stood there in the white gown while the other was a female in a red fiery gown. “Why do you summon us? We are the keeper of the doorway to the other dimension. We were the last dragons not to leave then for the doorway need to be sealed. We stay on to protect it.”

“Do you know why Pendragon wanted the ground there? He thought it was the doorway as told to him by Lady Igraine. In truth, we are the gateway.” The couple held hands and a portal appeared. “We knew the threat then. Lady Igraine was powerful and her task was to revive the dragons that once ruled the land so she can rule them.. It was from those whom we sealed the doorway.”

“Pendragon …” Merlin was to say but he was interrupted.

“He does not know of this. It was the influence of the lady. She has planned the whole scheme. She had used King Gorlois to get to Pendragon. The later was direct descendants like her but he does not know his own heritage.  She needed him to create the new heir to the clan. The pure one.”

“She is not wedded to Pendragon.” Merlin defended the leader.

“She will soon be with your help.” Merlin was told. “We have not much time. It’s prophesies that the dragons will rule the lands once more and then perish soon after forever. You are the catalyst to that last part of the journey.”

“I don’t understand. I saw nothing in the readings.” Merlin defended himself.

“You are a minion. You may not know all of it but you will be guided when the time is right. Place us in the oak tree trunk that you have prepared. We can hide there.” Merlin was taken aback when the dragon spirits mentioned the trunk. He was to coax them in but then they volunteered. It was soon when Merlin became close to Pendragon and later assisted in the seduction of the lady, delivered and groomed the child to manhood to be King. Merlin laughed to himself.

“I was so stupid. I was led for so long and yet I am not aware of it.” Merlin sighed. He thought he could have influenced it

“So your secret is out.” Merlin looked to the voice behind him. It was Ninniane.

“When have you taken to read my thoughts?” Merlin was upset that then more than one knew his secret. Ninniane laughed.

“The signs were there, Merlin but you ignored it. So tell me why did then work with the Lions.”

“The Lions were the true spirits of the land. I sought their hideout to counter the dragons. It irks Lady Igraine then but she could not stop me. It was too late for her but she showed her influence to wed her disciple to Arthur. I disagreed to it but Arthur was her son and influenced by her when I was not there. I stayed her power from Camelot but she placed more at my side. Elaine was there with Lancelot and Morgan to me. I knew Morgan was a spy for her but I made the mistake of loving her. I should had not allowed that but my stupidity corroded my mind.”

“The lady placed all them here but she discounted emotions as we did. I loved you and it cost me a lot. I am still paying for it by being here.” Ninniane smiled. “So the Lions did their part but why did they suddenly ditch you then?”

“How did you know…Never mind, they had their reason.” Merlin sighed. He then spoke up. “The Lion spirits were once defeated by the dragons. They were almost wiped out then but the survivals went into hiding. They want to fight once more.”

“The final battle.” Merlin concluded on the Lions. “Would you do the same?”

“Would you love me once more? I guess so.” Ninniane then left Merlin. “For the final time perhaps.”

It was the same for Arthur then. He reckoned that the next battle will be final one. He was not prepared to fight and the last fight with the Procurator he almost lost his life. He had sent out scouts and knights to the ones that owed him an alliance. His message was simple.

“I kept the Romans away. Now you owed me to take back Camelot.”

The Scots replied with their full support. Some of the Lords also did the same but they were some who stood apart from it. He was prepared for that but he did not expect the one surprise then.

“My King, there is a Roman Senator here.”

The Senator spoke of events that occurred some weeks back.

“The Procurator died a warrior death.” The Senator leaned back on the long wall that formed their seats in the Senate. It was designed like an arena with the circular centre area that was large enough to house a hundred people. The seating area was a set of six rows with the lowest rung to accommodate fifty persons and it increased geometric to the sixth upper rung. There was a sitting of fifty senators that day. The Procurator body in the casket was brought in and the accompanying Centurion spoke of the battle. The Centurion briefed the Senate. Once the Centurion was dismissed alongside with the casket the Senate convened once more.

“The Procurator however lost a legion of our best when we need them here badly. The Prime did a fair assessment. We are soon to be war with our own.” The empire then was split with different factions. The Senate was concerned on that.

“We should not be concerned on there until we stabilized our own defences.” Senator Trica spoke up. “Arthur was not really a threat to us. He expanded to Gaul and towards the Seine but he did come to Rome. We shall be relief for that.”

“Why did we attack Camelot?”

“It was the Procurator’s idea then.” It was fair to blame the dead when the decision to invade Camelot came from the Senate then.

“ I heard that Camelot is in turmoil. Mordred led the Gaul against Arthur.” Senator Trica told the Senate. “I personally say we leave them to fight. I dislike the Gaul. If you asked me who am I be allied with in the war, I won’t choose the Gaul any day.”

The seated Senators sighed then. Their earlier campaign in Gaul although victorious cost them lives.

“Are you saying that we weaken Arthur and now may be defeated by the Gaul? So let us play our hand in helping Arthur?” The assembled Senators murmured their discussions.

It was how Arthur got his surprise.

“King Arthur, we are an army sent by Rome.” The officer there saluted the King. He was dressed in the garbs of the mercenaries. “We came to assist you.”

The assistance was by a few cases of gold coins that brought three thousand warriors to ally with Arthur. It was a gesture of apology by Rome.