An Enchanted Meeting(Merlin)

Merlin chuckled along with Verna. In truth, he had yet to master coffee. It just didn't seem to agree with him. So, he stuck to tea, and was happy enough with it.

"Well, considering that there wasn't a king for nine years before Arthur ascended to the throne, yes, the country was in much better shape afterwards. Honestly, I think it would have been torn apart by civil war if he hadn't. But, unfortunately, war has struck anyways," he sighed, sipping at his tea. And so far, it was more destructive than Merlin had feared it would be. And with so much magic flowing, it was next to impossible to foresee much of anything.

Verna smiled. Tea was fine and it was still wonderful. She was only joking about the coffee anyway. She paused as she glanced at him a bit surprised.

"There wasn't a king for nine years? Wasn't his father or uncle or some other relative king?" asked Verna.

Surely a kingdom couldn't be without a king for that long. With all the villains in this war surely someone would have taken over but if Merlin spoke the truth the king was without a king for all that time. She paused as he mentioned they could have been a civil war.

"A war? I guess some wars are inevitable. But didn't the previous king have heirs or a royal vizier or someone who could take over? Why the 9 year gap between the last king and Arthur?" said Verna.

She was curious how a kingdom could go for so long without a king. Then again she supposed it could have gone longer if Arthur hadn't become king.

Merlin sighed. It had been one horrible mess, alright.

"No, Arthur's not of royal, or even noble birth. The previous king had died without heirs, or a worthy successor. But, after his passing, a sword appeared in a courtyard with an inscription on it. The one worthy enough to claim the throne would be the only one who could draw the sword out of the stone. Arthur was the one," he explained. "They were set to give the crown to whoever could win a grand tournament, as if feat of arms were any way to find a worthy king."

True, it usually didn't hurt if the ruling king was a skilled warrior, at least as long as he didn't rule with his sword instead of his head.

Verna paused listening to him.

"So the old king died. Then a sword appeared saying who could lift it. And they decided to hold a tournament instead? It's a good think Arthur pulled that sword then. Although I'm surprised they waited nine years to hold that tournament. I mean there's some people who'd take over a kingdom who still had rulers. I'd have thought that kingdom would have been taken over either by someone int he kingdom or outsiders in those 9 years. Did people outside of your kingdom not know there was no king?" said Verna.

She guessed it didn't matter now. Arthur was king and that was the important thing. Although if this war went on forever they might hold another tournament to take Arthur's place or something similar to that.

"I suppose with Arthur off in the war the country may go back to fighting itself or trying to get a new king? I mean if they waited 9 years for one you think they'd wait until the war was over? We don't even know when it will end. Or if it will end." said Verna.

Merlin nodded, confirming Verna's appraisal of the whole situation.

"Indeed they knew, but no one felt like invading a kingdom with as many knights in it, all ready and spoiling for a fight, mind you. And, before they were going to hold their tournament, they all tried to remove the sword," Merlin explained. "And now, well, Arthur's adoptive father, Sir Ector, is serving as the protector of the realm. While he may not be much for brains, I've no doubt of his loyalty to his king, and to the realm."

Of course, the fact that Merlin had promised severe retribution on the whole kingdom if Ector were to fail at his job might have something to do with his zeal. But there was no need to go into that.

Verna nodded as she sipped more tea.

"Well that makes sense. The knights kept the kingdom safe even without a king. Wait a second. King Arthur... knights... He's not the legendary King Arthur who ruled Camelot and had the Knights of the Round Table is he? Or I suppse he will be. Odd thing arriving from different times to fight this war." said Verna.

She realized her tea was done as she waved her wand as the pitcher floated over to her cup and poured her a new cup before floating back to the ground.

"There is something else. I don't know how your magic works but mine unfortunately comes from this wand. It's been stolen from me before to do evil. So I'm more careful with it now. But you should keep an eye on your wand either way. Even if it's not the source of your power if it was taken someone could do a lot of harm with that." said Verna.

Merlin chuckled as Verna made the connection. He'd been caught unawares at first, as well, despite his gift of foresight.

"I didn't know it, at first. Well, I always knew he was destined for greatness, but I didn't put it all together until after he'd been crowned. I really should have been able to figure it out, beforehand," he said, still a bit bewildered to have missed it. England. A boy named Arthur. A sword in a stone, waiting to be pulled by the rightful king.

He smiled again as Verna poured more tea for herself, listening as she cautioned him about his wand, or, in his case, his cane. "Well, my cane is no more magical than my hat, but I've used it in place of a wand, or staff, for a long time now. In fact, I stopped needing a wand, or anything similar, when I first turned myself into a goat. I didn't take into account that I wouldn't be able to wield a wand without fingers," he explained, chuckling at the memory.

Verna laughed as well as she listened to Merlin.

"I should have seen it sooner. There aren't that many wizards named Merlin." said Verna.

She chuckled and shook her head.

"Well I suppose it doesn't matter how long it took you to figure it out. You're helping him and that's what's important. Just like I helped out Cinderella when I could." said Verna.

She paused as he said he could use magic without a wand or a cane if he needed to.

"Impressive. All I have is this wand. Perhaps you could give me a few pointers." said Verna.

She smiled and took another sip of tea.

"I should have seen it sooner. There aren't that many wizards named Merlin."

"Yes, well, maybe not," the old wizard said, a little flustered. On the one hand, he was quite proud of his magical abilities and accomplishments, but he didn't want to come across as arrogant. He was glad when Verna went on, changing the subject.

He took another sip of tea, nodding as she spoke. After all, she was right. He had indeed found Arthur before the boy was too old, and set in his ways.

"Impressive. All I have is this wand. Perhaps you could give me a few pointers."

He paused and blinked at that, caught by surprise.

"Well, I suppose I could try," he said, pausing as he tried to think how he should explain. "Have you ever tried casting a spell without your wand? Surely it's not the only source of your magic."

He'd heard of some humans being able to cast spells with the aid of wands, but never a fairy. They were innately magical in themselves.

Verna smiled taking another sip of tea noticing he seemed a bit flustered when she'd mentioned he was famous. He must be a humble man so she decided not to mention that again. As the topic changed to asking her for help he said he could try.

"Well I can conjure objects including my magic wand if I need it." said Verna.

She paused as a faint memory came back to her years ago her training to be a fairy godmother. She had cast spells then without a wand.

"I remember I used to cast spells without a wand before while training to be a fairy godmother. I guess I've relied on my wand too much." said Fairy Godmother.

She paused as put her wand away deciding she should at least see if she could try to use magic again without a wand. She took another sip setting the cup down.

"What sort of spell do you suggest? I should probably start with something small and go from there." said Verna.

Merlin leaned back a bit, frowning in thought. Well, if she'd done magic without a wand before, then she could do so again. However, it wouldn't do for her to try the same thing he'd done. She could very well get trapped in an altered form for a while, and undoing another magician's transformation spell was never easy.

"Hmm, well, yes, something simple," he muttered, idly sipping at his tea. After a moment, his eyes focused on Verna's empty teacup. "I've got it! Something simple. Lift the teacup."

Something simple, with little chance of any danger if something should go wrong. Sure, it was something an apprentice would be able to do with ease, but it was a good place to start.

Verna smiled at the suggestion as he glanced at her empty teacup and asked her to lift the teacup.

"Alright. I'll give it a try." said Verna.

She paused waving her hands trying to concentrate saying the magic words she'd used a lot before.

"Time to lift the cup. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo!" said Verna.

She paused as her magic did work as the teacup began to float. She was excited to see it she lost her concentration. She caught the cup in time though before it broke.

"Hmm. I guess I need more practice. But at least I know I've still got it." said Verna.

Merlin watched closely, anticipation making him briefly forget all else as he watched the teacup. He didn't make a sound as Verna concentrated, allowing her the time she needed to get ready. Then she chanted a few words, and the teacup began rising off of the ground. Then it fell as Verna's concentration faded, though she was quick enough to catch it.

"Hmm. I guess I need more practice. But at least I know I've still got it."

Merlin leaned back, finishing his tea as he nodded. "Yes, well, can't expect to be an instant expert, now can you? I know I wasn't, and I'm rather a natural, if I do say so myself," he said. "Though that was quite an accomplishment for being out of practice. Most would have barely been able to cause the teacup to merely slide along the ground."

Verna smiled at his praise.

"Well I guess I've been using magic so long with or without the wand I could do alright. I suppose with some practice I could start doing things I've taken for granted with my wand. Plus this way I only use my wand if I really need it and I won't risk it being stolen again." said Verna.

She was pleased with the idea. She wasn't planning on going out into any fights aside from helping any injured members get home. But they had had a few attacks on the camp so it was better to be safe than sorry. After all Cinderella's stepmother only had it a couple days and had turned her into a statue, rewound time, trapped Cinderella into an evil coach, made Anastasia fit the slipper, put the prince under a spell, turned Anastasia into Cinderella briefly and had started to turn the guards into animals. If the prince hadn't deflected her attack she might have won. She hadn't realized how destructive her wand could be in the wrong hands. She'd heard warnings of course but after experiencing it first hand she was going to be more careful.

"I wonder if I should try again." said Verna.

Merlin nodded in agreement. Use of a wand, or any such aid, tended to be a hamper if said wand, staff, cane, or whatever, was lost, or stolen. He could only imagine how he would feel if somebody stole his cane and wreaked havoc with it. Of course, his cane wouldn't do them any good, unless they wanted to bop somebody over the head with it. It was merely a hunk of wood, not inherently magical.

"I would suggest practicing until lifting the teacup without your wand is as simple as breathing. Use the wand for the major things. And once the teacup gets easy, move on to something bigger," he suggested as he pulled his pipe out of a pouch. A snap of his fingers and it was lit, and ready for use.