Fool's Errand - Merlin's Plan

Heavy. That's what I felt. I went over to the table and picked up the scroll. It was sealed with a ribbon tied to it. Expecting it to be light, I was surprised at its heft. Underneath attached to the scroll was a small leather pouch. Coins, I would imagine to help me on my quest. I would look at that later. Tucking it into my jerkin, where my cowl sits round my shoulders, for camouflage, I went over to the door and told the guard, "Call the Lord Chancellor. The King wants to see him."

And then I hightailed it out of there to my rooms, thinking about what I needed as I scurried away before the Lord Chancellor saw my exit.

This fool was hitting the road and was terrified at the prospect.

And so, now the fool will depart from the city,

And mark the occasion with this little ditty,

Saddled with duty and bags of self-pity

On a quest that can only be seen as quite shitty.

***

"So, what's your plan?"

Eldritch was slouching in a chair, one leg slung over one of its arms, picking at his nails with a knife.

Merlin had just finished looking at his all-seeing orb at the exchange between the fool and the King. This was very interesting, very interesting indeed. He glanced over at Eldritch and his preoccupation with his personal hygiene and felt a flare of irritation. His expression never altered although Eldritch was too absorbed to notice. Merlin needed time to think and he would not be able to do that until he was alone. However, master manipulator that he was, he would not dismiss Eldritch just yet as this revelation needed to be managed and it was unfortunate that Eldritch had entered into his den whilst he had been so involved in his discovery. He was sure that he could work this to his advantage if he could just unravel the strings of knowledge that he had gleaned and weave them into a tapestry of his own making, creating something of which he was master.

Merlin knew that he was going to have to keep a close eye on the fool and probably intervene to help him at times, if he was to make his way to the Dragon Queen successfully. And as a bonus, alive. He could see from the way the fool handled the scroll that something more was therein attached - a pouch - but what?

Maybe this was a mission for Eldritch?

"Wizard? Did you hear me?"

Again, Merlin inwardly flared at the question from the reprobate in the corner and turned to look at him.

"Have you the pearls I asked you to collect?" Merlin asked, as that was why Eldritch was here, to receive payment for task completed.

"I do and I think we agreed 20 coins?" Eldritch inspected his nails one final time before putting his knife in the sheath at his belt and moving his cloak to cover it. Dark haired, rogueish and athletic, Eldritch was useful in many ways to Merlin, usually involving stealth and wile, of which Merlin had an abundance but he preferred to orchestrate rather than execute. Eldritch was a tool, a human that he could use, but not trust.

"The pearls?" Merlin held out his hand to the man on the chair, no longer slouching but sitting legs apart, leaning forward. In his hands was now a small cotton bag, which he lifted with his left and dangled by the string.

"I need to see them," Merlin stated, although he knew that they were what he wanted, having followed Eldritch's progress through the orb. He also knew that there was one missing. Eldritch got up and went over to Merlin's table in his small hovel, where he tipped the pearls into a small wooden platter.

"All of them, Eldritch," Merlin said, not having looked at what Eldritch had tipped out. He could sense their blue iridescence in the air, like a ripple on a spider's web, and was eager to grind them for up, an essential ingredient in a powerful predicting spell that it would appear, he would need to perform sooner rather than later, now the King was dead.

"That is all..." Eldritch started but before he could finish, Merlin had turned on him, staring fiercely at his face and Eldritch could see the menace in his eyes which was fed darkly from within. He had wanted to keep a pearl but it was not worth dying for. He should have known that he could never have fooled Merlin.

He bent and removed it from his shoe where it had left a dip in his skin and placed it on the platter.

Merlin's posture relaxed and it was like a barracuda retreating into its hole after emerging for its prey.

Eldritch resisted a shiver, as Merlin picked up the pearl and examined it.

"Your coins are on the shelf by the door," Merlin said, placing the pearl down. In his head, he decided to add another couple as a bonus and a faint chink issued from the pouch as they magicked their way there.

Eldritch knew there had been no pouch there on the way in as his instinct would have been to pocket it, an impulse as easy to him as breathing, and he once again suppressed a shiver, thinking that this arrangement with Merlin, whilst lucrative, did nothing for his nerves. And he was not a nervous person at all. He heard the chink as it landed too and wondered why Merlin was being so generous.

"Eldritch, I may have another job for you, if you're up for it?"

A sweetener, Eldritch thought. And he was right as Merlin had decided that he would send Eldritch after the fool after all. He did not know what was in that pouch but if it was revealed to him in the orb and it was something that he wanted, then Eldritch would be in a good position to procure it for him.

The King needed the Dragon Queen and her price was high, so what then was in that pouch?

***

I hope you enjoyed this third instalment of Fool's Errand. The links to the first two parts are included below as well as links to other stories I have written that included Merlin. Merlin, if you don't know, was a wizard associated with King Arthur's court and was born in Wales, my country of birth. I have had a fascination with him since childhood and I like writing stories including him, although he is not always a presence for good.

Any ideas what's in the pouch?

If you read, please do leave a comment and thanks for stopping by!