AN: I've been playing around with this one for a while, and now finally, here it is! I own nothing! Enjoy!
So maybe sharpening Arthur's sword with magic in his own chambers hadn't been the brightest idea.
Although it wasn't something that Merlin hadn't done a hundred times before. Usually the small council meetings took hours, and by the time Arthur came trudging down the hall to his room, Merlin would be long done with the polishing. Not to mention that he could hear Arthur's loud, arrogant footsteps from a mile away.
Merlin still didn't understand why this time had been any different. Apparently sharpening swords was such enticing work that Merlin's ears didn't work, though in that case Merlin would have to ask someone to redefine "enticing" for him, because sword sharpening definitely wasn't it. In any case, the door had squeaked open, and there Arthur stood, staring at Merlin.
Or, more precisely, staring at the sword that was hovering in front of Merlin.
Arthur jumped into action. He drew the sword that he had at his hip (why he'd thought he needed it for a council meeting was beyond Merlin), jumped in front of Merlin, and attacked the floating sword. It clattered to the ground and lay still, Merlin too shocked by Arthur's strange reaction to his having magic to do anything but gape at the king's back.
Arthur pointed his sword at the utterly unthreatening weapon on the ground before glancing around the room. "Show yourself!" he called. "I will not have you attacking anyone in Camelot!"
Merlin nearly choked.
Arthur whirled around. "Are you all right?" Arthur shook him by the shoulder when he didn't answer, his eyes darting downward, searching Merlin for wounds. "Merlin! Are you all right?"
"I – Arthur I'm fine, I think that-"
"What? Where's the sorcerer? Show yourself!" Arthur called again to the room.
Merlin couldn't take it anymore. He burst out laughing. Arthur stared at him.
"Merlin, what – have you been enchanted?"
But Merlin couldn't speak. He waved Arthur off and collapsed into a chair, eyes wet with tears of laughter. He couldn't stop. This was ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. Of all the things Merlin had imagined Arthur would say when he saw the king walk through that door, this had definitely been at the bottom of the list. Merlin's stomach was starting to hurt from laughter. He knew he probably sounded like a madman, but he didn't care. If he played along, his secret could still be safe.
Still trying to hold in his giggles and failing quite miserably, Merlin finally looked up. Arthur was walking around the room, checking behind curtains for any hidden evil sorcerers. The sight nearly sent Merlin over the edge again, as did Arthur's resulting concerned glance in his direction. Arthur walked back over to him and pulled out a chair for himself, dropping his sword on the table. Clearly, he hadn't found any nefarious sorcerers wandering his chambers.
"I think-" Merlin hiccupped finally – "I think the sorcerer must have fled when you came in. Very scary, knocking the sword out of the air like that. Very intimidating."
Arthur narrowed his eyes at Merlin. "You should be counting yourself lucky I got here when I did! And what the hell is wrong with you? You've nearly just been run through and you're laughing?"
This, of course, caused Merlin to start laughing again. Arthur threw up his hands. "You're such an idiot, Merlin," he muttered.
Merlin didn't trust himself to answer.
"Can I – can I go?" he finally managed to ask between breaths. At Arthur's nod he stumbled out of the room and back to Gaius' chambers, sniggering all the way.
The patrol limped back into Camelot, many of the men holding cloth to their bleeding wounds. Merlin rushed to help them to Gaius' chambers. Arthur's laundry would have to wait.
The king himself arrived there several minutes later, surveying the damage with despondent eyes. He rolled up his sleeves and moved to give a hand, for once taking directions from Merlin and Gaius without question. It was a sign of how much Arthur cared about his men that his pride didn't get in the way of his willingness to help. Uther would never have been found taking care of injured knights, no matter how noble they might be.
Eventually Arthur left to attend to some other duties and came back again a while later, but Merlin was too busy wrapping a wound to notice his return. Many of the knights had been discharged by now, and only the most injured few remained.
Merlin finished bandaging Sir Bedivere's shoulder and gave him a tired smile. "That should do it. Just don't swing your arm around too much, and come back in a couple of days so we can change the bandages." Bedivere gave his thanks and left.
Merlin moved to Gwaine, who was lying on a cot, passed out. He'd been stabbed in the abdomen, and to make matters worse, his wound was infected. Gaius had done the best he could, but the situation didn't look good. Now Gwaine was running a fever, restless in his sleep. According to all previous experience, he wouldn't last till morning. Gaius had told Arthur as such. They were all preparing for the worst.
But Merlin wouldn't accept it. This was Gwaine, Gwaine who constantly got himself into trouble and out of it, usually without a scratch. Gwaine who never failed to cheer Merlin up, who drank way too much and yet still had enough wits to out-gamble anyone at the games they played at the tavern, Gwaine who was Merlin's friend. Merlin was not about to let him die.
Besides, Merlin had been practicing his healing spells.
Merlin put his hand over Gwaine's wound and muttered one. Nothing happened. Merlin tried again. This time, the knight's breathing seemed to ease a bit.
"Merlin."
Merlin jumped. Arthur was standing right behind him, and must have been for some time. Merlin hadn't even realized he was in the room. He looked nervously up at the king.
Arthur was watching Gwaine's face, sorrow clouding his eyes. However much Gwaine might annoy him, he was still Arthur's friend.
"Were you saying goodbye?" Arthur asked.
Merlin scowled. That was what Arthur had thought his muttering was? "No," he retorted. "Because he's not going to die."
Arthur sighed. "Merlin, I know he's our friend. But Gaius said…"
"I know what Gaius said. But I'm telling you, he'll be all right. Just wait and see."
Arthur frowned. It didn't look as if he believed him.
However, when the next morning Gwaine woke up free of fever or infection, and declared that he would be well enough to go the tavern by lunchtime, Arthur's relieved though bewildered eyes met Merlin's. Merlin shrugged at the king, and turned back to Gwaine. Just another miraculous recovery. They were becoming the norm around here.
Steel clashed on steel, causing some birds to take flight. The bandits fought savagely, but their enemies were knights of Camelot, some of the best-trained men in the land. Even outnumbered nearly three to one, the knights were doing a good job holding their own, though Merlin did find ways to help.
He watched Arthur more than anyone else, but it seemed Arthur needed the least aid. Merlin burned the swords out of several bandits' hands and caused several more to trip over thin air. They were getting down to the last few now.
And then out of nowhere, another surge of bandits. They came up over the ridge, some on horseback, most on foot, screaming bloody murder as they fell into the fray. Merlin lost sight of Arthur for a moment in the confusion and found him again just in time to yank away a man who'd been sneaking up behind him.
The knights fought fiercely, but they were once again severely outnumbered, and, to make matters worse, already tired. Merlin lifted his hand and a heavy bough from the tree next to him collapsed onto two of the bandits Arthur was fighting. The king jumped away in surprise, and looked up to find Merlin with his hand still outstretched.
Merlin quickly put his hand down and stepped away from the tree.
"Merlin, what are you waving at?" Arthur yelled at him. "There's a fight going on, in case you haven't noticed!"
"Behind you!" Merlin called. Arthur turned, but Merlin had already sent the man sprawling. Arthur turned back to him and frowned once more. Merlin quickly lowered his hand again.
Merlin saw Arthur starting to say something else, but then the king's eyes widened, a breath before Merlin felt the cold press of steel against his throat. "Come on, boy," a rough voice snarled in his ear, and he was shoved forward.
Merlin glanced around and saw that the other knights were in similar situations, each disarmed and surrounded by at least four other men. Arthur gave up his sword when they approached him, not wanting to risk his friends' lives with disobedience.
They were shoved onto their knees in a line in front of the one Merlin took to be the leader, a short, grubby-looking man whose steely eyes showed him to be perfectly capable of killing six men in cold blood without a backward glance.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the king 'imself," the man began.
Merlin wanted to roll his eyes. Could they never think of anything new to say?
"I wonder, what the likes of you is doin' patrollin' the woods! Don't you got a kingdom to run?"
Yes, which is why we do not have time for this. Merlin lowered his head to hide his eyes and muttered a spell. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Arthur turn his head toward him slightly. Merlin tamped down his sudden trepidation and said the spell again.
The wind in the little false clearing they had created picked up, causing fallen leaves to billow past their faces. Keeping his head bowed, Merlin put more force into the spell, and the wind grew stronger. Soon the bandits were having trouble staying on their feet and holding on to their weapons, one man even comically stumbling after his lost bow, and Merlin had to fight to keep himself from smirking at their flailing.
"There's some damn sorcerer out 'ere, boys, it's not worth it!" The leader yelled, and just like that the bandits ran. Merlin kept the wind up for a few moments, then let it die down. Once he was sure the gold had faded from his eyes, he lifted his head.
The knights stood warily, looking around, and Merlin followed suit.
"That was weirdly lucky," Elyan commented.
"Yeah it was," Arthur muttered. He glanced at Merlin. "What were you doing?"
Merlin shrugged innocently. "What do you mean?"
"You bowed your head and I thought you said something."
"Well, excuse me if I thought I was going to die and didn't want my last words to be 'behind you!'" Merlin retorted. "That'd be an embarrassing legacy."
"Wow, you know Merlin, for a second there I thought you cared," Arthur deadpanned.
"Nah, I just enjoy saving your royal behind so I have something to gloat over."
Arthur shook his head. "Of course you do. Still doesn't explain where that wind came from. It definitely didn't seem natural."
"Didn't seem to affect us as much as it affected them, either," Gwaine said. "Maybe you really have got yourself a sorcerer on your side, eh princess?" he teased.
"Oh shut up," Arthur replied, but without much heat to his voice.
"Could be some weird trick of nature," Merlin suggested.
"Could be," Arthur agreed. He scanned the woods around them once more, as if expecting to see a sorcerer peering at them from between the trees. "Come on, let's get back."
Merlin resisted the urge to sigh with relief as they began the long walk back to the citadel. Really, he should know not to be too worried by now.
Merlin woke suddenly. The night air was quiet, the forest around him humming with life. Arthur slept on the other side of the fire, which was flickering down to its last embers. Merlin slowly sat up and looked into the darkness. Maybe it was nothing, but…
Suddenly something cold and sharp was pressed into his neck, and a hand clamped over his mouth. Merlin squirmed until a cold voice in his ear whispered, "Stop moving. I'm going to remove my hand. Yell for your friend there and you die. Got it?"
Merlin nodded slowly, mind whirling. Either he could wake Arthur up so that he could take care of the bandit, or Merlin could do it himself. Of course, if Arthur woke up in the process of Merlin "taking care of it," that could lead to some awkward questions, but Merlin knew how to be elusive. He'd had lots of practice, after all.
The bandit removed his hand from Merlin's mouth, but kept the knife at his neck.
"Ok, good. Now, I'm just going to take your bags-" the thief stopped. He was staring at the bag next to Arthur's head. "That's – that's the Pendragon crest, that is," he muttered, almost to himself. For a moment Merlin thought he might not have to do anything at all and the man would be scared off of by the prospect of stealing from people who had the protection of the crown, but then the bandit smiled nefariously. He was staring at Arthur.
"That's the king, inn't it? No knight has such nice things." The bandit looked back at Merlin. "And no knight drags a servant out into the forest."
The man was right. Arthur was wearing shiny and new lightweight chainmail for the hunting trip he'd spontaneously dragged Merlin on, he hadn't taken off his (quite nice) ring with the Pendragon crest, and his bedroll was a bit thicker than a typical one. Merlin wasn't even sure Arthur had ever noticed that last fact, and wondered what Arthur would say if he decided to grumble about it.
Merlin made to move, but the knife dug deeper into his neck, and the man grabbed him by the hair. "Now, now, no need to worry. It's not you I'm interested in. There's been a change of plans. Why don't you run along home and tell them the king's run into a bit of trouble? Oh, the ransom he is worth…"
Merlin had had enough. He grabbed the man behind the leg and pulled, causing him to lose his balance. The man yelped and dropped the knife in his surprise, but was quickly on his feet again, a new dagger in hand. Merlin stood, facing him. Behind the bandit, Arthur shifted. Merlin didn't have time to consider the fact that Arthur might be awake before the bandit was running at him with a growl, all attempts at being silent forgotten. Merlin reacted instinctively, throwing out his arms. The bandit was thrown back, sailing over Arthur into the trees. He hit a tree, collapsed, and did not get back up.
Merlin slowly looked down at Arthur, who was propped up on his elbows, staring between Merlin and the knocked-out bandit. Merlin quickly busied his hands, scratching his head awkwardly.
"You know, I thought you'd need help for a second there, Merlin, but it looks like I was wrong." Arthur looked him up and down, considering him. Merlin bit his lip, trying to think of something to say. Had Arthur seen…? Arthur shook his head. "I don't know how you did that with those skinny arms of yours."
Merlin huffed a laugh of relief. "I'm stronger than I look. I was doing all the hard work while you slept through it all, you prat!"
"I woke up when you yelped!" Arthur retorted. "I stayed down for the element of surprise!"
Merlin raised his eyebrows. "That wasn't me, that was him! After I knocked him over!"
Arthur snorted. "Right. Well, are you going to tie him up? Or do I have to do all the work around here?"
Merlin shook his head in disbelief, but went to find some rope. "Oh yeah, not like I'm the one who just fought him off. He wanted to kidnap and ransom you, by the way."
Arthur frowned. "Then he'll be tried accordingly." He watched Merlin lashing the man to the tree for a moment. "Go back to sleep, Merlin. I'll watch him."
Merlin looked up in surprise. "But-"
"Merlin." Arthur looked at him sternly. "Go. To. Sleep."
Merlin was tempted to argue – after all, he could put a binding spell on the man and then they could both sleep. The spell would wake Merlin if the bandit made any attempt to escape. But Arthur couldn't know that, and he seemed determined, and had once again shown that he was blind to the things that happened right in front of him. So Merlin sighed, finished tying the would-be kidnapper to the tree, and went back to his bedroll.
"If he escapes," Merlin said, "you can't blame it on me."
"He's not going to escape," Arthur replied. "I've got eyes like a hawk."
Merlin snorted, and fell asleep smiling.
Merlin sent a fireball at the assassin, but damn the girl was good.
She was dressed completely in black, with even her nose and mouth covered by cloth. Merlin had already figured out that she had magic, and though it was nowhere near as powerful as his own, she was very creative with it and clearly knew how to improvise. And all that wasn't mentioning the fact she could literally flip over Merlin's head with hardly any sort of running start.
The fireball hit a decorative shield, knocking it off the wall and leaving a gaping, smoking hole where the dragon crest had been. Oops.
The assassin charged Merlin, knife in hand. Merlin conjured up a shield, but she changed directions so quickly Merlin had trouble keeping her in view. What he did see was her literally running up the wall (there had to be some magic involved there, right?) and flipping over him to end up behind him. She slashed as Merlin turned, leaving yet another bleeding line along his abdomen.
Now Merlin was getting angry. He sent the girl flying over Arthur's desk and crashing into the wall. Then he encased her head in a ball of water. She tried to shake it off but was unsuccessful, and Merlin smirked. The satisfaction didn't last long, however, as she looked up at him, eyes golden. The water splashed to the floor as a chain descended from the ceiling, wrapping around Merlin's neck.
Merlin glared and turned the chain to dust just as it began to yank. The assassin threw her knife, and Merlin dove out of the way, throwing the girl across the room as he did so. She crashed into the mantle and fell to the floor but was up again even before Merlin was.
Merlin sighed. This was getting tiring, and of course he'd be the one who would have to clean all this up. The assassin began to charge again, and Merlin sent the bed covers flying at her, smothering her and causing her to trip. Then, suddenly, the room went black. It took Merlin a moment to figure out how to reverse her spell, and by the time he had, she had disentangled herself from the bed covers and was raising her arm to aim another spell at him.
"Oh no you don't," Merlin muttered, and ropes encircled her out of nowhere, binding her arms to her sides. She began to say a spell to undo them, but Merlin sent a high-pitched wave of sound at her that only she could hear. She yelled, and fell to the ground unconscious, one ear bleeding lightly.
Merlin staggered back and sank to the floor, leaning against Arthur's bed. He touched one of his wounds gingerly. It wouldn't be fun walking back through the castle looking like this.
Of course, at that moment, there was the sound of running footsteps, and Arthur burst into the room, sword in hand. He looked around wildly, taking in the utter destruction that was his bedroom. His eyes found the assassin, tied up on the floor. Then they found Merlin.
"Merlin!" the king exclaimed. "What the hell is going on up here? I heard crashes…" Arthur trailed off and started coming toward him. "You're hurt."
"I'm fine, Arthur," Merlin waved him off and stood, albeit with the help of the bedpost. "There was, um, there was an assassin." He gestured to the girl.
Arthur looked at her, then back at Merlin. "I see. But what happened in here?"
"There was a fight, obviously."
Arthur looked around again. "She was a sorcerer," he said.
"She was," Merlin confirmed. No hiding that fact. The room was a disaster.
Arthur's brow creased in confusion. "But then… who was she fighting?" He looked completely flabbergasted. Merlin scowled. Did Arthur really have such little faith in his fighting skills?
"Me."
Arthur's eyebrows shot upwards. "You fought an assassin, who had magic, and won?"
Merlin rolled his eyes. "Why is that so surprising? You've fought magical foes." What he didn't mention was that Arthur usually wasn't the one who was actually besting those foes, but Arthur didn't need to know that right now.
Arthur scowled. "I am a knight! I am trained to fight any kind of foe!"
"And I've been coming with you for years!" Merlin argued. "I've picked up a few things!"
Arthur sighed. "Fine, but where'd the rope come from?"
"There was – there was rope in the wardrobe."
"Merlin, I'm fairly certain I do not keep rope in my wardrobe. I would know."
"Actually, you wouldn't, because you never notice what's right in front of you, do you?"
Arthur cuffed Merlin around the head. "That is no way to talk to your king. Now come on, let's get you cleaned up."
Merlin huffed and let Arthur start helping him to Gaius' chambers, holding back an exasperated grin. He couldn't help but think that if he ever did choose to reveal his magic to Arthur, he'd need to do it in a way that was as blatantly obvious as possible.
Of course it had to be a griffin. And not just one, as Merlin quickly realized, but three. Three griffins attacking six men, one of whom couldn't very well use the full extent of his powers.
The odds were not looking good, and Merlin knew he had to do something.
Arthur and Elyan were busy with one creature, Percival and Leon with another. Gwaine was attempting to hold off the third, dancing around it and once in a while managing to scratch it, but it didn't seem to be doing much good. The sword in Merlin's hand felt utterly useless. If he could just use his magic…
A screech from one of the griffins caused Merlin to turn away from Gwaine. Arthur was backing up quickly – it seemed he had managed to stab the griffin. That had only served to make the creature angry, and it was now advancing on Arthur rather swiftly, considering that it now had to deal with a limp. Merlin poked his sword at it from the side, hoping to draw its attention away from Arthur.
His diversion worked a little too well. The griffin snapped at him and Merlin nearly tripped over a tree root while trying to retreat. Then Elyan was in front of him, jabbing wildly at the beast. Arthur ran to help. As Merlin got to his feet he saw Percival, Leon, and Gwaine all backing up towards him as well, but it was too late. The griffins had them surrounded.
The knights noticed it a moment after Merlin did, because suddenly they were standing in a tight circle around him. Merlin resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Of allthe people here, he probably needed the least protection.
The griffins seemed to be smiling. The one to Merlin's left flapped its wings eagerly. They must have been communicating with one another somehow, because suddenly they were simultaneously getting ready to pounce.
There was no time to think, so Merlin acted.
"Get down!" Merlin yelled, and thanked the gods for the knights' battle-hardened reflexes, because they reacted immediately and without question. Merlin threw out his arms with a yell, eyes flaring gold. The sky darkened instantly, and lighting came down to strike each griffin simultaneously, turning them to dust and leaving nothing but charred black splotches on the ground. The sky lightened again as quickly as it had darkened. The entire spell had taken all of three seconds.
Merlin lowered his arms slowly, as the realization of what he had just done crashed into him. Now came the hard part.
The knights got to their feet slowly, backing away and exchanging looks, none of them saying a word. Their gazes seemed to cut him like knives. Arthur was staring directly at him, Merlin could tell, so he kept looking resolutely at the ground.
"Merlin." Arthur's voice was quiet, but the anger that Merlin had expected wasn't there. Merlin looked up at him cautiously.
The look on Arthur's face was one Merlin was sure he would never forget. Arthur looked almost… sad, as if he was saying goodbye to an old friend. Merlin hoped that wasn't about to be the case.
"You just – you just did that," Arthur continued, waving his hand vaguely towards where one of the griffins had been. It sounded as if he was asking for confirmation.
"Do you want a different explanation? I could probably come up with something, I've done it a hundred times before, although this time was pretty damn obvious-"
"What do you mean, you've done it a hundred times before? When?" Arthur looked truly baffled, and Merlin couldn't help a small grin.
"Probably more than a hundred, actually. I'd tell you about them, but I wouldn't want to bruise your ego, sire." Merlin wasn't sure why he was being so brusque. Probably not a good idea at the moment, but somehow it was helping him deal with the anxiety that was clawing at his chest.
"Merlin! How long have you been, you know…"
"Saving your life?" Merlin shrugged. "Ever since I arrived in Camelot."
Arthur stared at him for another moment, then looked away, shaking his head. When he looked back, Merlin saw a spark of amusement in his eyes.
"You're going to have to tell me about these supposed alternative explanations, then." Arthur seemed to realize something. "All those times you 'went to the tavern'?"
Merlin smiled. "I did tell you I never went there, didn't I? But yes, those times. And more. Many of them right in front of you."
Arthur scowled. "I doubt that."
"You'd be surprised."
"Try me," Arthur challenged.
Merlin shrugged. "You asked for it."
He enjoyed watching Arthur's smug smile slip slowly off his face as he spoke. He chose the most obvious moments, the moments when he thought he'd been caught for sure, only to have Arthur shake his head and mutter about what an idiot he was. By the end of it, Gwaine and Percival were struggling to hold back laughter, Leon was looking at Merlin as if he had sprouted wings, Elyan's jaw had dropped, and Arthur stood still as a statue, staring at Merlin with some mixture of awe and embarrassment.
"So?" Merlin asked. "Are you surprised?"
Arthur shook his head in astonishment. "I never did fathom you out, did I?"
Merlin shrugged. "I think I just gave you a big piece of the puzzle."
Arthur strode forward and threw his arm around Merlin, beginning to lead him back toward Camelot. The knights followed.
"We have a long walk back, Merlin. Let's hear the rest of the pieces."
Merlin smiled to himself, and obliged.
I hope you enjoyed! Please review!