Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.
Chapter One:
In a land of myth and a time of magic, the destiny of a great kingdom rests on the shoulders of a young man. His name… Merlin.
)o(
Merlin's eye snap up and he instantly sits bolt upright and looks around Gaius' chamber. Last night had been the first dark moon since they had entered Queen Mable kingdom and Merlin had been searching through Gaius' vast collection of books and scrolls, looking for any clues as to what Queen Mable curse was and if it could be reversed before it even began.
But luck had not been on Merlin's side. He had searched through every book and scroll twice and found nothing, he'd been half way through checking them a third time when he'd fallen asleep at the table.
Across the room from him, Gaius stirred in his bed… Merlin frowns slightly. Now Merlin's permanent residence was no longer Camelot, Gaius shared the back room with Alice. Maybe someone requiring treatment had come in after Merlin had fallen asleep and Gaius hadn't returned to his shared bed, so not to disturb Alice.
Merlin carefully shuts the book he'd fallen asleep on and stares around the table. So far nothing seemed out of the ordinary… Maybe Freya and Alator had found something. Stretching, Merlin yawns into his hand and clicks his neck. Falling asleep sitting at a table definitely wasn't the most comfortable way to sleep.
"Merlin!" Gaius scolds suddenly. "What's the meaning of all this mess?!"
Merlin smiles sheepishly at Gaius, "Sorry, I got a bit carried away doing research."
"Well clear it up!" Gaius orders.
Merlin nods and waves his hand. With a flash of gold, the books and scrolls fly though the air and come to a rest where they belonged.
Merlin jumps as Gaius slaps him on the back of the head.
"How could you be so stupid, boy?!" Gaius scolds him once more. "What if someone had seen?"
Merlin freezes.
No, it couldn't be… Could it?
"How your head is still attached to your shoulder, I'll never know," Gaius mutters to himself.
"Gaius…" Merlin begins slightly nervously. "Umm…"
"Hurry up and spit it out, boy," Gaius turns towards him, grumpily.
"Ah…" Merlin hesitates. "Never mind."
Gaius studies Merlin for a moment and his face softens.
"I'm sorry, my boy," Gaius apologises. "I fear I am not myself this morning. Last night's cold has seeped into my bones."
"Its fine, Gaius," Merlin forces himself to smile.
But it wasn't fine.
It was far from fine.
If how Gaius had just acted was anything to go by, magic was outlawed once more. Queen Mab had undone everything Merlin had worked so hard to create… The golden age of magic had been shattered.
But how far did the extent of the curse reach? Had it undone all of Merlin's work? Was the magical kingdom still as it had been yesterday? Or had it been reduced the wasteland that it had once been? Was Freya still alive? Where their children okay? What of the other magical users? Did any of them remember what life had been like before today, or was he the only one?
"MERLIN!" Arthur's angry yell sounds from a distant hallway.
)o(
And thanks to the curse, Merlin was once again Arthur's servant. A fact which Merlin was not at all pleased about, as he rode behind Gwen and Arthur with his horse piled high with all the things Arthur deemed necessary for his and Gwen anniversary picnic.
"This is nice, isn't it?" Arthur comments to Gwen. "Just the two of us."
"Well, three of us," Gwen corrects him, glancing back at Merlin with a kind and sympathetic smile.
"Merlin?" Arthur replies. "Merlin doesn't count."
"I don't count?" Merlin mutters with slightly bitter tone. "Not here. Not actually speaking right now."
"Aren't you impressed that I remembered our anniversary?" Arthur asks Gwen.
"But you didn't remember," Gwen points out, not unkindly. "I reminded you over a month ago."
"Yes…" Arthur agrees. "But I remembered that it was today… Today."
"Hmm," Gwen smiles slightly, not believing him.
"Actually," Merlin cuts in. "I did."
"Shut up, Merlin!" Arthur snaps over his shoulder, but there was no real malice in his tone.
Gwen laughs and Merlin can't help but join in as Arthur rides slightly ahead of the two of them and glances over his shoulder to smile at Gwen.
"I did!" Merlin insists.
Up ahead of them a smoke bomb hidden in the long grass suddenly goes off, startling Arthur's horse, causing it to rear up and run. And Merlin and Gwen can only watch as Arthur tumbles from his horse and rolls across the ground.
Arthur lies there, dazed, for a couple of second before two bandits come charging out of the forest. Arthur quickly grabs his sword, which had fallen from the horse with him and blocks the first attack before jumping to his feet.
"Arthur!" Merlin yells jumping down from his horse.
Arthur continues to fight the two bandits and as Arthur kills one, the second raises their sword to strike Arthur whilst he's preoccupied. Merlin eyes flash gold and the sword flies from the bandits' hands and Arthur turns a second later and runs them through.
Arthur turns and looks back at Gwen and Merlin, before looking down at the dead bandits at his feet. But Merlin quickly turns his attention to Gwen, as he suddenly remembers magic is no longer legal and breathes a small sigh of relief as its clear she hadn't seen what he had just done.
)o(
"You're very fortunate, sire," Gaius informs Arthur, as he tends to his wounds. "With a fall like that, you could have broken your neck."
"The men that attacked us," Arthur questions. "Have they been questioned?"
"I'm sorry, sire," Gaius answers packing away his supplies. "The wounds were fatal. We were unable to learn anything from them."
"We know one thing," Merlin points out from where he is standing. "It can't have been a coincidence that they were there."
Merlin looks round as Leon walks in, not noticing the look Gwen sends him.
"Sire, we recovered your saddle from the forest trail," Leon informs him. "The girth has been unpicked and re-stitched. It was designed to break, sire."
"It appears, Merlin," Arthur turns to Merlin. "On this single solitary occasion, you might just be right."
Merlin pulls a face, as he watches Arthur and Leon leave the chamber, shortly followed by Gwen. He had to find a way to undo Queen Mab's curse and soon.
)o(
Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed the start of this story. Until next time,
Blessed be,
TreeOfLife1997.