A Monster in the Castle, a merlin fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own the Merlin Characters, although I'll have Arthur if you'll let me!

A/N: *GASP* must...have...air...too...much...slash! Phew, I cannot believe how much slash is in this section and I don't like slash, so I had to write my own with no slash! Here's the first instalment in a collection of short stories about a young prince...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Monster in the Castle

The lamps burned deeply in their posts, guards muttered muted curses to the wind and the castle lay still. Well, almost. In the darkness crept a young boy of about seven years with fair hair and blue eyes. His mission? To get to the kitchen and steal a piece of that cake he had seen the Master Baker make earlier. If he wanted to, he could always order the Baker to give him a piece but that was no fun. The boy's lips hardened into a determined line. This would be a hard job, if ever there was one. Not only was it hard getting past one's nanny, but numerous heavy doors that the boy would barely be able to open also lay in his path.

He took a deep breath and slid past the heavy door of his nursery. His guards made no sound, good. He didn't want to be prevented from completing this mission; after all, he could taste the cake already! The young boy tiptoed down the corridor, staying in the shadows, he approached his next hurdle. His Father's bedchamber. Pulling himself closer to the wall, he rounded the corner in the corridor and proceeded towards his goal.

Just as the boy was passing the door, a deep rumbling sound filled his ears. The boy froze, rooted to the spot with fear. His eyes became as wide as saucers as the sound rose again. Slowly, his body allowed him to turn and face his father's bedroom doors. He took a tentative step towards the door just as the loudest 'roar' sounded. The boy let out a yell of fear to rival the 'roar', swung around on his heels and ran flat out back to his chambers. He flung his door open and dived under the covers of his bed, all ideas of cake forgotten.

The source of the 'roar' awoke as soon as he heard his son's scream. Through sleep-filled eyes, the father cursed his son's loud lungs and dismissed the scream as a nightmare. With a heavy sigh, he turned over and fell back asleep.

The night gave the boy a chance to think as only a seven year old could. He realised there was a monster in his Father's bedchamber and what was worse was that the guards weren't doing anything about it! As his eyes became heavy with sleep, he vowed to do something about the monster.

That afternoon, while the weather still permitted it, the boy was taken into the gardens with a playmate to play. His playmate was a boy of around the same age; however, he was smaller, plumper and had darker hair and brown eyes. After an hour of tearing around and pretending to be knights at war, the boys collapsed beneath an old apple tree.

"Arthur, when I'm older, I'm gonna be a knight an' be famous!" the playmate gasped.

"Yeah," Arthur agreed, "So am I!"

"You can't!"

"Yes I can!"

"No you can't, you're a prince an' princes can't 'cause princes have gotta marry girls," the playmate pulled a face, "an' then they gotta become kings."

The two boys glared at each other.

"Yeah, well..." Arthur stood up and looked down at his friend, "I'm gonna be the first to kill a monster!"

His playmate scrambled to his feet and crossed his arms, "An' just who says that?"

"I say it!" Arthur glanced at his nurse and whispered, "I'm gonna do it tonight 'cause there is a monster in the castle."

Arthur's playmate burst out laughing. This annoyed Arthur, "It's true I saw it with my own eyes an' tonight I'm gonna kill it!"

The boy stopped laughing, "You couldn't kill it – you'd be too scared!"

"No I wouldn't!"

"You would!"

"Wouldn't!"

"Would!"

"Wouldn't"

"Would!" Arthur stamped his foot, "An' I'll prove it! I'll cut its head off like knights do!"

His playmate grinned, "Go on then. Still don't think you can do it!"

Arthur grinned back, "Come on, help me practice then."

Both boys decided that that was the end of their talk and ran away to pretend to be knights again.

That night, Arthur refused to fall asleep. As he laid waiting for the right time to strike, the boy could feel the butterflies begin to fill his stomach. Maybe his playmate was right, maybe he shouldn't be doing this, the guards would be more than capable to do the job. Arthur shook the doubts from his mind. No, he couldn't back out now, he couldn't prove his playmate to be right, after all, his Father was in danger!

Once he thought it was roughly the same time as it had been the previous night, he pushed his bedcovers back and leapt neatly onto the floor. Leaning down, he pulled his wooden sword and shield from under his bed. He really wanted one from the armoury, but everything in there was too big and too heavy for him.

For the second night in a row, the young boy crept out of his chambers and down the hallway. He stopped at the corner, he wanted to turn and run. Drawing himself up to his full height, he marched on towards his Father's chambers. He could already hear the 'roar' of the beast. Ignoring the raised eyebrows of the guards, he grasped the handle to the door of his Father's chambers.

He slid around the door and closed it behind him. The monster's 'roar' was a lot louder in here. Arthur scanned the room for the monster. It was on the bed and it was huge! Arthur realised that if the monster was on the bed, then it was on top of his father! Fear turned to anger, how dare it attack his dad! Tensing every muscle in his body, Arthur charged.

"Oomph!" King Uther found himself under siege by his seven year old son. Blankets, furs and limbs flew everywhere as the king tried to gain some control, "Arthur!" he shouted in his most authoritative voice. Somewhere in the mist of Arthur's attack, his father's tone of voice broke through to the son. He immediately withdrew his attack; however, he was at the edge of the bed. The young boy overbalanced and fell off the bed with a loud thud!

Arthur stood alone in the Great Hall. He squirmed as he felt the whole of the court's eyes on him. He wanted to turn, run and hide behind his nanny's apron but he couldn't move. King Uther stood behind his chair, one great hand sat on the chair back as he turned to face his son.

"And what do you have to say for yourself?" King Uther demanded in a voice that filled the hall.

The seven year old squirmed as his father's words. Tears welled up at the back of his eyes. He wanted to cry – no, he mustn't cry. Princes never cried!

A man who was as much as part of the castle as the stone itself stepped forward. His robes swayed loosely as he approached the king and did something very few dared. "Sire, perhaps the boy has too much spare time on his hands?"

The king turned his eye unfocussed as he considered the man's words. He looked at the man, "Perhaps you are right Gaius. What do you suggest I do with him?"

Arthur's tears dried up as hope rose from deep inside his body. Maybe his punishment wouldn't be so bad!

Gaius considered these words carefully, for he must choose something that would befit a young prince. His eyes wandered the hall until they settled on the king's greatest knight, Sir Gareth. The knight stared back at Gaius and nodded as an understanding passed between them.

Sir Gareth coughed and stepped forward, "Sire, if I may be so bold..."

The king nodded.

"...Why not let the boy train with my squires?" the knight paused to consider his next words, "Not only would he learn the ways of the sword, he would learn the importance of the command structure. Something every prince should surely learn ready for his ascent to the throne?"

Uther felt a small smile play on his face; he knew what Gaius and Sir Gareth were up to. He turned and considered his son. Arthur was hopping from one foot to another; his body was as tense as a drawn crossbow. His eyebrow rose, "Arthur, did you hear that? Would you like to work with Sir Gareth's Squires?"

Arthur could only nod, for he feared what he would do if he spoke.

The king let out a small chuckle, "Then so be it. You are dismissed."

Arthur turned and ran from the hall. As soon as the doors to the hall were closed, he let out a whoop of joy. He may have not caught the monster but he would be training with future knights – his playmate would be so jealous!

Later that day, a thought struck King Uther. He realised that instead of punishing his son, Gaius and Sir Gareth had persuaded him to something totally different. Arthur was one lucky boy, with some close allies in his father's court!

A/N: Ok, I totally suck at endings! Please R&R as it encourages me to write more!