13
The Story of A & M
Part III
Merlin Saves Camelot
It was around mid day and Merlin and Arthur were lying in bed sweating and catching their breath after making love repeatedly, Arthur lying on his stomach with his head on Merlin's chest.
"So I know your reasons for leaving so what brought you back to Camelot?" Arthur asked. Merlin looked at him and thought if he should tell him.
"I don't know all the details but apparently Gwaine had come looking for me based on what he had heard and wanted me to come back to see if my returning would bring you back to yourself" Merlin said and looking at Arthur's face he knew he wanted to know more.
"Apparently there are rumors that you have not been well and other kingdoms, it is believed, may have been talking about making a claim on Camelot and when he told me about Gaius and Gwen I knew I had to come back. I had to do what I could to get you back I guess. Part of me had to see for myself if what Gwaine was saying was true and I love you and as cruel as it may sound, I wanted you back."
Arthur smiled and kissed him.
"Well Sire, it is around mid-day and we need to get you out of this room and out of this castle so the people know you are feeling better" Merlin said then he slapped Arthur's ass.
"Ouch hey, I could still have your hand cut off for that" Arthur said rubbing his butt and Merlin looked at him with a smirk on his face.
"I know but you won't" Merlin said.
"Oh really and why is that?"
"Well first of all" SMACK, "if you did I would leave again, never to be found again."
"Secondly" SMACK, "you said earlier I'm the only person in all of Camelot that can get away with doing and saying the stuff I do, so if you cut off my hand that would make you a liar and that is not very becoming of a king."
"Third" SMACK, "I wouldn't be able to do this."
"And finally" SMACK, "I think you actually like this" Merlin said with a laugh.
With each smack to his bare butt Arthur quietly said ouch and flinched, but he also smiled.
"Well most of those reasons are true, except for the last one, I'm not Gwaine" Arthur said as he got up from the bed to get dressed.
"What do you mean by that?" Merlin said as he was getting dressed as well.
"Oh I didn't tell you did I? Well one night, I don't remember when exactly, but I couldn't sleep and so I decided to go walking around the castle. I don't know what time it was but it was late. I ended up where the knight's quarters are and it was pretty quiet. I was about to turn around and head back when I heard strange noises coming from the end of the hall where Sir Gwaine sleeps. I had no shoes on so they wouldn't have heard me coming. Anyway I got to his room and the door wasn't closed all the way so I peaked in through the crack and there I saw Sir Percival sitting in a chair with Sir Gwaine lying across his lap and he was spanking him. I thought it was odd and was going to say something, but then I realized by the noises that Sir Gwaine was making, he was actually enjoying it."
Merlin just stood staring at Arthur, his face blank and then he just started laughing and soon Arthur started as well.
"Thank you for telling me THAT I'm going to have a very difficult time looking at both of them now" Merlin said.
They were just about to leave when Arthur stopped at the door, turned and kissed Merlin again.
"What was that for?"
"Because I love and to say thank you for helping me get myself together again."
"Oh I think you thanked me several times already for that" Merlin said as he winked at Arthur.
With Merlin at his side, Arthur left his room for the first time in a long time and everybody that they passed was very happy to see Arthur out and about and looking healthy and happy. They went out to the training grounds where the knights were practicing and they were quite excited to see Arthur. Merlin stood off to the side as Arthur started practicing with the knights and he was quite impressed how Arthur maintained his composure with Percival and Gwaine and every once in awhile Merlin had to hide his face to laugh whenever he thought about what Arthur had told him about the two of them.
As they continued to practice everybody, including Merlin, was impressed how well Arthur was doing, it was like he had never stopped. Eventually they stopped to rest and Merlin joined them at the request of Arthur.
"I understand there are rumors about me and the fate of Camelot so would any of you wish to explain?" Arthur asked his knights and a few them immediately looked at Merlin and they didn't look happy.
"Don't look to blame Merlin, I asked him and he was honest with me. I know I haven't been myself for quite sometime but I would have appreciated if one of you had come to me to tell me about this" Arthur said to them, but there was no anger in his voice when he said it.
"We are sorry Sire, and believe me when I tell you we had many discussions, even arguments among ourselves about telling you but we feared telling you might make your condition worse" said Sir Leon.
"Thank Leon, I appreciate your honesty and I can understand you all thinking like that, to be honest I would have thought the same thing. But be that as it may, the rumors are still there so can you tell me if there is any real truth to them? Have any of you seen or heard anything that might indicate that an attack on Camelot is possible?"
"No Sire, we have not heard or seen anything out of the ordinary that would indicate there is any truth to these rumors, we have been working to keep an eye out for any signs that there could be trouble and so far we haven't come across any such signs" Gwaine said.
It was then that a guard came riding onto the practice field, Merlin knew something was wrong when he looked at the young man, he looked pale and was sweating and when the horse stopped the guard started to fall and Percival caught him and they saw he had an arrow sticking out of his back.
"Sire…in the valley to the south…..a large encampment" the guard said before passing out.
"Merlin can you save him?" Arthur asked.
"Yes I can try."
"Ok good, Percival take him up to Gaius' old chamber Merlin see what you can do for him" Arthur said.
"Percival meet us in the dining chamber when you're done" Arthur shouted as he and Merlin were heading off the field.
They arrived at Gaius' old chamber and Merlin was amazed that it looked exactly the same as he remembered it. Percival set the guard down and put him on Gaius' bed on his stomach.
"What do you need me to do?" Percival asked.
"Nothing I'll be alright you better go, Arthur is waiting" Merlin said and before Percival left he grabbed Merlin's hand.
"The King is waiting and he is the king again because of you Merlin. We can all feel things getting back to normal around here again and it's because of you so thank you" Percival said and then he kissed the back of Merlin's hand and left. Merlin just stood there stunned and then he smiled. He was brought out of his thoughts by moaning and remembered the wounded guard.
"Am I going to die?" the young guard whispered.
"What is your name?" Merlin asked.
"My name is Robert sir."
"Hello Robert my name is Merlin and no you are not going to die."
"I need to see my brother one last time" the guard said like he didn't hear what Merlin said.
"Who is your brother?"
"His name is Richard, he works in the stables."
"How old are you Robert?"
"I'm nineteen sir; by brother is fifteen and he hopes to become a guard himself some day."
"Robert I want you to listen to me, you are going to be fine and when you wake up I will have Richard here waiting for you" Merlin said and then Robert smiled and then passed out again. Merlin acted quickly, he grasped the arrow and with one strong pull, pulled it out of Robert's back and then he quickly put his hand over the wound as blood started to seep through the clothes Robert was wearing. He looked at Robert to make sure he was still out and then he said some words and he felt the wound close. Merlin lifted up Robert's shirt and checked to confirm that the wound was closed and there was only a small scar left. Then he placed his hand on Robert's head and said another incantation that would allow Robert to sleep comfortably.
Merlin left and went back to Arthur's chambers where he grabbed his cloak and then headed to the stables where he found a young boy brushing a horse.
"Are you Richard?"
"Yes sir" the boy said, looking a bit nervous.
"Your brother Robert is a guard correct?"
"Yes sir is he ok, did something happen?"
"He was shot with an arrow but he is going to be fine, he told me about you and I told him I would arrange to have you there waiting when he wakes up but first I need you to do me a favor."
Arthur stood at the head of the long dining table surrounded by his knights and other advisors going over maps and plans to prepare for a battle that they were not exactly sure was going to happen. The door was opened by the guards and everybody looked up to see a young boy timidly enter the room.
"Yes what is it?" Arthur asked, sounding a little impatient.
"I….I have a…..message" the boy eventually managed to say. Arthur suddenly noticed that his impatience seemed to spread to those around him so he calmed himself.
"What is your name?"
"Richard sire."
"Well Richard there is no need to be nervous, you are among friends so what is the message and who is it from?"
"It is from Merlin Sire and it's really more of a question."
Arthur was a bit surprised to hear it was from Merlin and wondered that this was about.
"Ok so what is the question?"
"Do you trust me?" Arthur was going to say something, and the others started making rumbling noises and he just looked at the boy and for the briefest of seconds he thought he actually heard Merlin's voice come from Richard's mouth.
"Yes, with my very life" Arthur finally said in response.
"Then give me until sunset" the boy said.
Arthur just looked at him and thought about it and it sounded exactly like something Merlin would say and he couldn't help but smile. The others looked at him waiting for him to say something.
"Leon I would you like for you and Percival to gather all the guards and start getting them prepared. Gwaine you and the others go down into the villages and gather any guards that are there and let the villagers know what is going on and if any of them wish to come here for protection then they are more than welcome."
"With all due respect Sire, but you're not really believing what this boy said?" Gwaine asked.
"Gwaine you know Merlin just as well as I do and you know that if he wasn't tending to Richard's brother he would have come through doors himself and asked me the same exact question and said the same exact thing when I said yes" Arthur said and Gwaine knew he was right and said nothing further.
"Richard I do have one question though" Arthur asked.
"Yes sire?" Richard asked, clearly more relaxed.
"What did Merlin tell you to say in the event my answer was no?"
"Oh I did ask him that myself sire."
"And what did he say?"
"He said if you said no then you and he would have to have a talk when he came back and then he road off."
Arthur just chuckled and shook his head, "you see gentleman that proves it was Merlin" he said and then they all started to leave.
"Richard you come with me" Arthur said suddenly and boy looked scared at first.
"Have you eaten yet?" Arthur asked.
"No Sire" he said.
"Well come with me then" Arthur said and he personally escorted Richard to the kitchen where he asked the cook to put together some food and a pitcher of water for Richard and his brother explaining what happened to Robert. The cook gladly put together a large platter of food.
"Excuse my Sire but is it true?" one of the cooks asked as Arthur and Richard were about to leave. Arthur turned and looked and everybody in the kitchen had come to a stop and they were looking at Arthur.
"Yes I'm afraid what you've heard is true. Richard's brother returned from patrol with an arrow in his back to tell me that they discovered an army gathered in the valley to the south of here and we are making preparations."
"Well Sire then we shall do the same, we shall boil water and make sure there are clean clothes to tend to the wounded and I'll make sure all the knives are well sharpened for fighting."
"Thank you but I am not asking anybody to put their lives on the line."
"With all due respect we aren't asking for permission" the cook said and Arthur looked at her and then at everybody else, "no I guess you aren't, carry on" he said with a smile and then they left the kitchen.
He left Richard with the food and his still sleeping brother and when he left the room a guard was passing and he asked the guard to stand outside the door so the boys wouldn't be disturbed.
Later Arthur was sitting in his room staring out the window again, he wasn't paying much attention to the people running around or the villagers that were coming into the castle for protection, and he was more watching and waiting for Merlin to return. Soon he noticed the sun was starting to set and he started to get dressed for battle. As he did he heard rumbling and went to look out the window to see what it was, and when he looked to the south he saw dark storm clouds and realized the sound was thunder.
Merlin rode out of the castle hoping Arthur wasn't going to be too angry with him for doing this but he knew he had to take care of this himself because there was no reason that anymore people should suffer and die.
As he got closer he dismounted the horse and walked the rest of the way through the woods. As he did he started to hear voices and realized there were soldiers stationed to keep watch for anybody approaching so he hid behind one of the larger trees and thought about what to do and then it dawned on him.
He closed his eyes and started whispering words over and over again and soon a breeze picked up and Merlin's voice began to echo and he heard the soldiers start to panic and saying the woods were haunted as the tree's were whispering. Merlin looked from around the tree and saw the soldiers running away, heading towards the valley. When the coast was clear Merlin headed after them until he reached the edge of a cliff that overlooked the valley and he was shocked by what he saw, there were tents everywhere and there had to be hundreds of thousands of men. It was obvious that Camelot was not equipped to handle an attack of this magnitude and he had to do something and it was going to take everything he had to scare of this group off.
Merlin stepped back a little into the trees and looked up into the sky and started saying the incantation. Soon the sky turned black with storm clouds and the breeze he had summoned earlier was now a gale wind causing the tents in the valley to either blow over or completely become airborne and blow away. Next he summoned lightening and watched as there were hundreds of lightening strikes in the camp and then the rain came, a torrential downpour that caused the water coming down the cliffs to quickly become waterfalls and soon those that were able to do so, started running and riding away as the valley quickly started to flood.
Arthur and his men were in the courtyard making final preparations to ride out as the sun continued to sink, they also all discussed the strange storm clouds that seemed to come up out of nowhere to their south and they had hoped that it proved to be an advantage to them in battle when they got to the valley. Arthur was pre-occupied with thoughts about Merlin. He was very worried that Merlin had not returned yet and feared that something might have happened and he just quietly prayed that Merlin was alive. He was the only one that knew that there was nothing odd about that storm, he knew it was Merlin that caused that storm but he couldn't help but feel that he still should have been back by now. He barely heard Sir Leon trying to get his attention until Sir Leon touched his arm and he looked at him and when he did, he heard what they heard and Arthur realized everybody was looking towards the entrance to the courtyard.
What they all heard was the sound of a horse casually walking and somebody whistling and a few moments later Arthur felt like he had taken a breath for the first time in a long time as Merlin came riding into the courtyard.
"Your Majesty, gentleman" Merlin said as he glanced at Arthur and his men and then he smiled and winked at Arthur who just stood there looking at Merlin in disbelief just as his men were looking at him.
"Merlin" Arthur said and Merlin stopped his horse.
"Yes Sire?"
"What happened?"
"Oh nothing really but they are gone now" he said casually.
"Well if you don't mind, my men and I will take a ride out there to check. Why don't you go and check on Robert and his brother and then wait for me in my chambers I would like to have a word with you when I get back."
"Of course Sire" Merlin said lightly with a smile and got his horse moving again.
Later Merlin was waiting in Arthur's chamber, standing at the far end of the room looking out one of the windows when the door opened. He didn't need to look to see it was Arthur, he just knew by the slight skip in beats that his heart had made.
"Do you have any idea, or do you even care as to how worried I was about you?" Arthur said and Merlin turned to look at him.
"I know Arthur and I'm sorry but I didn't think about that because I wasn't worried or concerned so it never dawned on me that you would be stressed."
Arthur just stood there staring at him, finding it extremely difficult to remain upset with him and finally he walked over and took Merlin in his arms and hugged him.
"So tell me what really happened?" Arthur asked and Merlin explained everything he saw and what he did to scare off the soldiers.
"Arthur there were just far too many men, you were greatly outnumbered you would have been slaughtered."
"I know I saw the what was left of what they left behind, but if you keep using your gifts, you are going to render my knights and the soldiers useless."
"Don't worry I don't plan to go running off to scare off your enemies like that all the time, but in a situations like that I can't promise not to get involved."
"Ok you have a deal" Arthur said as they started kissing before undressing and climbing into bed.
AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER!