In the Shadow of Kings

It wasn't Merlin's fault in the end really. It was on one of those days where fate decides to take you on a ride to hell (more like a slide, really) and you end up screwing up because of an unfortunate series of events. It had all began a week before, after Gaius had been sent out on a long-term quest to train physicians in the outer villages and help with a rare sickness that had been striking down field workers. Arthur believed it would take months, maybe a whole year for Gaius to train enough physicians for all the villages to regain medical and scientific independence. He had therefore hired a new court physician for the duration of Gaius' absence. He was younger than Gaius and thinner, yet he had the same long, grey hair, and wore the same style of physician robes. Mostly the sand-coloured ones that Merlin hated,though. One thing he didn't have in common with Gaius, thought, was a love and compassion for Merlin.

Merlin stood on the white stairs of Camelot's entrance whilst a member of the court helped Gaius to mount his horse. But Gaius didn't need the help as he was way stronger than he looked. When he was ready, Gaius lifted his head to meet Merlin's eyes.

"Make sure to do what Helias tells you to do. My absence is not a reason for you not to continue your physician apprenticeship after all, am I right, Merlin?"

"Of course not", said Merlin. He walked down the stairs to allow himself a more private conversation with Gaius.

"And don't get into trouble. I'd hate it if I came back to find out Arthur had gotten tired of you and fed you to his dogs." Merlin grinned with his most innocent smile.

"When do I ever get into trouble, Gaius?"

Gaius sighed exasperated. "Please, Merlin."

"Everything's going to be all right, Gaius. Helias won't hate me. Besides, I'm good at finding herbs. If he doesn't want me to help with patients, I can always run herb errands for him."

Gaius seemed thoughtful for a moment. "Goodbye, Merlin" he said finally, a fatherly tone to his voice. He lowered his voice somewhat. "Don't use your magic unnecessarily, Merlin. If something happen, remember I won't be there for you so please, promise me you'll be careful."

"I promise Gaius. Now go, so you can come back already!"

Finally Gaius left, his horse packed with goods and belongings. Never in a million years, would Merlin have thought this little change to his life would mark the beginning of the most horrible months he would ever live.

He spent the day trailing after Arthur because an important delegation, coming from a Northern kingdom, was due to arrive in the following week. Merlin could tell Arthur was nervous about it, as it was one of his first attempts at a peace treaty with this particular kingdom. The King was known to have values and rules that were stricter than any of the other kingdoms. To succeed in making an alliance, Arthur would have to show the King that Camelot had values similar to him and his kingdom, which wouldn't be too difficult considering they had strict laws already implanted against magic and crime. Nonetheless, Arthur was a dubious man, and everything had to be perfect or he would most certainly throw a tantrum, and most of the time, Merlin was the only one standing on the receiving end.

This, of course, is what happened. Arthur was dissatisfied with Merlin's polishing work on his ceremonial sword and chainmail, which he didn't find shiny at all, much like the sword, which he said looked like a "simpleton's sword". "I cannot wear a sword looking like it's been overused, Merlin" the King had said. Merlin didn't understand, because he always did them in the same way, but apparently right now it was not good enough. He was going to have to do them again and every day until the end of the week or until Arthur was finally contented.

It was a relief when Arthur dismissed him for the night. Maybe the new physician would let him go to sleep without bothering to ask him to help to organise the quarters.

How wrong he was.

He was greeted by the coldest of looks the moment he swung open the door. Here was Helias, looking at him as if he was an intruder. Merlin was taken aback, and it took him a moment to continue walking into the quarters, heading for his room.

"What, exactly, do you think you're doing?" He heard Helias say.

He could hear the disdain in the man's voice. He felt awkward for a moment, and Merlin considered answering with a sassy comment but he remembered Gaius's advice, to try and stay out of trouble, so he simply said:

"I'm going to my room. Arthur just dismissed me and I did all my chores. Sir."

Helias' arms were crossed over his chest. Merlin immediately got a feeling that he had done something wrong. He turned his back, climbed the set of stairs to his rooms, opened the door and stayed there, frozen on the spot.

His room was filled with boxes, bags, and books that didn't belong to him. On his bed was a different bed sheet than the one he had put on in the morning and his things were all tossed in the corner of the room, his old backpack balancing precariously on the top of it. The message was clear: Leave. Dumbstruck, Merlin still asked:

"I... don't understand?"

"Oh yes you do. I don't have a need for an assistant, I already have one. He's arriving tomorrow. Find somewhere else because I'm not going to be responsible for you. Nobody even told me about you and it's certainly not in my contract to take care of you."

"But..."

"Let it be clear: if you're not out of these quarters when I'm ready to go to bed, I'm calling for the guards."

Merlin couldn't restrain the stiff snort that came out of his mouth. "They won't listen to you. They know I live here."

"They will listen to me if I tell them I found you trying to steal potions and instruments of value from my personal belongings.

The physician lifted his chin and pursed his lips. And he waited. So Merlin did too.

"Now take your stuff, and get out."

"But where will I..."

"I don't care. Get out. GET OUT!"

The physician's voice was so loud it made Merlin jump. He turned on his feet clumsily, nearly knocking himself out climbing the stairs. He scrambled up the stairs quickly, his knees hitting them and he had to help himself using his hands to climb the last one. He stuffed his belongings into his bag, not even thinking about his wooden dragon, the staff, or the magical book that was hidden under the floorboard. Those would be lost until Gaius got back. If Gaius got back. In less than five minutes, he found himself out of the physician quarters. Alone. In the dark. There wasn't any moon in the night sky. It was pitch black. And full of shadows.

Where could he go? People would think he knew a lot of servants, since he served the King and everybody knew him. But the true was he didn't really know any servant well enough to knock on their door and ask for shelter. Well maybe Anna, one of the maids working in the laundry. However, she was married to a farmer, and they had many kids. There wouldn't be any place for him in their home. And with Arthur's foul mood during the evening, there was no way Merlin was going to tell him he had just been thrown out of his quarters. The physician had said it wasn't in his contract to shelter him and Arthur was the one who had dictated the terms of the contract. He probably already knew the physician had an apprentice and had just neglected or forgotten to tell Merlin. He had probably even assumed Merlin had found a new home already. And even if he didn't, he was in a foul mood and there was no way Merlin was turning to him for help. He would probably laugh or state the obvious and tell him to find a home of his own, that he was old enough, that he had enough money to do so (which wasn't true at all).

He wandered in the castle corridors. He came across a few night servants: a boy scrubbing the floor, a girl doing laundry, a stable boy... They gave him a smile, but didn't comment on the backpack. Maybe they were thinking he was preparing equipment for the following day.

How wrong they were.

Merlin turned a corner to an empty corridor. He didn't remember taking it very often. There weren't any windows and the few torches made a dim light. The corridor was narrow. Probably used by guards or servants in times of urgency. Otherwise, Merlin knew everybody preferred to take the corridors that had windows and didn't feel so claustrophobic. He walked slowly, stopping to listen. Nobody was near. Even the torches remained undisturbed by his presence. There was a small door a few feet away from where Merlin was standing, hidden in the shadows, between two flickering lights. He walked until he was in front of it and pushed at it. The door creaked, and opened. Not locked, then. It was a cupboard. Empty, except for a few dusty brooms and buckets. Big enough for him to lie on the floor and hide behind shelves in case someone entered it.

He dropped his bag. It looked like he had found his new quarters. For now, at least.