"Merlin!" cried a voice, "Oi! Merlin! Where is that bloody boy? MERLIN!"
"I'm coming Gaius, just wait a moment!" A loud noise of falling metal filled the tower.
"What the ruddy hell are you doing?"
"Remember when you told me to clean my room, or else I'd lose something? Well I lost something!"
"Merlin I swear, if you lost that magic book... If someone finds out about your powers... I will be there helping them execute you!"
"No, no, not the book. AH, found it! It was my red scarf! It was under the leech tank!" said Merlin when entering the room.
"You have a leech tank?!" he sighed, "any future plans of cleaning?"
"It depends," he smirked, "Any future plans of Arthur not behaving like a prat?"
"What does that have to do with ... Ah Merlin I think that's him calling after you."
Surely enough, a resounding "MERLIN!" echoed to his ears. "Great," he muttered, "Just, great. He's all pissed now. I bet it's because he can't find his comb."
"MERLIN!" Arthur's voice now sounded louder than it ever did.
"I think you'd better go, Merlin." Gaius seemed to have a mocking smile when Merlin left the room... It was a particularly sunny day, and the weather was really warm, even though it was still January. There was a strange feeling in the air, a happy, loving feeling. Merlin felt himself really pleased when the most blissful breeze brushed against his hair and cheekbones, and was wondering how could Arthur possibly be angry with such a beautiful and perfect morning when he realized he was standing in front of his chamber's door.
He knocked and entered without waiting a reply. There was Arthur and Gwen who was helping him get dressed. "There you are Merlin! Where were you when I was calling you? You're lucky Guinevere was here to help me out, or I'd be looking for a new manservant by now!"
And there, Merlin just burst out laughing "I'm sorry, I didn't realize that you were such a clot-pole that you couldn't even dress yourself!" Gwen giggled wildly, but looking at the deadly expression on Arthur's face, she stopped, and Merlin added quickly "So, is there anything I can do for you, sire?" but, judging by the malicious sneer on Arthur's face, he just knew he was in trouble. "Yes," the king responded slowly, "I suppose there is something you can do..." He seemed to think for a while, but just when he opened his mouth, Gwen pleaded "Oh come on Arthur, don't be too harsh on him!" Arthur, with a miserable attempt to look innocent, replied "Me? Harsh? Guinevere, when have I ever been hard on Merlin?" All three of them laughed wholeheartedly at that statement, and then Arthur continued "Oh well, if you say so, my queen. And besides, it is a beautiful day. You may go Merlin." Merlin faked a smile and replied "Thank you, my lord." and turned away, but Gwen stopped him before he went out and said "Oh um Merlin, before you go, could you please tell Gaius to come? I've been feeling a bit down lately..." Merlin, just as surprised as Arthur, answered "Why, what's wrong? Are you OK?" But Guinevere simply smiled and nodded, and Merlin said "Alright, I'll go now. But please look after yourself!" She beamed at him and said "I will, thank you Merlin! Now see Arthur, that's a gentleman!" Merlin glimpsed at a dumbstruck Arthur before he left the room and couldn't help sniggering all the way to the physician's study.
The second Merlin entered, Gaius said "There you are Merlin!" Merlin jumped by surprise.
"Gaius what did you do that for?! You scared me to death!"
Gaius laughed "And enough to wet yourself, apparently..."
Merlin looked down and saw a wet stain on his pants and said "I hate you..." He went to his room to change "Thank God Arthur wasn't here... he wouldn't have let me hear the end of it!"
Gaius climbed in front of the door and talked through it "Merlin when you're done, I need you to fetch me some herbs in the forest. Some roots, you know... There is a disease spreading around the city, and I just don't have enough ingredients."
Merlin came out of the room with a new pair of pants and said "Ah! That reminds me! Gwen wants to see you, she's been feeling a bit sick lately!"
"Gwen? Alright I'll go see her right away. Is it anything serious?"
"She said she's fine... Alright Gaius, I got my stuff ready. Now where exactly in the forest do I have to look?"
"Oh it's a white and blue flower that you can find a mile at the south of the Valley of the Fallen Kings."
"OK. See you then!" And he strode off, past the hall, the entrance gate and the guards, walked down the main road through the crowded town, and entered the forest.
Even the forest seemed to be happy, the sun could actually get past the trees, so it didn't look like its gloomy self for once. After what seemed like a 30 minutes walk, he started to see patches of the flower Gaius described. Merlin began to pick the beautiful plants one by one, until his leather bag was full.
But, right at the moment when he straightened himself, he heard a sob up ahead, and from what he could distinguish, it was a young woman crying. It was at that moment too that the strange happy feeling in the air had gone, and was replaced by sulkiness.
Merlin followed the source of the crying but beautiful voice, and was amazed by what was clearly the scene of a past assault: There were bits of destroyed caravans on the forest's floor, blood drooling of what was clearly dead men, and a girl, crying.
She can't have been older than he was, but she sure was beautiful. She had the palest skin, but it didn't seem like she was sick, on the contrary, she looked really healthy. She had long, jet black hair, but you'd think they were emitting light. It must be because of the sun, Merlin thought. But what sun? The forest was back to its gloomy state, and it must be the time for dusk.
He approached the young woman, but as he did so she noticed him and turned around, terrified. "Are you alright?" he heard himself ask. But right there, at that very moment, the girl fainted. "What the...?!" he gasped in surprise. He jumped to the girl, shook her, but no response. He checked her pulse and her breathing, and felt them. "Well, at least she's alive..." he muttered to himself. He held her by the waist and lifted her up. She was very light, it was as though she weren't there at all! And so, he carried her to the castle, wondering what people would think seeing him carrying a lifeless girl.
As night started to fall, he got to the castle, and encountered sir Gwaine on his way. Gwaine was a very good friend of Merlin's, even though he almost always talked like a drunk.
"Ah, there you are! Arthur's been looking all over for you! Something about 'training' and 'beating you up'. Gaius told him that you weren't at the tavern, that you were plucking up herbs, but I don't think he believed him..." His eyes flicked from Merlin to the girl, and then continued, "Merlin, are you so desperate to get a girl that you started abducting them?" The knight laughed at his own joke, but Merlin replied indignantly "I had a girlfriend before!" But Gwaine just laughed and said sarcastically "Oh yeah? Where is she? What's her name?" Merlin's heart sank, and he replied, close to tears, "Fre... Freya's dead..." The knight, noticing Merlin's serious face face, replied "Oh, sorry... I didn't know... So what's up with this one?" He changed the subject hastily by jerking his head towards the motionless girl. "I don't know," Merlin admitted, "I found her in the forest, but when I talked to her she just passed out..."
Gwaine snorted loudly and said "No surprise there!"
"I so want to kill you right now..." Merlin retorted.
"Ha! I'd like to see you try!" Gwaine said, "Oh, looks like we're there. See you later!"
Sure enough, they had arrived in front of Gaius's study's door. "Yeah." Merlin replied. "Later."
He opened the door and just like before, Gaius scared him with a "Oh Merlin thank Goodness! I started to get worried!" Well, at least this time Merlin didn't pee in his pants... "Who is this?" he added, staring at the immobile body.
"I don't know..." Merlin said, "she was awake until she saw me. Then she just fainted!"
"Well then put her down on that bed." Gaius said.
Merlin did as he was told. As he did that, he noticed a beautiful golden necklace with a cross on it around the girl's neck. Since when do people wear golden necklaces showing off there religion? We are in the sixth century! Merlin thought.
"Alright. Now let me see what's wrong." Gaius bent down and started checking her.
"Oh that reminds me! What's up with Gwen?" Merlin asked. But Gaius smiled and just answered "Oh, I think you'll want to hear it from Arthur. He looks terrified. You'll have a great laugh!"
"Terrified?" Merlin said in surprise "Why? Is it something serious? Gaius! Stop laughing!"
"Oh no" Gaius chuckled, "nothing like that. It's wonderful, actually!"
Merlin thought Gaius had lost his marbles so he gave up and decided to wait for tomorrow morning to ask Arthur or Gwen.
"So, how is she?" he said, staring at the young woman.
"I don't understand," Gaius replied "she seems to be in perfect health! perhaps she's just sleeping... She does look tired. I think we'll know by tomorrow morning. You should get some sleep too."
Sure enough, he did find himself exhausted.
"Alright. Night." he said.
"Good night Merlin." Gaius replied.
He went to bed and was fast asleep. His dream was blurry, but when he woke up he could only remember a light telling him something about his destiny.
There was a delicious smell in the room, and the good feeling in the weather was stronger than ever. He went out and found the very same girl he found in the forest cooking something that smelled like meat and eggs.
She beamed at him, and before he could say "good morning" she began, "Oh, hello! I hope you don't mind, but I made you and your friend breakfast to thank you for your help."
Well, one thing was certain: she had a beautiful voice, and sounded like she was singing. She was also even more incredibly beautiful now that she was smiling.
Merlin was taken aback. She seemed really fine considering the fact that she's the only survivor of an attack.
"Where did you get all of this?" he pointed towards the food.
"Oh, I went to the forest and hunted down some rabbits, and found chickens, so I took some of their eggs." She said in a casual tone.
"But, where did you find the weapons?" he asked.
"I made my own bow from some dead branches over there." she answered, "Hold on... I don't seem to know your name."
"Oh, yeah, sorry. I'm Merlin," he said, "and you?"
"Merlin... such a lovely name..." she smiled absentmindedly and continued "You can call me Caitlin."
"What were you doing back in the forest, Caitlin?" He thought he should get straight to the point.
"Oh, I was having a walk over there, it's always so beautiful, until I found those dead men..." He noticed her eyes becoming very red all of a sudden, and soon enough tears started to fall down her flawless cheeks.
"But, if you didn't know them, why are you crying?" Already confused, Merlin got even more so when he saw an expression of pure astonishment on her face.
"How do you think I would react when I find out that someone went as bad as commit murder?" she said, still in disbelief.
"Er... be mad at the murderer I guess... and feel sad towards the victim? But surely, if you don't know them, it isn't worth your tears!" Merlin answered.
"But of course. I guess you wouldn't know..." she said in a very sweet voice, "Have breakfast while I explain. Your friend is still sleeping... What's his name, by the way?"
Merlin answered as he sat down: "Oh right, that is Gaius. He's my guardian."
"Did you say Gaius? I was supposed to meet with him! That's why I came here! Well, moving on..." She seemed to ponder over what to say. Merlin helped himself with some meat and eggs. "That's delicious! Thanks!" he said.
She smiled and said "Well, I guess I'll explain myself. You said you'd be mad if someone killed. Well I wouldn't... Actually, I'd feel sad for them. Even more so, I pity them. I wasn't crying over those dead men, because they're in a better place now. I was crying over all this violence. Scenes of violence between men have always been my one weakness - Not that I can't get a grip over myself when I need to!" she added hastily.
"But," interjected Merlin, "that still doesn't explain why you fainted when you saw me!"
"Oh, yeah..." she though a little, then said "I guess I was just tired... I had a very long journey, and by foot on top of that!... I didn't want anyone to notice my arrival."
"Well, I noticed, alright!" Merlin said.
"And I am lucky you did!" she replied cheerfully.
Merlin just finished eating, it's been ages since he last had such a good breakfast!
"Well, I better go and look after Arthur!" Merlin said, "And just in case you're wondering,-"
"He's not a baby, he's the king."she interrupted him.
"How did you know I was going to say that?!" He said, both amazed and intrigued.
"Well, I do know the name of my own king, obviously." she retorted, "And by the way you just talked about him, I guessed you were thinking of a baby."
"Well, you're the most impressive person I've ever met!" he said, "I mean, making your own bow, hunting, cooking, guessing so quickly..."
"Are you hitting on me, Merlin?" she said, smiling.
"No!" he said quickly, "No, I just... I just meant you were impressive!"
"Relax, Merlin," she said, laughing, "I was just kidding!" and she continued laughing.
"Oh hardy har har!" he said annoyingly, "Well, I better get going. Tell Gaius what you just told me." I wonder what will be his reaction when he finds a complete stranger making him breakfast, he thought.
"OK, bye!" she said, still smiling.
Merlin went to the kitchens, grabbed a plate and started throwing anything he could find in it. Cheese, ham, sausages,bread... and at last, when he was satisfied, he broke into a run towards the king's chamber. "Good morning, my lord!" he said, entering the room. But Arthur didn't budge. Merlin, used to this, went and opened the curtains, saying loudly "Rise and shine!". This time, the king let out a groan and said "Mm-m-morning." He looked as though he hadn't slept all night. "Where have you been yesterday?" he asked. He then started to eat lazily.
"Where's Gwen?" Merlin asked, now realizing that Guinevere wasn't in bed. But Arthur just gave a somber look and then said "I asked you first."
"I was collecting some herbs for Gaius," he said impatiently, "and then I found a girl, about our age, who fainted, so I brought her here for Gaius to check up, so don't worry if you see her wondering around, by the way."
"Well, it sounds as though we both had a hard day..." He said darkly.
"Oh yeah, Gaius told me something good happened but you were all miserable!" Merlin remembered, "So, what's up?"
"Arthur is being a complete idiot. That's what's up!" said Gwen's voice from behind him.
"My lady," answered Merlin, "tell me something I don't know." she seemed to smile a little as the king's face filled with indignity, and then said to Arthur "You tell him. After all, you wanted to 'break the bad news to him'."
"Now hold on a minute!" said Arthur, "I was under shock!"
"AND SO WAS I, BUT ATLEAST I DIDN'T SEE IT AS THE END OF THE WORLD!" she howled, shaking with rage.
"Will you calm down and tell me what's going on?" asked Merlin.
"Don't talk to the queen that way!" said Arthur, clearly just trying to calm her down and not minding how he does talks to her.
"HE CAN TALK TO ME AS WELL AS HE DAMN WANTS TO!" she exploded.
"As you can see Merlin, Guinevere and I had a fight." he said quite plainly. "I guess that answers your first question. Now, as for what's going on,-"
"I'm pregnant!" She interrupted, beaming and rubbing her stomach. She obviously couldn't wait to tell him.
"Oh my God! That's wonderful!" He said, taken aback. It felt really good that he was in such good speaking terms with the queen and king that they considered him as their best friend and told him everything. Gwen smiled even more, then said "Would you tell him?" she said, jerking her head towards her husband. Then she left the room as suddenly as when she came.
"Why are you taking it so badly?" he asked.
"Can we just drop the subject?" Arthur asked. There was a hint of pleading in his voice.
"Sure." Merlin said, "Anything else, my lord?"
"No thank you, Merlin." he said gratefully. "You can go."
As Merlin closed the door, Gwen jumped in front of him, whispering, "Please, Merlin, can you do me a favor?"
"Sure, what is it?" he answered.
"Can you find out what's wrong with Arthur?" she asked, "You're his best friend, I'm sure he'll tell you eventually. I thought that maybe making a fuss about it would make him tell me, but he still won't tell, and I can't go on pretending to be angry with him all the time."
"Are we talking about the same Arthur?" he said, "You know how he is talking about his feelings."
"Merlin," she said, "you mean more to him than anything, even though it would be the last thing he would ever say. I'm sure that if anyone can make him talk, you're the one. Please, promise me you'll try!"
"Well, of course I will." he said, "But I can't promise you anything coming out of him."
"Thank you, Merlin!" she said, looking happier than ever.
"Well, bye!" He said.
"Have a nice day!" she replied. They smiled at each other and Merlin went back up the spiral staircase leading to his room.