Merlin- Praise
It was a hard working day for the farmers of Camelot. Today, they had been tending cattle on the furthest edges of its boundaries. Three farmers sat huddled round the warmth of the fire, their musty clothes gripped to them like part of their skin and their eyes were full of happiness. They soon drifted off to sleep and recoiled down into foetus shaped positions, preserving their energy for the following day.
A twig snapped. The youngest looked up… he couldn't see anything. As he stood up another twig snapped, further away this time. Walking over to the source of the sound he shouted out, "Is anyone there?" No reply came; as he turned around he felt a jolt in his lower back and then nothing….
"Come on Arthur, wake up!" said Merlin as he pulled open the heavy curtains. Light streamed in through the huge wooden windows of the castle and as Merlin looked down, people were already bustling about the town.
"OK… OK I'm waking up….." protested Arthur, pulling his sheet further over his head. Clearly he isn't waking up then, thought Merlin. He was wondering what the best way to get Arthur up without being irritating, when Gwaine walked in.
"Sire, we need your presence at the Round Table" he informed.
"Of course" replied Arthur, finally deciding to emerge from the refuge of his bed. He got dressed quickly and headed down to the Main Hall.
An old man with peasant clothing stood in the middle of the room with two knights who appeared to be comforting him. Arthur walked into the room and his presence seemed to have a calming effect on the man. He strode confidently over to the group.
"He arrived at the castle early this morning" explained Gwaine, "all we know is that his group was attacked near King Tristan's land" Arthur acknowledged this with a nod and headed over to where the man stood.
"What happened?" asked Arthur simply. Now Merlin was closer, he could see how tense this man was.
"Well…"began the man, mopping his eye so not to embarrass himself in front of the King. "We were out near the borders of Tristan's land and I woke up because I heard… screaming" Arthur nodded, motioning him to carry on. "And, I went to investigate… that's….that's when I found my son, lying on the ground… dead" he stopped, took a deep breath and carried on, his voice was shaking, "that's when I heard the voices of my friends telling me to run… so, I did, this was two days ago and I've only just managed to get here." His story made Merlin feel for him, he knew what it was like to lose a father, he could only imagine what it was like to lose a son. Arthur stepped forward towards the man.
"Do you know who attacked you?" he asked him.
"No" he replied. Clearly feeling pressured by all the eyes which were trained upon him.
"Thank you" Arthur told the man, and then he turned to the knights, "dispatch a patrol of twelve riders to the borders, look for anything out of the ordinary and ask villagers if they have seen or heard anything."
"Yes Sire" they replied whilst heading to the armoury to get ready.
At lunch that afternoon, the mood around the table was tense. Arthur had filled in Gwen on the situation and Merlin knew there must be some history behind King Tristan. He decided not to ask about it, when Arthur was in this focused mood it was best to leave him alone. Suddenly, Arthur stood up.
"Merlin, clean up would you?" He asked, he seemed distracted, like a thought had come to mind, then he left abruptly. When Merlin reached his plate, he had hardly touched his dinner. Gwen was looking worried, she loved to help Arthur in his troubles but this time she didn't have an answer.
"Don't worry about him" Merlin told her, "he will be fine." She nodded and, just as abruptly as Arthur, she left the table.
Merlin didn't know whether to ask Guias about King Tristan or not. However, after work that day, he decided to pluck up the courage to ask. He thought he had snuck it into the conversation quite discreetly:
"So Guias how was your day? Any problems? …What do you know about King Tristan?" he lent forward waiting for an answer.
"Merlin…" he replied, "What has this got to do with my day?"
"I don't know… you're old… you know things…" Merlin dodged Guias's gaze, by looking instead at his soup.
"Merlin! You are an appalling liar!" Guias retorted, "How have you heard this name?"
"OK, so a man came to court today and told us he had been attacked on King Tristan's borders" Merlin explained, "And now Arthur and Gwen are acting strangely and I don't know why…" Guias looked at Merlin, his ageless face was stern and his eyes, which knew knowledge beyond their years, looked frightful.
"This is bad Merlin" he told him, "very bad… no wonder Arthur is so anxious"
"Why?" Merlin asked, eager to learn what was bothering Arthur.
"Because, before magic took over Camelot, Uther faced a different problem. Tristan's father was the King Angus. He killed many in Camelot, in the end it all came down to a hand-to-hand combat against Uther. Uther was victorious but his son, Tristan was there. I always wondered what happened to that boy. If this is him, it will be very bad, he will want to kill Arthur, Merlin, and if he does you have to stop him, no matter what the cost."
Two weeks later, the patrol returned. The whole time they were away, there was a shared anxiety around the castle. They called immediately for a meeting and soon all the knights were assembled round the table.
Ellan stood up, his face was stern and his expression was emotionless. "Tristan is behind these killings and many more" he informed, "he is assembling an army as we speak and plans to ride on Camelot… to kill Arthur." All the knights looked worried, they didn't know what this meant and they wanted more than anything to protect their King. Merlin also wondered what this would mean for him and the rest of Camelot, would they go to war? Arthur stood up, asserting silence by his presence.
"We need to ride out and meet them" he told the group, with more confidence than he clearly felt, "the whole of the kingdom needs to prepare for siege." The knights immediately jumped up ready to gather the army, give announcements to the people and make further arrangements concerning the battle. Arthur turned to Merlin and took him aside.
"Merlin, I want you to know that you don't have to come to the battle, I can't guarantee you'll come home alive." It wasn't normal for Arthur to consider Merlin's feelings and he knew this meant that what they would face would be worse than anything they had seen before. He looked up at his face, it gave the appearance of confidence but, through his eyes he could see fear.
"Arthur…" began Merlin "I swear I will protect you or die at your side, I can protect you." Arthur, gave a brief smile, like it was humorous that Merlin would even suggest such a thing. But, he accepted what he said and went to comfort Gwen, who was trying not to look too scared or upset amongst the crowd.
Two days later, the army was ready. Everyone was wearing armour on themselves and their horses. The group mounted their horses and set off in pursuit of Tristan's army.
After a day ride to the east, the first clues that Tristan's army was close were revealed. A horn in the distance sounded. They had reached a ridge and Arthur gestured for Camelot's army to halt. He dismounted his horse and Merlin did the same. They neared the ridge and peered over, down below Tristan's army was assembled. To say it was huge would be an understatement. There were horses, archers, swordsmen and alike. Merlin glanced at Arthur, his panic was clear; their army far outnumbered Camelot's- at least three to one.
Just then there was a noise from the side of where we were crouching. They had been spotted and half of Tristan's army was coming to meet them. They were so well organised that by the time Arthur and Merlin had stood up and warned Camelot's army to be ready- they were already upon them. A voice rang out from the army.
"I would like to speak to Arthur Pendragon" it said.
"Here I am" Arthur replied stepping forward from the crowd. Camelot's army tensed- ready for any order to attack or a chance to step in.
"Ah! Arthur" came the voice, "at last we meet, so famous… I have come to avenge my father"
"I have done nothing to hurt you" replied Arthur, he didn't want to fight this man, it was clear to Merlin that he wanted to make peace.
"The damage has already been done" he insisted. It was clear this voice was Tristan and he sounded more determined than Merlin imagined him to be. Taking over Camelot and killing Arthur is the only thing he had been able to think about since his father's death, and it was destroying him. "Anyway your too late, whilst we have been talking your army is being overrun." As if to confirm this, the sound of swords clashing came from the near proximity. Arthur didn't even answer him; he turned around and shouted to Camelot's army.
"FALLBACK" he called. The knights didn't need to be told twice; they turned and fled to the shelter of the forest.
It was a horrible scene; knights were being shot down by archers or knocked down by horses. The terror on the faces of those fleeing for their lives was horrific. This is something Arthur hadn't expected; he believed that King Tristan would be un-organised and blinded by hate. He was the exact opposite- efficient and focused, he knew what he needed to do- and so did Merlin.
The knights assembled at a clearing and Arthur told them of his plan. They would send half back, as if they were attacking again and the other half would ride around the edges and collect as many weapons and horses as they could, then the whole group would ride back and be protected under the siege of the castle. The knights all agreed that this was the best option at this point and so they split into two.
Merlin and Arthur were on the collecting team, so there is less of a chance of Arthur being killed by accident. They rode far away from the battle, back to where the food and provisions were being kept.
"Merlin" Arthur said, he was looking fearless and brave, he had a plan, "I have no intention of being in away from the action" his face was stern and determined, "I can't leave my men, I'm going to act as a distraction and force them the other way, could you get the knights to safety?" Merlin looked at him; he expected as much, he was far too loyal to his knights. Fortunately for Arthur, Merlin was far too loyal to him.
"I'm coming with you" he told him. Arthur protested:
"No Merlin, it's far too dangerous."
"It always is, isn't it?" Arthur gave him an annoyed look and knew that Merlin wasn't going to give up on this argument.
"Oh, shut up Merlin!" said Arthur, whilst walking away from him. Merlin grinned, that was Arthur's way of saying "Fine, you win." They picked up some weapons from the camp and proceeded toward the battle which was audible from where they stood.
By the time they got there, the mighty Camelot army was all but lost and Tristan's army wasn't even breaking a sweat. Merlin and Arthur kept to the shelter of the trees, wanting to get to the heart of the battle. Merlin looked about him, the chaos was worse than he could of imagined and it hurt to think of the dead knights which littered the floor like tossed debris. It smelled like blood in the air, it smelled like death. He was frightened, he knew it was his destiny to protect Arthur, and he would… but what cost would that be for Merlin?
They came to a halt near to where Tristan was fighting; this was the best place to cause distraction as it was Arthur he wanted. Arthur looked down at him; his face was set into an emotionless barrier.
"Ready?" he asked. Merlin nodded once, it was all he could manage. They ran out of the brush, Arthur swinging his sword madly, wanting to hit anyone who got in his way- it was clear now how much anger had been built up inside him. Merlin however, was swinging wildly, but not nearly as skilfully as Arthur. The commotion served its purpose, King Tristan called his soldiers back from Camelot's knights. However, he had called them back to capture Merlin and Arthur. Within seconds they were surrounded.
"Drop your sword" ordered Tristan. Arthur complied and Merlin did the same. "Well, well… the King Arthur, you don't know how long I've waited for this moment. I shall use it wisely." He walked around them, taking the achievement in his stride, "Guards, restrain them."
That evening, Merlin reasoned the best form of escape. He knew that they couldn't breakout using discreet magic; there were too many men in Tristan's Army. This left him with two choices: wait for Arthur to come up with a ridiculous plan, resulting in their immediate capture, or to use magic in front of Arthur… this would get them out of there indefinitely, however, Merlin was unsure what Arthur's reaction to this would be. Would he accept it? Or would he see his magic as treason? Maybe even be sentenced to death? But with all these worries about his life, Merlin knew it was his destiny to die for Arthur and it was right of him to try as hard as he could to get Arthur out of there.
"Arthur" he whispered, slowly edging closer towards him. The restraints on his hands pulled tight but he attempted to peer ever closer to Arthur's ear.
"What?" he asked in an annoyed tone, as if Merlin has interrupted his trail of thought. Merlin looked about him; the guards appeared to be out of earshot next to the fire and were completely engrossed with what they were cooking.
"Do you trust me?" he asked in a serious tone. Arthur looked up, surprised by this odd question.
"What do you mean?" asked Arthur slowly. He focused on Merlin's expression, unsure of what to make of his changed character.
"Do you trust me: yes or no?" insisted Merlin. He wanted to make sure that the decision he had made was the right one. Arthur peered once again at Merlin's stern expression; he knew that his answer would have to be honest.
"Yes" he answered simply.
"Good" Merlin breathed a sigh of relief, "Give me your hands." Arthur seemed doubtful of this request but complied all the same. Merlin took Arthur's hands in his own and glanced down at them. "Please don't think anything differently of me" he told Arthur. Merlin's eyes glowed an amber colour, then the ropes which bound their wrist's snapped. He glanced up at Arthur, his face was a mixture of emotions: confused, afraid but mainly angry.
"You have MAGIC" he hissed with his teeth clenched shut. Merlin froze, he thought what he had done was right but Arthur didn't seem pleased, he seemed disappointed. "Six years" he continued, "I've known you six years and this never crossed your mind to tell me?" his face reflected the very meaning of anger.
"Well… magic is banned in Camelot" Merlin said quietly. Glancing nervously around as he was sure the guards would hear them.
"Oh is it really Merlin?" asked Arthur with an obvious tone of sarcasm, "I didn't know that!" He breathed in then out, controlling his clear frustration. "Look" he decided, "we will deal with you later, OK? But first we have to get out of here." Arthur finally concluded he was making too much noise and glanced over at the fire- the guards were now eating and were oblivious to the pair's near escape.
"But that's why I've shown you my magic now…" Merlin insisted. The King met Merlin's gaze gesturing him to continue. "I can get us out of here." But before Arthur could retort this offer, a noise came from behind them. They both swung round to find four knights who had come to check on them. Before the two prisoners could react, the guards had noticed the rope which had been discarded to the side of where the pair sat.
"Thought you could escape, did you?" one asked. He lifted his sword to exaggerate his point. The two froze, Arthur lent towards Merlin.
"Whatever ingenious plan you have, now might be a good time" he whispered. Merlin grinned, he had always wanted to prove his loyalty to Arthur, and this was the perfect opportunity. Merlin stared down the guards and concentrated all his anger into his magic. His eyes glowed; the guards didn't know what hit them. They flew back into the depths of the forest. However, this scene had caused a disturbance amongst the Tristan's army; they started making their way over.
"Now what?" Arthur whispered Merlin had never seen him so terrified in his life, out of all the monsters he had fought; none had been as powerful as his own servant.
"Now… we run" No sooner had he finished his sentence, Merlin was already scrambling towards the forest. The King didn't need to be told twice; he turned and ran for the shelter of the trees a split second after Merlin. The army were hot on their heels; they were fed and rested, and caught up quickly. Merlin braved a glance over his shoulder; the army were only a few yards behind them and gaining ground fast. Arthur pulled ahead of Merlin, it was clear he was trying with all his strength to get away. But, with no weapons and being hopelessly outnumbered, this escape was a dying cause. Arthur stopped so abruptly that Merlin ran into him. From the ground Merlin looked up. From the very depths of nature, a huge rock jutted into their path. It was far too big to get around safely and Tristan's army was closing in fast. There was only one thing Merlin could do.
Concentrating all his power and strength into saving Arthur he focused on the approaching army. He saw them fly back, and then he blacked out.
Merlin opened his eyes. Peering down at him was the friendly face of Guias, the concerned face of Gwen and the grateful face of King Arthur.
"Ow…" Merlin complained. He had never felt so stiff and drained in his whole life.
"Just take it steady Merlin" Guias instructed, "How do you feel?" Merlin sat up taking in his surroundings, he was back in his room, in Camelot, how had he got here?
"Tired" Merlin replied, "What happened?"
"You saved my life Merlin" Arthur answered for Guias, "And the whole of Camelot's at that." He knelt down by his bed, "I have a debt to repay." Merlin glanced at Guias, he was smiling encouragingly.
"What did I do?" Merlin asked, his recall of the past few days were fuzzy, "must have been something good!" Arthur looked shy, like he was embarrassed to bring the memory to light.
"You and I were cornered Merlin, you used magic to save me, it was amazing, every single knight in that army flew back like they had hit a brick wall or something. That was when you became unconscious and I rode you back to Camelot." Merlin was shocked; he had used magic in front of Arthur? And he was accepting it?
"You've accepted magic?" he asked, "just like that?"
"Yes" he answered with more confidence than ever, "I can do for you whatever you want, and you deserve it." Guias chuckled.
"You have finally got the praise you deserved Merlin, the praise you always desired" he told him.
"Yes" Merlin answered, "I have." He smiled; he had saved Arthur, protected Camelot and accepted magic into the kingdom.
Merlin smiled. He knew this peace wouldn't last, Albian's time of need would come soon, but he sat back and enjoyed the moment while he could.