Time Benders
A/N: This story is set in the time right after Gwen and Arthur get engaged, but before Uther dies. Since Uther still might not approve of their secret engagement, Gwen must still work as a servant girl in the castle. For the sake of this fic, Uther is still in optimal health and Morgana is nowhere to be found.
As the villagers of Camelot threw back their curtains to welcome the approaching daylight, Merlin stuffed a pillow over his face. The sun streaming through his window was more of an intrusion than a greeting.
He was dreading getting up because of the brutal work that Prince Arthur, the man he worked for, had laid out for him. As he shifted in his cramped bed, something crinkled on his torso; he opened his eyes just enough to see that the Prince had taped his chores list onto his chest sometime in the night.
He groaned as he smacked his cheeks, trying to wake himself up. Swinging his legs over the side of his bed, he skimmed the chores. He lost interest after his seventeenth duty required him to rake out the horses' muck. He'd finish it all...later. Right now, he needed sleep.
After about fifteen minutes (entirely too short a time, if you asked Merlin), he vaguely registered Gaius calling him from the room below.
"Coming!" Merlin shouted weakly, and soon slept-walked down the stairs.
"It's nearly 7:30, Merlin," Gaius said, "Unless you want to have your chores doubled, I would get going to the Banquet Hall. Uther told me yesterday that two new servants are joining the castle staff."
Merlin nodded, and blearily cleaned his teeth and put on a fresh set of clothes. He then headed toward the main hall in the castle, where there was an overseeing ceremony happening.
His loud entrance alerted the attention of nearly everyone in the room, and after pretending to ignore Arthur's death glares from across the room, Merlin joined his spot on the side of the room, next to Gwen.
Two people, a man and a woman dressed in middle-class clothes, were standing before Uther in the center of the room. They were reciting vows of loyalty required to work so close to the royal family.
Merlin leaned close to Gwen. "Who is it that's joining the staff?"
Gwen long eyelashes fluttered as her rich brown eyes met Merlin's. "They're Sinthea and Titus from the Kedair Kingdom. Apparently, Titus' father was once a fierce supporter of Uther's.
"Of course, Uther thinks that the highest compliment he can pay to that son is to make him his servant." Gwen rolled her eyes ever-so-slightly, but clapped politely when Sinthea and Titus were welcomed into the servant court.
Merlin knew about Uther's tendency to do this all too well - he had started working at the castle after he had saved Prince Arthur's life. Nevertheless, he clapped alongside everyone else.
After Merlin had slogged through three quarters of the day, he finally completed all of the chores on his to-do list in record time. He was getting ready to head back to his shack and do some reading on Ancient Ruins when he bumped into Arthur.
"Ah, Merlin," Arthur said, "Just the person I wanted to see."
"I hate when you use that phrase," Merlin said under his breath. Usually, this precluded more work.
Arthur continued, "I need you to clean Sinthea and Titus's chambers."
Merlin couldn't believe his ears. "I'm sorry - what?" he said, "Clean other servants' chambers?"
Arthur looked back at Merlin with an exasperated expression, as if he was the dullest human being on the planet, "Um, yes, that's sort of exactly what I'm saying."
Arthur pressed, "We need to make them more comfortable with Camelot in their first few days. And also, there are ranks of servants. Think of them on the bottom, and you - even lower than that."
Arthur amiably patted Merlin's shoulder before strolling off. Merlin groaned and changed his direction, towards Sinthea and Titus' room.
After twenty minutes of making the bed and arranging their closet, Merlin was setting out their fruit plate when a grape fell off the table and rolled underneath the bed. At first ready to just leave it there, Merlin thought of the repercussions and finally decided that he better pick it up. He was shimmying under the large bed when the door opened and Sinthea and Titus walked in.
"This is a good set of chambers for servants," Merlin heard Titus remark. Merlin peeked his head out the side of the bed to see him surveying the room.
It would be entirely too awkward for me to squirm out now, Merlin thought, cursing his clumsiness, I'll suppose I have to wait until they leave.
Sinthea pouted next to her husband. "This is nothing like our room back in Richardson! It's almost insulting," she said, sitting on the bed.
Merlin's nose crinkled. What was Richardson? he wondered. He'd never encountered a territory with that name. And it was certainly not the Kedair Kingdom, like they said when they arrived in Camelot.
"Would you stop bringing it up?" Titus asked, a little too sharply. "I'll get us both home, love, as soon as we succeed!"
Sinthea recoiled at Titus' harsh words. "Then let's do it as soon as we can! What about dinner; you're assigned to the kitchen, yes?"
Titus' eyes brightened, and he removed his servant schedule from his pocket, confirming his assignment. "I am! Sinthea, darling, you're a genius!"
Titus took his wife in his arms and hugged her deeply. They leaned farther and farther onto the bed and Merlin found himself praying with all his might that this would not escalate into something else.
Stop, stop, stop, he muttered under his breath.
Every fiber of his body was pleading him to be quiet, but as Merlin did not want to be scarred for life, his eyes flashed amber and he telekinetically knocked over a broom on the other side of the room.
Titus shot up, his hair disheveled. He mistook the falling broom for a knock on the door, and called out, asking who it was.
Of course, no one answered. Titus noticed the broom on the ground, and went to pick it up. He then turned to Sintha, a shocked look on his face. "I never thought - !" he began.
"What is it?" his wife said, standing up from the bed and walking over to her husband, giving Merlin a clear view of their baffled expressions.
Titus continued, "Medieval times were known for the condemning of magic."
Sinthea couldn't believe that her husband was being serious, "Darling? This broom fell on its own. How could you possibly jump to the conclusion that it was magic?"
Titus shook his head. "I'm sorry, it's probably all in my head. Before we traveled here, I read up on the events that were happening around this time. People were being murdered for the slightest indication that they were magical."
"That's horrible," Sinthea sympathized, rubbing small circles on Titus' back, "But that's all in the past now, technically, isn't it? Just think, centuries later, people with these gifts will be celebrated."
Titus nodded, "I suppose you're right," he said, and turned the broom over in his hands. In the square, a bell rang six times.
"It's almost 6:30," he said, "Time to get down to the kitchens." The two stepped out of the room, and the second the door closed, Merlin gracelessly scooted out from under the bed, perspiring buckets.
He raced all the way to Gaius' room. When he arrived, he attempted to make out a coherent sentence, but words were failing him.
"Slow down, Merlin!" Gaius said. The physician sat Merlin down on the table bench, pressing a cool cloth to his forehead.
Merlin finally found the wind to speak. "I don't know what I just heard," he said, "but I think Titus and Sinthea...are planning to hurt Arthur."
Gaius lowered the cold pack from Merlin's forehead so he could look him in the eye. "Tell me everything," he said in a wise voice.
Merlin recounted his memory of the events, with Gaius' stoic expression never changing. Finally, when he finished, Gaius went off to fetch a magic book that he kept hidden. It was enormously dense, and made a dull thud when it hit the table. Dust erupted everywhere.
"Where did they mention they were from?" Gaius asked.
"Richardson?" Merlin responded.
Gaius' finger landed on a line. Merlin looked over his shoulder. Richardson, Virginia, it read, established: 1873.
Merlin didn't understand. 1873? That was...centuries later.
Gaius spoke, "I believe we have a pair of time travelers on our hands."
Merlin's jaw dropped. Time travelers? It couldn't be. He wasn't even aware that it was a branch of magic.
Gaius detected Merlin's curiosity, "Very few people all across the history of time have the gift of time travel, and a large portion of those who do have it, don't know how to utilize it. The technique of the art is mostly lost because those who are knowledgable enough about it, are smart enough not to meddle with it."
Merlin could only begin to imagine the contradictions and horrible situations that manipulating time can evoke.
"How did you get a hold of this book?" Merlin asked, for the book in front of him contained many future events that Gaius wouldn't normally have access to.
"There are a masterful few that have dedicated their lives to recording future events. After they copy down all the events, some even go back in time and "predict" what's going to happen, of course getting it right. Some of these people are known to us as prophets, fortune tellers, and even writers of destiny." Gaius looked knowingly at Merlin.
"The time travelers have kept a decent record of every time traveler known to man." Gaius scoured the book for an except about a man and women duo.
Finally, he found it, and he set his finger to the page, "Ah! Here they are. They're so hard to track because they change their names in every age."
"You mean they change their names to fit the time they're in?"
"Yes, see? Here they're Titus and Sinthea, which are traditional names, but in another time...hmm...for example, in the twentieth century they went by the names of Bonnie and Clyde."
What stupid names! Merlin thought, chuckling a little despite himself. He had no hope for humanity if the names soon become things like Bonnie or Clyde.
"This is no laughing matter, Merlin! Time travelers are very dangerous; they think they're omnipotent because they have the power to alter events. We must stop them; did they say anything about what they might be planning?"
Merlin closed his eyes to remember. Suddenly, he opened them sharply, a sinking feeling in his chest.
"They said they were going to do something at dinner," he said. Just then, the bell tower rang seven times.
Gaius and Merlin looked at each other at the exact same time, but Merlin didn't need Gaius to tell him what to do. Forgetting all about his sore limbs, Merlin tore towards the banquet hall, where right about that moment, Prince Arthur was sitting down to eat.
A/N: Hello, this is my first Fanfiction for Merlin, and it was super fun to write! I've been obsessed with the series for two years, and I love all the characters; they're hilarious and sassy and just brilliantly cast. It absolutely stinks that I couldn't have gotten into it while it was still filming, but hey, I can let out all of my pent-up ideas for the show here! :)
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