note: Blind future is now sequel to Before the dawn. But you can read them separate.

beta Felicity P

Blind future

Servants hurried past, trying not to show their growing interest, but at the same time they tried desperately to slow down their pace in order to hear the two men arguing in the corridor.

Fighting between those two was normal. It was an everyday occurrence in which all the servants, knights, as well as many of the castles other inhabitants knew.

It was Prince Arthur and his manservant Merlin.

In over a year the people of Camelot have learned how the relationship between those two really works. At first it looked like they would kill one another, but slowly everything changed.

Now people around the castle and town learned that even if Prince Arthur was sometimes so high and mighty and bossed around his servant and the knights, he was also good at listening to normal people and responding. Many of them felt that they had Merlin to thank for that.

Merlin was clumsy, but he was smart and he always treated people around him as equals. Like Prince Arthur.

Other servants would compare the two men and say they were like the sun and moon, or two sides of the same coin.

They were always arguing and bickering, always together, always looking for each other, always in trouble. They were in many ways friends.

Bickering between them was nothing new, and it was almost always over something stupid what Merlin had done.

Sometimes it was hilarious, and Merlin always laughed afterwards in the kitchens, the laundry, or marketplace.

This was different though, this time Arthur looked like he was really angry. He didn't seem to care if anyone heard him. The Prince was chasing after Merlin until he finally stopped the younger man.

Merlin tried to avoid his gaze, looking both sad and wary at the same time.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Arthur spat.

"I didn't want you to choose between me and your father. Your loyalty belongs to him, not to me." Merlin hissed quietly. He didn't want everyone to overhear them. They were already drawing to much attention as it was, and he really didn't want to rouse the other peoples suspicions anymore than they already had.

"My loyalty belongs to my people, to my kingdom, and to you! You should have told me!" Arthur yelled.

Merlin flinched. "Yes, someday when you are the king. Sire."

"You and your fucking sire."

He hit.

Before Arthur could even register his own actions his arm was pulled back and he was throwing all his fury.

He didn't mean it, not really. He had just felt so angry, so frustrated, and utterly betrayed that all the emotions just erupted out of him. Merlin, his servant, his most loyal friend who was so close to him, had lied. No, not lied-kept it a secret, kept such an essential fact from him. What made it worse was when he realized that Merlin didn't trust him enough. He said that it was because of his father and his beliefs, but he wasn't his father. Weren't they friends?

Merlin didn't have time to react. The blow hit him directly in the nose, and he teetered backwards. He felt blood run down onto his lips, his ears ringing, and when he stepped back he didn't feel the floor beneath his feet. Merlin was still dazed when he looked toward Arthur who was yelling his name, hand outstretched towards him as he tipped back.

Then he was falling, and in seconds he was hitting the edge of the floor, pain erupting in his back before the ground unexpectedly disappeared again. In a moment of terrifying clarity he remembered they were next to the stairs, and then all he knew was intense pain as he struck step after step. He tumbled continuously before agony burst through his skull as it struck the last stair. Then he stopped moving, his body coming to a rest at the bottom.

He could barely hear Arthur's voice. It was distant, and Merlin couldn't see anything. He tried to move, but there was an immense pain in his back. He tried to speak, but there were no words that he could utter. Merlin could taste blood in his mouth, and now the pain was growing in intensity every second. It was then that he gave up his hold on consciousness and drifted away.