Arthur hummed quietly to himself. Marriage? What was his father thinking? Arthur didn't want to be married! Well… not yet, and especially not for a stupid alliance! When Arthur got married he was going to be married for love and there was nothing Uther could do to change that. He could lock him up for as long as he wants for there was no way that Arthur could be swayed.
"Now get in there and shut up!" Arthur heard one of the guards shout which was followed by an audible crash from the cell next to his own.
"Ruddy guards and their stupid armour" A male voice from the cell next to his muttered and then continued to shout "They're not even proper knights!"
"Well you can't expect them to use real knights as guards, they do have better stuff to do" Arthur replied without thinking.
"What better stuff?" The man asked "Watching the prince bully us commoners?"
Arthur couldn't quite believe he was laughing. This man was disparaging him yet he was not offended. Honestly, it was a nice change.
"I'm Merlin by the way" The man - Merlin - told him. "Merlin ap Balinor"
"Ar-" Arthur paused. Did he want this Merlin to know who he was? It was quite nice not being known and respected for once "A- led. Aled ap Brychan"
"Nice to meet you, Aled"
"And you" They sat in silence for a while but before long they both grew very bored.
"So-" Arthur began at the same time as Merlin asked "What-"
"Oh you go first" Arthur laughed lightly.
"I was gonna ask why you're in here?"
Arthur felt his body tense as he came up with a lie as to why he was there.
"Theft?"
"Really?" Merlin chuckled "You don't sound so sure"
"Yes. Yes I'm sure" Arthur shifted uncomfortably "What about you?"
Merlin didn't reply for a while and Arthur began to worry that he had crossed some sort of line.
"Theft" Merlin said finally and Arthur let out a breath he didn't know he was holding "...Like you"
"Aye, okay"
They drifted back into a comfortable silence but Arthur was bored so he continued.
"Are you from around here?"
"No, I got here this morning-"
"And you're locked up already!" Arthur teased "Looks like I'm chatting up the wrong sort"
"It wasn't my fault!" Merlin defended.
"You accidentally stole something?" He asked with raised eyebrows.
"No- yeah- I don't know" Merlin sighed exasperatedly.
"Sorry" Arthur smiled "Where are you from originally?"
"Ealdor, its a village by the border"
"Oh aye, I know"
"What about you?" Merlin continued "First day in Camelot?"
"Ah no, Camelot born and raised"
"You haven't been anywhere else?"
"I've travelled but I've never stayed anywhere very long"
"Angry wife nagging you to come back?" He asked cheekily.
"More like angry father" Arthur laughed.
"'Course" He nodded wisely "I've just got a scared mother nagging me to go"
"Oh?"
"Yeah, she sent me to Gaius, the court physician and old friend, worried about me getting locked up, but here I am anyway" Merlin chuckled apparently amused by his struggles.
"I bet she's still proud"
"Aye well, at least if i get banished or something I'll get to meet the prince and she'll be well impressed"
"I thought you weren't a big fan?"
"I'm not" Merlin told him "I'd just like to spit in his face before I go!"
"I bet a lot of people want to do that. But you're only in for Theft, you'll be out in a couple of days"
"Yeah, in a couple of days" Merlin spoke quietly "A couple of days"
"So what did you do in Ealdor?" Arthur asked lightly changing the subject.
"Oh just work here and there, anything anybody needed"
"A bit like a servant then?"
"I guess" He laughed "What about you? What do you do in Camelot besides stealing?"
"Not much" Arthur lied "I stay at home and cook"
"Does your wife work?"
"No! I don't have a wife"
"Husband?"
"No" Arthur laughed "No husband or wife or any attachments whatsoever if you must know. What about you?"
"No. I did have a boy back in Ealdor but it didn't work out"
"What happened?"
"I told him a secret" He told Arthur, seriously "And he couldn't handle it"
"What a shame. I've only had one serious relationship and she broke it off because she thought I was shagging Leon"
"And were you?"
"No!" He chuckled "He's way out of my league!"
"Well if you seen this Leon bloke tell him i'm up for a shag"
"Hey! who says he's in your league and not mine!" Arthur said pretending to be offended "You haven't even seen me!"
"Aye but you sound like twat"
"Thanks Merlin!"
"Hey! Just because you aren't pretty on the inside doesn't mean you aren't pretty in the outside!"
It wasn't that funny but the men could themselves in fits of giggles, wiping tears from their eyes. Not that they could see each other but somehow they knew that they shared this laughter.
"Thank you" Merlin said after they had both calmed down.
"What for?"
"Not asking what my secret is, and making me laugh. I haven't laughed like that since I was back home with Will"
"They boy who couldn't handle it?"
"No, Will is better than that- was better than that" Merlin hummed "He was my best friend"
"Sorry" He apologised "I'm glad I met you Merlin"
Merlin hummed in response. "And I you"
"I mean it. I hope we'll meet for real when we get out"
"I hope so too"
Arthur thought for a while about nothing in particular, he can still hear Merlin breathing which was oddly comforting. He's probably asleep Arthur thought. Humming absentmindedly he closed his eyes. Maybe he could sleep? The sky was darkening anyway but somehow he knew he wouldn't be able to.
"You sure do like humming"
"Mhmm" Arthur told him, his eyes still closed and his mind half asleep.
"Oh sorry, if you want to go to sleep I can-"
"No, it's alright, I can't sleep anyway. Guess I'm just too used to comfy beds" He smiled, his mind still in the clouds. "I can't wait until I get out"
"Looking forward to seeing anybody?"
"Nah, just the horses"
"You have horses?"
"Aye, a beautiful white mare"
"Must have been expensive"
"Yeah… well- no" Arthur tripped over his words. He couldnt let Merlin know that he could afford that kind of animal.
"I'm not the prince, Aled, if you stole her I won't tell"
"Who says the prince would tell?"
"Well he sounds like someone who would tell"
"Maybe if you got to know him-"
"Maybe…" Merlin yawned.
"Goodnight, Merlin"
"Goodnight, Aled, I hope you get to leave bright and early tomorrow"
"Don't you want to leave first?"
"Not really" Merlin's voice began drifting away.
"Why?" Arthur asked but Merlin was already fast asleep and before long Arthur had fallen as well.
He woke suddenly to the guards opening his cell door.
"Merlin?" Arthur called out and true to his wishes Merlin was still there.
"See you on the other side?"
"Of course"
"Sire" The guard interrupted and he heard Merlin audibly gasp "The king wishes to speak to you"
"Of course he does" Arthur told them "Lead the way"
On his way out he saw Merlin in his cell. Wide eyed in shock. Arthur hoped that the boy wouldn't take his lies to heart. Because boy did he want to see him again. Arthur wasn't sure how he had expected his friend to look like but he wasn't disappointed. With his night sky hair and his sunny day eyes Arthur was enchanted and as he left he thanked the gods for the serendipity that had befell them.
"Arthur!"
"Father"
"I trust you've learnt your lesson"
"I trust you realise im never going to listen to you"
"Arthur" Uther stared sternly at his son "Our guests have already left so I will let it go this time, but don't think I will do it again!"
"Father-"
"We will speak no more of this. Now settle down, you have to train your knights as soon as possible and then we're having another burning and this afternoon more council meetings-"
"What?"
"Pardon?"
"Who are we burning?"
"Another sorcerer who has invaded our walls, my boy"
A horrible thought was tugging on his thoughts. A sorcerer? In camelot? There were no new prisoners in the dungeon while he down there apart from... he could hardly bare to consider it. But it must be true.
"Who is this sorcerer?" He asked though he knew the answer already.
"His name I believe is Merlin... or Mathew or... something." Uther told his son who was hastily leaving.
Running down the halls Arthur reached the dungeons and walked as normally as he could whilst walking past the guards to avoid suspicion. However, when he reached the cell it was empty. No damage seemed to have been made to the stone walls or the metal bars of the cell. But there was no sign of Merlin. Arthur smiled.
He rushed out to the courtyard just as he saw a black head of hair run through the gates. He tried to run after him but he heard the sound of knights joining.
"Sire, the sorcerer has escaped!"
"Are you sure?" Arthur asked, still not taking his eyes of the figure in the distance.
"Yes, sire, did you see anyone go through the gates?"
"No, he must still be in the city. Begin a search of the castle" Arthur began rushing to the stables.
"Where are you going?" The knight called out to him.
"I have some urgent business to attend to"
Arthur took his beautiful white horse and began riding out of the city. He didn't quite know what he was doing. He had only known Merlin for a few days but somehow he felt some sort of a connection that he couldn't bare to lose.
I'm going insane.
Chasing after a man.
A sorcerer.
But Arthur couldn't turn back just as much as he couldn't get the sound of Merlins laugh out of his head nor the look of surprise on his face when he saw Arthur for the first time.
He rode through the forest and before long Arthur came to a clearing, and there, resting by a tree was Merlin.
"Merlin?" Arthur called out.
Merlin turned and… well… let's say he didn't look too happy to see him.
-To be continued-
Hiya folks, I hope you are enjoying! I wanted to get this first chapter up to 2,000 words but its just under :( but I hope to make this quite a long fic in the end as I have a lot of ideas. Please comment because it motivates me and if you have any ideas, theories or suggestions I am excited to hear them! But mostly I am just glad that you are reading this! :D xx