Soooo...I know I had told certain people that this would be posted...erm, let's just say 'a while ago'. However, it obviously didn't happen, but I will start posting this yet-to-be-finished story (the idea is really stressing me out).

Alright, so I've never written an AU before...I'm frankly not that fond of them...so I don't know how this happened. Therefore, I'm sorry if it is bad.

Also, it is un-beta'd, I apologize for grammar/spelling/punctuation mistakes. Feel free to point them out to me.

This first chapter isn't graphic...but that changes fast enough.

This is dedicated to the people who requested that I write more.


Carnival Magic

Chappie One

The carnival was a complete waste of time.

Arthur was sure of this. However, as the son of the city's mayor, it was required that he go. At least that's what his father said. Besides, Morgana, his half-sister, was eager to go, as was her friend, Gwen, and he didn't want them to be alone in the ruckus. Who knew what trouble they could get into around the folk at the carnival?

Morgana had insisted that they wait until night to go, something about the excitement and romanticism, that Arthur did not quite understand. Although, once they got there, he could sort of understand what she had meant. The lights everywhere had a whimsical appearance, and with the strangely garbed people on all sides, it was almost like they were on an entirely different planet. There was music in the air, as well as an electric feeling of exhilaration. The girls were quickly caught up in it all, but Arthur was not. They were running about, and Arthur was finding it difficult to keep up with them. They wanted to see everything.

Arthur watched from a bench as the girls sat astride horses on a carousel. It was quite apparent to everyone, even Arthur, how regal the two looked, like queens. He looked about himself, trying to see if there was anything that interested him. He noticed a small crowd gathering a little ways from him, but he couldn't see what had drawn them there. He waited until Morgana and Gwen had gotten off, then they made plans to meet back up there in an hour and a half.

He walked over, standing at the back of the crowd, peering over shoulders to see what was going on. Standing on a small platform was a slight man, with dark hair. He called himself Merlin, and he claimed to be able to perform the most impressive magic in the whole world. Arthur wasn't terribly interested in seeing some mediocre party tricks, but he decided he would stick around to see if this Merlin could do what he promised.

The man pulled a red handkerchief from his shirt. He draped it over one closed fist, then shoved his other hand underneath as well. He appeared to be muttering something under his breath, and the crowd gasped as they saw something beneath the fabric move. He pulled the handkerchief off to show the white dove sitting on his palm, which he promptly through into the air, and it flew off into the night. Arthur had to admit it was vaguely remarkable, as Arthur hadn't seen him slip the bird under, and Merlin's short sleeves couldn't hide a thing, but Arthur was a little far back, he could have missed something.

Then Merlin asked for an assistant. People's hands shot up, and there was quite a commotion as people volunteered. Merlin's eyes scanned the crowd, and settled on Arthur. "You, the blond in the back, come here." he said. Arthur thought about refusing for a moment, but then he decided this would be a perfect opportunity to see the "magic" close up, and pick out how he was doing it. He shoved his way through the disappointed crowd, and stepped up onto the platform.

"Arthur, please stand right here." Merlin placed him where he wanted, gently guiding him with hands placed on his arms. A jolt was sent through Arthur's body at the other man's touch, a tingle of sorts. He looked up at the dark-haired man, only to find him looking back. He had noticed too. "Now, do not move from that place." Merlin turned to address the crowd, "Now, I am going to perform on of the most amazing, and dangerous tricks known to man; catching a bullet." He pulled a pistol out of an ankle holster and handed it to Arthur. Arthur took it dumbly and stared at the man as if he had lost his mind. That could truly be the only reason anyone would attempt this. "Many people have died trying to perform this trick, and it takes a lot of concentration, so I must ask you all to keep silent." Merlin strode about 10 feet away from Arthur, and asked him if he knew how to fire the gun. Arthur was going to say no, hoping that he would simply give up on doing the trick, but instead he found himself nodding. "Alright, on the count of three, Arthur will fire the pistol, and if all goes well, I will live to show you the bullet held between my fingers."

Arthur thought he was going to die. He was panicking, and he was just the one firing the gun. If Merlin died, would he go to jail for murder? His hands were unsteady as he lifted his arms to hold the pistol to shoulder height. That just put the gun even closer to Merlin. The range was far too close, there was no way he would be able to catch the bullet. Arthur had to stop. Somehow, though he couldn't. As Merlin began counting, Arthur seemed to become hyper-sensitive to all that was around him, he noticed every movement of the audience, every detail on Merlin's face. It seemed like the world was slowing as Merlin said the last number. Arthur felt his finger pulling the trigger, and he watched the explosion as the bullet left the barrel. He saw Merlin's eyes flash gold, and the bullet just seemed to vanish before Arthur's eyes. He closed his eyes, not understanding what was happening, and when he opened them again everything had returned to normal.

The crowd was cheering hysterically, and Merlin was triumphantly holding a gold bullet in his hand. What had happened? There was no way he had caught that, was there? Arthur shook his head as if to clear it. Maybe he had just been seeing things, maybe the bullet hadn't disappeared, and the gold eyes must have been a trick of the light. Merlin must really be just as good as he claimed to be.

Arthur felt something being pressed into his hand, "A keepsake, for being such a wonderful assistant." Merlin said, patting him on the back. There was that strange feeling again, that tingling through his body. Arthur looked down into his palm, it was the bullet. He mumbled something in the way of thanks, shoved it into his pocket, and stumbled off the platform. Morgana and Gwen immediately were clinging to him.

"That was amazing! I wonder how he really did it?" Gwen squealed. Arthur just shrugged, he was still feeling a little shaken from the whole thing. He allowed the girls to lead him away to the Hall of Mirrors, where the two of them giggled ferociously at how ridiculous he looked. They decided that he wasn't being terribly much fun, which he certainly was not, it was like he was barely functioning. He just kept replaying the scene of firing the pistol over and over in his mind, trying to analyze it. They decided to leave him again, reminding him of there plan to meet up later.

He wandered around stupidly, pretending to look at the things in front of him, but he really wasn't paying much attention at all. He found another bench and sat there for quite some time, slowly dissolving cotton candy in his mouth. He couldn't stop thinking about that one moment when the bullet seemed to disappear, what kind of tricks was his mind playing on him? He realized something else; Merlin had known his name. He was sure he hadn't told him, and although it wasn't so strange for someone who lived in the area to know who he was, how did this stranger know?

He wasn't sure how long he had been sitting before he noticed that someone was sitting beside him. "I see my lovely assistant is lost in thought." Arthur looked to see Merlin sitting beside him, grinning.

"O, hey." was all Arthur could manage as a reply. They sat in silence for a moment. If Merlin was as uncomfortable with the electricity buzzing between them as Arthur was, then he was certainly doing a better job of concealing it. Arthur shifted uncomfortably, and Merlin turned so that he was facing him. His finger deftly tugged some cotton candy from the half-eaten ball, and Arthur felt blood rush downwards as he watched him eat the pink floss. He couldn't believe that he was turned on by that, by a man, no less, but he couldn't deny it either. When Merlin ran his tongue over his lips after, Arthur barely suppressed a groan, and he tore his eyes away from the man.

"I'm sorry that I selected you for the trick. Obviously it bothered you." Merlin said. Arthur looked back over at him cautiously.

"I…no, it-it's alright. I'll be fine. Usually something like that wouldn't bother me so much, but it just really shook me for some reason."

"And you were just the one shooting the gun!" Merlin smiled. Arthur laughed half-heartedly.

"How did you do it? That trick, it was impossible." he couldn't help but ask.

"Magic."

"No, really." Arthur sighed. "Was it an illusion, or what?"

"You should know better than that, Arthur. I can't just reveal my secrets."

"Then how do you know my name?"

"Is there anyone in the area who doesn't know the Pendragons? Any more questions?" he asked sweetly. Arthur shook his head. "Good. I have one for you though, would you like to come with me around the carnival? I can show you the very heart of it."

Arthur thought about this for a moment, trying to decide if he wanted to spend more time with the man that caused such strange feelings to surface within him. "I'd like that." he said finally. Merlin leapt up, taking Arthur's hand to pull him along behind. It was like there was a constant flow of power from Merlin body into Arthur's through their joined hands, and it was one of the most exhilarating things he had ever felt.

Merlin pulled him around, pointing out more things that Arthur could keep track of. They rode the teacups five times, each time with Arthur spinning them around so quickly that Merlin looked a little sick. They went on the carousel, Merlin completely ignoring Arthur's protests. Merlin was introducing him to the people from the Carnival; Ivan the Giant; Tricia, a contortionist; there was conjoined twins; and a bearded lady; jugglers; multiple people who ran booths (some of which were more frightening than the 'freaks'). Merlin even insisted on playing one of those crooked games to win Arthur a stuffed golden dragon.

The carnival where Arthur had not wanted to go, and he had been sure to hate was suddenly the most exciting thing in the world. He couldn't stop laughing at ever little joke that Merlin made. He barely even noticed that many people had already left the carnival, and that things were beginning to close up for the night. Arthur checked the time, he was supposed to meet Morgana and Gwen fifteen minutes ago.

"Shit, I need to go, my sister and her friend are waiting for me." Arthur said apologetically.

Merlin pulled a pouty face, "Really? Alright. Hey, what would you say to maybe, possibly coming back tomorrow?" Arthur peered at him, hesitant to agree. His father wouldn't approve of him hanging around with this 'sort'. Merlin grabbed both of Arthur's hands, and moved closer to him, so he could look pleadingly into his eyes. "Please?" Arthur could feel his heart fluttering in his chest just from being so close to Merlin. Why did this man make him feel like this? He sucked in a breath and nodded. Merlin grinned goofily, then pressed his lips quickly against Arthur's.

Arthur pulled back, cursing. Anyone could see Merlin and him together. If it got back to his father he was dead. He looked over at Merlin, who was looking down at his feet and starting to back away. He looked…hurt.

"Merlin, don't. I'm-I'm sorry, it's just-"

"No. Don't worry about it. My mistake. Sorry to bother you. I'll be seeing you, yeah." He turned to leave, and all Arthur could think about was how wrong this moment felt.

Before he had a chance to say anything else to Merlin, to stop him, he heard his name being called. He looked over and saw Morgana and Gwen waving and walking towards him. He turned back to say something to Merlin, but he was nowhere to be seen.


I'm holding the next chapter ransom. The price for its release: reviews. I'm not joking, people, I can wait as looooong as I have to, but the next chapter could be up as soon as tomorrow if you comply.

heart muchly,
St. John