Author's Ramble: This is inspired by the lines 'Pick a star on the dark horizon, and follow the light. You'll come back when it's over. No need to say goodbye.' from 'The Call' by Regina Spektor and it's off the 'Prince Caspian' soundtrack.
Merlin watched through tear-clouded eyes as the troop of men rode out of Camelot. Arthur was in that troop. No, he thought. Arthur is leading that troop. As if it knew what he was going through, a small star on the edge of the horizon winked at him.
Wiping furiously at his blue eyes, Merlin left Arthur's chambers and returned to his own.
* * *
A week later the troop returned, Arthur still leading it, and Merlin offered a small sad smile to the Prince. After Arthur shot him a questioning look, Merlin disappeared into the crowd of people wishing to congratulate the men.
Arthur came looking for him, as he knew he would. "That's the kind of greeting I get when I come back from a perilous journey?" the Prince asked with his eyebrows raised.
"I guess so," Merlin replied honestly as he picked up a leather bag off the floor and slung it over his shoulder. "It's getting dark, I should go. Unless there's anything else you need sire?" Arthur shook his head mutely and watched Merlin leave. Something was wrong, he could tell, and he was going to find out what.
* * *
Merlin knew Arthur was following him, after that greeting he couldn't have expected anything less. He paused by a house on his way to the courtyard and gestured Arthur out of hiding. "If you're going to come you should at least walk with me."
The wizard walked at a leisurely pace to the gates and stopped, looking at Arthur expectantly. "What?" Arthur asked. "Are you going somewhere?"
Shaking his head, Merlin took off the bag and pressed it into Arthur's hands. "You are." He could see Arthur was about to protest so he spoke first. "I need you to get something for me. Will you?" Merlin looked so hopeful that Arthur could only nod. "Good," Merlin whispered and smiled a grim sort of smile. "I need you to follow that star until you find it. You'll know it when you get there."
Asking questions seemed pointless but there was something wrong with Merlin's direction. "I can't see a star."
With a shaking hand, Merlin pointed to the star on the edge of the horizon, just visible above a line of trees. "Can you see it now?" Arthur shook his head once and Merlin gently picked up his hand, using it to point out the little blinking star.
"I see it," Arthur whispered and Merlin let go of his hand.
"So you'll follow it until you find it?" Merlin asked hopefully, but there was something in his tone, it sounded like he was begging. With a nod Arthur opened his mouth to say goodbye. He didn't bother arguing about leaving in the middle of the night, there was a feeling he had about Merlin's behaviour, it was fear like it was telling him there was no time to lose. "There's no need to say goodbye Arthur, you'll come back when it's over."
Biting his lip in an un-princely gesture, Arthur slowly wrapped Merlin in a hug. "I will come back, I promise."
He heard Merlin whisper "I know," before he turned and walked out the gates, eyes fixed on the tiny, blinking spot of light.
* * *
It took five nights for Arthur to find what Merlin meant. It was a beautiful statue of a black marble cat with glinting orange eyes and words inscribed on the book it sat on. Cautiously, Arthur knelt down and read it, tracing the words with a finger. 'The magic of stars'.
There was nothing else there so Arthur touched the cat, trying to judge how heavy it would be. He jumped back, however, when the cat blinked at him, its eyes changing from orange to blue. It stepped fluidly off the book and wound around Arthur's ankles once before trotting of in the direction of Camelot.
Without hesitating, Arthur followed. There was something about that cat that he couldn't quite put his finger on. As he settled down to sleep the next morning, the cat curled up on his chest, purring loudly.
* * *
When Arthur returned to Camelot everyone was there, even his father, but as Arthur scanned the crowd he saw four people missing. He endured being yelled at by his father for ten minutes before he couldn't stop the question bubbling up inside of him escaping his lips. "Where's Merlin?"
His father stopped shouting and a look of sympathy crossed his face, and that was when Arthur knew something was very wrong. As much as he tried to brace himself nothing could have helped him with this.
Arthur ran to the Physician's chambers and pounded on the door, ignoring everyone in the room except the Physician himself Arthur asked the question again. "Where's Merlin?"
No one answered this time but through his tear-clouded eyes Arthur could see someone coming closer. And then they were hugging him and sobbing out the answer he had heard from his father. Arthur extracted himself from whoever's arms he was in and took the stairs to Merlin's room three at a time.
As he pushed open the door a flash of black caught his eye at the same time the word 'Merlin' caught in his throat. It was just the cat and a book. Swallowing his tears, Arthur crossed the room and looked into the cat's eyes as they flashed orange. A puff of smoke glittered into existence right in front of Arthur's face and for a second he could see Merlin, smiling and laughing, but then it was gone and only he, the cat and the book remained.
"Merlin?" Arthur whispered and the cat meowed in response. "Merlin what happened?" As he expected the cat just looked at him. Arthur climbed onto Merlin's bed and curled up in the corner, hugging the cat when it tried to sit on his chest as before, and he let the tears flow.
* * *
No one ever found out why Arthur had disappeared for those ten days but a change had come over the Prince when he came back. He began to act more like a normal human being rather than a stuck-up prat and he was the best king Camelot ever had. But after those ten days he was never seen without that black cat. And on his dying day, while his children and grandchildren surrounded him, the cat still curled up on his chest and they breathed their last breath as one.
Author's Ramble: Kinda morbid huh? It is safe to say that this is the most serious piece I have ever written and probably the most serious I ever will. Okay, yes Merlin died and used his magic and the star to make his soul into a cat so Arthur would never be alone. Yes he knew he was dieing or else he wouldn't have done it. And yes I'm going to go and read some fluffy romances now to get this out of my head. Thanks for reading. Happy New Year everyone.