Springtime was upon Camelot and happy people filled the streets from the castle citadel to the fields where the great city faded away. For Arthur Pendragon, it was absolute heaven except for one thing: Morgana insisted that he have a constant presence among the people to promote his reputation. That meant every day at high noon, she kicked him out of his bedchambers and ordered him to stroll the town and be social. At least as long as his patience held out.

Arthur honestly tried not to look bored as he walked along the streets. People bowed and curtseyed then asked how life was going. But the only thing on his mind was how much more he would enjoy training with the knights. After a while, desperate for a distraction, he stopped in front of the blacksmith's shop to admire the works on display. Nearby was a flower shop that was all but abandoned since the owner didn't exactly have a green thumb. While Arthur tested out his abilities with a dagger, he noticed somebody walk up to the stand.

He was a scrawny looking thing, pale with jet black hair and blue eyes. He was obviously underfed by the way his knuckles and bones showed on his hand as he reached out at a flower, and many cuts and bruises peppered his skin. Arthur was so caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the mystery boy that he lost his grip on the dagger and it dropped heavily onto his foot, thankfully hilt first. He hissed and hopped on the other foot for a moment, quickly ducking behind a nearby pillar when the boy turned to see the source of the funny noise.

"Can I help you?" asked the shop girl who had been sweeping up stray leaves.

"Yes, how much is this?" the boy asked, holding up a wilted and pathetic excuse for a daisy.

"You do know that's garbage, don't you?" she laughed, stopping her broom. "I had to clip that ugly thin along with the rest of its family. You want to keep it, go right ahead."

The boy smiled as though he had won some grand prize and walked off, twirling the little flower in his fingers. Watching closely, Arthur noticed that the flower had suddenly blossomed to full health in a beautiful defiance of nature. Arthur looked all around at the crowded market place, amazed that he was the only one who noticed. In any other situation, he would have run after the boy and alerted the guards that there was a magician in Camelot, but something about him was intriguing and he began to follow instead. He continued for a while, keeping track of every twist and turn until they finally reached one of the garden house courtyards in the outlying reaches of the city. Arthur ran into the small maze-like area, searching the trees with his eyes for wherever the boy might have gone.

"Why are you following me?"

Arthur whirled around to find the mystery boy standing behind him, leaning against a tree, twirling the flower, perfectly relaxed looking.

"I—I wasn't following," Arthur stuttered, caught off guard by the fact that for the first time, he'd been discovered stalking.

"You've been right behind me for at least twenty minutes," the boy pointed out with a knowing smile. "That's following."

"You knew because you're using magic, isn't that right?" Arthur retorted. "I saw what you did back there. Don't you know that's dangerous around here?"

"Yeah, I've heard the horror stories," he said, smile fading while retaining an odd quirk. "Here all magic is punishable by death."

"Yes," Arthur confirmed, taken aback by the boy's lack of care for the possibility of being turned in. "Why would you risk doing magic out in public like that?"

"I guess when you've got nothing to lose, all the smallest things are worth it," he shrugged, holding up the flower.

"It's really quite amazing," Arthur admitted before he could stop himself.

"Then it's yours," the boy said, offering it to him.

"I couldn't," Arthur protested. "I would only kill it. Flowers hate me."

"I guess something could be done about that." The boy closed his eyes and murmured a few words in a language Arthur didn't understand. A moment later, the flower had turned into a colorful glass imitation of itself. The boy took Arthur's hand and placed the flower in his palm. Normally people avoided such things at all cost, him being royalty and all. It was amusing to the prince at how the boy acted without knowing his title.

"Why aren't you worried that I'll tell someone?" Arthur asked, having already decided that he would do no such thing.

"I guess I believe in trusting people," he said, smiling sadly as though the achievement hadn't come without hardship. "I think I can trust you. You know I would never harm anyone."

"There's no way I could know that for sure; you might actually be an elephant in disguise for all I know," Arthur pointed out in a joking manner, hoping to cheer the boy up a little. It worked and the smile broadened. But in an instant it was gone and replaced by an expression of pain and anguish. The boy's hands quickly dropped to his left ankle and lifted up the hem of his pants to reveal a silver chain wrapped tightly all the way around. The surrounding skin was an angry red as though it had been burned.

"What is that?" Arthur demanded, frowning in distaste.

"Long story," the boy laughed nervously. "I'm terribly sorry, but I've got to leave."

"Why, what's happened?" Arthur asked, always hating unanswered questions.

"I really can't explain," the boy said, quickly backing up toward the exit. "It was wonderful talking to you."

"Don't I even get a name if nothing else?" Arthur said, feeling absolutely frustrated with the strange creature who stopped momentarily to grin warmly.

"Merlin. My name is Merlin."

Before Arthur could reply, the boy had disappeared into thin air. He sighed in disappointment, knowing that there was no way he could possibly know where he had gone. Walking toward the exit, he held out the flower and smiled to himself.

"Merlin…"

The invisibility spell began to wear off as Merlin reached the shadier side of Camelot's city and he decided to pull it off altogether to avoid being discovered using magic. As he rounded a few more corners, the pain on his ankle began to fade, telling him he was going the right way. Within a matter of minutes, he had reached the cheap tavern where somebody was waiting for him.

Master Gordon was the slave driver who owned Merlin, along with many other innocent people. He was a collector of dark magic and used it to bind his merchandise to him. Because of the chain on Merlin's ankle, most of his magic was subdued. If he or the other slaves considered mutiny against their master they would be shot up with such intense pain it could potentially kill them. Because of Gordon's burly, evil appearance, nobody questioned his business or suspected foul play. Merlin was trapped.

"Where have you been?" Gordon roared as Merlin appeared. "I called you ten minutes ago!"

"I'm sorry, sir, it won't happen again," Merlin mumbled under his breath, keeping his head bowed low.

"At least you got one thing right, you idiot," Gordon growled before delivering a backhanded smack to Merlin's cheek. The witnesses on the street were only day drunkards and bums, so they just laughed maliciously along with Gordon. "Load em' crates onto the cart now, would you, worthless? Don't you and the other bastards get any ideas about stealing from me because I'll cut your throats before you can swallow that stuff. Now get to work!"

Merlin spat the blood out of his mouth and bit back the curse on his tongue. Because of the ankle chain, any magic he used against Gordon would only backfire in excess. Taking deep breaths, he went to the stack of crates where the other two slaves his age were already hard at work.

"Did it hurt?" asked one of the boys as he and Merlin each picked up a crate and walked it over to the cart which was covered by a large canvas blanket to conceal the cage underneath.

"Only as much as it always does," Merlin sighed. He frowned at the large cage, seeing a problem. The bottom layer was already covered with crates and a few of the slaves were sitting uncomfortably on top. "Mary, is it alright if I put this where you're sitting?"

The tattered and broken down girl looked up at him wearily and forced a small smile before scooting out of the way enough for Merlin to fit the crate in its spot.

"It's inhumane of him to do this to us," the boy muttered beside Merlin. "Our next stop is over a hundred miles away and he expects us to ride in this?"

"I'll see if there's any way I can rearrange it," Merlin offered, hopping into the cart.

"You're a godsend, Merlin," the boy said with and admiring smile.

"Shut up, Percy," Merlin laughed bashfully.

"Will you two dogs quit flirting and get to work?" Gordon shouted. "Just you wait…three days and I won't have to lay eyes on you rats ever again!"

Merlin gulped and looked away from Gordon. When they were beyond the borders of Camelot, he and all the other slaves would be sold. The one thing about that which scared him the most wasn't the possibility of being sold to a nasty owner who would work him to death, but being separated from Percy, his only friend in the world. All the other slaves were kind to Merlin since he'd made it his ambition to keep their spirits bright through little magic tricks and jokes, but Percy was especially kind. Come five days, Merlin's world would fall apart. That thought terrified him more than anything.

"Don't let him get to you, Merlin," said Mary. She had seen a distant look cross his face as his fears took over during those moments.

"Believe me, he'll be the last person to get into my head," Merlin assured her with a comforting smile.

"Mommy, I'm hungry," said a little girl, walking up to Mary. She was at least five years old with long curly brown hair and bright green eyes, in one arm she carried a ragged doll which showed many years of love.

"Why don't you stay here with Merlin and I'll see what I can do," Mary said, putting on her strong face. She made her way toward the small cage door and paused to say quietly to Merlin, "I'll head to the nicer area. Maybe someone will take pity on me."

"Good luck," Merlin replied, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

She left and her daughter went to sit on one of the crates, swinging her legs back and forth as she brushed the doll's hair out of its face. Merlin smiled sadly, feeling his stomach sink at the thought that she might be separated from her mother soon. Maybe it would be worth losing his left foot to work up the magic to free those two.

Arthur couldn't concentrate on his training the rest of the day. His mind kept dwelling on the mysterious Merlin and all the questions he wished to ask. All the other knights completely slaughtered him during training, and they were trying to go easy as to not injure the future king. His dignity took many blows that afternoon, sadly not all of them occurring on the training field. He tripped and stumbled many times and lost his concentration during a conversation with Uther. The only time he was able to take his mind off his encounter with Merlin was when he was assigned to go with the guards to make an arrest.

It was dark out as they headed to the far side of the city and the streets were almost completely empty. It wasn't difficult to find the man they were looking for—he'd stolen from the palace and was drinking away his newfound wealth at a tavern. He was arrested and taken away by the guards, but Arthur didn't follow them back home. A strange feeling in his gut told him that it was in his best interests to stay. He didn't have to go far to find something to catch his eye. Near the tavern was a lot where a lot of carriages and carts were kept. One of the nearest ones was tall and large, eerie seeming in the moonlight. It was covered by a large canvas blanket which concealed everything but the driver's seat. From it, Arthur could hear crying.

He slowly walked forward, curious as to what he would find and cautious of an ambush, just in case. Very carefully, he lifted the corner flap of the canvas and saw iron bars underneath, protecting pitch black darkness. A moment later a hand appeared, pale white and ghostly, reaching out slowly through the bars for Arthur. He recognized that hand. With a mighty burst of strength, he tore the canvas away to reveal the large cage packed tightly with people and crates. The people were all equally dirty, wearing tattered clothes and sporting many cuts and bruises. There were men women, and even a little girl whose face was streaked with tears. But the one who stood out above all the rest was Merlin's kneeling at the front of the cage beside Arthur. A new cut on his lip showed how he had been treated since their meeting that afternoon.

"Merlin, what's going on?" Arthur demanded. He reached up to the padlock on the cage door and began trying to open it.

"You should leave, it's dangerous around here!" Merlin warned, nervously looking toward the tavern. "If he comes back he'll want to catch you."

"Who?" Arthur asked, yanking on the lock with frustration.

"His name is—" He was cut off by the sudden reappearance of that pained look of his. He reached down to the left hem of his trousers and lifted it up to reveal that the chain on his ankle was burning red.

"What is that?" Arthur whispered, horrified. Merlin was about to answer, but the chain glowed brighter and he whimpered painfully.

"Would you stop asking questions, can't you see it's hurting him?" A befreckled auburn haired boy wormed his way through the others until he reached the front and could successfully glare at Arthur.

"Percy, he's trying to help," Merlin said, gasping as his pain subsided. Then he looked at Arthur, eyes pleading. "Leave while you still can. You might not have another chance."

"I can't leave you here like this," Arthur argued. "Just tell me what's happening and I can help you!"

"Don't you get it?" Percy said spitefully. "There's magic at work here. We try to escape, we pay the consequences. We tell you anything, we pay for it."

"There has to be a way!" Arthur said, slamming the lock as he realized that it was no use trying to open it.

"Key," Merlin said, a look of realization crossing his face. He looked down frantically as though trying to work out a riddle. "Um…okay, silver chains are like locks. What are the keys?"

"I don't know, something that can break it apart?" Arthur said, catching on. "Like a knife?"

"But these are magic," Merlin pointed out, watching Arthur expectantly. "That goes to show…?"

"Mmmmagic knife?" Arthur said slowly.

"Yes!" Merlin congratulated. "I'm not going against the rules if it's just something of yours."

Arthur quickly reached for the dagger on his belt and passed it to Merlin through the bars. Merlin held it up, concentrating with his eyes wide open. He chanted that foreign language from before rapidly until Arthur didn't even bother to keep track. All that mattered was that the dagger began to glow a brilliant blue color, practically radiating its new power. Merlin finished and handed it back to Arthur since he wouldn't be able to cut the chains himself. He reached down to his ankle once more and waved his hand over it. The silver light began to spread and spider its way through the cage, revealing that it was actually connected to each of the slaves.

"How were you able to move through the marketplace if it's like that?" Arthur asked, pointing at the mess of chains while Merlin located the central strand.

"Magic," Merlin shrugged with an apologetic smile. He held up the chain piece he was looking for and brought it close up to the bars to Arthur could reach it. Arthur was about to go ahead and free them all, but hesitated as a thought occurred to him.

"One condition," he said, feeling his heart begin to race with the brilliance of his idea. He looked up at Merlin who almost looked as though hope had been stolen from him. "I can free you all and get the rest of them to safety. They'll all be returned to their lives with enough money to start over…on the promise that you stay."

"…What?" Merlin whispered, dumbfounded. Percy scoffed and slammed the side of the cage.

"From the hands of one master to the next, what a life," he muttered, shooting daggers with his eyes at Arthur. "Don't do it Merlin. We'll survive without his assistance."

"No we won't," Merlin said, his voice unsteady. "Let's face it…in three days we're all going to be sold to the people who happen to have the money unless I say yes. Do you really want to be working for another master who could possibly be worse? What if Mary gets separated from her daughter? I will not have that on my conscience."

"What are you going to do with him?" Percy demanded of Arthur. "I think he at least has the right to know what he's getting himself into."

"First of all, you'll help me catch whoever has done this to you," Arthur said, not looking away from Merlin who couldn't seem to make eye contact. "Then you'll come to live with me. I need someone I can trust to work by my side and just…be there for me. Merlin, I would never hurt you like the man who's done this. All I ask is that you stay with me."

Merlin stayed silent for a moment which seemed to dwell on forever. When it was over, he looked up at Arthur with determined eyes and nodded.

"Yes. I'll stay with you. Just free these people."

A relieved smile spread across Arthur's face as he wasted no time slicing through the chain with the magic dagger. The chains around the other slaves' ankles clunked to the floor heavily as though to say it had given up its life of crime. As the glow on the dagger began to fade, Arthur quickly stabbed the padlock which burst open. He removed it and pulled out the door, helping Merlin get to his feet outside. All the other slaves quickly did the same and followed while Arthur led the way. They didn't have far to go before he located a few of the guards on patrol.

"Cormick, Stanley, I need you to take these people to the castle and bring them to Mr. Wallace," Arthur ordered, indicating the small crowd behind him. "Marshall, you come with me."

The two groups separated for their individual tasks in opposite directions. Merlin hesitated before following Arthur, stealing one last glance at Percy who looked severely disappointed at him. The two of them waved once and parted for the last time. Merlin caught up to Arthur who was leading the guard Marshall back to the tavern.

"Why do they follow your orders?" Merlin asked quietly.

"I'll explain later," Arthur assured him. "One thing at a time for now."

They made it back to the tavern where there was the sound of loud, joyous voices and the putrid smell of alcohol. The three of them walked inside quietly, unnoticed since there was such a large crowd. Merlin searched all over until he finally spotted Gordon.

"Over there," he said, pointing him out. "The big one at the bar with the rings. That's Gordon."

Arthur nodded to the guard and they began to weave their way through the crowd up to the bar, bringing with them an awe-inspired hush and many stares.

"Mr. Gordon," Arthur said, loud enough to catch the man's attention. Gordon turned to face him with a drunken smile. "You are under arrest for breaking Camelot's code against slavery and for your unlawful treatment of innocents."

"Yeah? Says who?" Gordon laughed.

"Prince Arthur Pendragon," Arthur said slowly, letting it sink in.

Gordon frowned, thoroughly confused, until he noticed Merlin. He sobered up quickly with a powerful rage taking the place of the alcohol. In an instant he had tackled to boy to the ground and began punching. It was Arthur who pulled them apart, throwing Gordon to the guard and a pair of waiting handcuffs. Then he knelt down to make sure Merlin was alright and helped him up. Merlin shied away from him, still stunned from the punches and the new knowledge that he had been rescued by the prince himself.

"Let me see," Arthur ordered, trying to get a look at a bleeding cut on Merlin's cheek. Merlin held still while Arthur carefully held his face, inspecting the wound. "We could get that cleaned up in no time. It could have been much worse. Come with me."

Merlin nodded and they both left the tavern.

Within a few minutes they had reached the castle. Merlin was amazed by it since he'd never been there before, and the thought only barely crossed his mind that it would be his new home. Arthur led him to the physician's quarters and knocked on the door. A minute later, an old man with white hair and a grumpy look like he'd been sleeping opened the door.

"Gaius, I was wondering if I could bother you for some assistance," Arthur said politely.

"Since I've already been bothered, the assistance is all yours, sire," Gaius replied tiredly.

"My friend here needs to be patched up," Arthur said, indicating Merlin. "There was a scrape during an arrest tonight and he got caught up. Also, if it's not too much trouble, I would be grateful for you to provide him a bed for the night."

"Of course, he can stay in my guest bed," Gaius shrugged. "I'll go get my supplies."

Gaius disappeared back into his room, leaving Merlin and Arthur alone in the hallway.

"He will take care of you, I trust him," Arthur said, offering a smile. "You get some rest and I'll find you in the morning."

"Yes, sir," Merlin said quietly.

"Don't call me that," Arthur said distastefully. "You can call me Arthur and I'll call you Merlin."

Merlin nodded, not saying another word.

"What's wrong?" Arthur asked. "You're not homesick for that old cage, are you?"

"No…" Merlin mumbled. "I just…it's all a lot to take in. And I do miss the friends I'll probably never see again."

"Never is an awfully misunderstood word," Arthur pointed out. "You don't worry about that for now. Just get cleaned up and rested for now. And don't…go anywhere."

Merlin needed no hint as to what he meant and was almost offended to be accused of going back on his word.

"I'm not running," he said defensively.

Arthur was worried he was lying, not knowing him well enough to tell the difference. This strange creature had tortured him all the day while hardly lifting a finger and Arthur knew he was hooked. There was no point in fighting it. When he'd said he wanted to keep Merlin, he meant it and the thought of him running away was almost devastating after he'd just won him. So without a moment's hesitation, Arthur reached up with both hands to grasp Merlin's face, holding the boy still while he leaned forward and kissed him, emitting more electricity than a thunderstorm. When he pulled away, Merlin gulped but defiantly held still.

"I'm not running," he whispered.

"Good," Arthur replied. He turned and walked away, heading toward his chambers before he had a chance to do something else completely stupid. Merlin took a few deep breaths and went into the physician's room as Gaius called out to him.