In a world where Merlin's small village was raided when he was young and Hunith was killed, Merlin and his best friend Will were found and raised by the Assassins Guild. They came to rule it through skill and reputation, and then Merlin was sent to kill Arthur Pendragon.
A Story of friendship, assassins, magic, and socially inappropriate courting methods.
In a world where Merlin's small village was raided when he was young and Hunith was killed, Merlin and his best friend Will were found and raised by the Assassins Guild. They came to rule it through skill and reputation, and then Merlin was sent to kill Arthur Pendragon.
"I know you're awake," Merlin told his captive, one Prince Arthur Pendragon. "No matter how hard you fake it, I can tell." Still, the Prince sat tied to his own chair, in his own rooms, motionless in false sleep.
Merlin sighed. Why did they always think they were smarter than him? Was it the ears? Will said it was his ears. Merlin shifted in closer so that this Prince could hear him talk in his low fast voice. "By now you've realized you are in your own room. Maybe you recognize the smell, or the feel of your chair, or perhaps your own belt that you are tied with, it matters not. You are not stupid and I know it. You also must be considering yelling your head off, weighing your very limited options. Will the guards hear you? Did I kill them already? All very important questions, am I right?"
Still, the young Pendragon did not move. But he did something much more telling. There was a slight, ever so slight, tensing of his back. No normal person would have ever seen it, the Prince himself probably hadn't even realized he had done it. Merlin was no ordinary person though. No. He was an Assassin. And he was not just any assassin either. He was Falcon, the ringleader of the infamous Assassins Guild. And tonight he was here to kill Arthur Pendragon. Or he was until he met a dragon the was frekin' chained up under the castle that begrudgingly informed him not to do just that.
There were rules piled on rules in the assassin's code, most contradicting each other and largely unwritten, but for being an assassin Falcon had only one rule: he would only kill those who could not be saved. The ones that had no good qualities left, and only caused pain and suffering to others. And if a prisoner would vouch for this man before him...well it brought Merlin to an impasse. If it had been anyone else Falcon would have left already, but Merlin was here because this man had led a charge and slaughtered an entire township of druids. Men, woman, and children alike. Falcon had confirmed this before he took the job. But however Falcon felt, Merlin had to make sure. After all, that dragon may be crazy, raving about destiny and other trivial things, but if even one sole thought so highly of his mark, then Merlin could not chance it.
But back to the matter at hand. His mark was clearly terrified, even if he hid it well. Merlin almost felt bad for this. Normally his targets did not live long enough to feel terror. Falcon hummed loud enough for Arthur to hear. "Yes, well let me answer your questions for you then since you are so inclined to let me do all the talking. I can tell you I did not kill your guards, they were innocent." Falcon paused and right on cue the Prince took a shallow breath in, no doubt preparing to shout.
"However, if your guards live of not, yelling would be useless, as I am also a very clever sorcerer and put a very clever sound blocking spell on this room. No matter how loud you scream they will never hear you." Falcon smiled and leaned in even closer, close enough that all he had to do was whisper and he knew his mark could taste every syllable. "So go ahead, scream for me, little Prince."
That finally got a reaction. Prince Arthur clenched his jaw, his lip curling up into disgust. "Never! Filthy Sorcerer!" He growled. Falcon smiled like he had been complimented. The Prince sneered again and tried to spit in his face. Merlin was faster though and saw it coming in time to swiftly move out of the way letting it splat harmlessly on the floor. Merlin did feel bad for whoever would have to clean it up later though.
"Shame," Falcon said stepping back in front of the Prince. "I thought we could have some fun before our talk."
"We have nothing to talk about Sorcerer. Release me now and I promise your death will be swift."
The actually pulled a laugh up from the depths of Falcon's throat. "Does that ever actually work!? I mean I would have to be an idiot to release you now!"
"Seem to be a perfect idiot from where I'm sitting." The Prince threatened. Ah, so maybe this was going to be fun after all.
"Oh? Find my dagger then?"
His mark froze once more. Motionless. "Your-" he started but his voice threated to give out. Arthur cleared his throat and started again, in a much sterner tone, Falcon was impressed. "What do you mean, your dagger?"
Falcon clicked his tongue in his mouth. "Do you really, honestly think I was stupid enough to tie you up in a chair and coincidently leave a dagger right next to your hands to find? No. I left it there to see what you would do with it. You found it just seconds ago yet, amazingly enough, you are already part way through your bindings. Marvelous really. Of course, I would have already been free by now if I was in your place."
The Prince swallowed long and thick before talking again. "What do you want?" Merlin thought for sure he had been pondering his chances of one to one combat with the dagger.
"Finally asking a question!" Merlin twirled about the room launching into his story. "Let me explain the why first. You see, as you might have realized, I have been sent to off you. Now normally I would not have little sit-down meetings like this, my marks never live long enough you see. However, and don't let this go to your head, it seems you are a special case. The people I normally kill, well...let's just say they're the type that you could never find a single sole to tell me to stop. However today I met an...lets call him a man. Yes. A very interesting man. And this man claimed that I would be making a mistake if I killed you. And I only kill people who are truly unredeemable."
"A killer sorcerer with a heart? Impossible." Scoffed the prince.
"Many would agree with you," Merlin spoke twisting his way back over to where the prince was (no longer) tied.
"I will ask again Sorcerer. Since you clearly are an idiot after all. What. Do. You. Want?"
Falcon smiled, dark an menacing. The smile Merlin used when he needed to scare someone. "Simple. I just want you to answer one question. Knowing that I only kill unredeemable people, should I kill you?"
"No. You will not kill me. " Answered the prince.
"You sound pretty sure of that." Merlin shifted closer again. "So you think you can be redeemed then?"
"I DO NOT NEED TO BE REDEEMED, SORCERER!" Arthur practically howled. "I am the perfect prince; I have done nothing wrong!" And with that Arthur launched himself at Falcon, dagger in hand.
Falcon was ready for it though, waiting for the second to pull out the matching dagger to block the first blow. And the next. And the next. The fight went on for eternity, and no time at all. Where the prince excelled in strength and force, Falcon met it head-on with speed and experience with a dagger. In truth, Merlin had heard of the Prince's abilities with a blade and wanted to test it for himself. He was not disappointed, had this been a fair fight with the Prince's favorite blade Falcon might actually be in trouble right now.
The seventh slash of the dagger almost made its mark on Merlin's flank, but Merlin was faster, grabbing Arthur's wrist and spinning it around his back, forcing him to drop the blade as it's twin to the royal's throat. Merlin held the Prince there, long after the dagger had clanged soundlessly to the floor, and then even after the Prince's labored breaths slowed.
"Do you know why I am here?" Merlin asked. "Why I picked this job?" When he received no answer but a half-hearted struggle, Merlin continued. "Exactly 18 days ago you led a group of 23 Camelot Knights into a Druid encampment and slaughtered every. last. one. of them. Of course, I was propositioned by a third party to kill you, however, I took this job because you killed nearly 100 innocent people in that raid."
"They were not innocent." Grunted the Prince.
"How so?" Falcon demanded pulling his hold on the prince's arm further up his back. "Children, Mothers, honest families hiding in the woods, not bothing you at all and you lead a raid in the dead of night with the intent to hunt and kill."
"They were magic users!" Arthur snarled.
"Most of them were not!" Merlin snarled back just as hard. "Besides even if every one of them was a sorcerer, they would have still been innocent!"
"Magic is evil! It needs to be purged from the lands!"
"Bull. Magic is no more evil than any weapon of your craftsmen creation."
"Magic corrupts! It turns good people into scum like you!"
"False once more, young Prince." Merlin huffed. Maybe the prince was too far gone in his father's ways. "I had my magic years before the Assassins guild found me."
The Prince's breath caught audibly in his throat, making it bump lightly into Merlin's dagger. Merlin always secretly reviled in people reactions to this. The Guild was a bit like a nasty rumor. Never to have been confirmed to exist, but everyone knew about it nonetheless. The Guild was blamed for almost every murder, every strange death, every event that was unexplained. Tall tales grew like wildfire. Most gross exaggerations of the real events, but Merlin could tell you from personal experience almost every tall tale was at its roots more true than not.
"Now you see," Falcon spoke slowly. "I know 6 different fighting styles, can wield dozens of weapons with ease, and I have mastered a good half a dozen too, and this is all before I get to my magic." Falcon clicked his tongue before going on. "So it would be pointless to struggle. If I want to kill you, you would be dead."
"Do you want to kill me then?" The Prince asked in a slow careful voice.
"I WANT to know if you are redeemable," Merlin repeated. "So please continue telling me about the people you killed."
"They had magic, they could not be saved." Arthur gritted out.
Merlin sighed. "I understand you have been told this in the past, and that you have ample reasons not to trust my words now, however, I must inform you that magic is not evil. Not in the least. Magic is a tool, just as that dagger you used to try and kill me just minutes ago. It is not the tool itself that is evil, but the actions done with it."
The prince had stilled and Merlin decided to release him if only to make a point. The Prince staggered a few steps forwards before whipping back around to face his would-be assassin.
"LIES!" he spouted. "MAGIC IS EVIL! YOU ARE EVIL!"
"IF I AM EVIL THAN SO ARE YOU!"
It seemed to strike a chord with the Prince. Falcon saw a flash of emotion other than blind rage and fear. It looked like pain, but it was gone so fast it was impossible to tell.
"I-i'm not-" Arthur started, but Merlin cut him off.
"Prove it."
"What?-" But Merlin cut him off again, an idea already forming in his head.
"Prove right here right now to me that you are not evil."
The Prince's eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to speak: "You first."
A dare, a threat, something for the prince to say when he had been caught off guard. No matter. Merlin nodded. May the gods help him he was crazy. But there was just something about this Arthur, and Merlin could not put his finger on it. So with Merlin's magic singing in his veins, and the dragon's voice in his ears, Merlin walked calmly right up to the Prince, handed him his dagger, and kneeled on the cold hard stone floor, neck bared for destiny to witness.
"Here it is Arthur Pendragon. An evil person would never allow another person to pass judgment on them. An evil person would never admit they did anything wrong. But I kneel here in front of my own blade and I can tell you, I have done wrong. I have killed people. Many people. Bad people, but people nonetheless. I even enjoy the thrill of it all. I recognize I can be dark and depraved, but I work on a code and I would kill myself before I kill a savable sole. So I kneel and ask you, a person that does not even know my name to pass judgment on me. If you think I am truly evil then kill me now."
The blade was to his throat instantly. It held firm and pressed. Oh, gods above it pressed. In and in until it made fear jump to the corners of Falcon's eyes. It pressed until it began to cut into the skin at the side of Merlin's neck. Until Merlin could feel a single round drop of his life source leak from the dagger tip and slid endlessly down his throat. The icy feel of panic began to spread throughout his body. The dragon had been wrong, his magic was wrong, he was wrong. And here he was sure he was going to die here by his own dagger held by Arthur's hand.
And then the dagger stopped.
And Merlin had to tap on his magic to see if he had frozen time because they stayed that way, Merlin on his knees, dagger to his neck, for a seemingly limitless amount of time.
Finally, Merlin dared to look up and meet the Prince's eyes. What met him there was astounding. Held within the Prince's eyes were so many emotions Falcon could not trace them all. The fear and rage were still there, but now they shared the crystal blue eyes with shock, anger, thoughtfulness, dismay, understanding, and if Falcon was not mistaking, unbridled pure awe. Something just clicked then.
So Merlin took a breath. And another. His lungs happy for the fresh air, his heart still beating (only slightly) faster than normal. Finally, Merlin saw acceptance, and then just a hint of irritation play out on the Prince's, admittedly handsome, face. The dagger wavered in place for half a second, then was pulled away completely.
"You are clearly the biggest idiot I have ever met."
And Merlin snorted, or went to snort- but instead, his snort turned into a giggle and the giggle turned into a full-bellied laugh. Oh! Merlin could not remember a time he laughed this hard. He would have to thank the dragon. Merlin chanced another look at the Prince. Arthur was still standing stiff, unsure of how to deal with the mad assassin on his floor. The dagger had hit the stone tile, joining its twin sometime in Merlin's laughing.
Eventually, Merlin stood and gave a small but hugely meaningful bow of his head. "And you Sire," Merlin started, still smiling, "are clearly the biggest Prat and Dollophead I have ever met."
"That's not even a real word!" Squawked the indignant prince. But Merlin caught a small, curve of the Prince's lip before it was quickly schooled away. It was okay though because Merlin's full face blinding grin was big enough for both of them.
However, the light mood faded as quickly as it had come and the heavy and tense atmosphere once again filled the room with the reality of what had just transpired hit them both.
The Prince was the first to speak again. "What now?" He questioned, almost more as if directing the question to the universe as opposed to the assassin in his midsts.
Merlin turned and walked, picking up the first dagger that had been dropped that night. He did not miss the way Arthur immediately tensed. Merlin maintained cautious eye contact with the prince as he grabbed the second dagger that had come to rest beside the royal boot.
"In truth," Merlin began "I am unsure. I have never failed a mission before. But as fate as our witness, it seems we are both salvageable soles in her eyes." Merlin looked thoughtful for a second before going on. "I suppose we will part ways. I will tell my contractor to keep his money and not to contact the guild again. And then I will be gone from Camelot and we will never to see each other again."
The Prince nodded, his face schooled and professional, all the king he would one day become. "As payment for sparing your life tonight, I demand to know who hired you to kill me."
Prat. Definitely a prat. "Ah, ah ah Pratdragon!" Merlin said waving his finger out before Arthur. "If you remember first I spared YOUR life, still sparing it really because I would still kill you now if you had not passed my test. So by the gods, we are even, and I owe you no explanations."
This time the Prince frowned. "No. I deserve to know who paid to kill me! It's my right!"
"By the code, I cannot just go around handing out names, bad for business, I'm sure you understand. However, before I depart I want to know; did I change any of your grand views of the world tonight?"
But Arthur could return fire with just as much disdain. "That's none of your business, I'm sure you understand. And you're not leaving that easily-"
"Of course I am," Falcon said. "First thing about being an assassin means I can go wherever I want whenever I want, and no one can stop me. I will leave just as easily as I came and entrapped you."
"Stop. How exactly DID you 'entrap' me? All I can recall is entering my chambers and then-"
"-waking up and playing dead for half an hour? Ah well, it's simple. I just did this." And Merlin's eyes flashed gold and the Prince fell into a deep magical sleep for the second time that night. Only this time Merlin tucked him into bed instead of tieing him up.
I have not done too much writing, but if you want more ya'll gotta tell me k? I also need a beta reader plz to correct any errors.