Author note: Please let me know you are there! Please comment! This is my first story and I'm just a beginner, but I put my whole heart into this and it's important for me. Tell me what you like and what you don't, so that I can improve my writing!
'Come on Merlin!' said Arthur, pushing his servant over to the ground. 'You're not even trying!'
'I am…' said Merlin, trying to catch his breath and getting up. 'It's just…'
'Just what?'
'Well… Maybe not fair? Can't you practice with your knight or someone else?' asked the boy.
'You're hopeless,' murmured the prince and he walked away, leaving Merlin on his own. The boy touched his arm. It ached terribly. Actually his whole body did. For the last few days Arthur's been giving his servant a hard time. He's been preparing for the tournament and the thought about losing hasn't even crossed his mind. And that was why he had to practice. And because Arthur had to practice, Merlin had to be beaten. Of course he's tried to fight his opponent, but no one stood a chance of beating the Prince, especially not Merlin. He started walking slowly towards the castle. He would go back home, lay on his bed and rest, rest, rest and rest. At least that was what he thought he would do…
Aiden was running. Running as fast as he could. He didn't even know where he was heading. He just wanted to get away from everything and everyone. Even from himself. From his true self. He'd already been running for a very long time, when he finally got out of the forest and found himself in an open space. That was when he saw a castle in front of him. It was beautiful and huge, surrounded by many majestic towers with red flags waving on their tops. It was made of white stone and looked really impressive. It was just a stronghold. A stronghold, that no one has ever conquered. Aiden stopped. He had to think. What actually was he doing? He couldn't say. He just knew that he was scared. He ran away from home the previous night and then… And then what? Did it happen again? It was full moon last night. It had to. The boy looked at his clothes. They were covered in blood. He knew IT for sure. Aiden felt like crying. Something terrible has been happening to him and he couldn't fight it. But then a thought came to his mind. What if there was hope for him? Maybe he could find help in the castle? He's heard many times about Uther's hatred for magic, but what if someone in Camelot could help him? 'I have to try,' thought Aiden and started walking towards his only hope. Maybe towards him end?
Merlin's already reached the gate. He was about to go through it when he saw someone walking in his direction. It was a boy the same age as Merlin. Maybe a year or two younger. But this boy… Merlin realized, that something was wrong with him. He looked terrible. Tousled hair, clothes in pieces and covered in blood. He looked like a dead man walking, like a skeleton. Merlin ran to him.
'Hey. Do you need help? Oh God, of course you do.'
It took Aiden a while to realize, that someone was talking to him and to assemble an answer.
'I just… Need to get to Camelot. Need to…' he couldn't finish the sentence, because he's collapsed. Merlin's caught him in mid air and put him on the ground. Then he turned and ran in the direction of Gaius' chambers.
'Is he going to be all right?' asked Merlin.
'No need to worry,' replied Gaius. ' He's exhausted and he needs rest, but he's going to be fine.' Merlin breathed with a relief.
'Anyway, what are you going to do with him until he gets better?'
'You found him, he's your guest,' replied the physician. Merlin's already known what was on his mind.
'If you want to suggest putting him in my room…' here Gaius looked at his young friend with one of his 'don't argue with me Merlin' looks.
'…then I think it's a great idea.' Finished Merlin, knowing, that there was no point in arguing - he's already lost. He's had a good heart and he wanted to help this good boy as much as he could, but a perspective of sleeping on dirty, cold floor didn't seem very inviting.
Merlin was alone with the boy, who was still asleep. Gaius'd gone out, because he still had to visit some of his patients. Merlin was polishing Arthur's sword when he heard a quiet cough. It was the boy. He'd woken up.
'You're awake,' said Merlin, sitting on a chair standing beside his bed. 'Are you feeling any better?'
'Yes. I'm fine. I'm… Wait? Where actually am I? And who are you?' asked confused boy with a bit of uncertainty in his voice.
'My name is Merlin and you're in my room. We'd met just before you collapsed. What's your name and what happened to you?'
'I'm Aiden and… I can't actually say what happened. You wouldn't believe me anyway. And…I'm sorry. I didn't want to cause any trouble. I'll just go now,' said the boy.
'Trouble? My friend is a physician. It's his daily bread. Just make yourself at home and…'
Merlin haven't had a chance to finish the sentence, because Arthur's come in and started yelling at him about his sword, about his armor, about his horse and about all those things, that Merlin should've done long time ago. He stopped when he saw Trey sitting on Merlin's bed and staring at him.
'Sorry. I see you're busy' murmured the Prince.
'No… Actually, I was just going out' said Aiden, picked up his dirty, stained shirt, smiled at Merlin and went out of the room.
'Wait!', yelled Merlin, but Aiden had already gone. 'Look what you've done,' murmured Arthur's servant.
'Who the hell was that?' asked the Prince with a bit of disrespect in his voice.
'Gaius' patient. I found him unconscious under the gate. He should be resting now, but thanks to you he's gone! Gaius's going to kill both of us!' yelled Merlin. He didn't want to be so aggressive, but he was so angry!
'For the love of God, Merlin! You could've said!'
'No, I couldn't!'
'Yes you could!'
'Trust me: I COULDN'T!'
'MERLIN!'
'WHAT?'
'You've lost him, so now you look after him!', said Arthur and left. A second later his face appeared in the room again.
'And don't forget about the tournament.'
Trey has still been weak, but felt much better than he'd felt before. He was grateful for this boy who helped him, but he didn't like the one who was yelling. He must've been a noble or something, so he thought he could do or say whatever he wanted. Aiden's never liked people like him. Even though he was worried about his host, he's had more serious problems than yelling nobles. He's been weak, he's been lost and worst of all Aiden's been cursed. AIDEN HAS BEEN A BLOODTHIRSTY BEAST.
Merlin went out of the castle. He turned right, left and then right again, but there was no sign of Aiden. What if he collapsed again and was lying on the dirty street somewhere in this big town. Or what if he got himself into trouble and got locked up in the dungeon? Merlin's ideas were getting weirder, and weirder and weirder. He couldn't help it, but he was simply worried about this boy. Unfortunately the only thing that Merlin could do for him was to keep searching.
When Aiden was passing people on the street they looked at him suspiciously. He knew he wasn't looking very good, but it was still very annoying. He was walking down the street, buried deep in his thoughts when someone pushed him. He hasn't even had time to cry out, because someone hit him on his stomach. For a while everything went black, but then Aiden started to think clearly again. His father learned him how to fight and now he was going to use this knowledge to defend himself. He reached for a thick stick lying on the ground beside him, picked it up and hit his opponent on his chest. Surprised man stepped away from Aiden. The boy thought, that this idiot would just go away and then Aiden would have problem out of his head, but it's never so simple, is it? After a very short while things started to get worse. Things started to get worse firstly, because Aiden realized that he was fighting not one but three people. Things started to get even worse when Aiden saw that his opponents had taken knives out of their pockets. He had no idea what they wanted, but he knew one thing: he wasn't going to give up without fighting. All three bandits started running straight at him. He had to act quickly. He hit one of them on his knees. The man hasn't been prepared for that. He fell on the ground, right under Aiden's feet. The other two haven't had a chance to stop and they ran into their beaten companion. The boy hit one of them on his head, knocking him out. The second one must've cut himself accidentally with his knife when he was falling, because he was sitting on the ground, holding his hand and groaning in pain. Aiden didn't want to hurt anyone, not even bandits, but actually it was just self-defense. People had stopped to watch. Some were impressed and some wanted to arrest the boy and punish him. Aiden knew he was a good fighter, but he's never lied, especially not to himself, so he had to admit: this time he wasn't hurt just because he's had luck. A lot of luck. Still, there was one thing, that Aiden didn't know. When he was fighting he was watched by someone, standing in the crowd. It wasn't just an ordinary someone. It was the Prince Of Camelot, Arthur Pendragon himself.
Walking towards the castle Merlin heard people talking out loud. He could also hear something like… cheering. But what could be happening on the market in Camelot? Merlin turned around and started walking in the direction of these noises. He saw, that a large group of people had gathered around something. Actually, around someone…Merlin spotted Arthur, standing on the back of the crowd and approached him.
'What's going on?' asked Merlin. He was shorter than Arthur, so he couldn't see over people's heads, that the three men were lying on the ground and that there was also a boy, who was desperately trying to get away from this commotion. He's never asked for being involved in this. He just wanted to walk away, but it wasn't as simple as it may seem.
'You know what Merlin? I quite like this friend of yours,' said Arthur.
'The friend of mine? You mean the boy I've found…lost actually…Aiden?'
'I don't know his name and what he's doing here, but I'm going to find out,' said the Prince and he started to make his way through the crowd. Merlin followed him.
'Hey, boy!' he yelled over people's heads. Aiden recognized him. It was 'the yelling noble'. The boy wanted to run away, hide somewhere and then just leave the town. He's given up his hopes about better life here, when he realized what he's just done. Even if he could disappear right now, he didn't want to go back home, and he had nowhere else to go.
'I didn't do…' he started, but then Arthur interrupted him.
'What's your name and what do you think you're doing here?'
'I'm just… passing by,' murmured terrified teenager. The man who was talking to him was just few years elder than Aiden, but he's been making an impression of someone powerful and important. He's had a sword by his side and was wearing a scarlet tunic with a golden lion on it. Trey immediately recognized the dragon. It was the crest of the Pendragons, the royal family. So this man must be a knight.
'I think it's none of your business,' Aiden said. He's decided to change his vain. He wanted to make an impression of himself, being confident and he surely didn't want to show how scared he was. But…Maybe he's just made a mistake? Now it's already been too late to think about that. Merlin was just standing by Arthur's side and hasn't said anything from the beginning of the conversation.
'You may not know who I am, but I can assure you, that it is my business,' said Arthur.
'Really?' Who do you think you are, the King?' said Aiden sarcastically. When Merlin heard it he couldn't help smiling. This question sounded familiar to him.
'No my dear friend. I'm not the King. I'm his son, Arthur!' replied the Prince. Aiden realized that he'd gone too far. He was just smith's son. Compared to this man he was no one. He didn't want to be rude, he just didn't want to seem weak. What should he say now?
'I'm…Sir, I'm…I'm …' he couldn't say a word. 'I'm lost,' finished Aiden.
'Apparently you are. And apparently you've just beaten those gentleman.'
'I… they attacked me. I don't know why. I'd never seen them before and I haven't got any money, so…'
'Don't worry about it. I've seen everything from the beginning. My guards will take care of them. I'm more interested in your skills. You can fight well. Where are you from?' asked Arthur.
'I'm from Ousden. It's the village near the northern border. My father's a smith and…'
'And he learned you to fight very well,' finished Arthur.
'I just…It was just luck. I didn't do anything actually. That's it. You saw it for yourself. It had nothing to do with real fighting.'
'I know when I see the real talent. You acted quickly, you didn't panic. That's what counts in a fight,' explained the Prince. Aiden didn't know what to say. He's been in Camelot not even for a day and already, so much's happened. Merlin knew what the boy must've felt. The first time he met Arthur he was rude for him and he was beaten for that. Even though he hadn't liked him very much he saved his life. And what has he got as a reward? He's been made Prince's servant! Arthur, seeing, that Aiden didn't know what to say broke the silence.
'This evening I'm training with my young knights at the castle yard. I want you to be there. We'll see what we can make out of you,' said young Pendragon, turned around and walked away. Merlin didn't know what to do or say. He was sure Arthur would punish the boy, and instead he nearly made him a knight! He thought it wasn't fair. Merlin saved his life and has been made a servant and this boy made a fuss in the middle of the market and is getting rewarded now! Even though he was a bit jealous, he was relieved that Aiden was all right. Well… maybe not all right, but not worse than he'd been before the fight. The young warlock also felt guilty. He blamed himself for what happened. At least if he'd stopped the boy from going out, he wouldn't have had to fight anyone.
'Get away from here! There's nothing to look at!' yelled Merlin at gathered people. The guards have already taken away the bandits, people have come back to their usual business. Merlin and Aiden've been left for themselves again. Aiden was confused. He hasn't done anything special, actually he just made trouble, and the Prince has apparently liked him. The boy's heard stories about Prince Arthur – that he was a great warrior and that one day he surely would be a great king. It took Trey a while to come back to earth and realize that Merlin's still stood by his side.
'So…' started young sorcerer. 'You want to stand here forever or maybe you prefer some hot dinner?'. Aiden definitely preferred dinner, but he thought it would be better to apologize his host for walking away and for worrying him. He knew he would like this boy and that they had something in common. He hasn't known yet what it was, but he didn't want to start this acquaintance like that.
'I'm sorry. You helped me and I just… I thought…' he started. He's never had friends, so he wasn't quite good with apologizing and that sort of things. Merlin knew what the boy must've felt. He got the same feeling in his first day in Camelot when he saw Gaius, watching him when he was fighting Arthur.
'I know what you mean. Anyway, you don't have to explain yourself to me, do you?' said Merlin with an encouraging smile. Aiden just nodded and they started walking towards home.
