Author's note: Hello everyone! So, this is the first Merlin fanfic I have ever written. I was writing for a few of my other stories and kind of wanted to throw something new out. While watching a Merlin video on youtube, I came up with this idea of having Merlin be a druid and caught by Arthur, and is now bound to him by an ancient law of magic. This is the first Merlin fic I have ever written, so please no flames. I know I'm kind of late coming into the fandom, but I really love and enjoy this series (as do the rest of you), and want to see what people's response is.

Another thing to note is that this is a slash fic, which means Merlin and Arthur. If that isn't your cup of tea then leave now because I'm only warning you once. To the rest of you, enjoy

Warnings: Some man on man stuff later but for this chapter, none

Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin and never will. All OC characters that might show up later belong to me and will not become the main focus of the story

Pairings: MerlinxArthur, LancelotxGuinevere, WillxFreya, BalinorxHunith, UtherxIgraine

Summary: "If you are ever caught by a mortal, then you are bound to them until the day you die." Merlin had always known that if he left the Druid camp, there was a chance he would be hunted, but he never gave much thought about it until the day he was.

Chapter one: The Hunter

Merlin should have really listened to his mother about leaving the druid camp.

"At least take Freya with you, or Will," she had pleaded that morning as she cleaned up breakfast, blue eyes shining with worry. "Or even young Mordred."

"I'll be fine, Mother," he had promised, placing his hands on her small shoulders. "Who would even think of attacking me? I'm the most inconspicuous thing in the forest!"

Now he wanted to smack himself upside the head. How could he have been such a clotpole? Of course the universe loved to prove him wrong. "You make it too easy." Will had told him once, and now those words were echoing around in his mind. Pressing himself harder against the tree, he peered from over his shoulder at the knights who were now stopped at the stream.

There were five of them, along with five of their horses. Three of them were giving water to their horses while the other two sat on a fallen log, talking about whatever. He studied them from a far, wanting to get a closer look at them. One was tanned, with dark hair and dark brown eyes that held a kind light in them. Undoubtedly handsome, Merlin couldn't help but note. The other man was just as handsome, only with lightly sun kissed skin and golden hair. His eyes were a beautiful blue, rivaling that of the sky. However, Merlin knew who he was on the spot.

"Prince Arthur Pendragon," he whispered, moving his head away as to not draw attention. "Of all the people I have to come across!"

He could feel his heart thumping loudly as the Prince laughed at something the man next to him said and tingles of fear ran up his spine. If any of them walked forward, they would see him and catch him. He couldn't let them know he was a druid! He just couldn't! All the sacrifices his mother made for him would be in vain. They were risking their very lives by just being in Camelot.

He gulped, his feet moving a little from standing still so long. The sickening crunch of a tree branch underneath his left foot ruined his chances of hiding. He looked down with horror, watching as the branch broke into two pieces. "Maybe they won't notice," he murmured to himself. "Maybe they'll just go away and return to the castle."

Of course though, he was wrong. "What was that?" one of the men asked sharply. "I heard something!"

"Merlin….what are you doing? Run!"

He could hear Freya's voice project in his mind, her tone sounding scared. Looking up into a tree nearby, he could see her sitting up in it, mouthing at him to run. He nodded, preparing to launch himself from the tree, but his feet were refusing to move.

"Emrys, why are you just standing there? Run!"

He could not see where Mordred was, but he could hear the child's voice very clearly. Along with Freya's voice, the two of them swarmed around in his mind, one sounding worried while the other one sounded angry. Taking a deep breath, he launched himself from the tree, not looking back at the knights who had now passed his tree.

"Hey, you there! Stop running!" One of the knights called, sounding extremely upset.

Merlin continued to push on, his breath becoming heavier and heavier. There was no way he was going to lead the knights back to camp. If they discovered their hideout, then, they would kill everyone! That's what Knights of Camelot did. They murdered anyone with magic, child or adult. They had no mercy and killed without second thought. That's what he had been told his entire life and that way of thinking was not going to change any time soon.

"Halt! I said halt!"

"Owaine, hand me my crossbow!"

That didn't sound good. If anything, it made Merlin run even faster. He had to find shelter somewhere. A tree perhaps but not one near Freya's. If he put her in danger, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. He still had no clue to where Mordred was and that was okay with him. He wasn't overly fond of the boy, but he did not want to put him in any danger either.

He raced past two more trees, his feet getting more and more tired. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest, his mouth becoming dry as the air pierced his lungs. He looked around for shelter, but did not find one that was suitable. Unlike Freya, he was not an avid tree climber and could not climb them as fast as she could. He was too tall to hide in bushes and there were no caves around to be seen. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he was trapped.

And then, the most painful sensation happened.

Something sharp pierced its way into his shoulder, digging into the flesh and muscles there. He screamed, losing his balance and fell to the ground, shaking and twitching. The knights moved closer, one of them laying a hand gently on his shoulder. "You're alright," a gentle voice said in his ear. "It's just in your shoulder. We'll remove it soon."

Through teary eyes, he could see the dark haired man smiling gently at him, patting his good shoulder gently. "Did you really have to shoot him, Arthur?" the man asked, scowling at the prince.

"He shouldn't have started running then," Arthur shot back, coming into Merlin's line of vision. "If he had just stayed put, I wouldn't have had to shoot him."

The man just sighed and rolled his eyes in exasperation. The prince knelt down, tearing away at the fabric of his shirt to remove the arrow. Merlin groaned, still in too much pain to fight back. "No," he pleaded. "Leave me alone!"

"Don't be an idiot; you're injured," the prince scolded, narrowing his eyes at him. "We're not going to eat you."

The other knights laughed, excluding the dark haired one. The prince motioned for two of them to hold him down while his hands grabbed the arrow. Ignoring Merlin's scream, he slowly removed the arrow from his shoulder, not even giving any comforting words. "We need to get him to Gaius. I don't want the wound to get infected," the prince said to the other knights. "Let's move out."

"Look sire! The thing on his shoulder!"

Merlin wearily sat up, hiding his injured shoulder from the prince. "Don't touch me!" he spat out, trying his best to appear tough. "Keep away from me!"

The prince just sighed, having no trouble in removing Merlin's hand from his shoulder. "Don't be such a girl," he grumbled but his eyes widened at the sight of his tattoo. "You're a druid?" he asked in astonishment.

Merlin gave no answer and the man with dark hair knelt down. "That is a druid symbol," he said to the prince. "Do you know what this means?"

"Of course I know what it means! I'm not stupid!"

"If you are ever caught by a mortal, then you are bound to them till the day you die." His mother's voice echoed in his ears, sounding almost sorrowful. "No," he moaned, beginning to feel dizzier and dizzier. "No, no, no, no, this can't be happening!"

The prince just smiled, looking at his fellow knights. "My father will be pleased. It's not everyday someone catches a druid. Come on; up you go," he helped Merlin up, resting him over his shoulders. "Let's head back. I want to show my father what I caught!"

They headed back to their horses, Merlin lying limp on the prince's shoulder. What was his mother going to do? What was he going to do? He couldn't stay in the castle! Banned from using magic was a lifestyle he didn't want to live with. Or be slave to the son of Uther Pendragon! "Let me go," he protested, giving the prince a heated glare. "Please, let me go!"

"Oh no," the prince smiled, getting up on the horse and securing a strong arm around him. "My father will be very impressed with you. Druids are so hard to find now days."

The ride back to Camelot took less than fifteen minutes but to Merlin, it felt like hours. His shoulder throbbed, tears burning in his eyes. He wasn't going to deny that he was scared, but what could he do? He had never used his magic against people before and didn't really want to hurt anyone. Besides the prince, the others hadn't hurt him. If anything, the one with dark hair seemed really nice.

As they entered the throne room, Merlin's hands bound behind his back, two of the knights behind him pushed him onto his knees. The prince didn't even seem to care; he just walked right past him and up to the throne where the king sat, staring coldly down at Merlin. "Arthur, what is this?" he asked in a deep voice.

If anything, Arthur looked prideful as he spoke. "I caught this boy while hunting. He's a druid. I pierced his shoulder with an arrow and-"

"Barbaric."

Merlin turned his eyes to the voice, surprised to see a young woman with long, curly raven colored hair and intense green eyes. She glared at Arthur, not even scared of the prince. "You shot this poor boy with an arrow and now you're gloating about it? If you had any sense of decency you would have let him go."

"He's a druid, Morgana," Arthur replied in exasperation. "And it's a common fact that if you catch a druid, they are yours to keep."

"That doesn't mean you should!" Morgana spat back. "He has a right to freedom just like everybody else!"

"Enough, Morgana! Arthur is right, the druid boy is his to keep," Uther leaned forward in his throne, giving the woman a stern glare. He then turned his eyes to Merlin, looking at him up and down. "He seems healthy enough. As much as I hate the druids, it would be hypocritical of me to kill him. I have my own druid anyway. By keeping him here, we can reduce his use of magic."

"No!" Merlin couldn't stop the words from leaving his mouth. "I won't stop using my magic! I won't let you treat me like an object!"

He winced when Arthur smacked him on the head, his gaze dropping to the ground. "You will give your respect when talking to the king!" he growled, blue eyes blazing like fire. "Or I will have to punish you and don't think I won't."

"Get him out of my sight," the king commanded, removing himself from his throne and heading towards the door nearby. "Send him to Gaius to clean his wound up."

"Right away, Sire," Arthur picked Merlin up, taking him by the arms and leading him through the hallways. He could hear the clicking and swishing of a dress not far behind them, the steps sounding incredibly angry. When Arthur opened the door to the physician's quarters, he dumped Merlin down on one of the seats. "I will come back for you when Gaius is done patching you up. From now on, you will be my manservant. That means you will help dress me, polish my armor, clean my stables, and basically take care of anything that belongs to me. Is that clear?"

He didn't even give Merlin a chance to finish before walking out of the room, his strides long and confident. Soon after he left, the woman known as Morgana appeared, rushing to his side. She took his hands, the feeling of her hands warm against his cold ones. "I am so sorry," she said to him, her eyes looking into his gently. "If I had my way you wouldn't even be here. My name is Morgana. What is yours?"

He met her eyes slowly, giving a shy smile. "Merlin," he replied softly. "My name is Merlin."

"So Merlin is your name?" he jumped, turning around to see an old man with shoulder length white hair walk towards him, his old eyes stern, yet friendly. "I was wondering what all the fuss was about. Now I know why. Another druid has permanently entered the walls of Camelot."

Merlin narrowed his eyes. "Well it wasn't my choice to come here. If that prat of a prince hadn't caught me, I would still be with my family!"

The man held up a hand, landing it on Merlin's shoulder. "Believe me, I did not mean to anger you. Out of anyone here, I understand what it is like to be bound to someone," he ignored the confused look he got from Merlin. "I am Gaius, the court physician. For the time being or until Arthur says otherwise, you will be staying with me."

"I would rather go home," Merlin mumbled, ignoring the fact that the other two could hear him. "I need to see my mother; I need to see if she's okay!"

As he started to stand up, Morgana reached her hands out and planted him firmly on the seat. "Until I can convince the king to free you, it's best if you stay here."

He raised an eyebrow. "You would help me?"

She placed her hands on her hips, head cocked in bewilderment at what he said. "Do I look like the type of person who would sit by and let and innocent human beings be bullied by Uther?" he shook his head slowly, watching as her frown turned into a mischievous grin. "I will see if I can get you out of here. You wouldn't be the first person to be bullied by Uther or Arthur."

She closed the door behind her, leaving Gaius and Merlin alone. Merlin stared after her, blinking twice before turning to Gaius. "Who is she?" he asked. "The king's daughter?"

"His ward, actually," Gaius corrected, grabbing a brush and pasting some beige colored paste on his wound. "You're lucky Arthur knew where to shoot. If he had gone any lower he would have killed you."

"I almost wish he had," Merlin mumbled sarcastically. "I don't know what could be worse than being bound to a selfish prat like him."

"Well, being pessimistic won't change anything," Gaius reprimanded, wrapping a bandage over his shoulder. "You are stuck here and from experience, it is best to make the best of things."

"What if I try to leave?"

"Then Arthur will find you. Like it or not, you two are connected now. Though I'm not entirely sure how it works, he will know where you are and know when you are trying to break the bond," Gaius set the paste and bandages down, looking at him in the eyes. "Just stay put and do what Arthur says. If Morgana can find a way to convince Uther to let you leave, then do so. If not, don't try to leave. You're lucky to still be alive."

He sighed, knowing the old man was right. "I know," he sighed, his head beginning to throb with a headache. "I won't see my mother or friends again, will I?"

Gaius paused, staring out the nearby window and gazing down upon the villagers that were roaming about. "I can't say for certain," he began, still not looking at him. "But it would be best not to get your hopes up."

The door creaked open slowly, the head of a dark haired girl appearing. "Excuse me Gaius," she started, before her dark brown eyes landed on Merlin. "Oh? Who are you? I've never seen you around before."

Merlin gave a tentative smile. "I'm Merlin. I'm here to serve Arthur's every needs and desires," he said that last part in sarcasm, which didn't go unnoticed by the girl.

"You poor thing," she murmured, sitting down next to him. "I'm Guinevere, but everyone calls me Gwen. You're the druid boy everyone's been talking about, aren't you?"

He nodded, not even thinking of denying it. "Yes," he answered. "Unfortunately."

"Well then, while you're here, you're going to need some friends. Shall we be friends, Merlin?"

He took her hand slowly, finding to trace of cruel intentions in her voice. She seemed sweet and kind, a kind of girl that most people only meet once in their life times. In a way, she was like Freya, though Freya was nowhere near as forward as this girl. "Let's be friends," he answered back. "And I think you and I will get along just fine."

Well, that was the first chapter. I really appreciate feed back, so reviews would be nice. No flames please, but everything else is fine!