The Arrow

Part 1:

Arthur stood frozen with his back against the broad oak tree, trying to come to terms with what he was seeing. The summer sun shone brightly against his face and heated his chain mail to the point of discomfort but, the only thing he could feel at the moment, was the bitter chill of fear and betrayal.

There, hovering a mere inch from his forehead was an arrow - frozen as still as he was - and the bandit that had fired it was now lying half way across the field, thrown on his back by some powerful, unknown force.

Unknown? Well, not quite.

Arthur was still unable to take his eyes off the arrow that had almost killed him, but was also quite aware of the out-of-focus form of his servant standing shock-still in front of him. With a great deal of effort, the prince adjusted his focus and looked at the young man's terrified face. His eyes were their usual blue now, with no hint of the golden hue that had infused them a moment ago. Although the fear that filled their depths seemed even stronger than his own terror.

"Merlin ...?" His voice sounded strained and unnatural - as if it didn't quite belong to him. Above them, the birds started to sing happily, mocking the bizarre situation he now found himself in.

"I ... that wasn't me. It was ... ah ..." There was a quiet desperation in the young man's voice. Arthur's mind was racing. What would he say now? What would he do? What should he do?

"Merlin, the arrow? Would you mind?" Arthur managed eventually. It would be hard enough to face what was coming next, without having an arrow pointing at his head at the same time.

"Oh yes, sorry ..." There was no gesture, no words, no light in his eyes; the projectile simply dropped to the ground. Arthur focused on Merlin and the boy coloured under the scrutiny. There was no way he could deny it now but, despite the evidence, it still seemed impossible.

"Please say that wasn't what I think it was?"

"If that's what you want me to say."

"Merlin!"

"I couldn't tell you before Arthur. You know why?" He was begging him to understand, but how could he sympathise with this?

"How could you have such ... it's just not possible. All these years ...?" Words failed him again. Merlin shrugged and sat down on a nearby log. At long last, Arthur found he could move his body. He walked a few steps until he was in the shade, only now beginning to realise how hot he was. One part of him thought about going to sit next to Merlin, whilst the other part recoiled in horror at the idea. Was that fear he was experiencing now? Fear of Merlin?

"Are you going to tell Uther?" Despite the shock, despite the horror and the hurt, Arthur's heart gave a jolt on hearing the words and the way Merlin's voice had choked as he said them. Up until this moment he had not even thought of that situation - of his father's first law; he had been too shocked by the extraordinary, impossible idea that his clumsy, goofy, idiot of a servant actually had magic. He looked up at Merlin to see fear on his face and tears in his eyes, and just as quickly looked away, unable to face such obviously strong emotions or the significance of that very important question.

"I don't know."

"I-I understand but ... Arthur, I can't protect you if I'm dead." The prince looked back at him, shocked at his strong tone of voice as much as the statement itself. He opened his mouth to utter some put-down about how ridiculous that idea was, only to quickly close it again. Merlin had just saved his life and he had the uncomfortable feeling that, once he'd recovered enough to think things through, he would realise that it wasn't the first time. "Arthur," Merlin continued. "Please say something."

"Why? To make you feel better?"

"No, of course not." He passed a tired hand across his brow and took a quick swig of water from the nearby skin. Arthur suddenly realised that he was thirsty too. "I am sorry, truly I am. I-I couldn't help it. Apparently I was born this way in order to ..."

"Look, right now, I don't care about why you've broken the law, committed treason, lied to me, laughed behind my back ..."

"Not that. I never have ..."

"I should turn you over to my father. I should have you killed for this."

"Arthur, this is me, I just saved your life. You know I'm not evil, you know that I would never do anything to cause harm to you or Camelot?"

"I'm not sure of anything any more."

"Be sure of that, at least." He had believed the boy his loyal servant. More and more recently he thought he was beginning to consider him as a friend. But now? How could he ever trust him again? Could he even trust himself? Would he be able to live with himself if he turned him over to Uther to be killed?

Merlin held out the water skin to him and, after a long pause he moved cautiously towards him to take it. Merlin noticed his nerves as he approached and seemed uncomfortable to witness them. Arthur snatched the skin quickly and turned away to drink, embarrassed to show such weakness in front of his servant.

"You've been close to me all this time. All the opportunities you've had. if you'd wanted to cause me harm before now ... kill me ...?"

"Arthur, I've saved your life, and Uther's too; numerous times."

"But you've had the power to kill us all this time?"

"Or to let others kill you ... yes, but no more than any servant would have by more conventional means. I-I could never let any harm come to you Arthur. Quite the opposite ... I only want to protect you." The quiet confidence in which these words were spoken was somehow even more terrifying then the actual magic he'd witnessed earlier.

"Exactly how much power do you have anyway?" This time he did find the strength to look him in the eye, only to have Merlin turn away, apparently embarrassed.

"Ah ... I don't think you want to know that answer quite yet." Arthur groaned.

"I have no idea what to do about any of this," he admitted.

"Can't you just ignore it? Pretend it didn't happen? Just let me return with you? Have me keep doing what I've always done, work for you, keep my head down, keep my secret. In time, you'll see what use I can be to you."

"Or I could order you to leave. You could go home to Ealdor." He paused suddenly remembering the time he'd visited the village with Merlin and groaned. "Oh. That wind. It was you!"

"You're going to get a lot of those moment from now on," said Merlin, with just a touch of his old humour showing through. Arthur glared at him and he quickly made his expression neutral. The two young men remained silent for a long time whilst the birds continue to sing their summer songs and the crickets joined them with their own early evening chorus.

"It's getting late," Merlin said eventually. "What do you want me to do?"

"If I said you were to come back to Camelot with me to face charges of sorcery?" Merlin pulled a face.

"I think I might have to refuse." Arthur stared at him for a long while. An hour ago that answer would have seemed highly amusing to the prince, but now he was fairly confident that it was the absolute truth and that he did not have the ability to make Merlin comply.

"And if I just left you here? Returned with some excuse as to why you weren't with me?"

"It's my destiny to protect you Arthur," Merlin replied and the prince again looked at his servant, shocked at hearing such a firm and confident statement. "I don't have a choice any more than you do. One way or another I would find a way to keep an eye on you."

There was another very long silence.

"I'm going home," said Arthur eventually. "This afternoon never happened. You can follow me if you wish."

"Then I shall follow you. I would do so anyway, even if it wasn't my destiny."

A/N Another little sample of my "Reveal" fics from an Advent Calendar collection. As such I have tied three ficlets together to follow a short story. Part Two is a poem, Part Three is a monologue from Arthur. Sorry, definitely only three "chapters" for this fic but a new long multi-parter is on it's way very soon!