A/N Thank you for all the reviews! I noticed that I've had a lot of comments about Merlin being too forgiving. In a way, I don't disagree with you, but I've always thought Merlin was too forgiving of a character.
Hopefully this will explain some of his thoughts?
Seansey—Thanks for the input! I've always seen Merlin as an overly forgiving character, but maybe that's not entirely correct. Hopefully this chapter will explain some of his reasons for his actions? Even if they're not that good? And about the last chapter… I wanted to give Arthur another chance to judge magic, and to me, he seems like the sort that would think that children are innocent and would be more likely to forgive them. (Although we know better! That little Mordred…) Anyway, that's off topic. Originally, I was going to have him encounter another young child using magic, however I thought that would be too unlikely, as magic is supposed to be fairly rare and for most people, only develop at later ages. Since this was the first time Arthur has caught someone using magic in a long time, it would be too unlikely for him to catch another so soon. So I made Merlin deliberately show him.
Anon—Thank you! I look forward to writing them!
PyroET—Oh, wow. You just spoke my worst fears for this fic. I hope it doesn't become too scattered, although I admit it will probably feel that way in the beginning. I'm hoping it will all tie together at the end? And thanks, I'm glad that I was able to create some tension. Nice rant, by the way.
Guest—Yes, I agree. I think his extreme loyalty is more of a flaw, actually.
Merlin's head felt completely scrambled. After he had woken up, his mind had felt refreshed, and the events of the previous day didn't hurt so much. But that conversation had rubbed something inside of him raw again. He was fighting a battle between his raving anger at the injustice of his king and queen, and oddly, extreme guilt. He couldn't just stand by and watch as Arthur turned into a replica of his father. The sensible thing to do would be to leave, or teach him a small lesson… But he felt a pang in his chest at those thoughts. Arthur, Gwen, the knights… They were his best friends, and had been for years. He couldn't just let that go, not when he had wanted to fit in for so long... And Arthur, in every other respect, was shaping into a really great king. There was just this one, major flaw, which was actually Uther's fault. And there was still time to change his mind... And then there was Gwen. She was the most kindhearted person he knew, she just happened to have been raised in Camelot, raised on a lifetime of lies. Plus, Arthur had probably had influenced her, too, in this particular case not for the better. Sadly, the views of the people of Camelot were mostly the same as well. He shuddered when he remembered the glares of the people from that village. So, he guessed that he could understand.
But this was just so wrong. He couldn't really stand by while that happened…
He could hear Gaius' words right now. Welcome to my world.
And with everyone acting so friendly, it was hard to not fall back into a sense of normalcy.
As they neared the castle entrance, Merlin decided it was time to stop pretending to be unconscious, since he had lost any feelings of dizziness. Arthur and Gwen's conversation had been depressing. And honestly, he had enough of depressing for the past few days. He decided to just forget about it for a little while, like he usually did.
So at the main entrance, he decided to jump up and startle everyone.
"Merlin!" Gwen exclaimed, panting and wiping her brow. He had almost accidentally smacked her in the face.
"Sorry," he said, sheepishly. He felt bad for the work she had just had to do.
"You're alright?" Arthur asked brightly.
"Yeah, I'm alright," he said. Then he noticed Arthur's right arm was hanging crooked to the side, and he could barely rest any weight on his right ankle, which was swollen. That would explain Gwen dragging him. Arthur must have fallen out of a pretty big tree. He opened his mouth to tease him about it, but caught himself. He was supposed to be unconscious during that time.
"What happened to you?" he asked.
Arthur grimaced, and gave him an annoyed look.
"He fell out of a tree," Gwen said, biting her lip.
Merlin's eyes widened. Times like this made it hard for him to stay angry long. "And what were you doing up in a tree, sire?" he asked, politely.
Arthur rolled his eyes, not wanting to answer.
"He was… concerned about you. You had disappeared." Gwen bit her lip again.
Merlin gave him a slightly disturbed look. "Arthur, you do know, we've had this conversation before, about you coming to watch me—"
"You disappeared! For a long time! And we found you babbling about something."
Merlin raised his eyebrows.
"You were! You were having some sort of one-sided conversation."
Merlin rolled his eyes. Arthur could be really oblivious sometimes.
Suddenly, he was smothered by someone's arms. Someone who shouted, "Merlin's back!"
"Gwaine!" he protested.
The knight laughed. Then he stopped, catching sight of Arthur. "What happened to the princess?"
"He apparently fell out of a tree," Merlin replied.
"Merlin!" Arthur shouted, annoyed. The king was stumbling his way up the stairs, Gwen following politely behind.
"Would you like me to help you, sire?" Merlin asked.
"No, Merlin. I can take care of myself." He glanced backwards. "Although, I'm ordering Gwaine to carry you to the physician's chambers."
Gwaine suddenly looked alarmed. "What? Why?"
"He passed out," Arthur grunted.
Not wasting any time, Gwaine hurried over, and, to Merlin's horror, scooped him up and darted past Arthur. "Put me down!" he shouted, kicking in the air. This was insane! He was not helpless! At least not anymore… Gwaine wasted no time in racing up the stairs and heading toward the physician's chambers.
The knight burst in and placed him on an empty bed. Merlin immediately stood back up. "I'm fine," he retorted.
Merlin noticed that Percival and Leon were sitting up, their heads still bandaged. Gaius was giving them some sort of potion, which meant they hadn't been cleared to go back to their own chambers. He must have given them really bad concussions.
Arthur stumbled in, collapsing into a chair, accompanied by a concerned Gwen. Leon pointed towards him, bringing his entrance to Gaius' attention.
"May I help you, sire?" he asked. The physician noticed the way his arm was lying crooked.
"Yes, Gaius. Just… fix this," he said, exasperated.
Arthur grimaced while Gaius worked. Then he caught sight of Merlin and jabbed his finger in that direction. "Wait, did you see to him?"
Bewildered, Gaius looked around. "No, sire, he didn't say anything was wrong."
Arthur gritted his teeth. "That idiot! Gaius, he passed out. He looked deathly ill before he did, too. Please, I can wait. See if he's alright."
Gaius was examining his ward, who was standing up and appeared to be perfectly healthy. Then he glanced concernedly at Arthur's broken bones. "Are you certain, sire? Whatever it was seems to have passed—"
"Just, make sure, okay?"
Gaius and Merlin exchanged glances. Giving in, Merlin rested on a bed while Gaius did a standard physical examination. Merlin was wondering what triggered Arthur's excessive worry. He knew that Arthur occasionally was managing to show concern for him, such as when he went back in the tunnels at Ealdor. But surely Arthur had caught him doing stranger things than this. And it wasn't as if he had almost died...
"He's fine," the physician concluded, walking over to finish treating Arthur. Once his arm was set and splinted, he bandaged his ankle and handed him a walking stick. Arthur looked repulsed.
"The arm is broken through," he said. "You'll be out of training for months. And you ankle is fractured as well. You'll need to lie off of it for about eight weeks."
"Eight weeks, Gaius?" he asked, horrified. "Isn't there anything you can do to speed it up?"
Gaius shook his head. "I'm afraid not, sire. Although you can by resting and eating well."
Arthur groaned and Gwen held his hand comfortingly.
"If I may ask, sire, what was the cause of your injuries?" Gaius continued.
"Don't ask," the king replied, quickly grabbing his walking stick and hobbling out the door with his wife.
"So, Merlin," Gwaine piped in, once the door had clicked shut, "Arthur's out. And Leon's out. Which means no training."
Merlin snorted. "Yeah, maybe I won't have to sharpen Arthur's sword for a little while."
"Hmm." Gwaine paced around. "I was thinking maybe I could help you… pick herbs."
"Why would you want to do that?" Merlin asked, dumfounded.
"Oh, let's see. Say, there are a few herbs that have secret, rare abilities that only you and Gaius know about. Those sorts of herbs must have miraculous stories of saving people's lives. That would be something worth hearing."
Merlin blanched as Gaius turned around, his face contorted in horror.
"So! Ready for some herb picking?" Gwaine clapped his hands.
"Erm…" Merlin fidgeted as Gaius raised his eyebrow at him.
Just then, Leon started laughing. Everyone's eyes turned toward him.
"Gwaine, you don't need to invent such an elaborate cover story. We all know what you really mean."
Gwaine and Merlin exchanged alarmed glances.
"Relax. It's no secret anymore. Actually, it hasn't been for a long time."
Merlin felt his heart leap out from him. Had he really been that obvious? The timing couldn't have been much worse…
Leon rolled his eyes. "I'm talking about Merlin sneaking off to the tavern in the middle of the day. As much time as you spend in the tavern, Gwaine, I'm only surprised that you haven't gone with him before."
Somehow, that didn't relax Merlin. Now, he was just annoyed that Leon actually believed that he was in the tavern. And Percival was sitting there, laughing in agreement.
His eyes flashed as he hurried forward with Gwaine.
"What did you do to them?" Gwaine asked. They were sitting on a log in a small clearing in the woods.
Merlin shrugged. "Just gave them headaches."
Gwaine chuckled. "Don't like that they think you go to the tavern, eh?"
Merlin shook his head.
"Don't worry. In the future, I'll come up with better excuses than Gaius."
Merlin grinned.
"So, first thing. What happened this morning? When you passed out?"
Merlin stiffened. "Oh, that. It was nothing."
Gwaine frowned. "Nothing?"
"Yes, nothing." Merlin felt disgusted with himself. Despite finally gaining a friend who would understand, he was still lying. But he didn't think he could possibly explain about the crystal driving him crazy, and honestly, he wasn't quite sure what happened himself. "I was tired. I hadn't slept in… a while. So I passed out. I involuntarily fell asleep when I did, so I'm fine now."
That seemed to satisfy Gwaine. "Alright. You need to tell me all of the adventures you've been on."
Merlin shrugged again. "There haven't been that many."
"Merlin, I'd be an idiot if I truly believed that Camelot has been saved by all these magical invasions by luck. Now that I know about you."
"I'm not that good—"
"You incapacitated almost our entire guard system! Which, by the way, Morgana better not attack right now. She could probably just walk right in. Unless she ran into you…"
Merlin sighed, giving in. "Alright, I'll tell you!" He settled on beginning with Morgana's takeover of Camelot and working backwards. They talked for what seemed like hours, Merlin's back becoming sore. Throughout the conversation, he almost couldn't contain his excitement. He almost felt… free. He hadn't had a friend who knew who he really was since Lancelot died.
"I hope Arthur does change," Gwaine said, staring across the clearing before looking him directly in the eye. "For you."
Merlin nodded. He used to know that Arthur would change. Now, he hoped too.
"So, now I know who this mysterious Emrys is," Gwaine continued, grinning. "I had heard the name before, in my travels. Only once. But it stood out in my memory for some reason. Something about the way the cloaked people seemed to revere him."
"Really?" Merlin asked. He felt his cheeks turn bright red.
"And I can promise you that I will protect him with my life."
Merlin paused, letting this sink in. Somehow, despite being completely deceitful, he had gained the undying loyalty of a friend. He opened his mouth to speak, but he heard a snap in the woods.
"What was that?" he whispered.
Gwaine turned around and looked at the nearby thicket of bushes, where the snap had come from. He leaned in and whispered, "Rabbits."
Merlin frowned. There were a few more louder snaps.
"More than one," Gwaine continued.
Something on the ground crunched. "Gwaine, I think we need to move."
Just then, the bushes began to rustle, and Merlin jumped as three rabbits came bounding out.
The two broke into a fit of laughter.
"I must say," Gwaine said, catching his breath, "I don't think I could have timed that any better."
Merlin gasped, catching his breath. "Come on," he said. "The prat will be going frantic by now. He may be crippled, but he'll still expect me to do his chores. And he'll have an even harder time dressing himself now."
"Alright," Gwaine said, standing up slowly. "I guess story time's over. But that means we're starting our pranks on the princess. Soon."
Merlin felt himself bursting with glee. He couldn't believe that Gwaine had been so… accepting. At least he'd always have someone who would accept him for who he truly was. Besides Gaius. And if his pranks were slightly more cruel than usual, well, all he could say was that Arthur deserved it.
"You fool! You're lucky that I can conjure rabbits," the dark haired girl snapped.
"Me? A fool? I'm the one who found them!" an older, scruffy man replied.
"And you almost gave us away!"
The scruffy man rolled his eyes. "It wouldn't have mattered much, anyway, would it have? I'm sure you'd have had no trouble killing two magic-less folks."
"That's not the point!" she argued. "We're supposed to be spying. Not attacking and getting caught."
The two of them had panicked when they had nearly been caught by the knight and the servant. As soon as those two headed back to the castle, they had scrambled away. Currently, they were trying to make their way through a thicket of bushes with sharp, pointy needles that they had inadvertently run into.
"I think I know of a spell to clear a path for us," the man commented, looking around in the bushes they were trapped in.
"Really?" she said, hopefully. She was holding her bleeding hand.
"Áscýran," he spoke. His eyes glowed gold, and a single needle fell off of a bush.
The girl rolled her eyes.
"No, maybe that's not right. Míging," he spoke. His eyes glowed again, and from nowhere, a splash of water came out of the sky and hit the girl in the face.
Her jaw dropped, and her eyes flashed in fury.
"Alright! I get it! Listen to our mistress and leave the magic to you!"
She glared. "You're lucky I'm much more forgiving than her." She stomped forward, seeming to no longer care whether the bushes cut her or not. Despite her statement, she muttered, "Bryne," and the man cried out as a burn mark appeared down his face.
The two continued on in silence as they angrily pushed through the brush. When they finally got out, they were covered in thorns and scrapes. They both scurried off in the direction of their camp.
They saw her sitting on a log, puzzling over some runes that were carved in the dirt and holding a snake in her hands. If possible, her hair was an even greater mess than the last time they had seen her, and deep bags were set underneath her bloodshot eyes. Her face was deeply troubled, and several open, magical texts were scattered about her.
"Lady Morgana," the man said.
She jumped up and whipped around, dropping her snake and snatching a knife in the process. When she saw the two, she carefully lowered it.
"I trust you bring me good news?" she said, annoyed. The snake circled around her feet and hissed.
"My lady," he said, inclining his head. "We have very interesting news."
"Well?" she demanded, her fist clenching around her knife. The snake at her feet stirred.
The man paused a moment before continuing carefully. "We overheard Sir Gwaine and Merlin."
"And you didn't kill that thorn in my side?" she spat. Her snake was now slithering around her in a circle.
"No, we didn't. But you might not want to just yet."
She scowled.
"You see, I found them. And—"
"Enough gloating. I know better than to believe that you did all the work. Now tell me, whatever it is you have to say."
He gulped. "Sir Gwaine was telling Merlin that he knew who Emrys was. And that he would protect him with his life."
Curiosity flashed across Morgana's face. "And?"
"And, well, we thought you would like to know."
The witch paced around, studying the runes on the ground. She had obviously been working hard on something, but the two rogues weren't quite sure what. The snake spell didn't seem like it would take enough preparation to drive her to this deranged, frazzled state. They watched as she folded her arms, a permanent scowl etched on her face.
"More than anything right now, you need to know Emrys' true identity," He piped in. "You said so yourself."
She cast her eyes dangerously on the two sorcerers. "Tell me this," she said, sauntering forward. "If you caught them alone in the woods, how come you didn't kidnap them and bring them with you?"
Silence hung in the air as the two rogues exchanged alarmed glances.
"No answer?" She narrowed her eyes. "I'll just have to teach you two a lesson then, shall I?" She raised her hand.
"No! My lady!" the girl cried. "They were not alone. They were out with a few other knights. To kidnap them would have exposed us."
Morgana held her glare as the two sorcerers inclined their heads, their eyes pleading in fear. For a moment, the witch stared at her own hand, startled that she had threatened them over this. It wasn't as if there was anything she could do about their incompetence now, and she didn't want to make them too angry. And besides, she liked that girl. She reminded her of herself. Almost the same age, dark hair… and she was good at magic. Not anywhere near her own skill, of course. But they were clearly lying to her…
The other girl looked her in the eye. "I swear on my life, I would never lie to you."
Morgana's eyes glowed, and both of them screamed. It was over quickly, and they both took deep breaths and steadied themselves. Morgana narrowed her eyes for a moment again, then sighed, lowering her hand as if the lie didn't really matter after all. Then her lips twisted into an evil smirk.
"I hear that Camelot's guard system has been weakened after a sorceress' escape from the dungeons," she gloated, thoroughly enjoying herself. The idea clearly thrilled her. "Which… I'd like to recruit her, but that can wait. Luckily for you, the guards will be even more incompetent than usual."
The snake hissed again and barred its fangs, and concerned, she bent down to stroke it.
"You are to go into Camelot, tonight," Morgana ordered, standing back up. "Take two others with you, and capture the knight and that meddling thorn. I want them alive, but you can kill anyone else in the process."
They grinned wickedly.
"But please," she said, in mock concern, "don't leave any trail."
The two of them hurried off to find some of their fellow sorcerers. After her last takeover, which ended in disaster, she had figured out that if she was ever going to be queen, her biggest obstacle was Emrys. Morgana glanced down as her snake hissed once again.
"Don't worry, my friend," she said lovingly, running her fingers down its long back. "Once I know who Emrys is, he's as good as dead."
