Hey!

So... about that on chapter a week thing... that didn't work out. XD Been playing too much Ark: Survival Evolved. I NEED ALL THE DINOSAURS!

This chapter was actually the last one to be decided and figured out. XD I wobbled back and forth on this chapter several times. I'm actually kinda happy with how it turned out. More light and fun than my previous stuff. And much shorter. This one came in at only 1700 words! Hope you enjoy!

Review Responses:

Linorien: Rereading? Oh my! I'm so glad you liked it enough to read it again! XD And yes... shenanigans are afoot.

AMirroredImage: I am back! When I need something to listen to and help me focus, I sometimes listen to tv shows on my phone and listening to Merlin on Netflix does wonders for my motivation. Lol

twinterfiction: Thank you thank you thank you! That did seem to be the main question from readers after The Fox's Net- What happens afterward with Merlin and the Amulet?

mersan123: Yeah. I find that in my life personally, it's always good to assume that naked incarnations of pure water shaped like dead former lovers know what they are talking about. Lol As for Leon, yeah, it is kinda sad, but at the same time that is why I like him as a character. He's the knight who has been a knight the longest and as proven when they thought Arthur was dying and Gwen was going to have to take the throne, his first loyalty is to Camelot itself. He is willing to push through the bad stuff to ensure that the people of Camelot still have a place to call home and knights protecting them. There has never been any doubt that Leon loves Arthur and would die for him, but in that episode, he was willing to put the crown on Gwen's head because that is what Camelot needed. And while he loves Merlin, he understands that Merlin is a potential threat when he loses control. I feel that he is the stability of the knights and I love writing for him. Sorry, mini Leon love rant. Lol Perhaps one day they will be one and the same... tee-hee. And I'm so glad people liked the original enough to go back and read it again! XD

Camrynrose14: Oh, thank you! I'm glad they are immersive! Emrys scares you, huh? Well... things are gonna get crazy before this story is over...

1983Sarah: I'm glad! Hopefully the rest won't have long breaks between them like this one did.

Guest: Fantastic suggestions! XD You will see this addressed soon. Lol. I like that you are thinking!


"Singing? You're telling me I should be concerned should a sorcerer begin to sing?" Arthur called over his shoulder with a laugh. He swiped a branch out of his way and was almost disappointed that his servant managed to duck out of its way as it swung back into place.

The king hefted his crossbow higher on his shoulder and wished once again that they had brought the horses further into the woods. The beasts were tied up near a stream some miles behind them near the city. Nervous and antsy, they were. The poor stable master's best breeding stock had perished during the siege, and so a hefty amount of coin had gone toward filling the stables again, but with horses that didn't yet know or trust their new masters. Arthur's own stallion had been begged free of his duties to sire a new generation of foals, and these days, the king was missing his calm and reliable steed. The mare he had been given was powerful and easily the pride of the lot they had purchased, but she was far too uncomfortable with her new master to be trusted to remain calm on a hunt. And thus, she and Merlin's new gelding had been left closer to the city, where the closed quarters of the woods could spook them no further.

The hunt had started promisingly enough, with Arthur pinning two small rabbits, but as game became sparser- due in part to Merlin's utter inability to move through the Darkling woods gracefully- it had become a simple walk. Despite the two dead rodents slung over his bony shoulder sending thin wafts of dead animal into his nose, Merlin found himself almost enjoying the day. The weather was beginning to give way to the warmth of summer. The sun shone in a cloudless sky and the canopy above them provided just enough shade to keep them cool. He had thus taken the privacy of their walk to speak to the king of magic.

"Cyning. Cyning, not singing," sighed Merlin, as he narrowly avoided tripping over the fallen log that Arthur had smoothly stepped over. "If they say cyning, they are referring to you. If they start singing, then they are using a magic I've no idea about."

"Is that the one that means kill?" asked Arthur, stopping to ponder suddenly enough that Merlin nearly bumped into him. "Cause if that's so, then they could be trying to kill anyone around."

"No, that's ábréotan. Cyning means 'king'. So unless there's another king around, they mean you." Merlin rolled his eyes as he readjusted himself after the abrupt stop. The rope that suspended the rabbits from his shoulder was wearing a thin red line across his skin to match the one from the leather chord around the back of his neck. "You've really no mind for languages, have you? Nor much else, if I'm being honest."

Arthur turned in place as though examining the surrounding flora, but did it in such a way that one arm of the crossbow clipped the side of Merlin's head. "I can't very well be blamed for not knowing the Old Tongue," he argued, putting his back to Merlin again and clipping the other side of the servant's raven head. "No one's been permitted to speak it in Camelot for twenty years."

Merlin grumbled something under his breath and followed as Arthur began walking again. "I've tried to teach you four words, and you can't keep any of them straight. You'd think fýr would be easy to remember."

"That's fear, right? Cause you're just saying fear."

"Flame, Arthur. Flame. If they say fýr, chances are they are doing something with fire."

Seeming to ignore the criticism, Arthur put a finger to his chin in thought. "And the fourth one was something that begins with 'b'.. beads... no, beans...Bee..."

"Bealdor."

"That's the one. And it means devil... an evil one or some such."

"Only to me. Arthur, bealdor means 'master'. If you hear me say that, it means I am referring to you, you prat." Arthur seemed to ponder the words for a moment before Merlin sighed heavily. "You've forgotten them all already, haven't you?"

Arthur scoffed and waved a hand over his shoulder at his servant. "Oh, what need have I for your fancy words? Excalibur doesn't need any commands." He tapped the blade at his hip and both king and servant could hear its magic hum in response.

Merlin made a quick violent gesture at the king's back. "These aren't for you to speak, Arthur! Since you haven't learned the language, you should at least listen for some of the words sorcerers use. I just figured- bepæcestran byre(1)!" There was a quick snap and clatter as Merlin shouted the foreign words.

Arthur laughed. "I don't speak the Old Tongue, but I am almost certain that was a swear." He turned to address his companion, but there was no one behind him. "Merlin?" Magic erupted into the air and Arthur suppressed a shiver. There was a soft thump at his feet and Arthur looked down to see the pair of dead rabbits Merlin had been carrying and tangled in the rope binding the two of them was the shimmering blue of his amulet.

Arthur looked up to meet the solid white of Merlin's eyes and he flinched a little. The black tattoos had already wound their way down the sides of his face and his eyebrows had come to a point. He appeared to be suspended upside-down above him. A long silence stretched between the mighty king and the all-powerful servant.

"My King," said Merlin in greeting, his voice echoing unnaturally around him.

Arthur finally blinked and swallowed. "Merlin. I mean... Emrys."

The wind rustled the trees and Emrys' began to slowly spin in place.

Almost as though he feared to break the gaze he held with this man that was and wasn't Merlin, Arthur inched to one side and ran his eyes up Merlin's body. He was suspended upside-down so that his head dangled just above eye-level. One leg leaned awkwardly to one side while the other was held completely straight by the rope around his ankle.

Arthur forced the laughter back down his throat. "Some sort of hunting trap... it would seem."

"It would seem, my king," said Emrys as the soft spinning began to aim his face away from the blonde.

"Probably bears, considering it was able to lift you... and so high."

"Yes, my king," agreed Emrys, his voice muffled slightly as he continued to spin away from Arthur.

Arthur allowed the smile, but again swallowed the laughter. "Well... You can get yourself down, can't you?"

As Emrys' spinning brought him to face Arthur again, the king noticed that Merlin's normally pale face had begun to turn a deep shade of red. Veins were appearing in his neck and forehead and when he spoke, he sounded congested. It was an odd sound, as even thick as though with an illness, the voice echoed in his head. "Of course, my king."

There was another long silence, and still Emrys hung and spun.

Arthur looked him over again. Emrys kept his arms to his sides as though he was upright and his leaning leg had been brought up alongside the one that suspended him, but bent at the knee as though he were simply standing on one foot. "Is there... a problem?" Arthur finally asked.

Emrys looked at him, eyes mildly watery and veins pulsing at his marked temples. "Not a problem, my king. It is simply... I fear the outcome."

At last, Arthur giggled. He cut himself off, cleared his throat and waved a hand. "If you're worried about looking more ridiculous landing on your face, don't. I think just hanging there like that tops it."

Emrys' mouth remained a thin line as his spinning began again to face him toward the tree from which he was hanging. "It is not that... Only... I was not meant for such... precision. Please stand away, my king."

Arthur raised an eyebrow, but obeyed, grabbed the dead rabbits and amulet, and walked a few paces away before turning back to look at the suspended warlock. Seeing him in his full dangling glory brought another round of laughter up his throat that he couldn't stop. Emrys didn't seem bothered and pointed an open hand up toward his feet.

There was an explosion of heat and sound and a few chunks of wood slammed into the ground at Arthur's feet. He looked down for only a moment, and when he looked back up, Merlin was on his feet in front of the tree. A few yards to his right, a massive tree branch hit the ground with a thud that Arthur felt in his feet. His eyes climbed the tree behind the servant, and could see the stump left behind jutting out of the thick trunk about fifteen feet above. When his eyes were forward again, Merlin was on one knee at his feet, head bowed.

As Arthur began to untangle the amulet from the rope around the feet of the rabbits, a thought struck him. "You weren't meant for such precision? You mean your magic wasn't?" he asked absently. He gave a soft cry of satisfaction as the amulet's leather chord broke free.

Emrys' raven head shook back and forth as Arthur slipped the leather strap over it. "I am magic, my king."

The air was suddenly breathable again as Emrys' magic vanished back into the gem. Merlin dropped forward onto his hands and sucked gulps of air into his lungs. He leaped to his feet. "What just happened...?" he demanded, looking around the forest as though struggling to get his bearings.

Arthur sighed and shoved the rabbits back onto his thin shoulder. "Had a chat with Emrys." He readjusted his crossbow and strode past the bewildered warlock.

It took a long moment for Merlin to formulate a response. "Emrys?" He turned and stumbled over the bushes and branches at his feet to catch up to the king. "How did that happen?"

"Bear trap!" was the only explanation Arthur seemed willing to give.


1: "Whore's son!"

Merlin swore in Old English. XD Hope you liked it! Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon. It is actually the first chapter I wrote for this story, but decided it fit better into the middle of the story rather than the beginning. For pacing's sake. Let me know what you think!