A huge, huge, huge, huge, HUGE thank you to Death Knight of Camelot and prettydawn, y'all totally made my day :D
Disclaimer: I own a temperamental computer and lots of homework, and if I owned Merlin, then I would treat myself to a ski vacation in France. As of yet, my butt rests in the South, completely snowless…
No Longer a Stranger
"So tell me, what do you think about Camelot? What's it like there? Is it really as grand as everyone says it is?"
"I, um… It's nice, I like living there. Never a dull moment," Merlin was studiously studying the leaves of the plant he was picking, avoiding Amiria's direct gaze "smells awful though. You would think that a city of Camelot's size would find some sort of efficient plumbing system."
Amiria laughed, "I've been to large towns before, but never anything as large as Camelot, though I wish I could. I love large places, the hustle and bustle of the market, the dozens of shops...I still can't believe that Alice went without me."
"So why did she?" Merlin asked. This had been bothering him ever since he and Gaius had arrived at the cottage; Amiria seemed very close to Alice, why would she have been left behind?
"The original plan was for Alice to go into the city, and I would come once she sent word for me. 'Twas the strangest thing, I usually go into a city first, if we have to go in separately at all."
"Do you think it was the influence of the…you know…"
"Manticore? No, we had made plans to visit Camelot long before we met up with the Manticore. I told Alice that the whole deal with that…creature," she spat out the word "was not a good idea, but who listens to their apprentice I wonder? People other than the foolish old women who get possessed by evil-demon animals, that's who"
Merlin chuckled at the exasperation in Amiria's voice, stopping when she raised an eyebrow at him in a vaguely familiar way that he couldn't quite place…
"I suppose that you've had this discussion before, then?"
"A few times…maybe," Amiria blushed and seemed to deflate a little "Alice is always telling me to watch my tongue, that it might start running and the rest of me will have no choice but to be dragged along with it."
Merlin stood up and looked down on the spunky little blonde, realizing that the top of her head barely brushed the top of his shoulder. "I definitely know how that feels, but if you were talking to Gaius, he would say something very similar. Though it would probably be about my brain, I have a very nasty habit of not thinking things through."
Now it was Amiria's turn to laugh at the gangly young man in front of her, absentmindedly noticing that he was extremely cute, especially with those ears.
"Have you lived in Camelot your whole life?" she asked, returning to her prior line of inquiry.
"Erm, no, I grew up in a town called Ealdor. It's a tiny farming village, just outside of Uther's kingdom; and by tiny I mean," he held his pointer finger and thumb together for emphasis "really tiny. What about you?"
"To the best of my knowledge, somewhere in Caerleon, but I don't think I'll ever know for sure. Alice refuses to talk about anything before my second birthday, and if she doesn't want to talk about something, it isn't talked about."
"Speaking of Alice, what do you think she and Gaius are up to?"
"I don't know, you don't think that they led us all the way out here for some sort of ron-de-vous do you?"
"Blech, bad images!" Merlin shook his head repeatedly "They won't go away!"
Amiria made a face, "Yuck, this is not good for my head. Why did you have to go and make an innocent statement nasty?"
"You're the one who said it, not me!"
"Well, I didn't mean - touché" collecting her shards of dignity, Amiria knelt down to collect more mint leaves.
"Did you hear something?"
"What was that Merlin?"
"I said, did you hear…something…" standing behind Amiria was a huge wolf, quite larger than any wolf Merlin had ever seen before and looking very hungry.
"Amiria, there is a wolf, standing right behind you. Now, can you try to move this way?" Merlin the young and dorky apprentice had gone, leaving Merlin the confidant and in-control sorcerer in his place. However the opposite could be said for Amiria, as she stood quaking on the ground, frozen.
"Amiria," Merlin tried to coax her gently, not letting his growing concern show in his voice.
"I-I can't- I can't move," her breaths now coming in short gasps, Amiria looked on the verge of tears. "Make it go away Merlin, p-please?" her voice cracked on the last word, and Amiria hated how weak she sounded, but couldn't make herself move, not even an inch.
Merlin, very conscious of the quickly approaching predator, was having a huge internal debate. Should he use magic to scare away the wolf, or should he try some other method and potentially provoke the wolf further? Time was running out, 'decide Merlin, your secret or her life' he had to choose, as the wolf crept closer he spoke; "Soprar o vento para lonxe de min"
An invisible wind-like force swept up the creature and deposited it hundreds of meters away from where Merlin and Amiria were.
Still not believing that he had just revealed his magic to someone he barely knew, Merlin was now the one frozen, as Amiria slowly stood up.
"Well, that was...interesting. I guess Alice wasn't lying about the most powerful sorcerer in hundreds of years living right under the king's nose. Do tell me how you keep it hidden, very few people would be able to believe on first sight that you possess such power."
She seemed to be recovering quickly, but Merlin wondered if she really was okay, her still shaking hands a give-away to her fear."
"Are you not scared of me then?" Merlin asked, feeling very wary of the whole situation, though Amiria's falsely chipper attitude was making him feel better.
"As long as I'm not on the recieving end of that blow, I think I'll manage. You forget that Alice drabbles in the art of magic, and as her apprentice, I do too. My powers are no match for yours though."
"Your powers?"
"Yes, for as long as I can remember, the magic has...spoken to me. It whispers in my ear, telling me secrets about herbs and healing incantations that Alice says are hundreds of years old and often long forgotten. She said that it was a special gift, that I should be careful who I tell and never tell a stranger I only recently met, which I just did. Oh no! She's going to kill me"
Merlin had to laugh, "We're even, I think you just joined the very elite group of those who know my secret. Some of my best friends don't even know that I am what I am." As he finished, he sat dejectedly on a rock, hating the lies and cover-ups needed to ensure that Arthur would fulfill his destiny as Camelot's greatest king.
"Hey," Amiria laid one small hand on his arm, and forcing him to look at her with the other. "I know what it's like, to not be allowed to be yourself, and it sucks. But, the truth will come out one day, magic will be restored to Camelot and people like us will be allowed to live in peace. You have to believe in that future until the day it comes true, and I know it will. Especially with you so close to the Prince, things will get better."
Getting lost in his deep blue eyes, Amiria didn't hear the thunder until the raindrops landed on Merlin's nose. Breaking himself out of a similar trance, Merlin suggested that they head back before they were missed and Amiria quickly nodded in agreement.
As they were walking out of the woods, she said on impulse, "You know, after everything today, I don't think we're strangers anymore."
"If we're not strangers, then what are we?" Merlin inquired, wondering what this girl could possibly have up her sleeve.
"Friends. And as a friend, I want to thank you, for back there with the wolf. I'm not usually so scared of animals, but wolves are another story so…thanks." and with that Amiria gave Merlin a quick, only kind of awkward hug. The pair let go as soon as was appropriate, and both turned bright tomato-red.
"Don't worry about it." He was going to say more, but the little cottage was up ahead and the rain was falling harder now. "Let's hurry up and get inside"