So, a year... I have an explanation if you'd really like to hear it. I've been studying for this. (Well of course I have life outside but that's not the point). I've done a lot of planning, studying, going around with ideas and theories, read a lot of material for clothing, religions, education, history, legends and myths, so forth so forth. Now I got sick of this chapter just lying around half done so I finished it and post it now. I want to be authentic, but I'll probably take very many artistic freedoms with stuff, for which I'm going to explain a few things at the bottom. But no more prattling, I hope you enjoy and forgive me, I was anxious to just get it out. (Hox! No beta used)
"Merlin Enya Wyllt! How could you be so foolish?!" Gaius shouted immediately after they reached the physician's chambers.
Merlin was waving her hands frantically in the space between them, trying to come up with something to say. "He attacked me, I was just defending myself!" And it was true, she never wanted to run away from mace wielding killing prodigy. Arthur did say he was trained to kill since birth.
"You could have just walked away! But you must defend yourself against a prince! With magic! Magic must be studied, mastered, and used for good! Not for idiotic pranks!" Merlin could see that Gaius was very angry at the moment, but something in his words made her to lash out right back at him.
"What is there to master? I could move objects like that before I could talk!"
"Then, by now, you should know how to control yourself!"
"I can't stop! And I don't even want to! Magic is all I have, what am I without it? I'm just a nobody, and I always will be. If I can't use magic, I might as well die. Believe me, I have tried!"
Frustrated tears started to make their way into her eyes and Merlin hurried to her room to hide them. If she had stayed just a second longer she might have seen Gaius' dumbfounded expression turning from shock to realization and then lastly, pity.
After letting Merlin cool down a bit, Gaius gathered his medical pack and carefully peeked to his niece's room. He found her laying on her bed, back turned to the door. He sat beside her and gently shook her awake. "Merlin? Sit up. Take your shirt off."
"Why?" Her face was showing sleepiness and confusion when she sat up and faced him.
"I need to clean your shoulder wound." Gaius explained softly, waiting her to wake up fully to understand the happenings around her. It took only a moment for her expression to clear up and the words to hit their mark.
"Huh, I didn't even notice he got a hit..." Gaius turned around so she could have her modesty while complying with his request. She covered her chest and Gaius started to dap the bruise on the right shoulder with a damp piece of cloth.
"You preferred your left arm when waving them around." He gave as an explanation.
Merlin remembered the thoughts that have bothered her on occasions these last days and contemplated if she should ask Gaius about them. She hesitated at first, but after a deep breath decided to share her thoughts. "Gaius? What was the woman's name? The one whose son was executed?"
Gaius seemed taken aback for a second before simply answering: "Mary, Mary Collins. Why do you ask?"
"I... I felt her pain when the axe came down and I felt her sorrow when the head rolled on the pavement and I felt her thirst for revenge when Uther declared the celebration. What does it mean?" She would be lying if she said she wasn't a little concerned. And Gaius' next words didn't help that feeling at all.
"I'm not sure."
She remembered the dark feelings swirling in lady Helen's chambers too and before thinking told, about those as well. "There's more. When I was in the lady Helen's guest chamber I felt these same feelings, just fainter, but I believe they were the same." Gaius just looked thoughtful and didn't comment on that. He put some kind of salve on her shoulder to help with the bruising. Other disturbing thoughts made their way to Merlin's mind and she blurted them out of her mouth.
"You don't know why I was born like this, do you?"
"No."
"I'm not a monster, am I?" Merlin tried to cover her fear in a joking manner, but the words still fell from her lips strained. For a moment she imagines he is going to confirm her fears. Gaius grab her good shoulder firmly making her to meet his sincere eyes.
"Don't ever think that."
"Then why am I like this? Please, I need to know why."
"Maybe there's someone with more knowledge than me."
"Like who? You are the most knowledgable man I've ever met. If you can't tell me, no one can."
Her great uncle gave her a potion for pain and after putting her shirt back on she found herself drifting to sleep once more.
"Merlin!" The same familiar voice called her in her dreams again and again until it woke her up. It was still dark outside so she followed her hunch and tried to follow the voice. She remembered hearing it on the dungeon cell so she headed there first.
The strange magical feeling guides her pass the guards who are easily distracted and down iron gate shielded stairs to a huge cave. The ceiling is high and filled with pointy shapes that looks a little like melted wax, only darker and made of rock. There is soft blue light in some parts of the cave and Merlin can hear a howling wind somewhere outside. The howling is companied by clinging noise inside the cavern.
The magical pull ended here, so Merlin called out. "Hello! Is someone here? I know you called me, where are you!"
"I'm here!" A great golden dragon flies to a rocky platform in the middle of the cave and inspects the lanky looking girl on mens clothing in front of him curiously. Merlin is a little startled by the size of the golden beast but is calmed by the odd and familiar presence within it. She too is curious about the creature in front of her and the two just eye each other for a while.
"How small you are for such a great destiny." The dragon opens up the conversation. His statement just confuses Merlin more and she can't help but just ask about it.
"Why? What do you mean? What destiny?"
"Your gift, Merlin, was given to you for a reason."
"So there is a reason." Excitement starts to bubble inside her being for finally getting answers after 18 years of living in the fog.
"Arthur is the Once and Future King who will unite the land of Albion."
Merlin eyes the huge creature in front of her warily and almost subconscious 'right' falls from her lips. The dragon seems unfazed with her disbelief and continues his story. "But he faces many threats from friend and foe alike."
"I don't see what this has to do with me." Merlin states, having enough with waiting to know about her magic more.
"Everything. Without you, Arthur will never succeed. Without you, there will be no Albion."
Merlin regals her communications with the prat of a prince who is the only Arthur she knows. The dragon can't possibly be talking about him of all people. "No. No, you've got this wrong."
"There is no right or wrong, only what is and what isn't." What's that supposed to mean? Merlin thinks quickly before the words fall between her lips without restrain like they have recently done
"But I'm serious! If anyone wants to go and kill him, they can go ahead. In fact, I'll give them a hand."
"None of us can choose our destiny, Merlin, and none of us can escape it."
"No. No way. No. No. There must be another Arthur because this one's an idiot." And she thinks no truer words have ever been said from her mouth.
"Perhaps it's your destiny to change that." And with that the vague golden dragon flew chuckling away.
"Wait! You didn't even tell me your name! I have questions, I need to know more!"
Morning was awkward to say the least. Her magic has acted up again in her sleep after meeting the dragon and thrown her only clothes and bed sheets around the floor. She'll clean her room up later though, because now she was delivering a potion for the lady Morgana. She couldn't help but wonder why she didn't have a potion for nightmares, maybe she should ask Gaius about that. The liquid in the bottle looked much more pleasant than her pain reliever last night. Her mouth fell open when she entered the lady's chambers and she caught sight of the black haired goddess like creature. The lady Morgana didn't seem to register who entered through the door, because she started gossiping right away when she felt another presence in her chambers assuming it to be her maidservant.
"You know, I've been thinking about Arthur. I wouldn't touch him with a lance pole."
If it had been possible Merlin's mouth would have opened even further with the lady's voice. She didn't have any idea how to answer that. The lady continued talking normally though so Merlin assumed she hadn't noticed her yet. Or she did. Merlin was very confused at that moment.
"Pass me that dress, will you?" Merlin picked up a pretty dark blue dress from the chair and handed it to the lady over the dressing screen.
"I mean, the man's a total jouster. And just because I'm the King's ward, that doesn't mean I have to accompany him to the feast, does it."
Merlin finally finds her voice and little hesitantly answers the beautiful lady who is putting on her dress on the other side. "No my lady."
"If he wants me to go, then he should invite me, and he hasn't. So do you know what that means?"
"You could go with someone else, my lady?" The question was evident in Merlin's voice and Morgana turned towards the speaker behind the screen. The lady Morgana's face showed surprise for a fraction of a second, before she bluntly stated the obvious with a little dumb look on her beautiful face.
"You are not Gwen."
"No, my lady, I'm Merlin. Gaius' niece and I guess I'll be his apprentice. Um, my lady." She grins a little sheepishly while mentally hitting herself for not knowing how to act around nobility.
"Oh, that Merlin? The one who picked a fight with our prince dearest?" The lady's smirk turned a little scary filled with mischief and the peasant was struck for the moment for the fact that this noble lady didn't seem to be disappointed with her. Quite the opposite really.
"Umm, yes, I guess I am, my lady."
"Will you stop with the 'my lady'. I hear it enough with the courtiers. Just call me Morgana, please."
"Okay, Morgana." The name tasted pleasant on her tongue.
"Will you go to the feast tonight?"
"Gaius has to work there, so yes, I thinks so."
Morgana's eyes shifted to the side of Merlin's head and she turned to find Guinevere walking through the door. "Ah,
Gwen. Nice of you to join us. Now, will you help me with this fastening?" It was like the lady had forgotten she was dressing before her servant had entered.
"Yes, my lady. Why are you here Merlin?" Gwen asked politely while going behind the dressing screen to join her lady, who gave Gwen a pointed look for the formality.
"Oh, Gaius asked me to deliver this. It's for your nightmares."
"Thank him for me, will you? Excellent. Now my dear ladies I need your help." Morgana stepped out from behind the screen with Gwen trailing behind and a deep crimson coloured dress hanging on her right arm.
"So, it's whether I wear this little tease... or give them a night they'll really remember."
The three young women had a great time getting Morgana ready for the feast. They talked about little pointless things and laughed at the castle gossips about courtiers, knights and servants alike. When Merlin got back to Gaius' and now her quarters the old physician wasn't there, so Merlin busied herself with cleaning the mess in her room. It didn't took long since she had her clothes on and putting the sheets back to place was the only thing to do basically. After that she finally took the bath she hadn't had the time to take since coming to Camelot three days ago. Merlin didn't have to be alone for long after washing until she heard Gaius entering the main room. Through the open door Merlin saw Gaius carrying a bundle of fabrics and placing them on the table.
"Merlin, would you come here for a minute?" Gaius asked her without looking up, fumbling with the lightly coloured fabrics. When Merlin reached his side on the table Gaius turned to look at her little shyly though Merlin didn't fathom why.
"I bought you something proper to wear since those are all you have at the moment. Go change so we can got to the feast."
Merlin looked at Gaius astonished for few seconds before she unfolded the first item on the table her hands touched. It was a simple light blue kirtle with tight fitted sleeves and blue lacings on the sides. On the table was white chemise to go underneath and a long leather girdle to tie around her waist. She flung her arms around her great uncle and thanked him with a faint whisper before hurrying to her room to change. The kirtle and the chemise were a little loose but with a little bit of imagination and and some instinctive magic, she got it to fit her frame almost perfectly.
After redoing her braid she bursted to the main chamber with a shout of `I'm ready´ and then the young witch, accompanied with the old physician, made her way to the banquet hall.
The hall is full of knights and servants and extravagantly dressed courtiers and Merlin can't help but be awed about the commotion. She can't help the little huff either she makes when her ears catches a part of Arthur's story of their market fight. When Morgana makes her grand entrance Merlin can't help but stare. The lady is truly looking like a goddess and she can't but agree when the prince utters a dumbfounded "God have mercy". Gaius grumbles something about working but Merlin's brain doesn't quite comprehend it.
"She looks great, doesn't she?"
Gaius was switched to Gwen by her side and Merlin absently hears herself agree.
"Some people are just born to be queen." Gwen's comment pulls her out of her daze and remembering Morgana's words about the prince from earlier Merlin finds it hard to believe that those two are anything and voice's her thoughts with a breathless denial. Gwen elaborates quickly. "I hope so. One day. Not that I'd want to be her. Who'd want to marry Arthur?"
A teasing smile lights up on Merlin's face. "Oh, come on, Gwen. I thought you liked those real rough, tough, save the world kind of men."
Guinevere's dark skin gets a ruby hue at her words and she starts to stammer something back before a guard announces the king and she hurries back to her lady leaving a softly laughing Merlin behind. King Uther crosses the banquet hall gracefully smiling to his courtiers and when reaching the high table for the king and his family turns around and begins his speech.
"We have enjoyed nineteen years of peace and prosperity. It has brought the kingdom and myself many pleasures, but few can compare with the honour of introducing Lady Helen of Mora."
The lady was standing in a small platform right across the high table. She was wearing a very extravagant orange gown with blue silk detailing and a peacock shaped jewelry binding the silk down. The dress was in Merlin's honest opinion quite bold but not in a good way.
Lady Helen started her performance and her voice flowed through the hall flawlessly with a haunting tune in unfamiliar language to many in these days. Merlin though understood the words almost like on instinct.
"Lovely night has come to us, lovely night, soft and dark; the lovely night that ends a long and hard, weary day; so rest..."
She felt magic coursing through her in soothing waves. It would be very enjoyable to just close the eyes that felt suddenly so heavy. The soft voice lulling her and everyone else to exhaustion, but something dark was hidden beneath the beautiful voice. Oh, she wanted to sleep so badly.
"Lay your body down, forget your life. Spiders of the night come, spin your silky webs. Spiders of the night come, bind them in their sleep."
Merlin slammed her hands on her ears to block the spell, because that is what it has to be. All the other people inside where dead asleep leaning on tables, pillars, each other. There was something familiar in the darkness and Merlin felt the grief and anger from the court yard and the lady Helen's chambers again.
"Now, spiders of the night, spin! Wrapped in your shroud, dead to the world... just like my son: dead, dead, dead, DEAD!"
Mary Collins is the only thought in Merlin's head accompanied by tiny flicker of fear before she instinctively glances at a chandelier on top of the singing imposer who has pulled out a knife by then. With one last scary look towards the prince the vengeful mother is crashed by the falling mass of bend metal and broken candles. With the sang spell broken the court starts to wake up in confusion, the nobles' faces mirroring emotion from sleepiness to confusion.
The witch wasn't yet dead though and with a one last angry scream she threw her knife towards the prince of Camelot.
Without thinking Merlin leaped to pull the young Pendragon out of the knife's way. There was no way he could dock that in time. She willed her self to go faster and time seemed to slow down around her and her goal. She crapped the leathery sleeve of Arthur's jacket and pulled him out of the seat just as the knife embedded itself deep in the wooden back.
The prince felt on top of his savior knocking the air out of her lungs. Through the haziness in her sight she saw the shape of the witch take her last breath under the weight of bent metal, broken candles and crystal decorations. Arthur had stood up quickly from the ground looking at the fallen form of Mary Collins in shock. Merlin too lifted herself up mentally grumbling about not being helped. The world was turning in her vision from the loss of air and firstly she didn't even notice the king addressing her.
"You saved my boy's life. A debt must be repaid. "
"Oh, well…" Her head was beginning to throb and she just wanted to lie down.
"Don't be so modest. You shall be rewarded."
"No, honestly, you don't have to, Your Highness", seriously, her eye sight was doing not so funny things and the throb was starting to show signs of turning to a full blown migraine.
"No, absolutely. This merits something quite special", the king's words were muffeled, or was that just her hearing?
"Well…"
"You shall be rewarded a position in the royal household. You shall be Prince Arthur's personal servant. " And just like that the fog in Merlin's mind cleared with a groan from the particular prince next to her.
Merlin was feeling more conflicted than ever before in her life. She just saved the one person she thought would be the one person she'd hate if she ever hated anybody. And now, as a reward nonetheless, she was going to be that person's personal slave person. A maid to a prince. What kind of job would she be even doing? There were rumors, of course, and there would be, no matter what she was really doing to the prince. And what if the prince wanted her to do something she wasn't comfortable with? She wasn't ready to do 'it'! She had never even thought about things like that. Surely Arthur had that much honour in him, even though that can be questionable after the market incident. No, he wouldn't. Merlin needed a job and here she got one. One of the highest paid job's in the castle! It wouldn't hurt to try and see what it's like, would it?
She was so deep in her thoughts that she registered her uncle's praise only partly. That brought another weird incident to her mind. The dragon had said that protecting Arthur was her destiny. A personal servant would be an easy place do to that, sure, but what if the dragon is wrong. He has to be! Why would a witch, since that's what she is apparently, protect a son of a king whose hatred has killed hundreds her kind? The son, whose ego is so big that it can't handle a little jab from a defenseless girl. Well, seemingly defenseless, but that's not the point. This has to be a joke right?
Gaius came to her line of sight then with a bundle of old red fabric. He handed the bundle to her with a fond expression on his wrinkled face. "This book was given to me when I was your age, but I have a feeling it will be of more use to you than it was to me."
Merlin searched his face with a little suspicious gaze before unwrapping the fabric. The book was leather covered with little metal details and clips to close it. From the inside the book was filled with beautiful writing in unfamiliar languages to many and detailed drawings of different plants and creatures. It also had some notes tucked between the pages and some letter had gold or silver whorls and curls and loops decorating the text and the
pictures where in millions of colours.
"But this is a book of magic."
"Which is why you must keep it hidden."
"I will study every word."
A knock on the door made the two to shift their focus back to the real world around them. The world where magic is outlawed and if someone saw Merlin with that book would make her lose her head quicker than anyone can even utter the word 'magic'. The intruder was one of Camelot's guards.
"Merlin, Prince Arthur wants you right away."
"Your destiny's calling. You'd better find out what he wants."
It took few minutes running behind the guard and few unsuccessful tries at friendly conversation to arrive to the opposite wing of the castle, where Arthur was respectively living. The prince's living quarters were, surprisingly tasty and homey. Merlin has never seen how nobility lived and considering Merlin sleeping on the floor or next to her mother in a very tiny little cot all her life in Ealdor, this was magnificent. The bed was her favourite part of it all of course. It was big and fluffy looking, with pillows, furs and blankets on top and heavy crimson curtains hanging from every corner. She also found the dark wooded furniture, red textiles and white walls being royal, but humble and elegant at the same time.
Arthur and Morris were both in the 'public' part of the room and the private part was separated with two white arches and red curtains which were hiding behind the pillars at the moment. The prince was sitting on the end of the wooden table and Morris was waiting orders, standing near the door next to Merlin now. She decided to head on with her normal behavior, since her work wouldn't start until tomorrow.
"You called Pendragon."
The prince was clearly displeased with her bored tone and Merlin grinned a little in triumph.
"Yes, and you need to work on your respect. " He pointed out and Merlin couldn't help but give a little pice of her mind. Though she did it calmly, on the inside the girl was very irritated with Arthur's attitude.
"I give my respect to those who earn it. I don't care if you are a prince or a commoner. You haven't earned my respect yet." It will probably take you a while to earn that, with trying to kill me and all.
"I could sack you for that."
"You do that. Neither of us is exceptionally happy about this, so, you'd be doing a favor for both of us. And just to point it out, I don't officially start until tomorrow." Merlin flashed a faked apologetical smile. Arthur didn't seem affected by her words and attitude at all.
"Being a prince's personal servant is a great honour." He stated with the kind of clarity that could be written in a book.
A mutter of "what do you know about honour?" fell from Merlin's lips before she even had a chance to filter her thoughts. She could admit it herself, she felt bitter from their fight and didn't see the prince in very high regard because of that, but saying it out loud would be very bad. She held her breath, waiting if Arthur had heard her words.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing." On the outside Merlin was the epitome of innocence, but inwardly she sighed with relief. The suspicion on Arthur's face vanished after a few more seconds of studying her and then he started the 'lecture' in a very regal sounding voice.
"You'll be co-working with Morris, since you are a girl and it's proper. So, basically Morris will handle all chores which include my modesty like bathing and dressing up..."
"You can't dress up yourself?"
"I can, but why bother when you have someone to do it to you."
"So, you don't." The pleased and amused smirk finds its way to her face regardless of the fight to keep it a secret.
"You'll be left with other chores, like cleaning my chambers, washing my clothes, polishing my armor. We'll see what I can come up with. You see, I'm very imaginative."
"I hope not too much though."
"Tomorrow you'll come and watch me train with Morris here for the up coming tournament. You'll have the drinks, the snacks and do whatever I'll told you to do. Understood?"
"Yes."
"My lord," comes the accusing correction from the lightly pissed prince's mouth. 'Oh, he walked right into that one…'
"I'm not a lady," she starts with a nonchalant response, "so to be a lord would be quite a feat." The mischief tone sleeks out between the feigned passiveness of servant's character. The last three words were pointed with a slightly singing sort of tune which seems to piss off the prince even further. Merlin, feeling pleased with herself, was having a hard time keeping her face blank since the laughter was bubbling with a whole new intensity. Morris looks disapproving on the side, though that probably haven't got anything to do with her attitude. If she gets fired, he'd have all the torture called work just for himself again, and that thought can't be a pleasing one.
With a slight pink hue on his cheeks the Pendragon prince snaps at her to get out. After a mocking bow, final smirk and step out through the door, Merlin can't hold the laughter anymore. Very irritated voices find their way to her from the chambers and then Morris joins her in the hall.
The walk through the corridors was a silent one after Merlin's mirth died down. She felt awkward again, trying to start a conversation with Morris just like she had with the guard some time ago, but as they tracked down the stone halls and stairs the end result was the same. The only difference were that Morris at least answered to Merlin's questions, may they be as short as possible.
"You'll get the prince's breakfast tomorrow", he announces suddenly while they are rounding a sharp corner.
"Why? I don't even know where the castle's kitchen is."
"I'll show you now."
They take a turn to the left and next turn to the right and down the stairs and after that alone Merlin is already confused and lost. Another thing bugging her is the why, for which she didn't get an answer yet. And she says so to the other servant, for whom it takes couple minutes to finally give an answer.
"You'll get the breakfast for two reasons. One, the prince is very irritated every morning so you can wake him when you're at it and secondly, the cook is the most scariest person in this world alive. Ah, from here you take the stairs down and from there go left. Good night!" And with that Morris left Merlin to stand little gobsmacked and alone in a deserted corridor to find her own way back to the physicians chambers.
Few things. At that time period in England last names were very rare and second names were not given at all. But for Merlin I have given the second name for reason unknown yet and will be explained in the future. "Wyllt" in my headcanon (for this series anyway) is an epithet given to Merlin by the villagers of Ealdor. She liked to run around in the woods and cared for all animals so they started to call her wild.
For my timeline I use a tint of history, some of the series canon and some logical or not so logical thinking of mine. Now is the May-ish of 525, so Arthur is 20 and Merlin 17. Arthur was born in 505 and Merlin in 507. In the series 1 episodes flow kind of funnily if we consider some facts from later seasons, so I'm changing some things. This way the "twenty year peace"-speech Uther gives at the feast is not valid, so I changed it to nineteen. It's been twenty years since the Purge started, clear? If you want to chat more about my timeline hit me with a comment.
The spell Mary Collins used is found from Merlin wiki in the spell section. This is what was said about the words: "what is sung is completely made up, an non-existing melody that could fit the music. The script writers had, however, written the text of the spell in English so that the singer could have an idea of what the melody should have been related to"
I think that's it for this one, I'll see you in the next chapter!