Back again…( : I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! And also thanks for the reviews!
Arthur stretched his hands toward the sky, letting out an audible early morning yawn. He'd never been one to go on about the beauty of nature and all that- that was usually Merlin's job – but this morning was simply perfect. The sky was bluest blue he'd ever seen and the air was crisp and cool, the perfect day for a much-needed hunt.
"ARrrrrrrrrrh." He grunted as he leaned to one side, standing in his simple tunic, surveying his campsite. Most of the knights were already walking around, here and there, preparing for the day. In fact as Arthur looked, they all had their hunting clothes on, most of their heavy chainmail now in the carrying bags of their horses. Some even had hunting bows out and were practicing the stringing and notching of their arrows. The Prince looked back up at the cloudless sky and at the sun, it appeared to be midmorning. Why had no one woken him? He had specifically asked to be woken at dawn… sweeping his eyes around his eyes fell on the only person who was still lying down. Merlin.
Now his earlier joyousness turned to anger at his servant. Couldn't he manage to do something right. I mean of course he was injured recently, the image of Merlin not moving still burned in his head but that was no excuse to slack off on his servantly duties. Perhaps he had been getting soft about Merlin, he could do that to you… he shook the thought out.
He pounded over to the outside rim of the camp he needed to tell Merlin that he had once again overslept and neglected his duties, perhaps even cuff him lightly over the head. That would teach the idiot. He rolled his eyes as he walked in front of his servant who was sleeping on his side facing the forest.
"Merlin, wake up! Could you grace us with-" Arthur shouted but stopped. Merlin's eyes were opened wide, enlarged in fright that seemed to be imprinted in his servant's blue orbs. Under his servant's now bloodshot eyes, there were deep grey circles, popping out against Merlin's alabaster skin. He looked ghastly. "Merlin, are you alright? Don't worry I'm not angry." He kneeled down next to him.
But then he realized his own mistake, Merlin's terror filled eyes weren't ever looking at him but something positioned over his left shoulder. He turned and followed Merlin's line of sight. There was nothing. Just the shaded forest for miles and miles, nothing that should swallow someone up as much as Merlin was. Arthur bent down and shook him, over and over. Telling him to wake up. When Merlin didn't respond Arthur was about to give up and get up and leave him there when his servant spoke.
"You must be careful, Arthur. This place… it's evil." Merlin spoke slowly, meaningfully, but his eyes were still locked out in the forest. Even though it was daytime he could still feel the menace. Like a powerful magnet, full of darkness and emanating something strange… something he couldn't quite pin .He finally broke his connection with the forest, and looked up. Was it really morning already? Last night he had just glanced into it and now here he was, somehow he didn't remember any of it, but he was sure he hadn't slept a minute. He had to stop his thinking process though, as he noticed Arthur was looking down at him strangely.
"What is wrong with you? You look half dead and you are still rambling on about warnings and evil. What do you know of this Merlin?"
"I know what Gauis told me, Arthur." He shot back defiantly. "And you will have to be very careful, maybe you should listen to me for once!"
"Right. That's going to happen." Arthur smirked and turned, calling over his shoulder. "Come on, Merlin. Thanks to you I've had a late start, just cause you got jostled-" at this point he looked back at his servant, sending his look that said he was partly kidding, partly serious "-doesn't mean you can slack off on your duties. Ready the horses."
"Yes, sire." Arthur was just too pig headed sometimes, even if that usually led to bravery. Merlin sighed stood up wearily, feeling all the effects of last night and that of his now pulsing head injury. Gauis would definitely want to inspect the wound when he returned to Camelot.
The rest of the morning was a blur for both the warlock and the Prince. Merlin rolled up his and the knight's sleeping rolls and prepared the horses. Fixing some of the carelessly thrown chainmail into the proper bags as the knights and Arthur practiced and sharpened their already too sharp hunting weapons.
As much as he tried, the warlock could never understand the pleasure a bunch of grown men, honorable men at that, received from hunting defenseless animals. But there wasn't anything that the servant could do about except maybe, accidentally of course, stumble into a few while they shoot. The young man smiled to himself as he handed the reigns to each man to start their journey.
When they were all on, they left and traveled west, deeper into the forest to hunt. They arrived there, and Merlin once again was charged with the horses, though he couldn't understand why the knights could not tie up a horse by themselves. He smirked as he tied up the last horse. So brave, yet so incapable of the simplest things, this was why he still had to help Arthur dress every morning.
He turned around, most of the party had moved on, stalking around the woods up ahead except for a familiar mop of blond hair. He walked forward a few yards to the prince where he was admiring his sword. This was good; maybe Arthur would listen when his knights weren't by his side and watching his every move.
"Arthur."
"Yes, Merlin? And by the way you will need to rebandage that-" the prince gestured to his head wound "-before it gets infected. If it does, you'll be talking even more rubbish than you usually do." The prince let out a smile and so did Merlin, though he also rolled his eyes.
"So you are concerned." He teased Arthur for hinting that he didn't want Merlin to get infected.
"Wait a minute, I am not concerned. Just the amount of rubbish you've been saying-"
"You think the warning from Gauis is rubbish?" He hated cutting off the banter so abruptly but he needed to find some way to get it into the Prince's head.
"Merlin, we've been over this before." Arthur studied him, annoyed. Merlin answered the prince's words with a glare, crossing his arms stubbornly. His servant knew that he was avoiding the question. "Fine. As far as Gauis goes, he's been advising my father for years and well, but sometimes, he can be wrong. With all due respect to him, I believe this to be one of those times, it's a old superstition, nothing more."
"Gauis has saved your life using his knowledge since you were a child! And if you don't trust in him, trust in me. You know you can, Arthur." Merlin finished. His voice was full of emotion. "Please be careful, this place holds… holds a power. Please, I'm trying to help."
Arthur was torn, he somehow wanted to trust him, his frien- no. He cared for Merlin but they weren't friends, just servant and master, that's what they had to be. And giving in like this was not fitting for a Prince of Camelot, especially not to a servant!
He could take care of himself, and besides that he had six knights with him, all brave. He looked into his manservant's eyes, in them he saw worry and honesty, but he would not believe some superstitious nonsense.
"Stop, Merlin." He said with authority, staring coldly. His voice was cutting. "You're not an advisor, Merlin. You're a servant, so serve."
Merlin was shocked as Arthur dumped a bundle of crossbows and sharpening tools into his hands before turning on his heal angrily and catching up to his knights who had been obliviously tracking a trail.
Three hours later, as the knights stalked a particularly large deer, Merlin was still deep in his thoughts, rethinking it over and over, analyzing what he could have done to convince Arthur to turn back and head home or at the least, be more precautious. Merlin's thoughts of all his past ways of changing Arthur's mind just made him even more dismal, perhaps he had really mucked this one up for good.
Arthur's thoughts couldn't have been more different than the warlocks. He was fast approaching a state of euphoria as he approached another wonderful quarry, the fifth of that day, and was going in for the kill. The day was beautiful, and peaceful and he was hunting. He couldn't be happier or at least that's what he kept up as the sad and hurt face of Merlin wriggled into his thoughts. He tried to ignore it, aiming his newly made crossbow at the unsuspecting buck. This was going to be good. Before letting loose an arrow, another arrow could be heard zipping through the air, ruffling his hair. He looked around to see which of his knights had dared try and steal his quarry. But they all looked up in fear and confusement, that was when Arthur saw an arrow embedded in a tree a foot above his left shoulder, it was still rhythmatically bending up and down from its halted flight.
A loud roar was heard, over his shoulder and he turned pulling out his sword and holding it firmly in his right hand. He held his crossbow in his left, ready to fire at the closest aggressive attacker.
Perhaps he should have worn chainmail after all. Damn Merlin for being right! He settled his body into a fighting stance, it was so natural to him by now, and prepared himself for the first attacker who came. For a second, he almost couldn't tell which way to turn, for they were coming from all directions. But he squared his shoulders, and delivered a first blow.
Merlin looked to see Arthur aim his crossbow at the grazing animal. In a second, the deer's life would be lost. He looked closely at Arthur, just waiting.
But first, an arrow whipped through the forest at an impossible speed, heading straight for the hunter himself. Merlin began to raise his hand but even to him it was apparent that he would be too late. The arrow was going at a near impossible speed about to plunge into his Prince, into his friend. But something then happened that he did not anticipate, the arrow seemed to catch a strong gust seconds before coming into contact with the tissue just above the noble's Prince's heart. It was drafted up and above the prince, deflected into a tree shortly behind Arthur.
Merlin's expression turned from shock to joy at his accomplishment and then to one of pure exhaustion as the already old and weakened spell from the previous night took up his reserves. He really should of found a spell to make him sleep last night, he thought. He sank to his knees, even as he heard yells of attack, he was happy he had been able to defend Arthur with some of his last energy even if he didn't appreciate him.
The Prince was safe. He only wished he could say the same for himself.
Okay… so how'd you like it?? And if your thinking that Mordaith wanted to use him, not kill Arthur, so what the heck?… that will be explained, promise! I'll update soon. Reviews please!
