A/N: Well, here I am, back with another chapter. Sorry about the wait, life has been quite hectic! This chapter is more of a filler, if anything. The main action will start taking place in the next chapters. I hope you enjoy it!
Footsteps echoed out, declaring that someone was coming down the hall. Melaina darted into a small nook between two pillars, hiding in the shadows they offered. The princesses of Navenna was determined to find the source of the mysterious voice in her head. Finding the voice, though, required her to wander and search the halls of castle. The fewer people who saw her, the better.
Melaina held her breath as a lone knight walked past her hiding place. She was still for a moment longer, listening for more footsteps. None came, so she left the shadows and continued down the corridor. She was close to an answer, she could feel it.
Merlin ran out of the gates of the castle with the herb basket swinging in his hand. If there was one thing the servant disliked, it was picking herbs, especially with a patient to attend to. He intended to make this fast.
Luckily, though, he didn't have to go far to find the plant he needed. Last time Merlin was collecting herbs for Gaius, he was fortunate enough to stumble across a huge patch of yarrow, located just inside the forest on the far side of the lower town. At least he wouldn't have to waist valuable time searching for it!
Unfortunately, the streets were crowded with people going about their daily business, causing Merlin to have to weave between them.
"Why are there so many people?" The manservant muttered to himself. He could have sworn the market was never this busy. Nonetheless, he continued onward to his destination, barreling down the street and dodging people in the process.
Merlin was just reaching the last few stalls. He was honestly quite impressed with himself. He had managed to sprint the entire length of the market without tripping or running into anything. That just didn't happen. Merlin didn't know why, but his senses were on high alert, and had been, since the moment he had stepped foot outside of the castle, allowing him to side step an obstacle without realizing it was there. If the manservant had to guess, he'd say it was his magic
Merlin hopped to the side to avoid running into a group of kids that had wandered into his path. Merlin smiled as he ran past them playing. It was little moments like this that made him...THUD!
Merlin grunted as he hit a solid object and tumbled backwards. So much for not running into anything.
"Oi, lad! Are you alright?" Called a voice from above him. Merlin let out a slight groan as two pairs of hands grabbed his arms and lifted him to his feet.
"You don't have a head injury, now do ya?" Asked another voice.
Merlin blinked rapidly to help clear his head and bring him back to reality. In front of him stood a knight who's height was equivalent to that of Percival's. But, instead of Camelot's red, he wore the dark blue that was Navenna's color. He was slightly bent over, and had a look of concern on his face.
"I'm fine," managed Merlin. The knight smiled and straightened his back. Merlin glanced to each side. A knight of Navenna stood on either side of him. Merlin guessed that these were the men that had helped him up. The one on the left was much shorter than the first, standing at about the same height as the manservant. He had brown hair and warm eyes. The knight on the right was barely taller than the one on the left. He had the same color hair and warm eyes.
"What did I run into?" Asked Merlin
The three knights stared at the manservant for a good long second before they all burst out laughing. Merlin gave them all confused looks. What was so funny? Finally, the knight on the right managed to calm himself enough to answer.
"Why, you pretty much sprinted into Garnet's chest," he said, indicating to the mountain of man in front of Merlin.
Realizing what he was saying, Merlin felt like the clumsy idiot Arthur always accused him of being. "I guess I didn't see you there," said the manservant, "sorry about that."
"Oh, don't worry about that" said Garnet with a smile, "I doubt a little thing like you would be able to hurt me."
Merlin couldn't help but smile, too. Besides his friends here in Camelot, these were some of the friendliest knights he'd met.
"Out of curiosity," said the knight on the right, "why were you running through the market like the devil himself was after you?"
"Oh, uh... herbs," said Merlin, indicating to the basket still clenched in his hand.
"Herbs?" Asked the knight, slightly confused.
"I was collecting them," clarified the manservant, "for the court physician. Speaking of which, I need to be on my way. Patients in critical condition!"
With that, the raven-haired boy set off again, leaving three very baffled knights behind him.
"What was that all about?" Said the one on the right.
"Herbs," answered Garnet.
"Is it just me," asked the third, "or does he look strangely familiar?"
"I was thinking the same thing," the other two answered in union.
After reaching the forest, Merlin slowed his pace to a walk. He had made it through the market and lower town with only one incident, he wasn't going to push his luck by running through the trees.
He was glad the knight he ran into, and his companions, were kind enough to help him up and make sure he was okay. Most visiting nobles would have demanded his arrest for running into them. Merlin wished all members of foreign delegations could be like that.
Merlin pushed aside a low-hanging tree branch, revealing a small clearing overrun with yarrow. The manservant immediately got on his knees and began picking handfuls of the herb, determined to fill the basket as quickly as possible. The sooner he got back to the physician's quarters, the better. He soon established a rhythm, pick, put in the basket, pick put in the basket.
Before long, the basket full. Merlin jammed one last handful into it. Theoretically, the amount of yarrow he had managed to cram into the basket should be able to last Gaius for quite some time. Realistically, Merlin would be out here next week to collect some more.
Merlin stood up, and took a moment to stretch his back. After a few seconds, he grabbed the herb basket, now filled with yarrow, and began the trek back to the castle.
Balinor silently closed Gaius's door behind him. After Merlin had ran out in search of herbs, the Prince had come to two different conclusions. The first being that he would be no help in healing the injured knights. He also realized that now was not the time to tell Merlin his parentage.
They had been so close, So close, to revealing the truth. A minute or two more, that's all the longer it would have taken for Gaius to finish his story. For him to tell Merlin that the noble his mother had fallen in love with was actually the Crown Prince. For Merlin to know who his father is, which was something the raven-haired boy had gone his whole life without knowing.
Balinor gave a short laugh. Of course, that would have been too easy. It was way to simple to say, "Merlin, I am your father," and have a nice conversation to get to know each other.
No, everything had to be made more complicated by knights with arrow wounds barging into the room, demanding medical attention.
The Prince stopped in his tracks. He shootouts head and chuckled under his breath. He couldn't believe himself. Here he was, pouting over the fact that he couldn't hold his son's attention for a few moments longer, when not to far away, there were some knights who needed Merlin's undivided.
The truth could wait, it was not a pressing matter. Balinor would be in Camelot for several more days. Sooner or later, Merlin would know the truth.
Torchlight danced off of the walls of the descending passageway. Melaina kept one hand on the wall as she walked down it, and held a torch in the other one. The torch was a small one, only lighting a few meters in front of her.
Being the curious young woman she was, she couldn't help but wonder where this passage led to, and what its intended purpose was. Perhaps it was a secret tunnel, an emergency exit for the king and queen of Camelot.
Whatever it was, it was far below the castle. And the entrance had been guarded. Melaina paused mid-step. Maybe coming down here wasn't such a good idea. After all, what did she even expect to find at the end of this dark, slightly damp passageway that kept leading farther and farther away from the surface? The answer to her question? That was only a possibility.
Even though she hated to do so, Melaina decided that she better get back to where she was supposed to be before she was missed. Her uncle did say he would he would tell her who the voice belonged to when he was done with whatever he was doing in the physician's quarters. She hoped he would be finished by now.
The princesses took one last look down the passageway, and then turned around and started walking back up it. She hadn't even taken two steps when the voice echoed loudly in her head.
"Giving up, when you are so close?"
Melaina gasped and dropped the torch. The voice was so loud! She closed her eyes and pressed her fingers against her temples. After a second, the shock and ringing in her ears subsided, and she was able to think again.
She glanced over her shoulder to see what had happened to her torch. Unfortunately, it had rolled all the way to the bottom of the passageway. Fortunately, the bottom was only about ten stairs down.
Melaina shook her head. She couldn't believe herself. She had been so close to giving up! For once, she was grateful for the voice in her head. She walked down the remaining stairs, and bent down to pick up the torch.
Standing strait again, she looked around her - well, as much as she could with the poor light of the torch. She was in a huge underground cavern. In front of her, leading out from the passageway, was a decent sized ledge of rock. Melaina walked to its edge, and peered over the side. The bottom was far down enough that the light of the torch didn't reach it.
"I see you have managed to find your way," the voice rang out from above.
Melaina looked up, hoping to see what had spoken. On an overhang across the cavern, she could see something moving. The rattling of chains echoed throughout the space.
The shadows from the light of the torch were messing with Melaina's eyes, so she wasn't sure what she was seeing. The sound of the chains was drowned out by the sound of a... storm?
What sounded like thunder and wind filled the cavern. Melaina took a few steps back, ready to run back up the stairs.
Suddenly, on a small plateau, several meters from the ledge she was on, landed a huge, golden beast with wings. Melaina's breath caught in her throat. She simply could not believe what she was seeing. Was this all real?
"Hello, young princesses," said the beast.
"You're... you're a Dragon!" Melaina replied.
A/N: And that's it for now! I must say, this chapter isn't my best work, but it's not my worst either. I threw in a reference to one of my other fandoms. Did anyone catch it?
Leave a review and let me know what you thought! It makes my day when I read them!
Until next time!