Truth Set Free
It had been two weeks since the attack on Camelot and the aftermath was still taking its toll on the people. The people were all able to return to their respective villages and everyone was chipping in with the repairs. Once the fires had been put out and the smoke had cleared, they had been able to see that the damage wasn't as extensive as they had first feared. In no time at all, things were relatively back to normal. Or mostly, at least.
On the surface, Merlin and Arthur's relationship didn't appear to have changed. Those who were close to them though could detect a shift in their relationship. They were more at ease with each other than they had ever been. At times, it appeared almost as if they were having silent conversations conveyed by a look or a touch.
It didn't make Merlin any less Arthur's manservant. Although over the last two weeks Arthur had stopped giving him an outrageous amount of work to do. Instead he tried to spread some of it over among other servants so that the two new young lovers were able to spend their evenings together. The young warlock had also moved out of Gaius' chambers and into Arthur's bed. Everyone else in the castle thought that he had moved into the servant's room off Arthur's chambers, and they saw no reason to correct the assumption.
Merlin did still work for Gaius, which was why he currently found himself in the Hall of Records looking for some dusty old book the physician wanted.
He could have been doing something much better, namely sitting and watching Arthur train shirtless with the knights. Instead, he was surrounded by dusty books with only Geoffrey of Mormouth for company. Not that he was all that much company. He was seated behind his desk, piles of books and papers on the table, and every so often would scratch absently at his beard.
Sometimes his life just sucked.
The young, dark haired man bit his lip. He really didn't want to have to search through all the musty books. It would take him forever.
Dragging his feet, Merlin slowly made his way over to Geoffrey's desk. He stood and watched as the old man flipped through old, dusty, yellow pages of parchment.
"Yes?" he asked expectantly of Merlin.
Merlin gave him a nervous grin.
"Um… Gaius asked me to collect a book for him. The er...Bestiary of Phylum of Cambria?" Merlin checked the piece of parchment that Gaius ad written the name on to be sure that he had said it right.
Geoffrey raised his eyebrows and chuckled in recognition at the title.
"The bestiary? I've not seen that for many years. It'll be somewhere in the east wing. I've no idea where."
Merlin barely restrained himself from sighing in frustration. He was disappointed that he would indeed have to search through the shelves. The only bright side was that he wouldn't have to search through the entire library. Deciding that he may as well start, Merlin took off. He only managed a few steps when the sound of Geoffrey clearing his throat pointedly caught his attention.
"East is that way," he informed Merlin, amusement tingeing his voice as he pointed in the opposite direction of where Merlin had been going.
Merlin blushed in embarrassment as he hurried past the older man, going in the direction that had been pointed out to him. He walked down several rows looking for one that was dustier than the rest. It stood to reason that if the book hadn't been seen for a while it would have collected quiet a bit of dust. Eventually, he found a particular row that had more dust than those around it.
And of course as his luck would have it The Bestiary of Phylum of Cambria was right at the very top of the shelf. It looked like he would have no other choice than to climb the shelves in order to reach the book. The moment he put his foot on the lower section of the shelving though, the entire bookcase moved and turned around.
He was curious, but from past experience he knew that he needed to be cautious, Merlin began to explore the room. The items in the room were covered in even more dust than he'd seen before. Obviously, no one had been in this hidden room for quite some time.
Merlin was looking through a pile of books - the top one being a book of magic - when he heard an odd rattling noise coming from behind him. An octagonal box was lying on the ground. A few moments later the box rattled and moved. Merlin heard a voice from inside the box yell out "Oi".
The young warlock was puzzled. Normal boxes did not move or make a noise on their own. He crouched down to get a better look at the box and muttered, "Unlucan scrin" under his breath.
The box's latch fell open. Curious, Merlin opened the lid and peered inside. A second later he jumped back in shock as a creature popped out of the box. It was green, had large pointy ears and tattoos. They stared at each other for a while before the creature spoke.
"So are you going to say something, or shall I?"
"You... you can speak?"Merlin stuttered slightly.
"You're a sharp one, aren't ya?" The... creature began to stretch, making clicking sounds as its joint popped. "Oh, I can't tell you how good it feels to do that... and that... and this!" Merlin could only stare at the strange looking creature. He was completely at a loss at what to do or say. He realized though that it was entirely possible that Geoffrey might hear them so he attempted to shush the creature but was ignored.
"I have been squished and swashed inside that box for more than fifty years... Time to have some fun!"
With that the creature jumped onto the nearby shelf and began tossing objects at the young warlock.
"Stop it, or you're going to get us both into serious trouble," Merlin pleaded with it.
The creature looked at Merlin and then deliberately pushed a vase off the shelf. It fell and shattered on the stone floor.
The creature cackled at the expression on Merlin's face. "Oh dear, what a shame, never mind."
Merlin's patience ran out at those words. "Right, that's it, you are going back in that box while I... work out what to do with you."
"Oh, alright... If I really must..." it sulked moving towards the box. The second Merlin moved forward to close the box, it jumped into the air and landed on his head laughing. "Ha ha! Fooled you!"
The creature disappeared from Merlin's view causing the warlock to begin panicking slightly.
"Stop messing around!"
The creature reappeared, rummaging around toss things that it didn't find interesting over its shoulder. Merlin grabbed a blanket and attempted to sneak up on it. Quickly, he threw the cloth over the creature, holding on tightly as he tried to wrestle it back into its box. Suddenly the body inside the blanket disappeared and a glowing ball of light appeared in the room instead.
Before Merlin could do anything, it squeezed through a crack and vanished, leaving Merlin gaping at the spot it disappeared in horror.
"No!"
Merlin quickly exited the secret room. Upon finding no evidence of the creature he grabbed the book Gaius had been looking for, nodded in thanks to Geoffrey and nearly ran from the Hall of Records.
Author's Note: Hi, everyone. I realise that it has been a long time since I updated but I am alive and well and back :D You can find the rest of this story which contains adult content on my website. The link can be found on my profile
