Hello everybody! I want to thank you all for all the reviews you've been giving me! I feel so loved! I'm so exited you guys love the story! I hope you like this next chapter this is my first fanfiction and I really wanted to get the confrontation scene right, though I've never been good at confrontation in real life (seriously I'm more of an avoid the problem till it goes away type of person). Please tell me what you think and enjoy!
Arthur's POV:
I watched Merlin killed the guard with magic. Magic! This had to be the worst day in my life! Of all the people to betray me Merlin had always been the one person above suspicion, I mean if I hadn't seen it myself I would have dismissed the idea as ridiculous, but no the evidence was right in front of my eyes. Dammit! I thought furiously, why did Merlin always have to make things a thousand times more difficult? Why couldn't he just once be a normal manservant with no quirks, no mystery, and no life-altering secrets? What was I supposed to do now? Forgive him? Execute him?
No, I knew almost immediately after the thought popped into my head that I couldn't watch Merlin burn. But there were just too many lies to forgive. Maybe it isn't Merlin, I thought, maybe Merlin just has an evil twin he never told me about. An evil twin who is an assassin and a sorcerer! Yes, that had to be it! There's no way Merlin could be this cold blooded killer, he was just too kind.
"Why did you kill him?" I asked. It wasn't the question I really wanted to ask, but I couldn't bring myself to voice it just yet.
Merlin turned to look at me I could see he was trying his damnedest to keep his expression as emotionless as possible but I knew him to well to be fool. It was his eyes, his deep cerulean eyes that could never tell a lie. His eyes were honest, even if he never was. I could clearly see pain, fear, remorse, and most clear of all; shame. "Because if I didn't kill him others would think they could get away with challenging me. His death will send a clear message that I will not tolerate any dissent."
As he spoke he wasn't looking at me but at the other guard he had thrown against the wall that had just woken up. The man trembled as he saw the body of his friend; the fear was still clear in the dead man's eyes. He looked like he wanted to vomit.
"Spread the word, Wolf will kill anyone who gets in his way again," Merlin said to the man. "Understood?"
The man nodded quickly but remained on the floor.
"Get out," Merlin snapped, enunciating each syllable. The man bolted out of the room before Merlin even finished, running like death was on his heel.
"Gee Merlin, I never thought I'd see the day when someone trembled in fear because of you," I said sarcastically to lighten the mood.
It seems as if that was the wrong thing to say because Merlin instantly became livid.
"You stupid prat! Do you have any idea what you have just done? What your stupid carelessness just cost me?" he yelled. "What kind of idiot decides to take a stroll through the mercenary lands when he is a bloody king and has people to do that for him? How could you put yourself in danger like that? And then to reveal yourself! Were you trying to give me a heart attack?!"
"Merlin that man was about to kill you," I said, my temper rising. I'd only been trying to help the idiot and now he's yelling at Merlin. How dare he?! I came all this way to rescue him!
"So what?!" he screamed. "I already knew I was going to die when the dragged me into the arena! My fate was seal! But it seems you decided to drag yourself down with me! You are lucky I stepped in!"
"About that," Leon quickly intervened, "what was it that Jal wanted from you in the first place?"
"Isn't it obvious?" he asked, motioning to the armor he was wearing.
I didn't want to admit it but he did look menacing in it. Almost like the legendary killer Jal had been boasting about before the fights began. That shouldn't have surprised me though considering he was the killer Jal had been boasting about. I would have been more terrified if this wasn't Merlin we were talking about. Even knowing that he was a deadly assassin/sorcerer I still felt inexplicitly safe around him. I'd always disregarded this odd feeling, because what could Merlin possibly do to keep me safe? He was so scrawny a slight breeze could tip him over! And yet, as it turns out, he could do quite a lot to protect me. It made me wonder how many times he had used his secret skill to protect a kingdom that would sooner see him dead. How many times had my idiot manservant saved me? He'd always told me I didn't know how many time he'd saved my life, I mused, I just never realized he didn't mean it as a joke.
"He wanted me to become his right hand again," Merlin said when we still looked confused.
"Oh, but why would he just let you go back to Camelot? Doesn't he realize that you won't come back once you're gone?" Gawain asked.
Merlin was silent as I could feel that there was something he hadn't yet told us.
"You are coming back with us, right mate?" Gawain asked uncertainty in his voice.
Merlin sighed. "It's not that simple Gawain. Jal has cast a spell to prevent me from deserting him."
"What kind of spell?" Percy asked.
"A rotten, evil spell," Merlin spat. "It's dark magic, an enslavement spell."
"He—He forced you to be his slave?" Elyan asked, completely horrified at the concept. Truth be told, I was horrified too.
"What about your magic?" I asked quietly. "Can you use it to break his spell?"
I couldn't quite look at Merlin as I asked, my stomach sickening at the thought of magic being used. So many lies, I thought, why hadn't he told me? Why hadn't he trusted me? Did my best friend really fear me so much? No matter how many times I tried to stay focused on my current predicament my mind kept revolving around those thoughts. Everyone turned to look at me, shocked that it had been me that suggested it.
Finally Merlin answered, "No, because the spell would be useless to him if a simple spell could do it. He has a lot of sorcerers in his ranks and he wouldn't want any of them escaping. They are invaluable to him."
"How did you get out of the spell last time then?" Elyan asked.
He didn't answer, he turned away from them and I could swear I saw a tear at the edge of his eye. He looked like he was ashamed.
"Let's not talk about that, okay?"
"But how are we supposed to get you out of it if we don't know how?" Gawain protested.
"You're not."
"But Merlin," Percy said, "don't you want to be free? I doubt you really want to spend the rest of your life killing people, it's just not in your nature."
"I do want to be free Percival," Merlin said. "But Jal ordered me not to find a way out of the spell. I can't disobey a direct order. If I told you how I got out of it last time then I would technically be trying to get myself out of the spell."
He was trying to get out of telling us. Well I wasn't going to let him off that easily!
"How is this even happening?" I shouted impatiently. "How can it be that you are some legendary assassin? How can you have magic? I want the truth Merlin! I won't listen to you avoid it any longer."
Merlin didn't look shocked by the outburst; in fact it looked like he had been
expecting it. He studied me for a minute, like he was trying to decide if I was ready to hear the truth. At last, he sighed, resigned to the inevitability of it all.
"Fine, you want to hear my life story? Then get comfortable because I'm only going to tell it once," he said. He looked like he was being led to his death. Was the truth really that bad?
"I suppose I should start by telling you that I was born with magic, I didn't study it," Merlin said.
"That's not possible," I objected.
"It's extremely rare, but it is possible," he said. "Technically I'm not a sorcerer because they have to study magic to be able to use it. But I've been able to use it instinctively before I could walk or talk. That means I'm a warlock which is infinitely cooler anyway. If fact I didn't learn any spells till I came to Camelot. But I'm getting ahead of myself. This all started one hot summer day when I was nine. The kids of the village were all trying to escape the heat so we went to a small lake not far from the village. Anyway a monster tried to attack us and all the kids ran for the village. I, being my clumsy self, tripped on a root before I could make it very far. My magic protected me instinctively and killed the monster. Two men who were not from the area saw what I had done. They decided that they could use someone like me. I didn't realize one of them was a sorcerer so before I could run he cast a spell to knock me unconscious. I woke up later in a cage with three other kids. We were brought here to this fortress. Jal demanded we join him and the other three agreed right away, I didn't."
"What happened next, Merlin?" Gawain asked.
He didn't answer. He looked at us pleadingly to not make him tell us.
"They tortured you, didn't they?" I asked. "They tortured you until you agreed to the spell."
Merlin nodded. "I was nine. What was I supposed to do? I didn't want to die Arthur. Despite what your father might have thought I wasn't evil. I was just a little boy, a scared little boy. I deserved to live just as much as any other child."
"I know," I said.
"After I became Jal's slave I began my training," he said. "I have a natural ability to learn thing quickly and I soon found myself advancing passed all the other children who arrived around the same time as me. They put me to train with the older kids when they realized they had a true prodigy on their hands. It wasn't long before I was taking them down too. I learned all sort of fighting styles. I learned swordplay, archery, knife-throwing, and hand-to-hand combat and I excelled at them all."
For a moment Merlin was quiet remembering his past.
"I was ten when I killed for the first time. Some merchant had been cheated out of his money by some lord so the man hired Jal," Merlin said. "I can still remember the way the man begged for mercy, I would have given it to him too, but Jal came on that trip and once it was clear that I wasn't going to do it he ordered me too. I had never tried so hard in my life to fight against something as I did that day against his spell. But there was no way I could. I slit his throat with my knife. There was so much blood…so much blood…and it was all over me. I admit that I cried that night."
He was silent again and he looked like he was in so much pain. Maybe I had asked too much of him. Maybe he shouldn't be reliving this for us.
"Merlin…"
"No Arthur, it's alright I can tell you," he interrupted.
"I supposed it got easier after that, killing, though it absolutely never felt right," he said after composing himself. "And I hated myself more with every life I took. At thirteen I was promoted into Jal's personal guard, it was supposed to be some sort of honor because only the best could get such a high position and a year after that I was promoted again to his right hand and commander of his personal guard."
"How'd you manage that, mate?" Gawain asked, curiosity getting the best of him.
"I killed the last commander, a man named Alex," Merlin said. "He was the sorcerer who brought me here in the first place when I was nine."
"Anyway eventually I'd had enough and I looked for a way out," Merlin said. "Eventually I found a way to break the spell. It wasn't exactly a good option but it was better than staying in the mercenary lands and killing whatever humanity I had left. No it was definitely the better option."
He sounded like he was trying reassuring himself.
"And what was this way out?" I asked, hoping to trick him into revealing it.
"Nice try but I still can't tell you," he said with a grinned.
"Fine," I said. I tried to think of something else to ask him. The room was too tense, too awkward. "Tell me this then, why does the redhead hate you?"
Merlin hesitated and I had a feeling that whatever the answer was it was bad, very bad.
"Not important," he said quickly.
"Merlin," I growled. I was tired of him keeping things from me. If there was no spell preventing him from talking about this then he was going to talk.
"He's jealous of me," Merlin mumbled.
"Trying to get away with telling half-truths, are we?" a voice asked from the door. Merlin froze as he heard it. I looked beyond him to see the redhead. Well speak of the devil, I thought.
Merlin's POV:
Oh gods, not Henry, I thought as turned to face the door. The last thing I need is the revenge driven psycho to turn my friends against me.
"What's he talking about, Merlin?" Arthur asked me.
I ignored him and turned to look at Henry. "What do you want?"
"Answer his question first," Henry said, "After all, who are you to ignore a king?"
"His friend," I answered, willing him with my mind to leave. No such luck.
"He has poor choice in friends, then, if he would care about vermin like you," he replied.
"Hey, you can't talk to him like that!" Gawain hollered from the cell.
"Oh, I think you'll find I can talk to him however I please," Henry said. "Wolf certainly isn't going to stop me. He feels too guilty. Isn't that right, Wolf?"
"Shut up, Henry," I hissed.
"For the thousandth time don't call me Henry," he snarled. "We are not friends, I hate your guts, and they only reason I don't kill you where you stand is because Jal ordered me not to. Don't push your luck!"
"I don't need luck Henry even if Jal didn't order you not to kill me you're still too much of a coward to even think of taking me on," Merlin sneered. "Don't try to act tougher than you actually are!"
"Seriously, why do you two hate each other?" Percy asked surprised that Merlin could look so venomous.
"Because he's nothing but a liar and a traitor, the moment he gains your absolute trust he stabs you in the back!" he yelled.
I flinched but couldn't bring myself to defend myself against his claims because when it came to him it was true. Dammit, when am I going to stop letting this boy be my weakness? I thought.
"You're wrong," Gawain said, "Merlin is the sweetest kindest person I've ever met. He hates to see anyone hurt, no matter who they are!"
"I don't think you know your friend as well as you think," he replied with a smirk.
"Merlin, why are you letting this punk talk about you like this?" Gawain asked.
"He can't argue against the truth, right Merlin?" Henry said.
"Hey, kid, only I get to say Merlin's name like that! Get your own thing!" Arthur said indignant.
Only Arthur would get upset over something like that, I thought. Henry looked over to me and gave me this look that I interpreted to mean 'Is he serious?' I shrugged. That was Arthur for you.
Henry sighed. "Forget I said anything. I just came to get you all so we can go."
"We?" Arthur asked.
"Yes, didn't Wolf tell you, after we leave Camelot us mercenaries have a job to do," he said. "Hey Wolf I hear Bloody Mary Bone is really looking forward to seeing you."
I shivered. Gods not that demented witch, I thought. The last time I saw her she tried to cut out my tongue while I was sleeping and give it back to me as a birthday present. I let the knights out of the cell and we made our way to the front entrance. They finished saddling our horses just as we arrived. I quickly introduced the Camelotean men to Mary and Wren; then we set out.
I may have a special surprise for all my The Mercenary fans. Since this Thursday is my birthday I'm going to post an exptra chapter just for you! Until then, please review!
