Hullo everyone,

So I saw this prompt today at kink me and it won't get out of my mind so I had to write it for my sanity's sake really, otherwise the plot bunnies would reproduce after having bunny sex and the last thing I need is my brain being compromised because of unchecked hatching of plot bunnies!

I altered it a bit from the original prompt! Duh!

Things you need to know….

This fic is meant to be a oneshot but since I'm so bad at writing one shots let's say it probably won'tbe a oneshot, timing is somewhere in season 2 where Uther is still a strong king, Balinor is not Merlin's father and neither is Hunith(though I love her) Merlin's mother.

I'm writing this in the hopes that this will cheer me up after my illness because my birthday was on Monday and I couldn't even celebrate my 20th birthday with cake or classmates! Sigh! I'll end my rant here! REVIEWS WOULD MAKE ME SO SO HAPPY!

Summary: Merlin gets lost in the forest when he's looking for herbs Gaius had asked him to fetch and as he stumbles his way through trying to find his way back to Camelot he get's kidnapped by someone. When he wakes up he finds himself in front of his real parents and in a castle that is hidden from everyone except magic users. Seeing that Merlin wasn't going to stay with them willingly his parent's wipe his memories clear off Arthur and anything to do with Camelot convincing him he is Prince Emrys.

WARNING: SLASH obviously, Merlin/Arthur, Arthur/Gwen,Lancelot/Gwen, Gaius, Uther, Morgana, Gwaine(yes yes I know he isn't supposed to appear until series 3 but I don't care!), Percival, Elyan, Leon, Hunith are pretty much the main characters.

Let's start the music!

Manservant Turned Prince

Chapter-7

King Phineas and his Queen had departed first in their carriage with a group of Knights while Prince Merlin was set to arrive with Camelot's retinue so as to prevent any mishaps on the journey to the magical lands.

Arthur lifted Morgana on to her horse arranging her cloak before he mounted his own horse scowling as he saw Merlin smiling and joking with his knights, it used to be Arthur whom Merlin bantered and laughed with and being the only one remembering what they were to each other made Arthur sour and sad for what he had lost at the same time.

In his single minded glaring Arthur hadn't noticed Gwaine who'd snuck up on him and as a result he was startled when Gwaine teased "Don't tell me you're already jealous Princess!"

Arthur turned to Gwaine and glared but Gwaine only chuckled and Arthur snapped "Just mind your business Gwaine."

Morgana lead her horse forward as Merlin and his knights started to ride away to Banraven and Arthur followed closely, he'd always relied upon Morgana even in his younger age and now being close to her made him feel a lot less lonely for they always protected each other and he could trust Morgana to defend him if someone raised any accusations against him or showed him their ill will which they kept artfully concealed.

They rode quietly for the better part of an hour before the Knights got bored with the lack of any action and started to talk and as it was always inevitable the topic of love interests was broached and Arthur listened a bit curious to know about his men's love affairs despite himself as it afforded a familiarity of listening to the mundane happenings of Camelot which was comforting, "Big bad Percy's got it bad for Mathilda!" said Gwaine and Arthur heard all the other knights laughing in chorus as Percival blushed.

"You're one to talk, everyone knows about your crush on Guinevere!" exclaimed Percival and both Arthur and Lancelot turned to Gwaine, Arthur with an amused tilt of his eyebrow and Lancelot with an accusing stare, Gwaine put his hands up in surrender.

"Gwen is a beautiful lady! But I know she's taken!" he directed the last comment to Lancelot who seemed appeased after that.

"However I have to say that Lady Morgana, you are the fairest of them all" said Gwaine with an elaborate bow keeping hold of his reins with one hand as Morgana smirked.

"Trying your charms on me now Gwaine? Have you exhausted yourself through the tavern wenches at long last?" asked Morgana and Gwaine gave her a mock wounded look while Arthur spluttered indignantly barking "Morgana, don't be so uncouth, it's unladylike."

Morgana huffed rebuking, "Don't be such a delicate petal Arthur!"

Gwaine joined in as the other knights laughed in the background saying "Oh yes! You should listen to lady Morgana if you have any hopes at all of seducing the greatest sorcerer of the age."

"Oh he's hardly going to be the one who's going to be the seducer; he's more likely to be the seducee" said Morgana and all the knights stopped laughing to give it a moment's thought and throwing a contemplative look at Arthur who was blushing bright red and Morgana closed her mouth wondering how angry Arthur was going to be with her for revealing such a thing.

"Oh my, its true, isn't it?" asked Gwaine his interest having been sparked as all the knights looked on in various degree's of attention.

Arthur was quick to deny "No, it's not."

Gwaine refused to be swayed though and all the others were also looking at Arthur with barely contained skepticism. "Then why are you blushing? Have you even kissed another man Arthur?"

"Oh he has, it was Merlin in fact!" said Morgana going for it as Arthur was bound to be furious with her either way and if she had to put up with his surly mood then she wanted to atleast get some entertainment out of it.

Lance was the one who exclaimed "What? When?"

Gwaine joined in asking "Yeah, I thought he couldn't stand the sight of you!"

Arthur had had enough and he shouted "Will you all just shut up?!"

Lance who was the peacemaker among the group immediately placated "Fine sire, you don't have to talk about it if it makes you uncomfortable."

Arthur glared at Lancelot before he said "I don't want to talk because there's nothing to talk about!"

Lancelot nodded though his eyes betrayed that he thought otherwise and Arthur sighed and turned looking straight ahead where Merlin and his knights were riding in similar raucous abandon.

Gwaine who was always the rebel couldn't just obey the Prince though and said "I never understood though why King Phineas wants you both to marry…I would think it would make more sense if he'd asked for Lady Morgana's hand in marriage…after all she has magic too."

Morgana frowned and Arthur felt his chest tighten though he didn't know why as he completely agreed with Gwaine, Morgana would have been the ideal choice for Merlin, she was magical and she had been a dear friend to Merlin whom Merlin had trusted unlike Arthur who had no magical skills whatsoever and who would not be able to connect with Merlin the way a person practicing magic could. It made him feel inadequate somehow and Arthur inwardly laughed at the irony of feeling so because he did not have a talent his father despised and thought him to hate all his life.

Gwaine bless him sensed some of Arthur's distress and Morgana shot him a sharp glare and he easily turned the conversation to other topics as the knights joined in.

Unknown to Arthur and the Knights of Camelot, Merlin was facing a very similar predicament amongst his own group of Knights.

Brom hedged "Aren't you supposed to be riding with your bride?"

Merlin shot him a glare but Brom continued looking unfazed "Oh come on Merlin, you can't avoid him forever and I know you desire the golden haired prince!"

Amr and Ulric shot their heads up in a questioning glance, Merlin shrugged saying "I neither like nor dislike him, have you forgotten that his marriage is purely for political reasons?"

"Be that as it may, you're still going to be married to him and getting to know him and trying to atleast establish a friend ship would make things easier Sire" said Ulric and Merlin's brows drew together in deliberation of the truth in Ulric's statement.

Brom then said "Like it or not dear friend you're stuck with him for life and being on good terms with him is what would be advantageous…" Brom then winked when Merlin shot him a confused look saying "he mightn't let you bed him otherwise."

Merlin snorted in derision at that and said "It's not like I'm gagging for it Brom, I unlike you am not a womanizer."

Brom agreed congenially smiling wickedly as he said "No, you're taste is more for tanned and muscular men with a penchant for being feisty, at first I thought Lady Morgana would have been a suitable match for you but now I must say Prince Arthur is certainly the one for you."

"And why would you think that Brom?"

Brom nudged Merlin's shoulder and said "He frustrates you, he gets under your skin, he doesn't adore you for your power, he's a challenge and you my Prince do sorely need someone who wouldn't bore you to tears and he certainly fills the role."

Merlin smirked and turned away riding on ahead as he realized Brom could possibly be right if Arthur wasn't the son of the man who hated magic, nevertheless he'd been too harsh on the Prince of Camelot and quite outrageous in his behavior assaulting the Prince in his own chambers in Camelot and it filled him with guilt and not a little amount of shame as he resolved to make things better and apologize to the Prince when they set up camp for the night.

After riding well into the sunset the Knights of both kingdoms and their horses were exhausted and set up camp in a small clearing in the forests of Balor, they were nearly a two day ride away from Banraven. Arthur got down from his horse and the knights watched in amazement as all the Wizards began chanting after setting up some folded canvas and poles on the ground and they began to rearrange themselves into tents. Arthur saw Merlin's manservant enter what was presumably Merlin's tent before Merlin himself came forward and said "You take those three" pointing to the three tents on the right side and Arthur wanted to be petulant and say that he was not going to dwell in a tent built from sorcery but Morgana had taken the lead and said "Thankyou Prince Emrys."

Merlin smiled and nodded his head looking at them all awkwardly and then solely at Arthur before he turned and headed inside his tent.

On entering the tent Arthur once again felt awestruck by the opulent space enough for two beds and the glow of three lamps hanging suspended in the air filling the room with a faint yellow light. Morgana entered soon after him and said "Wow, this could be a useful trick to learn."

Arthur nodded grudgingly; even he had to admit that there were some perks to the use of magic.

As night time drew on Arthur joined his knights around the campfire laughing and joking and eating a shared meal, he was in high spirits and he noticed that a few of his knights had already started to socialize with the Knight's of Banraven and watched Gwaine and the Knight who hung around Merlin a lot talking and laughing and sharing stories of their Prince's no doubt. Arthur noticed Merlin was absent among the crowd and thought of it as good riddance.

Arthur retired early for the night as his men were still at the ale laughing and merrymaking. He changed into his night clothes and jumped up on his awfully comfortable bed when he heard the rustling and saw Prince Merlin had entered his tent.

"Do you make it a habit of invading people's privacy in your kingdom?"

"No" said Merlin calmly amused.

"Beg to differ Prince Merlin because you've just invaded my tent without my permission."

Merlin still in that casual tone stated "I would have announced myself had it been a stranger I was visiting, but you're not."

Arthur snorted and said "Don't take familiarity with me just because we're engaged, I still hate you and this situation that you've brought upon me."

"You're father brought this upon you when he started the purge, this is not the way I want things to be either but it is and we can atleast act like responsible adults and mend bridges, I realize I was blasé in my actions against you in Camelot and I apologize, I shouldn't have forced and restrained you against your will and for that I'm sorry, I hope we can start anew" finished Merlin looking hopeful.

Arthur though was furious for having been reminded once again of how weak he was against magic and got up and off the bed screaming "I don't want to get to know you, any of you, you have proved to me beyond doubt that sorcery is evil and that all who practice it are corrupt and immoral, so why don't you just take your proverbial olive branch and burn it in a pyre?"

Merlin pursed his lips and waved his hand, his eyes turning gold for a second and Arthur refrained from wanting to throw something at Merlin and demanded "What did you do now?"

Merlin sighed rocking back on his heels and crossing his arms in front of his chest in a defensive gesture which made Arthur crow in delight inside his mind as Merlin said "Relax, it's only a silencing spell, you were making a racket and I rather our disagreements be between us."

Arthur though was not keen on listening, he was still smarting from how he'd been so thoroughly defeated and constrained in his own territory in Camelot that he spouted vitriol as he asked "So what? You've warded the place so that you could take advantage of me? Bind me invisibly and then force yourself on me as there's no possible way I'd ever let you willingly?"

Merlin was shocked and profoundly hurt by the Prince's harsh and cruel judgment of him and he visibly flinched and rocked back as he said "I…I would never..never do that to anyone, least of all you, do you really think me so dishonorable?"

Arthur laughed humorlessly as he spat "Just because you suddenly became a Prince doesn't mean you by design have honor Merlin, I've known you when you were nothing but a mere peasant and you were anything but honorable…even so you've proved that you are anything but honorable with your actions in Camelot!"

Arthur regretted his harsh statements only when he saw Merlin's blue eyes shutter and a cold mask hide Merlin's expressive and soulful face but before he could say anything to repair the damage he'd done Merlin was gone and Arthur was left alone with a shocked look and sorrow in his heart at how he'd ruined any chance of a friendship or more with his thoughtless words.

As soon as Merlin stormed out Morgana came in demanding to know what the hell had happened but seeing the absolute misery on Arthur's face made Morgana stop short as she sat down beside Arthur and hugged him although she knew Arthur had done something phenomenally stupid.

Arthur fell asleep with difficulty that night after hours of turning and tossing and feeling absolutely guilty, he knew he went too far this time, he'd insinuated that Merlin had tried to dishonor him when he'd enjoyed the power play when he was bound and at Merlin's mercy and most of all Arthur had called Merlin dishonorable when he knew that Merlin was one of the most honorable and honest man Arthur had ever known.

Merlin on the other hand felt sick with hurt and remaining guilt and vowed to stay away from the Prince from now on, he'd find a way to stop the marriage, he knew now there was no hope for him and Arthur and he didn't know why Arthur's malicious words made him so heartsick when he didn't want to be stuck in this marriage in the first place, then he realized that somewhere along the way he'd gotten used to the idea of marrying the young Prince when he'd observed and coveted him from afar in Camelot and he let a lone tear slip before he drank a sleeping draft and warded his tent before going into a deep potion induced slumber.

The next day the tension was palpable in the air as they packed away their supplies and rode hard no one commenting or joking having sensed the moods of their Prince's and Morgana kept shooting worried glances at Arthur and then at Merlin who rode at the front with his knights not even looking their way once, she knew something had happened last night but she did not pry because Arthur was still having that despondent look on his face and Morgana knew better than to push. They saw a huge graveyard in their path to Banraven and Gwaine thought it fitting of the oppressive mood as they rode into the outlying villages of Banraven just as the sun began to set and they once again set up camp, the sorcerers wordlessly arranging for tents for Camelot's knights as well.

Arthur woke up from his sleep when he heard the howls unlike anything he'd ever heard before and sat up in his bed wondering if they were in wolf territory and a little excitement shooting up his veins at the thought of being able to hunt one though it was night time and wolf's were crafty creatures. Morgana woke up then with a ear piercing scream and before he could ask her anything she had gone running out leaving Arthur to follow at a sedate pace outside where he saw that all the sorcerers had woken up and Merlin was trying to comfort an inconsolable Morgana by placing his hands on her shoulders and pulling her closer saying something in dulcet tones that Arthur couldn't hear.

"What the hell happened?" asked Gwaine as the knights of Camelot came out of their tent one by one.

Arthur turned away from Merlin and Morgana and said "I don't know, I heard howling…might be wolves, though I don't know what's made Morgana go stir crazy again" he scowled when he saw Morgana nodding in reply to whatever Merlin was saying.

Gwaine noticed his gaze and said "Huh, they seem to be chummy."

Arthur decided that enough was enough and when he saw the tents being packed and set upon their horses by magic he intervened and demanded "What is happening?"

Merlin looked at him for a brief moment and his eyes reflected fear and trepidation as he said "Ghouls, lots of them, that's why you hear the howling."

"Ghouls?" asked Arthur not comprehending what could possibly be scary about something with such an unimpressive name.

The Knight whom Gwaine was friendly with earlier said by way of explanation, "Yes, grave robbers if you will, they feed on the flesh of the dead by digging corpses out of graves but in many numbers they are known to hunt travelers and eat their flesh as well."

Arthur thought the story was unbelievable until he heard and ear piercing wail that made him dizzy and he closed his ears desperately trying to regain his breath as he bent down. As it was over he saw that his knights and everyone else in the camp had their ears shut and then he heard Merlin bark "Quick, block out your ears with something!"

Merlin then began to chant as his knights joined him raising a pale blue arc of light high above them and surrounding them like a dome.

"We can't keep it up for much longer!" Brom shouted and Merlin nodded.

"You have to go out, all of you!" said Merlin as he dragged a disgruntled Morgana and his knights back to where Arthur was.

Brom shouted "We can't, we don't have a teleportation key!"

Merlin looked up into the high heavens and then they saw it, the hundreds of pale, hideous creature's with disfigured faces, spidery pale limbs and jaws as wide open as a python's dribbling with saliva, bringing the terrible stench of death and rot along with them, Arthur and the Knights looked around to find that they were surrounded on all sides and Morgana clutched his arms tightly when they heard the howling and bent forwards covering their ears again.

Merlin shouted in between the continued yowling, "You all need to cover your ears; the ghoul's howls are dangerous! They can incapacitate humans with it!"

Arthur gritted his teeth and shouted back "We don't have anything to cover our ears with genius!"

Brom looked hesitant for a minute before he bent down further and scooped a handful of mud stuffing them in his ears and nodding to the others to do the same. Arthur had a distinctly disgusted expression on his face and screamed his protest, "I'm not stuffing mud in my ears!"

Merlin gave him an incredulous look and then with a glow of his eyes Arthur's ears were stuffed and the ringing sound of the insane cries mercifully stopped though Arthur glared balefully at Merlin who was holding his hand up trying to maintain the power of the shield from which the ghouls kept bouncing off.

"I can't hold on for much longer, take out your swords! You can kill them!"

Arthur breathed a sigh of relief, sword fighting was something he could do and drew out his sword as his men did the same. Surprisingly Merlin also drew out a sword of his own and Gwaine shouted "Can't you just blast them away with magic?"

The blue glow surrounding them started to fade as Brom screamed "Magic is not effective against ghouls! The best chance we have is to flee from here!"

Lancelot who was close to Arthur said "How's this for excitement sire?"

Arthur breathed in and out heavily before he laughed saying "Wonderful!"

"And remember, do not get bitten by them, they're bite is poisonous!"

"Great, really…that's just great" said Gwaine as he swung his sword in an arc.

Suddenly with a loud bang the blue shield shimmered and then disappeared and the ghouls were on them in a horde. Arthur killed two of them cutting their heads off as they jumped into the frey and then it was an all out bloodbath as everyone fought with their swords managed to cut them down but they kept appearing again and again and Morgana after slicing a ghoul in half with her sword saw the ghouls they had cut down pick up their remaining parts and attach themselves to their body and bounce back again and screamed as she realized there was no way they were escaping out of this alive if it weren't for a miracle.

Merlin soon realized this as well and then figuring that fighting was a lost cause he concentrated on the mental link he shared with his knights saying, 'You all must get out of here along with Camelot's people, I will perform a teleportation spell and you must go!'

'No, No Merlin, don't be ridiculous, we're not leaving you here!' Brom's outrage could be heard in his thoughts.

'You must all go and that's an order from your sovereign!'

Merlin cut the mental link and threw away his sword holding both of his hands out and repelling the ghouls in front of him throwing them backwards as his eyes flashed with concealed power, "ON ME!" he shouted and Brom and the Knights of Banraven managed to drag Camelot's parties close to Merlin created a dopplehanger as a distraction and threw it upon the ghouls which were coming for him. When he saw that they were distracted altleast on one side he turned back to the others and saw the his men still cutting down the creatures spouting from all directions as stretched out his hands and repelled the ghouls to a five feet distance of them.

Arthur and the knights of Camelot were stunned by his display of power and Arthur indignantly demanded "Why didn't you that earlier you idiot?"

Merlin smiled despite himself for a minute wondering if it was normal for him to be amused when he was going to be ghoul food in a few short minutes if everything went according to plan. "Stay still!" he shouted and understanding dawned on Morgana's face as she tried to move towards him saying "No Merlin, you have to come with us!"

Before she can come any closer Merlin froze all of them and time for a second seeing the resignation on the faces of his knights and Morgana and Arthur's horror filled expression before he recited the spell praying to the gods for it to work.

He directed his magic to flow forward, to envelope him and then surround the group he'd kept frozen before he heard a wind whooshing indicating he'd done it right and then he saw them all disappear one by one and hoped he'd transported them somewhere far away and to safety instead of just a mile away or so.

His hands fell and the time freezing spell was disrupted and Merlin's last thought was how undignified a death he was going to have before his eyes blacked out and he fell on the ground closing his eyes and in a last ditch effort calling Aithusa in dragon tongue feebly.

At the same time the group of Camelot's and Banraven's knights appeared in the castle gates along with Morgana and Arthur all covered in mud and grime sticking to their shirts and skin.

Arthur immediately grabbed Brom by his shirt, "How can you leave him to die out there? He's your Prince; you're supposed to protect him!"

Brom shrugged him off and snapped "We were acting under the Prince's strict orders!"

Arthur was about to reply in kind to that when they heard the beat of wings and looked up to see three dragons flowing out of the castle and out into the night the beat of their massive leathery wings sounding like a windstorm as they flew away and disappeared into the distance.

Brom and Amr sighed before Brom said "We'll have to trust Aithusa to find him and bring him back."

Please review and let me know what you think, concrit is appreciated but flamers will be spammed personally by myself!

And how was Merlin this chapter?