Chapter 9: Freedom is a Precious Thing

It had been a day or two since the king had confined me to my room. I had only left the room to wash. I hardly saw anyone besides Merlin, with the occasional visit from Gwaine or Gwen. Neither of them had the authority to take me out, so I was pretty much stuck in there because Merlin had a million other more important things to do for Arthur. Today, I was humming a silly song my father used to sing to me while he made the armor and weapons for the king. It went something like this: "Sing blue bird sing! Sing your heart out, Sing blue bird sing and take away my doubt. I am working here for a meal or two, for my wife and children, working in the fields just to make a livin'..." It was a silly song, but that's what he always sang. I continued humming it as someone rapped on my door. Finally! No one had visited me in two days. I swear I was going to die in that room. They had passed me food through the door and that was it. I opened my door to see Merlin. He held up two stirrups. "Are you ready to go?"

"Go where?" I was irritated with him for not having shown up sooner.

"I'm going to show you around Camelot. I figured you must have been bored stiff since I haven't been able to get out of work to 'escort' you anywhere."

"But the king said I couldn't leave the castle."

"The king isn't going to know, now is he?" I liked his wit, my previous irritation starting to dissolve, and something told me I should just go.

"Okay then."

"Here. Wear this first and put it over your head so no one will recognize you." He handed me a blue cloak. I put the hood over my head and we snuck out of the castle. There were a few times where we were nearly caught, but other than that everything went pretty smoothly. We stopped by the room where Gaius and Merlin lived to get some food to take with us. As he was handing the sack to me, Gaius winked and said, "Have fun!" We went through the market so that no one would be able to spot us in the thick crowds. The horses were waiting for us by some trees that hid them from the view of anyone in the castle. Once mounted, we rode off in the direction of the forest and I reveled in the feeling of being free. As we rode, I grinned hugely at Merlin and exclaimed, "Thank you!"

He stared at me for a second, and then said, "You have no idea how weird this is."

"What do you mean? I thought you were used to riding?"

"No, not that. I never get thanks from royalty!"

"Who're you calling royalty?" I asked. "The king's confined me to my room; that doesn't seem very royal to me!" It was lame, but we laughed anyway. Then Merlin began telling me stories about his time in Camelot. He was actually a really good storyteller, so it felt like only a few minutes had passed by the time we arrived at the place Merlin was leading us to. We were up in the hills where there were a few trees to provide us with some shade. It was quite a view; we could see the castle, and we could hear the bustling of the people working. Once the horses were fed and watered, we sat down on the ground. Merlin unveiled the food with a flourish. As he began sharing out the food, I said, "Merlin? You are a liar."

His eyes widened. "Who, me?"

I snorted. "No, the Merlin sitting next to you. Yes, you!"

He frowned. "Why am I a liar?"

"You said you were going to show me around Camelot. This isn't Camelot."

"Oh. Well, see, I'm showing you around Camelot, not Camelot itself because, well, then you would probably be kicked out and I would lose my job and possibly my head. I don't know about you, but I rather like my head where it is so you get to see around Camelot. Maybe when the king likes you again you can see Camelot itself."

"So, basically you dragged me to the middle of nowhere to have a picnic around Camelot?" He smiled and nodded.

"Wow, Merlin. I'm starting to agree with Arthur. You can be a bit of an idiot." He glared at me, but I just laughed. I was really beginning to like Merlin. He could be a little doltish at times, but he was so sweet and likable it was easy to forgive him. He was starting to feel like the brother I never had... or at least like a brother to replace the ones I almost had. Thinking about them made me sad, so I quickly shook the thought off. I wasn't going to be sad and mope around on the first day I finally got a taste of freedom. Not that is was easy to mope with Merlin around, but still.

"So," Merlin said, stretching out on the grass. "Aside from the lack of freedom, how are you enjoying Camelot so far?" I thought about it for a minute.

"It's... very different from Actica."

"That's it? That's all you have to say?"

"Well, considering I've only seen the inside of the palace and around Camelot, what else am I supposed to say? Although the around of Camelot is very nice." I smiled at him sweetly, but he threw some dirt at me and I gasped in mock outrage. He looked shocked at what he did. So was I.

"How dare you throw dirt at a lady?" I scolded mockingly. He rolled his eyes.

"Not even close to impressive," he drawled. "You are the most unlady-like lady I have ever met! Even Gaius is more lady-like than you!" Now it was my turn to throw dirt at him. The jerk just snickered as if he was used to having dirt thrown at him. Sadly, he probably was.

"Are you drunk? You seem a little..." I wobbled my hand back and forth in the air.

He stared at me reproachfully, though the effect was somewhat ruined by the fact that he was looking at me upside down since he was lying on his back. "Of course not! They don't let the servants near the mead unless they have to serve it!"

"Technically, I'm not supposed to be out of the palace either," I retorted, smirking. He glared at me and started to get up.

"Well then, Lady Hale. Shall we go now?"

"No, no!" I said quickly. "I was joking, I know you aren't that stupid. Okay, okay!" I cried as he got up completely. "I'll be good now!"

"So you made me get up for nothing? Thanks a lot! Do you know how much laundry I've done in the past few days?" he groaned and flopped back on the ground. We were quiet for a minute, and then I decided to break the silence.

"So, tell me exactly why you came to Camelot. I know Gaius didn't give me all the details."

"My mother thought that I needed a fresh start in life. The village life was a boring one. There were only about forty people living in my village, Ealdor. It just so happened that I saved Arthur's life on my first day here, so King Uther made me his servant as my reward." I looked at him, bewildered.

"Ah! So I'm in the company of a hero! What did you save him from, exactly?" He didn't look at me for a long time. I could tell that he was trying to choose his words carefully.

"I saved him from the witch Mary Collins. She had taken over the body of Lady Helen, who came to sing for the king."

"And how did you save him?" I found it amusing that this skimpy boy in front of me had saved Arthur from an extremely powerful witch. He totally changed the subject.

"So, your uncle is a dark sorcerer. Is he powerful?"

I thought back to the day he ruined my life, and remembered how with just a wave of his hand my sword flew out of my hands. "Yes. He didn't even have to say an incantation to do magic." Merlin flinched.

"Wow, that is powerful."

"Yes, and that's the day I realized that all magic was bad."

"Really?" He looked pale, like he did the other night. "So, if I had magic, would you tell the king?"

"Well, it would depend on what you did. If you used it for good or for evil."

"So you're saying that not all magic is bad?" My goodness! I never thought of it like that.

"Yeah, I guess. It only depends on how you use it," I said distantly. There was silence for a moment.

"Well, all this food is going to waste!" Merlin said abruptly. "Shall we, uh, 'dig in' now, my lady? Or are you too -"

He never got to finish his sentence because I shoved a piece of bread in his mouth. He choked and flailed around for a little bit while I sat there cracking up. He tried to sit up, but just fell back.

"What?" I asked. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," he managed. I think his throat was sore. Oops. "Your necklace blinded me. The sun, you know..."

"Oh." I had actually forgotten about the necklace in the past few days. Too many exciting things had happened to me lately. I remembered the conversation I had with Gwaine about the boy.

"What are you thinking about?" Merlin asked, his mouth full of food. "I can tell you're thinking. You're quiet and you're not being mean to me." I raised an eyebrow.

"It's nothing. Just something Gwaine and I talked about." His eyes lit up immediately.

"You and Gwaine?" Merlin could be such a girl sometimes.

"Yes, Sir Gwaine and I. And we only talked."

"Suuuuuure you did," he said mischievously. I glared at him, and he just said, "Aw, come on Hale! You know you like him!"

"Me? No! And what do you think we would do, you little weasel? I was just telling him about the boy I used to live with-"

"Oh! The boy! And I suppose you told him your tragic love story?"

"Love story? No!" He wiggled his eyebrows a bit.

"So how did it even come up then? Were you two exchanging secrets or something?"

"Oh you know, the way all conversations come up." I was trying to change the subject, but I knew that he would still pester me until he heard what he wanted. "He tried to um, kiss me." Those last words came out with a struggle, and as I said them he laughed so loudly the whole world could probably hear him.

"Hale? You are a terrible liar."

"I am not lying!"

"Ooooh getting defensive now, eh?" I made to pick up the canteen of water so I could dump it all over his head but he beat me to it. He looked at it and his eyes briefly flashed gold. The water canteen zoomed over to him.

"Uh-uh-uh," he said triumphantly. I just stared at him in shock. Slowly, he realized what he had done, and the color drained from his face. He had frozen the canteen in midair so that it was just a few inches from his face. I wasn't scared, just shocked that Merlin, of all people, could use magic. He stuttered as I stared. He tried to explain to me that it wasn't what it seemed, but it was as clear as day. Merlin was a sorcerer.

"Huh," I said as normally as I could. "So you weren't kidding when you asked me if I would turn you in to Uther."

"Hale! You can't tell anyone about this!"

"I knew it! I knew there was something about you, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Merlin, you can use magic! What else can you do? Can you make things appear out of nowhere? Can you make it rain? Could you turn Arthur into a woman?" I could tell he was confused by my reaction; he probably thought that I would be scared off and tell the king.

"Hale. You promise you won't tell anyone?" My enthusiasm was dampened a little. I knew I had to reassure him and let him know that he had my trust.

"Yes, of course. So is this why you came to Camelot? Does anyone else know?"

"Only Gaius, and Lancelot." I could tell that he was still in shock because I wasn't freaking out. I smiled kindly at him.

"Seriously, don't worry. Your secret is safe with me. Promise." He searched my face intently, looking for any sign that I was lying. Finally, he sighed and relaxed.

"You have no idea how nice it is to be myself!"

"I would know, Merlin. For a time in my life I had to wear dresses all day! Hated it. I don't get why women would want to wear those anyway." He just shrugged.

"But you don't know what it's like to have to hide your abilities so that you aren't killed. Do you know how many times I've saved Arthur's life? But he doesn't know it's me; he can't know it's me until Uther is gone. Then maybe there's a chance people like me won't be persecuted anymore." He paused. "But on a happier note, since we're being honest here," he continued. "I have to say you're the most beautiful lady I have ever met. Even when you're covered in dirt!" He laughed. No one had ever made me laugh so much in my life.

"So why aren't you falling head over heels for me like Gwaine?" I teased. He was about to crack a joke, but thought better of it.

"Because there's just something about you Hale. Gwen is like the sister I never had. You're like the sister I never wanted."

"Oh thanks. I've always wanted to be an unwanted sister." The sarcasm in my voice couldn't have been more evident.

"Well, it's a brother's duty to compliment his sister, boost her self-esteem you know, even if he has to lie through his teeth to do it."

"What are you trying to say?" Our banter went on like this for quite some time. After we had finished eating (actually it was mostly throwing our food at each other), Merlin mounted his horse and I followed him as we rode back to Camelot, laughing all the while. When we neared the city walls, I put my hood up and we rode unnoticed to the stables. We snuck back to my room in the nick of time; Arthur walked in just as I sat on my bed.

"Merlin! Where have you been all day? I had a knighting, and I couldn't find the proper armor. I was late to it, you know, and a prince cannot be late to these kinds of things."

"Arthur -" I began.

"It's Prince Arthur to you! Or sire."

"Well then, sire!" I exaggerated the formality. "All I wanted to say was that I had him very busy today, doing chores for me and running errands." This just annoyed Arthur even more.

"Who do you think you are, queen of the castle? Well, you aren't! You're our guest, and you shall follow our rules! You've already broken two; I don't want to have to send you to the dungeons as well. Merlin here is my servant, so he shouldn't be doing work for you."

"But your father said - You know what? Never mind. I'm sorry I kept Merlin from you." Arthur eyed me and sighed.

"It's all right. You seem like a nice girl, Hale, but you're really good at getting yourself into trouble. Even better at it than Merlin, I would say. Now come on Merlin, my horses need mucking out." Arthur turned around and left. As he was leaving, Merlin turned around to face me.

"That was close," he said.

"Yeah. Next time, we'll be more careful and keep track of time," I agreed. He winked at me and grandly declared, "Until the next time we meet, my lady!" Then he marched out, leaving me on my bed giggling over his dorkiness and reliving the events of the day. Freedom is a precious thing.