Hey everyone :D It hasn't been THAT long since an update right? I have been working on it almost every day
I hope you like it, I wasn't sure about this one, some of the wordings of things sounds weird to me
This one is dedicated to 1983Sarah, Thank you so much for your review ^^
I don't own Merlin and all that jazz
Enjoy :D
Merlin lay in Arthur's invisible lap, enjoying the feeling of warmth and closeness. He was so glad that Arthur wasn't hurt, and grateful that he had managed to get him to breathe again; those last few moments had been the most terrifying of his life, topped only by those times when Arthur was in immediate danger or dying himself. He knew he must look terrible, the last few hours hadn't been kind to him after all, but lying there, with the feel of Arthur around him he felt as carefree and calm as he had by the river that morning, it was evening now, the sky was starting to darken and through gaps in the trees branches he could see a few stars starting to shimmer. He felt a feather light touch trace through his hair and Merlin closed his eyes, giving in to sleep.
After a few moments of Merlin's deep breathing, Arthur gently shifted him so that his head was on the ground rather than his lap, just in case someone were to glance over and wonder how the hostage was managing to sleep with his head a few inches off the floor, glancing around carefully, he stood and walked around the tree, inspecting the chain that tied to Merlin's wrists. He couldn't break it with his sword without drawing attention to Merlin. He had seen the one who held the key though, the leader, with the beard and the long hair and the large belly. But he was always surrounded by men. He would wait, Arthur decided, sitting back down beside Merlin. He stroked his manservants hair softly, hoping that he was strong enough to endure and hating himself for not being able to get him out now. If he could get the leader alone, or if they unchained Merlin for any reason, then he would act. For now, all he could do was be there for his friend.
Leon, Gwaine, Percival and Elyan set out from Camelot after the council meeting. Leon had explained everything to them and they had all reacted differently, Percival hid his emotions carefully, Elyan bit his lip, worrying about the prince and Gwaine fumed, he was angry at Uther for commanding them to leave Merlin, angry at Arthur for dragging Merlin off with him, angry at Merlin … No, he wasn't angry at Merlin, he was worried for him; more worried than he was for Arthur, Arthur was unrivalled in his sword skills, plus he was invisible so he'd be kind of hard to capture, if they even knew he was there. Merlin was very visible, and being held for ransom, and as he was less than royalty the bastards were unlikely to see the need to return him in pristine condition. Gwaine was going to find Merlin, Uther's orders be damned. Arthur could take care of himself, Merlin could too at a pinch but he was usually too busy looking out for other people to look after himself, plus he was too nice to do everything that needed to be done, unless someone he cared about was in immediate danger then he would rather incapacitate than kill. And he wasn't very good at either of those things, he was useless with a sword, terrible with a bow and couldn't so much as throw a rock accurately. How he had managed to stay alive throughout his years in Camelot were a mystery to Gwaine. Even though he had an inkling, and that inkling just posed the same question for a different reason. Merlin would be careful, he knew, so with an invisible Arthur around it wouldn't be safe for him to … escape, which could be a problem, especially if Arthur couldn't find a way to bail him out. As the knights settled down for the day, Gwaine insisted of first watch, he was too impatient and angry to be tired. They only had two days left.
Arthur really wanted to rush in right now, and knowing he couldn't stung. He watched in vain as Merlin was kicked awake, with a lot more force than Arthur himself used when performing such a task, he wanted to dash in and save his manservant as he watched them torment and abuse him, but he knew that if he did, Merlin would die quicker. His intervention would bring out the rest of the camp and without anyone but Merlin to blame, they would kill him instantly and without hesitation. And unless Merlin was put in ropes, Arthur couldn't cut him free. It was torture to watch his friends pain without being able to do anything to stop it, and he could feel his anger bubbling beneath the surface. After they had finished with Merlin they walked off guffawing and clapping each other on the back, leaving behind only one guard who scowled menacingly at the pale boy before spitting and leaning against the trunk of a tree nearby, where he could see Merlin and be comfortable at the same time. Arthur tiptoed past him and reached his manservant, hurting inside when Merlin flinched away from his touch for a split second before relaxing. A nasty bruise was forming on his cheek and Arthur stroked it gently, wishing he could convey his hatred of the men who had done this to him and express how sorry he was that he had dragged Merlin into this in the first place. Merlin sat up slowly, wincing and looked down at his knees rather than where Arthur would be so as not to draw suspicion from the guard, after a minute or so, Merlin spoke
'You should go back to Camelot' he whispered, his voice sounded strained and raspy and Arthur made a note to get Merlin some water as soon as he could. But by way of an answer he took Merlin's face gently between his hands and shook his head slightly, Merlin sighed 'you have to' he said 'they will have noticed you were missing by now, and there's nothing you can do for me here anyway, I'm not likely to be moved until my ransom time runs out.' There was no fear in his voice, just concern, for him, for Arthur. 'You shouldn't be wandering about the woods with Lilith roaming around' he urged 'Go back to Camelot Arthur' he said the last with a jutting lip, back to stubborn old Merlin 'Or I'll come up with a really good name for you'
Arthur personally thought that names didn't come any 'better' than dollop-head, but as his withering look was rendered useless, he chose to ignore the comment. No way was he leaving Merlin in the hands of these thugs. He just needed an opportunity to bust him out of there. One day, this would be a funny story that they would look back on and laugh, just another of their adventures. He wanted to believe that. But the desperation in Merlin's eyes said that he didn't think so somehow, and annoyingly, Merlin was usually right... except about everything that didn't include futuristic babble. Sure he had been captured by bandits before, and he had endured a punch or two but something was different this time. It felt different. Like he was intruding on something. Like his mere presence was stopping something from happening. Merlin wanted Arthur to go, but he was in no danger so what he didn't get was why. But he wanted to find out. He took Merlin's head again and nodded. Merlin looked sceptical.
'You're not leaving are you?' his voice was a statement of fact, slightly sarcastic, but there was a hint of something else too, defeat? Before he could decide, there was movement from the guard who obviously thought something was off by the way the hostage kept moving his head, he staggered to his feet, waddled over, stared at Merlin for an uncomfortable minute before kicking him for making him stand up. Ignoring the boys glare.
Arthur touched Merlin's cheek gently as an apology, then he stood and made his way into the thick of the camp, the majority of bandits were drinking from tankards of mead and laughing raucously in the one of the tents, Arthur slipped inside and stepped around the piles of vomit, sleeping men and empty tankards that littered the ground. He found what he was looking for on one of the tables, underneath the arm of an unconscious thug. A water skin. Working quickly, whilst looking around to make sure no one else noticed, Arthur eased the skin from under the man's arm. He then made his way back outside, unwittingly starting a fist fight when he accidentally bumped into one drunken fool with another standing nearby. He smiled thinly, hoping that they both really hurt each other. And knowing that they would be only too easy to defeat if they got this drunk every morning. Once outside in the fresh air, away from the thick, sweat and beer laden air of the tent, Arthur shook the water skin, empty. He made his way to a nearby river and filled it, after washing it thoroughly first, he didn't want Merlin to become ill with whatever the passed out bandit may or may not have. Plus, it smelled.
He made his way back to Merlin who was once again, trying to slip out of his chains. His wrists were starting to bleed with their constant irritation of the metal confining his hands, he tapped Merlin on the shoulder and passed the water skin to him, taking his hand and writing two words on the boy's palm
Hide it
Merlin nodded, and after taking a swig, he got Arthur to tuck it into his pants, not being able to quite reach himself. He eyed the guard, who was dozing for the moment and then looked back to where Arthur was still holding his hand
'Thanks Arthur' he whispered 'but you still have to go! Surely they will have sent a patrol out after you by now, go and find them.' he sensed the princes hesitation and his voice softened 'You can't do anything for me here' he said squeezing the hand still in his own and grinned 'Not that you could anyway. I'm safe as long as I have time, they won't kill me if they think that Uther is considering paying my ransom. Now go.'
Arthur saw the sense of Merlin's words, and if he knew his father then the patrol would be led by Leon, who would bring Gwaine, Elyan and Percival with him. They were his best chance. If knights of Camelot attacked the bandits then Arthur could help them with his advantage of being invisible without putting Merlin in more danger. So Arthur squeezed his manservants hand one last time, ruffled his hair, and ran off into the woods, hopefully to find Merlin's rescue party.
What he found instead. Was Lilith.
Dun, dun, DUUUUUUUUUUUN!
What do you think?
Do you like it? Hate it? Indifferent?
Please let me know, I really appreciated feedback
Love you all
Love Tibbins xx
