Just finished making the edits for the third draft of a book I've written called Poppy Girl, after I had done the third draft I was planning it on sending it off to agents…which is the first step to getting something published…Wow that's so exciting! :D :D Let's just hope my writing's good enough…what do you think? Reviews much loved, as always (:
Chapter 9 - Trapped
There were many things that annoyed or made Arthur angry, being a pompous Prince and the building pressure of being King one day, it's not really surprising. But at this very moment, Arthur had never felt so furious in all his life as he strode down a cracked and broken corridor.
He had just seen his manservant, his friend, the person he was meant to trust, use magic right before his eyes. Such powerful magic it wasn't possible that Merlin had just suddenly decided to start using magic the other day, he must have been doing it for years.
What had Merlin said when they once spent a cold night lying on the floor of a mud hut that was once his home so long ago? He came to Camelot because he didn't fit in. What were the chances he had to leave the village or be chased out of it, because he 'didn't fit in', because he used magic.
Well, moving to Camelot wasn't a very wise choice then. But how could have Merlin kept it secret from him all these years?
Come to think of it, how did he not realise the truth sooner? Arthur paused as he thought this. People were running around him, checking each chamber they passed to see if anyone was inside, or if they were trapped. But Arthur felt like he was merely watching this scene through a window, the sights and sounds muffled as he was lost in his own thoughts.
There had been a few occasions, many actually, when something happened that seemed impossible to explain, and Merlin always seemed to be at the heart of it. But Arthur had never thought that it was beyond luck, or he had looked past Merlin and thought it was someone else. Merlin would stay silent, but truth be told it was probably him that caused the miracle to happen. And yet he told no one.
Through his rage, Arthur started to feel a little sympathy for Merlin. It must have driven him mad, never getting any credit, having to serve a really annoying Prince all day, when he could easily click his fingers and all the work would be done, but if he did, he would get into serious trouble. Merlin could have been living in fear all these years, fear of what would happen if anyone found out that he could use magic. It must have been difficult for him at times, if not all the time, and yet he said nothing. He remained pure Merlin – clumsy, idiotic, annoying, amusing, yet helpful and friendly.
But at the same time, this didn't change anything. Merlin had used magic, and Arthur had been taught for so long it was probably engraved on his skull; magic was wrong, magic was evil. Magic must be destroyed.
But what if the person who used magic was your best friend?
Arthur shook his head. Surely if magic was pure evil Merlin would have actually done some sort of evil deed by now? And how many times had Arthur felt regret or doubt when the use of magic led to slaughter? How many innocent people had been killed because of his paranoid father? Did he want to do the same thing? No. But the fact that Merlin had kept it so secret and was fully aware that magic was hated in this Kingdom, yet allowed himself to become friends with the Prince of that Kingdom left Arthur confused. It just made it seem like Merlin knew he was doing something wrong.
But the worse thing Merlin had ever done was make Arthur feel embarrassed, which was probably easily done without magic, he hadn't tried to take his life, in fact there were occasions he had save it. So was magic good or bad?
Arthur hadn't got a clue.
Trying desperately to think of something else other than Merlin or magic, Arthur concentrated at the job in hand – finding any survivors in the castle.
All the able men from the Great Hall were now making their way down corridors, carefully stepping over loose rubble and making their way to the doors of chamber, thudding on them and calling out, seeing if there was anyone inside. If they thought they heard a response, they would make their way in, which was usually harder than it sounded as a lot of the doors had been blocked off. Other men were trying to clear the rocks and timber that completely blocked off corridors. Their work was fast, and mainly quiet unless they shouted out for survivors. But the castle was a big place, how long was this going to take? And how stable was the ceiling above them?
Pushing this new horrible thought to the back of his mind, Arthur went to a door at the end of a corridor that hadn't been checked yet. He stopped by it, listening intently for any sign of life, not daring to just walk inside the chamber, as he might find a load of rubble falling on top of him.
Through the silence only interrupted by the clunking of giant stones being moved away in the distance, Arthur thought he heard a sniffling noise and a few, tiny sobs. Someone was trapped inside.
Arthur rapped a knuckle on the door.
"Hello?"
The sniffling suddenly stopped, but there was now reply.
Arthur cleared his throat, and called out louder through the thick wooden door – "this is Arthur Pendragon, is anyone in there?"
Once again there was no response, but Arthur thought he could hear shuffling from behind the door. Someone was definitely in there, but for some strange reason they didn't want to reply.
Knowing he couldn't leave it if someone was in there, Arthur turned the doorknob and pushed against the door. He could feel the door shift a little under his weight, but it didn't open. The door was stuck.
Grumbling something incoherent, Arthur pushed against the door again, harder this time, and gave it a hard kick with his uninjured foot. Again the door didn't open. Arthur tried once more, pushing all his strength that he had left against the door.
The door flew open, and Arthur almost fell in, tripping over the rubble that was scattered over the floor, and had been blocking the door off. His sudden entrance into the chamber had taken the occupant by surprise, and it gave a small scream.
The chamber was only a small one, and quite plain. It consisted of a single cabinet and one small window, the glass from the window now lying in pieces around it. Arthur wasn't sure if he had been in this chamber before, not for anything other than a search, there were so many chambers in the castle. Taking up half the space in the room, was a large single bed, and sitting on the bed, was a little girl.
The girl couldn't have been older than eight or nine. She had scrawny, short dark hair and huge dark eyes. Her face was pale apart from red marks around her eyes from where she had been crying. She was curled up in the middle of the bed, clutching a red cushion in her thin, shaking arms. When she saw Arthur, her eyes widened with fear and she trembled a little more.
Arthur stepped forward, a little more carefully than when he had fallen into the chamber, and held his hands out towards the girl, as if to show her that he was harmless.
"Hello," he said in a gentle voice.
The girl stared, she couldn't believe that she was being talked to by Prince Arthur Pendragon.
"Are you all right?" Arthur asked, moving a little closer to the girl. She didn't look hurt, just in shock; there was no blood or limbs sticking out at odd angles, the girl didn't look in pain, she just looked scared.
After a long pause, the girl nodded slowly.
Comforted by the fact she was able to give a response, Arthur walked carefully over to the bed, and sat down beside her. The girl gave a little gasp and tensed up, staring up at him, but he smiled at her.
"What's your name?" Arthur asked her gently.
The girl answered in a tiny voice, Arthur could only just make out the word – "Amelia."
"Hello Amelia," Arthur replied in the kindest voice he could, he wasn't quite sure how to speak to children, especially when they were scared stiff. "My name's Arthur."
Amelia nodded and her eyes widened, as if to say "yes, I know exactly who you are, and it's terrifying!" But she looked a little more relaxed now, as if she had realised that Princes were humans too, not scary monsters.
"How long have you been in here Amelia?" Arthur asked, looking around the bare room.
Amelia shrugged, "I ran in here when the floor moved," she mumbled, curling up into a tighter ball again at the memory of when the ground started shaking.
Arthur put a comforting arm around the little girl, "don't worry Amelia, it's all over now, we've come to rescue you."
But Amelia wasn't comforted, "Mummy told me to go and find her to help her with work," her voice was hardly louder than a mouse, "but I never got there." Her eyes began to fill with tears again.
"Well, don't worry, we'll find your mother and make sure she's safe. I'm sure she wants to know that you're safe too."
Amelia nodded in agreement.
"Do you know where the Great Hall is?" Arthur asked her.
Amelia nodded again.
"I want you to go there, they'll be people there to take care of you." Arthur informed her gently.
Once more, Amelia nodded, but she didn't move, there was a pause.
"Would you like me to take you there?" Arthur asked eventually.
Yet another nod.
Arthur tried to hold back a sigh, there were many other things to do, but he needed to make sure the little girl was all right.
He stood up, and Amelia did the same. She looked tiny by his side, but it seemed he had finally gained her trust, as she stood close to him, as if aware that he'll be able to protect her.
The two of them began making their way to the Great Hall, Arthur talking to Amelia all the way to try and give her comfort and to take her mind off what was going on around her. It seemed to be working; Amelia's responses were growing from not just silent nods, but to actual words, and even sentences. Arthur learned that her mother worked as a maid in the castle, and sometimes she helped with little jobs because they needed the money. Her father was apparently still 'at the farm', where ever 'the farm' was.
Their conversation was interrupted however, when a servant suddenly ran up to Arthur, his eyes wide with panic and he was panting as if he had run from the other side of the castle.
"I'm sorry to interrupt my Lord," the servant said to Arthur, glancing down to Amelia and then up to Arthur again "it's an emergency."
You didn't need to be a genius to read the panic in the man's face, so Arthur nodded. He turned to Amelia, and knelt down to her height.
"I'm afraid I have to go Amelia, will you be able to get to the Great Hall on your own now?"
Amelia looked afraid at the news that her new protector was going to be leaving her on her own, but she nodded silently again, even she could tell that the situation was serious.
"Good," Arthur smiled, he watched Amelia walk slowly down the corridor before turning to the servant, his face creased with worry. "What is it?" He asked.
XXX
Merlin felt like just sitting on the cold stone floor forever, as if it would help settle in his mind the realisation of what he had just done, or make the pounding in his head cease, neither worked.
He couldn't believe that after all these years of keeping his gifts a secret; he had used magic right in front of Arthur. He wished he had stopped and thought of perhaps a different way to get everyone out the Great Hall, but lost in the moment, Merlin could only think of one thing to do. And now he was in big trouble.
He had no idea when he woke up that morning he was going to betray his secret, and yet here he was, sitting on a stone floor, the world falling to pieces around him, and the back of his head throbbing.
Through the haze of his thoughts, an outstretched hand suddenly appeared before Merlin. He looked up to see Sir Leon standing there, and to his surprise, there was a smile on the Knight's face.
"Need a hand?" Sir Leon offered.
Merlin smiled back at him and took the offering, pulling himself back onto his feet. But then he looked worriedly at Sir Leon. He was a loyal Knight of Camelot, he wouldn't approve of magic any more than Arthur did, but to his surprise, Sir Leon laughed.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to execute you on the spot, I'm not that sort of Knight."
"But…" Merlin began, "surely you're at least surprised?"
Sir Leon shrugged, "I had a hunch," he grinned, and Merlin suddenly saw a side to Sir Leon he had never really seen before, a more liberal, friendly one. "You're really bad at keeping secrets Merlin," he joked.
Merlin smiled, he had a good point. But his face fell a little when he saw the state of Sir Leon, he was still bleeding.
"Perhaps I should have a look at that," he began, reaching towards Sir Leon's open wound, but he backed away.
"It's fine," he assured Merlin quickly.
Merlin raised an eyebrow, feeling a lot like Gaius, and was about to reply, when he heard someone shout his name from down the corridor.
As he turned, Merlin saw Arthur running down the corridor towards him, and he felt himself go pale. Arthur was coming back to get him.
But when Arthur got closer, he realised he wasn't angry any more, in fact he looked terrified.
"Arthur, what is it?" Merlin asked.
Arthur grabbed onto Merlin's sleeve, panting, "Merlin you have to help me!" He cried desperately, it seemed that the whole magic incident had completely been forgotten.
Merlin stared, he had never seen Arthur like this, he never thought he would get so scared and panicked. Merlin opened his mouth to ask a question, but Arthur answered it for him:
"It's Gwen, please you have to help me, it's Gwen!"
