My contribution to our tenth drabble challenge: "Thwarting Destiny"
Share an experience that might have happened in Merlin's life if he and Arthur had never met.
Category: Gen (Canon AU)
Characters/Pairings: Merlin, Druids
Rating/Warnings: K
Word Count: 380
Author's Note: I went over my limit again. Oh well. :)
In case it isn't obvious, this is set during the first episode. Merlin witnesses the execution and decides he'd rather not stick around.
Th-thud…
The somber cadence of drums still echoed in his head long after he'd fled the city, beating in time with his racing heart as he ran blindly through the trees.
Th-thud… Th-thud…
It was a sound he'd never forget, for it existed in all the terrible things he'd witnessed that day. The king with the ice cold stare, that awful finality in his voice when he passed sentence… and then the proclamation that struck with the force of a hammer hitting an anvil.
"Such practices are banned on penalty of death."
Thud!
It resonated again throughout the courtyard, a sickening crunch as metal sliced through flesh before the man's head hit the ground, staring out at the gaping crowd through sightless eyes.
Thud.
Merlin had gone to Camelot with the highest hopes, filled with grand visions of a life he'd only read about in storybooks. It was for his own safety, his mother had said, but he hadn't thought too much about it at the time. He'd just agreed to keep certain things to himself – no big deal, right?
Wrong.
Knowing sorcery was frowned upon was one thing – finding out that anything that even hinted at magic was worthy of a death sentence was quite another. He could only assume his mother hadn't understood either – otherwise, why had she sent him there, entrusting his protection to one frail old man?
Too exhausted to continue, he stopped in a secluded glade, managing to kindle a tiny fire that did nothing to penetrate the chilly fog that had descended over the forest. Instinct rather than conscious thought had him staring into the flames, willing them to burn bigger, brighter, warmer…
That was how they found him, slipping silently from the trees to form a circle around the clearing. Maybe he should've been afraid, but somehow, he couldn't quite manage it. No, fear was to be found in the awful thudding of drums, in the merciless eyes of a tyrant passing the same sentence upon the innocent and guilty alike. It wasn't here in this place, where only the most gentle voices spoke to him from the darkness.
"Is there anything we can do to help you?"