Chapter Eleven: An Unforgiving Curse

Camelot #2

Merlin felt that one part of him was being driven by the curse - the part that just wanted to move things on as fast as possible - whilst the other wanted to take things slowly, get to know this beautiful girl and court her in the same way as their parents' generation had been able to.

To his delight, Freya didn't push things too quickly either, staying exactly where she was on the bed, apparently enjoying the romantic kiss as she kept her one good hand held gently in his. They continued this for a long time before she pulled away, her head tipped as she contemplated him.

"You're staying?" she asked simply.

"I-if you want me to."

She laughed, her voice like a bell. "You know the answer to that. There's no rush – no pressure but, I am getting a bit cold, aren't you? We should get under the covers, it might be more comfortable?"

He nodded dumbly and copied her as she stood. Quickly and deftly she untied her dress letting it fall to the floor, and Merlin gasped as he caught the brief, tantalising glimpse of Freya in her under dress before she pulled back the covers of the medium sized bed and scooted underneath them. Swallowing hard, Merlin quickly stripped off his shirt and shoes and joined her.

The moment he was under the covers she moved closer to wrap her arms around him and he hugged her back, pulling her close as she moved her head to kiss him again. It remained gentle and chaste for quite some time but, gradually, things began to develop, the kisses getting deeper and the couple's hands beginning to wander.

It wasn't long before Merlin felt the Curse starting to bite – the strange sensation that was far more than sexual desire and felt almost fever-like; an all-consuming heat spreading through the body, along with a sense that he was not entirely here - caught in another world - where one would become more and more distracted and disorientated.

"Freya ..." he complained.

"Yes, I know, I'm feeling it too." She pulled slightly away and it felt like torture. Instinctively he reached for her, wanting her back in his arms.

"I invited you here because of the curse but we should talk about how we proceed before we are too far gone," Freya said, her voice sounding strange and distant to him. "There's just the basic service – something that many servants do casually and which is considered little more than a kiss would have been in the past. We can relieve ourselves in front of the other and not interact in any other way or we can relieve each other, just touch what needs to be touched and nothing more."

"No ..." he gasped. "Not the first … I want you to touch me. I need it."

"Yes," she agreed moving closer again and, as he gently claimed her lips again, her hands moved down to his trousers to untie them. So quickly that he hardly had time to register what was happening, her hand was on him, gently stroking and caressing. Such an intimate gesture on his naked flesh in many ways, but right at that moment it felt perfectly natural and already some of the burning discomfort was beginning to fade. Still kissing her, Merlin wriggled his trousers lower and adjusted his position slightly to allow her better access.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "I can help you without you having to undress completely." For an answer, Merlin broke away a little further and quickly stripped. Feeling strangely liberated, he didn't immediately seek her hand, instead pulling her close and enjoying the sensation of having his naked body pressed against her, and the feel of her hands suddenly all over his skin.

"We can take it in turns," she said then, moving her hand down to continue it's task, "and you can help me afterwards, or ... we can perhaps work together?" He laughed as he heard the hopeful and frustrated tone of her voice and knowing what she wished his answer would be.

"Beautiful Freya," he said, moving his hand down her thigh. "Show me what you want me to do. Anything for you."

It was her turn to shuffle under the covers, raising her under-dress a little before gently guiding his hand first to a bare knee and then up in-between her legs so quickly that he hardly had any chance to prepare.

"Freya …"

"Please," she begged and he quickly got over his surprise, gently moving his fingers to pleasure her as she guided him to the correct spot. As he did so she resumed her actions too, the couple now working in perfect unison and their shared pleasure mounting dramatically.

The Curse continued to make itself felt, even as Merlin found himself close to relief. The heat was now becoming unbearable despite the cool autumn night and so he decided to lower the covers off their top halves in order to feel more comfortable. Freya shifted then, her eyes gazing at his naked torso, her free hand exploring and caressing.

"I'm a bit skinny," Merlin said apologetically and she laughed as she continued to stroke him.

"I like what I'm seeing and, it's a nice treat. As I said, we usually only offer each other the most basic services down here."

"You … you don't mind?"

"Hardly," she said moving to kiss him again. After another few moments she sat up and removed most of the heavy covers off the bed, leaving just a thin sheet which she pulled back over them. As she worked, Merlin became aware that one of her straps had fallen off a shoulder and, as she moved back towards him, he moved a hand towards it fully intending to lift it back up. However, as they continued to kiss, curiosity got the better of him and he began to caress her bare shoulder, his hand gradually stroking lower and lower as he wondered if she'd tell him off if he started to undress her.

They took their time that night, pleasuring each other under the covers one moment and then pausing whilst they explored various bits of bare skin. Merlin had been naked under the sheets for some time whilst Freya had remained mostly covered. Slowly and surely that had changed as both straps of her under-dress were lowered to a point where she started to complain that they were a nuisance and slid the top half down to her waist before moving back to give Merlin more direct relief. He had other ideas though, quickly pushing her back down under the covers and pulling her close to him, the delightful sensation of their naked top halves pressed together too tempting to resist. His hands now explored even further, stopping for just long enough to relief the worst of the curse before kissing and giggling and exploring under the covers some more.

Merlin had no idea when it had happened but, the next time he had pulled Freya close against him, there was no material at all between them and that sensation was so wonderful that he was quite certain that he never wanted to let her go again.

"Enough," she gasped, suddenly moving away from him.

"Enough?" he asked, hurt and a little confused at her apparent change of mind. However, it seemed he'd misunderstood her outburst, as she lay on her back and adjusted her position, opening her legs under the covers.

"Let's do this properly, Merlin," she whispered holding out a hand to him, inviting him to touch her again. "The Lords and Ladies call it 'full services', the rest of us say we're 'mocking the Curse'. Let's relieve this tension properly – the way we're supposed to."

Merlin pulled away very slightly, his eyes wide as he contemplated what she was suggesting. He opened his mouth to say, 'Are you sure?' or 'Perhaps we should wait', but decided there was no point. He knew she meant it and that they were now both half mad by the strength of the Curse and their very genuine feelings for each other. This wasn't the old days when this sort of things was supposed to be reserved until after your marriage and it was considered bad manners if you indulged beforehand. 'Mocking' was considered perfectly acceptable in this post-Purge world and his feelings were so strong for Freya that he knew he wouldn't regret this – knew he wanted this to continue as a permanent relationship if she would have him.

That discussion could wait until later though – right now it felt like his blood was on fire and there was only one way to quench the flames. He quickly moved into position and felt her legs wrap themselves around his back as he gazed into her deep brown eyes.

Then he was inside her and everything else was forgotten.

~o~0~o~

They had spent so long talking and playing that it was almost dawn by the time the young couple had finished and it seemed to Merlin that he had only just fallen asleep when he felt Freya stir in his arms, kissing him gently on the lips.

"Merlin?" she asked and he blinked his eyes slowly open, grinning as he noticed her so close to him.

"Good morning," he said with a smile and she laughed.

"It is, but I doubt you'll be thinking that in a couple of hours. Not on so little sleep. Now you really should …"

She got no further, as Merlin kissed her deeply, his hands exploring her naked body still unable to believe how lucky he was to have found such a girl who had apparently wanted him as much as he'd wanted her.

"Can we do this again?" he asked eventually.

"I'd like that," she replied. "Not tonight, though. It's usual to have every other night on your own – to ensure you get enough sleep."

"That's fair enough," Merlin agreed.

"But the night after, if you still want to, of course."

"I do. In fact I can't imagine ever letting you go," he admitted.

"I feel the same right now but, I warn you, the Curse can play tricks on your emotions sometimes. We'll find out in time if this is something we want to continue properly or not."

"If you say so," he replied, knowing perfectly well that he was never going to change his mind.

"And the other problem is that, as servants, we have no say as to whether we might get chosen by a Lord or Lady anyway," she continued calmly.

"What?"

"This makes no difference, unfortunately," she said, pointing to the two of them. "If someone wants me, there is very little I can do to refuse."

"But … I don't want to do that with anyone else," Merlin said petulantly before his expression turned suddenly serious, "and I certainly don't want any old Lords doing it with you."

"I know but, that's the problem, neither of us will have much choice in the matter. Luckily my work in the kitchens means I don't have to come up here very often. Usually I manage to escape notice but you will need to watch out too. There will be a number of ladies that will find you quite attractive and I have to admit that I don't like the thought of you with anyone else at the moment either."

"We'll work something out," Merlin said. "I promise you that." He knew he was fairly safe at the moment as he could wear Emrys' Band but he had no idea what would happen when the older man returned home. Even the thought of taking his 'brother's' place as Morgana's Night Servant felt strange and wrong right now.

"I need to get going," Freya said, looking up at the sky. "I'm a bit late for work and I expect you will be too." She paused briefly as if debating something and then, very quickly, got out of bed. Merlin gasped as he saw her naked properly for the first time. There had been various glimpses under the covers last night but it had been pretty dark then and now she was standing in the full early morning light and he could see everything.

"You're so beautiful," he gasped and she grinned at his stunned expression.

"Well, up you get too," she teased, her eyes wide with anticipation.

"But ..." He felt his cheeks warm as she continued to wait.

"It's only fair."

Of course, the curse meant that there was limited sexual arousal now so soon afterwards, but that didn't mean that Merlin didn't feel some very interesting sensations as he walked up to Freya and kissed her whilst they were both naked. They stayed like that for a while before she scolded him for distracting her and got dressed whilst he started to turn to find all of his. She kissed him again briefly before leaving and he'd only just dressed himself when he heard her conversing with someone outside in the corridor.

As Merlin moved towards the door, curious to know who she was talking to, he instantly recognised the other voice and decided to go out to find out what was happening. To his total shock he saw his counterpart kissing Freya and was stunned at just how jealous he suddenly felt.

"Emyrs! What do you think you're doing?" he shouted moving forward to confront the older man.

"T-this is your brother?" Freya gasped, one hand on her own lips in stunned surprise as she looked at the two almost identical men. "You didn't say he was your twin."

"Explain!" Merlin demanded, now quite certain that Freya was the innocent party here. However he'd barely taken a step forwards when Emrys turned on him, grabbing the younger warlock by the throat, and pushing him roughly against the nearest wall.

"Me explain? You explain. What were you doing with Freya in there?"

Apparently Emrys had been involved with Freya in his own world, and Merlin was quite certain that was going to cause all sorts of problems.

~o~0~o~

A/N: Oh my, what a week. Crazy spoilers everywhere!

Now, as I've said before, I'm quite determined to keep Camelot #1 canon, but I also have plans for the time line to continue to move forwards into Series 5 and beyond and that means there might now be a problem. o_O

Spent yesterday madly writing 'what if' scenarios for 5.13 and came up with all sorts of interesting theories and ideas. The net result of which was I now think I have a fool proof ending for this fic that covers all bases and will work out not matter what they do. I'm now getting very, very excited by the fact that the ending of S5 will determined the exact ending of this fic!

16/11/12