A.N. I realise that this is late, see the bottom note in regards to that. I just wanted to let you guys know that I have very important exams coming up, so I need to revise. As such, I'm going to use this story as English revision and thus it will have a lot of annoying description – just bear with me, okay =)
Arthur opened the door that gave way to the Royal Hall. A courtly meeting was in session, but it hadn't been about anything that concerned Arthur, so the Prince had said he wasn't going to attend.
One noble was whining at Uther, claiming that his land wasn't large enough and that the small site was being ransacked by wolves. The noble was named Lord Hildred and he was well known for his scams, but, being one of the elite, his word was stronger than common-folk, and so he often got away with his scams.
Not today.
"My dear noble men of the Court, I come to you today because a plague sweeps my streets: the plague of injustice. For two weeks the wolves have frightened my dear cattle and…" Hidred stopped mid-rant as he saw Uther's face.
Uther stared at the man with pure, unbridled rage. Unnerved, Hildred waited for a moment, which earned him a disapproving tsking from Uther.
"Ehem… m-my cattle and sheep, milord. I ask with the utmost delicacy if I could move to a larger and safer plot away from…" Hildred stopped once more, clearing his throat awkwardly as Uther leaned across to Leon who was standing dutifully at the King's side.
"Escort him out, Sir Leon – I have no time for his useless prattle," Uther declared before standing. Uther caught sight of Arthur and Arthur briefly debated running for his life.
He straightened himself, clasping his clammy hands behind his back. When he spoke, his voice was full of authority, "I wish to speak with you, father,"
He saw Uther tense, and then the king nodded, "Leave us,"
All of those present shared uneasy looks, but bowed out.
Uther stood, his head half facing Arthur, who stood at the other side of the hall.
A father and son, separated.
"Have you come to apologise?" Uther practically snarled at his son. Artur was taken back at the venom of the words. They were a physical force that wanted to break him.
Arthur tightened his stance, "No I have not, father: I am your son after all,"
Uther's eyes flashed, "How dare you? I am your king!"
Arthur dipped his head slightly, "I realise that."
Uther's mouth twitched, and he begun to stride towards his impudent son.
"I have something to confess, father," Arthur said, his words stopping his father short, "Gwaine, Lancelot, Percival and El-"
"You knighted four men? I have only locked up three!" Uther shouted, a vein popping up on his forehead.
"Yes, Father, I did!" Arhur suddenly bellowed, matching his father's tone, his calm demeanour shattering, "Those men deserve their peaceful knighthood! They saved Camelot from the immortal army, they have helped keep peace while you lay crippled by Morgana's betrayal!"
"They're commoners! They are of a different breed to us nobles! One day, they will betray you for gold! It has happened to every king foolish enough to knight a commoner!"
"Because we oppress the people! We have built a city based solely on a hierarchy, a hierarchy in which no one can become more than what they begin as! Elyan, Percival, Gwaine and Lancelot have proved their worth a thousand times over!"
Uther stared at his son, who had closed the gap between them and was now only a foot away from him.
"This is the way of our people, Arthur," Uther suddenly whispered, his voice deathly quiet, "I am disappointed in you,"
Arthur took in a shuddering breath, "Release those men, father. Release them and keep their knighthoods intact, that is all I ask,"
"Why do you even care? They are just sim-"
"They saved my life. Several times, in fact,"
Uther hissed in frustration, "You cannot go round repaying every life-debt, Arthur. You did that with that ridiculous serving boy of yours. You must know that his life is worth less than-"
"He saved me yet again, father," Arthur stated, thinking of Merlin's bravery, "He lies in agony because of it,"
Uther stared at Arthur, his mouth in a little 'o' shape, "How is Gaius?"
Arthur threw up his hands in frustration, "You see, there you go again! If there's a more 'important' man involved, you immediately forget about the people who stand in the way! You forget that we're all human, father!"
"I will not hear of this, Arthur! Those men have broken the laws of Camelot, and they deserve to pay!" Uther roared.
"I am the one who knighted them. The burden should be mine – and yet I have done nothing wrong: their bravery knows no bounds and they should be knights," Arthur sighed.
He closed his eyes, thinking of a way to finally convince his father: they were going around in circles.
Arthur grabbed a fistful of his father's shirt; "This is the one thing that I chose to do in my role as temporary king. So here's how it's going to work: either you release my men, or I will cease to be your son,"
Arthur opened his eyes, a sad smile gracing his lips as he saw his father's lost eyes. "If you don't set them free, I will renounce my claim on the throne,"
Gwaine opened his eyes to an open door. He had been aroused by the creaking clank of the dungeon's doors.
Arthur stood at the entrance, a large grin on his face, "You three are free to make your own choices: You are citizens of Camelot, and you are knights in the greatest army in the world,"
Gwaine cheered, glad to finally be released. Lancelot stood and stretched his aching legs. Elyan smiled and was the first to exit the cell, thanking Arthur in the process.
Soon all the men were celebrating a feast in Arthur's room. Mirth was in the air, it was saturated with it. Gwaine won a drinking game with Arthur, and Elyan won an arm wrestle with Gwaine, and Lancelot told Arthur stories of him and Percival.
And they tried to ignore the uneasy feelings in the pit of their stomachs. They avoided looking at the servant who served Arthur in Merlin's place. They tried to ignore the panic at losing a friend.
But they failed utterly.
Gwaine couldn't sleep. He knew that his two knighted friends wouldn't be able to either. The source of his insomnia was a certain manservant, who hadn't even visited him in the cells.
Gwaine wasn't an idiot, well that was debatable, but Gwaine knew that something serious had happened to Merlin in the quest two days ago. Arthur had refused point-blank to answer the knights' questioning.
Cursing, Gwaine sat up, only to meet the eyes of Lancelot and Elyan – who had had the same thought at the same time.
Rolling his eyes, Gwaine quietly stood, trying not to arouse the other men in the barracks. Yes, even he could be stealthy when he wanted to.
The three knights burst into Gaius' room, to the court physician close to tears next to a bed containing a limp body.
"Merlin!" Lancelot exclaimed, running to the bed. His eyes widened in shock at the sight of the once loyal man.
Merlin was gasping for breath. With each breath came a rattling sound from within his throat. Merlin gasped and coughed, blood dripping from his mouth. The blood dripped off his chin and onto his chest, dyeing the man in red. Tears of blood and pain dripped from his eyes, staining him.
The symbol in the centre of his chest that was no longer black; it was crimson – the same colour as the life that pumps through veins.
Lancelot placed a worried hand on the boy's forehead, wincing at the fever.
Gaius sat down, defeated. He rubbed his forehead with his hand, trying to quell the tears that threatened to take him over. It wasn't working.
Gaius had seen so much death, and he had developed a façade over time as a way of dealing with it. But when he saw his ward lying with death at his shoulder, he couldn't take it. The very same ward had saved Gaius' life so many times, he had saved Camelot innumerable times. The very same ward had lost a father. The very same ward had lost a lover.
He doesn't deserve this pain! Gaius found himself shrieking as thoughts inside himself.
"Merlin!" Lancelot cried. Gaius shut his eyes: this was it – Merlin was going to die. Gaius didn't want to watch his ward die, but he forced his gaze onto Merlin's face.
And stared in shock at his chest: The ouroboros had begun to move. The snake tattoo's mouth chomped down on its own tail. It split in the middle, and a red dye spread over Merlin's chest. The dye smothered the entire tattoo, and then it faded.
Taking the malignant tattoo with it.
Merlin's body relaxed, a few last bloody tears dripping from his exhausted eyes. The blood ran over the raw wound from Elvira's claws, and his wound just melted away. Merlin shuddered slightly in relief and breathed easily once more.
Sand. It shifted peacefully and innocently, hiding all that hid beneath it. A small town was nestled in the swirling sands. The old, square buildings stood strong against the strong winds. A mighty stone palace was situated north of the village. It was here that Merlin stood.
He stood in a vast courtyard framed with stone pillars. The stone pillars tapered towards the top, and were carved with pictures on top. No one was here: there was only Merlin.
A path opened up beneath his feet, sinking down into the ground. Confused but curious, Merlin stepped cautiously down the ramp, entering the belly on the Earth.
It was a tomb, one of great splendour: gold carvings adorned the walls and gold statues guarded the entrance to the tomb. In the centre of the room was a coffin.
The coffin was shaped like a human's body, and gold stripes decorated it. But instead of a human head, there was a falcon's head.
"My tomb," Whispered the regal voice that had saved Merlin earlier. Merlin looked around him in silent awe.
He was literally speechless.
Then a symbol caught Merlin's eye. It was the same symbol that was now tattooed across his chest: The ouroboros and pentagram.
Suddenly blood flowed down the walls of the tomb, staining everything in a hateful shade of red. It pooled beneath him, everything was disappearing into red around him.
Merlin cried out as an all-consuming pain crushed him. He fell to the floor as the pain heightened into an inescapable agony: he was dying.
Merlin could feel it, pain and death were gripping him with hard fingers. He fell to the bloody floor and curled into a ball hugging himself hard, as though letting go would shatter him.
"Help!" He heard himself call as his veins threatened to burst.
"I shall help thee, Eternal One," Came the voice. An iridescent hand extended down from the ceiling, it was huge and was able to lift Merlin up.
The hand plucked Merlin away from the bloody waters. Another ethereal hand came down from the heavens, touching Merlin's chest where the symbol plagued him.
And ah! The symbol crawled on Merlin's skin, creating shivers that ran through him. Merlin gasped with joy, his chest was suddenly released from an immense weight – he was free! Tears of blood dripped down his cheeks.
And suddenly Merlin was aware. Merlin could feel everything around him; he was inside his own body once more.
It took him a while to find his eyes, but he did. Muscles pulled at each other, forcing light to fall upon Merlin's eyes.
He stared into several worried faces, and suddenly Merlin knew that, even if just for that moment, he was going to be fine.
A.N. Sorry! Ok, so trying to update twice in one week was ambitious… Here's how I'm going to do things – Every Sunday I will update =).
Reviews!
DakotaBeor – Thank you for the sympathy – I really do try but it's hard to update :'(
Emachinescat – I hope the confrontation scene is to your liking, it was hard to do something so dialogue orientated so I hope I didn't fail . Thank you also for the praise =P
Alierana – Thank you for the kind words =)
The Darkness Of Your Fall – Don't worry about it – I'm happy you review every time as it is =)
lilgenious – Ah, the voice's origin will be told sometime – I've no idea when, I know who it is but… sorry – stopping rambling =)
I've got a great five-parter planned for the next couple of weeks – thank you all for your support =)