(I fought them all off)

Just to hold you close and tight

by dr. Tea

Chapter 11. - Trust Part II

Arthur had been pacing back and forth in his room for hours now. Merlin had been gone for a day now. And nobody had seen him. He hadn't even come home at night. Arthur could only believe that something had happened to his beloved servant. All he wanted was for him to come home. It was late... But he couldn't sleep. How could he when he didn't know where Merlin was? Not that he hadn't been searching for him... Because he had. Just come home, please...

When he finally decided to go to bed, he still couldn't sleep. Hours past before he managed to keep his eyes closed, long enough to fall asleep.

The next day, he was woken by the voice he had been longing to hear.

"What happened here?" Merlin said, not believing the mess in his masters chambers. Arthur was just so happy to have him back. Arthur sat up in his bed, quickly, looking over at Merlin, just to make sure that he really was there.

"Where the hell have you been?!"

"I... Eh... Well..." And Merlin told Arthur about all that had happened. That he had followed Morgana, but had been caught by her and Morgause, and how he had been poisoned by a scorpion-like creature, and how he had summoned the dragon to save him. When he was done, Arthur just looked at him with wide eyes.

"You flew on the back of the dragon?"

"Yeah." Merlin said, looking pretty happy about himself.

"Just... Just don't ever, and I mean ever do anything like that again, do you understand?"

"Were you worried?"

"Of course I was!" Arthur said, and got up from his bed. He wanted to slap Merlin, just for standing there and smiling when there was nothing funny about the situation at all. But, when he had walked over to him, and looked into those innocent-looking eyes, he couldn't help but hug him. "Don't ever disappear like that again, alright?" Merlin nodded.

"I won't." They just stood there for a while, hugging. Arthur loved the feeling of Merlin's skinny body pressed against his own. And he always smelled nice. "Your father is going to get better again. He was under a spell and I broke the enchantment." Merlin said, and Arthur's smile widened.

"I knew you would find a way to fix everything..."

For a while, they actually thought that things were going to go back to normal. But, they didn't. The patrols had spotted Cenrid's Army. And they were 20.000 men. The king was still too ill to take any decisions, so it all came down to Arthur. And his order was to prepare the city for cege, and protect Camelot by all means. Even though they were outnumbered two to one.

"You made a tough decision..." Merlin said, and looked at Arthur as they walked through the corridor.

"Do you think it was the right one?"

"Of course. You are the leader, and whatever you think is right, has to be right." Merlin said, and Arthur was glad to know that he believed in him. Because he sure as hell did not.

Merlin worked like a hero that day, gathering food and supplies. They were preparing to be trapped inside the city for weeks, maybe months. It all depended on how stubborn the enemy was. Because Arthur was sure that they could hold the city. No army had ever taken Camelot, and it was not going to start under his command.

Arthur couldn't help but worry of what was to come. He knew that it was all up to him, in the end. But, they did have Merlin and his magic. Not that he could use it that freely when others were around... Merlin seemed to believe in him at least, like he always did. It made Arthur feel better. Merlin had been right about that time in Ealdor, but that was only because Merlin had used his magic to save everyone... Oh, come on, Arthur, give yourself some credit for what happened.

When Arthur saw the army standing outside of Camelot, his nerves began to fail him. He remembered that he had once told Merlin that he didn't get nervous. That was a lie. Right now, his mouth was so dry, and it didn't matter how much water he drank.

"You do get nervous after all, don't you?" Merlin asked, while he put a hand on Arthur's shoulder. It was time for him to put on his armour.

"Yeah... You remember that time too?" Arthur answered, and put his hand on top of Merlin's.

"Of course I do. But, you were nervous in Ealdor too, and that went alright, didn't it? This isn't your first time leading a battle into victory." Arthur smiled to that, a part of it was true.

"We wouldn't have won if you hadn't used your magic..."

"True, but who says I won't this time too?"

"But, you could be seen..."

"I won't. Nobody ever sees me." Merlin smiled, apparently full of confidence. Arthur only hoped that he knew what he was doing.

Merlin slowly put on Arthur's armour. He did it slowly because, even though he believed in Arthur, and in his own abilities, he too was nervous, and he wanted to spend this time with the prince. It could, after all, be their last. Before he was halfway done, Arthur grabbed him and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Promise me, you'll be alright." he said, holding his servant close. Merlin smiled and nodded.

"I promise."

"If we win this battle, Merlin, I'm done with holding back..." Arthur said, and smirked. Merlin looked at him with lifted eyebrows, not sure what the prince meant. "I'm done holding myself back when it comes to you." Arthur explained, and kissed his servant. It was a really heated kiss, and Merlin couldn't help but moan as Arthur's tongue entered his mouth, exploring it. When Arthur pulled away, they were both out of breath. "When we win this battle, we will celebrate." he said, still smirking slightly. Merlin blushed an adorable shade of pink, and Arthur stroke his hair.

"Good luck." Merlin said, softly.

"You too." and Arthur left the room, heading for his army.

Arthur Pendragon was not a coward. And he would not be seen as the prince who let his men go first, and just stood by and watched them fight. No, when the hostile army stormed through the lower town, he was the first man standing in the defence, together with his trusted knights. He had no time to hesitate, no time to be scared, and no time to see how many they were. All he could to was fight those who were in front of him. If he had seen how many kept coming, he probably would have lost hope, but he didn't. Because he was the prince of Camelot, and he was going to stand by his men's side. To the end.

Suddenly, Arthur saw his father beside him, swinging his sword like a madman.

"Father!" he yelled, and grabbed him, pulling him backwards, away from the battle.

"What are you doing!?"

"You are not well!"

"This is my kingdom!" he shouted, trying to fight his way free, but he soon called out in pain, as an arrow pierced his knee. Arthur saw that, without himself fighting, his men faltered.

"Pull back! Retreat!" he ordered, while pulling his father with him.

In the flash, he saw Merlin, and suddenly a huge fire lit up, burning the hostile soldiers to death. Merlin then turned around and helped him with his father. When they had carried him to the well, Arthur had stayed away from his army for too long. "I'll leave him to you." he said to Merlin, and ran back to the battle.

They had lost the lower town... And Arthur saw so many wounded soldiers and knights. It was like a nightmare. They kept losing more and more, and just had to keep pulling back. Arthur was wondering where Merlin was... He had thought he would return to him, and hopefully use his magic to at least hold them back a bit. But, he was nowhere to be seen. Again, he started worrying. He just hated not having his servant by his side. Maybe he had been hit by the catapults? Or an arrow? Arthur heard someone coming behind him, and turned around on pure instinct, and he saw his servant.

"Where have you been?"

"Looking for Morgana!" Arthur didn't really understand what he meant... "Look out!" Merlin yelled, and pointed to something behind Arthur. When Arthur turned around, he suddenly understood what Merlin meant. Seven living skeletons were walking their way, armed and ready to fight.

"Get behind me!" Arthur said, and pushed Merlin back, protecting him from these new enemies.

They were as strong as knights, but Arthur was a skilled warrior, and he soon landed what should have been a mortal blow to the skeleton he was fighting. But it seemed unharmed. They were too many for Arthur to handle alone, and Merlin was fighting one too now. Luckily, a knight came to his rescue. They had no choice, they had to retreat to the castle. And their undead enemies followed them.

"You need to warn Gaius! Tell him to seal off the hospital!" Arthur said to Merlin, and grabbed tighter around his sword. He would have to hold them back. Merlin just stood there. "Merlin! That's an order!" Arthur yelled, and Merlin obliged.

Arthur soon had to pull back, and got into the hospital. He saw his father, sitting on a chair, looking like he no longer cared about anything. "We can't fight a battle on two sides," Arthur told Gaius, and his mind went to his poor knights, now fighting Cenrid's men on one side, and the undead on the other. "We have to get my father to safety." "How? We no longer control the lower town. There is no escape, Arthur." Gaius said. Arthur knew he was right. The only one who could help them was Merlin. He had to use his magic to protect the kingdom... But, where the hell was he?! Arthur looked around, but couldn't see him anywhere.

The only thing left for Arthur to do now, was defend the hospital, where his father was. Even though he was only fighting one skeleton, he still felt tired. Because every time he landed a mortal blow, the skeleton was fine. Until it suddenly fell apart, and landed on the ground as nothing more than a pile of bones.

When his men saw the skeletons fall, they got their fighting-spirit back. And Arthur could see them taking back the city, one swing of the sword at a time. And he felt proud. He had lead the battle, and they were victorious. But, where was Merlin?

His question was soon answered, as his servant ran up to him, and stood by his side, watching what the prince was watching. The retreating army of Cenrid.

"It was Morgana's doing, wasn't it? The skeletons?" Arthur asked, not taking his eyes of the beautiful sight of victory.

"Yes. But... I stopped her." Merlin said, slowly. He too was admiring the view.

"We won this battle together, didn't we?" Arthur said, hoping that it wasn't all Merlin's doing again.

"Of course we did. You're a real hero now." Merlin said, smiling. They both took one step towards each other. At least they could stand a bit closer. Arthur wanted to put his arm around Merlin, but there were too many around them to see. "You must not tell Uther about Morgana."

"Why not?" Arthur said. This was Merlin's time to shine? Why not tell his father?

"He won't believe you... And Morgana will probably tell Uther that I tried to poison her..." Merlin said, hesitating. As unfair as Arthur thought it was, he still nodded.

"I understand."

It all ended with Morgana taking the credit for what Merlin had done. Uther praised her as the "savior of Camelot", and said that she almost single-handedly had turned the battle. Arthur and Merlin could only look at each other, knowing that they would have to fight her in secret. Morgana didn't know that Arthur knew, and that could be used to their advantage.

thanks for reading this second part of Trust. Yes, I know, late update again. I just have a really hard time writing this story nowadays. Hopefully, it will soon turn. Also, I am writing a new fiction, but I will not publish until it is done, so that I don't lose track of that like I have with this one. Hope you will fave/follow or review. Thank you.