SECOND CHAPTER POSTED IN ONE DAY! PLEASE GO BACK AND READ THE OTHER IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ONE SINCE THE 14TH!
Bubzchoc: Why thank you, Miss/Mister! :)
Hannah Lynn McDonald: Hahha, yeah, right? Well, I don't laugh THAT often! C'mon! Not THAT much... right?
MerlinMorgana1597: Hhaha, I believe Merlin even says it to Arthur himself in this chapter - and adds a few things... ;) Well, no worries, he'll get his rest soon! Hopefully! And yes, you can break a nose - they call it a broken nose, when, if we go into medical-ness... It is a 'Nasal fracture', which means, the nasal bones get broken, which damages the cartilage around it. Vuala, broken nose. Well, I'm glad you liked the Morgana and Arthur interactioN! :D And, probably in this fics sequel, if she finds out at all... *Grins* IF if if there is a sequel. You never know. Anyways, SO GLAD YOU LIKED IT!:D
"Cwalu, þæt þú ne slæpest!" Merlin repeated the reverse spell, drawing the magic back into himself, breaking the spell. It didn't take to long, surprisingly. He backed away from the door as soon as the enchantment snapped, and turned around, gasping noisily when he came face-to-face with Gaius, backing up a step and waving his arms somewhat.
Gaius gave Merlin a 'look.' He raised one eyebrow and frowned slightly. He walked past Merlin, shaking his head and huffing out something about young people and energy that he did not have. He knocked on the door to the king and queen's room. Jezebell opened it instantly.
"I have your sleeping draught," Gaius stated.
"Thank you...that will be all." She took it, and smiled at Gaius, then closed the door.
Gaius' lips turned downward and he raised both eyebrows. He'd literally had the door shut in his face. He turned around and walked slowly back to Merlin. "The potion is instant. Whatever you need to do, I suppose you can do it now. Where is Arthur to meet you?"
"Oh, no, I already lifted the curse... Arthur!" Merlin exclaimed, "He's going to be so mad," the warlock groaned. "Thanks Gaius, I - " he pointed behind himself, then started running towards the outer defense tower where they were supposed to meet.
"MERLIN! Wait... the ring?" he called, huffing. "Let me get it, and the crystals. Wait for a moment would you Merlin?" He turned and headed into the room, walkin quietly, as though he would wake them. He knew of course, that they were sound asleep, but still, he snuck anyway.
He reached their bedsides, and took the crystals, then slipped the ring off of Jezebells finger. They turned-their forms shifted after loosing the crystals. They became different people entirely.
Gaius turned and left the room, closing it quietly after himself. "Take this with you. I'll show the crystals to the king."
Merlin supposed that's what he got for being in a rush - he wasn't normally forgetful. Okay, well, if you asked Arthur... He shook his head, grinning again and snatching the ring, "I'm eternally in your debt," he said with the same grin, and turned around once again. He started off through the castle, jogging through hallways and large rooms. His limbs felt heavier than normal; once this was over, he was going to sleep for a week, that was for sure. He did keep thinking that though, didn't he?
After some time, Merlin neared the defense tower.
Arthur spotted the young man, running hap-hazardly through the halls of the castle. He waited, glancing back at Flynn, as if to ensure he was still there-which he was. Arthur turned his attention back to Merlin, waiting for him to get closer. He fidgeted impatiently.
"Sorry," Merlin breathed, and handed the ring to the other sorcerer, then looked at Arthur. "Did you get Uther's ring?"
Arthur snorted. "He did-along with deciding that my father's face needed to tripple in size," the prince stated, huffing indignantly. He didn't agree with Uther, but he didn't approve of using one's magic for such immature things-though perhaps it was a bit humerous. "I'll assume you actually remembered to get the crystals off of Jezebell and Andrew?"
Flynn repeated the spell to un-enchant the ring. "Swilte cume mec." The ring momentarily glowed, then went completly dim, and any pull it had before was gone completely. He let his attention drift to Merlin and Arthur's conversation.
"Triple in size?" Merlin laughed, but after seeing the look on Arthur's face, he snapped his teeth shut, and abruptly stopped. His gaze momentarily flickered towards Flynn as he said a spell, and the pull of the ring disappeared. Merlin looked back at Arthur to answer his question. "Yeah - well, I sort of forgot, but Gaius remembered, so either way... He's taking the crystals to your father."
Arthur snorted. "Of course you forgot. It's only a life-changing event, Merlin. I don't know how on earth you managed to keep your secret a secret at all... sometimes I do wonder. Really, for being such a powerful wizard, you're a complete idiot at other times."
Flynn shook his head and leaned against a stone pillar, watching the conversation unfold between the two of them-the prince and Emrys.
"Well if I'm an idiot, that makes you a Bone-idle toad-faced supercilious iridescent botfly larval prat clot-pole turnip-head dollop-head."
"Oh... look at that! He even added one-supercilious-that wasn't there last time!" Flynn added, laughing quietly.
Arthur made a fist and jabbed it against Merlin's shoulder. He looked completely serious for a moment, then smiled. He was about to speak again, when the bells went off, sounding the alarm and breaking the peace. Arthur turned to Flynn. It may be that he was now discovered as missing-or it may be Jezebell and Andrew's secret had been told to Uther by Gaius. Either way, it was time for Flynn to leave.
"Merlin, get the horses ready and go-I'll stay to help my father deal with Jezebell and Andrew. Oh and one more thing-Morgana has magic!" He huffed, laughing a sharp laugh at the end, adding it as a 'I can't believe she hid it from me too!'
Merlin momentarily paused. Then he shook his head. "...I know. And Gaius does, too." Merlin cringed, and blocked his head with his arms in anticipation for the on-coming blow.
Arthur pursed his lips and his eyes widened. "Really? Only them? That's it? And you never thought that worth mentioning?" He didn't go for a punch or a slap this time. He jabbed a finger into Merlin's ribs, causing him to drop his arms as he tried to block that. Arthur then wrapped an arm Merlin's neck, and scrubbed his free hand through Merlin's hair. "No more secrets, Hmmm?"
Merlin pursed his lips, this time not bothering to try and stop the prince, just tolerating the hair-ruffling. He ducked away from Arthur when he let go, and fixed his hair by running his hands through it, snorting quietly in annoyed laughter. "Horses, right," he said, and started off in the direction of the castle entrance. "Flynn?" he called, waiting to see if he was following.
Flynn followed after Merlin, but took a moment to glance back, using instinctive magic to ruffle Arthur's hair as badly as a tornado might have. The prince huffed and puffed, and smoothed his hair again. Only then was Flynn satisfied to follow Merlin.
Merlin snickered at the look on Arthur's face, and tried to hold back full-out laughter. "I will treasure that moment forever," Merlin joked, storing a frozen-picture in his mind of the prince's face when it had happened.
"Consider it my parting gift to you-that and Uther's face, which I'm certain you'll have opportunity to see at some point within the week," Flynn stated, grinning shamelessly. "Now, I'm glad of your assistance, but I'm not entirely certain where I'm going. I can't exactly go... home," he stated, frowning as he remembered how "Andrew and Jezebell" had burned his home to the ground while he watched-helplessly-fro m a cage. He shook his head to clear away the memory.
"Oh - have you heard of Ealdor?" Merlin asked. Really, Merlin, his mind questioned. Pretty soon, Ealdor would be made up of magic-users. Magic users and his mother. Maybe she would be the leader, in charge of an army of sorcerers. He huffed a quiet laugh; anyone who apposed them should be very afraid, he'd seen his mother when she was angry. Not just afraid; horrified, petrified, terrified.
Flynn nodded. "I have, why?" He had actually already guessed why, but asking seemed like the polite thing to do anyway.
"You can go there, it will be safe. And if you happen to meet a man named 'Kalian', or a woman named 'Hunith'... Actually, I'll probably come with you to there. It would be nice to see them again."
Flynn grinned. "Kalian? You know him too then?" he laughed. "He's a friend-most of the time," he stated. The two of them walked along, heading to the stables, and avoiding knights and guards as they went.
Finally outside of the castle, Merlin led the way towards where they were going. "Yeah. He turned Arthur into a mouse," Merlin supplied with a wide smile.
Flynn laughed. "I'm sorry I missed it. Though I have nothing against the prince, it would still have been-interesting, shall we say?"
The manservant walked inside, searching for saddles and bridles. He quickly brushed off two horses, then started tacking them. It didn't take to long, and in a moment he was leading two of Arthur's horses out of the stable door, then flinging the reins over the necks, and mounting his own one-eyed horse, then waited for Flynn.
Flynn mounted the other horse, speaking quietly to the animal for a moment as he ran a hand through the horse's black mane. He glanced over at Merlin and nodded, waiting for him to lead the way.
Merlin could hear the bell still going off. Hopefully the guards would still let them pass. And have left the gate open... the young warlock groaned. He tapped his heels against the horses sides, urging the mare into a canter as he led the way. The gates apparently hadn't been closed, and seeing the prince's manservant and another man, they must have assumed it was Arthur, because they let them pass without any trouble.
Flynn rode behind Merlin, just enough so that the guards could recognize Arthur's horse, but not recognize that it wasn't Arthur riding the horse. The guards didn't glance at them twice, and they were riding out of the gates within a moment.
Merlin glanced back at Flynn. It would take a while to get to Ealdor, and they wouldn't travel through the night - actually, the more he thought about it, perhaps they would. With everything going on in Camelot, surely patrols would be sent to find the prisoner, and even accomplices of Moriah and Kroller. Maybe it would be best to ride through the night, at least, until they were in Lot's land.
Flynn shrugged slightly, smiling back at Merlin with a half-confused smile. He wasn't entirely sure why the warlock looked so entirely thrilled. "Are you always this positive?"
"If you had to do pretty much everything for Arthur, and when you're not doing that you're going off doing chores for Gaius or saving Camelot and have a dragon telling you riddles that are completely ridiculous - and how hard is it to just tell it straight up, really - and all but being pulled in every direction until you don't know which way to go, because you have to pick some direction before your ripped into pieces..." Merlin ranted, although, he kept his voice light.
"Ah, yes. I see how that would get tiring-I'd never be caught dead polishing the prince's armor. I'd rather be hanged," Flynn stated, snorting slightly and shaking his head. It wasn't actually true-who would really wish to be hanged rather than polish armor, but it was the thought that counted.
Merlin laughed quietly, the sound cracking half way through as his horse's cantering gate made it come out that way. He blinked, murmuring a spell quietly to have a bright blue ball of light appear in front of them. He doubted any knights were patrolling this area, and as the prince's servant, he knew when they normally did. He hoped not, at least. The moon was small and even the stars seemed dim. The glowing light worked just well enough to see the path ahead, and to avoid gopher holes and the likes.
Flynn continued to ride after Merlin, noting the complete freedom he seemed to have gained, as if suddenly the world wasn't such a crushing place to the young warlock-as if now, he could be who he was supposed to be without worrying about anything else. It seemed that Merlin rarely-if ever-had opportunities to use his magic so freely around anyone... at least in Camelot. Now though-Flynn had a feeling things would be different.
Merlin found himself wanted to talk to the other man more, about magic, about Uther, about things he couldn't even speak to Gaius about. Or the dragon, for that matter, without either a contradicting comment or him flying away. He frowned slightly. It just seemed strange, there were some things he just never spoke about.
Maybe it was time.
Flynn slowed his horse slightly, and glanced back toward Camelot, then at the land in front they were riding toward. He noticed Merlin's sudden quiet. "Dragon got your tongue?"
Merlin grinned again, and also slowed his own horse. "Well, at least they like riddles, and not tongue twisters," he joked.
"But, you know," he sobered, "So many secrets have started to be revealed these last few months. And don't get me wrong, I'm happy, and glad that Arthur knows, that he knows about really everything. But it all gets so tiring. I wasn't supposed to tell Morgana, I wasn't supposed to help Mordred, I wasn't supposed to tell Arthur, keep it hidden; every one of those choices, every time I listened to the... advice, it went wrong, dug my grave deeper. And every time I didn't, it dug Arthur's grave deeper.
"But now, Albion seems so close, things seem to be all right, but so much can happen in such little time. And Uther..." Merlin sighed loudly. "I couldn't just betray Arthur, I won't kill Uther, help him die, or stand by and watch. Because I know how much it would hurt Arthur, and despite destiny, he is my friend, and I can't do it. I won't. But one single slip up on my part and I'll be dead in a matter of hours. Hanged, beheaded, burned - and I really don't fancy it."
Flynn nodded. "Ah, so that's why you have the weight-of-the-world-on-y our-shoulders look about you. I'll be quite honest with you. I wouldn't want to trade places. Beside that, given half a chance, I would see Uther dead-any way possible. The man is a murderer, and one day he will pay for his crimes. That much is sure. I believe that day is sooner than most would believe-then, when Uther is no longer king, Albion will come, and the land will be at peace."
"I hope so," Merlin replied. The light in front of them flickered, and he pinched his eyes shut, forcing it to brighten once more as he breathed unsteadily. "I always think, just one more day. One more night, one more hour, just survive one more week. Make it through the day, through the comments and frustration, if I can just hang on through the deaths, just one more night." For whatever reason, Merlin got the feeling Flynn might just know exactly what he spoke of.
"One more night is hope. If you can live through one more night, if you can fight back everything that threatens to choke away your life-then eventually-there will be an end to hiding-because eventually, you'll wake up, and 'one more night' will be distant dream-you will have won, against all odds, and despite all predictions of your failure-yes?" Flynn asked calmly.
"Yes," Merlin said quietly. There was a moment of silence, before Emrys spoke once again. "If we ride through the night, we might get there in a matter of hours," he said, and sped his horse back up, the sounds of hooves beating against dry ground, and the horses and riders breathing filled the night.