Sorry it's been so long! Have been a bit busy these days. I've been out of writing lately, not because of writer's block, thankfully! I've just haven't had the time to actually sit down and get stuff written down, and not just with this story, but with all of my stories. So it's not just this specific story that I have issues with. But, since I'm now able to just take a second to clear my head, here we are! Sorry again, and thanks to those who have been waiting patiently!
A few weeks had passed rather smoothly since Lyn's stay began in Camelot. Since then, Lyn had grown comfortable. She normally made sure to keep people at a distance of arm's length, but with companions like Merlin and Gwen (who she had met on her first day in Camelot) it was hard to fight off their natural kindness and charisma. Guinevere had this natural allure and light in her eyes that made Lyn want to trust her; it had been a long time since Lyn had wanted anything. As for Merlin?
Well, Merlin was…special.
"So you're telling me that you've been living with the king for the last three-and-a-half years as his son's servant while practicing magic?" Lyn walked beside the manservant as he carried the prince's dirty clothes in his arms. They made their way to the court yard, a large pail waiting for Merlin by the water pump.
"It's a bit risky, I know."
"Risky? It's completely mad," the vault keeper stated as she shook her head.
Since Lyn's stay in Camelot, she had somehow grown much closer with the prince's servant. He was kind, sweet, and it was refreshing to meet someone so different; so much like her. It had been ages since the former thief had found someone to confide in. She could trust Merlin, and she knew that because of their magic, they held a special sort of friendship.
In a place like Camelot, they needed to stick together.
"It's not as bad as you think it is," Merlin said with a shrug, motioning for the young woman to pump the water valve for him. Lyn quickly did as asked, setting the bucket underneath the valve. "As long as I'm careful, nothing goes wrong."
"I find that extremely hard to believe," the sorceress said with a smirk, Merlin chuckling back at her.
Before the conversation could continue, a loud, irritated sounding voice filled the air. "Merlin!" Said servant glanced up with a raised brow and watched as his master came storming up to him.
"What's the matter, sire?"
"What's the matter? We have but three hours until we leave for the hunting trip and you've yet to polish my armor and boots, clean the floors to my room, sharpen my sword—" Lyn rolled her eyes as she watched Arthur and Merlin make their way across the courtyard, almost as if the prince yelling at his servant was so natural to them. She shook her head before following after the pair.
Being around Arthur was…tedious to say the least.
There was something about being around Arthur that just irritated the young woman to no end. It was the way he walked, the way he talked, the way he seemed to carry himself—everything about him was just so…pompous. And yet, there was also this side to him that Lyn still remembered. It was his graciousness and his kindness—the way he lied to help her, the way he kept his word and erased all charges of her former offenses. She hated her conflicting feels of annoyance and respect for the idiot prince.
"You, Merlin, are by far the worst servant I've ever had," Arthur snapped as Merlin grinned playfully at the prince.
"And yet, here I am, still working as your servant."
"You should be so lucky."
"Oh, I am, sire," Merlin said as he winked at Lyn, who merely smirked back at him. Arthur glanced back at Lyn as he rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Don't you have some poor child's dreams to break?"
"Only if that child is you." The black haired maiden's smirk only widened at the way the blond shook his head, turning in order to avoid showing a small smile to his servant and vault keeper.
"Don't think poor Merlin here is the only one with a list of duties." Lyn blinked as she raised a brow, watching as Arthur turned to her and handed her a piece of parchment.
"What's this?"
"The list of things you need to find from the vault." Never before had Lyn actually gone into the vault. Her job was merely to keep it locked and safe and to make sure nothing suspicious happened, so one could understand the shock she felt when the prince handed her a rather long list of things to dig for.
The room was like a never-ending pit of trinkets and gold.
She didn't mind the gold so much.
"What exactly am I to do with everything when I collect it all?" The young woman raised a brow as she watched Arthur and Merlin exchanged knowing glances. "What?"
"Well…"
"You may not be able to find everything," Arthur finished for Merlin, causing Lyn to blink.
"What do you mean?"
"You've seen the vault. The room hasn't been touched or cleaned in ages," the manservant stated before making his way into the field to finish with the prince's laundry. Lyn frowned at that as she glanced at Arthur, who merely raised a brow at her before nodding his head towards the citadel. She rolled her eyes but followed after him.
"I don't understand," Lyn said as she quickly caught up to the prince's side. "I've seen the vault countless of times. I don't understand how hard this task could be."
"When I was a boy," Arthur began. "I had a toy statue that I used to carry with me everywhere." Lyn smirked at the thought. "It was huge, probably too big of a toy for my age, but I had it, and I played with it all the time," the prince stated as he led Lyn down a staircase and through a corridor.
"Is there a point to this adorable tale of yours?"
"One day, when I was adventuring through the castle, I stumbled across the vault," the blond stated as he smiled at the thought. "I was much smaller then, not the tall, strong man that I am now." Lyn rolled her eyes as her companion shot her a glare. "I journeyed into the vault and I set my knight down for one second, and when I looked back, it was gone."
"This sounds completely far-fetched," Lyn stated as she rolled her eyes. Arthur shook his head before he stopped in front of the gate to the vault. The two stood in silence for a moment as the vault keeper raised a brow. The prince motioned for her to use her own set of keys to unlock the door, the thief quickly pulling her key-ring out; Arthur tried not to chuckle.
As the dark haired woman opened the barred gate, the prince walking in with his head high like the idiotic prince he was. The thief shook her head but followed the blond inside, the pair glancing around.
"I still don't understand." The room was ordinary to Lyn. Sure, perhaps there were many things, and corners and crevices and…well now that she was really looking, there was actually quite a bit of junk that fit in the tiny room.
"How about a challenge," Arthur said with a smirk; that had caught the young maiden's attention. "If you can find all of the things on that list before we leave, you can join us." For the prince knew the young woman's love of travel. And anyways, it would be easier to keep track of the rehabilitated thief; who knows what sort of trouble she'd get into while he was gone.
Lyn smirked as she pulled out the list the prince had handed to her from her pocket, unraveling it with confidence. "You have yourself a deal."
Not noticing the small smile upon his lips, Arthur watched as Lyn immediately began trifling through the vault, searching for the first item on her list. The prince watched, leaning against the entryway of the vault. Shaking his head, he said nothing as he turned and began making his way back to his chamber.
He had a trip to get ready for.
…
Merlin smiled to himself, proud of the clothes he had just cleaned, dried and mended. He dusted himself off as he began folding the prince's clothes. He glanced around the empty room as curiosity getting the better of him.
Where was Arthur?
Taking a few minutes to finish up the prince's clothes, the manservant nearly jumped out of his skin when the door to the prince's room open, revealing the man himself. The brunet smirked to himself, his master wearing a rather pleasant smile upon his face.
"I see you're in a much better mood, sire," Merlin sang, catching the prince off guard. Arthur raised a brow, completely unaware of his happy demeanor.
"What are you bumbling on about now?"
"Oh nothing!" the manservant said innocently as he began packing clothes for his master's journey. "You just seem to be in a much happier mood is all."
"And I bet you have a reason as to why," the blond said with a sigh as he rolled his eyes; he knew his servant well enough to know as much.
"I just think Lyn's beginning to grow on you, that's all!" Arthur narrowed his eyes at that.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Merlin tried not to giggle.
"Oh, don't be shy, sire! Lyn's really not so bad once you get to know her…and once you get past the fact she tried stealing from the kingdom…three times…and beat—"
"Ah!" Arthur stared at Merlin with wide eyes as he held up a finger in a way a mother would in order to discipline and quiet her child. "Don't. Say it," he warned as he glared, shaking his head before his grimace shifted into a smirk.
"I suppose having that wench around isn't terrible." After all, she was Camelot's wench.
She was his wench.
Merlin "tsked" the prince as he shook his head, stuffing the rest of Arthur's clothing into the pack. "I wouldn't say that so loudly if I were you. She may come out of nowhere and—" The young servant didn't have a chance to finish his phrase; he had earned a nice, firm slap on the head from his master.
…
"UGH!"
The vault was torn apart. It looked as if someone had come and tried searching for a valuable to take.
If only that had been the case.
Lyn growled as she stood to her feet, her cheeks flushed, her hair now completely pulled out from the neat braid she had put it in that morning. She snarled in between her teeth as she placed her hands on her hip, her list of items thrown aimlessly behind her.
"Where the bloody hell is everything?!" The vault keeper glared at everything in the room as she shook her head.
The first item on the list had been a Pendragon heirloom that Uther had wanted; for whatever reason, Lyn did not know nor did she care. The young woman had found it with ease. It had been sitting at the top of the large dresser in the corner of the room. She had been rather proud of her. She had thought, take that, Arthur! For he had underestimated her and the seeking abilities she had.
Her mistake had been taking her eyes off the heirloom.
It had been only for a second, just so she could look at the rest of her list, but when she had looked up, the heirloom had been missing from the top of the dresser. At first, she had thought it was the trick of the mind. How could that be possible? After all, she KNEW she had placed the charm right on the top of the brown surface. So what had happened to it?
So, Lyn had moved on. She had figured that she would perhaps find the heirloom once she began looking for other things.
But time-after-time, she continued to lose track of everything.
And that was where she was now.
"This is impossible!" she nearly shrieked as she shook her head. A gleam of determination filled her eyes as she shook her head.
She was not ready to give up so easily.
So preoccupied with her search, Lyn hadn't noticed the sound of light footsteps approaching the vault. The woman huffed and puffed as she continued to dig through a pill of coins in the corner of the room; she had been so dedicated to her work that even the sight of shining gold didn't grab her attention.
A pair of green eyes watched the young woman carefully, making sure to stay far enough away to be undetected but close enough to really get a close-up look at the king's savior.
Morgana watched from a distance, as Lyn worked diligently, going through piles and piles of junk that had been saved over time from past kings of Camelot and important gifts. She tried to stay as neutral as possible as she observed the vault keeper, though she was finding it difficult.
The king's ward had immediately clicked with Lyn. There was a spritely air to the young woman that made Morgana smile; it made her believe in people again. But Morgause had specifically expressed the seriousness of Lyn's arrival; she could be dangerous if she had been able to save the king from his eternal sleep and eventual death. So, Morgana had been ordered by her sister to keep a close watch on her; keep your friends close but your enemies closer.
Still, there was a small part of the warden that wished things could be different. There were times where she would lose herself in a conversation with Gwen or where she would find herself caught in witty banter with Arthur. There were even moments where she would see the love Uther had for her; it was in his eyes. But that was not the difficult part.
The difficult part was catching herself stare at Merlin.
Her eyes seemed to always wander in the servant's direction, and at first, she had thought it had been out of hatred. She had thought it had been out of rage—for he had betrayed her trust after she had put so much faith in him. But then the anger seemed to disappear and nothing was left but regret and sorrow.
"Lady Morgana?" Blinking, said lady looked up as a rather thrown keeper stared at her with a raised brow, confusion obvious in her expression. "What are you doing here, my lady?"
"Enough with the pleasantries, Lyn," Morgana said with a smirk. "I think we've grown beyond that, haven't we?" The woman she spoke to chuckled as she nodded, sighing as she glanced around the vault.
"I swear—this damned place is enchanted." The ward immediately stiffened as she raised a brow.
"What makes you say that?"
"Everything just—" She made an exploding motion with her hands as she shook her head. "—disappears!" Morgana relaxed as she chuckled and shook her head.
"That's the tricky thing about this place," she stated as she shrugged. "But I suppose, that's the beauty of it all."
"How so?" Lyn inquired curiously as the ward shrugged as she turned to make her way back down the hall and up the staircase.
"Well, the things that are most valuable are not so easily found." The vault keeper blinked before Morgana smirked, giving her a wink before disappearing down the corridor. Lyn stood in the silence, left to her own devices before a soft smile appeared across her lips. She shook her head as she glanced at the list. Her eyes softened as she recalled the tale of young Arthur Pendragon with his lost toy. She smiled to herself, happy no one was there to witness such a thing.
She supposed the king's ward was right about that.
"The things I do for that idiot."
…
"Merlin! Are you ready—" As Arthur pushed his chamber door open, he stopped as he found a rather muddled-looking vault keeper sitting on top of his table, a wide smirk across her lips. The prince raised a brow as he slowly approached her, crossing his arms.
"What are you doing here? I know for certain that you couldn't have possibly found everything on that list my father had." For Arthur knew the treacherousness of the room.
Lyn shrugged as she stood to her feet, holding something behind her back as she took slow and long strides towards the blond. "Well," she began as she began to smile innocently; that had been a first for the prince to see. "As much as it pains me to say this—and you have no idea how much it does—you were right," Lyn admitted, causing Arthur to stare at her, slightly caught off guard by her confession.
"There must be a catch."
"No, no catch at all," the vault keeper said before she slowly pulled the object she had been hiding out from behind her back. "But I did find something."
Arthur had been lost for words. He stared with astonishment in his eyes as the young woman held a carved wooden knight in front of him. He blinked once, then twice before he blinked a third time. His jaw hung open from shock as he slowly began to reach for his childhood figurine, almost sure he had been seeing things. His blue eyes matched Lyn's brown eyes as her smirk shifted into a soft smile.
"I failed to find anything your father had asked for, but I figured this may be worth more than all of those things combined." And to Arthur, it had been.
The prince said nothing as he held the knight in his hands, the model much smaller now that he was a grown name. Clearing his throat, the prince nodded his head as he motioned for Lyn to leave his presence. The young woman said nothing as she nodded, moving past the prince.
"You've got five minutes."
"Excuse me?" Lyn looked back over her shoulder as the future king turned to her, holding the knight in his right hand.
"You have five minutes to pack what you need, otherwise we leave without you." He would have let her join them no matter what she found.
Lyn stared with wide eyes before a wide smirk appeared across her lips. She nodded her head before she turned and quickly exited the prince's chambers; Arthur was left to his own devices.
The prince stood in the silence as he held tightly to his childhood toy. He shook his head before a wide smile appeared across his lip; he had been holding that back almost through the entire exchange. He sighed before he walked over to his nightstand, setting the figurine down. He stared at it for a moment longer before he shook his head.