Author's Note:

Hi everyone!:)
I know, I know, I'm already three days late... and I'm sorry, but I was really busy. That's my only excuse this time.
What will happen now that Arthur has seen Merlin's face? Nothing all that spectacular I fear... but I still hope you like it. And I'll try to be punctual next week (as always, stress "try" :P).
Thank you so much for the favs, alerts and especially the Reviews... and sorry in advance for any typos. I'm typing on my new laptop and haven't got used to the keyboard yet.
Enjoy and please R&R! :)

Discaimer: Don't own... sadly.

Chapter 13: Silence

Merlin paced his tent, his cloak next to him on a chair. No one could enter his tent without his invitation, so he could take it off without fearing to be seen.

It had been five days since Arthur had saved him. That's what he remembered the day like.

Of course, he had saved the Prince's life twice before that day- from the bandits and the wound- but that was... normal. It had never been the other way round, though (if you didn't count the druids taking him in as a child). No one had ever saved him. He was the all-powerful and mysterious Emrys, so why would he need saving? Why would he need help?

And honestly, Merlin didn't expect them to. But there was the problem: Arthur had saved him. He could have left, made a run for the knights as most would have- but instead he had made a fire and stayed with Merlin until the druids came, most likely saving his life.

It had taken three days until Merlin had recovered far enough to walk around the camp as he liked. But still, another two days later, he was keeping to his tent.

He hadn't seen Arthur since that day. He knew that the Prince was well and was kept in another tent at the opposite side of the camp- without shackles, since they were at the Shelter and he wouldn't be able to leave without magic or a magic user helping him. The Elders had decided it was too dangerous to move back to their old place, at least for now.

And that was why he had kept to his tent. The Prince could walk freely through the camp- the only way to stay away from him was not to walk around. And he really didn't want to meet Arthur, even if that meant constantly receiving disappointed gazes by Iseldir and Freya. Will had been quiet, taking the full guilt for Arthur's escape- even if Merlin would never blame him. If at all, it would have been his own fault for choosing someone without magic to guard a full trained warrior. Will was good, but not that good.

The warlock knew he should just visit Arthur, at least to say thank you. But he couldn't bring himself to look the Prince in the eye. The son if the man who had made him into what he was; who had burned down his entire village. The man who had given up his freedom to save his captor.

What for? He must have known Merlin wouldn't let him free. Was it all one big scheme to make him trust Arthur? But what could he possibly gain from that?

But it wasn't just confusion that kept him away from the Prince and everyone else. Merlin was pretty sure that Arthur had seen his face. Of course he had been completely wrapped up in his cloak when the druids found him- but the Prince was curious and would have looked at his true appearance, even if only to check for wounds. And while he hadn't talked to anyone about how the "mighty Emrys was barely more than a boy", Merlin simply didn't know how to meet him. There had only been three people who knew what he looked like since he had become Emrys: Iseldir, Freya and Will. His closest friends who felt like family.

Arthur was an outsider here, he was the enemy. He couldn't be trusted.

But Merlin feared that exactly this was happening- he was starting to trust Arthur. Why else had he begun to refer to the Prince with his name instead of his title?

Running a hand through his already unruly hair, Merlin sighed. Then he stopped abruptly next to the chair and grabbed his cloak. He needed to get out of here, out of the Shelter, if only for a few hours. Maybe then he would be able to think more clearly.

Arthur was questioning his decision to save Emrys.

Well, not exactly to save him, but to stay with him until the druids had come. He could simply have lit the fire and left Emrys- they wouldn't have found him any more slowly if he had been alone. But if Arthur was honest with himself, he knew he couldn't have taken the chance to just leave him- especially not after seeing how young the sorcerer really was.

Even if the ungrateful idiot hadn't even come to talk to him in five days. On the contrary- Arthur had strolled across the whole place over and over again (ignoring the distrustful and nervous looks he got as the druids probably thought he was looking for a way to escape) and hadn't met Emrys anywhere. He didn't even seem to have a tent; or at least no one knew where it was. It seemed like he was evading him, even though Arthur had no idea why. He had told no one about his real appearance- he wasn't stupid.

If the idiot would just come and talk to me...

Arthur suppressed the urge to hit his tent and decided to go for a walk instead- as much as he could walk here. He was aching from boredom and too little movement, aching to touch a sword again, to practice- but ge was pretty sure the druids wouldn't be happy to see the man whose father had almost killed most of them run around in their camp with a sword in his hand. They weren't happy to see him running around as it was.

The Prince began to jog, weaving quickly through the tents, to the far side of the place. The whole 'Shelter' as everyone called it wasn't all that big, but still big enough for the druid camp. It consisted of a huge and relatively flat area where all the tent stood, next to little waterfall that ended in an equally small lake with slightly orange water (Freya had told him that those were natural minerals dissolved in the water, but it wasn't ideal to drink or swim in). The place was surrounded by woods- he had once tried to enter them when no one was looking, walking straight forward for several minutes- before he had come out at the other end of the camp, next to the waterfall. The same had happened the next time he had tried. Apparently only people with magic could leave the place- which was most likely why he wasn't in shackles right now.

When Arthur stopped, breathing the fresh air in deeply, he noticed that he was standing in front of the waterfall. He liked this place, even thought it was loud and most people kept away from it, seeing no use in sitting next to the strange orange water- or maybe just because of that. He could be relatively undisturbed here and the water would drown some of his thoughts with its volume. Plus, he had never seen orange water, and it looked rather... nice, actually. It wasn't the bright orange that flames had, more like some jewels- a mixture between orange and red and brown.

Arthur looked up at the top of the hill, where the water came out of a crack in the rock; just below the edge of the forest. If he started at the other edge of the camp, maybe he would come out up there... but his try would have to wait for another day. It was already getting slightly dark and he didn't want to get lost in the forest. Plus, the constant strain of feeling watched, living in the middle of the people he had been trained to fear and hate, left him more tired than usually.

On the spur of a moment, the Prince stepped next to the waterfall, stretching a hand out to feel into the darkness behind it- expecting to feel wet plants. If plants could grow in the mineral water, that is.

Instead he felt- nothing. There was empty air right behind the waterfall.

Curious, Arthur stretched his hand out further until drops of water were hitting his shoulder, reaching into all directions and trying to find some sort of wall, but all he felt was empty air. Without thinking Arthur stretched a foot out until he could feel the ground behind the waterfall. It wasn't a hole, then. Or at least not one that stretched below the ground- no underground lake.

Stepping forward, the Prince walked right through the waterfall- and stood in the darkness of a cave. He froze, trying to hear something over the noise of the waterfall, until his eyes had adjusted to the dim light. The cave wasn't very high or broad, though he couldn't see its end as there was a bend ahead. It was made from rock, looking completely natural. There were no tracks whatsoever- though it would have been hard to leave tracks on the stone floor.

Putting his right hand to the wall so he wouldn't miss a branch-off and get lost in the dark, the Prince walked slowly forward. He wouldn't have had to worry. The cave ended right behind the bend- but not in a wall, as one would think. Instead it opened into another meadow, a small place surrounded by forest, as always. Birds were singing, giving the whole place a peaceful atmosphere. Arthur could see no one, hoping for a second that he had found a way out of the Shelter- but then he spotted a big tent, made from red and blue cloth like the ones in the camp, near the edge of the forest and his hope dissolved again.

Still, the curiosity stayed. Who could probably live in such a place, away from every one else? From what he had gathered, druids were usually pretty outgoing and sociable People. They liked to assemble round the fire in the evenings and at night, even though most of them spent the day together anyways- after all there weren't lots of other places to go. Even if they could leave the Shelter whenever they wanted, it was hardly wise to have druids appear and disappear out of and into thin air while there could still be knights or bandits outside.

There was really only one person he could think of, which made the whole thing even more intriguing. This must be Emrys' home.

So... like I said, not lots of action. Did you like it anyways? :)

Review, please! ^_^