Camelot Drabble Prompt bingo 512: 1x01: The Dragon's Call
Merlin Bingo M2115: C1 Deaf/hard of hearing
Disclaimer: I do not own the BBC version of Merlin; They and Shine do. I am very respectfully borrowing them with no intent to profit. No money has changed hands. No copyright infringement is intended.

All right, Merlin had to admit that it had been a shitty day. Never mind the whole magic is evil and the king should cut off people's heads situation—what was his mother thinking to send him to Camelot, she must have been imbibing too many of those funny mushrooms she kept bringing home—, but now Merlin had to open his big mouth, and this was the price.

He didn't know that the ponce tormenting the poor peasant was a prince. Bit of a bully, although Arthur was cracking gorgeous and probably knew it, too, the git. But if you can't stand up for someone getting hurt, what kind of person were you?

So, like the idiot he probably was, Merlin stepped into it and promptly stepped into it, right into the dungeon.

A bit of a let-down. He had thought Camelot was magnificent, all that golden stonework and everyone bustling around, looking well-fed and certainly better dressed than Merlin was. But the dungeons left much to be desired, bit of a stinky pit with rotting straw and rats. Not magnificent at all.

What was worse was there was a voice calling his name, coming from under the mouldy floor, no less.

It had to be a trick. Maybe his was a special cell, one made to make someone think they were going mad. Rather a cruel thing to do, especially for newcomers. At least those who lived in Camelot would know enough to ignore the voice and talk about it with their mates later when they got out. Have a bit of a laugh at those stupid outsiders thinking it was real.

Anyway, he ignored the voice as best he could, and was relieved when Gaius came to let him out, so much so that he didn't mind the stocks at all. He got to meet nicer people then, especially Gwen, and promised himself to keep quiet next time he saw Prince Prat.

If only he could shut the damn voice up.