A Marriage that Started a Legend

by IJustShowedUp

Follows canon but with my own arranged marriage spin on it. What happens when Hunith makes a mistake and is forced on the run with her infant son? What happens when Camelot knights find her twenty years later? What happens when Arthur learns he's betrothed to a peasant boy? Will Merlin be able to stand among royalty? Will these two different boys survive each other? Review!

66. Chapter 66

Morgana supposed-in hindsight-that maybe she should have followed him. When she saw Merlin-peeking her head out of her bedroom door-already making his way down the stairs and out of the Royal wing, his head bobbing along the way before he'd gone to far down for her to see anymore. She probably should have chased him down when she saw that he had a poor looking threadbare bag slung over his shoulder. Why, if she didn't know anything better, then she would have thought he was running away.

But no, Morgana decided with a heavy sigh as she stayed put in her doorway. Merlin was a lot of things but he wasn't nearly as stupid as Arthur thought he was. Merlin would have to know better than to try running when there was no chance that he would be able to get away scot-free. The king may not want Merlin here, but Morgana knew that not even Uther would allow that kind of slight go against his family. No, Uther would rather chase-or have dozens of guards to do it-Merlin until the end of the earth if he had to.

Nobody could escape the King.

Morgana closed her door behind her with a gentle click as she retreated back inside of her room. She didn't know what Arthur must have done now but clearly the prince caught up to the consort. Otherwise, Merlin wouldn't be leaving unless he had finally gotten tired of Arthur and his antics. She could only hope that Merlin had thought his plan out and that he would stay within the kingdom, anywhere close by that people might not even notice he wasn't actually staying 'in' the castle.

Because God help him if he did try to run, the King would be relentless in his pursuit, Merlin would never find whatever solace he might have been looking for away from the castle. It was more worrisome about how Arthur would react though. The prince's pride could almost rival Uther's in some way, and Arthur had the most at stake. For a man whose only concern was his reputation, things would not be good for Merlin if Arthur caught up with him for the second time…

X

"Think you can get to punish me, threaten me why don't you…I'll fucking show you." Merlin grumbled under his breath, storming through the halls as he jerked his bag back onto his shoulder more firmly. It bangs uncomfortably against his back but he was ignoring it for the most part. He didn't know exactly what it was Arthur planned to 'punish him' with since the stocks were out, but Merlin wasn't planning on sticking around to find out. Even if Arthur wasn't actively punishing him, the threat had been there. But Arthur patronizing him like he was some kind of unruly child…his cheek was still burning where Arthur had patted him just a touch to hard. More like a slap that was just trying to imitate a pat.

"…Fucking bastard." He tightened his fist on the strap of his bag. Merlin had no interest in staying in that room any longer, and definitely not for another night. He still felt his stomach churning with dread because of the mystery of what Arthur would have planned for him, but he would have to find him first. He knew that Arthur would come for him-his pride was not small enough to allow Merlin to just leave on his own-and he'd go ballistic and hit the roof. But good, let him.

Maybe Arthur had been talking out of his arse and trying to freak him out, but Merlin wasn't going to risk finding out. If he had gotten so mad because Merlin had went out looking for a job, what would he do if he decided to get creative and go through with his threat after he found out Merlin was gone…he didn't even know if Arthur would bother coming out after him. If he did then it wouldn't be because he wanted Merlin to come back. Arthur wouldn't want Merlin to 'embarrass him' again…

Nobody really bothered Merlin along his trek through the castle. And he was quite grateful for the reprieve from all of the shoving, or the name calling, or spitting at his feet, or trying to steal his stuff. With the raging and irritable mood he was in, Merlin knew that he had no chance at curbing his tongue. He hunched in his shoulders anyway and tried to keep down his head as to not draw attention to himself.

Or more specifically, what he was doing. But despite his bold decision to move out, Merlin still felt as alone as ever. He didn't know what he was doing-or if it would lead him to any of the freedom he was looking for-but it didn't stop the isolation from wearing him down. He was totally alone….just like always.

X

Alone or not-and ready to disappear into the void-Merlin managed to get himself right to his uncle's chambers. Maybe Merlin would be a bit presumptuous to assume his uncle was willing to take him in long term but it was the only place he could go. It wasn't like he had anymore family in this godforsaken city.

Merlin closed the door behind him, hearing the soft click of the lock sliding into place as he did, "Uncle Gaius?" Merlin called out into the chambers. But he didn't get an answer to his call. There wasn't even a flutter from any of the many opened books spread out across the tabletops. The half-finished potions off to the side seemed to be in some kind of stasis mode. The air around him seemed to be stale and dead in a way, the smell of old books that filled up the air was almost overpowering.

It appeared that Gaius wasn't home. But he felt better already. The smell in the air gave off a potent feeling, like he was home. And who would choose that stuffy old palace that made him feel bleak and miserable with every little breath he took over this place.

Merlin bounded across the room, intent on getting himself settled into his room before Gaius could show up and possibly stop him or convince him that he was making a 'huge' mistake and that the possible consequences wouldn't be worth it once Arthur found out. It was something he was determined to do, and sticking it to Arthur was half the fun. He was halfway up the stairs when he stopped-stairs under him creaking ominously-because he'd caught something out the corner of his eye.

Merlin glanced back towards the front door and seeing that Gaius wasn't about to come bursting in on him and demanding answers he didn't feel like giving, Merlin decided he'd need to act quickly. Bounding back down the stairs. Merlin snatched up what he'd seen on one of the many tables-the corner sticking out from under multiple thick sheets of curled parchments.

It was a box or a chest-clearly old since the wood was faded and cracked-no larger than the thickness of his magic book. Inscribed in the top of the chest looked like some kind of lotus flower, the thick petals looking scratched up and faded overtime with age. It wasn't all that heavy but it had a little clasp on it to keep the box close. Not a lock, just a clasp. It took him twisting the clasp-being gentle because he'd almost feared it would break off-and the lid popped open. Inside was just a bunch of little random odds and ends. Thumbtacks, pieces of torn up parchments covered in dust as the thing looked as if it hadn't been touched at all in the last decade. Just a stalement, left to sit here and look pretty. Or to rot if it couldn't do the job proper. He knew what that felt like.

But maybe he was just reading far to much into a random box he found. Merlin shook his head before snatching up a woven basket out of the mess, and deciding that he would just have to rescue the box in a way he was trying to rescue himself.

Merlin dumped out the box into the woven basket, intent on taking the box with him. It was perfect for what he intended to use it for as he needed a box anyway. He stopped and picked out a few items that had came out of the little chest and put them back, those may actually come in handy. Merlin slammed the chest closed, not nearly as interested in being careful as he was to get a move on.

Merlin bounded back up the stairs to the extra room-to his room-on the second floor and slammed the door behind him. Now, the first thing Merlin did was throw his bag onto the floor beside his door. The flap flopped open and half of his clothes went sprawling across the floor. But Merlin decided that he liked it, the clutter. Back in the Royal suite, he had George constantly following right behind him and picking up every little thing to bring back to its rightful place. It definitely made Merlin a bit more clean than he usually was just from the awkward factor of having this manservant cleaning up his own messes. But here, the room was smaller and more cramp, it didn't feel like so much useless space that he didn't need nor did he have enough stuff to even fill it.

…When he'd packed up his stuff, Merlin had realized just how frighteningly little he owned actually. In less than five minutes, Merlin and his entire life was packed in his bag, and his Royal suite had looked as if he'd never been there. As if he didn't exist. As if he was just a wisp of a dream one got when they first woke up but couldn't quite grasp or remember what it was about. Something so insignificant that he had no business even existing.

He was probably going to get hell for it later once people started finding out, but Merlin would endure. And Arthur could just go…go… suck a lemon! If he thought Merlin would be coming back to his prison anytime soon.

Deciding to move on for the time being, the unwanted consort threw himself at the foot of his-hopefully permanent-bed. The wooden posts the bed stood on creaked-just like everything else in Gaius' chambers-but that sound just made Merlin all the more comfortable.

"Now, let's see what I've got here." Merlin said eagerly, opening the little chest before dumping out the few bits from it that he had kept onto his new bedcovers. They were little pins. Kind of like thumbtacks or even sewing needles. They were sharp though-maybe his uncle used this type of needle for sutures but as they had been buried among the junk, then he doubted Gaius would mind to badly if he'd swiped them.

With the chest now empty, Merlin left it on his bedcovers next to the pins before jerking his jacket off. The jacket was heavy-weighty-on one side than the other. It should be, he had been carrying around more than he usually did ever since the marketplace. Where he'd gotten tired of being turned down at every single place he'd gone to, people turning him away before he could even ask because word had gotten around what he wanted. The word of mouth apparently spread faster than he'd been traveling from stall to stall. Anyway, they could only turn him down so many times before he started getting frustrated. So he'd allowed himself to be selfish for once, and he had started spending the coins his mom had given him.

What was wrong with him being selfish! He'd given so much of himself already. He'd been forced to leave the only home that he'd ever known, forced to leave his mother behind to take care of herself. Been married off to the last person he would have wanted to be if he had gotten the choice. Had saved his life not once but twice at least. Had been ridiculed or mocked, pushed around and treated as if he was some second rate citizen. And the only thing he got for his troubles was Arthur being a patronizing control freak, the prince clearly thought Merlin was only there to make him look good to the public. If only Arthur knew what he was getting into when he'd agreed to marry Merlin in the first place…so yeah, okay, maybe Merlin had been stupid to spend that last bit of gold that had been sorely his on a bunch of useless junk. But he didn't regret it in the least.

Merlin pushed at his inner pocket, dumping the jacket upside down and allowing the few handful of items spill out. Grinning, Merlin let himself relish in this small bit of joy he had as he spread out what he had over the bed. On the first glance, maybe all of this stuff would look like junk. Something that somebody may toss in a drawer and not look at again-as they wouldn't be nearly important enough for you to get up and go ahead and toss away what would otherwise be clogging up your space.

But to Merlin, it was practically everything.

The first thing he picked up was a little glass bottle no bigger than his finger. To anybody else it looked as if it just had dirt or crushed flowers inside of it. But Merlin opened up the little stopper and brought it up to his nose so that he could get a big whiff of it. He felt his muscles relax and he smiled. The crushed up flowers in it were native back home, he had been surprised to see them at the vendors but he had recognized them almost immediately. There was a whole thatch of them that grew somewhere in the woods that surrounded Ealdor. Apparently Cenred's kingdom was a hot spot for trade, so things got filtered back and forth quite often. These particular plants might have some kind of healing properties but he didn't know nor did he care. He just liked the smell of home, the one thing in this entire place that hadn't felt entirely foreign. Or as if he was wading out through the muck with no help in sight to pull him out. As if he'd been walking around with blinders on this whole time and the smell of home was finally starting to jerk then off.

Merlin carefully put the stopper back on so that he wouldn't spill out his own little taste of home all over his bedcovers. And gently-so gently it was almost ridiculous-Merlin slid the bottle into his new chest, almost afraid that the little glass casing would break if he'd moved any faster.

The next thing he grabbed was a flower, just a single flower with faded purple petals, he'd gotten so excited when he had seen it. Merlin almost hadn't moved fast enough to buy the thing when he had first seen it sitting on the counter of a second flower shop: the kind that sold the more exotic kind of flowers that couldn't be found growing naturally in Camelot. But it did grow quite well back home. Maybe not in Ealdor specifically but it did grow closer in to the mainland of the kingdom. Sometimes a handful of men would leave the village and would be gone for weeks traveling to the inner city to sale some of the wares the woman had worked on for a spot of gold coins. Some of the men would bring back flowers for their wives just like this kind. And sometimes, those wives who didn't know how to grow them would give some of the seeds to his mother: everybody knew she didn't have a husband to bring her flowers of her own and it didn't matter that Merlin would try bringing her poorly ripped up flowers from the roots when he was little as he tried to get her happy. Mother never could grow them the proper way and they usually always died far to soon. It took forever before somebody had made the connection, that the type of soil the flowers grew in naturally was slightly different from the soil that was in Ealdor, so it made it almost impossible for the flowers to thrive.

Merlin pressed the flower to his nose and took the biggest whiff he could. It reminded him of more happier times, all those times his mother had actually gotten frustrated-one of the few times she ever actually did-before they had realized trying to grow the flowers seeds were futile. Farmers or not there was only so much they could do when the soil wasn't a proper fit for the plant itself.

Merlin carefully eased the flower into his chest. He would have to preserve it soon as it wouldn't be long before it would start wilting up. He was surprised that it had lasted this long without the proper care and attention it should be given to make it thrive.

Merlin picked up the third item he had, he'd gotten it from a little fabric shop right on the edge of the marketplace. He had almost just missed it because it was a small hidden away kind of place, out of the way from the main hustle and bustle. It was a beautiful piece of cloth, truly elegant even though most nobles would probably turn their nose at it because of the scratchy fabric. It wasn't silk or what it was nobles were accustomed to, but it had been absolutely perfect to him. That was why without a second of hesitation, Merlin jerked at the fabric with both hands, ripping it right in half. Then he did it again and again, trying to destroy it.

Until he held one small square of the purple-the color of royalty apparently as the shop keeper had told him-fabric in his hands. But it also had embroidered in different corners of the cloth-and one in the center-symbols of the five countries, all in a false gold coloring. Merlin took great pleasure in ripping up the biggest piece in the middle-Camelot and it's Pendragon dragon blowing fire upwards to the sky-when he didn't to the other four. But he did save one square of the cloth-the one that had a symbol of a raven that indicated it was from Cenred's kingdom. It was just one more reminder of home that he would treat with respect-even if he didn't particularly care for Cenred or the way he ruled, it was still his home, his mother was still there. So Merlin carefully rolled up the corner to keep it safe and slid it into the little chest for his safe keeping.

Merlin picked up the last item that he had bought from the marketplace. The item that he needed for the pins to come in handy. The doll he held flopped over in his hand, looking useless and pathetic. But it also resembled a certain prince that shall not be named. With it having a red cloth sewed on top of its head to resemble hair-it wasn't a perfect match but if he squinted then he could almost imagine it having the crisp golden blond that Arthur had on him. It had little pieces of cloth carefully crafted to resemble a guard's uniform-and it was probably something Arthur would never wear as a guard was of a lesser station that a prince. But it had a little foil looking sword on his side, strapped to something that he had figured was supposed to be a belt so Merlin figured it was close enough. But he hated to see th little red string sewed onto its face to look like a smile, little black buttons made for eyes.

The reason Merlin had first picked up the doll at all was because of the stitching pattern it had. It kinda reminded him of this particular style one of the neighboring ladies that had lived a few hours down from his did hers. The little old lady shopkeeper who ran it thought she was in trouble when he'd first asked-she got many of her imports from Cenred's which was something many people seemed to do. It hadn't occurred to him that he could find the few little treasures among all of the Camelot and their own supplies and different ways of making things.

Merlin-quick and sneaky because he feared he would get caught despite being alone if he took his time-picked up one of the pins and sticking it into the Arthur doll's shoulder. Kind of felt like a voodoo doll-and although Merlin had heard of them, he'd never actually seen one in action-and didn't want to. This wasn't a real voodoo doll-although Merlin supposed he could make it one, all he would need was a lock of Arthur's hair and add some of his own magic into it to make the connection work-he didn't though. How long would it take before people made the connection if they suddenly saw him hanging around Arthur, trying to be a bit to casual as he ripped out a few strands of hair? No, it wasn't worth the risk. Plus it might actually kill Arthur since he didn't really know what he was doing.

But it was still fun to imagine, to get some of his own frustrations out as he stuck the doll with pin after pin. One in it's cheek and then another one in the center of his chest. And he did it again and again, playful grin growing a bit wider with each pin he stuck into the doll and imagining Arthur-probably out on the trailing field-constantly feeling the same pinprick sensations where he was sticking his pins at. Hell, just for the heck of it, he stuck one in the prince's groin. Just because that arrogant toad-faced horrible being deserved to have a good kick to the family jewel's.

When he was done, Merlin held the doll out at arm's length so that he could admire his-very well done if he did say so himself-work. The Arthur doll had at least a dozen different pins sticking out in different areas of his little doll body. Arthur would bloody kill him if he'd seen it but Merlin had no intentions of letting anybody see it. No, this little doll that looked as if it had been fully tortured all the way to Timbuktu and back was just for him: his little secret. Just one more to the pile of things he kept to himself, but at least this one was one he could have a bit more fun with…

Merlin's head snapped up when he heard a noise coming from somewhere downstairs. It was a straining of his ears later that he heard some grumbling going on, unaware of his new houseguest just upstairs. Uncle Gaius! Merlin panicked when he realized he was still holding the Arthur doll. This would so not be a good look! Imagine trying to explain why he had an Arthur doll exactly, and why he'd been spending his time sticking it with pins. There was just some things that Gaius didn't need to know!

Merlin rolled over off his bed in one quickly done motion, freezing when he'd jumped to his feet because of the creaking wood. There was a moment of silence where Merlin had been sure Gaius had heard him. There was a creak that sounded like it had came from the stairs, Gaius had probably heard him! And he was now coming up to investigate…

Merlin reacted with a little less care than he had been earlier, practically stuffing his little Arthur doll and the leftover pins back into the chest. Then he slammed the lid shut, hiding away what he might just currently be calling his most precious items-and he looked back and forth around the room frantically trying to find a good place for them.

There was a creak right outside his door and Merlin nearly tripped over his clothes and his bag slung out across the floor. He'd just put his little chest on the top shelf of his newest wardrobe-just as worn out as everything else was, thank god-for safekeeping. Merlin heard the door swinging open behind him and that was when he slammed his wardrobe door to be shut.

Merlin swung around, with his back frozen in front of the wardrobe suspiciously while also wearing an equality suspicious smile. And he had his hands clasped behind his back in an innocent fashion but that just made it look all the more suspicious.

"….I thought I heard somebody rummaging around up here." Gaius said slowly, raising an eyebrow at what he had just walked in on. He looked from Merlin smiling at him and down to the bag of clothes strewn out across the floor. The magic book he had given Merlin was peeking out of the top and Gaius shook his head. You would think Merlin would have been more careful than just carting it round in his bag where any guard could demand him turn it over for a routine inspection for any contraband items. "…Merlin, what on earth are you doing?

When Merlin saw Gaius was looking down at his clothes, he just smiled more broadly. He'd really hoped his uncle wouldn't ask too many unwanted questions, but he suppose the man did deserve some kind of explanation. And as long as it kept him out of the wardrobe where a suspiciously kept looking voodoo doll had been hidden, "….Oh, I just figured that I could get to know my favorite uncle some more and what better way to do that than a sleepover?" Merlin realized the ending sounded more like a question and cleared his throat awkwardly, whispering out the corner of his mouth a last bit that he really hoped Gaius wouldn't listen to much on, "One that lasts for an indefinite amount of time."

But of course Gaius had heard it and frowned at him, "You've decided to move yourself in?" He noted the obvious. "But what on heavens for? I thought you've gotten comfortable up at the castle."

Gaius had no real argument against Merlin moving in. He would also like to spend some more time with his nephew. But it was quite sudden so clearly something had to happen for the change. Merlin hadn't spent a night there since before the wedding but it was no surprise. A married man couldn't exactly be expected to live full-time with an uncle that he barely knew.

Merlin's face dropped at his question and he grumbled heatedly under his breath, "Well it's became apparent that Arthur thinks he's able to buy my compliance or something." Arthur could offer Merlin all of the gold that he could want to, he could give Merlin his stupid tour of the Royal treasury and brag about just how much money that was now shared between the two of them. He could deny Merlin having a job all that he wanted to because the prince thought it was his place to provide for Merlin financially. It wouldn't make any different as Merlin was bound and determined not to take a single coin from him. He refused to fall into line like all those little soldiers that the prince was clearly used to following his orders. That was when-breaking up his little mental rant-he noticed Gaius was frowning at him. Merlin felt his cheeks reddened and quickly made to correct himself. "Let's just say that the Royal wing is a little to small for the five of us to live there together."

Gaius frowned deepened and he looked even more confused, "The five of you?" He asked as he did a mental count. But no, there was only four people that were supposed to sleep in the Royal wing. And that wing in particular had been built for up to twenty people to live in comfortable-constructed during a specific era in time where it was the usual to have half a dozen children or more. There was no way four people were struggling to find space in such a huge area of the castle.

But Merlin seemed to know what he was talking about because he nodded briskly and held up one finger, "There's Morgana," he put up a second finger. "Then there's Uther down the hall." He put up a third finger. "Then there is Arthur." He put up his forth finger, the one that had his wedding ring glimmering with a shine just as it had the first day that he was forced to put it on. "There's me." Then finally he put up his thumb. "And we definitely can't forget the biggest person of them all-Arthur's ego."

Honestly? Merlin found it more difficult trying to sleep with Arthur right next door than he did with Uther just down the hall. At least he knew the king would probably find pleasure by his demise. But Arthur…Merlin would have to face an endless struggle not to sneak into his room and smother his face in one of those many-far to many than any one person would ever need-pillows on his bed. The prince had actually been so patronizing to him back then that it infuriated Merlin to the core. And he'd known it was best to get out while he was still able to. Now, when everybody's guard was down. Who would ever expect for the prince's consort to run away? Even if he had only ran as far as the other side of the castle. But he had a feeling that it didn't matter how far he'd gone. If people knew he'd left, he would most likely be dragged right back. And Arthur's little threat of getting 'creative with his future punishments' would probably suddenly be his reality instead of an idle promising threat made to scare Merlin during the heat of the moment.

A more pressing matter suddenly occurred to Merlin, something that he should have been considering before he had just made himself at home, "It is alright that I'm here isn't it? I mean, when I first got here you told me that I could use this room for as long as I wanted to. But maybe I should have asked first, I will just get my stuff and go."

Here he was, being stupid again. Because it wouldn't surprise him if his uncle was just being nice to him back then and Merlin had taken it literal. But what if Gaius didn't want him here constantly? It was one thing just to come here and hang out but it would be quite another to actually live here. His own actual husband didn't want him around and Arthur only ever sought him out when he needed something from him. Or when he thought it was Merlin that needed a helping reminder of what he could and couldn't do now that he'd been made consort and had a 'reputation' or whatever crap he liked to spew. It wasn't like said reputation wasn't trashed already…

Merlin starts stuffing his clothes back into his bag, covering up his magic book. He didn't really know where he was going to go now but he would figure it out. He didn't want to bother Gwen with his problems, plus he was sure she wouldn't have the space for one more person. Her hut was small enough as it is with just her and her father. But Merlin was going to be damned if he even thought about crawling back to Arthur and his 'hospitality' if he couldn't find a place to sleep tonight. But he didn't have any money for an inn, Merlin felt a sudden surge of intense dislike-verging on hatred-go through him when he realized he was completely financially dependent on Arthur bloody Pendragon. He couldn't do one thing without that gold and had no possible way of getting his own in a city that seemed so against him. But no matter, he would just have to figure out what to do for himself so that he could land on his feet. He always did. Even if his throat currently felt thick, as if he had a lump stuck in it. He was helpless, and he knew it…

"Merlin, Merlin!" Gaius took the bag out of his hands with a heavy sigh as he saw what the expression on his nephew's face. "I was not lying to you. You are more than welcome to stay here for as long as you need. I suppose you and Arthur are having problems again?"

Other than his initial surprise that Merlin had been here, he didn't seem to surprised that he had found his way here. Gaius may not know all of the actual details but he did know that Arthur and Merlin got on like water and oil. Just smashing together until one of them was forced to combust. And it appeared that Merlin was the first to break, or the first one to decide a fancy life in the castle just wasn't worth whatever Arthur had done to him now.

Merlin let out a wet choked out sound, "You don't know the half of it." He could still feel that patronizing hand Arthur had tapped his face with. Like a burn or a brand across his cheek. It was nothing like the way Valiant had touched his face that night in the armory. But he hated it all the same, being talked down to as if he was a stupid little fella who just didn't know what was going on. Well, Merlin knew exactly what was going on. Arthur hated him, and Merlin wasn't going to waste anymore of his time trying to be happy with him. It wasn't worth this disappointment that filled him just by knowing his attempts would be rebutted as nothing more than a childish crush instead of a man showing another man that he would be willing to try and make this marriage work out.

But at least now Merlin could relax since he had a place to fall back on. It was already starting to get pretty late, the moon was just starting to rise outside his windows. And he had really not been looking forward to finding a spot for the night in some creepy alley that laid behind a tavern for shelter. Or the woods where Merlin still didn't really know what kind of wildlife lived in these parts. Depending on it, he could have been walking straight into his death if he slept in the wrong spot and a pack of wolves had already claimed it for all he knew…

"Just unpack your belongings, and I'll get started on dinner." Gaius said, but he looked at him with pity, as if he knew Merlin had so many things he wanted to explode about but was also being incredibly tight lipped. Merlin hated it, knowing that even Gaius knew what a fool he had been to even talk to Arthur with anything other than pure contempt coating his every word. But maybe coming here and leaving the prince behind would be a good thing for him. He might still be consort but he was a consort that didn't live in the royal wing of the castle. This could be the chance Merlin needed to rebuild himself into whatever kind of man he wanted to be, instead of whatever it was Arthur was trying to enforce on him.

Gaius goes to leave but stops just short of the door with one hand perched for balance on the doorframe, "Merlin, do you happen to know where a box of mine is?" Merlin blinked back the tears that had been brimming in his eyes when he had thought he'd been getting kicked to the curb.

"…A box?" Merlin asked, casually sliding back in front of the wardrobe. He had a feeling that he knew exactly what box Gaius happened to be going on about.

"Yes, a box, a little chest actually." Gaius said with suspicious eyes fastened firmly onto his fidgeting nephew. "I noticed that its no longer where I keep it and I haven't been able to find it at all."

Merlin tried to make his excuses, his hands clasped innocently behind his back, "A chest you say, I don't think I've…"

"It's about this big," Gaius said as he held up his hands as to indicate about what size the box itself up. "And it's got a flower carved into the front of it…"

Merlin's mouth once again got away from him before he could really think it through, "It's a lotus flower, right?" And then he froze. Gaius was so going to kill him if he found out about the Arthur doll tucked away in it. It might not be a real voodoo doll because it didn't have any of Arthur's hair attached to it to form the connection. And none of Merlin's magic was lingering on the doll as an indicator that he'd cast any kind of spell on it. But for the people who didn't know the difference between that fake voodoo and real voodoo, it wouldn't be changing anything. It would still be looked at as a magical item instead of a frustrated boy trying to stab his fake husband. It would be just as bad as anybody finding out about the actual book of magic he kept with him.

Gaius gave him a look, "Yes," he drawled out slowly as he gave Merlin the stink eye. "That would be the one. So, you have seen it?"

"…Nope, haven't seen it." Merlin said quickly as he shook his head. Even though his uncle would probably know that Merlin hadn't used any real magic for the voodoo doll, he would probably still give Merlin a lecture on keeping anything that could be mistaken as an occult item-magic book aside as Merlin actually did need that one to train in his magic so that he could control it better. And although he had clearly been lying about the box, Gaius didn't push it any further.

The old man nodded down to the floors at his clothes and said firmly, "Make sure that you find a good spot for that book. The last thing we need is the wrong person bursting in here and finding it."

Merlin nodded his head rapidly, "I'll get right on that." He didn't know where exactly would be a good spot to keep it. Back in the Royal suite, he had a curved headboard at the head of his bed. All he had to do was drop it back behind it as no human arm was long enough to reach behind it fully. It had been a good hiding spot, cast in shadows so it was barely seen if anybody looked behind it. Which not one person actually had a reason to. His bed here was straight so there was no place for him to slide the book behind it. But that was a problem for another day as he'd most likely have to tear this room apart to find anyplace that was good enough.

Gaius kept on talking as he lumbered back to the door, "And don't think for one second just because your consort means you won't have stuff to do about here. Living here means you have chores and the like, and don't think for one second that you can have George doing it for you. I won't have somebody becoming spoiled under my roof. I have dishes that will need cleaning, and potion ingredients that'll need gathering. I have a leach tank that has to be cleaned as well as some sweeping done underneath my tables…"

Merlin's smile dimmed into a 'WTF' kind of look as Gaius closed the door behind him. He was sure he could still hear Gaius continuing to list chore and chore to himself as he went downstairs to get started on dinner.

…Well, Merlin thought, that could've ended so much worse. But at least now he didn't have to worry over rather or not he would have this roof over his head. And Gaius hadn't seen his little Arthur doll…and he could only imagine what Arthur would actually do if said prince ever found out what he did. But Merlin put all of that out of mind.

While Gaius was working on dinner, Merlin went to work on his room. The first thing he did was dump his travel bag out on the floor of his wardrobe, not bothering to waste time by finding hangers and actually hanging them up. Then he tossed the travel bag to sit along the wall next to his door. Somewhere easily accessible and in sight if he ever needed to get his clothes together in a hurry if he had no choice but to leave. Not to go back to the Royal suite but in case he needed to go leave the city if things turned south for him. But he didn't have to worry about that right now. He also snatched up his magic book from out of the mess of tangled clothes on the floor of his wardrobe and slid it on the top self where he'd put the little chest. It wouldn't be proper for a hiding spot. All it would take was one search for whatever reason and he would be caught red handed. There was only so many things a thick leather book with ancient Latin written across the front cover could be. But he would take his chances until he could find a real spot for it-hopefully in the next day or so…

Merlin would have dinner with Gaius not an hour later-just a simple sandwich instead of a three course meal in the privacy of his Royal chambers that George kept insisting on-and then he would go to bed. And he was finally able to rest with his thin, scratchy sheets and able to drift off into a restful sleep. It was just something he hadn't been able to have for as long as he'd been in Camelot.

Neither Gaius nor Merlin were away of the chaos that morning would bring with it. And neither were aware that a whole new problem was going to test the resources they had. And Merlin had no idea that-if he thought that his problems with Arthur were bad now-he didn't know the next few days would start to bring it to a complete and utter breaking point…

X

Merlin shot yo in his bed, his breath coming out harshly as he blinked rapidly, trying to get his bearings under control. It took him barely a second to realize he was in his room at his uncle's. But it took a minute more to realize what had woken him.

Knocking. There was a rapid and frantic kind of knocking going on at the front door down the stairs. Merlin didn't know what was going on but there was only two possible reasons for someone to be knocking like that when it was still so early in the day.

Either they were here for Gaius and needed immediate medical attention because that knock did make it sound as if somebody was on their death bed. And if that was the case, then Merlin figured he could help out. Even if it was just gathering supplies from his uncle's storage cabinets.

Or that knocker was hear for him. And that had to mean Arthur had finally figured out he was gone and someone must've seen him coming here last night and pointed him in this direction. Or Arthur hadn't bothered to come for him at all and had sent the guards round in his place to drag him back. Which meant he couldn't stay up here hiding away while they harassed him uncle into giving him back.

Merlin rolled out of bed, yelping as he kicked off his bedcovers to get his legs free while he dragged them half off the bed. He didn't care that he was still in his bed cloths-which was consisting of an old dirty beige tunic and his underwear, the shirt just long enough that it looked as if he wasn't wearing anything at all under his shirt-before he was hurrying out of his bedroom.

Merlin was halfway down the stairs with his bare feet, one hand clasped around the old creaky railing when Uncle Gaius was already opening the door. A frail looking young girl in a tizzy practically spilled into the chambers in tears.

"Gaius please!" The woman begged, and the ends of her peasant dress was torn because she had raced here so frantically that the end had caught on several things that had been in her path. "You have to come quick! Oh, it's so awful I could hardly believe it when I came across it!"

"Julia, just breath." Gaius said calmly to this outcry. As physician, he was used to having people in a panic and the best thing was to keep them as calm as possible. "Just tell me what happened? Is it the king? Or one of the children you watch?" Apparently knowing full well who this woman was, it was obvious that he must have attended to her before.

Julia weeped with big old fat tears just rolling down her gaunt cheeks. "No, it's none of that at all!" She cried, her hands literally shaking from all of the stress that she was under. "It's in the housing district. Oh good god, he has to be removed before the children start their day! A body, Gaius! There's a body just laying there, dead sometime in the bit of night!"

"Wait, there's a body out there?" Merlin got involved as he hopped down the last of the few remaining steps. And his mind went straight to the old man he had been having so much fun with yesterday, before he had turned into a betrayer because he had only been waiting for his son to return with Arthur to drag him back to the palace.

The woman's frenzied eyes shot straight to him at the sound of his voice, and there was something about her face that became just a bit more fixated, "…Consort Merlin…" she said in her shaky tone. And Merlin was suddenly aware of his state of dress when she looked down at his bare legs. His face burned when he felt her stare, feeling almost like he'd been on display as he casually scooted himself to hide behind one of Gaius' many tables.

"You were saying…about a body?" Merlin said as he broke the silence that had fallen around the room. How was he suppose to know that walking into a room half-dressed when it was still so early in the morning would cause such a disturbance!

"Right," the woman said in a wobbly voice as she dabbed at her eyes with a white piece of cloth. "The body is in the housing district and nobody is entirely sure what happened. Why, if I didn't know any better I would think he'd frozen in the night. But we're in the summer months and last night was extremely warm. I just don't know what happened…"

The woman wasn't lying. Merlin had even had to kick his blankets off at one point during the night because of how warm it was. That somebody could freeze during those burning temperatures was a crazy thought. But if they really did have a body out in the lower town, it couldn't just be left there to rot!

"Now, now, Julia." Gaius said as he started to lead the woman back out of the door. "Myself and the consort will take care of this. What I want is for you to go home and get yourself a calming cup of tea. Something that you'll be able to relax with. I'm sure it's nothing to be worried about. It's probably just something unfortunate but I will see to it that everything is taken care of."

Merlin waited until the woman was out of the chambers and Gaius had shut the door close behind her before he said anything, "Do you really think it's nothing?" He asked, concern. Because some guy dropping dead right in the middle of the housing district didn't exactly sound like nothing. And if he really had froze to death in the middle of the night well, there had to have been something going on for that to happen during this time of the year.

But Gaius didn't seem nearly as concerned by it, "Julia is always coming to me with panic about everything. If there is one person that will tell me what latest tragedy has struck the city, it's Julia. Now, I doubt this man really did freeze to death, it's the wrong time for that to happen. But it's quite possible that he simply fell and banged his skull. But we'll go and get it checked out just to make sure."

It was Gaius duty after all as a physician to determine the cause of death. It shouldn't be to hard to check for any skull fractures on the head or any other signs that it had happened naturally. Considering Julia hadn't mentioned anything being bloody, Gaius was pretty sure he could rule out murder. But he would have to check on the body itself just to make sure of that.

"We?" Merlin asked, surprised as Gaius went lumbering past him towards a chest of small drawers pushed off to the side of the room. It was apparently where Gaius kept his clothes, Merlin noted when the man started pulling out a fresh tunic.

"Of course." Gaius said dryly, giving Merlin an obvious look. "I'm not leaving you here all by yourself to get into my potions. And I highly doubt you want to go around flashing about your business in front of anymore Julia's. The women may be of a lower class but I do not believe they will appreciate it."

Merlin's face burned all over again when he realized he was still just hanging around the place in his sleeping clothes. "Just give me five minutes." Merlin said in a rush before he hurried up to his room to get dressed for the day. Because Gaius was right, he definitely did not want to flashing his bits about to the entirety of the lower town. He could only just imagine the rumors that Julia was going to start now. Probably something like how he was a sexual fiend who'd flashed her but she being the brave woman that she was, turned him down flat…some of these rumors were just getting more ridiculous by the hour. But Merlin also figured that this was something he could do with his uncle. And maybe he'd be able to make himself useful somehow.

There had to be a reason this guy had died that made more sense then the cold. And he was going to find it…

X

Not an hour later, Merlin was biting back a curse and dropping his hands down at his side. Figuring out how somebody had died when one didn't really know what they were doing was harder than he had first thought it would be. So he had done want he'd started to do whenever he was in an anxious kind of situation-he had started twisting his ring over and over again around his finger. The blasted thing! He didn't even know why he hadn't got rid of it yet. Maybe because it was a reminder to not ever be stupid enough to fall for Arthur or look to deep into any of the shit he pulled.

Or at least that was what he told himself, not wanting to acknowledge the very tiny part in him that might not be ready to say goodbye to Arthur quite yet…

"Well, we know one thing for sure." Gaius said as he brought Merlin out of his musings. "The man did not die from freezing to death. I do believe he died from some kind of ailment but not one that I am familiar with." He finished off with a curious frown.

They were standing right in the middle of the housing district, just a few streets over from where the old man and his son lived. And his uncle was kneeling in the dirt, looming over the body and prodding at the sprawled out body of a young man. Merlin was standing a few feet back to give Gaius space to work on the body-wearing his brown jacket, and his orange tunic, and his blue neckerchief, and brown boots. He was trying to be respectful by not looking but he also couldn't tear away his eyes long enough, his face screwing up in disgust as he saw Gaius poking around with the man's face. It was no wonder the woman had thought he'd froze to death. This was far from the first man Merlin had ever seen that was dead, but he'd never seen one quite like this. He couldn't really see much because of the way the man was laying flat on his chest but from what little he could see, the man's face was bone white.

Merlin couldn't keep quite any longer when he saw Gaius feeling along the man's side for any explanation for what the man had, "Aren't you scared?" Like Gaius, Merlin hadn't seen anything like this and it was another reason that he wasn't getting to close. Merlin was a lot of things and despite the popular belief-stupid wasn't one of them. Whatever the man had…Merlin really hoped that it wasn't going to be contagious.

Gaius finally stood up and looked at Merlin with a baffled expression, "Of what?" Gaius asked as if he truly didn't understand what there was to be afraid of by playing with this dead body with some kind of mystery ailment that killed him.

Merlin gave him an obvious look, because the scent of death was already coating this man and permeating the air. Merlin himself could almost imagine whatever ailment had killed the man still lingered in his body. And Gaius clearly had no hesitation with touching along it, "That you might catch whatever it is." The boy didn't look much older than Merlin, so he could only imagine how he had caught such an odd sickness.

Gaius gave him a look that said he thought Merlin was being plenty stupid, "I'm the court physician, Merlin. This is apart of my job and besides, most of the time there's nothing to be afraid of."

It was such a simple statement, but it made Merlin start to grin. It actually made his uncle seem pretty brave, as if he was a lone fighter against an untold disease. The single person that could stop it from spreading and ruining the entire city…Merlin realized he'd allowed his fantasies to get away from him and shook his head. Maybe he wanted to showcase the same bravery that his uncle did because that was the second Merlin inched his way closer and knelt down on the other side of the body to get a closer look.

He was here because he wanted to observe his uncle's work and because he wanted to help out in anyway that he could, to make himself useful. And he couldn't do that from clear across the way while trying to keep a safe distance. And hero's-powerful warlock's to be like himself-couldn't stand off watching somebody else do all the work. No, he would need to get his hands dirty if he wanted to be able to make something out of himself.

But that was when Gaius finally managed to flip over the man's body, completely heavy with nothing but dead weight. And Merlin had nearly fallen back with shock at what he saw in front of him.

The man's face was entirely white, even the color of his opened eyes seemed to have gone. And he had vivid blue distended veins practically jutting out of his neck and going up over his chin and inching it's way across his cheeks. It was definitely a sickness that had killed the man, but it was unlike any kind of sickness Merlin had ever even heard of.

Merlin darted his eye's up to his uncle and he saw Gaius looked as startled and surprised as he himself was. "You were saying?" Merlin asked. Merlin didn't dare get closer towards the body than he already was. If not even his uncle knew what this was, who was to say it wasn't contagious? Whose to say that one of them wouldn't contract it next?

Gaius-after getting over his initial surprise, which was a feat in itself because rarely did Gaius ever come across anything that he had not seen before during his many years as the top physician in the city-leaned closer to get a good look at the sickly blue lines forming in the flesh of the man's throat. "This is Jerome, the baker's assistant." Gaius noted calmly as he looked past the whiteness of the skin and the whited out eyes to get a glimpse of who it actually was.

Merlin straightened up, nearly falling over from his kneeled over position because of how unbalanced he was, before he righted himself. "I've heard of him!" Merlin exclaimed, as he vividly remembered that conversation he had forced himself to listen to between the baker and that woman. "The baker said that he had to send him home yesterday, he was really sick, but the baker told somebody that he wasn't on his deathbed!"

But clearly the baker had been wrong, Merlin thought solemnly as he looked back over the body. It was clear that this Jerome had never even stood a chance. The sickness had eaten away at him within days, and hadn't the baker also mentioned seeing those blue veins form on his neck? It must not have looked nearly as bad or surely Jerome would have came to Gaius for treatment…maybe it had snuck up on him so bad that he didn't have the chance to make it to Gaius? For all that they knew, it was the reason Jerome was outside instead of at home in the first place. He had gone for help but succumbed to his sickness before he could rich it. Merlin almost felt sick to his stomach at the thought. Jerome had to have been scared, lying in the dirt dying-praying for help to come-but it never would.

"Clearly the baker shouldn't be giving any medical advice." Gaius said, looking around them with a worrisome eye. There was plenty of people out and about, maybe even more than usual at this early hour. Julia never was able to keep her mouth shut, she had most likely spread the word already. And now the people were venturing from their homes and going into work later to catch sight of Jerome lying directly on their doorsteps. But most of them seem to be smart enough to give Gaius and Merlin a wide berth at least, but he could imagine the chaos that followed if people got a good look at Jerome's body and noticed his disease. Gaius whipped his head back to look at Merlin, leaned over the body, whispering to him urgently, "People mustn't see this. They will cause a panic."

Merlin's head popped up, looking around at the few people making their way past them on their way to work. They were slow moving and clearly trying to get a peek at what was going on. It was human's curiosity towards a tragic event that didn't happen to them, that was humanity at it's finest. Always wanting to know the gruesome details of how somebody died, not bothering to realize that this Jerome had been an actual person. He had a job at the baker's, and he had a family out there somewhere who probably didn't even know that he was long gone. It was disrespectful to the deceased.

Merlin caught sight of a long blanket hanging over a washing strung up outside of one of the nearby houses. It had clearly been hung there for a while because the sun had already long since dried it from the wash. Merlin was quick to jump up and yank it off of the line, he could only hope the people who owned that blanket wouldn't mind once they knew of the circumstances that led to him stealing it. But he couldn't think of that right now. Could it really be considered a crime considering the circumstances?

Merlin flung the blanket over the top of poor Jerome's body, him and Gaius working with each other to straighten it up to make sure he was fully covered. So that nobody would be able to see the pasty and unnatural skin color Jerome had turned in the night. So that not a single person could see the blue veins jutting out of Jerome's neck in a sickly manner. But they couldn't just hide him forever. How long would it be before more and more people got out of their beds and wondered out of their homes. There was only a few people out and about-Merlin noticed as he watched cautious when two more people passed them by as he fixed one edge of the blanket to cover up the baker's assistant's hand that was sticking out of it-and that was already to much for Merlin and his comfort.

Merlin leaned over the body to whisper to his uncle urgently, "How are we supposed to get a body out of here without anybody seeing it or asking questions?" Jerome was at least a good hundred and fifty pounds. There was no way an old man and a scrawny teenage boy would be able to carry him throughout the city and back to Gaius'. They would end up dropping him and getting caught several times if they even attempted it. But they also couldn't just leave him here to get stepped around until somebody got nosy and yanked the blanket off of him. A wide spread panic would follow across the city if they knew that not even Gaius knew the cause of what had happened to Jerome.

And it was very clear from Gaius-looking around cautiously at the people who passed them by-that he had no idea what it was that they were dealing with. Not yet at least.

Gaius turned back to Merlin, making sure that Jerome's head was fully covered up from any person who veered to close to the scene, "We'd better think of something and fast. The street will be filled with people heading into town within the hour."

It only took a few second's for Merlin to be hit with an idea. But they would need some kind of assistance to get it done. "I've got an idea on what to do." Merlin said-after he looked to see where exactly they were to get a better bearing. "I'll be right back." And ignored the way his uncle shouted his name, he took off running and abandoning the man to watch the body.

Gwen lived not to far away from here and if there was anybody he could trust, it would be her.

X

A few streets over from where the body had been found, Gwen was getting prepared for the work day around. And by getting herself prepared, she was also getting ready around her father. The maidservant quite happily tied a red ribbon to close off the white paper she managed to scrounge up, and making sure it was covered up completely. She didn't want her father missing lunch-which he was prone to do-forgetting to eat in favor of fixing those swords of his. Her father was the blacksmith and it was important for his health that he got to eat. His work was quite hard and could be physically exhausting, so she liked to do this little thing to help him. Making him one of his favorite meals-when they could afford to get the meat-was one of the smallest things she could do to help out around here.

Gwen picked up the tightly wrapped package from the countertop and swirled around-her red peasant dress swirling around her legs as she did-to where her father was buckling up his vest. "Dad, here's your sandwich." Gwen said brightly, passing over the small lunch. It was entirely to small to fill up a man that was her father's size, but having his lunch already at the ready was quite a luxury anyway. Some days he had to go without simple because of how unaffordable the meat itself was. It was why Gwen usually brought them dinners from the castle kitchens on the way out, so they'd get at least one good meal a day. It was one of the perks of being the maidservant to the king's ward.

And her father, as he always did when she'd gave him his lunch-while it wasn't a common thing she got to do, she still managed to do it enough that it shouldn't come off as such a surprise-he looked surprised. But grateful as he smiled down at his only daughter, "Mmm," he hummed in gratitude as he took the meat from his daughter and brought it to his face to give it a good sniff. His stomach rumbled and he could hardly wait to dig in, "What is it?"

"It's smoked pigeon." Gwen said, sounding extremely proud about it. Pigeon was such a good tasting meat but it was also the rarest that they managed to get their hands around since it was so expensive. Pigeons were quite common around these parts so you'd think it was the cheapest but no, the vendors usually hocked up their prices for the highest they could manage without the law dropping down on them for unfair prices. "But I'd say there's more smoke than pigeon." She admitted with sheepishness in her voice. It was the smallest pigeon that was being sold and she'd cooked that thing to a crisp to bring out some extra flavoring since the few spices she'd managed to smuggle out of the kitchens wasn't doing the job quite like she had hoped.

Her father-his name was Tom-looked at her with more worried, "Gwen, you shouldn't have done that just for me." He protested to her. Their finances were quite good with their shared income-being a blacksmith and being a maidservant to the king's ward gave them a good sum-better than most people at least. It also didn't mean that they didn't need to be careful with their purchases as they hovered right over the line of poverty.

"Don't worry about it, father." Gwen said, as she had half expected this. Her father had been the one to drill into her head when she was a little girl how one should be smart with her money. Why spend what few coins you've got on a new dress when one should spend it on your next meal? It was why she was such a good seamstress, and what she would have become if being Morgana's maid didn't pay a world of difference. So that she could fix up her own dresses and that was just one less expense on them. "I managed to get a good deal out of Mrs. Catherine."

Mrs. Catherine was the widow who ran the meat shop. She had always been sweet on Gwen because she was reminded of her own daughter who'd died before Gwen had been born. And although she felt guilty about it at times, she couldn't afford to say no to getting cheaper food. It was why she spent most of her meals at the castle, it was free there as Morgana's maidservant. She had really been lucked out with her job: not only was her lady a kind mistress, but she didn't have to worry nearly as much as where her next meal was coming from as some of her neighbors did.

Tom seemed to relax when he heard that and laughed, fully aware of just how found that woman was of his little Gwenny. "You're such a good girl to me." He said as he watched his daughter pick up a small bouquet of purple flowers from the table. Gwen had picked the flowers just the night before and they looked still as beautiful as they had then. They were nothing compared to the voluminous flowers the palace could get their hands on, but she still thought it would be a nice gesture for her Lady. She knew that Morgana would show appreciation for them when other nobles were more liable to laugh in her face and toss them into the fireplace to burn.

Gwen made sure to point out the pot she had sitting on the stove, she's already blown out the flames below it so that their house would not burn down to the ground while they were away for work, "And I've done you up some watercress soup for tonight." She usually did try to make sure there was some kind of meal for her father to eat for dinner, having taken up most of the meal prep since her mother'd died when she was so very young, as Gwen wasn't always sure she'd make it home. She found it best to stay with Morgana sometime in the antechamber off to the side of her bed chambers. And she had a feeling she might need to tonight if Morgana needed her, the poor girl hadn't been sleeping well for many nights.

Morgana had suffered night terrors since she was a little girl, and Gwen did whatever little she could to make her feel better during their waking hours. Even if that meant she would be needed in the dead of night to calm down Morgana when she woke up screaming.

Tom smiled at her jokingly, being appreciative of all his girl managed to get done in her free time being work, "Don't tell me, it's got more water in it then it does cress?"

Gwen threw her head back and laughed from this, leaning in to give her father a goodbye hug as she probably wouldn't see him until she returned home tomorrow. Tom hugged her just as hard, never wanting a moment to go by where his daughter would doubt she loved himself. After what happened with his second child-with his son-he never wanted to fail at being a father again.

The two were just starting to pull away from the other when there was a sudden knocking at their door. Rabid and frantic, causing the pair to look at each other confused, "Are you expecting anybody?" Gwen asked as she set down her flowers onto their small table so she could open the door.

"Not I." Her father answered. It was rare for them to get visitors, it was even rarer for the two to get visitors this early in the morning. Not unless the neighbor woman needed to borrow an extra cup of sugar for her husband and his breakfast. But even that was a very rare occurrence and she'd never announced herself quite like this.

The knocking-which had stopped for half a second there-resumed full force. Gwen gave a startled flinch before she hurried across to the door, "I'm coming, I'm coming!" She called out to them as she fidgeted with the little lock on her door. The knocking stopped at the sound of her voice and Gwen peeked her head out to see what all of the fuss was about.

"…Merlin?" Gwen asked, and she was clearly baffled as she looked at the Royal standing on her front porch. "What on earth are you doing?" Gwen didn't understand it, and she almost feared that there was something that was seriously wrong. Merlin was leaning on the wooden post next to her front door and breathing hard, looking as if he had ran the entire way here from the castle. He even had his chest heaving up and down as he tried to get his breathing back in order.

Merlin spoke out in a rush, sounding urgent as his words nearly blended together and it took her a minute to decipher what he was saying, "Quick question: do you remember last month when I asked if you have a wagon I could use. But you managed to help me with wrangling a few guards to carry the statue for me?"

He was of course, talking about that time he had needed to transport a solid marble dog statue across half the kingdom and up what had to be several flights of stairs all the way to Gaius' chambers. When he needed to use it to practice his spell work on turning objects to life so he could do it on the snakes painted on Valiant's shield. Gwen had been with him and managed to convince a few guards that were passing by to carry it for him. But with how his relationship was with most of these knights in the city, Merlin didn't want to waste anytime on trying to find anybody that wasn't going to laugh in his face. Or start scoffing at what was a reasonable request. He just didn't have the time for any of that today, not when there was a body strung out in the middle of the housing district.

Gwen had relaxed against the door when she saw that nobody was dying right on her front porch. But she still gave Merlin a curious look for his behavior, "Why, of course I do. Why do you ask?"

"Well, huge favor but I really do need to get my hands on a wagon this time. And I hope I can use yours. But trust me, it is probably for the best if you don't ask to many questions as you do not want to know what it's for." He said plainly, spilling out what he needed her for without actually telling her any of the real details.

Gwen blinked at him, clearly taken aback by this request. Well not the request itself, she would be more than happy to help whatever Merlin needed from her. But the delivery was something that could use some work, "Uh, I'll just have to take your word for it then." Gwen agreed to give Merlin free use of the wagon her family owned. The maidservant opened her door wider and stepped out. She left the consort standing on her front porch while she went around back to fetch it for him.

Merlin started tapping his foot impatiently as he wasn't sure how long it would take before his uncle could no longer hold off the masses that was sure to form any minute now. But he was interrupted mid-tap by a man coming to the doorway with a curiously lifted eyebrow, "We're lending out our wheelbarrows now?" Tom asked curiously. He didn't have any real objection to it. He'd always tried to lend out a helping hand to others, and he tried to install that same kindness in his daughter. But that mystery boy on his doorstep was definitely a new one.

Merlin flinched, having not expected anyone else to suddenly come walking outside. He'd forgotten that Gwen didn't live alone, so this had to have been her father, the blacksmith that taught her all about armor which allowed Gwen to teach him that one time. Back when he had been desperate to show off to Arthur and prove to himself that he could actually do something that was consort-like. Like getting Arthur dressed in his armor before his match started…really stupid tradition by the way. "Er yes sir." Merlin lifted his hand awkwardly in a wave. "I hope that's alright. I'm just having a bit of an emergency this morning and Gwen lived close by to where I was…I promise that I'll bring it back as soon as I'm done with it."

Although, Merlin privately thought to himself, he would probably have to clean it throughly after him and Gaius transported a dead body on it. But he might need to put it off until they could determine just how bad this sickness was. Merlin could never forgive himself if he gave the wagon back only for Gwen or for her father to contacted the disease themselves from it.

"Nonsense!" Tom said cheerfully, with quite a friendly demeanor overall. "Keep it for as long as you need it. Forgive me, but you're the one that my Gwen's became friends with, aren't you? The one that just moved to the city? Are you her boyfriend, because I don't think that my daughter has stopped talking about you! What was your name again, Marlin? Melvin?"

And it was true. Tom had heard many things about Gwen's new friend that she'd randomly started talking about a couple of months ago. And it was nice to know his Gwenny was able to make such good friends, and he could only wish that she brought her friends around the house more often. But she worked often so it was hard for her to make actual friends who weren't just work colleagues. And with how often she talked about him, it wouldn't have been a surprise for Tom if this boy-he was a cute little thing so his Gwen had some good taste-was her secret boyfriend and she was just waiting to tell him it was official.

But Merlin's face had gone redder than his lost neckerchief, "No!" He blurted out loudly his denial. Not that Gwen wasn't a beautiful girl and some lucky gent would be grateful to have her some day, but he was quite content being gay. And besides…the ring on his finger seemed to burn against his skin as he tucked his hand behind his back to hide it…Merlin was already spoken for. "I mean-" he started quickly to explain in case he offended Tom by his strong denial. "She's a great girl and all but…no. It's not like that. She's just a friend."

Tom seemed to take that in stride, appearing to not be offended by Merlin's quick denial of his Gweeny before he said, "That's a shame. My little girl seems to always be taking care of me. I think she needs to have somebody to do the same for her."

Merlin blinked awkwardly, not entirely sure how he was suppose to go about with this conversation, "…Somehow, I don't think she needs the help." As far as Merlin was able to see, Gwen seemed to be doing pretty good on her own. She was the maidservant to the king's ward, and that was a pretty good gig as far as how high servants could get. And Morgana had to be loads better to work for than if she had been working under say, the prat who should not be spoken of. And she had a good head on her shoulder, helping him out even when she didn't need to. Like how she had taken command and managed to talk those two knights into carrying that dog statue to his uncle's. Merlin definitely wouldn't have thought to do that…and now Merlin was wondering just how long it would take to fetch a wagon. He would take the first opportunity he could to escape this dreadful awkwardness…

"Daddy!" Gwen exclaimed from the other side of the house. She had just rounded the corner just in time to hear the last bit of their conversation. And she was pushing what was an extremely large wagon in front of her. And to Merlin's relief, it was definitely big enough for them to cart a full grown man out of town on it. "Will you stop trying to set me up with people! That's Merlin! He's not my boyfriend, he's the prince's consort!"

Merlin winced at the title. God, did it have to follow him around everywhere he went? Was it so hard for him to be 'just Merlin' a simple commoner extraordinaire struggling to get by in life. Just like the good old days. Where the gold and the pomp and the hate wasn't a part of his problems. Where he didn't have Arthur off thinking he'd won, thinking that he would be able to buy off Merlin's compliance in an unfair situation.

Tom seemed startled by this information, and was probably one of the very small group of people still inside of the city that didn't know who he was right off the bat, "My apologies, please do forgive me." The older man said as he quickly bowed down at the waist, worried that he may have offended their consort. But the bow just made Merlin feel even worse of himself than he had before. A grown man was not somebody that should be bowed down to Merlin of all people. Gwen's father should not degrade himself in front of a teenager who didn't ask for any of this. But before he could stop any of it, Tom was already straightening up and turning to Gwen-just as friendly as he had been before he realized who Merlin was, "Gwen! You didn't tell me that the new friend you made was Camelot's Consort!"

Merlin ducked his head down in shame at the title-because that was all he seemed to ever be-and he was sure Tom was about to start making some kind of snide comment. As nice as he seemed to be, nobody was nice to him nowadays unless they wanted something. He vividly remembered all of those people who'd waved him down in the marketplace trying to sell him their wares because they thought he had the gold to spare for useless items.

Gwen seemed to blush, pushing the wagon until it was parked right outside the hut they lived in, "I didn't think it was any big deal, it's just Merlin." It was a remarkable difference to the girl at his wedding: she'd been panicking back then before she hadn't shown him any of the proper respect the day they met with Merlin in the stocks. But after spending some time with him, it was clear that was nothing to be feared about Merlin. He wasn't anything special, and that was probably exactly what made him more special than anything. Gwen turned to Merlin, hoping that her father would not say anything else that would embarrass her. "Here you go Merlin, one wagon for you to use." And she dusted off her hands on her skirts, wiping off the dirt that had gathered to her palms from the handlebars. Nowadays, it was hard for Gwen to see Merlin as anything more than what he was, a peasant boy. And it wasn't because she didn't think he would be able to hack it as Consort, she thought that he was doing alright all things considering. It was something about his smile, the smile that seemed to be growing sadder and sadder as the days passed by, that gave her more hope for what the future would bring. Gwen wished that she could do more for him than lending him the family wagon.

"Thanks Gwen," Merlin said, perking up just a little bit when he heard that. Just Merlin. That was exactly what he wanted to hear, and with just a few words, Gwen made him feel better than he was. Maybe he should come see her more often. She was probably the only one in this city who considered him to be more than just a burden they were laden down with.

Tom clamped a hand down on his shoulder from behind and it made Merlin startle, but it was just show the man could smile down at him and wave a hand out to the wagon, "Well then, Just Merlin," Tom said with a teasing bit of a smile. "I hope that our wagon is enough to assist you with whatever endeavor you're using it for."

The wagon usually sat out back anyway as they rarely used it. Really only when Tom had so many back orders coming through with his blacksmith's job that he needed the wagon to cart extra materials back and forth from their house and to the shop in the market district of the lower town.

Maybe Tom wasn't so bad, Merlin thought as he hopped down from the small porch before taking hold of the handlebars. He was Gwen's father so that already got a point in Merlin's book, even if Tom had unknowingly placed his foot in his mouth. But not everybody was going to recognize that he absolutely hated the title of consort, a hatred that would only come to grow as the days passed by.

Gwen waved Merlin off as the boy hurried to wherever he was needed with her family's wagon. She wasn't entirely sure why Merlin couldn't just get some of the guards to carry whatever it was, but she figured Merlin knew what he was doing. And if he didn't want to involve the knights, then who was she to be the one to question that?

Gwen would go inside and leave in a few minutes time, the flowers that she wanted to gift Morgana clasped tightly in one hand. She would kiss her father goodbye on the cheek before leaving for the castle. On a path that would lead her to inevitable cross paths with Merlin and her wheelbarrow…

X

"What on earth took you so long?" Gaius was demanding as soon as Merlin settled with the wagon down at his side. Gaius had been busy for the last half hour, which seemed so much longer than it actually had been, waiting with impatience for Merlin to show up. He would like anybody to try fending off a dozen or so townspeople from asking to many questions about why he was here and what was going on with the blanket. He had thought Merlin was never going to show up as more people tried to check out the scene of the crime so to speak

"Sorry, sorry." Merlin said in a rush, hurrying around the wagon so that he could help his uncle with loading Jerome's body up onto the cart. "It took me a bit longer than I thought it would."

In retrospect, half an hour wasn't so long to wait since Merlin had to rush about to Gwen, ask her if he could borrow it, and then get all the way back through all the people that were starting to leave their homes. But when they were literally trying to hide a body right in the middle of the housing district without getting caught. Things were bound to get a bit more dicey with their delicate situation going on.

It took a bit of finagling and work for Merlin and Gaius to get Jerome's body onto their wagon. Each one looking around frantically which just seemed to highlight the suspicious activity that were undertaking. But they did eventually managed to get Jerome settled into a good position, although Merlin did have to play around with the blankets, making sure his hands were covered and wasn't going to flop out mid-push. Even Jerome's hands had not been spared from the white paleness his skin had, deep blue veins working their way up between his fingers.

"Alright," Gaius said, leaning over the body to keep the conversation hushed and away from any prying ears. "Now, let's get him back into my chambers so that I can study this ailment properly."

Merlin didn't say a word, but he did nod his agreement, looking just as serious as Gaius was. They had solved their first problem with having to get Jerome out of the dirt and the housing district. Now they needed to focus on part two, getting Jerome to the privacy of Gaius' chambers without getting caught.

As the wagon turned out to be far heavier with Jerome's pure dead weight holding it down, neither could carry it straight on their own. Merlin had to take one handle while his uncle took the other and working together, the two started pushing the wagon towards Gaius' chambers.

Maybe Merlin should have recognized that things were going to well. And that there was no way he and Gaius was going to push this cart full all the way to Gaius' chambers with no interruptions. Because they only made it a few streets and had just been moments away from crossing the drawbridge when they had heard a soft, "…Merlin?"

Merlin was so stupid, maybe he should have talked Gaius into going through in a different path. If there even was one because had been pretty sure the drawbridge was the only way in or out of the castle. Because of course his path would cross with Gwen who would have been heading in the same direction.

"Gwen!" Merlin quickly dropped his half of the wheelbarrow and stood in her way before she could get a closer look. Behind him was his uncle, scrambling to catch the other side of the barrow before it could tip over and spill Jerome's corpse out into the open.

Gwen tried to peek curiously over Merlin's shoulder, her face half buried in the purple flowers she wanted to gift to Morgana, but Merlin was blocking her way and Gaius was already pushing it away the best he was able to. Even though it looked like hard work now that he was on his own and slow going, "So you and your uncle are working on this secret project of yours together?"

Merlin laughed uneasily, moving this way and that each time Gwen tried to catch a peek to make sure she wouldn't see what was under the cloth, "Yeah, we are!" He took what she'd said and ran with it. "Just some really good old uncle and nephew bonding time…" and he laughed again.

But it was an uneasy laugh and clearly Gwen had caught it, raising an eyebrow at him with skepticism clear on her face. And maybe he should put some work into his lying skills if he wanted to keep some aspects of his life a secret.