Alright so, here Freya was never killed, and never caught by the knights. Merlin smuggled her out of Camelot and cured her of the curse. Lancelot is sadly still dead. This is set in I don't know what season, because it really doesn't matter. Arthur is king, Gwen is Queen, and this happens like 3-4 years after the episode with Freya. But the show has confused me with the years, so whatever.
Enjoy.
(Merlin)
He should have known that nothing ever goes according to plan. He should have known, but he naively thought he could control the situation if it ever got out of control.
It was stupid. Perhaps all these years that Arthur called him an idiot, the prat was right. Perhaps he should have known better than to rely on Arthur's words.
Or perhaps it was him listening to Kilgharrah that led him to this moment.
Either way, he never considered himself stupid until this particular. Because no matter how you looked at the situation it was idiotic.
Firstly, Arthur and the knights should have never gone on a hunt this morning. It was raining, and it would have rained the entire day. But it was Gwen's birthday, so he decided that some sunshine would cheer her up. But then of course, Gwen encouraged Arthur to organize a hunt.
Secondly, their hunt should have never led them that far. They should have only gone out for a few hours, instead they began heading back only when the sun began setting. That led them to staying in the forest for the night. Which later led them to being attacked by some unknown magical being, forcing them to run, and leave their horses behind.
Thirdly, he should have come up with some lie instead of standing there awkwardly like a mute, thinking of how messed up his life is, and how tired he is of hiding the truth from everyone.
So there he stood, near a small river, not far from where the druids live, a few hours away from Camelot. Arthur, the Knights, and Gwen, a few feet away from him, stood with shocked and confused faces while looking at him.
Not far from the river, there was a house. A rather large house for peasants. It was small enough to be hidden by trees, but big enough to be seen from afar.
And when, some time ago they were attacked by some creature, and were forced to flee, they all stumbled upon this house. It was made out of wood and stone. It was mostly white, and the roof was green. All kinds of flowers were growing in the garden around the house, and small birds chirped a slow melody, even though it was dark.
But that wasn't what bothered everyone.
5 minutes ago…
This had gone wrong, pretty much like every other hunt. So now they were running like madmen through the forest, trying not to trip on the many roots and stones. It was dark, only a few rays of sunshine could be seen through the thick forest, as the sun was slowly setting.
It was dark, until Arthur stopped and they all saw what he was looking at.
A house, with light shining through the windows, in the distance.
Merlin recognized the house.
"We shouldn't go in there…"
Everyone turned to him looking confused.
Arthur raised his eyebrow.
"Why is that? We are being chased by some monster that could catch up to us at any moment, and you would rather stay out here?"
Merlin rolled his eyes.
"No. But what if some sort or sorcerer lives there? Nobody would live out here."
Arthur clenched his jaw and considered it for a second.
Meanwhile Percival spoke up.
"Don't the druids live nearby?"
Everyone looked around, but no one except Percival has spent time with the Druids .
"Perhaps this house belongs to some Druids? They are peaceful, they could help us out."
Arthur looked at Percival and then back at Merlin.
"You see Merlin? Nothing to worry about. And even if it is some evil sorcerer, then we'll kill him before he kills us."
Merlin bit his lip.
This was not good.
The knights slowly began walking towards the house.
'Think Merlin!' he told himself. But what was about was inevitable. All his friends would walk up to the house and knock on the door, and they would find out one of his biggest secrets.
"What if they kick us out?"
Arthur didn't even bother looking his way before replying.
"I'm the King of Camelot, they can't simply kick me out. And if they're Druids then they know that I have made peace with their people."
Merlin let out a heavy breath, and began thinking of something to cover up what his friends were about to find out. Meanwhile Gwaine snorted quietly.
"It doesn't mean they love you, princess. They still have magic, which is against the law in Camelot."
Arthur looked confused at him.
Elyan was the one to reply.
"What Gwaine means is that the Druids probably still fear you. They fear that you might start hunting them down once again."
Arthur's eyes widened.
"And why would I do that? As long as they remain peaceful I have no need to hunt them down."
Elyan shrugged.
"But do they know that? What's stopping you from changing your mind?"
Arthur looked down at the ground thinking of what Elyan said. Did they fear him like they feared his father?
What could make him change his mind? What made his father ban magic if it was legal in Camelot for years, even during his reign?
Finally they made their way to the house and stopped not far from the door.
Leon looked around and stepped forward.
"I'll go knock on the door."
Arthur pulled him back.
"No. I'll go. I am the King after all."
Gwaine huffed.
"No offense princess, but no one wants to see the King and his knights knocking on their doors in the middle of the night."
Arthur glared at Gwaine, but clearly accepted the fact that people could be afraid of the knights, especially if those were druids.
"Fine then, Merlin can go."
Merlin took a small step, dreading what was about to happen.
He stopped and turned around.
"Wait."
Everyone turned around to look at him, Arthur in particular was looking annoyed.
Merlin huffed slightly.
"Take off your armor. Then they won't know you're knights. Just a few people passing by."
Arthur rolled his eyes, but Percival only shrugged slightly before he began taking his armor off. Gwaine and Elyan followed him, and soon Leon did the same. Gwen walked over to Arthur and began helping him, which made him stop glaring at Merlin.
Once their armor was off and hidden behind bushes, Merlin took a deep breath and walked over to the door. He lifted his hand up and closed his eyes for a second.
But before he could knock the door flew open.
"Merlin!"
