A girl with raven long hair, that had been tied into a braid, black trousers, a blue shirt and brown cardigan, walked on a road that would hopefully take her to her destiny. To her purpose is life. A girl who wanted nothing more than to find a place where she belonged. To find a place where she would live a normal life. At least, as normal as she could get.
Her name: Merlyn.
Merlyn strolled into the busy streets of Camelot with a big smile on her face. The market was in full swing. People left and right shouting there prices and what they sold. She could see a blacksmith working on something and a drug store with lots of different herbs.
Merlyn made it to the courtyard and saw a lot of people circling something. As she moved closer, she could hear the booming voice of the King of Camelot, Uther Pendragon. "Let this serve as a lesson to all. This man, Thomas James Collins, is adjudged guilty of conspiring to use enchantments and magic. And pursuant to the laws of Camelot, I, Uther Pendragon, have decreed that such practices are banned on penalty of death.I pride myself as a fair and just king. But for the crime of sorcery, there is but one sentence I can pass." Uther held his hand up and put it down as the axe came down on the poore mans head.
Merlyn flinched as did most of the crowd. She couldn't bring herself to look at the place where the man was just killed. "When I came to this land, this kingdom was mired in chaos, but with the people's help magic was driven from the realm. So I declare a festival to celebrate twenty years since the Great Dragon was captured and Camelot freed from the evil of sorcery. Let the celebrations begin." Uther said again.
A celebration? Why would you have a celebration for a time of bloodshed? Merlyn shook her hand and wanted to walk away, but was stopped as she heard wailing. "There is only one evil in this land, and it is not magic! It is you! With your hatred and your ignorance! You killed my son! But I promise you, before these celebrations are over, you will share my tears. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a son for a son." Merlyn's heart almost shattered at what the woman had said and the tears she shed.
"Seize her!" Uther yelled. Guards quickly made their way over to the woman. Only to have her whisper something into her necklace and she disappeared with wind surrounding her. Merlyn recognized the words of the Old Religion, but didn't say anything and just walked away.
She made her way to staircase with and walked to one of the guards who were at the bottom. "Where would I find Gaius, the- the court physician?" Merlyn cursed in her head for stuttering, but the guard showed her the way. She made her way up the stairs and finally found a door.
She opened the door and stepped in. There was a room full of books and all kinds of potions. "Hello?" Merlyn asked. There was no one in site and she looked around for a bit more. "Hello?" She had asked a little louder. "Gaius?" Merlyn spotted the physician on a higher bookshelf and cleared her throat.
Gaius leaned back to much and he the railing broke. Merlyn quickly slowed down time as her eyes shone gold. She put the older mans bed under him to break the fall and time continued. Gaius fell onto the bed and quickly stood up.
"What did you just do?!" He yelled at her. Merlyn stayed quiet and avoided looking at Gaius. "Tell me!" He demanded again.
"I—I- I have no idea what happened." She stuttered as Gaius looked up and back to the bed.
"If anyone had seen that!" Merlyn panicked and stepped back.
"Er, no! That-that was- that was nothing to do with me. That-that was…" Merlyn cursed her stuttering and bad lies. Gaius turned back to her.
"I know what it was! I just want to know where you learned how to do it!" Gaius exclaimed again.
"Nowhere." Merlyn said in a quiet voice.
"So how is it you know magic?"
"I don't!" She shot back, panic visible in her eyes.
"Where did you study?" Gaius had asked, only for Merlyn to keep her mouth shut. "Answer me!"
"I-I've never studied magic or, or been taught." At this point Merlyn just thought it would be best to tell Gaius the truth. She couldn't escape it anymore.
"Are you lying to me, girl?"
"What do you want me to say?" Merlyn asked frantically.
"The truth!" Gaius yelled again for how many times.
"I was born like this!" Merlyn blurted out. Gaius' brow rose as he didn't believe a word of what she was saying.
"Impossible!" It was silent for a moment, as Gaius remembered he had no idea who this girl was. "Who are you?" He asked.
"I'm Merlyn." Gaius gasped and squinted his eyes to look at the witch better.
"Hunith's daughter?" Merlyn looked delighted and nodded. "But your not supposed to be here until wednesday!" Merlyn slightly laughed and told him it was wednesday.
"Ah. Right, then. You better put your bag in there." Gaius pointed to the door at the end of the room and she gladly walked over to said door.
She suddenly turned around and gave the physician a nervous look. "You- you won't say anything about, erm…" She gestured towards the high bookshelf and Gaius shook his head.
"Although, I should say 'thank you'." Merlyn smiled and went through the small door. The room was small, but it had a bed and a cupboard to hold her clothes. It was a fine room. She put her bag on her new bed and walked over to the small window. Merlyn smiled as she stared out onto the kingdom.
The next morning after, a weird voice called her name and after Gaius deliberately pushed a bucket full of water off the table to see how Merlyn would react. She stopped the water, but quickly dropped it as it crashed onto the floor. Gaius told her he would help her keep her powers a secret and asked of she could deliver two potions.
Merlyn did as told and after, walked outside towards a field where knights seemed to be training. She got there just in time to see a servant falling as a dagger made its way into the target the servant was holding.
She made her way over to the servant and helped him up. The laughter of the knights stopped as they saw a girl helping the servant up. Merlyn turned to look at the knights and sighed. She stood up and walked over to the men.
"That's enough." Merlyn was now only a few inches in front of the blond knight who she thought looked very familiar.
"What?" The blond boy seethed. Angry, but very distracted by the way this girl looked. She was wearing a dress this time. It was red, with a white dress underneath that you could see under the red one. Her hair still in a braid, as it touched her butt.
"You've had your fun, my Lord." The girl smirked as her sarcasm was clear in her voice. Merlyn had noticed who he was as he spoke. Even though the voice had grown heavier, she had still recognized it as Prince Arthur's.
"Do I know you?" Arthur had no idea who this girl was, but he had to admit that she was brave. To be able to speak to a Prince like that.
"In time." The girl had answered, which annoyed Arthur even more. The girl had started to walk away, but Arthur wasn't done with her yet.
"Surely, I must know you from somewhere?" He had yelled at her. The girl turned around and gave him a smirk.
"Merlyn." With that she turned back and started to walk away, leaving a wide eyed Prince behind.
Arthur thought he couldn't breathe for a moment. Merlyn. She has come back. The girl Arthur had fallen in love with all those years ago. That Merlyn.
When Arthur was 10 years old he had ran away from Camelot. He was done with everything and everyone there. They all wanted him to be someone better and they wanted him to become the strongest knight and King Camelot had ever known.
Arthur just wanted to be a normal boy and didn't want anybody to think that he was special. So, he snuck out of the castle with a limited food and drink supply. He had stolen some of his father's money and knew he would make it. He had just gotten a horse that was till growing and grabbed this horse called Major.
With those things, he managed to run away. He made it into the forest of Essitier and was more scared than he had thought. It was still dark and there were a lot of noises in the forest. Arthur had mounted off of his horse as he thought he would be far away from the castle. He had tied his horse to a tree and tried to make a fire. It took a long time, but eventually he managed to make a small fire.
Arthur was tired. He wanted to sleep, but was still too scared. Even though, his eyes started to droop and he fell asleep on the cold ground.
Arthur had woken up to someone stroking his hair. His eyes slowly opened only to be met with beautiful blue eyes. "Shh...It's okay. I'm not here to hurt you." An angeletic and small voice said. Arthur's eyes had fully opened and he stared back at the young girl, who was about his age.
"Who are you?" Arthur was very relaxed and couldn't help but feel save into the small girls lap. The small girl smiled as her raven hair slid out behind her hair.
"My name is Merlyn. I live in a village not far from here." Arthur nodded and sat up. He got a better look at the girl and saw that she had long raven hair and a green dress, with a small cloak.
"I'm Arthur, Prince of Camelot." Merlyn's eyes slightly widened, but gave him a small smile.
"Nice to meet you!"
After that, Arthur had told the girl why he left his home and she encouraged him to go back. Saying that it was very childish for him to just run away instead of facing them head on and proving the others wrong. Arthur had followed her instructions and they promised they would see each other again.
The knights behind the Prince were confused as they watched their leader continue to stare at the girl who was fading. They had no idea what that one name meant to Arthur.
Merlyn went back to Gaius' and hers chambers. She sat down on her bed with a satisfied smirk. Arthur had been a prick to others and now he knew that she was back. Merlyn's heart fluttered a bit as she thought back to all those years ago.
He was so vulnerable back then. Now, he had built up a wall. A wall that she was positive that she could break. A wall that wasn't good for him at all, even though it might have felt good to built it. She wanted Arthur to feel like he didn't need to worry about his status. Merlyn wanted Arthur to feel safe. With her.
"Merlyn.." Her head shot up at the voice who called out her name. It sounded like it came from down below. Far down. "Merlyn.." Merlyn shot up and walked out of her room. She ignored Gaius asking where she was going and just followed the voice.
She found herself in a somewhat dungeon. Deep below the castle. There were some guards, but wit a simple spell, they got distracted. She grabbed a torch and walked further down, until she found herself into a cave. It was huge and also slightly wet.
Suddenly a dragon flew onto the giant rock in front of you. Merlyn gasped and took a step back. "How small you are for such a great destiny." The dragon laughed. Merlyn frowned and took a step towards it.
"Why? What do you mean? What destiny?" She asked. Curious as to who this dragon was and how he knew her and her destiny.
"Your gift, Merlin, was given to you for a reason." Merlyn's eyes widened as the golden creature spoke.
"So there is a reason?" She asked. The dragon nodded.
"Arthur is the Once and Future King who will unite the land of Albion." Merlyn gasped again and had so many questions. "But he faces many threats from friend and foe alike." Merlyn avoided the eyes of the dragon to look at the ground and think.
"I don't see what this has to do with me."
"Everything. Without you, Arthur will never succeed. Without you, there will be no Albion." There was too much information being forced on her and Merlyn sat down on the ground.
"Why does he need me?" Merlyn's gaze turned back to the dragon and he just chuckled.
"It's destiny." Merlyn had to resist to roll her eyes, but stood back up and sighed.
"What's your name? I assume you have one." The dragon looked surprised, but smiled. I think…
"Kilgharrah." Merlyn nodded and said her goodbyes. She walked out of the cave and placed the torch back where she found it.
Merlyn's mind was to occupied with what Kilgharrah told her that she just mindlessly walked back to her and Gaius' chamber. She sat down on one of the many chairs and rested her head on the table.
"Are you alright?" Gaius asked as he saw his ward in distress. Merlyn raised her thumb and didn't say anything. "Could you deliver this to the Lady Morgana. Poor girl's suffering from nightmares." He gave her a vile with some red stuff in it. Merlyn slightly groaned, but took it anyway.
Merlyn had made her way over to Morgana's chambers as she was trying on some dresses. "You know, I've been thinking about Arthur. I wouldn't touch him with a lance pole. Pass me that dress, will you Gwen?" Merlyn raised a brown and almost bursted out laughing.
"My apologies my Lady, but I am not Gwen." Merlyn said. Morgana took a look behind her changing screen and almost squealed when she saw the raven haired girl. She ran from behind her screen and hugged Merlyn.
"You must me Merlyn! Arthur hasn't shut up about you for years!" Merlyn slightly blushed and awkwardly hugged the Lady back. "You are beautiful! I can see why he is attracted to you."
"Attracted? You must be mistaken?" Merlyn blushed, but Morgana just kept inspecting the younger ones face.
"Are you going to the banquet tonight?" Morgana ignored Merlyn's question as she circled around her.
"I think I might go with Gaius. Might I ask why, my Lady?" Merlyn was frozen as Morgana still inspected her. Even going as far as to lift up the skirt of her dress.
"Morgana will do. And I want to dress you up!" The Lady exclaimed. Just then, Gwen walked in and bowed to Morgana.
"Gwen, we have more than one job to do tonight!" She called out to her maid. Morgana then turned back to Merlyn. "Come to my chambers two hours before the banquet starts." Merlyn just nodded and walked towards the door.
"Oh! Before I forget!" She turned back around and gave Morgana her sleeping draught. "Your medicine, Morgana." She nodded gratefully at her new friend and Merlyn walked out of the room.
Merlyn walked through the lower towns to look at some of the market stalls. She found one with a lot of books and flipped through a most of them. Surprised to see that many of them were in the Old Religion. They probably didn't know, since they had a low price. Merlyn paid the small price for most of those books and turned around. Only to be met with a chest in her face.
"I simply cannot understand why you would want books with rubbish in them." A familiar voice said. Merlyn looked up and was met with blue eyes and blond hair. She rolled her eyes and stepped around the Prince.
"You might like them if you would learn the language, Sire." Merlyn made sure he could hear the sarcasm in her voice as she used his title and turned around to see the man smirking at her.
Arthur scoffed. "As if you know what it says." Merlyn smirked and walked closer to the Prince. Arthur slightly blushed as Merlyn pressed herself against him.
"I know more than you think." She whispered. Merlyn turned back around and gave him a wave. "See you at the banquet!" She shouted over her shoulder and walked away.
There were only a couple more hours until the banquet and most servants were running around like crazy. Merlyn just managed to avoid them and made her way towards Morgana's chambers. She knocked on the door and her a 'come in'.
Merlyn walked into the room and gaped at the dress Morgana was wearing. It was a red shoulderless dress with many golden accessories. Morgana's hair was up in a messy bun, with a flat crown around her head.
"Merlyn! Quickly put this on." Morgana gave her a dress and pushed her behind the changing screen. Merlyn got out of her shock and put on the dress she was given. She gasped as she saw herself into the mirror and Morgana and Gwen nodded at each other.
Gwen pushed the newly dressed girl in a chair and quickly did her make-up and hair.
The banquet was in full swing and many knights had a blast. Arthur was chatting with some of the knights and they were making jokes. At this point, Morgana and Merlyn walked in. Side by side.
Arthur sucked in a breath as he saw Merlyn. She was wearing a blue dress that got darker as it went to the floor. Some kind of cape attached to the silver strings that hung from her shoulders. And a small half moon on her chest. Her hair was loose. except for some small strands of hair that were braided behind her head.
"God have mercy.." He mumbled. Most of the people were staring at Merlyn and she was starting to blush. Uther saw this and actually thought that Merlyn was a noble.
Merlyn stayed with Morgana and Gwen, not wanting other people to come to her. Luckily, after getting embarrassed by Morgana, the banquet started. Merlyn stood to the side, and listened to Uther giving his speech and introducing the Lady Helen.
Lady Helen started to sing and Merlyn immediately recognized the tongue of the Old Religion. She quickly covered her ears as everyone started to fall asleep. Spider webs started to grow on people and all the candles fell out.
As Lady Helen strolled over to the king and Arthur, Merlyn saw her staring at the Prince and as the song got higher, she pulled a dagger out of her sleeve. Merlyn quickly muttered a spell and the chandelier fell on top of Lady Helen.
Everyone started to wake up and under the fallen chandelier was now the old woman whose son got killed. The old lady raised her head and threw the knife, that was still in her hand. It all happened so fast that Arthur couldn't do anything. But Merlyn did.
She ran in front of the knife and let it hit her on the shoulder. Merlyn fell down and Arthur immediately ran to her aid. Gaius following after. Forgetting the dead woman under the chandelier.
"Merlyn! What the hell were you thinking?!" Arthur exclaimed. Merlyn barely held on to her conscious, but managed to smile at Arthur. Gaius pressed a cloth around the knife and hoped the two would be done talking soon, so he could take the knife out.
"Guess...I saved...you...again…" She put her hand on Arthur's face, but lost conscious.
"Merlyn!" Gaius put a hand on the Prince's shoulder and told him to take Merlyn to his chambers. Arthur did as told and grabbed her bridal style. They ran to Gaius' chambers and said physician got to work.
Merlyn's head was pounding as her eyes slowly opened. She groaned slightly as she felt the pain in her shoulder. That made something shift beside her.
"Merlyn! Your awake!" A familiar voice said. Merlyn tilted her head to the side and saw blue eyes staring back at her. She smiled as she picked up her arm, that wasn't hurt, and stroked Arthur's face.
He grabbed her hand and kept it on his cheek. "Did I miss anything?" Merlyn grinned. Arthur scoffed, but laughed anyway.
"Just a couple weeks of your life." He answered. Merlyn nodded and sighed.
"Why did you jump in front of me?" Arthur asked, with a serious tone.
"That is the question, isn't it?" Merlyn smiled back. But cleared her throat as she saw the unamused face on Arthur's face. "I guess, it felt right. I just couldn't let you die." Arthur was somewhat satisfied with that answers since he closed his eyes as Merlyn's hand was still on his cheek.
Arthur kissed the inside of her hand, and Merlyn couldn't help but blush. The Prince chuckled at her reaction and kissed her forehead. "I'm just glad your alive." He mumbled. "My father also made you my maidservant."
Merlyn's face went emotionless as Arthur ruined the moment. "It is a reward for you saving my life."
"How the hell is that a reward?!" Arthur laughed at her outburst as Merlyn puffed her cheeks.