Title: The legend of a Warlock who Served the Once and Future King
Author: Lamiabellascrittore
Rating: T+
Warnings: Some light Violence
Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, or any of the characters. If I did there would be a season six, seven, eight, and so on, and a movie, of course.
Spoilers: Possibly.
Summary: Merlin and Arthur go on a mission that was supposed to be strictly reconnaissance. However, nothing ever goes as planned, and they get separated. Merlin is kidnapped by Morgana and Arthur must find a way to rescue his ever loyal servant. But, will Arthur still save Merlin after he learns Merlin has magic? This story is building up to the battle of Camlann. The sequel to this one.
A/N: Okay, so this is my first Published Fan Fiction. Please read and review.
If you liked it I will continue. Please be kind. ;) The more you review the more likely it is that I will continue this story and more. Sorry for any errors. Its hard to edit after going through it so many times. It become like a word you say over and over again till it no longer makes since.
I hope you enjoy...
Chapter Eight:
A King Without his Brother:
Truly the Half Which Makes it Whole
Arthur road through the gates of Camelot just after dusk the next day.
His wife, Queen Guinevere, must have been watching out the window and waiting for his return because she came rushing down the palace steps at a dead run, either unaware that she was being watched by the remaining knights in the square, or just to relived that her husband had come home safely, to care.
Slowly, as to not jolt his aching body, he dismounted. Just as his feet touched the ground, Gwen launched into his arms. He was only able to keep them both upright thanks to Leon's sturdy grip on the Kings shoulder.
"Arthur!" Gwen smiled into his shoulder. "I've been worried sick." She looked up at him, her doe brown eyes searching his worn face. "You were due back two days ago, what happened.?" She asked, to quick for Arthur to get a word in, when suddenly she stopped.
She stepped back out of his arms and looked behind him at Llamreil's empty saddle. Her faced paled.
"Where is he?" Gwen stressed, looking back to Arthur. "Where's Merlin, Arthur?" She asked, afraid of the answer. Afraid that the foreboding feeling that has been hanging over her head since she talked with Merlin almost a week ago.
Arthur's lips pressed together so tightly the area around them was bleached of color. He ignored his wife's probing eyes, and fallowing the hand on his shoulder he looked to Leon.
"Gather the knights. Meet me in the council chambers at dawn." Arthur said hoarsely. Without another word he took Guinevere's hand and guided them to their Chambers, as sober as ever.
As soon as the chambers door shut she turned on him, a Dark glower on her beautiful face. She truly looked like an enraged angel.
"Where. Is. Merlin?" She demanded. Sometimes he forgot that she was friends with Merlin first. She had developed a sort of attachment to him, especially so after he had saved her from execution.
"I don't," Arthur voice faltered. That dull pain in his chest started again as his heart beat wildly out of control.
Again, the image of Merlin chained up, hanging lifelessly from the ceiling, flashed through his mind. The visions that haunted his dreams now haunted his every waking hour with startling clarity.
"I don't know, Guinevere." Arthur sighed, sitting down on the edge of his bed. With elbows on knees and head down he rubbed his eyes heavily with the palms of his hands. Exhaustion finally crashed in, and it nearly crippled him.
"What do you mean 'you don't know'?" She said dangerously low.
Slowly he lifted his eyes to meet hers, and what he saw made him tense. She looked on the verge of tears, but she held them at bay, with her back straight and chin slightly lifted. She looked almost... almost like she just got the answer to a long sot after question.
"What is it?" Arthur asked, standing up. He ached with every fiber and his body begged him to lie down, but he forced himself to stand before his wife. "What aren't you telling me?"
"Nothing," She murmured. Not meeting his eyes.
"Guinevere." Arthur snapped gently.
Her eyes snapped to his. Brown meeting blue in a clash of wills. After a full minute of silence Guinevere sighed shortly, and grit her teeth.
"I think-" Gwen started. Jaw working, molars grinding together. "I think he knew that there was a possibility he wasn't going to come home."
Arthur's brows knit together, casting shadows over his eyes. He pursed his lips. "What makes you think that?"
"Its just... it was strange... just before you both left he was acting unusual."
"Merlin? Acting unusual? That isn't so out of character."
"Yes, but aside from his normally clumsy ways, he seemed distracted by something."
"What could he possibly have on his mind other than his chores?" Arthur scoffed. He sat back against the posters of their bed for support. He was only standing from will power alone, and the moment that weakened, his knees would give out, he was sure. Besides the floor was looking rather comfortable right now.
"Merlin is shrewder than you give him credit for." She said, narrowing her eyes accusingly.
"I didn't say he was stupid, I just meant that he has a simple life, right, nothing compared to the life and duties of a King." Arthur muttered sourly. But that's just that, isn't it. Arthur called Merlin an idiot all the time. He never meant it, but he also never told him any different.
Gwen uncrossed her arms and sighed. She walked over to her husband who leaned heavily against the bed. He was covered in dirt, blood and he had leaves and twigs in his hair. Most the color had drained his face, his lips were tinted slightly purple, and he shivered a little as if a wound was infected. He looked utterly miserable, and defeated.
Gently she went about helping him remove his armor.
"Go ahead and take your bath, the servants should have filled it by now. I'll go fetch Gaius." She turned to go but Arthur's hand on her arm stopped her.
"Don't tell Gaius anything, yet. I'll address everyone in the morning."
"I cant do that, Arthur." She said softly, looking at him lovingly.
"Why not?" He demanded groggily.
"Merlin is like his son. Any news is better than none at all." She said softly to sooth his nerves. She could see the toll of his ordeal all over the Kings battered face. He was only twenty six, and he had a kingdom to run and a realm to protect.
Morgana and Agravain's betrayal had been nearly his undoing, but he came back more determined than ever, thanks to Merlin. And looking into Arthur's eyes now, and seeing the shadows and ghosts haunting them, she feared of what the impact of Merlin's death would be. She actually feared the day Merlin died. She feared the day the king lost the man who has held him together at the seems for so long.
"Alright." He squeezed her arm softly, as if to reassure himself that it was all going to be alright. Witch was normally Merlin's job, he thought sulkily. But that only just put him deeper into the pit of despair being dug in the Kings mind.
He slowly let her go, prying one finger off at a time. Every step she took he felt like he was about to snap, start to shout, cry, rage, beg, anything to just rewind it back to that day they first left and didn't take any knights.
Just as she was about to walk out of the chambers he stopped her once more. "Guinevere?"
"Hmm?" She hummed turning back to him. Hand on the door handle.
"Tell him...tell him Merlin was shot with a crossbow bolt, but was alive the last I saw him." Arthur said, voice filled with an agony he would never admit to out loud. She closed her eyes at his words, and took it like a physical blow. "And tell him I'm sorry. I had to keep the promise he made."
"What promise?" She asked, opening her eyes.
"That I would survive. That I would make it home." Arthur said deflated.
She nodded, watching silently with gentile liquid eyes, before she want to fetch Gaius. The door shut with a soft click behind her.
She traveled down corridor after corridor, staircase after staircase, winding her way towards the physicians champers, where Merlin had lived. Lives. Where Merlin lives.
Gwen was heart broken. She knew deep down that her friend was not dead. She had to believe it or she would just fall apart. But there was that feeling, in the back of her mind, warning her that not all was fine.
She knocked twice sharply on the door. Not two seconds later the physicians face shinned through the a crack in the door at her.
"My Queen!" Gaius exclaimed. "Is there something I can help you with? Is everything alright?"
"Gaius, please. Call me Gwen." She said sweetly, trying miserably to conceal the heart ache and fear from her eyes.
"Gwen, come in. I heard king Arthur had returned, so I was just about to put some water over the fire to boil, no doubt Merlin could use it. Would you like to join me while I wait?"
Gwen shifted. She crossed her right arm over her stomach and rubbed at her left arm anxiously.
"Actually Gaius, Arthur is injured and needs attention, and that, and..." She trailed off. Tears blurred her vision, and stopped up her throat, making it impossible to speak.
He watched her silently, waiting. His heart started to pound. He held his breath in raw anticipation. Please, God, no. Please don't say what I think your about to say. Gaius chanted.
She cleared her throat. "And that Merlin did not return with him." She saw Gaius visibly pale. His already wrinkled face now looked even more worn and gaunt.
"What happened? Where is he?" He rasped past dry lips. Leaning back against the wall beside the door.
"I don't know much, Gaius, only the few words Arthur told me."
"And?"
"Arthur said that Merlin was shot with a crossbow bolt, and he was alive the last time Arthur saw him."
Gaius nodded, and turned away to gather himself emotionally before he could physically. Once he got a lock of his emotions, he grabbed his medical pouch and once again stood to face his Queen.
"Alright, My Lady. Let us go tend to the King." She nodded, and gave him a small bittersweet smile.
She turned and led him into the castle. They traced the familiar path to Arthur's chambers. Up stairs and through corridor after corridor they walked in solemn silence. The image of Merlin's goofy grin as he smiled at Gaius, grumbling, 'I'm not gonna die.' made him all the more terrified that that was exactly what had happened.
Was he alive, or dead? Had he gone and done something stupidly selfless and gotten himself into even more trouble? Like save Arthur, and not himself?
Gaius tended to live in a constant state of anxiety ever since Merlin moved in with him. The constant adventures and dangers were one thing. But the fear that one day Merlin might never return home was unthinkable.
However, Merlin was a resourceful young man, troubled and damaged, but, he was kind, cunning and powerful. He has always returned, even on his death bed, he had returned, alive and well, thanks to magic. He would think that that alone would save him. And Gaius would believe nothing less than that, but he was human and he was terrified for Merlin.
He was only twenty four and he had the weight of the future on his shoulders. With out Merlin to help Arthur, there would be no Albion, and Gaius thought Merlin tended to forget that. Merlin was anything but expendable.
Before he knew it they had arrived at Arthur's champers. Gwen didn't even knock as she swept into the room. But she hadn't even taken two steps before she froze, blocking Gaius's view of the room.
"What- what happened Arthur?" She stuttered, hand still gripping the door handle for support. She was greeted with silence. Gently as he could, he nudged Gwen out of the way to get to his patient. The moment she stepped aside opening the door wider, he gasped.
The room was a mess. Tables were turned over, their content scattered everywhere. Glass ink wells were shattered against the walls, the ink a black stain on the pristine white. Curtains and drapes were ripped and torn into rags, hanging precariously from the windows. The kings bed fared just as bad, if not worse, than the rest of the room.
The blankest were tossed hazardously around the frame. The pillows were torn and the feathers were a scattered mess. The bed posts looked as if someone had used it for sword practice, and on closer inspection, Gaius noted, there was a sword sticking out of the bed. Interesting. Gaius thought, raising a brow.
He took it all in, searching for Arthur. He found him slumped on the floor, dressed in his night cloths, and clean from a resent bath, lying face down on the floor just under the window. His arm looked as if reaching for something, or someone, out the window. For curiosity's sake alone he walked into the room and stepping around his King, and looked out the window. Nothing but the ground. Hmm. That's a little strange.
Below him, Arthur began to stir. He groaned and rolled onto his back, blinking up at the ceiling. The light was to bright and he saw only white until slowly, the face of the Physician came into view.
"Are you alright, Sire?" Gaius asked as he reached down to offer him a hand up. Groggily Arthur took his arm and got up. Once on his feet he staggered, but as luck would have it Gwen was there to help steady him. Something that was Merlin's job. Where was that idiot, anyway?
"Guinevere," Arthur sighed happily. "What are you doing here? Where's Merlin?" He slurred slightly.
"Arthur, are you alright? What happened?" She asked looking around at the destruction. "Did someone break in?"
"Did someone... what? No, I-" He said slowly as if remembering something bit by bit. He shook his head and looked around him. His eyes suddenly snapped back to Gwen. "Where is Merlin?" He wondered again, this time the was a note of desperation in each word.
"Arthur, don't you remember?" She paused, and bit her lip, holding back her tears. "Merlin's gone." Gwen said, looking over at Gaius in concern. Gaius ignored her look and focused on the king.
"Gone?" Arthur scoffed. "Where could the-" He stopped mid-sentence. Merlin. Morgana. Merlin. Morgana. Torture! He remembered. He gasped and tore away from their grasp, and staggered back into the window frame.
"Arthur," Gwen tried to get his attention. "Arthur!" She said louder when he didn't respond. His head snapped up to her. Her heart ached when she saw how lost he looked. His brows were furrowed and the skin around his eyes crinkled as his memories flashed before his eyes. He looked as if he was reliving some horrible tragedy. And he was. He bit his lip so hard he tasted blood.
"Arthur," She said again, gentler. "What happened here. Did some one break in?"
"It was me. I did it." He whispered. He swallowed thickly. That dull ache in his chest was coming back and it only got worse the more he remembered what happened to Merlin.
After he had taken his bath and changed into his night clothes, he was about to lay down in bed to wait for Gwen and Gaius, when he unconsciously turned, and called out for Merlin.
Only Merlin wasn't there. The name died on his lips. Merlin wasn't here. Merlin was gone. The visions Morgana has been haunting him with, the ones of Merlin bound and bloody, were now a constant fixture in his mind, weather he was asleep or awake, and that dull ache in his chest was now a burning ball of fire, that made him angry and scared. He felt hopeless for the first time in a long while, and the idea that he might have to live a life where Merlin didn't exist, rattled him more than he cared to admit.
That idea alone had been enough to push him over the edge. He had been unable to rein in his temper, and he didn't want to. He let his rage run free. He felt like half of himself were missing. He never though of Merlin like he was an extension of himself, but he was, and without him by Arthur's side, he felt empty, like half of him was missing.
"Sire, let me look at your wounds. You need to get some rest." Gaius said.
Arthur was looking at Gaius, but he didn't seem to see the man. He was lost in the realization that the chances of finding Merlin alive were so slim it was just about none existent. Merlin was resourceful. He always managed to wiggle free from any situation. But this time he was injured. Arthur's gut clenched. He fought the oncoming darkness, the anger and fear, that wanted to swallow him hole. How the hell was he going to continue living a normal life if he never found Merlin?
"Arthur, please, you must rest. " Gwen said. "You ordered a meeting for the morning remember? You will find him." Gwen stressed, trying to appeal to her husband anyway she could.
He looked at Gwen, finally seeing her, and not the horrible visions of Merlin's bloody form. You will find him. He grabbed hold of those word and held onto them tight. He would find Merlin. He had to. There was no other options.
He nodded, allowing them to lead him out of his room and to the guest chamber down the corridor. He would rest for now, soon they would be out searching for Merlin.