Until the Last Breath Leaves My Body

by Camelotpointe

A collection of short stories about the characters of 'Merlin'. Includes friendship, drama, comedy and more! Chapters 50 - 53: Too Much to Bear - Merlin is overwhelmed and struggling to cope with the weight of his responsibilities and the secrets he is forced to keep. Gwaine and Arthur are worried about their friend and try their best to help.

21. Rolling the Dice

Rolling the Dice:

Thank you for all of the lovely reviews I have been receiving. They make me smile and motivate me to continue writing.

Disclaimer: all recognisable characters below to the BBC, as does the show 'Merlin'.

….

It was a well-known fact among all of Camelot's guards that guarding the prison cells was the most boring job there was. Occasionally there would be a small-scale attack by a group of bandits, or some poor person accused of sorcery would spend a few days in a cell before being publicly executed, but for the most part, standing watch outside the dungeons was a complete bore. Camelot's prison had been built so that it was virtually indestructible, and nobody could escape without outside help.

Unfortunately, many of the people who were held captive in the cells did seem to have outside help, and there had been a number of breakouts – the most notable being the young Druid boy who had fled with the aid of no less than the Lady Morgana, the King's ward. However, instances such as this were few and far between, so – for the most part – the guards on duty outside the dungeons would play dice to pass the time.

It was a simple enough game; each would take turns to call out a number and then roll the die. If the die landed on that number, they would win whatever meagre amount of money the other had put forwards. There was a great deal of bitterness amongst the guards due to their pay being so much less than that of the knights, but none dared to question Uther's judgement – or at least, not to his face. So the guards would gamble away their earnings during the long hours spent sitting outside the dungeons, rolling the die over and over, money exchanging hands hundreds of times as they won it back from each other, until they each had almost the same amount of money that they had started with. It was a boring job, guarding Camelot's prison.

….

This is another idea which popped into my head and asked to be written down. I think it was prompted by the numerous times in earlier seasons when Merlin used to sneak down past the dungeons and the guards always seemed to be just sitting there playing dice. I hope you liked it.

Camelotpointe.