Chapter Four:
Five days after the assassination attempt, a messenger came, trying to take some papers to the king. The guards were not letting anybody from Norant into Camelot at the moment, so this was proving difficult for the man.
"I was sent to give these papers to King Arthur, but since you won't let me in, could you do it?"
"If we do, will you leave us alone?"
"Of course! It's not like I want to be here anyway!" he immediately replied.
Handing the papers to a guard, the man went back on his horse, and left the two bewildered guards at the gate. They decided to bring it to the king. What's the worst that could happen?
oOo
During midday, a guard came and gave Arthur an envelope filled with papers.
"What's this?" he asked.
Shrugging, the guard replied, "Don't know. A man came and told me to give it to you."
"Alright."
Arthur accepted the papers, and went over to his desk to open the envelope. There was an old journal, and about 5 different sheets of paper. Some were notes, others were documents. Why would anyone come here to give me this?
He grabbed the paper at the top, which was an army enlistment sheet. Arthur looked through the list, wondering what the importance of it was, when a name caught his eye. Merlin.
Most people didn't have surnames, so there was a high chance that it wasn't the Merlin he knew, that was on the list. The physical description was similar though.
'Black hair, skinny, dark blue eyes, pale skin, tall.'
That's weird.
He took another sheet of paper out. It was a drawing of a familiar manservant. Why is there a portrait of Merlin here? The next thing he read was Lord Arnid's journal.
'There is an interesting man enlisted in my army. His name is Merlin, and he said that he signed up so his mother could make enough money to survive. He is extremely hardworking, and mastered every weapon we have, as well as hand to hand combat. He would make for an excellent assassin. I'll train him.'
'I have been training Merlin for a year now, and his skills are unmatched. He is as quick as a deer, and stealthy as a cat. He is very clever, and that will work very well. I've started teaching him about poisons, and Merlin has taken a particular interest in that. It seems like he doesn't want to directly kill anyone. Well, it doesn't seem like he wants to kill anyone to begin with. He won't even kill wildlife! He says that they've done nothing to deserve being killed! Sweet boy, really. I'll need to make him get used to killing.'
'Merlin has finished his training. I have successfully taught him how to shut off his emotions when killing. He is the best assassin I've ever had! Maybe I could send him to kill Uther's child one day. I'm sending him out on his first mission today. He'll be going to eliminate a man who constantly talks about getting rid of monarchy and letting the people rule. That would never work, but others are starting to believe him. He is a threat to be taken care of. Merlin will do just that.'
'It's been weeks now. There has been no word from Merlin. I'm sending a search party to find him.'
'The search party returned, carrying a dead body. Merlin's body. I've come to care for the boy, and it hurts to see him dead. It seems like a group of bandits surrounded and attacked him. I can't give him a proper funeral, so I'll just burn his ashes and bury them beneath a tree. He did like trees.'
There were no more entries.
Arthur's mind was reeling. How could Merlin of all people, be an assassin? Sure, it would explain why he was suddenly amazing at combat when the assassins arrived, but Merlin couldn't be an assassin. He was so concentrated on his thoughts, that he didn't even notice when the man of his newly found troubles entered.
"Arthur, what's wrong? You look more confused than you usually do, and that's saying something." he joked.
When no reply came, Merlin walked over to Arthur's desk to see what was troubling his friend so much. The desk was covered in papers, and upon closer inspection, he could see that they were about him. Arthur turned towards Merlin and quietly asked, "Is this true?"
Confused, Merlin asked, "What's true?"
Suddenly, Arthur stood up and grabbed Merlin by the collar. "Is it true, that you were an assassin!"
Merlin turned ghastly white. "Um, Arthur? Where did you get that idea from?"
The king had an idea. "Merlin. Gather the roundtable knights, and bring them to my room. There is a lot to discuss."
Gulping, Merlin nodded and did as asked. A sign that something was obviously not right.
oOo
About ten minutes later, Elyan, Percival, Gwaine, and Leon arrived.
"What's this about?" questioned Elyan.
Arthur answered, "I got these papers today," he pushed the envelope to the centre of the table, "and they have some rather surprising information."
He handed the journal to the knights, Merlin looking over their shoulders. Another ten minutes later, they finished reading. Leon was the first to say something.
"That's a funny joke, Arthur. Now, if there's nothing else, I must get going."
"It isn't a joke. That was Lord Arnid's journal, and this," Arthur pulled the portrait of Merlin out, "is a portrait of Merlin."
Arthur pulled the army enlistment sheet out. "Merlin used to be in the army, before he got hired to become an assassin."
They all looked at the drawing, then at Merlin, then to the enlistment sheet, then back again. Together they said, "What?"
"Apparently, Merlin has many secrets. He doesn't really talk about his past, and I assumed it was because it was boring, but I think this explains it a lot better. Merlin was an assassin."
Gwaine knew that Merlin wouldn't lie to him, so he asked, "Merlin, is this true?"
Looking away, he said, "I'd rather not talk about it."
They took that as a confession.
Elyan grabbed some of the notes, and started reading them aloud.
"'Merlin's the best assassin I've ever trained! He learns very quickly, and practices in his little free time.' 'Today, Merlin mastered the art of stealth. He can move through forests during fall without making a sound.' 'I'm surprised that anyone is this skilled. Merlin has mastered weapons, hand to hand, stealth, deception, poisons, disguises, accents, and more. He will be of great use to me.' Wow Merlin, I never knew you were so talented."
Merlin was still turned away, his face now a deep red, but voice filled with regret. "I do have many talents, but I don't like to use them. If I didn't work for him, my mother would have starved. The better I did in training, the sooner I could make money for her. I wasn't allowed to tell anyone about my job, not even my mother."
Trying to break the tension, Arthur teased, "So, every time you tripped or sneezed when we were out hunting, was a ruse?"
"Definitely," Merlin turned back towards the knights, "I assume you have questions for me?"
Percival, surprisingly, was first to ask. "How did you escape? It says you died, and I'm pretty sure you're not a ghost."
"It was my first 'mission' and I saw a group of bandits trying to surround me. I let them get close, and then I knocked them all out. I killed two of them to make it look like there was a fight, and then killed a man that looked like me. I burned his face a little, in order to make it harder to distinguish between me and him. Then, I killed my horse, and left."
That story was true enough. He didn't actually burn the man's face, but it would seem to convenient for someone that looked exactly like him to be there. The story probably got the knights more confused than before. Merlin explained his story from the beginning, leaving certain things out and changing a few things. After he finished, Leon was asked the question that was on all the knights' minds.
"Are you actually that good?"
"Yeah," he replied simply.
Now, it was Gwaine's turn. , he asked, "Do you think that you could beat one of us in a fight?"
"I could defeat all of you at once." This comment made the knights shift uncomfortably.
Elyan asked, "Why didn't you ever show your skills?"
"As I said before, I don't like the fact I have those skills. They remind me of the past, which I didn't like. Also, I needed to keep a lower profile to prevent Lord Arnid from ever finding out that I was alive."
Arthur was last. "Why didn't you ever tell us?"
"At first, it was because it would have been dangerous for anyone to know about my past. You all are the first to know, after my mother. Not even Gaius knows. After a while, whether you like to admit it or not, we became friends, and I didn't want you to think that our friendship was built on lies. I also didn't want to you think I came here to kill you, which I didn't. If I had wanted to kill you, you would be long dead. Lastly, I didn't want any of you to be afraid of or hate me," then, he added, "This is to remain a secret. You are to never speak of this to anyone, at anytime. I forbid you to even imply the idea in any conversation."
They were all silent for a moment. Then, Gwaine had to ask, "Are there any more secrets we should know about?"
Merlin imperceptibly froze for a second, then smoothly answered, "Many, but not any you need to worry about."
"Oh come on Merlin! Are you actually interesting?" Arthur asked.
Smirking, Merlin said, "More than you will ever be able to comprehend."
Merlin then proceeded to stalk out of the room, and to his chambers. It was evening, and Gaius was done all his rounds for the day.
"So, Gaius, there's something I should tell you..."
He told Gaius of his dark past, sticking to the pure truth, and his mentor almost fainted on several descriptions of his training. ("They fed you poison until you were immune to most of them!?") ("And here I was, calling you a clumsy buffoon!") ("That could explain why you had your magic under such good control already when you arrived.")
By the time Merlin was done explaining, it was past midnight. They went to sleep, many thoughts going through their minds. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.
A/N: I changed a few things in this chapter that I felt needed to be changed. I hope you liked it!