Argh the links from the last chapter didn't work! Sorry Guys! Right the clothing data was from the Rosalie Gilbert page and the reference pictures for the castle from the Merlin Wiki!
Also I forgot to mention why I chose Lichfield. Well I don't live there but have grown up quite close to it (About 8 miles away in the countryside) and do know it existed in this period. But I also have a book about the Legend of King Arthur which states he fought a battle there! Therefore I could kill two birds with one stone.
Also big thanks to all those who keep following and adding this to your favourites! And a big thank you to Frostivy, AryaBloodLust, Mad Furry Cheshire Cat and LillyRoseanne for the reviews! And Cheshire Cat, Good luck with your own Merlin Fic!
There is a Special chapter of this in honour of the New Prince George of Cambridge's birth! (In a separate story as not to confuse both you and me.)
For the Disclaimer please see the first chapter.
Protective Imprisonment
Emma was increasingly reminded that Prince Arthur, Heir to the throne of Camelot, was indeed an idiot.
After she had been forced into Arthur's 'Protection' Emma had been paraded to one of the many guest rooms and told it was hers and she wasn't allowed to leave it, unless Arthur said so.
Not only had this earned a rather large amount of very unladylike words to fly at Arthur, it also meant she was imprisoned for her safety. Or that was what she was meant to believe anyway.
Arthur the ever annoying idiot, had not factored in two reasons why her imprisonment was a stupid idea. Firstly, Emma was from the twenty-first Century, where treating women as second best would only have served to harm him more, and secondly, she was not the type of girl to be treated as a damsel in distress in any century.
Although she was grateful for the room, the clothes (castoffs from Gwen) and food (of which the origins had been interrogated fiercely). Emma refused to be cooped up in her room any longer and two weeks had already been torture.
Hence why she had decided to leave the room without permission. The reason it had taken her over an hour and a half to sneak from her room to try and find Gaius' chambers, the one place here she was truly familiar with and knew there would be a friendly face, Was because Emma had no idea as to the layout of the castle. She had little sense of direction at the best of times and this was even worse, as she had lost valuable time.
Eventually finding herself near the door to the courtyard, Emma now faced a new obstacle, getting across it without being seen and recognised.
She couldn't try and sneak from statue to statue, it would attract too much attention and she couldn't exactly waltz through as there were Knights and guards patrolling and procrastinating.
Emma was so engrossed with forming a plan that she was unaware of a figure standing behind her. He reached out to touch her shoulder to get her attention, only to be punched in the arm.
"Ow! What was that for?!"
Emma lowered her fist, realising who it was. She could have hugged him if she wasn't annoyed with him. She went to shout at him but stopped herself, settling with a loud whisper.
"Merlin!"
Emma held onto her heart.
"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!"
"What are you doing outside your room?"
"Going fishing!" She bit sarcastically. "What does it bloody look like?!"
"And what are you doing now?"
"Trying to get across the courtyard."
"Why?"
"To visit Gaius! Visit you! To get anywhere else apart from that room!"
Pausing for a moment, Merlin peered out at the courtyard, he stared at something for a moment before a huge clang resounded around the large space and the area's occupants went to investigate.
"Quickly!"
Grabbing Emma's wrist they ran as quickly and quietly as they could to the other side, as the Knights and guards were busy with a now broken cart and the escape of poultry.
They both flew up the winding staircase, bursting into Gaius' chambers, consequently scaring the old man. Beaming with adrenaline, Emma skipped over and embraced Gaius.
"Emma, you are meant to be in your room."
"So everyone keeps telling me!"
"It is for your protection."
"From what Gaius? No one has seen anything of this damned sect, they're just keeping me in that stupid room just so they don't have to deal with. That stupid King of yours still doesn't know what to do with me!"
"This is a strange situation for all."
"Yeah, well I didn't agree to be bored to death. Nothing has happened so I'm being tortured for it."
"But it could happen."
Emma flopped into one of the chairs near the where Gaius was working, Merlin had sat in the other one as soon as they had sprung in.
"Let them. Do you know what it is like to stare at the same four walls doing nothing at all and I mean nothing! I'm from a time where women lead their own lives and I travel over a thousand years into the past, and instead of learning and exploring, I get to be busy all day sat on my butt! And how does the bloody idiot Prince help? By telling me to do embroidery!"
Merlin smirked as she mildly insulted Arthur, Gaius was less than amused and simply frowned.
"Shouldn't you be with Arthur, Merlin?"
"So you escaped as well?"
Both Merlin and Emma chuckled, until Merlin's face became serious.
"You know Arthur is only trying to help you, he won't be happy."
Wow, guilt trip much Merlin?
"We both know he doesn't like me Merlin, I'm a woman who fights and has been taught that we are equal to men. He's threatened by that as well as the fact I took his sword to save my life which showed him up in front of his friends!"
"He just doesn't understand you."
Emma was very tempted to roll her eyes.
"No man can ever understand a woman, not matter what the era."
Gaius threw something into a boiling pot, the old physician had served the Royal family for years and knew that some actions were not as they seemed.
"He's under a lot of pressure, not only from the Kingdom and from the King."
"Gaius, just because he has problems doesn't mean he can take it out on me. Lord knows I've got a few problems of my own I-"
Emma stopped herself; if she dwelt on her own problems she would only upset herself. She had already spent some of the past fortnight trying to hide the fact she had been crying.
But she was a woman of the twenty-first century, the small amount of knowledge she had of this century and the legend she had been forced into might be the key to her survival.
The door banged open, snapping Emma out of her thoughts, in an instant Merlin was on his feet standing near Gaius. Both men were standing directly in front of the chair, intentionally blocking Arthur's view of Emma, seeing this as an opportunity she slid as quietly as she could under the table. Peering between some of the piles of books littered on the floor she saw her idiotic captor Prince Arthur, the sleeves of his red shirt were rolled up and his grip held his steel sword.
Yeah he wasn't happy.
"Where is she?"
Gaius and Merlin shared a look.
"Where is who?
"Merlin, don't be an idiot. Emma. She's not in her room and was last seen heading in this direction."
Whilst half listening to their conversation Emma had realised something, she had nowhere else to go from under the table. Mentally cursing herself, she tried to calm her breathing, she was in a whole lot of trouble and the sight of Arthur's sword confirmed it.
Arthur began to wonder around the room, bickering with Merlin who would not allow Arthur to see the chair he protected.
"Move!"
The young warlock hesitated but did as was ordered, only to be pleasantly surprised, Emma had conveniently 'disappeared'. Unfortunately that pleasant feeling didn't last long, as Emma was still not use to the clothing of the period and had not taken into account the length of her skirt, a part of which was sticking out from under the table.
Surprised that she hadn't noticed him, Arthur bent down, seeing her attention diverted between Gaius' literature and obviously searching for him. Taking advantage of the fact that she was Emma was distracted, he grabbed her ankle to drag her out, only to earn a gasp. Unfortunately Emma's instincts decided to kick in, literally. Her free foot automatically sent a sharp reaction straight to Arthurs shin.
Emma looked puzzled for a moment, quickly followed by the shocked expression. That's twice now that someone had snuck up on her that day!
"Erm…. Sorry?"
Arthur rubbed the affected area and quickly grabbed the assailant's ankle and dragged her from under the table.
"What part of stay in your room did you not understand?!"
"I've been abandoned in there for two weeks; there has been no sighting, no news and no information. So I thought it wouldn't do any harm."
"You were given an order, you are expected to follow them."
"I will follow orders when I agree with them. I will not be locked behind a door and forgotten about!"
Both Emma and Arthur stood, theirs head held high, both stubbornly believing they were individually correct.
"Sire, due to the amount of time in confinement, it would beneficial to Emma's health to go outside if only for a short period."
Arthur went to object but was stopped as Gaius continued.
"However, due to the circumstances of Emma's arrival, I believe that it would be best that some protection be given."
The young Prince paused thinking through Gaius' proposal, Emma hopeful face staring at him.
"Fine. Just for today and you do exactly what I say, understand?"
Emma burst into a full blow grin and forced him into a hug.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Arthur stood arms by his side. His sword still in his hand, unsure on how to react, women of his era didn't usually show displays of gratitude like this.
Realising what she was doing she let go.
"Come on then!"
She was ready to spring out of the door, freedom was screaming and she wanted to heed its call.
Sheathing his sword in his belt and sighing, Arthur made his way out of the room, Emma eagerly skipping behind him. Merlin and Gaius smiled at each other, quickly interrupted by Arthur's impatient summoning of his servant.
With every step her excitement grew.
"Where are we going?"
"To patrol the market."
The poor man then had to be subjected to a dubious amount of questions until they reached the gates of the citadel where the sight of the town had finally silenced her.
Beyond the gate the streets when not paved with stone, but a solid dirt track framed either side with towering wooden structures. The town seemed to go on for miles, imposing structures littered over the landscape, whilst the inhabitants filled the labyrinthine passages below. Emma's ears had to attune to the noises of merchants shouting, the large crowds perusing various wares, travellers hailing each other and the clang of the church bells.
Noticing that Arthur was waiting for her she jogged towards him and grinned, he didn't return it and simply focused on the task at hand. Merlin joined her, enjoying Emma's surprise and questioning as they wondered through the variety of people, some of whom bowed in respect to their Prince. Unfortunately the ones who were not paying their homage to the Royal figure were too busy staring at the strange, excitable young woman behind.
Arthur signalled them to walk faster, as the street had widened into a crossroads, the citizens used this to their advantage and used the space as a market. Emma's nose was invaded with a colourful array of scents from some of the wares being sold, meats and fish to the tanned leather and the smelting iron as well as some more questionable smells.
"Right, stick close to me and if there's any trouble, Merlin take Emma back to the castle. Understand?"
They both nodded before Emma basically dragged the two men from stall to stall. Forgetting about the problems she was currently stuck with, Emma was, for the first time since arriving her, enjoying herself. Whereas Arthur tried to juggle patrolling and protecting, the young woman was making it extremely difficult.
After spending the afternoon outside, Arthur ordered their return to the castle. Emma bantered along with them, relishing in her brief freedom. Without warning, she began to feel like someone was watching her, she tried to shrug it off, telling herself it was due to the fact she was tired. But every time she attempted to ignore it the feeling grew stronger. Listening to her instincts she peered into the thinning crowds of people, unable to see the perpetrator of this feeling Emma glanced behind her. Standing in one of the doorways, his eyes covered, his body wrapped in a dark cloak, was one of them, one of the Sect.
Emma froze in fear, her eyes wide, unable to protect herself in a public place without harming anyone, she did something that surprised her.
She called out to Arthur.
Hearing the distress in her voice, the two males turned.
"Merlin, take her to the castle now!"
Many thanks for reading!
And a big thank you to my beta reader!
