There was a knock at Merlin's door and he quickly hid the magic book he'd been browsing through under his pillow.
"Come in." he said.
Prince Garrick stepped in, still dressed in a chain mail but his heavy armor removed. There was a bit of dirt smudged just below his eyes. Merlin was already very familiar with the look.
"That was quick." Merlin said with a surprised grin. "I thought it would be ages before you came back."
"I've come to report." Garrick nodded with a smile of his own.
"Why so delighted?" Merlin asked confusedly but still with a bit of amusement.
"You really doubted me, didn't you?" he asked as he sat at the foot of Merlin's bed and looked up at his junior, comfortably lounging in bed rather than polishing armor.
Neither said anything but Merlin gave a questioning look. Garrick continued smiling and Merlin's expression turned shocked but not really in a bad way. He was impressed.
"You actually beat Arthur?" he asked.
"Sorry to disappoint you." Garrick nodded with a raised eyebrow.
"No, that's not it!" Merlin said quickly. "It's just that Arthur has never lost, at least, not since I arrived in Camelot."
"Perhaps you've been his lucky charm." Garrick said.
The mood took on a slight curve and the room became quiet. It wasn't like Merlin could honestly say he'd had no hand in Arthur's battles, even in tournaments, but that was only when the opposing power was magical. It wouldn't be fair to Arthur if Merlin left it alone, especially when the prince didn't know.
"Either way, it was a fair fight." Garrick sighed to distract Merlin. "Maybe Camelot's prince will be a bit sore about losing but I'm not one to showboat."
"Yet another thing you and Arthur differ on." Merlin grinned. "Of course, Uther is a lot worse."
"So it seems." Garrick laughed with Merlin.
Garrick stayed with Merlin for the rest of the afternoon and they talked mostly about Sythian, what the castle was like and how the king was. Merlin also shared a bit of magic with the prince, using his natural abilities to move objects in the room without a single incantation. He often found Garrick staring at his bright, gold-colored eyes.
Merlin realized at some point how comfortable he felt with Garrick, often forgetting that he was even a prince. It only took one glance at his regal expression to remind him, however. He had a gentleness that Arthur shared. Merlin always found it very captivating.
"What is it?" Garrick asked upon noticing Merlin's silence.
"Oh, nothing." Merlin answered quickly. "I guess I'm just sort of relieved I'm not doing chores for Arthur right now. I suspect he's in a bad mood and he'd probably throw water at me."
Merlin looked down at his hands with a discerning expression even though his mind was relatively blank at the moment. He seemed to have a habit of bringing down the mood. He just couldn't help worrying about Arthur and wondering how he was taking the loss.
Garrick saw the concern on Merlin's face and already understood that he was thinking about Arthur. Without a doubt, the two of them shared an unusual bond, one that couldn't be broken easily. Something like this couldn't be solved through subtlety.
"Merlin," Garrick said.
It attracted the wizards attention again and he looked up at Garrick whose expression was a little hard to understand.
"Yeah?" Merlin asked curiously.
"Have you thought anymore about coming to see me in Sythian?" the prince asked.
"Oh, that." Merlin sighed. "I was thinking about that. I would like to but even a few days away from Arthur is too long. You know what I can do. I save his life almost twice a week. Besides, he's only recently learned to dress himself."
Merlin smirked at his comment but Garrick stayed serious.
"Why does it have to be Arthur that you serve?" Garrick asked. "By serving him, you put yourself in danger every day. It's not even the enemies that you have to worry about. The very people that you're protecting would have you dead. Uther has made his decision on magic and as far as I can tell, Arthur feels the same. They won't tolerate magic and they should have to live without its benefit."
"This isn't about Arthur." Merlin said strongly, a bit to Garrick's surprise.
The young sorcerer's tone was grave. Garrick's expression turned reprimanded as result but he showed no sign of aggression toward Merlin, only a sense of protection.
"Arthur isn't just responsible for his life." Merlin told Garrick. "And I'm not just responsible for mine. He…he has a great destiny. Don't ask me how I know but he does. Arthur is going to bring change. In the future, he'll lift the ban on magic and people like me will be free to live peacefully. Less people will die from illnesses or wounds that can be solved with magic. Arthur is responsible for all of that, even if he doesn't know it yet."
Garrick didn't speak but stayed looking at Merlin with his inner brows lightly pulled down in a sort of concern, despite Merlin's confidence.
"And me, I'm responsible for Arthur's life." Merlin went on. "He's a constant target, especially because of Uther's misdeeds, and if I leave him, he might die. If Arthur dies, there's no telling what could happen to everyone, magical or not. He's saved my life many times already, whether I like to admit it or not. He may seem spoilt and prattish but he's a merciful and noble leader, someone who will ride ahead of everyone else in battle because he values all of his soldiers…that kind of man can't die."
Garrick continued to remain silent. Merlin felt just a bit shameful for talking so aggressively with a royal, especially when defending another. It was like he was saying Arthur was better than him…it was just something Merlin had come to learn: Arthur comes first.
Prince Garrick finally let out a light sigh and Merlin was just relieved that he didn't look angry. He did look a bit tired, however. Maybe his and Arthur's spar had been something challenging.
"I've never had anybody talk about me the way you talk about Arthur." Garrick said with a weak smile that made Merlin's chest ache a bit. "Even if I don't have some big destiny, I've never had somebody honestly praise me like that."
"But you're very caring and noble as well." Merlin told him. "You put me first when we were in the cave. You took care of me when Arthur would have just let me deal with it."
"But Arthur must be really great." Garrick nodded. "You can compliment him even after all of the things he's done that have hurt you. Surely you've suffered because of him, but you don't hold it against him, at least not honestly."
Merlin had no way to argue it. What he said was true, after all.
"…maybe if it's not too often, I could visit." Merlin told Garrick.
The prince looked surprised but pleasantly so. His weak smile perked and his eyes finally met the gesture.
"So you will come?" Garrick asked.
"I'll have a lot of explaining to do to Arthur but I don't think his father will let him put up much of a fight if he knows I'll be with you." Merlin nodded.
"Will you come with me when we leave? For your first visit?" Garrick asked him. "I can properly introduce you to my father and you can stay in the palace with us."
"…you don't want me to act as your servant?" Merlin asked confusedly. "I mean, I'm very honored that you consider me a friend but that doesn't change my status."
"Your status in Sythian won't be the same as your status here in Camelot." Garrick said. "In Sythian, you can have a servant of your own. You'll be my prided guest. You can join us for parties and have dinner with my family. I'll provide the comfort you deserve."
Merlin felt a bit conflicted. Why all of this? As much as he'd love to lounge about like a lazy prince and be pampered for once in his life, the fact that it was being offered to him was just…simply unbelievable. Why had Prince Garrick taken such a great liking to him? What had he even done to deserve this?
"You're not…um, Garrick," Merlin said kind of sheepishly. "Are you doing this because I have magic?"
The Sythian Prince seemed a bit thrown by the question. Could Merlin have been right?
"Merlin," Garrick said. "It's not your magic. It's what you do with it…you're an amazing person. Please don't argue when I say that you deserve more than this."
Merlin did open his mouth to protest but he stopped himself and respected the prince's request. It was just strange, being treated so well all of a sudden.
"Well, I guess I'll go back with you when you leave." Merlin sighed while feeling a bit defeated.
It's not like Garrick is going to take no for an answer, the wizard thought to himself.
Garrick smiled at that and finally took his leave from the young servant's chambers. It had become dark already and Garrick could see it outside as he climbed the stairs toward his room. He paused a bit at one of the windows and stared out since nobody was around to interrupt him.
He stared up at the full moon and let out a shuddered sigh. He really hated evenings like these. The sky was a dark blue and a very faint peachy light brightened the air just over the castle walls. It wasn't the night or the sun set or even the moon. It was just the time. Time had been passing too quickly. Time was very dangerous for him.
In the middle of the prince's thoughts, a sudden and loud ringing drilled through his ears like a scream. He crumpled in pain with one palm to the window ceil and the other to his head as the ringing finally started to slow to a less alarming buzz.
"It shall save you." He heard soft bell-like voices chime to him. "It is the only way. You cannot fight us. We are here to help. We will heal you."
"Stop!" Garrick hissed as he sank to his knees, both ears now covered.
"We need his power to live." The voices sighed. "If we die, so do you. We only want to protect you."
"I'm trying." Garrick huffed while trying to remain unheard by castle guards.
Nobody could know that his condition had returned. It was difficult enough getting his father to agree to a peace treaty without him knowing the real reason why Garrick wanted to travel to Camelot.
"Emrys's magic will satisfy us all. You'll be free."
Garrick squeezed his eyes shut as the ringing pelted through his head again, even moving into his limbs and causing sharp pains to flash by. The high pitched ringing soon ended and Garrick found himself dizzy from the sudden silence. He turned and carefully continued up the stairs toward his guest chambers without a word or even a glance at anyone.
He had thought this would stop happening, that the previous time was the last. He thought once he'd been blessed by a group of high priestesses, that the voices had died. They hadn't spoken in years…but the blessing was only a way to postpone the inevitable. The voices came back a few months ago, just in Garrick's dreams and very quietly at first, but then they could speak to him while he was awake. Now, they come to him without warning and bring immense physical pain.
The only comfort to the prince now was the sun. For some reason, they seemed to fear it. They never awakened when the sun had, but once it had fallen, Garrick could only hope that their hunger remained at bay. He knew, however, that this wouldn't solve itself and that time could only cause more damage, more hunger, more pain. He understood well what the voices had told him and even if he'd been born of noble blood and noble nature, this curse had slowly started stealing his sanity. As composed as he might have seemed on the outside, the real Prince Garrick was trapped inside this vessel, fearing for his life and the lives of those around him.