I…I really did that, Arthur thought to himself as he sank against a cool stone wall. I really kissed Merlin. His lips are softer than I expected…how could I lose control like that? I've already ruined my chances if there were any to begin with.

Arthur stared out in front of him at the floor while wishing for too many things at once: not to be found like this, for Merlin to turn around and come back to him, for Merlin to accept him and leave Sythian. None of these things would happen on their own, Arthur realized. He couldn't give up just because Merlin said no now. He could change his mind. Arthur should have expected that Garrick would make a move this soon. He was so aggressive in their battle.

I actually have a real chance of losing.

The thought caused dread to bleed throughout Arthur's body. The time he found out what he wanted, it had already slipped through his fingers. His hand weakened and dropped from his knee to the cold castle floor. His palm brushed something small and smooth but somewhat warm. He looked down to see a shining purple pebble. It looked far too perfect to be thrown out carelessly. Someone must have dropped it and it was probably worth a lot. They were there recently. Maybe it was Merlin's. A gift from Garrick?

At that, Arthur snatched the stone up and closed his fist around it tightly. He didn't know what to do with something like that but on the off-chance that it belonged to someone else, he decided to keep it, just for a little while.

He was just about to stand when voices begin to boom and echo down the hallway on his left where Merlin had disappeared. He was just barely on his feet by the time a crowd of knights came walking down the corridor, some of which Arthur recognized from Prince Garrick's visit. That wasn't even the worst part, however. Garrick himself was at the center of them and their apparent teasing of him ceased when he looked down the corridor, noticing the blond-headed figure half darkened by a shadow and worn by several days of hard labor while still maintaining an air of royalty.

There was no good in running. How would that make Arthur look? He had already been seen and as shameful as his state and reason for being this way may have been, hiding and looking desperate would have been far worse.

"Arthur," Garrick said and some of the knights looked alarmed by the blond man's state. "…it must be very important."

It was all that Prince Garrick could think to say. The fact alone that Arthur would come to a kingdom like this for Merlin was alarming but he remembered what promises he and Merlin had already made. It put his mind at ease for the moment but he took note of the slight fear still present in him, the fear that Merlin would choose Arthur if made to make such a decision.

Garrick moved forward without the knights and Arthur straightened his stance even though his legs were still weak from his encounter with Merlin. He felt uncomfortable as Garrick's eyes moved over his tattered clothing.

"Has he seen you?" Garrick asked in a low voice so that the conversation was kept between the two princes.

The knights acknowledged that fact and turned back down the hall they'd come from.

"Just a minute ago." Arthur answered in an annoyingly level tone. "I'm surprised you didn't run into him."

"Guessing from your expression, it didn't go well?" Garrick asked, not entirely smirking but feeling a bit better.

"Maybe not this time." the blond prince replied. "He's still my servant and he'll never leave his friends behind. He'll come back to Camelot."

"We both will." Garrick nodded seriously. "…I apologize for being so rude to you before, during our match. You are important to Merlin and I don't want to upset him by insulting you."

Arthur was in the same position, wasn't he?

"But I know better than he does about how you really feel." Sythian's prince said. "I'm not someone to back down out of kindness and the place you wish to hold Merlin in your life? He's already taken that place in mine."

Arthur felt a mix of anguish and hostility that caused his skin a pain that only worsened with Garrick's next words.

"And he doesn't have to hide it here." He said.

"…I have the same right to pursue him as you do." Arthur said.

"You don't." Garrick said simply and took a step forward, lowering his voice in perhaps a threatening way. "I know things about Merlin that he will never tell you. If he were to stand at your side like that, how would it feel? You must know he'd die for you, for anyone he cares for even a little bit. What if he died one day protecting you? You may have spent more time with him than me but we are already much closer. I won't let him die for you, someone who doesn't even bother to ask why he tries so hard. I've said it to you before, and maybe not in the most respectful situation, but I meant it. You've cost Merlin so much, and you don't even appreciate his sacrifices. You can't."
"If he won't tell me, why does it matter if I ask?" Arthur replied angrily.

"Maybe if you had shown concern, even if he wasn't going to tell the truth, then we wouldn't be together now. I feel conflicted to thank your obstinate pride in treating Merlin like you have."

"…what is it that he won't tell me?" Arthur asked with the slightest twinge of desperateness.

There was a pause before Garrick answered, probably to think. His voice was steady and clear for Arthur to understand so it didn't need repeated.

"No matter how Merlin comes to feel for me, he will never abandon you, even if he's upset." He told Arthur who was carefully listening. "A prince is taught from a young age that his life is not his own. It belongs to the people. His marriage and body and mind serve purpose to his kingdom and not his fancy. Surely it's a great pressure on you but it isn't the worst."

"I will be king one day." Arthur interrupted to remind Garrick.

"And even that is less than what weighs on Merlin." The Sythian Prince nodded.

Arthur was immediately confused but concerned. What could possibly be so important about Merlin that it outweighed kingship?

"What is his burden, then?" Arthur asked.

"You." Garrick said so plainly that Arthur wondered if he even heard it right.

"…me? I'm the burden?"

"You don't belong to yourself." Garrick said seriously with a darker tone so it sank in. "The kingdom may come to rest on your shoulders but it is Merlin who keeps you alive, who protects you. He's like an angel in some ways. You alone are one kingdom but by protecting you, Merlin is doing something much bigger. He is bringing refuge and freedom to those who deserve it and he puts so much hope in you that you will bring the change that we all need, even Sythian. He won't tell you about it in fear that you will betray his hopes. It's much easier to protect you when nobody knows that there is always a shield between you and your enemies."

Arthur didn't know what to say or even how he should stand. He recalled Merlin making mentions of Arthur's destiny before but this was what he meant?

"How has he been protecting me?" Arthur asked Garrick as he met the other prince's eyes again. "I'm the best swordsman in Camelot and Merlin can't even manage chores. Maybe you don't know because you've never gone to battle with him but he can't fight."

"Maybe not when you're looking." Garrick nodded seriously but took a step back now. "He'd probably be upset with me if he knew I told you about this."

"But you've hardly explained anything." Arthur protested as Garrick started walking down the hall toward the servants' quarters. "He can actually fight and only fakes being weak?"

"In a different way then you're imagining, yes." Garrick said without looking back. "He's the strongest fighter I know."

Arthur was left in the hallways again as he gripped the small purple stone he'd almost forgotten about. He immediately made a plan to dispose of it some place in the woods. It was so small they would never find it. Maybe it was just stupid anger but it must not have been that important if Merlin hadn't come back for it yet.

Arthur turned toward the servants' quarters again and took a separate corridor from the one Garrick disappeared down on the right. Just as he'd left the hall, Merlin came walking back toward the place he and Arthur had spoken. His eyes scanned the floors and corners of the hallway, carefully looking for a shiny violet pebble. During his frantic search for the stone, Garrick was climbing down the stairs of a spiral corridor in search of something himself, or rather, someone.

He found his mute manservant several floors down and took him by surprise when he shut the door to the armory where Eldon was polishing his armor. The servant jumped and looked back as Garrick walked over with a gentler step than before. Eldon was more worried about the delicate manner in which his master was moving than that he had locked the door behind him. He gave the prince a questioning look.

"I believe there's a conversation we've yet to have." Garrick said in a low and even tone and Eldon's worries only grew.