"It's already dark." The king told his son. "You can't so searching for something so small when there's no light, especially not with Prince Arthur. This is dangerous territory for him. He should have come to me in the first place."
"He seems to like challenges." Garrick murmured but the sounds made way to everyone's ears in the throne room.
"It can wait a night." Aster nodded in agreement with her father. "We can all go when it's safer."
"I'm not allowing either of you to join them." King George told Aster and Eldon who stood by her side. "They have what they need. Arthur can guide them, Garrick can protect them, and Merlin can locate the stone."
"He can't use magic in front of Arthur." Garrick said.
"Then distract Arthur. Lead him away from Merlin if you have to. Just find that stone." The king said.
"…I guess I'll go tell the others, then, see if Merlin's gotten an answer." Garrick said as he turned.
He was only five steps far when a sudden rush of pain washed over him. It was concentrated in his head and a bit in his gut, almost like a hunger. Dread immediately took a familiar place in his body as an old enemy hummed in his ears.
"Did you miss us?" the voices chimed.
Garrick fell down to his knees and it alarmed everyone in the room. Two guards hurried over as the king stood from his throne. Garrick hardly noticed the guards' hands brush him as he clutched his head with his eyes squeezed shut tightly, trying not to cry out.
"Garrick!" the king shouted as he got closer.
One of the guards held King George back and Eldon held Aster back as well.
"Gotten chummy with your dinner?" the voices snickered in Garrick's mind. "You shouldn't have left his side, you know."
"No!" Garrick shouted hoarsely at the demons in his head. "You can't have him!"
"You need him like we need him, Garrick."
"Leave him alone! Please!" Garrick begged but he could already feel himself losing control of his own body.
He stood and the guards were startled. They stood in front of the king while Eldon guarded Aster but Garrick didn't even look back at them. He couldn't. They'd gotten so much stronger now. He could only barely get his own words out.
"I won't let you hurt him." He growled.
In the next second like some cruel fate, Merlin ran in through the doorway. He was alarmed, having heard the shouting from two corridors away. Garrick stared in fear at Merlin. Arthur quickly arrived behind him but Merlin hurried into the room.
"No!" Garrick shouted which caused Merlin to freeze. "Don't come any closer! They're back! Run, Merlin!"
"I can help!" Merlin argued.
"We can make you forget about him." The voices hissed. "You won't even remember who he is. He'll just be a simple boy you had to kill in order to survive. That's what it takes to be a royal, after all. You kill in order to gain power. How do you think your family is even royalty? This is no different from what your ancestors have done. We can make it less painful for you."
"Don't!" Garrick continued to shout at Merlin.
He tried to hold himself back but he could feel his entire body shaking with pain at every attempt. The urge to let go was tempting but there was no pain too difficult to endure when it might save the person he loved.
"GET AWAY!" Garrick shouted at Merlin.
Arthur ran and grabbed Merlin back by his waist and tried to drag him out of the room but Merlin put up an immediate fight. Arthur's strength got Merlin just past the doors when a helmet smacked Garrick in the back of the head. Garrick collapsed to an unconscious state on the floor but the shouting continued to faintly echo in the large stone room. Aster lowered her hands and Eldon stood in front of her again.
"Is he okay?" Aster asked immediately. "I only meant to knock him down."
"Take him down and chain him." The king said. "Quickly!"
"Wait!" Merlin said and Arthur finally let him go.
Merlin ran to Garrick's side and started to shake him a bit.
"Merlin, it is dangerous." The king said gruffly. "Do you have any idea what he could do to you?!"
"I-it was fine when we were together." Merlin said while shaking his head frantically. "We must have gotten too far apart."
"It's been back?!" the king asked angrily. "Why did neither of you tell me?!"
"We thought it was under control." Merlin answered defensively as he looked up at the king. "It's alright as long as we're close. I was on the other side of the castle just earlier so we were apart for too long. I'm sorry."
The king didn't say anything and Eldon held onto Aster to calm her shaking a bit. Arthur stared from the open doors in confusion at everything.
"Garrick," Merlin said as he shook the unconscious prince's arm. "Garrick, wake up. I'm here now. They're gone, right?"
"What's going on?" Arthur asked as he came up behind Merlin but his attention was directed at the king.
"Prince Arthur?" King George inquired. "You're a bit more theatrical than I expected."
"And I apologize for entering your kingdom without warning." Arthur nodded. "…I did so under the impression that my servant was in danger."
"…it seems he just might be." The kind nodded rather vacantly.
"The curse?" Aster asked, her voice tinged with fear as she passed Eldon and walked to her father's side. "The one that mother told me about? The cursed cradle?"
"You should be safe, darling." King George assured her. "…the demons have already chosen who to go after and if what Merlin says is true, he should be fine."
"Demons?" Arthur asked with a confused and just frustrated expression. "What curse? And what has it got to do with Merlin?"
"It just chooses people." The king lied and Merlin acknowledged the favor with a single glance up from Garrick. "When my son was an infant, his cradle was cursed. Since, he's had demons plague him with voices, leading him to search for a particular person to drain life from so that they might separate themselves from Garrick. The person they chose was Merlin…and it might very well be the only reason Garrick insisted on a truce with your father's kingdom."
"But he hasn't done anything." Merlin said from his place beside the prince. "It's only when we haven't been close for a while. I don't know how close I have to be but we're both safer when we're together."
Arthur stared down at Merlin who only looked at the king.
Is that why Merlin is choosing to stay? Arthur asked himself. Not because he's really in love but because that's what's keeping them both alive?
"Be careful." One of the guards said as Merlin shook Garrick again.
"Merlin, he could wake up the same." Arthur warned.
"I don't think he will." Merlin said with a shake of his head. "Garrick, hey, wake up. You can't sleep on the floor. You'll catch something."
"I'll go fetch some smelling salts." Aster said but her father caught her shoulder and kept her back.
"He's stirring." He told her and they all looked down.
Merlin was cautious as Garrick scrunched his eyebrows down, perhaps in pain, maybe dizziness. The prince murmured some sort of protest about not wanting to wake.
"If you don't, I guess I'll be sleeping alone." Merlin whispered close to Garrick's ear.
Arthur glared in suspicion at not being able to hear Merlin but he didn't ask. He knew he probably didn't want to hear.
Garrick's eyes slowly opened in a squint to see Merlin who offered a questioning smile. Garrick rolled over onto his stomach to grip the back of his head in pain.
"You could have used a sleeping spell." Garrick grunted, most likely to his sister.
"Excuse me," Aster replied in an offended tone. "But I've only just learned that spell and could just as easily make you sleep for months. Besides, it would have taken too long."
"Did I hurt anyone?" Garrick asked as he looked up again at Merlin.
"Not really, no." Merlin said.
Garrick looked past Merlin at Arthur who stared down with a slightly hostile gleam. If Arthur was fighting for Merlin before, he would be downright belligerent now. It was a fact that Garrick could very well kill him and he wouldn't even want to. It wasn't a matter of who loved Merlin more or who Merlin loved most to Arthur. It was a matter of what was best for him. Was Merlin safer with or without Garrick?
"The stone?" Garrick asked as Merlin helped him stand.
"I'll lead you both tomorrow." Arthur replied. "And I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused out of jealousy."
Merlin was a little surprised that Arthur would admit to being jealous but given the circumstances, everyone was bound to be a bit more serious.
"Garrick," the king said and his son looked back, immediately revealing a look of apology. "How long has this been going on? Why didn't you tell me?"
Garrick turned and let Merlin's hands drift from places where he'd been supporting him. He faced his father now.
"I'm sorry." He said.
"Someone could have been killed." The king said gruffly. "You could be dead. You could still be dying. How long?"
"…it's been several months." Garrick answered. "It started as dreams but then it wasn't…and I knew they wanted Merlin."
"So you were going to go after him?" the king nodded but his expression was gravely far from approving.
"…but I couldn't." Garrick said and a new strength built in his eyes. "I could have. I had plans, but I couldn't carry them through. I fell in love with him, father."
Merlin felt exposed in that moment, wanting but not wanting to look back at Arthur whose eyes traced the back of Merlin's head without relent.
"And after being together with him, when we're close, the voices leave us alone. It's like they're scared of him." Garrick told his father. "Merlin knows what's happened to me and he knows the risks. Regardless, he wants to be with me and I can't let him go. If I really thought he'd be able to live without me, I might have sent him away but I can't because I don't. This is the only safe place for him and we love each other."
Arthur felt useless in his part of the room, just forgotten. His feelings didn't matter. How he felt wouldn't keep Merlin safe. His feelings threatened the very thing that could keep Merlin alive. He was a nuisance after all.
"…then for both of your sakes, don't leave each other's sides." The king finally said but his voice was filled with reluctance. "Merlin, you are fully aware of what this means?"
Merlin nodded.
"And you'll willingly stay by my son's side?" the king asked.
"I will, my lord." Merlin said surely, eyes almost flickering with seriousness.
The king nodded in just as serious a manner before his eyes flicked to Arthur. He didn't say anything to him but looked at Garrick again.
"…I'll send someone else with Prince Arthur to search for the stone." The king said. "You and Merlin will remain here and you are not to stray from each other."
"We can go ourselves." Garrick told him. "Besides, we can take Arthur back to Camelot in the same trip. Merlin will need to sort out his arrangements at home before coming back and we can't be separated. We might as well go now."
"…I'm not trusting enough of these demons to let you three go off alone." The king replied.
"And what if you lose the stone after finding it?" Aster asked her brother. "What if you don't even find it?"
"We will." Garrick told her and looked to his father again. "If you insist, I'll bring two knights with us. Prince Arthur himself is a very talented swordsman. Merlin will be safe."
The king didn't speak for a moment as a loud thought crossed his mind, one Garrick would challenge. The king wasn't so much concerned about Merlin as he was about his own son. In this situation, Garrick was the monster. Monsters were defeated. As clearly as the thought rang in the king's mind, he didn't voice it. Instead, he nodded slowly to his son.
"Three knights." He said. "Have one bring the stone back here and carry on to Camelot. I will see you back in four days."
"That's not very much time." Garrick pointed out.
"Ride hard." The king said and glanced at Merlin. "And stay close."
Merlin did a short bow of his head. The king returned no acknowledgment as he passed the two lovers and Prince Arthur on his way out the doors. Aster and Eldon watched the three men across the room as one of them attempted to make himself scarce.
"…I've caused a lot of trouble." Arthur told Garrick as the prince turned to face him along with Merlin. "But I stand firm by my words and I will find it."
"I know." Garrick nodded. "But I won't let that be what describes your character. I'm not such an idiot as to believe you're always in the wrong. There's such a thing as forgiveness."
"I agree." Aster said. "But that doesn't mean I'll forget."
"I will make it up to you, Princess." Arthur said with a bow of his head that Merlin felt a bit moved by.
He just bowed to a witch. He knew she had magic, yet he was treating her this way. Though Aster didn't find it unordinary, as it was courtesy, Merlin and even Garrick were pleasantly surprised.
"I believe I should get some rest before tomorrow." Arthur said to Garrick. "The courtyard at dawn, I'm assuming."
Garrick nodded.
"Wonderful." The blond prince sighed before turning and leaving the room.
Eldon and Princess Aster also took their leave only seconds before Merlin and Garrick stepped into the corridor from the throne room.
"Do you think that will be enough time?" Garrick asked Merlin as they were walking back to their rooms. "I know it's not as much as you'd like…but we can always visit again. My father will be less worried over time."
"If we can get to Camelot in less than two days, I'll have time to say goodbye." Merlin nodded but didn't look over at Garrick.
"…what's wrong?" the prince asked.
Merlin looked over, noticing the serious concern on Garrick's face. He cracked a smile so he wouldn't worry.
"I'm just wondering if your head hurts." Merlin said. "She hit you pretty hard."
"I've experienced worse injuries." Garrick sighed with a soft smile as he continued to look at Merlin while they walked. "Of course you could heal it, couldn't you?"
"Perhaps." Merlin said.
They finally arrived at Garrick's chamber door and Merlin turned in an attempt to kiss Garrick's cheek but the prince pushed his door open with a flourish for Merlin to go in. Without more than a quick glance around, Merlin entered the room with a smile as Garrick shut the door behind them.
"Oh, but my nightclothes are in the guest room." Merlin told Garrick.
"Borrow some of mine." The prince grinned as he stood closer.
His rough hands found comfort in the smooth lines of Merlin's back as he set their kiss alight. Merlin melted into the gesture with a deep sense of bliss as he was reminded of how he was loved by Garrick.
"You're really planning to sleep tonight?" Merlin asked quietly with their foreheads lightly tilted together and his hands resting at Garrick's waist.
"That sounds vaguely like an invitation." The prince replied with his eyes dancing between Merlin's eyes and lips. "…I don't want to rush anything."
"It's not like I'm defenseless." Merlin smirked. "You mean a lot to me, Garrick…and I'm glad I came here with you. I think I'm glad it was me."
"I'm not." Garrick said with a shake of his head that Merlin didn't understand. "I want to keep you safe but at the same time, I'm very dangerous."
"Arthur wouldn't be alive if I was that worried about being killed." Merlin said with an eyebrow raised slightly.
"I'm serious." Garrick said and Merlin's humor melted away.
"…well then you should get used to me." Merlin told Garrick. "Because I'm never leaving."
This time, Merlin leaned into the kiss. He felt Garrick's gentle smile beneath his lips and his feet beginning to move them in direction of the bed. With a simple thought and a flash of gold light behind Merlin's eyelids, every candle flame in the room was vanquished. The night was then ignited by the two's much longed for intimacy. Their warmth carried on into the dawn where they woke in another day's light, hope filling their hearts and their minds with each other.