The Forest Bull
Marayna crept quietly though the castle, down the large flight of stairs that would lead her to the Dragon's dwelling place. For once, the Dragon was actually out, perched on his rock, so she would not have to call out for him. He glanced at her amusedly, though she could detect a bit of confusion in his eyes, clearly he hadn't been expecting her to show up. She could understand it though, the only other times she or Merlin had come to see him was when there had been a threat against Camelot, or when she'd tried to pry more into her supposed-destiny, but never really just came down to see him.
"And what does the young witch need my help with this time?" he asked, eyeing her critically.
"I don't need your help," she replied, offering him a small smile, pleased she was able to surprise him.
"Really?" the Dragon lifted (what she assumed was) a scaly eyebrow clearly amused by her statement, clearly not entirely believing it either, "It would seem that has never been the case before. You and your brother only seek me out if there is something above your heads that you cannot defeat."
She shook her head, "There is no creature this time," she answered, "But...I am curious about something."
"And that would be," the Dragon grinned, expecting her to ask some sort of question about her destiny or her brother's or some way to get out of marrying Arthur...
"What was it like?"
Had the Dragon not been an old, majestic creature of power, he would have fallen flat on his face from the question. That was not what he was thinking she would ask, "What was what like?"
"Everything," she smiled, giving a small laugh. She turned, placing the torch into a sort of crack in the wall, wedging it in there so it wouldn't fall before she turned to the Dragon once more, eager, "What's it like to fly? What have you seen? Surely you must have seen hundreds of civilizations rise and fall in your time, what were they like?"
The Dragon blinked and stared down at her, shock in his eyes. No one had ever...taken an interest in his life before. He couldn't help but smile at her though, now he would get his chance to tell the stories he never thought he would, "You'd best make yourself comfortable," he replied, leaning back as she took a seat, plopping down on the dirt floors, uncaring if it stained her 'precious dress' (take that Arthur!), and leaning against the cavern wall, "You're in for quite a tale."
~8~
And so she was.
She had no idea the Dragon was so old! Not that that was a bad thing, but she could tell he glossed over much of his story. It seemed he wanted her to get a general idea of everything he had seen so she could ask for a particular story in detail. He had seen the rise of the Roman Empire, the beginnings of Egypt, the start of civilization in general! He had seen hundreds of lands, China, Egypt, Africa, India, even continents as large as Europe lying to the west. He'd seen epic battles and times of peace. He'd defeated armies by himself and fought with the greatest of dragons, which sparked her curiosity.
"How on earth did Uther manage to capture you?" she breathed, her eyes still wide in shock at everything she had heard. There was no way humanly possible that Uther could have captured him short of the Dragon willingly giving himself up, and she doubted that was the case.
The Dragon's smile faded slightly, "I made a very important decision, which weakened me greatly," he replied, before shaking his head, "But that is a story for another time."
"Why can't you tell it now?" she frowned.
He laughed, "Because, it is already daybreak, and I am sure your master has many chores in store for you."
Her eyes widened even more as she jumped to her feet, "It's dawn already!?" she turned to leave, having come there in the middle of the night to be safe, but hesitated for a moment. She turned to look at the Dragon, "There is one other question I have," she began slowly, "It's been bothering me for a day or so now."
"Yes?" he smirked, able to guess what her topic would be.
She took a breath, "When Merlin was about to drink the poison, I told him that I would do it because my destiny is less important than his. That, without me, Arthur would still be king, but without him, everything would be destroyed," the Dragon nodded, waiting for her to continue, "I don't know why I said it, but I think it may be true. Do you know why?"
She really didn't know why she'd said it. Sometimes things like that happened, her 'woman's intuition' kicked in and she'd be able to guess things like that. It wasn't anything big, she was completely certain that she couldn't see the future, not like Morgana could. There were...other things she could see at times, but NOT the future, not at all. It was more...she could tell when someone was lying to her, she could guess when a book would hold no answers, she could pick the right object in a trick, really very small things, nothing very extreme.
"I do," he answered, beginning to smile.
She stared at him, "But you're not going to tell me, are you?"
He laughed, "Not today, no," he replied, "But I shall, one day soon."
She sighed, shaking her head before making her way out of the cavern. At least she'd been able to get clear meaning from him before. It figured, the Dragon would talk about himself all he wanted in crystal clarity, but not answer questions about anything else.
~8~
Arthur hadn't been joking when he said that the chores could wait a day or so for her and Merlin to recover from being poisoned. They only thing she and Merlin hadn't counted on was Arthur being a complete slob! Two days after the incident with the chalice and they were back at work with what seemed like a week's worth of mess to sort through. She and Merlin had spent the last four days getting the chores done, it was torture!
Currently she was standing behind Arthur as he had dinner with his father and Morgana. She could barely keep her face stoic as she watched her brother and Morgana eyeing each other across the room as Merlin waited on Arthur's goblet while she fetched his food from the center, little roles they seemed to have fallen into when meals came around. Apparently, after Merlin had woken from the poison, Morgana had kissed him. They still had yet to talk about the kiss, but if their smiles said anything, at least neither regretted it. Though, knowing Morgana, Merlin wouldn't have to wait long before discussing what it meant. Morgana seemed like the sort to hold nothing back and be completely open about what she felt, voicing her thoughts to any who would listen. And Merlin was most certainly the sort to listen to what others had to say.
"So there's been no progress?" Arthur asked, drawing her out of her thoughts.
Uther sighed, "None at all. Not even Robert can get close to her anymore."
"What'll you do?" Arthur leaned forward, a concerned frown on his face.
Marayna was confused for a moment, until she remembered what they had been talking about before she had gone off to another world. Uther had been informed by Robert, Aurora's caretaker, that she was not acting herself. She was skittish and not eating much and making more noise than normal, she reared up and snorted threateningly whenever Robert or others (even UTHER!) tried to get near her. Marayna couldn't blame the poor horse, after suffering under Urry's hand, she could understand it being frightened of men. She had enough sense to be able to recognize that Urry wasn't other men in general, she could recognize that others were different, but Aurora, with how dark it had been in the stables probably couldn't tell exactly who it had been but just been able to tell from the tone of voice that it was a man.
She felt rather guilty to admit, but...she DID feel a bit tense around the other knights when she and Merlin were to wait upon Arthur during his training. Merlin always stood closer to her, but the other knights tried to be considerate of her. She was honestly torn between how she felt about their actions and reactions around her. She was grateful they were trying to prove in their caution that they were disgusted by what Urry had done and that they would not do the same. But at the same time, sometimes she caught them looking at her with pity, and she absolutely HATED that. She had gotten enough pity in her life from those in Ealdor, she didn't need it from nobles too.
Uther didn't answer the question, he could only hope that Aurora would soon come to trust him again, it would...truly break his heart to have his wife's horse, his gift to her, squirm away from him in fear. He glanced up to see the girl, Marayna he recalled, standing behind Arthur, a small plate that she was meant to put the food on in hand, a thoughtful expression on her face...
~8~
Merlin had just gone to bring Morgana her draught from Gaius, a potion he prepared to help her sleep as she seemed to be having nightmares recently, when Gaius himself retired for the night. Marayna claimed she would stay awake a bit longer and study her magic, perhaps wait for Merlin to come back, which her uncle accepted, of course.
She would never lie to her uncle…
Right.
She was quiet as a mouse as she snuck out of the room and into the hallway. Merlin had yet to come back and she was determined to get out of the castle before he returned. Usually, this late at night, Merlin would see the lights off and sneak into the room, roll onto his small cot, and fall asleep. He would never notice she was not in the room.
It was pitch black as she stumbled her way towards the stables. She had her work cut out for her in not tripping as the path down was not exactly smooth or even and she nearly tripped half a dozen times before she reached them. It wasn't like she could light a torch for the way, she did not want it to be seen from the castle nor could she cast a spell to see in the dark, she hadn't read of one yet and she'd rather not accidently blind herself in an attempt at recalling some spell or another nor did she want to risk using wild magic on her eyes.
She reached Uther's stables, and bit her lip as she tried to open the door as quietly as possible as she didn't want it to squeak and startle the horses. Of course, because it was HER, it would squeak. That was just her luck, but thankfully the horses hadn't been spooked. She carefully slipped into the stables and shut the door behind her. She rolled her eyes as it didn't squeak when she shut it. Of course not.
She tiptoed over to a small lantern resting on a barrel and picked it up, looking around and listening carefully for any sign of someone else being there before focusing on the lantern again, "Leohtbora," she whispered, smiling as a small flame ignited, casting a warm light around her.
However her smile fell when it illuminated the stables. She swallowed hard, seeing the sconce she'd been chained to, seeing the manacles still lying on the ground, partially covered in hay which explained why they hadn't been moved yet. She blinked, staring at that spot, faintly able to hear the sounds of the riding crop hitting flesh, before she shook her head sharply. She swallowed hard and turned away quickly, no...no she was NOT going to do this. Not now. That wasn't why she was there. She wasn't there to confront her own demons, she was there for another purpose.
She took a breath and held the lantern high, making her way towards the last stall where she knew Aurora to be kept. She paused as she heard a squeak, looking back over her shoulder, but when she saw nothing she continued on.
She reached the stall, frowning as she saw the horse still awake, standing against the back wall as far from the stall entrance as she could get, "Oh Aurora," she murmured, looking at the small scars on its hide, as the horse turned its head to look at her, "I'm so sorry I didn't get to you sooner."
She carefully rested the lantern on the stall's edge and opened it. Aurora made a bit of a step in place but didn't move other than that which she took as a good sign. She quickly slipped inside the stall and shut it behind her, standing against the stall door, not moving so as not to disturb the horse. She waited till Aurora blinked before she took a single step in...
But Aurora neighed and so she stopped.
"It's ok," she whispered, holding up her two hands so the horse could see she held nothing that could harm her, "I won't hurt you," she took a slow step, "I would never hurt you," she made sure she continued to talk in soothing tones so the horse wouldn't be spooked again, "Remember me?" she smiled, "I came to help you. I got him to stop. He's gone, he won't hurt you again. He won't hurt me either."
She hadn't intended to say that last part but, seeing as how it was true, she couldn't take it back. She was standing in front of the horse now, one of her hands raised only inches from the horse's face. Aurora hadn't moved at all during her drawing closer but she wasn't sure whether or not to take that as a good thing or a bad thing. Aurora either trusted her or was too scared to do anything...she hoped it was the first.
She reached out a bit more, took one more step, and gently laid her hand on the horse's snout. She sighed, smiling as the horse nuzzled her hand a moment later and moved to stroke her, "There we go, you beautiful girl," she cooed, reaching out another hand to run her hands through Aurora's mane, "See? It's alright. I promised I wouldn't hurt you. There we go."
She could see the horse relax, seeming to know that the woman before her truly would not hurt her, that the woman was not the man from before, that she was the one who rescued her. She was the nice human.
She stepped to the left, patting and petting Aurora's back until she neared the hind. She could dimly see in the lantern light that the red wounds had healed, faded into clay colored scars. She reached out hesitantly and gently felt along a scar. Aurora gave a start and Marayna quickly pulled her hand away and moved back to the horse's head, staring at her, petting her snout with both hands to calm her.
"Hey, it's ok," she soothed, calming the horse slightly, "I understand, really I do..." she turned, lifting her hair from her neck where a few red scars could still be seen from the neckline of her dress, "I have them too."
She didn't know why she was showing the horse her scars. She doubted Aurora could understand or make the connection, but it seemed she was wrong. A moment later, she felt Aurora press her nose against her back, not hard, but more of a gentle nudging. She turned to see the horse staring at her and she smiled at that. She reached out, now not hesitating at all as she stroked the horse's snout, "We're one in the same, you and I," she murmured, "We'll forever share the same scars it seems."
Aurora snorted with what Marayna could only guess was agreement or understanding. She smiled a bit more as the lovely horse nuzzled her hand, nipping lightly at her palm.
"You've no idea how sorry I am that you do," a voice said to her right.
She gasped and snapped her head in that direction to see Arthur standing outside the stall's entrance, staring at her with what seemed like a mix of anger, sadness, and regret swimming in his eyes.
"I've no idea why," she remarked, turning back to focus on Aurora, who was tense once more now that a man was there, "You should have nothing to be sorry for. You weren't the one to do this, you weren't the one holding the riding crop," she glanced at him, "YOU were the one who saw to it that Urry was banished."
"Still," he mumbled, sighing deeply, "I knew Urry would react badly to being beaten, even if it was barely so, I should have said something to him to warn him away from it."
"If Urry was willing to let his anger control him, then he had no business being a knight," Marayna countered, stroking Aurora's snout more as Arthur eyed them.
"She hasn't let anyone near her since Urry you know."
"I do," she nodded, "I suppose she trusts me."
"Well, you did save her."
Marayna frowned at that, "Not all people whose lives are saved trust their saviors."
Arthur flinched immediately, knowing that she was referring to the incidents with his lack of trust in Merlin even after he saved his life. It seemed she would never forgive him for that. And he supposed she would be justified in that. Until the day came where he fully believed what Merlin said without hesitation or doubt she wouldn't forgive him for his doubts. She was right, Merlin had saved his life on more than one occasion, yet he hadn't exactly proven he trusted his manservant.
His thoughts were broken as Marayna quickly turned to face him, "Come here."
"What?" he blinked. Had she not heard a word that was said at dinner? Aurora didn't seem to trust anyone except Marayna, especially not men.
"Come here," she repeated, rolling her eyes as though she thought he were dumb, "Aurora needs to learn that she can trust others besides me. She'll never be able to if no one tries."
"Robert's tried," he argued, "So has my father."
"But she didn't have some she trusted telling her it would be alright did she? Now, are you going to come here or am I going to have to drag you in?"
He would have laughed at the image of her trying to drag him somewhere...when he realized that she probably could. She was much stronger than she appeared, both emotionally and physically, not many women could endure a beating like the one Urry had given her and still be as...strong and normal around men. Though he had yet to see the physical muscles, he knew they were there, he'd felt them when he'd carried her to Gaius's when she'd been poisoned. Not to mention, he knew that he hadn't the will to physically fight her on anything...he would feel too much like Urry if he did.
Cautiously, Arthur opened the gate to the stall and slipped inside. He could see Aurora eyeing him nervously and stepping in place as he locked the door behind him. Marayna continued to whisper calming words and promises that everything would be alright as she stroked the horse's snout, "Now...very slowly, make your way over. Raise your hands a bit as you do."
Any other day, he would have rolled his eyes and told her that he was the Prince, he would be the one giving orders. But this was quite a serious matter. Aurora was a special horse to him and his father and if Marayna could get her to trust at least them again, it would be worth it to bear the humiliation of following a servant's orders.
So, slowly, he made his way towards the horse and lifting his hands as he went, pausing as she grew nervous, but continuing as Marayna calmed her. Soon, he was close enough where, if he extended an arm straight out, he could touch the horse...
"Stop," Marayna ordered as she saw him trying to do just that.
"But I thought I was supposed to come closer," he nearly snapped, only seeing her glare kept him from doing so, "What's the point of raising my hands if I'm not going to pet her?"
"The point at raising your hands is to show Aurora that you don't have anything to hit her with," she answered, rolling her eyes again, "And stopping is to show her that you won't touch her if she doesn't want you to. Stand just like that until she nuzzles your hand. It shows her that you won't do anything until she's comfortable."
"So I just stand here like a bloody idiot for who knows how long?" this time he did snap.
"I don't see why you're so upset, you've had plenty of practice standing somewhere looking like an idiot before," she remarked dryly, before smirking, "I'd wipe the scowl off your face, wouldn't want to scare Aurora," he nearly scowled more at that, but then she added, "Wouldn't want to seem ungrateful now would you?"
And there she went, throwing the words he'd said to her in the market when trying to get her dresses back at him. It was then that he realized...she was partially right. Not about the idiot thing of course, but about the scowl. It really would scare Aurora if he kept up his menacing stare. And after everything Marayna had been through, he should just consider himself lucky she was willing to enter the stables to help the horse in the first place.
With a great deal of effort, he managed to relax his features into what he hoped looked like a reassuring smile. He chose to ignore Marayna's playful grimaces at his attempts.
He stood there for what seemed like hours, his arms held out in the air, waiting for permission...from a horse. It wasn't till he had been standing there for quite a while that he realized how ridiculous that statement was. He was just about to pull his hands away and scold his servant for making a fool out of him...when something slightly cold and wet grazed his hand.
He looked down to see Aurora nipping at one of his hands, snorting into it. He glanced up at Marayna to see her grinning back at him, his own cocky grin mirrored on her face. He tentatively reached out to brush his hand against the horse's snout, smiling as she nuzzled into his hand more. Taking a step forward he began to stroke her white mane, feeling the horse relax under his hands.
"I wouldn't touch her scars just yet," Marayna warned, smiling as Aurora returned her attention to the girl before her, "It's a rather touchy subject. Maybe in a few months she'll feel comfortable enough, maybe even a few weeks, but until then…"
She trailed and he understood what she meant, though he had the faintest idea that she may not be just talking about the horse. He looked back at Aurora, "Do you think she trusts me again?"
"I don't think she had a reason not to trust you, she's just spooked," Marayna shrugged after a moment of thought, "It might just be that, right now, she feels very comfortable and safe. She knows nothing bad will happen to her if you're here."
It was the 'you're' that made him fully aware of the fact that Marayna was most certainly not just talking about Aurora. Had she been, she would have said 'we're' instead. He chose not to comment on that brief slip. Instead, a rather warm feeling spread through him at the notion that Marayna trusted him, even after the Urry incident, and that she did feel safe with him.
He couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face at that...nor, it seemed, could he stop her from noticing it, "What?" she asked.
"Nothing," he said quickly, "When do you suppose she'll be ready for my father?"
Marayna sighed, Uther was...a rather intimidating man, even when he wasn't trying to be, "I don't know. She remembers her trust in you, but I would still be cautious around her, don't make very sudden moves and such. Perhaps when she's completely comfortable around you and you can approach her like normal, you could be the one to reopen her trust in your father as I did with you."
Arthur nodded, glancing over at the girl, "Well, we'd best be off," he muttered, stepping slowly away from the horse, motioning for Marayna to do the same, "We've a full day ahead of us."
"We?" she looked at him, giving Aurora one last pet before leaving the stall and following Arthur outside, "I thought you gave Merlin and I the day off, since you would be else wise detained?"
Arthur sighed, "I did. I will be."
"I'm not certain I understand," she frowned, he really was making no sense at all.
"Tomorrow I must awaken early, dine with father, prepare the new knights for training, examine the guards, attend a delegation meeting with my father, inspect the staff, dine with my father again and then do border patrol," he reached up and rubbed his head, already a headache was starting just thinking about tomorrow.
Marayna couldn't help but giggle a bit, finally he was getting a taste at what servants had to do, "I never thought I'd see the day," she muttered between giggles and Arthur's glares, "The prince has more chores than the servants!"
"Ha ha," he rolled his eyes, sarcasm dripping from his words, "It's not as though I can just slack off like the servants do."
"Why can't you?" she shook her head, asking in all seriousness.
"If I slack off at a meeting with neighboring dignitaries, a war will break out."
"I highly doubt that," she scoffed, but then an idea struck her, "What if there was a way to ensure that you could 'slack off' as you call it, and prevent a war at the same time?"
"And what way would that be?"
"How can a war start because you slack off if you are not there to slack off?" she smirked.
"How could I be sure a war won't start because I'm not there?" he countered.
"The king will be there, yes?" he nodded, "I don't think he'd allow the kingdom to go to war just because his son didn't come to one meeting."
"But when I'm king…"
"When you're king, but you're not now are you? I doubt a day of slacking would kill you."
"You'd be surprised," he muttered, "My father would murder me."
"Ah, but then he'd have no heir, so I think you're safe," she smiled victoriously, "All you need to do is meet me at the back gates at dawn."
"Mara…" he nearly whined.
"Artie…" she mimicked.
"Artie?" he blinked, actually stopping to look at her, stunned at that, "Where on earth did you get that from?"
"What?" she shook her head, smiling, "You can give me a nickname, but I can't give you one?"
"It's highly unfitting for a servant to address their master as anything but Sire, Lord, or Master," he stated, as though reciting something, "And anyway...Artie as a horrid nickname."
The smile on her face grew positively evil, "Well, I suppose I shall have to refrain from calling you Artie then…"
"Thank you," he began.
"If you meet me at dawn that is," she finished, "Else, I shall be forced to forever call you Prince Artie."
"You're blackmailing me now, is that it?" he couldn't help the smile from cracking on his face.
"I like to think of it more as...a challenge."
"Well, I shall have you know that a prince never backs down from a challenge."
"So, dawn then?" she asked and he nodded. She smiled, walking off, fading into the shadows at the back of the castle, near Gaius's chambers, "I shall see you then Artie."
Arthur stood there a few moments after she had disappeared, before he blinked, realizing what he'd just agreed to, "How does she do that?" he murmured, wondering what he had just gotten himself into.
~8~
"And where have you been all night?" Merlin called as he heard his sister sneaking into the room.
"A better question would be, where have you been?" she countered, smiling in the darkness.
"W-what do you m-mean?" he stammered, "I've been here, waiting f-for you."
Marayna laughed, "Merlin, you and I both know that whenever you're anywhere near a bed at night you pass out on it. You would have been out long before I got back without even noticing I wasn't here. The fact that you're awake tells me that you just got back as well. So," she grinned, plopping down on her own cot, "Where were you?"
Merlin didn't answer, so she continued to speak, "Last I heard, Gaius sent you to deliver the sleeping draught to Morgana and…" she froze as if just realizing where her brother had been, "You spent all this time with Morgana didn't you?!"
"Shhh!" he hissed, pausing to listen for the sounds of Gaius waking. When he heard none he sighed with relief, "If you must know, yes, I was with Morgana."
"Do tell," she shifted to the edge of her cot to listen.
"I don't want to," he half-whined.
"Honestly Merlin," she sighed, rolling her eyes, "I've gotten enough whining out of Arthur tonight, not you too!"
"Arthur?" he perked up, hearing her curse under her breath at what she'd let slip just then, "So you were with Arthur. Pray tell," he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands below his chin, grinning as well, "What were you doing?"
She glared at him though she knew he couldn't see it in the darkness of the room, "I'll tell you if you tell me."
Merlin sighed, "Fine," he mumbled something about bratty sisters under his breath, oomphing when said bratty sister threw a well-aimed pillow at his head, "Keep that up and I'll tell you squat!" he laughed, before setting the pillow on his lap and holding out his hands for her to take. She knew he wouldn't actually say anything to her about his meeting with Morgana, he was far too shy to speak out loud about a meeting with a woman, so she was expecting him to just show her instead.
She reached out and grabbed his hands, closing her eyes and opened her mind for him to show her what had happened...
~8~
Merlin knocked gently on the door of Morgana's chambers, waiting only a moment before it opened to reveal Morgana in her night dress and shawl. Merlin's mouth dropped open at the sight of her in all her simplistic beauty, his mind not even registering the fact that it was probably highly improper for him to see her like that.
"Hello Merlin," Morgana greeted, smiling at him.
"Uh…I…um…" Merlin mumbled incoherently, having been completely thrown off by her, "Draught?" he held up the draught as though it explained everything.
Morgana laughed at his antics and reached out to take the bottle. Their hands brushed as she took it though, a shock going through their systems from the contact. She lowered her gaze and stepped aside, silently inviting him into her chambers.
Merlin, who was in no fit state to protest much less speak, simply shuffled in.
They stared at each other for a few moments before speaking at the same time, "I think we should talk," and laughing at the situation.
"You first, my Lady," he smiled his trademark smile at her.
She smiled as well before looking down and fiddling with the draught in her hands, "I wished to speak with you about the other day, with the chalice and everything."
"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that as well," he answered, hoping to make her feel a bit less nervous about their mutual discussion topic.
"More specifically," she continued, taking a step towards him, he did the same, "The kiss I bestowed upon you when we saw you were well."
"Same for me."
"I…well, that is to say, I just wanted to let you know that, I, well, I think I rather like you…like having you around! I mean," she said quickly, "I was just...very happy you were alive," she added, stumbling over her words. Gone were all her lessons in speech, which truly alarmed her. She was usually so open, so vocal about anything on her mind and yet, at that moment, she was hardly able to form a single complete sentence. It was...quite unsettling to her, but she just...couldn't seem to help it, that moment...seeing him like that when he'd been poisoned, watching him slowly dying...it had frightened her in a way she hadn't been frightened before and she was only just starting to gather why, "I just…wanted you to know that. I'm happy you're ok."
"Me too," he grinned, "I shall have to be poisoned more often," he joked, trying to lighten the uncomfortable mood.
She smiled faintly, "Don't even think about it," she looked down to the draught now clutched in her hands and sighed, "I suppose I should drink this, yes?"
"I think so," he nodded and, without hesitating, Morgana opened the vial and downed it. Just as soon as she finished swallowing, she swayed on her feet, this potion was stronger than the last one, "I got you," Merlin murmured gently as he caught her arm. He led her quickly to the bed and pulled the covers on top her as she laid down, the covers already having been turned down for the night before Gwen had been dismissed.
He was about to leave when she caught his wrist, "Will you stay?" she asked sleepily, "Till I'm asleep?"
He smiled and nodded, pulling up a chair next to her to sit down on. She smiled at him, thanks shining in her eyes as they fluttered closed and her breathing evened out. Gaius had only vaguely mentioned her nightmares to him and Marayna, he knew that they were upsetting to the young woman before him and, anything he could do to try and make her more comfortable, feel more secured so that she wouldn't have any, he'd try his best to do. He sat there for a while, just watching her sleep, seeing her relaxed and peaceful put an even wider smile on his face.
He got up to leave when he realized the room was rather warm. Turning, he moved to open the window just a crack...when he heard a muffled cry. He turned quickly to see Morgana starting to twist in bed, her face contorting with fear, a nightmare settling in. He quickly moved to her side and reached out, grabbing her hand in his own, squeezing it comfortingly. She twisted a bit more, her dreams taking a dark turn, but then suddenly settled down once more.
He let out a breath of relief but did not remove his hand from hers. He knelt there, at the edge of her bed for another half hour before standing and gently pulling his hand from her own. He reached out, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear before quietly making his way out of her room and back to his own, hoping her dreams continued to be good.
~8~
Marayna opened her eyes, a soft smile on her face at Morgana's small slip and attempted cover-up. She looked up to see her brother staring at her expectantly, "Oh!" she flushed, before holding out her hands once more for him to take. She showed him what had happened at the stables and her discussion with Arthur on the way back and a small portion of her plans for tomorrow. When she opened her eyes once again she could faintly see her brother smirking at her, "What?"
"Really Aya?" he laughed, "What are you trying to do? Corrupt the prince? Pulling him away from his duties for a day of adventure in the woods."
She laughed as well, "Of course I am," she winked, "In the forest no one can hear him scream."
He almost thought his sister was serious before he realized she was joking, "Just be careful, most of the creatures that attack Camelot tend to come from the forest."
"I know," she sighed, laying down on her cot, crossing her arms behind her head and her legs out before her, staring at the ceiling in the dark, "We won't go too far away, and I'll be sure to be on guard," Merlin opened his mouth to speak but his sister seemed to have read his thoughts, "And I promise not to corrupt him too much. Can't have a king who shirks his duties ALL the time now can we?"
Merlin just laughed and rolled onto his back as well.
~8~
True to his word, Arthur was waiting at the back gates of Camelot at dawn for Marayna to show up. He grumbled to himself as he stared at the rising sun. He had been there for at least ten minutes now and Marayna was nowhere in sight. He was just about to leave when he saw the girl rushing down the path towards him. He almost fell over from shock when he saw she was wearing a skirt, a white one, with a white tunic of hers. He would have thought that she would return to her leggings for a day spent away from duties. But there she was nearly tripping over it, literally stumbling from it, before rolling her eyes and hiking it up just enough that he could see her brown boots as she ran towards him.
"I'm sorry I'm late," she huffed, trying to catch her breath, "I ran into Morgana in the hall and she insisted that I wear a skirt today. I've no idea why."
Well that answered that.
"As I said before," he remarked, "I'm getting quite used to you and your brother's lateness."
She rolled her eyes at him, "Follow me," was all she said to that, heading off towards the forest.
They walked a good distance in silence before Arthur couldn't take it anymore, "Where are we going?"
"Nowhere," she answered, shrugging, "Anywhere. Everywhere," even as she said it, she couldn't help but feel like she was spending far too much time with the Dragon, that was rather cryptic and not straightforward at all.
"That's really no help, thanks," he grumbled.
"That's the point," she cheered, "Today," she let out a happy breath, "We do whatever we want. No fighting, no hunting, no meetings, no chores."
"What else is there to do?" he was truly bewildered by the thought that there could be anything besides that to do.
She started laughing before she realized, "You're serious?" she blinked and shook her head, a bit...surprised at that. In Ealdor, it was often nonstop work tending the fields and maintaining their homes and preparing for winter and harvest and all sorts of things...but they still managed to have fun. She had to idly wonder if Arthur even knew what that was, outside the context of throwing knives at servants and watching them toil away doing chores. She had to suppose that he didn't get much of it with Uther as his father, "Well," she began, thinking, "We could walk for a while, explore the woods a bit, talk. We could go swimming in the lake, or lay in the fields, or climb a tree, anything really."
He smiled a bit, those were all fairly stupid ideas as far as he was concerned, but there was just...something about the idea of doing them with Marayna that made him think it might not be so bad. Actually, it was the thought of doing them at all that was...intriguing, he hadn't really...ever...done much of any of those things when he'd been a boy, it had been lessons and training and staying safe in the castle and whatnot, "Well then, while we are walking and exploring, what shall we talk about?"
Marayna shrugged, "Anything at all."
He shook his head, she was really no help at all. He was quiet for a few moments, trying to think of something to say, "How did you know how to handle Aurora?"
It came out of nowhere, but he realized, he truly was curious about it nonetheless.
"I really have no idea," she sighed, "It just...seemed like the right way to go about it. I thought of how I would feel if it happened to me which, incidentally, it did. She seems like a very old horse."
"She is. She's nearly 25, but still fit as a fiddle."
"Is she the oldest horse?"
He paused a moment to think, he'd never really considered that. There were always so many horses coming and going and put in the different stables, it was hard to keep track of them, "There's one horse a bit older than her, my grandfather's horse, Bartok."
"Was Bartok in Uther's stables?" she asked, trying to think back to the horses she had seen.
"No, actually, he's in mine. He's a fairly large chestnut-colored horse, has a black frizzy mane. I learned how to ride on him now that I think about it."
"Must have been frightening," she commented, she could only imagine a small Arthur looking up at a large horse and being told he'd have to learn to ride it.
"It was quite fun actually," he smiled, thinking back on it, "Bartok has always been one of the gentlest horses in the stables. He's a bit slow now that he's older, but he's fiercely loyal and protective. One time I went on a ride with him, just a...small bit of fun," one of the very few he'd manage to have, "And decided to climb a tree. Well, I fell out and sprained my ankle, Bartok refused to leave my side until the knights came searching for me."
"Sounds like a sweet horse," she smiled as well, "You'll have to point him out next time we're in the stables."
Arthur nodded and began to chat away about the various horses he had had over the years. This conversation soon led to talks of jousting, which led to the knights, which led to tournaments and combat. They had been talking for nearly three hours and were currently speaking of how she had basically saved Arthur's life during the tournament when she threw him a sword to stop Valiant.
"I shall tell you what I told Morgana," Arthur rolled his eyes in mock anger, "I would have thought of something."
"Oh yes," Marayna snorted, "I'm sure you would have. It would have been something along the lines of, 'Ow, that snake just bit me!'" she giggled at the look of false hurt on Arthur's face.
"You wound me," he held his hand over his heart, which had her laughing out loud.
"I'm sure I could," she commented, a hint of a challenge in her voice.
This time it was Arthur who let out a barking laugh, "Might I remind you, you are speaking to the future king?"
"Oh I'm shaking in my boots," she mocked.
"If you weren't a girl, I'd wrestle some respect out of you," he warned, crossing his arms over his chest.
"As if you could."
His eyes narrowed in play as he puffed out his chest, "I'll have you know, I've wrestled the best men in Camelot."
"Ah," she nodded, "The best men, but what about the women?"
He stared at her as though she'd gone mad, "That would be highly improper!"
She turned her head, making a show of looking around at the woods that surrounded them, "I don't see anyone to judge you," before smirking, "Let's have at it."
She unclipped something on her waist, which Arthur realized a moment later was her skirt, and threw it to the side to reveal she had been wearing her leggings, just underneath the skirt, which was more a long strip of fabric that had been wrapped around her. She ignored his shocked look, bent her knees and hunched over just a bit, holding out her hands and motioning for him to come at her.
He shook his head, "You can't be serious."
"Why?" she asked innocently, "Afraid I'll beat you?"
"That's right, I'm so scared of getting beat by a girl," he rolled his eyes.
Marayna smirked, it seemed like someone was finally learning her sort of humor, "I can tell," she nodded, "Why else would you refuse to fight me?"
"How about, I'd hurt you? You're back is still healing and you were just pois…"
"My back is fine," she cut off, not willing to get into talk of the poisoning or her back, those particular events were ones she wanted to stay buried in the past, and she didn't want his pity about them either so if she had to literally run at him and tackle him to the ground to get this started and prove she was fine...she'd do it, "Besides, it's not like I'd let you get a good enough hold to actually hurt me."
"Is that so?" his eyes narrowed at her as he slowly moved to crouched in preparation for a wrestle.
Though...he had to admit, he was quite thankful she'd cut him off. He...he didn't want to think about either event too. He just...it sickened him to think that he hadn't been able to prevent Urry's attack, that the best he could offer her was the man's banishment. And it...made him feel cold and...something else he wasn't sure of...to think about the poisoning. Seeing her there, pale, unbreathing, literally lifeless...it had shaken him in ways he...honestly wasn't expecting it to. He'd only known Marayna a short time and yet the thought of losing her like that, so suddenly...it had been jarring.
It was almost like he hadn't realized that he really had come to like her presence and company till he'd been faced with the threat of it being removed permanently. He'd actually found himself, on his ride to the forest, replaying every sarcastic remark she'd ever made to him and...hurting to think that he'd never hear her jest with him like that again. Seeing her like that, knowing she and Merlin had given their lives for him, yet again, it had...impacted him, it...made him appreciate her sharp tongue and Merlin's humor.
She nodded, "Care to prove me wrong?"
That was all he needed before he rushed at her, grabbing her forearms and trying to twist her so she would fall over. She simply grabbed his elbows, using him as leverage to maintain her balance, before sticking her foot behind his own and knocked his legs out from under him in a move similar to what she'd used on Urry. As he fell, she maneuvered herself so that she would land on top of him, his arms pinned to the ground on either side of his head. She smirked down at him in victory for only a moment before he flipped them over so that he had her pinned.
The mutual pinning seemed to be just what they needed to get their wrestling match started. Soon enough they were engaging in head locks, arm holds, among other maneuvers. Neither seemed to be gaining the upper hand until Arthur finally managed to pin Marayna beneath him, his arms holding hers pinned to the ground with his knees pressing her legs down as well.
She was pinned and defeated and she knew it...which was why she was currently glaring up at him, a fine layer of sweat coating both their brows, their hair in disarray, their eyes narrowed at each other...before they both burst out with laughter. Arthur, though did not let up on his hold, but more moved his legs just slightly so that he wasn't hurting her by digging his knees into her thighs.
He shook his head as he stared down at her, "Where did you learn to wrestle?"
She started at him incredulously, "I do have a brother you know."
"Yes, I know," he rolled his eyes, "But he doesn't seem like the wrestling type."
"There aren't many girls in my village," she tried shrugging but couldn't really move her arms as Arthur still had them pinned. Not that she was complaining, she'd always found the ground comfortable after years in their home, where the only bed they'd insisted their mother take when they were old enough to realize their mother should NOT be sleeping on the cold hard ground.
Arthur nodded, that was far more believable than wrestling with her brother. He just...couldn't imagine Merlin wrestling anyone.
He stared down at her again, letting go of one of her arms to brush away some hair that had fallen into her face, having seen her eye twitch a bit as the corner of the strand brushed against it. He smiled softly at her as she looked up at him. His hand moved from the lock of hair to her cheek, gently stroking it as he leaned closer. He could feel Marayna's heart beating wildly beneath him and knew his own heart was beating just as fast. He was just a few inches away from her lips...
When a growl sounded to his right accompanied by a rustling of the bushes.
He looked up just in time to see a Forest Bull, running straight at them. He quickly rolled to the side, taking Marayna with him, as the bull charged past. They sat up quickly, getting a good look at it as it turned to face them once more. It appeared to be a sort of larger breed of red cattle, twice as big as normal, with a horribly angry expression on its face.
"Run!" Arthur shouted as he pushed Marayna behind him and towards the forest, "I'll hold it off."
"How?" she countered as it charged again, "You don't have your sword!"
"I'll think of something, just go!" he yelled again, jumping out of the way, pulling her as well, just in time to avoid the bull, "Marayna!"
"I'm not leaving!"
The bull was running towards them again, headed straight for Marayna, when Arthur quickly pushed her out of the way and went flying to the side as the bull impacted him.
"Arthur!" she gasped, running to his side as the beast turned. He had a pulse, but he was clearly knocked out. She looked up to see the bull heading her way and found the silver lining of the situation. Arthur was unconscious, he wouldn't see her do magic. She held up a hand quickly reciting the first spell that came to mind, "Nearwian!"
There was a flash of greenish light...and suddenly the humongous bull was no more than three inches tall and running into the side of her boot. She sighed, a shrinking spell was not quite the spell she was going for, but it would do. At least she was out of danger for a moment or two, she really didn't know how long it would last, if it would be moments or permanently, so she had to be quick in getting it and them away from there. She picked up the bull, examining it for a moment before tossing it as far as she could into the woods.
She turned to Arthur, kneeling down beside him and shaking him. And now came the storm cloud the silver lining belonged to...he wasn't waking up. She knew he would be alright, he'd just been hit very hard by the bull, but she felt she should probably get him to Gaius to be sure. How she was going to do that exactly, she didn't know.
She sighed, blowing a bit of hair out of her face as she looked around. All she had was a small bag of food she had brought with her from the kitchens and the skirt Morgana had insisted she wea…
That was it!
She rushed to the skirt and brought it over to Arthur. Now the tricky part. She laid it down right behind him, and pulled him onto the end of it, using some of the extra fabric to tie him into the end of the skirt. She stood and fastened the other end to her waist. It was crude sort of sleigh but it would have to do. Morgana must have seen something like this happen and had told her to bring the skirt to use just for this purpose, she would have to thank her later if Morgana even remembered she'd seen something like this, for all she knew it might have been a dream that had faded into her subconscious or something...and then again, that was also if she made it back to the castle in time. Now she was regretting going so far into the woods.
Sighing, she took a few steps, struggling a bit with Arthur's weight pulling on the skirt, but managed to walk just as well, even gaining a bit of momentum along the way. She tried to find the smoothest path as she went though, the last thing she need was his royal pratness complaining about sores from the forest floor.
~8~
Merlin was a bit nervous as he made his way towards Morgana's room. He'd just had a conference with the king who had demanded to know where Arthur had gone. Merlin had told him what Marayna had told him to say, that Arthur had gotten word that here was some sort of monster in the forest and gone to investigate. He didn't mention that his sister had gone with him, leaving it open for the king to assume that some knights had gone with his son instead.
He had just narrowly managed to escape the stocks so he was still awful jumpy when Gwen caught up to him and informed him that Morgana wished to see him. At first he thought it was to tell him to tell Gaius whether the potion had worked or not, but she could have just sent Gwen to do that. So it was something else entirely.
Like the night before, he gently knocked on her door and, also like last night, it opened after only a few moments, "Merlin!" Morgana cheered as she saw him standing there.
The smile that lit up her face was enough to calm his nerves, "My Lady," he replied, tilting his head a bit in a show of respect.
She smiled wider, "Come in," she ushered and so he did, "I wanted to ask you something..."
"Yes?" he asked, unsure of just what she wanted to know.
"Last night, I asked you to stay till I fell asleep yes?" she questioned, seeming just a bit unsure, as though she weren't sure if she'd dreamed it or not, he nodded, "And you did," he nodded again, "...and then you held my hand."
He began nodding before he realized what she had asked and quickly shook his head in fear that the small act may have offended her.
She let out a jingling laugh, "It's alright Merlin, I was just curious."
He sighed, smiling a little more, "I did," he confirmed.
"Thank you," she whispered, "I was having a nightmare and I was scared. But...then I felt, well, I felt your presence and suddenly, things didn't seem so frightening anymore," she looked at him softly, "It really helped. So thank you."
He let out a full grin, "You're very welcome. I'm glad I could help you sleep."
"It was one of the best ones I've had in a while," she closed her eyes as though remembering the peace she felt at finally sleeping a full night despite the nightmares.
"What was it about? The nightmare."
She nodded in understanding, "Arthur was in the woods with Rayna, he yelled something, and there was this...bull, the next thing I knew Rayna was trying to drag Arthur through the woods by the collar of his shirt. He was fine, just sleeping it looked. Rayna didn't look very worried, so neither was I."
Merlin nodded as well, though he was debating whether or not he should tell her about his sister actually being in the woods that day. It seemed he didn't have to tell her after all. Just that moment there was the sound of bells being rung throughout the castle.
Morgana ran to her window just in time to see the small figure of Marayna half-dragging the unconscious form of Arthur behind her on the trail of her skirt. She quickly fled the room, Merlin behind her.
~8~
Stupid prince, stupid hero, stupid boy!
This was Marayna's chant, the one playing over and over in her head as she continued to drag Arthur through the forest. Honestly, had he been hit that hard that he wasn't waking up after so long!? It was her opinion that somehow, in the middle of her attempts at making it through the woods, he had fallen asleep and just decided to stay asleep to torment her.
She stumbled a bit as her foot caught in a small hole and twisted painfully. She was about halfway back to the castle and the sun was starting to begin its setting journey. Well now she was in a rough spot. She was fairly certain she had twisted her ankle, she still had half the journey to make, Arthur wasn't waking up any time soon, she was exhausted, and hungry, and she hated to admit it, but her back was starting to hurt a bit. She sighed and plopped down on a fallen log.
What would she do now? She doubted Merlin would be able to hear her from such a distance away if she called out to him in her mind. If he had told Uther about the supposed beast in the forest, which just had to become a reality, then no guards or knights would be coming. Perhaps Morgana would see her plight, but she wouldn't be able to do anything about it without exposing her gift. She tried to think of a spell, a transportation, teleportation, call for help spell, anything that could help but came up with nothing.
She sighed and closed her eyes as she leaned back against a tree, clearing her mind to try and focus better. Just as she took a calming breath...a feeling came over her, like a whispering voice on the wind telling her it would be alright and to just let her magic guide her. Having no better choice she reached inside herself and felt her magic within her. She smiled as she let the feeling wash over her, starting to feel calmer almost instantly.
When she opened her eyes she was rather shocked to see a unicorn trotting up to her. She jumped to her feet and held out a hand just as the horse came to her and nuzzled her palm. She pet the unicorn for a few moments before it stepped back and shook its head at Arthur.
She stared for a second before she realized what it was it wanted her to do, "You want me to put Arthur on you?"
It nodded its head exaggeratedly.
Marayna nodded, turning to face the sleeping prince. There was no way she would be able to lift him on her bad foot and with her back. Sighing, she resigned herself to the fact that she had already used magic, she might as well use a bit more, "Arisan," she whispered, holding out her had, struggling to focus her magic, concentrating as Arthur began to rise off the ground and float in midair. It wasn't usually this hard to focus or use her magic, but...give all the events and her current state...it was understandable she was tired.
She turned and carefully lowered him onto the unicorn's back before she took a step to limp beside it...when the horse neighed. She looked back at it to see it nodding its head at her, "Me too?" she asked, feeling less stupid for talking to a horse when said horse nodded.
She carefully made her way to the log and hopped on the Unicorn's back, taking hold of Arthur so he wouldn't fall off as the horse began to gallop towards Camelot. In a matter of moments it seemed, they were at the forest's edge. The unicorn trotted from side-to-side along the forest's edge and Marayna realized that it would go no further.
"Thank you," she whispered, hopping off the horse and onto her good leg. She lowered Arthur down onto her skirt like before and turned to the horse, "Thank you very much," she reached out and stroked its nose. It snorted at her and then turned and ran back into the forest, leaving her there to sigh, turning to look at the castle.
She could make it the last bit couldn't she?
She took a breath and forced herself to walk on. She hadn't gotten far before two watchguards saw her approaching with what appeared to be a 'wounded' Arthur and sounded the alarms.
~8~
"Arthur!" Uther cried as he rushed outside at the sound of the alarms, only to see his son being pulled behind his maidservant who looked worse for the wear.
"Rayna!" Morgana called from behind him as she too ran forward, but towards the servant with the servant's brother.
"Are you alright?" Merlin asked his sister as she leaned on him for support, lifting her one leg as the pain in her ankle started to throb.
Well that was just wonderful, wasn't it? She'd been in Camelot such a short time and been injured more in that period than she had her entire life! She was grumbling that to herself as the guards untied her skirt from her to lower Arthur down.
"What happened?" Uther demanded, stalking over to her as Gaius rushed forward to check on Arthur, no matter how much he wanted to check on his niece first he knew he could not in the presence of the king.
Marayna sighed, "Arthur was searching for a beast," she lied flawlessly, "He found it."
"And?"
"It was a Forest Bull," she rubbed her hips from where the skirt had been tied with one hand, sure that there would also be bruising there tomorrow, "He attacked and managed to wound it. It threw him to the side and went after me. It died from the wounds before it could reach me. I went to check on Arthur and he was unconscious, so I brought him back here."
Well...it was more or less the truth.
"You...dragged my son through the forest?" Uther asked, actually shocked at that. The girl didn't look stronger than one of the younger women in the village, how had she done it?
"Yes sire. I was able to fashion a sort of sleigh using my skirt and pulled Arthur here."
Uther turned to Gaius, "How is he?"
"Perfectly fine sire," he replied, "He'll have a bit of a bruise on his head the next few days, but other than that, unwounded. He's sleeping."
"I knew it," Uther heard the servant girl hiss to herself before motioning the knights to pick up his son and deliver him to his rooms.
"Come Morgana," he called, before tuning to his physician, "Gaius, see to you niece."
"Thank you, sire," Gaius nodded as the king left with his son. He turned to face his niece, a stern look on his face, "You have a lot of explaining to do."
Marayna dropped her head and shook it against Merlin's shoulder, her brother just laughing before scooping her into his arms and carrying her back to the room, not about to let her walk or hobble on her injured leg.
~8~
Arthur stretched out in bed, yawning as he opened his eyes. That was funny, it was pitch black out when he distinctly remembered it being daylight before. What was even more odd...was that his father was sitting at his bedside, dozing in a chair.
"Father?" he asked, startling the king awake.
"Arthur!" he cried. While he trusted Gaius's words, he wanted to make sure his son was alright by his standards, "How are you?"
"Fine," he replied, shrugging, "A bit confused, though. What's going on?"
"You don't remember?"
"Apparently not," Arthur rolled his eyes, "What happened?"
"You were in the forest today instead of attending the council meeting."
Arthur's eyes widened as he realized his father had discovered his gallivanting in the woods, "Father, I can explain..."
Uther held up a hand to silence his son, "Your maidservant explained everything."
"Mara?" he blinked, before looking around as though he would find her in his room, and returning his attention to his father, "What did she say?"
"She told me of how you went to find the beast that was haunting the forest," he smiled at his son's initiative at tracking down magical creatures, "And how you killed it."
"I killed it?" he wondered out loud, how had he managed that? he didn't have a sword! Obviously, his father hadn't noticed that little detail. He could only assume that the creature had gotten frightened and run off into the forest, but he wouldn't tell his father that.
"According to your maidservant, yes," he smiled even more, "I'm very proud of you Arthur. When I saw her bringing you back to Camelot I feared the worst and…"
"Mara brought me back?" he shook his head, he was even more confused now.
Uther nodded, "She said you had been knocked unconscious and she dragged back to Camelot on a makeshift sleigh, quite...resourceful really."
"She dragged me back here? All the way through the woods?" Uther nodded again. Arthur let out a breath of relief, he'd been worried that she'd been hurt, but he needed to make sure she was really alright, "Where is she?"
"Resting In her chambers," Uther replied, watching his son with a raised eyebrow as he stood and made his way out of the room without another word.
~8~
Arthur nearly ran to Gaius's chambers, but years of etiquette had taught him how to 'hasten' instead. He threw open the door to the room to see Merlin and Gaius standing by a table, talking in hushed tones.
"How is she?" he asked as soon as they noticed he was there.
"Resting sire," Gaius answered, already knowing he was referring to Marayna, "She was quite worn out after everything."
"May I see her?" he requested, not really having to, he was the prince after all, but he did have a very large respect for Gaius and these were HIS rooms.
Gaius nodded and led him to the back room. He slowly pushed the door open, peeking inside, "She's sleeping right now sire," he whispered, "Please be as quite as possible."
Arthur nodded and took just a step into the room, Merlin right behind him. He looked down to see Marayna lying on her side in her bed, a few scratches on her face from what he assumed were branches as she dragged him through the woods. He looked down, taking careful note of every injury to see if she was truly alright. He noticed her foot was sticking out from under the flimsy blanket she had and he could see a white cloth wrapped around her foot. He looked up at Merlin who simply held a finger to his lips and nodded towards the door.
When they were back outside, Arthur turned to Merlin expectantly, Merlin sighed, "She sprained her ankle on something."
Arthur nodded, "And the scratches?"
"Branches. They'll heal just fine though, won't even leave a sign of them."
"Did she tell you what happened with the beast?" he asked, feeling as though she would at least tell Merlin the truth.
He shrugged, "She said that the beast got spooked and ran away."
Merlin could already see that this was the answer the prince was hoping for. He shook his head silently, Marayna certainly knew the inner workings of the prince's mind. She had told him to say that if Arthur came asking, it seemed she thought it would be the conclusion he would come up with. Arthur didn't need to know that she had magically shrunk the creature or that he had been carried half through the woods on the back of a unicorn.
Arthur nodded, "See to it that she rests well," he ordered, "She's…you're both excused from chores tomorrow."
Merlin opened his mouth to disagree, the memory of the terrible (truly, they would probably have nightmares about it) mess that Arthur had left them after only two days in mind, when Arthur spoke again, "And don't worry, I'll try to pick up after myself this time," he laughed at that last part, earning a chuckle from Merlin, before he nodded his goodbye and left the room, headed back to his own.
Perhaps...when he returned to his rooms he would straighten them out a bit. It wasn't like he would be getting much sleep as well rested as he was.
A/N: Little bit of wrestling there ;)
As for the Dragon, I always felt so badly that no one really wanted to talk to him unless it was for help. I feel like Marayna would be interested in all the things he'd seen and done before he was captured. She'll have a friendship of sorts with the dragon, I can say I do know whether she'll be a Dragonlord or not, but I won't say what it is till we get to that ;) I have a twist in mind for it though :)
I hope you liked the moment with Aurora and Marayna, I feel like she would really be the only one the horse trusts at the moment as she was the one to stop Urry and the scars would sort of bind them together in a way :) I love Bartok too, he's adorable and we'll see him again. Actually...we've already seen him ;)
I also hope you liked the little moments between Arthur and Marayna (and Merlin and Morgana) and how she sort of tricked him into skipping his duties for the day ;) She'll be getting one up on in him quite a few different ways }:)
Nearwian - Shrink
Arisan - Rise up
Some notes on reviews...
All I can say about Mordred is we'll actually see a bit more of him than in the show ;) And he holds a very special place in my heart ;) But I can't say more than that about his fate }:)
Marayna will have a more of a friendship sort of relationship, she appreciates his tales of things beyond just destiny. As for being a Dragonlord...we'll have to wait and see :) I can say quite a few people will learn about Merlin and Marayna's magic earlier than in the show, and there will be quite a few reactions to them so Arthur might just be one of them ;) I can't say about if Arthur will die, it'll depend on if Marayna's destiny goes according to plan }:)
Lol, that's cool if you felt it was weird to have them both involved with the poisoning :) I feel like, during those times, growing up like they did where all they had was each other...they're semi-codependant despite how independent they may seem. They would not EVER let the other suffer something like a poisoning alone or even go through the risk of it alone :( It's like Marayna said, where Merlin goes, she goes, if he dies...well, coming to Camelot will allow her and Merlin to branch out and depend less on each other, but they're not at that point yet ;)
All I can say about Morgana is I've got quite a few twists in mind for her, both in terms of her loyalty and her relationship with Merlin }:) I like to think he makes people better (like the Doctor from Doctor Who), but we'll have to wait and see if he'll manage it for Morgana ;) I can say that the start of Series 3 will shed quite a bit of light on Morgana's fate }:)