Hey, guys :) Remember me? So, this is yet another reveal fic, despite my promise this one would be funny, 'cuz… well, it's really not. Hope ya'll like it, though! :)
Disclaimer: One day, I'll take over BBC and own Merlin *mad cackle* shush, though, it's a secret… muawahah- hey, why are you running away?
Quick info: Set sometime in season one or two, around there. Uther is alive, Morgana is good, Gwen is still a servant, and Arthur doesn't know Merlin's secret.
Drabble 6- Reading Minds and other Terrors
The effects weren't immediate. When Arthur and Merlin were raided on a hunting trip by yet another nameless sorcerer bent on revenge, he'd seemed harmless and senile. Sure, he'd hit Arthur with some kind spell, but the prince had felt fine afterword, so he'd written the man off as an untalented, crazy fool. The man (now safely locked up) had been conveniently knocked out by a falling tree branch before he could do any real damage.
At least, that's what Arthur had thought.
He'd never been more wrong. He was now more convinced that this man was more evil than any foe he'd ever faced.
It had started that morning, when Merlin came to wake him up, late as always.
"GOOD MORNING, SIRE!" He'd yelled, very loudly right next to Arthur's ear. Of course, Arthur jumped and gave a very manly yelp of surprise (and yes, it was manly. Obviously.)
That hadn't been the odd thing, though. The odd thing had been when Arthur had heard Merlin's voice, clear as day, inside his head.
Look at him jump! Snickered the voice. Teach him to make me muck out the stables.
"You deserved it!" Arthur cried, turning on Merlin. Merlin blinked in confusion.
"I deserved what?"
"To muck out the stables!" Arthur clarified, staring his manservant down. Merlin just stared at him.
"Right, you must have been having a pretty intense dream. Maybe some breakfast will-"
"No!" Arthur interrupted. "I heard you!"
Prince Arthur, hearing voices… if Camelot wasn't doomed before, it certainly is now, said Merlin's voice again. This time, though, Arthur was looking straight at Merlin- and his mouth wasn't moving.
"There it was again!" Arthur said quickly. "Didn't you hear it? It said I was crazy… and Camelot was doomed… hey!"
"You heard that?" Merlin asked, looking shocked.
"Yes. You heard it too?" Arthur asked, almost hopefully. He needed to know he wasn't going crazy.
"No," Merlin said, shaking his head slowly. "I thought it. Oh, god… you read my mind. Literally." He looked pale and almost… terrified… for a moment, although Arthur couldn't fathom why. A moment later, he heard Merlin's thoughts, unintentionally answering his unasked question.
How much can he hear? Can he look through my mind? Oh no… what if he finds out about my- no, don't even think about it! He could be listening!
"I could find out what?" Arthur asked curiously. Merlin looked scandalized.
"Thoughts are supposed to be private, you know," he scolded.
"Maybe," Arthur scowled. "Only I can hear yours. How do I get rid of it? Why can I even do this?!"
Merlin paused for a moment, thinking. Several possibilities flew through the manservant's mind at once, making Arthur's own head spin.
"That man in the woods yesterday. Maybe his spell did this to you?"
A flow of very un-princely sounding curse words followed Merlin's theory, which, admittedly, sounded correct.
"Will it go away?" The prince asked desperately.
"Spells like that usually go away after 24 hours or so," Merlin informed him, and this time Arthur heard no accompanying thoughts. The manservant seemed to be carefully guarding his thoughts for some reason, keeping his guard up and Arthur out.
The prince was partly glad for this- he really didn't need to know every little detail about Merlin- but it also sparked a little curiosity. Was Merlin… hiding something?
Well, if he was, the prince was going to use his 24 hours putting his new ability to its best possible use; figuring out what was up with Merlin.
Lord, take me now, Arthur prayed, rubbing his temple with one hand. He was currently at a council meeting, which was boring enough normally, but when you could hear every single Nobel's thought-! Not to mention none of the thoughts were even remotely interesting. They consisted of things like:
I wonder what's for lunch.
Is that a spider?
Look at that manservant. What does he think he's doing-
At that last thought Arthur jerked his head around, trying to locate which Nobel had an issue with Merlin. It wasn't hard. Lord Borin (Borin the Boring, as Arthur had called him as a child) was glaring daggers at his manservant. Arthur dug deeper into his thoughts, trying to figure out what was going on.
No respect what so ever. Thinks he can talk to the Prince however he wants- hump! I'll show him! Let's see… I could always discipline him the way I disciplined Sadon… that worked well…
Arthur reeled back, ignoring the odd glance his father sent him. Images of a beat servant crossed the Lord's mind, making Arthur's stomach turn.
The rest of the meeting flew by in a blur.
"Council dismissed," Uther said, rising and jerking Arthur from his (and everyone else's) thoughts.
"Wait!" Arthur said, jumping up. The council turned back to him, looking confused. Uther's thoughts floated over to Arthur (What does he think he's doing?) but Arthur shoved it aside.
"I would just like to thank everyone for coming," Arthur said, his mind racing. "But I would like to remind you all that certain matters are not in your control here. Servant discipline, for example. We had a problem with that last year around harvest time," Arthur lied quickly, "I'd like to remind you all that such actions against those employed here will not be tolerated. Thank you."
The lords left the room, mumbling under their breath in confusion. Soon the room was empty except for Uther, Arthur himself, and Merlin, who was waiting for the prince by the door.
Why would Arthur make up that rule? Was one of the Lords thinking something? I wonder-
Arthur shook his head to clear Merlin's thoughts from his head, starting to the door.
"One minute, Arthur. I'd like to have a word with you," Uther called, stopping Arthur in his tracks. "You are dismissed, servant," the king added, addressing Merlin. The manservant gave a brief bow to the king, his troubled gaze on the prince, and then left.
Now father and son were alone.
"Arthur, what problem was there last year?" The king asked carefully.
"A servant was beat," Arthur lied, trying desperately to think up a name. In the end, he used the name of Lord Borin's servant. "A stable boy named Sadon. I was just trying to prevent the event from reoccurring."
Arthur has lost his mind, said the king's voice in Arthur's head. All he said out loud, though, was:
"I'm sure there was a good reason, Arthur."
"Perhaps," Arthur agreed evenly. "But they are servants, not slaves. They should not be expected to tolerate such treatment."
"I see," said his father, but Arthur knew from his thoughts that the king didn't understand at all. He thought his son was making a big deal over nothing.
Suddenly his mind was split open with an agonized thought: ARTHUR! Suddenly the though was cut off, pain replacing it.
Merlin.
Merlin was in trouble.
"If you'll excuse me, father," Arthur said, barely restraining himself from tearing out of the room in a mad rush.
That boy really has lost it… Uther's train of thought faded as Arthur tore down the hall, trying to trace the thought. It would be so much easier if he could send a thought back- wait. Could he do that? It couldn't hurt to try, could it?
Where are you? He thought, picturing himself talking to his friend- um, manservant.
Empty chamber, came a thought back after a dangerously long pause. Third floor. Arthur hurried to the room, the thoughts growing stronger as he neared the room.
He reached the door and yanked on the handle, freezing in dismay when the door didn't budge. It was locked. From inside the room there was a gasp of pain and a heavy thump as someone collapsed to the floor.
Are you fighting back? Arthur thought desperately, struggling with the door.
Can't. He's a Lord… get in trouble… the thought was dangerously slurred.
Arthur didn't know if Merlin had the strength to, but he sent the next thought anyway; FIGHT BACK!
Fight back… with what? Merlin's thought were for himself now, but Arthur heard them anyway. Can't use my magic… not on a Nobel..
Arthur reeled back when he heard the thought, frozen. Magic? Merlin had magic? Suddenly he remembered Merlin blocking him out earlier; was that why? Because he had this illegal gift?
Some part of him knew he should be furious. He should call for the guards, feel betrayed, anything! But all he felt was worry for his friend. He hadn't attacked Lord Borin back, he hadn't defended himself; that was all Arthur needed to know to know that Merlin was about as scheming and evil as a one-winged butterfly.
And that is why he sent the next thought confidently and with a clear conscience.
USE YOUR MAGIC! For the love of Camelot, Merlin, FIGHT BACK!
"GOOD MORNING SIRE!" Called Merlin, throwing the curtains open. Arthur rolled over and sat up, grumbling and squinting against the harsh sunlight. Then he froze.
"Think something," he ordered his servant.
"I'm thinking," he told the prince, and Arthur grinned.
"I can't hear you! It wore off!"
"I told you it would," Merlin said matter-of-factly. He looked better this morning (Arthur suspected a little magic had been used to speed up Merlin's recovery.) He had a black eye and a split lip, and was limping slightly, but otherwise, he looked fine.
"So," Arthur began, going over to his breakfast table. "I learned something very interesting yesterday, Merlin." The servant froze. Arthur didn't need to be able to read his mind to know that Merlin thought he was referring to his magic (a subject neither had attempted to approach.)
"What did you learn?" Merlin asked, his voice steady despite his pale face.
"I learned," Arthur dawdled, "That I don't particularly like being able to read minds. In fact, I think I'm going to forget about the whole thing."
"Really?" Merlin asked, pretending to be uninterested although Arthur knew he was listening carefully. "What about Lord Borin? He's saying I attacked him with magic."
"Is he now?" Arthur asked, feigning shock. "Well, we both know that's a lie. I defeated him, remember? You were unconscious, and I came in and knocked him out with the hilt of my sword."
"Right," Merlin said, catching on quickly and nodding. "And when he brings up the locked door-?"
"Well, lying is highly punishable. And I think my father will believe me, don't you?" Arthur grinned, leaning back in his chair.
"Of course," Merlin said seriously, hiding his own smirk.
"Lord Borin will be easy to forget about, of course," Arthur said idly, taking a bite of his eggs. "Men stripped of their title and wealth tend to fade out of memory."
Merlin stared at him in shock.
"You're stripping him of his title and wealth? Over a servant? Your father's not going to like that," Merlin warned.
"I'm not doing it because he attacked you," Arthur lied, rolling his eyes as if to say, Pfft, Merlin, don't be stupid. "He also directly disobeyed me and then lied to save his own skin, remember? I think my father will understand. It's a matter of honor."
"Of course," Merlin nodded seriously.
"Now I need my armor washed, my sword sharpened, the stabled need to be mucked out, my floor needs polishing…" Arthur trailed off as he walked toward the door, donning his riding clothes (with some help from Merlin) on his way out.
"Hey, Arthur?" Merlin said suddenly as Arthur was almost out the door.
"Yes?"
"Thank you." Arthur didn't need to ask what he meant.
"You're welcome, Merlin." Both knew he was talking about more than just dealing with the lord.
Eh… this one isn't really the best :/ I liked how the ending turned out, though… oh well. Review?