Love y'all! Please don't hate me for this being late! Real life got in the way.
Once again, this story is fiction and I do not own BBC's Merlin nor its characters.
Quest Day 24
Leon, you would not believe my past few days. I'll be leaving Ealdor tomorrow. I am okay and will explain once we meet in person. I am sending this letter out right away.
Arthur sat back in his chair, carefully putting his quill on the side. Leon was not going to believe him. Arthur barely trusted his own mind. Merlin was a dragon. Merlin was a good dragon that was being controlled by Holden. Initially, Arthur grabbed a rock as he stumbled back out of the
Cave- not intending to hurt the dragon (Merlin) but to protect himself.
Immediately, Merlin had transformed back into his human form. His arms outstretched like how one would approach a startled animal. Arthur's eyes were wide.
"Arthur? This might be a dumb question but are you okay?"
Arthur continued to stare at Merlin. Minutes past. Merlin kept on taking small hesitant steps towards Arthur's spot right outside the cave.
Once Arthur was able to speak all he asked was "How?"
Slowly, Merlin coaxed Arthur back into the cave and built a fire- the regular human way, not the fire breathing dragon way. Soon the two sat in silence, neither wanting to speak first. More time passed and as needed the knight or the dragon would add more wood to the fire.
Merlin took a deep breath and began. He told Arthur how he wasn't a real or full dragon, he was born human. Or at least his mother thought so until he was a few years old. Merlin admitted that he had done magic since a young age but the transformations or partial transformations did not begin until he was about five or six years old. Merlin accidently walked through a neighbor's crops and the old farmer caught him and beat him. That was the first night Merlin transformed, the pain had forced him to change. Merlin and his mother had to move from that village. The farmer said the young boy had Evil in him.
Merlin and his mother eventually found Ealdor and settled down there. Hunith, his Mother, settled on Ealdor because of the dragon legends that already surrounded the village. So when a villager saw a little dragon running in the forest, no one really wondered where it came from.
The trouble started when Merlin became a teenager and went through a period where he could not control his transformations. He would spend days in the forest, going back and forth between human and dragon. His Mother was worried about Merlin disappearing and wrote to her uncle, Gaius. He wrote back about a dangerous way to help the transformations; separating the heart from the body. Whomever held a dragon's heart could force their will over the dragons'. Merlin went through the dangerous ritual and separated his heart from his dragon form. Hunith held onto his heart until Holden, their then landlord, snuck into their little house and stole Merlin's heart. When Hunith saw what Holden had renamed his inn, she had almost killed him. Merlin had to hold her back . Holden said he would hold onto Merlin's heart until, Hunith had repaid him an insane amount of money that she never borrowed from him. Ever since, Hunith worked hard as hired help for wealthy merchants in Ealdor. Holden had been forcing Merlin to work for him and steal from the surrounding villages for years now. Merlin could not escape because whenever Holden holds his dragonheart, he can get a feel for where Merlin is. Holden also told Merlin if he ever tried to get help, he would force Merlin to kill his own mother.
It was only then when Arthur asked his first question, "How old are you?"
Merlin gave him the smirk that Arthur had been falling for, "I'm older than you. My dragon half makes me age slower. Also how is that your first question, Arthur?"
"To be honest, I didn't believe you until you mentioned Gaius. He's the court physician, where I li-where I am a knight."
It was Merlin's turn to be surprised, "You're a knight of Camelot? Doesn't Uther hate all magical creatures?"
"Ahh yes but I am not Uther." Arthur said, shifting uncomfortably.
Merlin paused, looking at Arthur as he tapped his fingers on his leg. "Arthur, did you know that dragons are good at reading emotions and feelings?" Merlin wasn't surprised when Arthur shook his head. "Well it means that I know that you're really uncomfortable now. More than you were then when I transformed. I trust you but… I don't understand why Uther's name is making you so uneasy."
The fingers stopped tapping and began to dig into his knees. Arthur's blue eyes stared into Merlin's then faltered. Would Merlin still trust him if he told him that Uther was his father? What if Merlin would never talk to him again? He was already dreaming of returning to Camelot with Merlin. He couldn't lose Merlin already, he barely understood his growing feelings for the bar mentally shook his head, that was no way for a knight of Camelot to think. It was his duty to tell the truth and help Merlin no matter what.
"Uther is my father. My name is Arthur Pendragon, Crown Prince of Camelot. I swear that I do not have the same views as my father regarding magic. If you never want to see me, I understand, but, please know that I will do whatever I can to help you."
The dragon could tell that Arthur was sincere but the human in Merlin was panicking. So far Arthur had proved trustworthy. Part of the reason why Merlin told Arthur was, because the dragon trusted him on a level that it did with few other people. Both sides of Merlin agreed that Arthur was a true knight- he had a heart of gold. He could tell how much it pained Arthur to tell him the truth. But the stories about Uther's cruelty and intolerance were widespread. Well, perhaps he wouldn't join Arthur in his home like he originally imagined. He shifted his gaze from the dwindling fire to the blonde prince. His blonde locks seems to gotten longer in the fortnight he spent in Ealdor; they fell in front of his blue eyes and Merlin was struck with the urge to push them back. Arthur's face looked passive but Merlin could practically see the waves of tension rolling off the prince. Merlin was sure that Arthur would have crescent shaped marks on his knees from the way his fingers dug into the dark thin material. Merlin had only known the knight for two weeks but his human heart song whenever he was near and he had the feeling that his dragon heart would approve.
Merlin stood up and his heart broke a little when Arthur's face fell. Standing in front of the prince, Merlin said, "I still trust you Arthur. I would be honored for your help in taking back my dragonheart."
It was early morning by the time Merlin snuck Arthur back to his room but the pair had begun working on a plan. It took them two nights of Merlin sneaking into Arthur's room before Plan Dragonheart (named so at Arthur's insisted) was complete. Plan Dragonheart was simple really, Holden was going to force Merlin to rob another farm tonight and where Merlin would give Holden a hard time. While Holden was busy trying to control Merlin, Arthur would knock him out and steal back Merlin's heart.
Of course, things never go exactly according to plan. Merlin did give Holden a hard time but when Arthur went to knock him out, Holden slipped and Arthur nearly clipped Merlin's wing. Apparently, Holden had charged some visiting knights in the form of sword training instead of coin and the man was surprisingly decent. But, not against a knight of Camelot and his dragon, or rather, a dragon and his knight.
The Dragon's Heart Inn was up in flames but no one knew how the fire started. The villagers were running around, carting water from all the wells. No one noticed two forms running away.
Well, not no one. Hunith stood back to the fire, staring into the forest. She was the only one watching as her son ran into a chapter of his life with a knight holding onto his heart.
Thank you for reading, drop a review if so inclined!Have a wonderful day/night!
