New Dawn Chapter 3: Nuns, then Accusations, a merlin fanfic

Breathing in the dusty smell of the hay, he walked to the stall where Arthur's stallion was held. Glancing around, he held up his hand. Whispering a few words, the dirty straw floated above the door and into the pile of poo. Then, with a flick if his wrist, he got fresh straw and lowered it into the stall. As his eyes change back to blue, Merlin got the horse fresh grains and water.

Hurrying from the barn, he headed to the South Cellar where he found Freya. She lay curled up in the corner of the space. Her knees were tight to her chest and she was shaking.

"Hello?" Merlin called, making her jump. "Hey, it's all right. I won't hurt you."

"You're the one who save me," Freya said as she looked at him. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me. I've got something for you," Merlin said. He pulled out the apple and bread. "It's not much."
Freya took the food and gobbled it down quickly. "It's a feast," she said.

Merlin's eyes widen. "Just a minute, I'll be back," he said. Standing, he ran up to the market above them. Grabbing the first dress (a simple yellow silk frock with some blue flower embroidery and matching slippers, he told the seller to send Gaius the bill. Hurrying back down, Merlin crouched by Freya.

"What's that?"

"It's for you. You're coming to this feast as a guest. You can get food, loads of it," he said.

"I can't. I'm surely being hunted."

"We'll say you are Titania of Romania," he said, "a nun here to bless the festivities. You can speak Latin right?"

Freya nodded as she took the clothes. "Turn around," she said. Merlin obliged and she dressed. "You can look now."

Merlin turned and gasped. "You look beautiful," he said. "Let me fix something." He held his hand up to her face and the dirt fell off of it. "Much better. Come with me."

"Are you sure? It's not safe."

"I'm sure. I'll keep you safe."

"Well, all right..."

He offered a hand to Freya. When she took it, they hurried up stairs to Arthur's room. "I'm back!" He said to Arthur. "I found one of our guests. Titania. She's a nun from Romania."

Arthur was less than enthusiastic when Merlin slammed the dorky hat down on his head and then started to laugh. Thankfully though he then removed the hat before Arthur would have done it himself.
When Merlin had left Arthur had quickly bathed; well...it was more a dunk in the cooling water, a two and a half minute scrub with the soap, another dunk and then he was out.

Knowing his man servant and the fact that one would never know if he was going to knock or not, Arthur knew he had to hurry up. Stepping out of the water he dried himself off and stepped back behind the screen, smoothly getting dressed. His clothes were a little wrinkly but it wasn't all that noticeable.

Combing his damp locks, Arthur checked himself over in the mirror. He looked okay; it would certainly do in a pinch. Almost as if on que Merlin burst back in to his room (once again without knocking) bringing a young lady in tow.

When Merlin had then introduced the lady as Titania, a nun from Romania, Arthur inclined his head a little out of respect.
"Are you the one that is to anoint me?" Arthur asked, fully believing that she was.

Apprehensively, Freya curtsied. Her head bobbed up and down as she did so. With her ankles crossed, Freya nearly fell. However, Merlin was there to catch her. She smiled gratefully at the young warlock, who returned the expression. His cheeks, however, were flushed.

Freya looked panicked when asked the question. "Uh," she squeaked. She glanced over at Merlin. Her eyes were wide. Her head was cocked to one side. She bit at her lip. "Umm…"

"Miss Titania doesn't speak much English," he told Arthur as he looked over at the piece of paper on the desk. It told the timeline of the festivities for today. The nun should've been here by now, but wasn't. Merlin shrugged at this snafu and then looked back at Freya and Arthur. "Sire, it appears she is."

Nervously, Freya stepped forward. She took off Arthur's black tunic and laid it on the chair. Spying the bottle of myrrh-infused olive oil, she picked it up and uncorked it. She poured a little on her hands and began to rub it over his shoulders, back, chest, and arms. She moved slowly and kept her head bowed.

The Prince didn't do much to help the nun in removing his tunic, but he did hold still when she then had begun to rub the oil all over him. He really had to fight not to grimace at the smell. Sure it smelled okay but boy was it strong stuff. Arthur thought that he could even taste the oil in his mouth!

As she worked, Merlin drained the pool with his magic. He then pulled the tub out of the way. Just as he closed the cupboard where it was held, Sir Leon came to the door. "Sire," he said. "We have a bit of a problem. Halig says his most recent find, a druid woman, has escaped. He claims that your servant, Merlin, was seen fleeing away from the cage. He described her as dark haired, big eyed, and wearing a red dress."

Freya's fingers quivered as she worked. She kept her head down and her back turned to Leon. She couldn't risk him seeing her.

Looking up from where Arthur had been studying the nun's hands, the Prince spied Sir Leon.
"Sir Leon." Arthur greeted with a nod of his head.

Arthur knew all about Halig and his practices. He didn't necessarily like the man but he also didn't have any reason to order the man to stop what he was doing either. The Prince fell silent, contemplating what his reaction to this news could be. Merlin had looked a little flushed this morning, as if he had just run a marathon or something, but he had said that getting around the castle had been a nightmare.

Clearing his throat, Arthur stepped away from Freya, giving the 'nun' a small smile of thanks before he turned to face his man servant. "Merlin, what have you to say to these accusations?" he asked in a tone that would let Merlin know he didn't want to be lied to. He wasn't just going to demand his man servant tell him where he hid this druid woman because the Prince still didn't even know for sure if Halig's accusations about Merlin running away from his cart held any truth to them.

Freya was completely shivering as she returned the wary smile of the Prince. Not only was the dress she wore quite cooling to the skin, but also she was terrified. How much had this dress cost Merlin anyway, Freya wondered. The druid looked over at Merlin. Her eyes were wide and pleading. When he shook his head a little, Freya sighed and backed up against the wall. Merlin shook his head again and then beaconed her to come to him. With slow steps, she went over to Merlin, who had a cloth in his hands.

Dipping it into the basin of water, Merlin began to wipe her hands. It was a gentle move, even though his fingertips were rough and callused. Even with he was done and the oils were off her hands, Merlin continued to wipe at them. His head was cocked to one side and he wore a pleased, but goofy smile. "Thank you," she whispered in his ear. "But you can stop now."

"Oh, yeah," Merlin whispered. He let go of her hands. Merlin then put the cloth back in the basin.

Leon looked at Merlin. He seemed to have been flirting a little bit with the nun. That seemed off. It could be that Merlin had no idea how to act around nuns. It could be he didn't know she was a nun. And, of course, the nun could have just not known the cleaning of her hands was a way the manservant was flirting with her. He didn't even know if the girl knew very little English – she had said hardly a word. When Arthur spoke to him, he looked back at the Prince. Politely, Leon nodded to him.

He noticed the way Merlin was treating the nun. The word 'flirting' popped in to his mind immediately when he caught the goofy grin on his man servant's face. Okay, that was the last straw. Arthur decided he'd have to draw his man servant aside and show him that it was not proper of anyone to flirt with a nun.

"I hope I didn't disrupt anything. I thought this was quite urgent business. Halig was not happy. In fact, he was just about to storm in the room when I promised to come speak to you. If he can't find the druid, he wants repayment," Leon said, looking over at Merlin. "And, he already has something, well someone, in mind. He wants your manservant. Flesh for flesh, Halig said."

Merlin shivered. He didn't like the sound of that. Merlin glanced over at Arthur and hoped that the Prince would not oblige that request.

"Well, sire, I did pass a cart with a girl who fit that description and I was running. I wasn't running away from the cart. I just ran around it," Merlin admitted. "I had to pass the cage to get back into the castle. It was the only street not blocked by the arriving Lords or backers or florists." Merlin stopped. He clamped his mouth shut and hoped the answer pleased Arthur.

Arthur didn't say anything at first to Halig's request; even if it was through Sir Leon. The guy wanted his man servant. Yeah...like that was going to happen!

Keeping the neutral look on his face Arthur listened to Merlin's account of what happened. Merlin had been out of breath when he had arrived in Arthur's quarters so it was a definite probability that he was telling the truth. Besides, why would Merlin lie to him?

"Do you swear to me that you are telling the truth?" Arthur asked his man servant.

Merlin realized he hadn't been breathing until he was asked the question of his honesty. He exhaled. His stomach pouched out a little (it was unnoticeable because Merlin didn't have much a stomach to show. Taking a deep breath, Merlin sucked it back in.

"Arthur, I swear upon my life that I am telling the truth. You've got to believe me," Merlin said. "And, anyway, how could I let her go? I don't have keys and it's not like I have magic. You're Prince Arthur, with those sharp eyes and quick reflexes you would notice if I had any special abilities. The only special ability I have is my clumsiness and my ability to be late to just about anything."

Without waiting for a reply, Arthur turned to face the Knight who was still waiting for an answer. "Sir Leon, you can tell Halig that he can have my manservant," Arthur paused, glancing back at Merlin for a moment, "Over. My. Dead. Body. If he cannot find the Druid and he attempts to take my man servant anyway the consequences will be quite severe. Also let him know that he will be recompensed for his loss but not with another slave. Find out how much he wants for the Druid girl."

Merlin grinned and chuckled a little bit. His eyes sparkled a little. The comment had made him nervous, but the warlock didn't let Arthur know. Hearing the first part of the answer, Merlin's smile fell as he swallowed again. His mouth gaped open as he stared at the Prince. Again, he felt himself stop breathing. He only breathed when he said the second half of the response.

"Halig thought you might say that. He also thought you'd offer compensation. The only compensation he wants is Merlin. Halig said that he'd give Merlin back after he was done with him," Leon said in a grim voice. "He also claims he's not leaving until he gets what he wants. I don't think he's bluffing."

"Neither am I, Sir Leon. Tell Halig he has twenty four hours to find that Druid girl and to leave Camelot. If he cannot find her in twenty hours he leaves with nothing. Also, if he even dares to lay so much as a dirty finger on Merlin he's going to lose a hand and he'll be lucky if it's not his head. Is that understood? I'll order the guards to search the lower town for the girl but that man leaves this city in exactly one day." Arthur said in a tone of voice that left no room for argument.

He had grown quite fond of his man servant, even though the younger man was pretty clumsy and sometimes acted like a great buffoon. Even so Arthur cared deeply for Merlin, thinking of him as a friend and a younger brother; someone who needed to be protected from the evils of the world. Of course that didn't mean that Arthur couldn't give him crap some of the time!

"Merlin, just in case this Halig tries something I want you to remain in the castle for the next day. You are not to leave the grounds without an escort. Is that understood?" Arthur asked, glancing at his man servant and the nun.

Merlin listened to the conversation between the knight and Arthur. The warlock found that he was scared. Images of what this Halig could do to him flickered through his mind and he didn't like any of it. Flesh for flesh – that made him think of being whipped. He'd never been flogged and he didn't ever want to be. Merlin knew that he could sue magic to defend himself, but in that moment the warlock might be too terrified to even try. Besides, he would be reported and that would be that.

Leon nodded his head to Arthur. "Very well, sire. I will go find Halig and inform him of your demands," he said. Leon looked at Merlin. He gave him a thin smile, which the warlock attempted to give in return. Then, bowing to the Prince Leon left the room.

At the request, Merlin nodded. "All right," the warlock said. He nodded again. "I understand, perfectly." He looked over at Freya and gave her a small smile. The he gestured to the door. She returned the expression. With a bow, she left.

"Arthur, what if he gets into the castle," Merlin asked as she helped Arthur into the shirt. His voice squeaked a little. "What if Halig doesn't listen to your command? What then?"

He shook his head. "Never mind," Merlin whispered. He stepped behind the screen and dressed in his ridiculous outfit.