New chapter is here! Enjoy it ^.^
Chapter 5. "Does Gawaine know?.."
"Merlin, I can't believe you're hiding again!"
Dark haired boy with really big ears rolled his eyes.
"My sensibility is unbearable, I know," he said standing up and gave an irritated look to a young knight who had already joined the fight. Gawaine with his help fought back successfully. I got up slowly.
"Watch his back," ordered the dark haired guy getting closer to the fighters. He wasn't armed. I followed his order and looked at Gawaine. He was… handsome. His movements were sharp and fast. His sword was flying with whistling sound. The blond knight joined in rather enthusiastically. In the middle of the fight they turned to each other and Gawaine smiled widely.
He really smiles a lot.
They shook hands fast and returned to their opponents. Robbers were not good fighters but there were too much of them. And one of them, he probably thought himself was the smartest, got behind Gawaine's back unnoticed. He raised his sword.
Oi, I have a déjà vu! Couple of days ago I saved Gawaine in the tavern… He was close to being stabbed in the back.
Now I was too far and didn't have a bottle to smash on the attacker's head. But I had my power. I didn't have time to cast a spell so I just sent an impulse of energy towards the robber. Oh, didn't I tell you why I'd left my homeland? I left because I'm…well… clumsy. It's bad when you work at a farm or in tavern, but when you have such a great power as I do, your every move can be dangerous. It can be dangerous for you and those who are near.
So now, my wave of energy crashed the near standing tree, instead of hitting the robber.
Oops…
The good thing is that tree had buried some of the robbers. The bad thing is that it'd almost hit Gawaine! I ran towards him hoping he's alright.
"Gawaine!"
"Are you…"
"….."
"Oh, I see you're fine if you can swear like that." I grabbed his hand and tried to lift him. He was just a bit battered.
"Lucky you are, my friend," the blond knight came to us. He looked suspiciously at the mysteriously fallen tree.
"What could've made it fall?" he looked around and only then noticed me. He frowned. "Who's your friend here, Gawaine?"
I was nervous.
Why is he looking at me like it's my fault the tree had fallen? Yeah, I know it's my fault but he doesn't know that, right?
"That's Nin. He helped me out of trouble, practically saved my life in a bar fight. We're heading to the Camelot. That's good we've met you." Gawaine was leaning on me while I tried to hide somehow behind min from a blond knight's look.
"Saved you, huh?" he smirked. Meanwhile, his dark haired friend was checking the robbers. None of them was conscious.
"No matter what made the tree fall, it was on time," he stood next to us.
"It was a really bad situation, Arthur." Said Gawaine and shook his head lightly. Then he looked at me. He was much taller and I couldn't see him properly with my hat almost covering my eyes. But I saw his gorgeous and sincere smile perfectly.
He's so totally handsome…wait, WHAT? What a hell am I thinking about? Ninniane, quit it now!
"Can you stay, now?" I asked and stepped away from him. I immediately bumped into somebody.
"Oh, you again," that was the "hiding" guy.
"Why are you always on my way?" I asked rudely. He looked offended for a bit. "Sorry. All that stress… " I sent him an apologetic look. Meanwhile Gawaine and Arthur examined the tree.
"It's old and dry wood. Somebody could just hit it and it fell." Arthur concluded.
Lucky I am!
"So, how had you two met?" the dark haired boy asked me, while leading us to a horses. "I'm Merlin by the way."
"I'm Nin. It's nice to meet you. Gawaine and I were attending the same tavern when he had some kind of a conflict. I interfered, so now I'm wondering around the forest with three strangers and fighting robbers."
This Merlin had some kind of a charm, I felt very comfortable near him.
"How do you know Gawaine?"
"Well, you'll be surprised but Arthur and I had met him in a tavern…"
"No," I laughed, "he has a thing for taverns, I guess."
"The second time I've met him, Gawaine was thrown out of a tavern near Camelot as well!"
"Sweet," I looked at Gawaine walking in front of me and explaining something to Arthur.
"Merlin, you and Arthur… Hold on. You are the Merlin!" I stared at lanky lop-eared and rather harmless looking fellow. "You're his beat friend. Gawaine had told me some stories of your adventures."
Merlin smiled shyly. "He's one of my best friends too. I know I can always rely on him."
What a nice man is this Gawaine… brave, funny, loyal….Oi! Stop that. Stop these thoughts! Don't you act like a silly little princess, who meets a knight for the first time. You're a grown up smart ex-princess and he's not a knight! Knights don't mess up in taverns…Oh; I'm talking to myself just like my mom… I think too much of Gawaine and I need to think of my own safety. Where to go now? Camelot is the worst place for…
My thoughts were interrupted with a hard hit. That was my face hitting ground. Just perfect. Lost in thoughts, i didn't notice a root of a tree and fell.
"Careful…" Merlin helped me get up. Arthur and Gawaine seemed to notice nothing, they were deep into conversation.
"Are you alright?" Merlin asked.
"yeah…" I tried to make a step and wrinkled with pain. "No. my ankle. I twisted it."
Bad. Bad. Bad.
"Lean on my arm. Now try not to step on this leg." Merlin was holding me. What a nice guy.
"Do you always space out like this while walking?"
"No."
"Do you know where we are going?"
"Yes, Camelot."
"Does your ankle hurt?"
"Yes!" I was distracted by this pain actually.
"Does Gawaine know you're a girl?"
"No."
"Do you often show your power to strangers?"
"No."
Ouch, that hurts… why's he talking all the time? Questions, questions…who cares about our destination or what does Gawaine knows or what I do with my powe…WHAT?
I stopped and looked at Merlin with despair. He knew.
What's worse: him knowing about my power or him knowing I'm a girl?.. Questions, questions… If he tells Gawaine or Arthur about my magic what they will do?.. don't wanna know…
"Hey, don't worry. Your secret is safe with me. Or better to say your secrets." He smiled at me and his eyes flashed.
No way… a wizard…
I couldn't believe my luck. I just stared at Merlin in shock.
"Merlin! Why have you stuck? Move!" Arthur shouted. He had just noticed that we were not following him. Gawaine looked back worried.
"Come on." Merlin helped me to reach the horses and climb in saddle. "Nin twisted his ankle."
"Gawaine, you sit behind Nin and go to Camelot. Merlin and I have some business to finish. Ask Gaius to check up his ankle. " Arthur took off a bag from my horse's saddle.
"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?" Gawaine frowned. "Merlin can bring Nin to Camelot."
"no, it's time for him to stop hiding and do some man's job." Arthur said and Merlin rolled his eyes.
That Arthur is annoying and arrogant. Why does Merlin help him?..
"Yeah, right," Gawaine smirked and easily jumped on a saddle. He sat really, I mean really, close to me. He took the reins and looked at Arthur and Merlin once again. "I'll sent Leon and Lancelot to you anyway. Don't go in alone."
Merlin smiled and nodded to him. Then he waved to me. I smiled back still a bit stunned with my discovery. Just two minutes later when Arthur and Merlin were far behind I turned to Gawaine and asked:
"What's going on? Where are they going?" my companion was worried. He just sent the horse faster and without looking at me he said:
"Those two are always getting into trouble. But they always manage to stay alive."
"We need to go back. They helped you…us. Why do we leave now?"
"I rely on Merlin's sensibility. He will keep Arthur away until knights will come." I felt his eyes on me. "and you're injured, so you won't be able to help anyway."
Oh, dear Gawaine, you haven't the slightest idea of what I can do. Have I just thought "dear Gawaine"?..Oh, it's a bad sign… I can't be falling for him, can I?
Wow! My longest chapter so far! Hope you like it. Sorry for spelling!
Thanks a lot for those who reviewed my story, it really means a lot for me! xoxo