Deviner Captive

Caught Red Handed

…

…

"So where's Merlin, we aren't suppose to leave him alone, right, and yet he isn't here?" Gwaine asked the other knights as he watched the prince struggle with his passenger.

"I asked Arthur when he came to collect me, and he said that Merlin had figured out his plan and demanded us to stop." Lancelot informed them.

"Is that such a good idea? I thought we were going to keep this up until the princess left." Percival inquired. The others shrugged since it wasn't their call.

"He should be fine for now alone since the threat is here with us anyways, but I'm not so sure about later." Lancelot pointed out.

"But why isn't he here now? He always comes on trips like these." Elyan asked.

"From what I could tell, Arthur got mad at him and assigned him to do some crazy chore without thinking again, regretting it afterwards but to proud to take it back." Lancelot told them as he steered his horse forward.

"The idiot, Merlin is probably sleeping somewhere by now while he's here being tortured." Gwaine sprouted as they all turned their attention back to their prince.

…

Arthur was feeling very uncomfortable with the princess's wondering hands. Instead of keeping them on his waist like she was suppose to they had begun to traveled to his thigh. He tried to stay concentrated on steering the horse but her hand suddenly moved towards his groin area.

It surprised him so much he pulled the rains causing the horse to canter quickly forward. He tried to steer the horse to a slower speed but he wasn't successful because the princess had freaked out and managed to kick him in the back of his shin.

The Knights of the Round Table watched as their prince tumbled off his horse in pain straight into a thorny bush. The princess had managed to stay on the horse but had put a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud. He struggled to get out himself for a while but the thorns had latched into his clothing.

"Let me help you." Lancelot dismounted and offered him a hand, which the prince accepted begrudgingly. When Arthur finally emerged he had dirt smudged across one cheek and leafs stuck everywhere that had been plucked off when he had been pulled out, even some flowers came along. Arthur grumbled to himself as he tried to brush off all the dirt. Matilda sent him an apologetic look. He really didn't want to get back up there with that women but he knew he had to.

Gwrthfyr couldn't help but crack a smile in amusement while Uther hunched in embarrassment since his sons actions reflected on him. In his mind deciding that this ride was officially over and they would be heading back.

"Merlin will be so sad he missed this when I tell him." Gwaine exclaimed so only the knights could hear, knowing how funny the boy would find it.

...

The warlock woke up when he heard his name being called by a very familiar voice. "Merlin!"

Quickly jumping off the bed and fixing his clothes so it didn't looked like he had not just been asleep, he then strided to the door and threw it open. "In here!" He yelled down the corridor.

The prince's head appeared from one of the chambers doorways further down the hallway.

Arthur hadn't expected his manservant to get that much done already since he was usually so inefficient. When he decided to check in on Merlin he half expected to find him asleep. "You've cleaned all the rooms already?"

"That's not true I still have the two royals rooms and the chamber I was just in." Merlin had to force himself not to smile as he answered. He suspected the prince would drop in to check on him and thought it better if he left the work partly undone until he did.

The nap was also exactly what he needed. Cleaning by magic wasn't as tiring as doing it physically but it was still draining in a way. He was fully recharged now.

Arthur raised an eyebrow suspiciously. " I would have expected you to start with those two since they were mandatory." He said as he looked at the sparkling clean room he'd just been in. He pushed off the frame and walked towards his servant.

The manservant examined his master's appearance, how disheveled it was. "Where did you go? You have leaves in your hair." Merlin questioned since he never heard of any trip happening today.

The prince came to a stop in front him. "My father decided that it would be a good idea to take our guests riding in the forest." Arthur answered as he tried to get the leaves out of his hair but he kept missing.

Merlin lightly slapped his hands away." Let me do that. I'm guessing it didn't go to well." He said as he picked multiple leaves and twigs out of his master's hair.

Arthur sighed in exasperation. "The princess apparently didn't know how to ride so my father made her ride with me." He could feel his manservant tense at this information.

"That must've not been pleasant. So that's the reason for your disheveled disposition?" Merlin asked. He smiled as he picked a small pink rose out of his master's collar and showed it to him. The prince slapped his hand out of his face and the warlock rolled his eyes as he looked at the now crumpled flower.

"Did you have help? Is Gwen hiding somewhere?" Arthur asked as he pushed pass him to look at the still dirty room. 'If this was the state the other rooms started as his manservant was better than he thought and had just been lazy the past few years'. He glanced around before turning to look him in the eye.

Merlin rolled his eyes and leaned on the door frame. "No, of course not. I'm just not as useless as you thought." He glanced at the bed that was out of place in the room because it was the only thing he'd cleaned; it was also clearly just slept in.

He observed the prince who was examining the layer of dirt on a silver platter with a scrunched up nose in disgust. He didn't seem to have noticed but Merlin snapped his fingers to fix it anyway.

Arthur looked back at his servant at the noise. Up and down, he didn't look exhausted but he looked like he didn't want him to find something out. The prince assigned Merlin to do this in punishment for calling him fat, again; thinking he'd do the two royals chambers and attempt to clean one of the un-occupied one's before giving up in frustration.

" Since it appears you will be finished here before night fall, I'll be expecting you to meet me in my chambers to prepare me for dinner."

"Ok."

The compliance surprised the prince. Usually his servant would be complaining about how tired he was by now. Arthur gave him one more suspicious look before leaving.

The young warlock sighed with relief when the prince left. Turning back to the room he'd previously been relaxing in to start finishing the job.

…

When Arthur returned to his father he noticed one part of the party was missing. "Where did King Gwrthfyr go?" He asked Uther.

"He had to get something from his room, he'll be down in a moment." Princess Matilda answered.

Arthur hoped Merlin had already finished the king's room but he doubted it.

…

Merlin closed the door and looked around the foreign kings chambers in contemplation. He finished the other two in record time. The princess' room wasn't too dirty unlike Arthur's that looked like a hurricane rolled through it after each use. Deciding what needed to be done with a mental checklist in his mind; change the sheets, make the bed, dust, clean the fireplace, and wash the floor. He decided to do the last thing first.

He rolled up his sleeves and dumped the bucket of water out on the floor. He whistled happily as he directed the mop around to clean the room with just a flick of his finger.

A gasp was heard behind him.

He whipped his head around to see the door open that he swore he'd closed before. His concentration broken the mop dropped to the ground. The warlock quickly walked over to the doorway and put a hand on each side so he could lean out, just managing to catch the end of a very ornate robe disappearing around the corner.

"Crap." Merlin said to himself with dread.

...

The physician was mixing two substances together when his door was slammed open causing him to jerk and slosh them. The culprit could only be one person. "Merlin! What have I told you about slamming the door." He said with his hand on his hips.

"Gaius!" Merlin said before slamming the door closed again behind him, making the bottles rattle in their holders. The physician rolled his eyes. "I think someone saw me using magic."

The physician palled. "What?"

"I was cleaning the guest chambers and no one should have been around, so I thought it'd be safe to use my magic. I was just starting the visiting kings chambers when I think he walked in and saw the mop moving around by itself." Merlin exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Are you sure it was the king?" Gaius asked. If that was true the situation was worse than he thought.

"I just saw part of a robe, but it was his color and fur trimmed. I thought he was supposed to be with Uther all day." Merlin frowned in contemplation. "What should I do?"

"We don't know his stance on magic, even though he is here to form an alliance with Uther, he could be a supporter for all we know, but we should be very vary of him. Keep on the down low and don't look suspicious." Gaius suggested.

"Right, it's going to be alright, this isn't a disaster. I'll just go along like normal." Merlin tried to smile at his mentor before leaving to seemingly finish his chores.

…

King Gwrthfyr resumed his normal pace once he was far enough away from his guest rooms where he had just witnessed the prince's own manservant performing magic. 'It was so ironic that Uther hated sorcerers so much yet here he was employing one.' He thought to himself.

Many didn't know it but magic had always fascinated him; he wouldn't be here in Camelot if it were widely known.

When he was younger he had dreams of becoming an all-powerful Sorcerer. He'd heard that if you studied enough you'd be able to perform minor spells eventually and work your way up from there. As a prince he'd worked night and day at it for over a year but never had any success in actually performing any of the spells.

He couldn't even make a spark.

His body just didn't hold an ounce of magic. Growing so frustrated that he had all the knowledge and no outlet to use it, he gave up on his dream.

'That boy… There must be a reason why he would put himself in so much danger to work under the prince when he had such a tyrant of a father?' He thought to himself, his mind was racing in a whole bunch of different directions.

An idea was forming in his head that made his eyes light up.

He'd have to get his informant to look into the boy's background and see what he could find out.

…

Merlin shivered as he looked around the empty cave. He never realized how cold this place was. When he was visiting the dragon it always seemed so warm; but that was probably because of the mythological creatures intense body heat.

Instead of sticking to his mentors plan he decided to hide.

If the guards came they came and if they didn't they didn't; either way he wouldn't be there so he couldn't be arrested. Uther after hearing about a supposed sorcerer usually had them arrested within the hour so he would give it two and check if his secrete had been revealed.

When avoiding being found you shouldn't go to places you use often; but nobody knows he used to come here often so it was the perfect hiding spot.

He felt like he forgot something he was supposed to do though. The warlock just shrugged it off as paranoia.

…

The physician's chamber door was slammed open once more. "Merlin!" The prince yelled.

Gaius froze in worry. He turned around slowly expecting to see the prince surrounded by guards prepared to take his ward away but it just turned out to be Arthur alone. Which was reassuring since he never arrested anyone without back up.

"Is there a reason you're looking for Merlin?" Gaius asked.

"Yes, he was supposed to help me dress for dinner but he hasn't shown up and I'm expected to be there within the hour." Arthur complained with crossed arms. " I need a bath after going for that ride."

"Is that so?" The physician said in contemplation, thinking about where his ward had hidden himself. The boy never stuck to the plan. "I'll go fetch him and he'll be right up." Gaius assured the prince before leaving his chambers.

Arthur raised an eyebrow at the physician's weird behavior.

…

Merlin froze when he heard footsteps coming from the caves entrance. His heartbeat picked up thinking that the guards might have found him after all.

He sighed in relief when his mentor appeared.

"Merlin what did I tell you about not acting out of the ordinary, hiding in a cave is definitely suspicious. You are suppose to be preparing the prince for dinner with the king." Gaius reprimanded him.

The warlock winced, 'so that's what I forgot' he thought to himself. "How'd you know where to find me?" Merlin asked. He didn't think anyone would think to look for him here.

"My boy, over the years I've grown to know you very well, and you're very predictable. I'm surprised you haven't had your magic found out before. Now go help the prince get dressed before you get in more trouble than you already are. When I talked to him he'd heard nothing so I think you might just being paranoid about the other king seeing you." Gaius commanded his ward.

There was a moment of silence.

"Fine." Merlin stood and exited the cave.

...TBC