Deviner Captive
Firm Bed
...
The prince grumbled his way through the halls back to his room. Arthur entered his chambers hoping to relax and forget the day he'd had but found a very strange sight awaiting him. There was no one in the room with him yet all the chores were being done.
Just like magic.
The dirty clothes were being floated into the hamper. His sword was being sharpened mid air and the bed was being made and falling into place. Buckets of warm water was filling the bathtub like an invisible person was holding them up.
Arthur's mouth dropped open in shock and confusion.
He could hear noises behind his dressing screen. Grabbing his sword from the air he went over to investigate. Expecting to find the culprit but he was met again with his room cleaning itself. He could see his clothes were practically flying from the hamper onto the hangers.
Feeling tugging on his clothing like Merlin was going to help him undress. He could even feel the boy's presence behind him though he knew he was many miles away. Not fighting his urge to flea he rushed to exit passed all the chaos he slammed the door behind self.
He needed to talk to Gaius. Maybe he would know what was going on. Locking the door behind him so no one would walk in on the chaos in his room. He made his way to the physicians chambers. Hoping for some answers.
...
Arthur knocked on the physician's door for what felt like the first time in a long time. It seemed like ever since Merlin had become his manservant he'd always just barged in yelling for him to get out of bed. Gaius was still devastated by his wards kidnapping so he deserved a little more courtesy.
He waited for a couple second but didn't hear any movement from within.
The door remained firmly closed. At least he knocked first Arthur thought to himself as he opened the door and peeked around. "Gaius" He called. No one responded to his call but if he listened noises could be heard coming from the back of the infirmary.
Peeking around the table he was surprised to see Elyan's butt sticking out of, to his knowledge, the leech tank. "What are you doing? Arthur asked surprised.
The other knight shot up so fast in surprise he hit his head on the way out. He sat rubbing the back of his head for a minute.
"You all right?" Percival yelled from the storage cupboard. Tinkling glass could be heard from within.
"Yah. Just hit my head. The prince is here." Elyan yelled back. Percival appeared from behind the door.
"What are you two doing here?" Arthur asked confused. They were still here when he left the day before when he was having his tantrum but they should be back to their duties by now.
"Well, Gaius is short handed right now. His assistants gone, so we decided to volunteer to fill in for Merlin." Elyan answered while he stood up to his full height.
"You're knights of Camelot, don't you have other duties of your own." Arthur questioned.
"Actually, we don't." Percival spoke. Leaning over to pull a leech off of Elyan's neck, making the shorter man flinch.
"What do you mean?" Arthur asked in surprise. Camelot was always getting attacked in one way or another. Knights usually didn't have time to sit down let alone acquire another part time job.
"Well, since the dragon attacked that sorcerer, it seems no one wants to put a toe out of line. Magic or not." Elyan shrugged. Attempting to dust off his sleeves but just wiped the slim on them.
"Where's Gaius?" Arthur asked looking around and seeing no sight of the old man, the door to Merlin's room was opened too so he could see the physician wasn't in there.
"The king called for him so he had to dash out to his call. Left us a long list of duties though." Elyan held up a large scroll of paper.
Unrolling it the thing almost reached the floor the prince thought. He might just be exaggerating but that's what it seemed like in his mind. Did Merlin really usually do all that and his chores for him?
"Bet my father just called him so that he could complain about me." Arthur said with a sigh. "Is that Merlin's chores for a week or something?" He asked.
"No. This is his daily chores. We have to clean the leech tank which I've almost finished, go out an harvest herbs; but that's going to have to wait till later because we have two dozen deliveries to make." Elyan answered. It didn't seem physically possible. Two knights were struggling to finish just the jobs just for Gaius. Imagine if you threw all the jobs the he usually ordered Merlin to do on top of that.
Elyan rolled up the list; he turned his attention away from the prince and onto the large knight."Percival, did you find that potion for that lord's foot fungus that was alluding you?"
"Yes, I've got them all now right here." Percival confirmed. Arthur now noticed that he was carrying a basket in each hand, both was brimming with potions. Every lord and lady in the castle must have ordered some medicine today. "I've split it up into two baskets so that we can do different sections of the castle." He said as he handed one to his partner.
"I need to talk to Gaius. Do you have any idea when he's going to be back?" Arthur asked.
"Sorry Arthur but he didn't specify how long." Elyan answered. "The only thing you can do is wait I guess. We have to go now though. These potions aren't going to deliver themselves." The knight held up the basket on his way out the doorway with Percival following behind and shutting it.
The prince flopped into a chair in front of the fire in a huff. He taped his foot on the ground in impatience. Arthur wasn't one to wait around. When he caught the open door to Merlin's room out of the corner of his eye his curiosity was peeked.
Standing in the doorway he looked around. The room was the cleanest he'd ever seen it since Merlin had arrived in Camelot. They must have cleaned more than just the mess he'd left behind in his search for anything magical. It didn't feel right to not have clothes strewn all over the room; instead they must all properly be in the closet for once.
It was creepily clean.
It just didn't feel right. The room didn't feel like it belonged to Merlin anymore. Like his manservant was gone for good and never returning. That thought was depressing.
Arthur walked over and threw the cupboard door open. Inside all of Merlin's clothes were neatly folded in proper piles. It looked like Gwen had taken the time to clean up after his mess like always. He reached in and picked up a pile, then threw it in the middle of the room.
With clothes strewn once again about the room it made him feel a little better.
The bed was back in its proper place. Arthur walked over and sat on it. There was no give under his weight. It felt more like he'd sat on a bench instead of a bed. How did Merlin sleep on this thing? He always had what seemed like an endless amount of energy.
Maybe it felt better laying down? Arthur gave into his curiosity and laid flat. Nope, it felt just as hard and the pillow felt like a rock. He might as well be on a cave floor. Arthur had heard of a firm bed but this was ridiculous.
Still though, his brain knew he was on a place made for sleeping. Arthur could feel his eyelids drooping. It had been a really long and exhausting day. He'd originally planned to go to sleep as soon as he reached his room but that had been thrown out the window.
He stopped fighting the urge and let himself sleep.
…
Merlin woke up the next morning and went to the bathroom like he did every morning. He splashed water on his face to wake himself up. After he wiped his face with a clothe and looked at his reflection in the mirror he realized something.
The collar looked like a mess with his scratches over top of the original ruins. There was no possible way the king wouldn't notice. How could he have not realized that fact yesterday before he attempted it? If only it had worked like he hoped it would. He'd be far away from this place already.
How was he possibly going to hide this fact?
The warlock ran out of the bathroom and back into the main room. He looked everywhere for something to cover it up. The first place he checked was a nearby dresser but it was empty. Slamming the door closed in frustration, he turned around.
Then the dining table caught his eye. At the placing where his breakfast sat waiting for him was a clothe napkin. The serving boy must have already come and gone already while he was sleeping. It was bright royal blue not surprisingly since this was the blue room. Walking over to the table edge he unrolled the carefully wrapped fabric, the knife and fork clattered to the table.
He looked around to make sure no one was going to enter now that they realized he'd woken up but no one appeared.
Holding the fabric up for expection he realized that it was almost identical to the makings of his neckerchiefs. It felt a little weird to think about it like he'd basically been wearing a napkin around his neck all these years. He'd used it enough to wipe his face after eating though that it wasn't a shocking revelation. Arthur would say it was bad manners but it was just convenient at the time of use.
It was perfect to cover up his folly.
Tying the fabric around his neck he confirmed his suspicions about it being the perfect size and fit. It was almost identical to what he used to wear at home but made out of nicer fabric. If he ever escaped this room he might just end up keeping it.
He walked over to a full length mirror by the bed to look at his appearance. The colour matched perfectly with the robe he was already wearing. This kingdom had as bad a habit as Camelot to overdo their colours but he admitted that he thought they had better colour taste. It even matched his eyes.
Merlin hoped this distraction worked.
...
Merlin waited in the library impatiently. Originally he had tried reading to pass the time but he just kept reading the same line over and over again getting him nowhere. Was the king going to be dropping by today or did he have another day of anxiousness eating away at him?
Keys jingling in a lock could be heard even from the back of the room where he was located. The door opened even though no one knocked to ask permission. Captives didn't deserve that right he guessed.
Gwrthfyr narrowed his eyes when he saw the main room was empty. He signaled for Altoris to follow. He smirked when he say the boy was where he expected, in the library reading to pass the hours away. Something was out of place though. Then he zeroed in on it. "What's that?"
"What's what?" Merlin asked nervously.
"That clothe around your neck covering my, collar." Gwrthfyr pointedly asked.
"I decided to make a neckerchief out of one of the napkins. I'm used to wearing one around my neck at all times and it feels drafty without one. It's comforting in a way too." Merlin sprouted the excuse he had thought up. "I also tucked it between my skin and the metal it was getting itchy." Scratching to make his point.
Gwrthfyr suddenly pulled it back before Merlin could even think about stopping him. He threw the napkin down in a fit of rage at what he saw. "You've been messing with the ruins!"
Merlin didn't bother trying to defend himself.
"Altoris, fetch the chair." Gwrthfyr commanded.
"What's the chair?" Merlin didn't like the sound of that, the tone the king used made it sound ominous.
"You've broken my trust. I gave you more freedom than any prisoner should ever have. Your free reign over this room is over." The king gave him a disappointed look. He turned to instruct the servant to remove all the books.
Merlin could hear the door open again. He struggled to turn around in his chair so that he could see who else was entering. Only three people had entered this room since he'd arrived. He could just make out two guards carrying in a chair. It looked like one of the ones found some castles dungeons used for torture; he could clearly see that the arms featured shackles.
"You can put it over there." The king instructed, they placed it by the entrance.
Merlin was still in shock when he felt himself being forced out of his chair and picked up. "I promise I'll be good just don't torture me!" Merlin screamed as he was carried towards the chair, kicking futile. His first instinct was to beg for mercy. His slim frame was no use against the two guards though.
"Who said anything about torture?" The king responded actually looking surprised at the accusation. "This chair is to just restrict your movements," Gwrthfyr started to explain as Merlin was forcefully placed in the chair and shacked in." Also, now that you've fiddled with the collar I have no possible way to know how much control I have over you now. It's insurance that you won't suddenly gain your powers back. Those shackles are in scripted with similar ruins to the original ones on your collar."
Merlin examined the metal encases both his arms. It looked like the spell was split between them, only containing half the ruins on each.
"Let's see you try to escape that." Gwrthfyr exclaimed before leaving.
Once Merlin was left alone he tested the strength of the metal but came to the conclusion they were solidly made and there would be no escaping without a key. He banged his head on the back of the chair in frustration.
How is it that he always managed to get himself from one bad situation into an even worse one?
…TBC