... previously ...

Who Are You To Wrangle With Kings?

"Who are you to wrangle with kings?"

A boy.

A servant.

An idiot.

I am invisible.

xOxoXoxOx

"What would you know about magic?"

Me?

Nothing.

How could I?

I am nobody.

xOxoXoxOx

"You could not hope to understand."

I could.

I do.

I know.

I am Merlin.

xOxoXoxOx

"Who are you to wrangle with kings?"

A friend.

A sorcerer.

A Dragonlord.

I am Emrys.

Any thoughts for a sequel? No? This one had me stumped for a while too!

Just a hint of a Doctor Who (DT) quote at the end.

13. I Am Emrys

The first thing that Merlin became aware of was the pain. He thought he'd been asleep, but the severe headache he was experiencing seemed to make it far more likely that he'd been unconscious. Unfortunately that was a fairly common occurrence in recent years and now all he had to do was to work out where he was and what had happened. He kept his eyes closed and resisted the urge to groan as he started to become more aware of his surroundings.

He was sitting on a chair, he realised. His hands were bound behind him with rope and his whole body appeared to be tied by something stronger. If fact, the sensation around his chest felt very familiar indeed. Chains? Morgause again?

Merlin desperately tried to hunt for a memory from deep within his rather muddled mind. The last thing he clearly remembered was being out on a hunting party with Arthur and his key knights and then ...?

Slowly, nervously, he opened his eyes to find himself in the middle of a large and beautiful hall. He blinked a few times and looked ahead to see a very ostentatious throne in front of him with a familiar looking man wearing a crown and a robe sitting upon it.

"Sire?"

"Do you recognise me, boy?"

"Y-yes, Sire. You're King Alined," he replied with a slight bow of his head. He turned left and right as far as he could and quickly saw the person he was looking for; Trickler - leaning against a pillar, arms crossed and mad smile on his face. Seeing Merlin had noticed him, the sorcerer moved forwards towards the king and sat down on a low stool by his feet, still grinning. Alined patted the sorcerer on the head as if he was a pet dog and, remembering how he'd treated the man after the last visit to Camelot, Merlin supposed that's exactly how Alined saw his jester.

"And you recognise Tricker too, I see?" Merlin just nodded – wondering where this was going.

"Where's Arthur?" he asked.

"On his way home I assume. I felt no need to harm him or his knights." Merlin frowned at this, not at all convinced after his previous experience of this king.

"I don't understand. Why me and not him?"

"Well, you may remember that I was rather cross with my boy here when we last left Camelot?"

"Of course. I know what your plan was. You had Trickler cast a love spell on Arthur and Vivian so that King Olaf would declare war on Camelot."

"Very good," Alined said. "That was indeed the plan and, at the time, Tricker did inform me that you appeared to know an awful lot for a mere servant but, he also assured me that the spell he cast was very powerful and would not easily be broken - hence my ... disappointment when the plan failed. However, after a while, when I'd got over the shock of it all, I questioned him more carefully to find out under what circumstances such a strong enchantment might be undone."

"Oh ...?" Merlin was still a little nervous but, as it happened, his magic hadn't really been needed to break that particular spell, so he was in the clear this time. Hopefully.

"There are only two options," said Trickler then. "One requires incredibly dark magic and the other needs a deep understanding of the Old Religion."

"Exactly," Alined continued. "So, both of these options seemed highly unlikely, unless there was someone with magic in Camelot at the time."

"King Uther has banned all magic," Merlin reminded them.

"True, and yet Arthur was apparently released from the spell and that makes me wonder what sort of sorcerer would want to do that." Alined afforded Merlin with a stern stare.

"He has magic, I know he has," said Trickler, grinning wildly. "Oh do let me prove it to you, Sire." Merlin thought he sounded like an excited five year old asking for a cake.

"Very well, Trickler," Alined said in a bored voice, although his eyes were shining brightly in anticipation. Merlin swallowed hard as the sorcerer approached, on exaggerated tiptoes, highly nervous about what was going to happen next.

"It won't hurt," Tricker said him, rather too gleefully for Merlin's liking, whilst wiggling his fingers madly. "Just a little spell I discovered." He held up a hand and muttered, "galdorcræft scínan," and Merlin noticed the sorcerer's eyes glow gold, something which he'd rarely seen for himself. The next moment, Trickler was flying dramatically through the air in a high arc before landing heavily with a strong crash.

"What did you do?" Alined accused Merlin.

"Me? Nothing – he's the one that said the spell," said Merlin, nodding his head in Trickler's direction.

"Are you still alive, boy?" Alined asked. A groan sounded as a response and Trickler hauled himself into a sitting position. "Well, what happened?" the king demanded.

"Strong ..."

"What is?"

"Not what .. who?" Trickler pointed at Merlin. That spell reflected any magic he possessed back towards me; I assumed I'd be the strongest of us – considering his age but ..." He shook his head.

"He's stronger than you?" Alined didn't wait for an answer but just turned to stare at Merlin. "You do have magic?"

"Why does everyone always sound so surprised?" Merlin asked, annoyed.

"You just seem to be a most unlikely candidate," said Alined.

"And he does?" Merlin asked, again nodding towards Trickler.

"Good point," said Alined with the most genuine smile Merlin had ever seen on the man's face. "And, so now comes the real question. What do I do with you now?"

"Now, you release me before I show you just how much power I really have," Merlin threatened.

"Seeing you are currently tied up I don't see that as a problem."

"Seeing that Trickler enchanted these chains I don't believe it's a problem either," Merlin replied with a grin. "Care to put it to the test? Tólýsan," Then there was a golden flash in his own eyes and, a moment later, the chains and rope that had bound him had dissolved into nothing. Merlin stood up in front of the King, rubbing his rather sore wrists, whilst Alined shifted on his seat nervously and Trickler whimpered slightly in the corner. "Now, where were we?" said Merlin with a small smile spreading across his face.

"You think you can intimidate me, boy?"

"My name is Merlin and whether or not I intimidate you does not bother me in the slightest. Now, if you don't mind, I've got a hunting party to catch up with."

"You're going back to Camelot? Back to a kingdom where your gifts are banned and your very great power is wasted? If you stay here with me, I'll make you my court sorcerer and you will have more power and wealth at your finger tips than you can ever imagine." In the corner, Trickler grumbled and Merlin grinned as he saw the pout on the older sorcerer's face.

"Aw, now you've upset your pet sorcerer, Alined. Do you think that wise?"

"Trickler knows his place in this court." Merlin nodded sagely.

"Yes, I figured as much. Unfortunately, your majesty, I do not think you and I would see eye to eye. Just ask Arthur Pendragon and he'll tell you that I've never bowed and scraped before royalty in my life and show him no more or less respect than he deserves which is, by the way, rather more respect than you could ever deserve." Both Alined and Trickler frowned slightly as they tried to work that one out and Merlin grinned again, enjoying the unusual feeling of superiority. "So, thanks, but ... no thanks."

"I don't understand how you would want to go back there, knowing that you would be killed if they found out," said Alined.

"Uther could try ... in fact he has tried - a number of times but, as you can see, I'm still here."

"But ... you have ... so much power." Trickler had found his voice at last and moved towards the younger man with awe on his face. "Why, you could do ... anything, be anyone."

"I'm happy enough being Merlin." He turned back to the king. "Leave Arthur alone, Alined," He's under my protection now – he always has been. Do not attempt to interfere with me again." And, with that, he started walking towards the door.

"Who are you to speak to me so?" Alined shouted "Who are you to wrangle with kings?" Merlin turned around again, his eyes blazing and the king swallowed hard at the sight.

"I am Emrys!" he proclaimed and, on hearing the name,Trickler whimpered loudly and crumpled onto the floor in a heap. Alined looked at his sorcerer in confusion before turning his attention back to Merlin. The young man tipped his head and smiled, very slightly. "Camelot – Is – Protected. Never forget that."

A/N We need more Bamf!Merlin, don't you agree? That's my number one wish for Series 4.

Hey – 99 reviews ... fancy that! There's a special prize for the 100th reviewer (and perhaps one other) No, honestly – a little taster of something I started writing yesterday.

Chapter 14 will be up tomorrow. A sequel to 'In Sickness and In Health,' Now, where does that title come from and how could it possible relate to tomorrow? ;)