Next chapter should be up next friday or saturday (I apologize about the irregular schedule, I really wanted to do weekly updates, but I came down with a cold and couldn't really write.)
As Arthur walked back from Elyan's chambers, he heard passing servants talk of an execution, and passed by a window to look out on the courtyard. A pyre was being built, and unless his father had caught a sorcerer in the night, Arthur was certain that the king was going to burn the man in their dungeons. And that seemed quite unfair. Arthur had always hated the pyre. The smell. The screams. Arthur couldn't imagine what it must feel like, and though his father had long claimed that burning magic-users was the only real way of getting rid of them, Arthur had known for a long time that once he was king, a pyre would never be built again.
Currently, there was nothing Arthur could do to save sorcerers from the flames, but his father had no evidence (of that Arthur was almost certain) that the man in their dungeons was a sorcerer. He changed directions, hoping to find his father at breakfast in the dining hall.
"Arthur?" Arthur turned on his heel as he saw Merlin with a tray of what was probably his own breakfast. "You're dressed! Wait, isn't that what you wore yesterday?"
"And how would you know?" Arthur asked, sleep deprivation probably getting the better of him.
"Because I pick out your clothes every morning," Merlin said as a matter-of-fact, "Why are you walking around this early and in yesterday's clothes? You would never get up this early of your own free will."
"You sure do think highly of me," Arthur said sarcastically, hoping that Merlin would respond to his taunts and stop thinking about what Arthur may or may not be up to.
"Did you spend the night at Gwen's?" Merlin speculated sharply and raised an eyebrow.
"I did not," Arthur answered quickly, which probably made it seem like he was lying, "And please don't suggest those kinds of things in public."
"Don't worry, sire," Merlin bowed theatrically, "It's our secret. Will you still be eating breakfast this morning?"
"Of course," Arthur said, realizing how hungry he was, "I would also appreciate a bath."
"Ask nicely, and I might give it to you."
"That's an order, Merlin." Arthur said, and Merlin laughed as he disappeared back down the hall with Arthur's food.
Arthur found his father exactly where he thought he would be.
"Arthur!" His father exclaimed happily, and gestured to the chair beside him, "Will you be joining me for breakfast?"
"No, I've already eaten," Arthur lied easily, "I merely had a question."
"What about?"
"The pyre."
"Yes, well, sorcerers must burn. That's just how it is. I know you don't like it much, but sometimes harsh methods have to be used to ensure the peace."
"You don't even know if he's a sorcerer," Arthur said through gritted teeth, trying his hardest to suppress the anger that always seemed to bubble forth when his father spoke of magic. He remembered back when he hadn't cared, when he had followed his father's beliefs blindly. Now, he wasn't so sure. Now, every time the king spoke of magic, Arthur had learned to not listen. Refusing to let his love for his father be blinded by the madness of the king.
"I have had the guards report back to me, and it would have been impossible for him to get into the courtyard without the use of magic. Gaius too believes it to be the most likely conclusion, and how else would you explain how he got into your chambers through your locked window?"
Arthur bit his lip. Nothing he could say now would sway his father. Arthur almost felt guilty for thinking everything would be better when he became king, but he wanted to learn from his father's mistakes. He left without saying another word.
Arthur came back to his chambers to see the table set up for dinner, the tub half filled with water, and a kettle warming over the fire, suggesting that Merlin was indeed preparing that bath for him. There was also a fresh set of clothes on his bed for when he was all cleaned up, and Arthur sat back in his chair to relax and finally eat.
Merlin came back once in a while with more water, pouring in the boiling water when it was ready and filling up the kettle again, knowing that Arthur loved hot baths even if they were harder to prepare. Merlin didn't always let Arthur have his hot baths, which in all fairness was fine, so Arthur always appreciated it when Merlin took the time to make it extra hot. He always promised himself to be extra nice to his servant on those days, and it seemed Merlin had begun to catch on because he prepared hot baths for Arthur more and more often.
"Do you want to hear your list of duties today?" Merlin asked, puring in another kettle full of boiling water and then preparing to heat up another batch. Arthur knew he would continue to warm the water until Arthur was in the bath.
"I don't think it matters if I want to or not," Arthur said casually, never able to escape his princely duties even if he had days where he really wanted to.
"Oh really?" Merlin responded sarcastically, "Because the last couple of days you have been very good at ignoring things. Like training with the knights. Or conducting that research on the new road you wanted to make. You have literally been doing whatever you want, which, of course, you get away, because you're the prince."
There was no anger in Merlin's voice, so Arthur could only smile fondly as Merlin continued his rant about how Arthur never did what he was supposed to while he worked so hard for him.
"And what have you been doing then?" Arthur asked, "Did you finish cleaning my uncle's chambers?"
"I did, as a matter of fact, and I also did this," Merlin handed Arthur one of the lengthiest scrolls he had ever seen in his life, and quickly skimmed through it, slowly realizing what it was. He couldn't even hide his proud smile.
"You did the research!" He proclaimed, extremely impressed with Merlin's findings. He looked up at his servant who looked slightly surprised to hear Arthur praise him, but Arthur was too tired to cover up his pride with snarky insults.
"Well, when Gwaine came, I kind of figured that I might use the fact that I couldn't get anything productive done. I did all the interviews with Gwaine as my official witness, because, you know, the word of a knight means everything and all that. His signature should be at the bottom. Anyway, would you like to take the bath before the water gets cold?"
The promise of hot water made Arthur move quickly and he was soon submerged in the tub, thoughtlessly scrubbing his arms with a soaped cloth. Merlin decided to clean the table before coming back to Arthur, giving him a little bit of space before tending to him.
"Have you seen the pyre?" Merlin asked, trying to make it seem like he was picking topics at random, though Arthur knew the pyre bothered him. Merlin had always been outspoken about how he hated the fires.
"I tried to talk my father out of it," Arthur said mindlessly, and he noticed as Merlin stopped washing his back for just a moment before continuing.
"Well, he's a stubborn man," Merlin said, almost as if he was comforting Arthur or himself. There wasn't much they could do about the situation as they weren't exactly dealing with an innocent person. If it had been an innocent person stuck in their dungeons, well, the two of them might have been discussing how to break him out without the king knowing.
"Did he talk yet? The prisoner?" Merlin continued, and Arthur bit his lip. Merlin couldn't see his face anyway.
"No, not really. I had hoped his execution date approaching would make him more willing."
"Good luck," Merlin said genuinely as he put down the cloth he had been using, reaching for the soap to cleanse Arthur's hair, rolling up his sleeves to make sure they wouldn't get wet.
Arthur took a look at Merlin's still bandaged wrist, "Does it still hurt?" He said, gesturing the wrist, and Merlin looked at it.
"Not really. Although it's not as flexible as it used to be."
"Can I see?" Arthur asked, but held out his hand to let Merlin know that he didn't have a choice. Merlin let Arthur do as he wanted.
Removing the bandages was easy enough, but Arthur was slightly shocked to see how well the wrist had healed. Unless Arthur had played up the injury in his head (which he was sure he hadn't), then the burn almost seemed smaller, and Arthur could have sworn that even burns that had caused less damaged would have looked redder and more damaged than what Merlin was currently displaying. It wasn't that the scar had disappeared, it was merely less than Arthur had assumed.
"It looks better," he merely said, as he reapplied the bandage, and Merlin shrugged.
"I don't scar easily," he mentioned almost as an afterthought, but seemed to regret it the moment the comment was out of his mouth, "Lean back," he ordered instead, beginning to wash Arthur's hair and not letting the prince say another word, unless he wanted to run the risk of getting soap in his mouth.
But the comment had been interesting. Merlin didn't scar easily. A fact he mentioned easily and without thought, yet his body was seemingly covered in scars. There were five Arthur was aware of - two of which still had unknown origins - and Arthur was entirely certain that there were more he didn't know of. But Arthur thought back to the scar he had seen on their way to Mercia. If Merlin didn't scar easily, how close to death had he been then? What had happened? With Merlin's reaction to his own blunder, Arthur doubted he would talk about it right now, so he decided not to push the topic as Merlin washed out the soap and left to get a towel so Arthur could dry off.
"You never told me what my plans for the day were," Arthur remembered as he dried his hair, casually walking behind the screen and grabbing the clothes Merlin had laid out for him.
"Well," Merlin began as if he was about to start an endless list of chores Arthur had to do, "Assuming that you will be interrogating the prisoner again, I can cross off the first three items on your list, and go straight to your afternoon training sessions with the knights."
"Is that really necessary?" Arthur questioned. Training was usually great fun, but if he was as behind on his duties, as Merlin was leading him to believe, then shouldn't he be doing that instead?
"Yes, Arthur, it is very important. As First Knight you have to conduct your little test of the aspiring knights, which was supposed to have taken place yesterday. Or did Leon forget to mention that you, when you got his report yesterday?"
Arthur vaguely remembered Leon having said something like that, but he had honestly barely listened to it.
"He might have mentioned it," Arthur said truthfully, although Merlin would surely think he was joking.
"Then there is a council meeting of which you should probably read the scroll I gave you if you want to actually make a convincing argument. Then there is a feast for… someone or something, I don't really remember this, but you should definitely be in the dining hall wearing something nice. Perhaps the new outfit I had made for you?"
"Yes, that would be… ideal," Arthur said, mentally planning out his day as Merlin spoke, "Meet me in the armory an hour after noon," Arthur ordered as he walked out from behind the screen, "And bring your research with you. You can lecture me, while you prepare my armor."
"Lecture you?" Merlin looked at him with a raised eyebrow (he had definitely learned that from Gaius), "Are you sure you've had enough sleep?"
"Oh I definitely haven't," Arthur scoffed, as he left the room, "Not all of us have the luxury of rest, Merlin." Arthur didn't even have to be in the same room as Merlin to know that his servant was rolling his eyes at Arthur's dramatic declaration.
Although noon was still some ways away, Arthur still went to the dungeons preparing for what would likely be the last time he would speak with the prisoner. As Elyan and Gwaine had yet to arrive, most probably because they were still at the training grounds, he decided to speak with some of the guards to learn more about their prisoner.
The information was nothing groundbreaking. The man was not talkative but always thanked the guards who gave him food and water, he even greeted the guards whenever the watch changed, and informed them whenever he went to sleep. He had made no attempts of escape and had shown no signs of magic, although he had seemingly sighed very loudly as he had seen the preparations for the pyre begin. Arthur could sympathize with that at least.
Elyan and Gwaine arrived shortly before noon, and Arthur ordered the guards away for the last time, as he entered the cell. Elyan had with him a single vial, which he handed to Arthur in plain view of the prisoner who followed the interaction with his eyes.
"My father has ordered your execution tomorrow morning," Arthur said and the man nodded slowly, possibly already aware of it.
"I can see the pyre from my cell," he confirmed.
Arthur held up the vial, "In my hand, I hold what I believe to be a truth serum. However, I cannot be certain. You claim to not have intended to take my life, but the evidence speaks against you, so I shall offer you a choice. You can drink this and if your story is indeed true, and I cannot find you guilty of any serious crime, you will not be executed. If it turns out you were indeed trying to kill me, I cannot save you, but for your cooperation I will let you choose the method with which you would like to die. I must repeat though, I cannot be certain that this is not poison."
"I see," the man said, possibly weighing his choices, "If I drink it and it is poison, I would like your word that you will kill me quickly. I do not wish to suffer. Likewise, if my truth is not well-received, I would like to die by your sword."
Arthur nodded: "You have my word."
The prisoner held out his hand. Arthur handed him the vial, and watched as he drank it without hesitation. When nothing happened within a minute's time, Arthur assumed that the potion had done its job. He decided that he might start his questions from the beginning.
"How did you get into my chambers undetected?"
"To enter the city, I used magic to hide my presence," the man said, proving that the potion did indeed work, as no sane man would willingly admit to having magic to the prince of Camelot, "To enter the courtyard, I used a sedative to knock the guards out. I then climbed the side of the castlewall to reach your chambers, and I unlocked you window, using magic."
"And did you attempt to take my life?"
"No, I did not."
"No?" Arthur repeated, almost to confirm it for himself, "There were tools for killing found on your person. Who did you attempt to kill? The king?"
"No," the prisoner repeated again, "I was tasked with killing the prince's servant."
The information took Arthur aback, but he needed everything he could get out of this man. He tried his best to remain calm and not thinking about how on earth Merlin could have created enemies strong and wealthy enough to send bounty hunters after him.
"Why did you enter my chambers if I was not the target?"
"I do not know your servant," the prisoner explained, "But if he is yours, he would come to your chambers by morning. My intentions were to sneak in under the cover of the night and wait for the arrival of your servant."
"Then why were you standing over my bed?"
"You were a complication. I was going to put you into a deep slumber."
"Using magic?"
"I do not have that kind of power." He chuckled, "I was going to use a sleeping draught."
"Why do you want my servant dead?" Arthur asked puzzled. No one should want Merlin dead.
"It is not I who wants him dead, merely the one who employed me."
"And who might that have been?"
"I do not know. I did not see her face, she only provided me with a target, a map of the castle and half of my pay."
"I see," Arthur nodded slowly, "May I ask you another question?"
"I cannot lie to you."
"Yes, but this question is somewhat personal, and since the potion does not force you to speak, you may hold your tongue if you do not wish to answer."
The man nodded, understanding.
"You said that you would never kill someone you believed to be completely innocent, yet in your line of work, I find it difficult to believe that you have never once killed someone free of guilt. You seem honorable, yet you kill for money. Surely you must understand that what you do is not right. On what grounds does my servant deserve to die?"
"I will share with you my story, my lord," the man said, addressing him as nobility for the first time, "My wife and I both have magic. She is an expert in the healing arts and possess much more powerful magic than someone like me. The magic I have, we used mostly to help our crops grow strong, or sometimes light a candle. The trifle tricks I used to sneak into your chambers are more or less the extent of my powers."
Arthur nodded slowly as the man spoke, even if he knew nothing of magic. Arthur would have assumed that being able to create fire would make you powerful, but it seemed not to be the case. At least not according to the man before him. It made Arthur curious to just how much he didn't know of this forbidden art.
"The Great Purge began not long after we had wed, and with my wife pregnant and nowhere to go, we took our few possessions and fled Camelot. Before The Purge, Camelot had been the only place safe for people like us, so we could never settle down, and we could never use our powers in fear of persecution. Yet we had to make a living somehow, we had a child on the way, and I took up bounty hunting, believing it to be the quickest way to earn money without anyone asking unnecessary questions. All I wanted to do was to protect my family
"But as you said, I do believe that there is some honor left in me. Even with magic as weak as mine, I can detect lies and truths. I always require my client to tell me how my target has wronged them, and I will take the job based on their answer."
"My servant is a good man," Arthur insisted, "Good and kind. He would never hurt a soul."
The man smiled a little to himself. It was nothing malicious. It was as if Arthur had innocently asked if the sky was green. "Even in the dark cell, I can see that you believe that to be true, but my client tells a different story. A story which does not paint your servant in so kind of a light."
Arthur could see Gwaine clench his fist in the corner of his eyes, and Arthur took a moment to compose himself, "What did she say?"
"I asked how he had wronged her. She told me that they had been friends. They had been friends and he had poisoned her. There were no lies, only a sorrowful truth."
Arthur looked down. The air in the room had shifted. Even with the power of truth on his side, Arthur no longer had control of this situation. He would need time to think all of this over. He needed to stop the conversation about Merlin.
"Why did you drink the potion?" Arthur asked instead, "Why not tell us this from the beginning?"
"My lord, I am a magic user. The truth would have had me killed regardless of my intentions, yet when I saw the pyre, I was ready to share with you the truth. Even more so, despite my promise to my client of keeping silent, I do believe that I have made a mistake regarding your servant. You have my deepest apologies."
"If that was your intention, why drink the potion, running the risk of being poisoned?"
"Because you gave me your word that I would not burn, and I saw that you spoke the truth. For you should know, Arthur Pendragon, that every time I, or any of my kin, step foot in this kingdom, the fire haunts our minds."
"Thank you," Arthur said slowly.
"What for, young prince?"
"For telling me your story," Arthur said, "It gave me a lot to think about."
"You have granted me a merciful death. For that I am grateful."
"No," Arthur said determined, "Despite everything, I believe you have a good heart, an honorable soul. I do not wish to kill good people and let your family suffer as a consequence."
"My lord?"
"Tonight, I shall free you. You will be provided with a horse, provisions and gold enough to make up for you should have earned had your mission been successful." Arthur took a breath. "I do this on the following conditions: You will no longer kill to provide for your family, you will not use your magic to harm this kingdom, and when I become king, you shall return to Camelot, where I can guarantee your safety. Do you accept these terms?"
"Yes, my lord. You have my word," the man vowed and bowed his head in gratitude.
Arthur left the cell with Gwaine and Elyan, knowing full well that as soon as they were out of earshot, they were going to give him hell for this.
"Are you sure that was wise?" "How could you do that?!" They both said (or in Gwaine's case, yelled) at the same time.
Arthur looked at them until they decided to just let Elyan speak first: "Even if everything he told you was the truth, he is still a murderer," Elyan pointed out, "And you're just going to let him go free? Going directly against your father, assuming that this is all something you will do behind his back?"
"He gave me his word that he would uphold his end of the deal. He couldn't lie about that."
"That shouldn't matter," Elyan pushed, "This guy works for Morgana. I can understand not wanting to burn him at the stake, but this seems to be going too far. The truth serum is just that, a truth serum. It doesn't bind him to do anything, if he should change his mind."
"It's a gamble I'm willing to take," Arthur said wanting to explain his choice, "That man wasn't there of his own free will, he did not choose to become a murderer, that's on us. We did this to him, to his family and to everyone like him." Like Morgana, "I am investing in the future."
"You let someone who was going to kill Merlin go, is what you did," Gwaine said, sounding almost disappointed in Arthur. No, not almost, that was just what Arthur wanted to think. "This whole thing that we're doing," Gwaine gestured to the three of them, "Is to keep Merlin safe. Or did you forget, my lord?" Gwaine spat out the last word as he turned around and left, likely going to the tavern, where he could insult Arthur under the guise of being drunk. It was fair, Arthur thought, this decision could backfire. However, he was willing to take the chance.
"I'll trust your decision, sire," Elyan said slowly, as if he didn't trust him at all, "Or at least, I'll trust that you'll look after Merlin. But if he gets hurt, I won't protect you."
"Protect me from what?"
"Gwaine," Elyan said and gestured down the hall, "I don't even know what Lancelot would do if he found out, but if he gets mad at you, you definitely deserve it."
"That's fair."
He dismissed Elyan then, and went directly to the armory, unsurprisingly finding Merlin there with his armor laid out, ready for him to wear. Merlin was reading through his research, possibly figuring out how to best present it to Arthur, as he noticed the prince's arrival.
"You're early," he remarked and folded the lengthy parchment up.
"So are you," Arthur responded teasingly, "I was unaware that you were capable of that."
Merlin let out a giggle as he put down the parchment and reached across the table to reveal a plate of food: "I figured you would be hungry," he said and gave Arthur the plate. The lunch wasn't impressive, but it was a perfect pre-training meal, so Arthur could only smile.
"Okay, I know you've been waiting all day to do this. Lecture away."
And so Merlin did. While Arthur ate, Merlin told him about the various people who had expressed a desire for a new road, and how it could benefit different professions. Merlin had gotten statements from nobles and commoners alike, apparently using Arthur's name and the presence of Gwaine to make some reluctant noblemen speak. A clever move on Merlin's part, which Arthur would grant him no praise for whatsoever.
When Arthur was ready to go to the training grounds, Merlin had finished his (quite impressive) lecture, during which Arthur had remarked that Merlin had been rather enthusiastic about the whole thing. It had never been uncommon for Merlin to take interest in politics, Arthur's life or anything else concerning Arthur, but Arthur hadn't seen much of ot lately, at least not to the extent where Merlin was smiling giddily to himself as he proudly gave Arthur advice.
Arthur had always wondered why Merlin took such interest in politics. Even before Arthur had begun listening to his advice, Merlin had slowly educated himself about Camelot and how the kingdom worked. In the beginning, Arthur had thought Merlin did it to get an insight in Arthur's life, as Arthur didn't really open up to him that much, but over the years, it merely seemed like Merlin did it for himself. Arthur knew that between working for him and assisting Gaius, Merlin was an avid reader, and quite often ended up getting behind on his chores because he was reading up about the history of Camelot. Arthur usually forgave this, because it gave them something to talk about. And if it allowed Merlin to help him write a few speeches, well, it worked out great for both of them.
Of course, taking an interest didn't mean being an expert. Arthur had been preparing to become king his entire life, and was not above correcting Merlin when he got something wrong, or use an entire morning lecturing his servant about the purpose of military power. But every so often, Merlin could offer insight Arthur wouldn't normally have access to, and it made Arthur happy to have Merlin as his servant, as his friend. Because Merlin would always speak up, always question things and offer his own opinion whether Arthur asked or not, and Arthur was happy to see Merlin doing it again, having not realized when and why he had stopped. A voice in Arthur's mind whispered that it was because Arthur was investigating Merlin, and his servant was well aware of that, but he ignored it. Right now, their friendship was back on track and it was wonderful.
It spoke of how long it had been since Arthur had been to the training grounds, when Leon was surprised to see him. They began training as usual, Arthur inviting Percival to be his sparring partner, before he would begin the tests, wanting the aspiring knights to have some idea of what they would be up against.
Before beginning the tests, Arthur let Leon run him through the nobles he would be facing and was less than impressed to hear how they'd done in sparring sessions against other knights, and even amongst themselves. Arthur didn't expect a single one of them to last more than ten seconds against him. Fifteen if he went easy on them.
There were ten aspiring knights, and the first five of them went down as quickly as Arthur had predicted. At the sidelines, Merlin was sat, supposedly sharpening his sword, but he spent more time laughing and smiling whenever Arthur knocked down another person. More than once, Arthur thought that Merlin was handier with a sword than half of these boys, and that was a scary thought considering how awful Merlin was with any kind of weapon.
It was all over less than an hour after it had begun, and Arthur did not hide his disappointment as he left the training grounds, letting Leon know that he should continue training them until they were ready to face him again.
Merlin quickly got Arthur out of his armor, and the prince set off to the council meeting.
It was a long affair, but Arthur kept his attention and ended the meeting by doing his own presentation, which slowly started winning people over. Arthur knew his father wouldn't back him up, not because he necessarily disagreed, but because he was (not so) subtly testing Arthur's ability to persuade people by his own merits. But regardless of his father's support, Arthur thought that by the next council meeting, he should half of the council on his side, which would give him enough support to get his vision through. And he had Merlin to thank for that.
By the end of the meeting, his father pulled him aside.
"You did great," he said proudly, "Your uncle truly wasn't wrong when he said how much you have grown."
Arthur smiled a little at the praise, "Thank you, father, but I still have much to learn."
"Of course," his father agreed, although still smiling as he changed the subject, "How did the interrogation go?"
"It was unfruitful," Arthur lied, "I suspect that he didn't act of his own accord, but I have no proof."
"A shame," his father said, "He shall be executed tomorrow, and we shall worry about him no more."
"Of course father," Arthur dismissed himself, "I'll see you later at the feast."
Merlin met him again in his chambers, where he was ready with Arthur's new clothes. It was plain as day that Guinevere had helped Merlin out with this particular task, as Merlin knew nothing about fashion. The dress shirt Merlin presented him with was particularly beautiful. It was almost all white, but golden seams lined the hem of the sleeves, and on the left chest, a golden dragon was embroidered into it.
"Do you like it?" Merlin asked cheekily, knowing that he had done a good job.
"I do," Arthur admitted, "How much did you and Guinevere pay for this?"
"We didn't pay anything for it, sire," Merlin smiled, and Arthur had to resist the urge to ruffle his hair.
"Okay, how much did I pay for it?"
"Ouch," Merlin said and fake winched, "I don't think you want to know."
Arthur shook his head: "So just because I'm the prince, you think I can spend whatever I like on pretty clothes?"
"Of course not. But the king of Camelot should have nice things, and unless you get into a violent fight tonight, this shirt will last at least a couple of years. Assuming you don't grow too fat."
"I'll have you know that this is pure muscle!"
"Of course it is, sire. Now off you go. You don't want to keep your father waiting."
"Aren't you coming?" Arthur questioned as Merlin send him out and moved to leave in the opposite direction.
"I promised Gaius I'd help him with disposing of expired potions. I had Gwen stand in for me if it makes you happy?"
"I'll allow it," Arthur agreed content, "Have fun."
The feast was almost like the calm before the storm. Despite wanting to relax, Arthur held back considerably on the wine in order to successfully execute the escape plan in the night. He knew he would have to do it alone, both Gwaine and Elyan not supporting the idea (of which he didn't blame them), and Arthur couldn't run the risk of telling anyone else. At the very least, he knew both knights were loyal enough to not say anything to anyone, even if they thought he was in the wrong. At multiple times during the evening, it looked like Guinevere wanted to ask him what was on his mind, but with Arthur sitting right next to his father, she could do nothing more than send him worried looks, which he merely responded to with a quick smile, trying to reassure her that everything was okay. He didn't want to involve her in this matter. It wouldn't be fair to burden her with the knowledge when she could do nothing with it. And it wouldn't surprise Arthur either if she would choose to agree with Elyan over him.
Arthur excused himself early, saying that he had already had too much to drink and didn't want to waste tomorrow with a headache. However, instead of going to his chambers, Arthur went to the stables, where he found a suitable horse, which he saddled up, and attached the small bag of coins as well as food he had taken from the feast - food he hoped would last the soon escaped prisoner all the way back to his family.
Getting the prisoner out of the cells was actually the easiest part of it all. There was a, somewhat, secret exit of which Arthur had the only key, so all Arthur had to do was enter the dungeons as he normally would, inform the guards that he wished to speak to the prisoner one last time, and have them leave the general vicinity.
Once alone by the cell, Arthur let the man go, and gave him the key to the exit, which would lead the man to the gate which lead into the lower town. There Arthur would meet him again and help him get completely out of the city.
Arthur faked having a conversation with the prisoner for about five minutes before leaving the dungeons the same way he came, hoping that in the dark of the night, the guards wouldn't immediately realize that the prisoner was no longer there. When Arthur met up with the man and the warning bell still hadn't rung, Arthur counted himself extremely lucky (only because he would otherwise have to deem their security lackluster at best).
Now they just had to sneak the man all the way out of Camelot… with a horse. That was the hard part.
"I made you a promise, my lord," the man began, as Arthur had filled him in on the problem at hand, "That I would not use my magic to harm this kingdom, but I could use it to escape with. I promise no one will be harmed."
Arthur studied the man for a bit, the sincerity still dripping off of him despite the truth serum's effect being long gone. He nodded his approval: "Do what you can."
The man took the horse by the reigns and put his hand on its muzzle, as he spoke a few words which Arthur could not understand, but recognized as words of the old religion. Words used for magic. The man's eyes glowed gold for a second as the spell set in, and he repeated it once again, holding his hand to his own chest. Arthur failed to see what the spell had done.
"What did you do?" He asked curiously. Normally, when faced with sorcerers, they tried to kill him, and Arthur didn't have much time to process and understand how their magic worked. He mostly just focused on not dying. Who could really blame him for that? But in a situation like this, Arthur let his curiosity take hold.
"A spell of discretion," the man explained, "As long as I do not draw attention to myself, I can pass by unnoticed. It was the same way I got into the city. Although I can only hope that my ride stays silent as we pass by," the man ran his fingers through the horse's mane, soothing it, possibly praying that nothing would go wrong.
"Good luck," Arthur said, not wanting to waste any time, "This is as far as I can come with you."
"Thank you, young prince," the sorcerer said, "It has been a pleasure getting to know you. I look forward to the day you will be king, and I shall return to your kingdom, gladly."
The sorcerer took off, while Arthur turned back towards the castle. He had only just reached his chambers when the warning bell rang, and he could only smile victoriously, knowing that their prisoner would be long gone.
Please read, I want you opinion:
Over the course of writing this fic, I have been noting down everything that Merlin does which Arthur doesn't know about, and while the whole fic is from Arthur's perspective, I have Merlin's side of the story completely planned out as well. If this would interest anyone, I'd be quite interested in writing a sort of companion fic which would show what Merlin did outside of Arthur's story line. Of course, that wouldn't be all, the story I'm planning out would begin months before the first chapter of this story takes place, and also end much after this story is concluded.
I would like to know if you guys would be interested, merely because if you are, there are small tidbits of information that I won't bother revealing in this fic as they don't really add much to the story, but are just fun little easter eggs.
