Okay, can I just say thank you?! I was never expecting this much popularity this soon. I was going to wait until Saturday to post a new chapter, but this is my little present for my 20+ followers and the people who favorited and reviewed my story. Thank you all. I am still looking for a Beta if anyone can help me out.
Disclaimer: If I owned Merlin I think we all know how the show would have ended.
Onto the story then.
Recap of last chapter:
"Careful, you wouldn't want to hurt yourself." Arthur called mockingly.
"I told you already, I know what i'm doing." Merlin shot back.
He pulled his hand back and with a practiced move, threw the knife at the target.
Thud. The knife hit the target dead-center. Merlin quickly picked up all but one of the rest of the knives, and one-by-one threw them with deadly accuracy.
"You weren't kidding mate, you're better than anyone i've seen!" Gwaine exclaimed in surprise.
Turning back to smile at the dumbfounded faces Arthur called out, "You still have one knife left."
Merlin smiled, and turned around fully so that his back was to the target, picking up the last knife as he went.
"I know." He said, still smiling and threw the knife over his shoulder without looking back. The knife found it's place in the central area where the rest of the knives had landed.
The knights and Arthur just gaped at him.
"Well, I guess Percy and Mordred should come with me so I can show them how to hold a throwing knife without hurting themselves, and you can take the rest of the knights and work on their skills." Merlin said, snapping them out of their awestruck trance.
"Where did you learn to throw like that Merlin!" Arthur yelped, "First you can juggle, now this?! What else do I not know about you?"
Merlin just chuckled softly, "There's a lot you don't know about me Arthur."
"Apparently," Arthur said still shocked by the skills his manservant possessed, "but you didn't answer my question; where did you learn to throw like that?"
"Back in Ealdor. There wasn't a lot to do so me and Will decided we would learn how to throw knives." Merlin said, smiling at the memory.
"How old were you when you started?" Leon asked, clearly intrigued.
"I tried to throw my first knife when I was seven. Unfortunately, the first thing that happened when I picked up my knife was it slipped and I cut myself because I didn't hold it properly. Which is why I should really take Mordred and Percy and show them how to hold their knives." Merlin said, reminding them all why Merlin gave them that little knife show.
"Of course. Merlin, go take Percival and Mordred and show them how to throw knives properly." Arthur said, getting back on track.
"And after that, you can come and give us some pointers on how to throw like that." Gwaine said, still a little star-struck.
After a long and trying session of throwing knives, with Merlin helping them all improve their aim and throw, Merlin and Mordred went to Gaius's to stitch up a nasty cut Mordred had received at the end of training when Mordred's knife had slipped. They reached the physician's chambers and went inside.
"Gaius," Merlin called out, "Sir Mordred needs some stitches. His knife slipped in practice today"
"Did you say knife Merlin? What were you doing with knives?"
"Throwing them. Or at least trying to" Mordred said with a sheepish grin on his face, holding out his hand wrapped in a hastily applied bandage.
"Merlin tried to warn me to always keep a firm grip on my knife, I guess it wasn't firm enough."
"Merlin was helping with knife throwing?" Gaius said, shock prominent on his face as he glanced at Merlin.
"Yes, he's actually quite good at it, who would have guessed?" Mordred said as he sat down so Gaius could look at his hand.
"Well, to be fair I have been throwing knives for far longer than any of you; even Arthur." Merlin said as he went to get the clean water pitcher to clean Mordred's hand with.
"You weren't even using magic to make them aim straight! I had to cheat a little just to make sure I didn't hit anyone." Mordred winced quietly when Gaius started stitching up the wound.
"Well, you will just have to practice throwing knives after you heal. You should try to not use this hand until it heals. After I finish with this I will give you a poultice that I want you to apply every 12 hours. Let me know if it hurts and I will give you something for the pain." Gaius said, quickly and efficiently stitching up the cut on his hand.
"Thank you Gaius, I'll be sure to do that." Mordred said while Gaius applied the poultice for the first time. Then Gaius wrapped Mordred's hand up and sent him off.
"Now then, knife throwing? Did you tell anyone why you are so good?" Gaius asked.
"I told them what I told you originally, that I taught myself in Ealdor." Merlin said, putting away the extra bandages.
"Nobody questioned how you were able to get so good in a small village? I was suspicious of your talent immediately." Gaius said, concerned
"Well, you are the only one who has lived in Ealdor for longer than three days and when Arthur was staying there, we were under attack by bandits or being chased down by Morgana and Agravaine. Besides, it's not like I was lying, I really did teach myself with Will, I just conveniently forgot to mention that I spent five years being trained to kill a man with one without being spotted in a crowded marketplace." Merlin paused, shivering at the memory.
"While we're on the subject, do you have any idea as to why you're having so many nightmares about your, endeavors recently?" Gaius asked, pausing in the middle of the sentence to try and find the right word.
"I'm not sure, and that worries me." Merlin said, remembering his nightmares, no his memories from the previous two weeks, "They've been going on for a fortnight now. Normally at most it would be once a week. The only time they were this bad was when I first found my way back to Ealdor when I was thirteen."
"Well then, let's just hope it's old memories resurfacing. I will make a sleeping draught to help you sleep tonight. You should probably get back to helping Arthur. I won't keep you any longer."
The rest of the day passed as normally as it could in Camelot on a day with no magical attacks, which meant it was an insanely boring day for both king and manservant. The end of the day and Merlin was doing a last cursory cleaning of the king's chambers while Arthur was getting into his sleepwear. When Merlin was just about to leave, Arthur called out, "Make sure to wake me up early, or even just on time for once. We're leaving on a hunt tomorrow."
"Really," Merlin said nervously, " For how long?"
"We'll be gone for a fortnight Merlin, but don't be such a girl's petticoat, it's not that long. Just make sure you pack the comfortable sleeping rolls this time. The ones you brought last time were too lumpy."
"Yes sire." Merlin said with a sigh, wondering how he was going to get out of this.
Once again, thank you for reading. See you next week!
-Shadowranger