A Marriage that Started a Legend

by IJustShowedUp

Follows canon but with my own arranged marriage spin on it. What happens when Hunith makes a mistake and is forced on the run with her infant son? What happens when Camelot knights find her twenty years later? What happens when Arthur learns he's betrothed to a peasant boy? Will Merlin be able to stand among royalty? Will these two different boys survive each other? Review!

91. Chapter 91

Three Hours Until their Original Execution:

"That's…you…" Arthur found himself stuttering to Merlin's question, the agitation written plainly on his face to show how much he hated Merlin trying to weedle stupid answers to stupid questions out of him. This had to be some kind of joke, and this only brought out the question…what had he done to make Merlin think he didn't care about his own people. Merlin had seen his maps spread out over his room, had literally sat his butt on quite a few of them after Arthur had thrown him onto the desk. It was 'him' who was responsible for nearly all of the rips in the paper. Geoffrey, the Royal Keeper of the archives, was going to have his head when he had to return these later. Nothing could stop that man and his insane need to protect his books. But even Merlin had to know Arthur wasn't just holding onto these maps for the fun of it. They were for him! To research and track down where they have already looked for Gwen's hide-a-hole of secret witchery items. "Why do yo-" Arthur realized he'd started to stutter again. What was up with Arthur! It was as if he tended to stutter whenever Merlin tried to demand things of him. This wasn't like it was last time, when Arthur had been panicking because he had just tried to spank Merlin and was sure he had to know and was about to lay into him for it. Arthur wasn't scared of Merlin but that conversation he'd thought they'd be having…that had scared him far more than anything else. Almost more then when he actually got married…

"Okay then." Merlin interrupted Arthur before the prince could demand to know what Merlin wanted from him. Or why his consort thought he had any say in the way Arthur conducted himself around his people. Or what he had done to possibly make Merlin think he didn't care about what was going on in his city. It had nothing to do with Merlin! So he shouldn't have even gotten himself involved. It didn't matter that Merlin was married to the man whose job it was to find out all the details, nor did it matter that the accused was Merlin's only friend as far as Arthur could tell. He'd never seen Merlin hanging around anyone else, other than Morgana that was. "I think I've got my answer. Forgive me, my sire. I fear I may have spoken out of turn and wasted all of our time by bringing this to you."

Arthur watched as Merlin bowed his head, all the sarcasm in the world leaking from his lips like this fine wine of Arthur's choice. The last time Merlin had called him sire, had probably been during the meet-and-greet, when Arthur had told him he was doing awful and asked him if he'd even read from the 'What to do' book he'd given him. Merlin had done it just as sarcastic then, and it had lit a fire in Arthur's belly, somebody being so defiant against him still new and catching him off guard. But this was different, Arthur felt his stomach drop to his feet when he saw Merlin pushing away from where he had leaned against the table, and start walking to the door with purpose and stride in his steps.

"Where are you going!" Arthur shouted after him before he had reached the door. The prince had a strange feeling that if he allowed him to walk out of that door, he'd never see him again. Knowing a little of his consort like he did, Merlin was going to do something stupid. And something stupid could only be something that would end up with getting himself killed. Arthur hadn't wasted his time with keeping Merlin alive for this long, just for Merlin to run headlong into whatever monster thing he was convinced was running amok in the kingdom and it's water supply.

"Where does it look like I'm going?" Merlin called over his shoulder. And Arthur felt his jaw pop open when Merlin, not looking back, raised a hand over his head and flipped him off. What kind of…Merlin 'would' be the person that thought it was okay to go flipping off a prince-nobody else on the sheer planet would have the guts for fear that they were going to be next on the execution's platform. But, that was Merlin, Arthur knew. Somebody who did not care about what anybody else thought, even if it meant asking-or more like demanding-answers to the questions nobody else was going to ask. "I am going to go slay a beast! Since the only guy I know with a sword won't get off his arse and fight with me!"

Merlin had reached the door and was now putting his hand on the handle, preparing to swing it open and storm out without another word. He had only gotten the door opened an inch when Arthur was there at his side, one hand on the door above his head, and slamming it back shut. Merlin whipped his head around to glare at him, because he was not going to trapped in here like he was Arthur's prisoner. Merlin opened his mouth to rage, and finally tell Arthur exactly where he could stick the sunshine personality he thought he had.

"Are you absolutely nuts!" Arthur interrupted him, long before the first syllable could leave Merlin or his lips. He was irritated Merlin thought he could just come in here, disrupt every little thing Arthur had been doing, and then leave as if he thought he hadn't rushed through him like a hurricane in the typhoon season, breaking down and knocking over everything that crossed its path until he had nothing left standing. "You are going to just end up getting yourself killed!" Arthur was not going to allow the next time he see Arthur, be because the boy was stupid and ended up a corpse on one of Gaius' tables after somebody finally tracked him down and brought him back to the surface.

"Well, hey, why not?" Merlin said with an almost saucy smirk. And Arthur scowled since Merlin did not seem to understand the dangers he was about to walk into. Even though Arthur had just been on the side of…Merlin's a liar, and is just trying to stir stuff up to try so he can watch Arthur get wound up…he couldn't risk it. Merlin…as much as Arthur hated to admit it, there was a good chance Merlin was right about this. Just like he'd been correct on the few things he had mentioned before. "Getting myself killed sounds like it might be fun. It's better than staying here and arguing with you."

Merlin would have preferred taking the easy way out, the consort thought with this sardonic smirk on the inside. Jumping off the tallest tower would have been the easiest thing, all he had to do was jump and allow gravity to take it's course. Then all of the pain he'd endured during these last months, and had it really only taken two months for Merlin to start considering doing the worse to himself in this regard. What kind of person was Arthur, that he could somehow push somebody into doing the irreversible in such a short amount of time. Just a monster, the worse kind of man, who Merlin had only came here for to get his alibi settled down in place. Another option would have been to drink a poison from one of the many Gaius had lined up on the top shelf of one of his many bookcases. It was an idea, he could find one that was painless, and then go deep into the forest where nobody would ever find him. Until he found a place calm enough, he wouldn't mind it being his final resting place. Drinking the whole bottle would leave him in a state of relaxed bliss, until he calmly fell into sleep, somehow not scared with the knowledge that he would never wake up again. Getting killed off by a magical beast poisoning the waters where he would literally sacrifice his life for the people who scorned him since his arrival-maybe Merlin wouldn't put up as much of a fight as he should of. Maybe he'll allow the beast to get too close to him, maybe he'll not throw himself back as far as he should and allow the beasts claws to dig into his skin too deep. Until the blood lost became too much for him to keep standing-hadn't been the way he imagined his soon to be death going. But it was a different route to go, that was for sure.

Merlin tried to open the door again, but Arthur's hand was relentless, pushing all of his weight onto his palm so Merlin could do nothing but shake and rattle the door. Merlin whipped his head around, it was bad enough Arthur had wasted his time, was he really going to try and keep him prisoner here as well? "Fine!" Arthur snapped at Merlin before the consort could think of a way of getting out of this room-would using his magic to push Arthur's pants down around his ankles be enough to cause distraction so he could escape? It had worked well enough when Merlin had done it to Valiant the first time they had met, in the dimly lit tournament hall. "You win. I care about them, my people…each and every one of them. From the richest of nobles to the poorest of peasants. Is that what you bloody well wanted to hear?"

Arthur hadn't answered immediately when Merlin had asked him that question, because he hadn't wanted to play around or entertain something that was so stupid. It was literally his job to care about his people, something he'd been meant to do from his very conception. But it was more than that as well, it was more than a job to Arthur. It could be a burden sometimes, knowing so many people were relying on him to keep them safe-and it was crap that he had done nothing but fail them this entire week-but this was his life. He wouldn't be able to trust anybody else to do what needed to be done, or make the hard calls with his people's sake only in mind. But saying those kinds of things…it made Arthur uncomfortable, feeling as if he was getting too deep. Too much like a girl, talking about those sappy feelings. He was Arthur Pendragon, and he could do everything on his own. He could work on his maps, and command his guards into the best positions for their skill sets, and save his people…without Merlin being there to distract him away from his problems.

Merlin finally dropped his hand away from the door handle, no longer trying to burst his way out of the room, "Yeah, that's exactly what I wanted to hear you say. Was it really that bloody hard just to admit? It's your kingdom!" It had almost felt like he was trying to pull teeth out, trying to get Arthur to admit anything was almost worse than wondering through the woods of Ealdor and realizing far too late that you've walked straight into the poison ivy patch growing on the south side of the village, so thick and plentiful that it took far too long having to go around to prevent touching it. Ealdor didn't have much resources on hand to form much of an ointment, leaving one looking forward to a week of very painful, almost torturous scratching, not even able to take a break from working since itching did not stop the all hands on desk situation they were in with getting the harvest ready.

"Exactly." Arthur grunted out, letting his arm on the door relax now that Merlin wasn't trying to get out. But he still kept a cautious eye on the boy, not sure if Merlin would throw himself to the door the moment Arthur backed away. But Merlin didn't try, and Arthur felt himself relaxing a bit more. At least as relaxed as he could be when he had Merlin just staring at him. Like a little freak of nature. It didn't matter that Arthur was literally consumed with the thoughts of whipping Merlin, forcing him into what would be a proper shape, chaining him down onto whatever surface he could find…Arthur wasn't the freak. That was clearly Merlin, for forcing Arthur to think these unholy and awful thoughts. "This is my kingdom, so don't question me on how I run it!"

Merlin wanted to lash out and snap back at Arthur about how he wouldn't have to interfere with how he was running it, if he would do it the right way. It would take all of five minutes to walk down to the water reservoir with him to see rather or not their really was a creature roaming around down there. It had only taken mere moments of him and Gaius being down there before the thing had attacked, it shouldn't take too long for it to make itself another reappearance. Instead of wasting this hour or two on arguing with Arthur to come on already, and to move his arse. But he didn't. Merlin could feel his tensed shoulders-this intense weight that would not let up no matter what he tried-starting to ease up just a little. Not much, but it made a noticeable difference. Because Merlin could see it in Arthur's eyes…he was telling the truth. Arthur might be shit with the way he treated his people, but there was no doubt that he cared about them. Even the poor ones who couldn't possibly add anymore gold to the rest of the Royal coffers.

"Good, I won't then…for now." Merlin said simply, as he gave one sharp nod of his head. Arthur felt the muscle in his jaw twitching, because what did 'for now' mean? Was Merlin planning on getting himself involved with everything that happened in this place? Would he fight for somebody else with the same fierceness he was fighting for…Gwen…it agitated Arthur all over again. And he watched as Merlin turned his back to him again-what a stupid novice mistake. If Arthur hadn't already convinced himself all his…urges…to attack Merlin went were far too on the weird side for his taste, he could've attacked him right then and there. Merlin was too slow, too awkward, and the only training he'd had was those ten minutes on the training field they'd done to prepare Arthur for the tourney. He would not be able to stop Arthur if he tried, not now that Arthur knew to watch for the head…Arthur shook his own head to knock out the demented thoughts that continued to plague him. One would think the prince would lose interest as he realized just how weird it had gotten, how far it had developed, how far he himself could have gone before, but Arthur didn't. It was still there, lingering in his veins to do something, whispering in his air to do awful things to Merlin, if only to shut him up properly for once in his life… "It's nice to know you care for everyone and not just the rich ones." The consort continued as he walked further into the room.

Melin could have left if he wanted too, could have used magic to make his grand escape if it called for it. But he didn't. If Arthur was talking to him by now, then he might have a chance to salvage this conversation…maybe. He had promised Morgana he would 'make Arthur listen' after all. Maybe the only thing he needed was a harsh shove or harsh push in the right direction…pushed right through the window would have been Merlin's choice. But beggars couldn't be choosers considering all his circumstances. Some people were just harder on the head to get things through, and Arthur had to have the hardest head of them all. It made sense that Merlin would be stuck here, in a forever loop of disdain and agitation with Arthur's refusal to do shit. These maps or whatever Arthur had done…it wouldn't help Gwen.

"You know…this isn't the first time you have said something about that." Arthur said slowly, glaring daggers at Merlin. He could vividly recall the one conversation where Merlin had made a very snide remark to him about a similar situation, even if the remark had been made months ago. "The night of our wedding, when we were sitting down to have dinner, you made this comment…" Arthur stopped and shook his head, remembering that night. The way Arthur had pulled out Merlin's chair just like a proper gentlemen should-under his father's strict and watchful eye-and the way Merlin had ducked past him and taken Arthur's rightful seat beside his father instead. He remembered that night as the first time Arthur realized Merlin's fascination leaned more towards the servants, rather than the noble opportunities he was now afforded as 'bride of the prince'. As if what Arthur offered him wasn't good enough. Could remember Merlin shifting and awkward, looking like a newborn lamb as he tried to get used to his 'itchy' wedding clothes, as the consort had once called them. And then nothing as Mary Collins had cast her curse upon them all…Arthur shook his head and refocused on Merlin of the present-still breathing as much defiant fire as he had that first night Arthur had thrown him out on his arse when they were meant to be having…adult relations-instead of focusing on the Merlin of the past. "So tell me, 'Merlin'-" his tongue was caressing over the name in a threatening manner as he brought his hands to rest on his hips, "Why I am starting to think you have a problem with how I've conducted myself in front of my people."

"Oh, you don't have to think on it. I very much do have a problem with how you conduct yourself to your people." Merlin said, his back to Arthur still as he ran one of his hands along the back of one of Arthur's chairs, needing to have something to do with his hands before he went stir crazy. The chair had some crazy design etched across the back of it that Merlin had never noticed before, it looked to be some kind of battle with a mighty warrior in the middle. Merlin shook his head in disgust, while wondering how many times Arthur might've gone on to pretend he himself was this hero depicted in the wooden frame. "I'm just surprised you happen to remember anything about me from that night. I would have thought you had blocked it out like I've been trying to do." Maybe Merlin was a little bitter, but the piss poor kiss Arthur had given him on that night still annoyed him. That hadn't been anything but a huge disappointment for his first kiss, made even worse as time passed and Merlin grew up to realize what a huge slime ball Arthur was. Though other than that, the thing he remembered most on that night-other than saving Arthur's life for what was the first time-was when Arthur had threw him out of his room…now that he thought about it, the consort never did find out what they were meant to do. But it seemed like a stupid thing to still be curious about, when everything else was going on in their lives, so Merlin brushed it aside as one of those 'I guess I'll never know' things.

"Of course I remember!" Arthur had found himself snapping at Merlin before he was able to stop the words from coming out of his mouth, or when the next words might actually mean. "You're an idiot if you think I don't remember everything you have done since the moment you walked up to me and called me your friend!" Arthur didn't even notice how weird it was, what he just said. Until the room grew quiet and still, and Merlin had whipped his head around to give the prince the oddest look he could muster up with their circumstances. It would have almost been romantic-all but claiming Arthur hadn't been able to take his eyes off Merlin since that first day-if there wasn't so much resentment built up between them over months of just trying to antagonize the other in the only way that they could within their circumstances.

Arthur could feel the way his throat dried up, and it suddenly pained him to swallow anything. It had not came out right, his words weren't meant to be sounding as if…as if…Arthur couldn't even think of it. That was almost worse than Arthur going ahead and whipping Merlin to his heart's content. It was so disgusting, so vile, the idea of him and Merlin being anything other than…enemy's…Arthur could not even get him words out, almost sure that this was going to blow up in his face, and the consort was going to blow all of this out of proportion.

But Arthur must have seriously underestimated just how seriously the resentment in Merlin had grown over time, far deeper than any chasm as it weighed itself, splitting apart his heart to make a bit of room for the emptiness that had grown on the inside. Because, while still giving Arthur that odd look on him-as if he was wondering rather or not Arthur was the one who was nuts, he nodded his head and turned around with a slow, "Right…well, if you remember my mistake in referring to you as anybody that might be nice-" that would be one of Merlin's biggest regrets, coming in on that day, before he had even known who Arthur would end up being, and thinking a clear noble taking a bit of fun out of some servant's hide would show the same courtesy Merlin had been trying to show him. "Then I'm sure you also remember what you were doing that day, that caused me to walk up to you. If you can, maybe you'll remember why I have been thinking you care nothing for your people!"

Merlin still didn't really think Arthur cared for all his kingdom, or at least he didn't show it. Merlin figured Arthur was thinking of the kingdom as a whole and how the peasants obviously made up that whole and was a part of it. He wasn't thinking of them as individual people, with different needs and different problems when compared to what his own would be. But there would clearly have to be baby steps with anything involving Arthur. Just getting him to admit he cared already showed the consort that Arthur had more humanity inside him then he thought he did. Not much, Arthur would always be considered nothing more than an awful, heartless monster to him, content with carving out his own little niche of the world while disregarding anybody who didn't fit into whatever he wanted his niche to be.

"I was-" Arthur started boldly, stepping away from the door since he was 'fairly' certain Merlin wasn't going to run off and get himself killed now. But he stopped, and his mind went grinding to a sudden halt as he realized…he didn't have an answer to Merlin's question. Oh, he could remember the day as well as he remembered their wedding. He was able to see Merlin-as if it was happening now and not just some remembered vision of days already past-striding up across the cobblestone walkway after calling out to him. Was able to see Merlin's awkward smile as he casually held his hand out to him, as if Arthur would have ever touched him so casually back then, calling him 'friend' as if they knew each other. Or knew what they would end up becoming. He remembered the smugness he had felt when Merlin's smile had faltered during one of Arthur's responses. Could remember Merlin trying to walk away, only to turn back and sling a punch to Arthur's face. The insolent manner in which the consort had spoken to him during the first of their meeting's, the way Merlin had deemed him to not be worth it and tried to leave-as if he was better than a 'prince'. This smart mouthed commoner whose only luck in life was being the son of two peasants smart enough to secure their son and his future by selling him off to the crown. Forever ingrained in his retina's, seared into his brain so intently that he could never unsee it, but…for the life of him, Arthur could not remember what he'd been doing to make Merlin approach him in the first place. He was… "I was…"

Merlin stopped short, and found that he was only able to stare at the prince with pure disbelief on his features, "Are you kidding me right now! You claim you can remember everything, and yet you have forgotten that? That was the day I saw you for the first time, and also the day I realized what an arse you were, considering you were throwing daggers at Morris!" And Arthur could feel his face as it started to color, but he didn't say anything in his defense. Now that Merlin had said something on the matter, Arthur could vaguely recall Morris being there…maybe…well, if Merlin said he was, it was probably right. Besides, Arthur thought quite grudgingly to himself, of course he wouldn't have been able to remember Morris being involved with their meeting. Morris wasn't the boy getting in his face and telling him to stop it, was he? Morris had been nothing more than a footnote, a barely even-or not at all, as it turned out to be-memory of that day. Though, Arthur would have to say, it sounded like him. Arthur didn't throw daggers around with his servants in the way, but he had done it quite a few times when he was in a particular mood. And considering Arthur would have been preparing to get hitch only the next day, he would have been in a particularly foul mood. It only made sense, with the luck they had, for Merlin to come across him in said foul mood for the first time. "But it's not really all that surprising, considering the only time I have seen you interacting with your servants was when you were commanding them to go off and do your bidding. Or when you were outright bulling them to fulfill some kind of sick pleasure you get when you do it!" Finished off the consort, speaking as if it was some kind of crime.

Maybe bringing all of this up, and rehashing their beginnings, wasn't being done at the best time as the minutes dwindled by. But since when had the prince and the consort ever just gone off and did what they were supposed to. Without them gettin' lost in their arguing ways, not noticing the passing of time as they tried to win this never ending fight, each one with an ingrown need to be the one that stood on top. But Merlin also felt like this needed to be something pointed out to the prince, since it was clear nobody else had thought to give Arthur a lesson in humility and grace. Although, why he'd bother was a mystery to Merlin himself. Odds are, Merlin wouldn't be alive to know rather or not the prince would heed his words, or ignore him as he always did. If it was just the Morris incident, then Merlin could have probably dismissed it as Arthur just having a bad day and taking it out across the wrong person-he didn't like Morris, the guy was a mystery and creep Merlin intended to unwrap and see rather or not he still remained a threat toward society, but nobody deserved a raging Arthur who was clearly no stranger to using his power to get what he wanted-but Morris hadn't been the only one. There were handful's of other incidents that grated on Merlin's nerves, even the smaller things like not telling servants thank you when he would tell them to do something. And what about when Merlin had been looking for a job? Merlin had later heard all about how Arthur had torn up the streets looking for him, terrorizing any commoners who'd had the misfortune of being in his way during that wrong time.

"I…of course I command my servants on what to do!" Arthur blustered with great need, wondering how he could have missed this part of Merlin and his poor education, making excuses for himself. It wasn't Arthur's fault that the servants were there literally, to serve him. There was no way that the consort thought they were only meant to stand about while taking us space in the castle. All the prince did was give them things to do, so they'd actually be earning whatever silver pieces normal castle servants earned in a week. But Arthur was not going to allow Merlin's last little comment to go sliding by as if he hadn't said it at all, so Arthur made a point in remarking on it, his nose scrunch up disgustingly, "And I do not 'bully' my people. I am having them to their job! They don't get paid to stand around doing nothing." Maybe the prince was willing to admit he yelled sometime, but there wasn't anything he said that wasn't true. Besides, bullying sounded like something pre-teens would do to one another to single out the freak that was standing among them. Arthur was a very healthy, adult male. He was too old, and too mature, to be doing anything that resembled…bullying. Having a heated discussion at somebody below him since they were not competent enough to do the jobs they'd been given did not make him…a bully.

"Oh, really?" Merlin scoffed, glaring at Arthur as he crossed his arms defensively across his chest, not buying any of the excuses Arthur was trying to sell him. Arthur was nothing but a disgusting, and self-absorbed man child, not capable of doing any little thing without being waited on hand and foot. Much less capable of being able to run an entire country, it was a miracle Camelot hadn't burned to the ground yet with Uther on the throne. He could only fear how much worse it would get when the prince tried to take over. The dragon could make all the claims of destiny, and Arthur being the one to restore magic to the world-although how a man who would never know the taste of magic or feel it welling up underneath his fingertips, could be the one to bring life back to an other wise dead home, would forever be a mystery to him-but the dragon also wasn't the one who had to live with all of this shit day in and day out. "What else would you like to call somebody that yells every time a peasant has the nerve to walk past you. What do you call somebody who pushes serving boys out of the walkway because they aren't 'fast enough' for the prince's taste? You are somebody even the guards around here, for some godforsaken reason, look up too, and they will follow your lead I'm sure, and emulate you just the same. For a prince who does claim he cares about his people, you are doing a very poor job at showing it! So yes, I think I'll keep calling what your doing as nothing but this school yard bullying crap! And it's time for you to finally grow the fuck up!"

By the time Merlin was finished yelling, his chest was heaving up and down in rapid tandem. It felt good to get some of that off his chest, and tell the prince a few hard truth's about himself, but it was only the small bit scraped off the top of the huge mountain of things Merlin wanted to be able to yell at him. For one thing, Merlin had pretty much just taken a gamble when he listed a few of the things Arthur had done to the servants-those examples had been mostly stories or rumors he had picked up on at some point, and it was very likely they'd be just as grossly exaggerated as the rumors were about him-but considering Arthur wasn't fighting against those claims, Merlin was pretty confident his informant-Morgana-had been right. And that bit about the guards looking up to Arthur…it had been the closest Merlin had came to admitting to somebody what people were doing to him. He was pretty confident his bruise left behind by Markus was gone now completely, but it had still been on him when it shouldn't have been. But Merlin would not humiliate himself further by bringing that stuff up into it, because now was surely not the time for any of this. But hey, if Merlin did die tonight, then maybe Arthur would feel so bad, he would keep a bit of this conversation with him. And would start treating his servants better…it wasn't likely but he could hope for such an outcome. Even if he would not be there to see it to come to being. But, Merlin might have learned how to finally communicate on some kind of level with Arthur. Because the prince was being strangely quiet after Merlin's outburst on his behavior-maybe all Arthur needed was for somebody to take charge, and order him about to 'grow up' rather than just telling him, which would not do anything at all to wake Arthur up and have him embrace what the real world was all about. It sucked like hell, but that just meant people would need to work harder to make it a better place.

"You…" Arthur's voice suddenly seemed to start sapping out whatever heat there was in the room, because it all seemed to be coming out inside his voice, making Merlin stiffen as he felt like he had an upcoming threat about to kill him. The prince had his blond hair swooped over and done, which caused a shadow to form over his eyes, adding to the creepy atmosphere. Arthur's voice sounded to be surprisingly calm, which only made everything so much worse. "Clearly I've given you too much free rein if you think you can talk to my like that. If my father had heard you just now-"

Not for the first time, Arthur had realized just how far he had allowed Merlin to go by not giving him a proper disciplining earlier. Maybe if he had, Merlin wouldn't be so out of control right now. But Arthur did not know what he could do to turn something like this around, to get Merlin to see sense and/or reason for why his attitude had to go. It didn't hold any place amongst the court, but Arthur also was not able to allow something like this to go for long unchecked. It would only take a matter of time and the king would discover Merlin's loose tongue was far worse than him just speaking out of turn when in front of the council. But Arthur…he wasn't able to have Merlin sent to the stocks. As his husband, that would never fly if they were going to continue this whole 'I'm in love charade'. But neither could Arthur deal with a more private punishment, that would only be a gateway to allowing Arthur to get more and more horrendous and weird with what he touched on Merlin's person. All for the sake of 'punishment'. It wouldn't work.

"I'm not talking to your father!" Merlin interrupted the prince before he had the chance to do more than creep him out. He was not going to get into another lecture about how the peasants were the backbone of their society, and without them, the nobles would have crumbled long ago. Because heaven forbid somebody above a certain status have to do their own laundry of even fetch their own meals. Merlin stepped forward, ignoring the way Arthur lifted his head and opened his mouth to argue with him more, and threw both arms out on either side of him. "I am talking to you! And I do know full well you think peasants are beneath you, so don't even try to deny it with me. Because it's not going to work. And I know you would never not lift a finger to help one, but Gwen needs us to be there for her. And-" Merlin lowered his voice so he could look seriously into Arthur's eyes without any flinch to him. "I know that you know that Gwen is innocent. I can see it in your eyes."

Arthur immediately looked away when Merlin had mentioned his eyes, feeling vulnerable in a way he hadn't since he was a very small child. Merlin had been saying some hard truth's about him, picking somehow at everyone of his insecurities that even he refused to acknowledge he had. A prince didn't have insecurities, or were not meant too. They had to have everything together, and could not fall off to the wayside every time they hit a snag. But now …had Arthur really been so transparent that Merlin was able to see right through him? When the maid had first been arrested, Arthur had thought that it had to be some kind of misunderstanding, maybe the poultice really had been planted there as the consort had later claimed. But then his father had denied anything was amiss, other than believing the maid for some reason after working under the family for the better part of a decade, had decided to snap by killing everybody. And just like a dutiful son would, Arthur had eventually agreed and put aside any reservations he still had. And that would be when Merlin had shown up at the meeting, with stupid nerve, to save Gwen. And then he'd came here…and Merlin was looking at him with eyes far bluer than any ocean he'd ever seen. It somehow felt as if his consort had some kind of power, able to stare straight into his very soul itself, shift and pick through all the parts he didn't like-the worse aspects of himself-before trying to put together what was left. Which wouldn't have been much to play with, but…Merlin didn't look away from those worse bits either, and Arthur could feel the insides of his stomach as it twisted up into knots.

"I just don't understand…" Merlin said softly, even the atmosphere in the room was going dimmer, darker in response to Merlin's quiet prodding and his soft questioning. Merlin even stopped to lick at his lips and Arthur felt his gaze drop to them, but he was darting his eyes away just as fast, before Merlin had even known where they had rested for that brief second. "If you know Gwen is innocent, then why are you not lifting one finger to help her survive this?" It didn't make any sense to Merlin as he had been raised with having a conscious to be aware of. Some voice niggling in the very back of his mind, telling him what was right or what was wrong. Unlike Arthur, who had been taught from birth, the only way to be a good king was to very painfully and forcefully squash that part of him to the dust and destroy it completely.

"I-" Arthur started, trailing off as he lifted a hand to scratch roughly at the back of his blond locks. It wasn't right, none of this was. Arthur should've been spitting fire, should have been threatening to hang Merlin from his toenails out the window just to see how long he can stay there before he begs Arthur to allow him to come back in. He shouldn't be calming down, only the sounds of his very own heart and the crackling fire, echoing in his ears as Merlin's steady gaze held him grounded where he was. His feet felt like stone grates, unable to move even if he had tried, not without feeling like he had to wade through concrete. Arthur shook his head of those thoughts to try and clear it, feeling like he should at least give Merlin's some explanation for his own inactivity in Gwen's case. If Merlin knew of some things, maybe he wouldn't be bursting into his rooms like this, maybe he wouldn't do anything he tries to do on the daily…"It doesn't matter what you think you know about what's going on. Gwen's fate had already been decided, my father's mind had already been made up."

Even as Arthur said this, still childly clinging onto whatever delusions his father had force fed him all his life-the king was always right, never question what his father's orders were, the duty would past down to Arthur soon enough so he would need to spend this time watching so he could follow along with Uther's examples-he felt himself wavering on the spot. Merlin was still looking at him, looking as if he didn't care what Uther said-and wasn't that a novelty, somebody who didn't take his father as if he spoke the gospel truth, but to Arthur, just mere thinking of going against his father's orders would be the ultimate betrayal, and he knew Uther would see it the same way-but Arthur truly doubted after having already made up his mind, that his father would be willing to shift his views on the matter. It was complicated, and a mess, and he feared there was no point in rocking the boat when it wouldn't change anything.

"Then change it!" Merlin exclaimed, looking as if it would be that easy and didn't understand how the prince was not yet coming with him. Merlin didn't understand the complexity's of Royal life, or even how some people had pride's so large, they would be willing to allow murder to happen because they didn't want to admit they were mistaken. But they were mistaken, and it was up to Merlin to get that through Arthur's thick head. The consort stepped up boldly, making sure the prince had returned his eyes onto his own before he dared start speaking again, "It's okay, Arthur. To know that things aren't right here. It's fine, not being a copy of what your father wants…to not be his puppet."

Merlin could still remember the talk he and Arthur had, after Gwen had been arrested and Merlin had been yelling at him about cordoning off the town, waving the paper in his face. How Arthur had been angry with him, claiming it wasn't his idea going to this extreme level to protect those in the kingdom who still had a chance of survival. He remembered following Arthur out of the council chambers when he and Gaius had been showing the prince and his father the dead flower, demanding the blond start telling him why he was allowing his father to speak to him as he had. Arthur had sneered, and made a crack about his clothes, before storming away in a huff. All of this combined, plus little moments that were here and there, painted a very ugly picture in Merlin's mind. Or a puppet master cast in shadow while ruling far above those under him, and of the man's son, standing underneath as the king pulled at his strings as if he was a giant marionette doll. This left Merlin being the one forced to do his part and cut aside those strings, freeing Arthur from his father's control. Which in turn, would hopefully free the consort as well.

But, Merlin noted when he saw Arthur's eye start to flash at being called a puppet, offense and this barely veiled disgust cloying up his eyes, it would take more than a simply pair of scissors in order to cut free somebody who didn't realize they needed to be free, "I'm not wasting my time fighting some pointless battle." The prince was hissing at him, as if Merlin had just suggested they go and do their worse to commit blasphemy together. Which in a way, this almost was. Uther's word was looked at by many as if it was law, and the man himself was seen as an infallible god who stood far higher then the rest of society. To go against it…Merlin would have had better luck if he suggested for Arthur to run around naked in the middle of town square. "My father would-"

Arthur cut himself off before he could say a word on the details of what Uther would do to him if he tried this. He had already looked far too weak in front of Merlin enough for one night. Arthur hadn't been able to keep his hands to himself, had taken matters into his own hand and started whipping Merlin into submission. And for the prince, that had been the ultimate weakness, being unable to control himself when he had been trained to keep a cool head in the face of battle. Put Arthur into a fight, and he would know how to dismantle it with only seconds to think. Put Arthur in front of Merlin and it was like…Arthur didn't know what he should do with himself. But put his father in front of him…and Arthur was nothing but a failure scrambling to keep up with what Uther wanted from him. So, no, he would not allow Merlin to bring his father into it.

But Arthur might not have that choice.

"…Can't you see it, Arthur?" Merlin asked of him in a softer tone, clearly gearing up to say something. But Arthur could only stare at him blankly, since it was not understandable to him. See what? Could he see that Merlin was making a complete fool out of himself with this silly talk, honestly expecting to have Arthur go against his father. Could he see all that was wrong with what was happening, and be content to bury his head in the sand? Arthur didn't like it, and his gut twisted with a guilt that he knew was going to follow him for a long time to come in the future, but he would force himself to live with it. "The pointless battles, the ones that you have absolutely no chance in hell at being able to win, it is those battles that are the ones worth fighting. If you, the prince who has been trusted with keeping this kingdom and its people safe-" although Merlin wondered what the fates were thinking when they deemed Arthur should be the one born to a king, it had sounded good. "Won't be the one to fight this injustice! Then who do you think will stand for the people when you fail to take up arms yourself?"

Merlin's words died off like the ringing of a gong striking out, and Arthur could only stare at Merlin with an incomprehensible expression written on his face. His jaw was opened, enough that he was able to catch flies if one flew by at this moment in time, his eyes wide and seeing nothing except for the boy who stood in front of him, everything was fading into the background as if they were never there. Only Merlin, solid and strong willed in front of him…it didn't make sense in Arthur's mind. How something that could sound so…poetic and strong had just came from Merlin's mouth. Arthur wasn't able to get what he thought of Merlin-stupid little boy who needed to be disciplined before he would step out of line in front of his father-to overlap on the Merlin he saw before him now.

"But…" Arthur's voice sounded weak to his ears as he worked his jaw up and down, finding himself unable to articulate what he was trying to say. The excuses tried to pour off his tongue, even if none of them came to being…he could feel the scale as it started ripping fully into Merlin's direction. But it still came out, "…My father…." He stopped himself there when he saw Merlin giving him this firm, do not start with me again, expression. Arthur hadn't ever listened to Merlin before when he told him to leave him alone or to go away, because Merlin had never been worth listening too. Not like his father was…

Merlin seemed to sense his hesitance, but could also see the prince needed another push to get him moving, and push Arthur he did, "Your duty as a son is to be good to your father, obey him and all that jazz. I understand it, you don't want to be this disappointment-"

Merlin probably understood that better than the prince thought he did. He knew his mother loved him, and had done what little she could with what little they had to protect him, and teach him how to protect himself. But his mother wasn't here any more, and now that duty fell sorely onto him. He'd still wondered sometimes, late at night during the peculiarly grueling nights where Hunith had just finished lying straight through her teeth to explain away something odd that had happened around Merlin, before anybody could connect it with the magic that it was, rather or not she was ashamed of him. For not having control. Or even regretted having him, because of all the stress he'd brought into her life. But his mother would have been even more disappointed in him, if he allowed his secret to get in the way of helping somebody when he'd been the one to cause her distress.

"But this isn't about your duty as a son. This is about your duty as a prince to your people-"

If Arthur was just an ordinary guy, maybe one of the lesser nobles, then he could get away with a thing like that. His only concern would have been doing what his father told him too. But Merlin did not think the same thing should apply when being the prince. Arthur's focus should be on what was best for his people, and not being selfish by trying to focus only on himself and what his father would want.

"And we don't have much time for this pointless, endless debating. You need to decide what is the most important thing to you, right here and right now." Arthur had to stop himself from flinching as Merlin strode forward, voice sounding as sure and as confident in himself than ever before, the tips of their boots touching again. "The chance to be a dutiful son, or be known as the prince that will be willing to fight for his people. Even for the lowest of servants, earning yourself their loyalty for more than just being born their prince. So tell me, 'Lord Pendragon'-" Merlin mocked him, before reaching out and grabbing Arthur by the shoulder, and the fabric bunched up under his hand, Arthur's gaze dropping onto it immediately. "Which one sounds like the better option?"

Arthur didn't answer Merlin, looking away from the hand clenching him, though it did nothing to help as he could still feel the heavy composing weight of it. He could have brushed it off-since it wasn't right for Merlin to touch him, when Arthur himself had been struggling so hard to keep his hands to himself-but he didn't. Because Arthur was starting to freak out…Merlin was actually right. That there was a miracle in itself. He'd never gone against his father before, not once in all his life had he'd ever made such a public statement like this. Arthur had seriously married Merlin, had literally put a ring on Merlin's finger and kissed him in front of an entire crowd, because it was his duty. To keep his home and kingdom under their rule. Not even when the knight Valiant was roaming around, had the blond gone up against his father. As soon as Uther had yelled at Arthur during that first council meeting, for daring to trust Merlin on just his word…he had crumbled faster than wet parchment before he'd retreated. This was…Merlin wanted him to defy his father, to send a silent message out to everybody that he disapproved of the king himself. It..

Arthur had been silent for far too long, and Merlin was speaking again, looking as solemn as he did the first time, "You might be a bully, and you might be an arse, and you hold yourselves above every other person instead of you being the one meant to serve them." Merlin could have gone on and on and on, for hours upon hours about how awful of a person Arthur was. But he figured even the prince would get the gist from what little he did say, "But I do know your going to help me. And if you don't, like I told you, when I walk out of here, I'll be going straight down into the caves and taking care of it on my own. I just figured since we both know that I'm shit with a sword-"

Merlin's hand dropped so it was off from Arthur's shoulder. But the prince found no relief, following the consort's hand to where it settled, on the top of the pommel of his blade. Strapped to Arthur's side where it should be, sticking out from under his coat. Arthur, for some strange reason, could feel his heart start to pick up speed. Looking at those slim digits wrapped tantalizingly around his pommel. Arthur swallowed hard, but Merlin wasn't wrong. Arthur had never seen someone holding a sword so awkwardly in all his life, even the newer recruits had more experience than Merlin had. The boy would never have a chance of making it out of this alive. It didn't matter Merlin had once taken a head off of a snake, Arthur figured this beast was a far worse opponent.

"I figured it'll just be easier to have you there as my backup."

This comment almost startled a laugh out of the prince, surprising none more so than himself. He was nobody's 'backup' least of all Merlin's. Arthur was the leader, the one that took charge and took command over the plan. He didn't follow others to an unknown situation where they didn't have most of the details. There was still far more information he didn't know-what exactly was an afanc, or how big it was, or if a sword would even do a job when put up against it-too many variables that could go wrong with this lack of information. Every instinct in Arthur was telling him this was too big of a risk, but what Merlin had said…his people needed him.

"And you can think of it this way. If I'm wrong and things don't go as planned…if it's not there and I really did all of this just to bother you, then you'll be granted the pleasure of flogging me. I do know you must want too, and I won't even fight against you this time."

Arthur's head whipped back up, looking startled at Merlin whose eyes were lingering on his lips-no, not his lips-his nose. Where the blood flakes from Merlin smashing his thick head against his face to get Arthur off of him. But there was still a sudden surge of heat rushing through him, that made his head almost spin for a moment. His consort was not making this whole 'keep his hands to himself' thing easy. Flogging Merlin…not exactly the same as having him whipped but it was close enough to have the similarities glaring him in the face. Merlin had obviously meant having a 'real' flogging done, one that would take place in the middle of the city. It was a rare occurrence to see one of them now-a-days, but they were far more common during his father's generation and could still happen on occasion. When somebody lesser-usually being a peasant-had done something that was particularly offensive to a noble-which Merlin'd definitely done at least fifty times over-they needed to be given a proper punishment. If it wasn't bad enough to be given a hanging, or dumb enough to be treated as a fool and put in the stocks for a few hours, then a flogging had been the go-to answer. The process usually involved situating two ten foot posts in the middle of the courtyard, so the public could watch and be warned off from doing the same. Then the wrong-doer, would be tied with ropes to each post from his wrists, holding him in place so he had no chance of escaping the lash or wiggling away from the pain. Forced to stand there and endure every last swish against his back until it was over with at the master's discretion…

No, Arthur decided immediately, realizing none of that would work. For one thing, the prince wasn't usually the one giving out lashings to people. And Arthur wouldn't be able to stand there on the side lines, watching as another man flogged down his consort. Hearing Merlin yelp and scream as a man who wasn't Arthur did things to him. It would only cause Arthur to storm up there and snatch away the instrument before the 'Royal flogger-someone who was trained to handle public floggings, since people had died in the past from people allowing their emotions to get the best of them and going too far-and declaring he was clearly doing this all wrong. Even if Arthur had never flogged someone for himself…Arthur would have to take a personal interest in Merlin's. Already, he was making plans as if Merlin had just signed away his promise with blood.

First off, Arthur would have to make sure he was completely calm before doing anything. He would not be one of those people who'd allowed anger to control his actions when doing something that required a delicate touch. This was meant to be a punishment, something to be remembered and be a warning to stop Merlin front doing anything ever again, not a death sentence where Merlin was left to bleed out all over his floor. Obviously, there was no way for Arthur to get ten foot posts delivered in his room without questions being asked. And they would have to do it in his room, there would be no question about that. It was secluded and quiet, he could do it in private with nobody able to watch as the colors sprouted along Merlin's back with each lock of his lash. Yes, Merlin would have to take off his shirt-Arthur was feeling generous and figured he could keep his pants on as to keep his modesty in tack. Arthur would just have to focus on making marks on his back rather than his bum. This would not be ideal, but Arthur was willing to work around with it. Just like the posts issue…Arthur figured he could use the bedposts as a sort of substitute for them. Yes, that was it…Arthur could get Merlin to kneel on the floor at the foot of his bed, and have his wrists tied to the top of the canopy. And then there were his options…with Merlin tied up, Arthur would be free to take his time to make these kinds of decisions. He could go for the whip he'd always thought of…maybe his belt?…or he could find an actual flogger. It was an interesting idea now that it had been brought to his attention, Merlin had no idea what he was getting into by giving the prince new ideas. But either way…the end results would be the same no matter what he choose to do.

Arthur could smack his tool against Merlin's back, hear the crack it made against the skin and hear his consort's muffled cry of shock, his shoulders straining as he wrapped the rope around his own wrists to hold onto something. The first blow was only a test, for Arthur to experiment and see how it would go. But after that…Arthur wasn't happy to see Merlin had tried to muffle his cries. He would do it harder, and harder, each blow leaving a vivid red stripe against the pale skin. Merlin's lips would bleed as he attempted to bite down on them, until Arthur celebrated his victory when he finally broke him down and made him scream. Merlin would try to wiggle free, try to escape the lick of fire racing up his spine at each lash, before finally begging to be freed because he couldn't take it anymore. But Arthur wouldn't…because it was only his decision and discretion as to when he would allow Merlin to be free. Merlin didn't get a say, forced into the role of slave rather than consort, but he would like it as even he knew he deserved to be punished, Merlin would know it was for his own good…

"Arthur…" a soft voice Arthur could barely hear was making it's way into his little fantasy. He could almost feel the heavy weight of the handle inside of his hand, could hear the screams echoing in his ear because Merlin knew he would get things way worse if he tried to hide. If he tried to muffle it…he would never end the punishment. Arthur would be keeping him there for hours longer than he would have, would watch the pink lines on Merlin darken to red and start blistering under every one of the prince's carefully designated hits. "Arthur…are you okay…you're looking at me funny…"

Arthur blinked, the imagine in his mind starting to go fuzzy around the edges, and he could see the real Merlin blinking at him. But it wasn't possible for Merlin to be looking at him. He was supposed to be on his knees, begging and crying…how was Arthur supposed to know if his punishment had worked if Merlin wasn't begging for him to stop…wait a minute…Arthur blinked his eyes rapidly as he connected himself with the real world. Merlin wasn't on his knees for him, wasn't offering him his back to slash, wasn't shrieking with pain but allowing Arthur to continue…Arthur quickly let go of his pommel, the heavy weight he imagined in his hand had been real, knocking Merlin's hand right above it off as he took a quick step back. It was hot in here, and Arthur licked at his lips while bringing a hand up to rub harshly at his eyes. He had to remember what was real, and what he had done in his fantasy…

"Yeah…" Arthur stuttered, but his voice came out far hoarser and more gruff than it had any other time before. Fearful that Merlin might be able to see right through him, the boy had at this uncanny way of seeing things that shouldn't be seen, and realize he was thinking of weird things again. And just when Arthur thought he was doing better…oh, just forget it. Five minutes without weird thoughts didn't make him any better than he was before. He cleared his throat harshly, trying to get what little fuzzies still clogging up his brain, "You…it's just…you actually sounded like you know what you were talking about…" because how many people could convince Arthur that something like this was the best way to go. Not many…nobody actually…was able to convince him to go against his own king. It was unsettling, and he still wasn't sure what that it was the right call but like Merlin had said…harder battles really were the ones worth fighting for.

Merlin was still looking at the prince uncertain, the blond's face had been weirding him out during the last several moments. Arthur had just been looked at him, and Merlin had watched Arthur's pupils as they dilated, looking more black with only a thinly veiled ring of blue around it. His nostrils had been flaring out, looking like he wanted to eat Merlin up. "…Of course I know what I'm saying." He said with a bold tone, shaking off the creeping chill Arthur's stare had been giving him. There were somethings Merlin felt he most likely didn't want to know when it came to what Arthur had been doing.

"…Okay then." Arthur said, awkward as he gave the consort a sharp nod of his head. Anything to try and forget about what just happened, anything to get the image of a bloody Merlin Pendragon on his knees out of mind. "But if we are going to do it, then we need to do it right." Merlin wasn't going to like it, even he didn't like it. But Arthur knew it was stupid going into unknown territory without having backup at the ready. "We will need to get some of the knights, a platoon of them, in order to keep us as safe as possible. The only problem with this is…my father will probably find out. There's no way I'll be able to get ten or twenty knights down into the tunnels without drawing attention to ourselves."

There was usually so many protocols and steps involved with planning out a mission. Especially one that threatened all of them. And Arthur was breaking practically every one of the rules he had drilled into him by not reporting his intentions to his father the 'second' he had planned to make a move. They would have to move fast, if they were going to get through this before his father could stop this. Arthur's heart seemed to pick up-only with anxiety-knowing his father would never be able to forgive him if things turned south.

"What!" Merlin shouted, forcing Arthur's attention right back to him, the panic in his voice noticeably clear. It had been bad enough convincing the prat to come along with him-Merlin was hardly able to wrap his head around the idea of it to begin with. Arthur Pendragon had finally gotten his head out of his arse and was going to help him. It wasn't a trick or something, as far as Merlin could tell right now-but Merlin couldn't risk other people coming and getting involved. The only reason he'd came for Arthur was for his alibi, but he was nervous as to how he was going to do this. It would be easy to use his magic with Morgana and Arthur in the area but with twenty more eyes on him…he didn't have a chance of not getting caught. Somebody would be bound to see something. The gold coloring of his eyes, the spark of magic as it was fading, the burst of whatever magic he managed to get done in the heat of the moment. Arthur was giving him a strange look now, clearly thinking Merlin was off his rocker but that was nothing new. Merlin would always be off his rocker as far as the prince would be concerned, "What I mean is…" Merlin couldn't exactly tell him he was worried about one of those men catching him in an act he had no chance of talking himself out of.

"What you mean," Arthur said sharply, narrowing his eyes. "Is that you don't want my father to get wind of us going. And you think the guards will be tracking too much attention to us." It was exactly the same thing Arthur had been thinking, but he'd been thinking if they did things right, the damage would be minimum once Uther found out. And as they were doing this to get Gwen out, there wasn't any chance that his father wouldn't find out. He'd have to be informed at some point, after all, to get her released.

"Right, right. That is…exactly what I was thinking of." Merlin agreed quickly, deciding to take it and run with it. It was better than trying to think of an excuse on his own, when Arthur had just gave him a reasonable explanation. There was no doubt the king would try to stop them if he knew what they were planning. "Besides, I know you don't like me talking about your father, but what do you think he is going to say if we get caught? And what are you going to say to him once he figures out I was the one that brought the afanc to your attention?"

They both knew what had happened the last time Merlin had tried to help out by bringing something to Arthur. Accusing monsters of where innocence was supposed to lay, Merlin had only been lucky it didn't cause the king to have him hung. Merlin had only made it out the second council meeting alive because he had made his deal, stalling the king in his want to get rid of Merlin. But a third time, with nothing to stop him…there would be no chance for him. Unlike Arthur, who only had the respect of his father to lose, Merlin had everything to lose.

"…Fine," Arthur grunted, hating to admit that the boy was right. It was against the knight's code to do anything without being properly prepared with what may happen, but Arthur was already on the line of that fence anyway, just by entertaining this whole…afanc, thing Merlin was going on about. He gestured toward Merlin while wearing a sarcastic expression on his face. "Then what would be your brilliant plan on how we do this?" Arthur dared for Merlin to come up with something that was better than his own. Arthur's might have had a little risk to it, but at least his had the better chance to get everyone out alive. With the more people, he had the most manpower available to help him achieve more than just one man with a sword could.

Merlin thought for a second, and realized he did not have much of a plan. But he'd been running around this castle for a week straight, as if he was the chicken with its head cut off. And he was still alive and had made more process than Arthur who had nothing to show for his work other than being the one who put the wrong girl in jail. Maybe they didn't need a plan, sometimes winging it was way better. Especially since there was no way for them to know what was about to go down. "Just…" the consort held out his hand, expecting Arthur to be at least willing enough to reach out and shake his hand as they acknowledged the other one as men, ready to go into battle together. "Come with me."

Arthur looked down at the hand in his face, before turning his nose up at it in disgust. If he had tried to touch it, he knew all he would see was Merlin's wrist wrapped in ropes just like in his fantasy. The best thing for him was to vague his disinterest to the boy's willful disobedience, before he broke his own vow and tried to do weird things to Merlin all over again. There was only so much a man would be able to take, after all, "Get your hand out of my face." He said gruffly, and brushed Merlin aside on his way to the door, ready to take this monster by storm. But he stopped before he could exit, when he suddenly thought of something, freezing in mid step.

Merlin had been glaring at him distrustfully, since there was still animosity between them despite the prince willing to come, "What now?" He was demanding, unable to hold his tongue because of course he had noticed the prince's hesitation, and he dropped his hand to settle back down right at his side. If Arthur was having second thoughts, or decided he was going to drag other men into this battle, Merlin would have to knock him out. There was no getting around that. It would be better to do things on his own, rather than getting himself killed by getting caught by somebody when it was avoidable.

Arthur turned back around to face Merlin, looking quite creepy in the eye again as he remarked, "I'm just warning you now, if we get down there and we done see this…this afanc down there, I do plan on killing something down there." It was clear he had meant, if for some godforsaken reason, the beast was not down there or managed to keep itself hid away during their search-there was tunnels by the dozens underneath the city, all intersecting while forming a giant labyrinth. There was no telling just how long it would take for them to search around the place searching for it-then Arthur would turn his blade on him.

Merlin wasn't scared of him in the least, and made a not show about rolling his eyes. "Yeah, well if I'm wrong." The consort said dryly, obviously knowing full well that he was right, despite Arthur showing his doubt again. Merlin had been giving Arthur a bit of the 'tough love' approach, ever since he had given up on the sweet and gentle act he had been trying to put on at first. Arthur definitely needed it, maybe it would teach him to think on his own and do the right thing's with future events, rather than letting his father coward him into silence. "Then I will be more than happy to take that sword and kill myself with it."

Merlin smiled, despite his self deprecating mood, reaching down to touch the pommel of the sword once again, wanting to get a feel for the tool that might be his ending. If they didn't find the beast, Merlin was going to die anyway. So what did the manner of his death matter? Rather it be done as the flames licked up his stake and consumed his body? Or the sword piercing into his flesh, taking out his heart right along with it as white hot fire of a stab wound danced through his body. If he died though, rather by Arthur's hand or the other, he'd at least be able to say he had died wearing his title with pride.

The Unwanted Consort…

It had a nicer ring to it then it had before. Maybe a little something that was rebellious, that spoke up all on it's own and said Merlin wasn't anybody's…whatever they were trying to make him into. Merlin was Unwanted, but who in the world said he could not take that title and twist it into something of his own making. After all, it was the Unwanted part of Merlin-the one who gave exactly zero fucks about what people thought of him-that had managed to convince this idiot to come along with him. Even if he was being his usual 'I'm an arsehole' self about it. While the 'doll version' as Merlin figured he was able to call it, hadn't gotten Arthur to budge. He'd been on the verge of being thrown out before he'd given up and changed into his more normal self.

Arthur stepped out of range before Merlin got the chance to touch it, and Merlin nearly stumbled off his feet when he was suddenly grasping at air. The consort looked at Arthur incredulous, but hey, this should have been expected. Just because Arthur had agreed to help him, didn't mean he'd became any less than the jerk he always was. The prince in question did a poor job of concealing his blush but barked harshly at Merlin, "Go wait outside for just a minute! I'll be there in a second, but I have to get something first."

Merlin forgot all about Arthur's sudden aversion to his touch, and a curious gleam settled in his eyes while not moving an inch to leave as instructed to, "What is it?" He asked immediately, theories were popping around in his head faster than Merlin was able to keep up with them. Maybe whatever it was was some kind of weapon, something that would help slay the beast? Maybe the Pendragon's really did have some kind of device in their possession that could track down? Destroy? Magical beings. It was a scary idea, thinking something like that was real. It was even scarier when he thought about it being in the Pendragon's hands. Uther had done so much damage to the world already, if the king had found a way to do any more…Merlin found he truly doubted any magical being would still live if the king had another twenty or so years to finish his destructive work.

Arthur seemed flustered, stuttering for a moment until Merlin's stare before he got his bearings back in order and jabbed a sharp finger in the direction of his door, "Just get out already! I told you I was coming, isn't that what you wanted? I won't have you staring at me while I'm trying to do things to prepare-" he cut himself off abruptly before he'd been able to finish what he was going to say. Not wanting for Merlin to have even a hint of what he was thinking of doing. Knowing Merlin…Arthur was never going to hear the end of it. And he refused to go into battle with Merlin nattering around in his ear.

"…Fine." Merlin said shortly, deciding not to press his luck. It would be all too easy for Arthur to make a sudden decision change and not come with. He was still counting on him for that stupid alibi after all. "Keep your secrets." Before striding right pass his blond haired husband on the way to the door…Arthur had said he had to 'prepare?' So maybe he wasn't grabbing another weapon that would have the power to take out the afanc. Maybe Arthur had some kind of stupid ritual or something or other to do before he went into battle. Some pep talk…or…stretches…or whatever knights did to get pumped up before a make it or break it battle. Whatever, it wasn't really something he would be interested in seeing anyway.

Seeing that Merlin was leaving, Arthur let out this heavy sigh before turning back around to his desk where he knew 'it' was waiting. But first…the man slid his fingers along the pommel of his sword and sighed, relieved he had managed to get out of the way before Merlin was able to grab it for a second time. People didn't usually go around grabbing for other people's personal swords, it was something that was almost taboo in some corners. Oh, there was plenty of extra swords to go around for those who needed it, but usually, knights would have the one sword that was personally all their own. Other men didn't go around touching it, other than just a servant whose job it was to clean and sharpen the blade, but a servant hardly counted. But for Arthur to have somebody else touch his blade…it was an intimate act. One that was an unspoken rule not to do among the knights, because he may as well be married to somebody who was trusted enough to touch his only means of protection…

Oh…wait…he was married to Merlin. But that was something that hardly mattered! Their marriage had been unconventional at best, and the worse mistake of his life at worse. Merlin was only lucky Arthur was too distracted and surprised when the boy had grabbed for his pommel the first time. It could have resulted in a punch straight to the face if Arthur hadn't been…distracted…at the time. Hell for all he knew, maybe Merlin grabbing it had been the reason for him to fall back into his awful habit of weird thinking…

Arthur brushed all that aside because obviously, he couldn't even pretend that was something that Merlin would know and had done on purpose. The knowledge wasn't exactly the most common rule known. In fact, if you weren't a knight yourself you would have most likely never heard of if. But that was neither here nor there, and Arthur would just have to make a rule for Merlin-one he would follow hopefully, as he had yet to follow any rules Arthur had tried to set-to never touch his belongings. So …this…would never happen again. But as for now, Arthur jerked open his bottom drawer and within seconds, he had the chest he was going to give back to Merlin in his hand. If Merlin was right, and they did find a beast down there, then the prince supposed he could give it to him. Grudging as he was about it, nothing deserved a treat more than putting a stop to all of this. The chest didn't look like the biggest thing around, and Arthur was able to slide it into his large inside pocket. It was meant for carrying his gold around without risk of it being stolen, but he could use it for this too, feeling the sharp edges of it jabbing into his chest. Once they got this over with, Arthur could get rid of it finally.

And hey, if Merlin was wrong, then he would never deserve such a finely crafted box, and Arthur was able to have the pleasure of smashing it in front of him all over again. This time on purpose.

Arthur stood up from behind his desk, and nearly jumped a mile in surprise when he realized Merlin hadn't left like he thought…and now that the blond was thinking on it, he couldn't recall having heard the door open or even the soft click of it closing behind the brat. But Merlin luckily, didn't seem to have noticed what Arthur was doing, or what he'd been grabbing. Merlin's back was to him, and the consort was staring blankly at the door in front of him. Arthur frowned, feeling his eye twitch as he'd given Merlin a 'clear' order to leave his room. The prince did not want to get Merlin all excited when he saw his box had been repaired…he couldn't be distracted if they were going into a danger zone…okay. Arthur just didn't want to be embarrassed by it, he was sure Merlin was going to do something dumb like crying 'happy tears' (how people could cry and claim it was because they were too happy had always baffled him) and Arthur didn't exactly have the time for all of that.

"What are you doing?" Arthur said sharply, kicking his drawer closed with a snap of his foot against the wood. But Merlin didn't even jump when he'd been addressed, he just looked over his shoulder at Arthur with a lifted eyebrow and 'don't fuck with me right now' expression. Arthur felt the urge rise up to smack it off his face but no…he was finding it far too hard to get those thoughts out away then he should be. But Arthur could blame Merlin for it, for being so bold as to grab his pommel. If the rule wasn't so unspoken, Arthur would have thought it was Merlin's version of 'putting the moves' on him.

"I can't leave." Merlin admitted, grudgingly as he crossed his arms over his chest. It had been hard enough to get in here in the first place, so getting back downstairs unseen would probably be even twice as hard. Especially as Merlin no longer had Morgana looking out for him, knowing which halls to take that were unlikely for knights to be running around in. Back hallways meant for servants to be able to use for them to get their chores done while remaining unseen themselves. Merlin doubted the prince had ever had to take a back hallway during his entire life, people answered to Arthur. Not the other way around. He had probably never had to hide before a day in his life, especially not inside of his own castle.

Arthur gave Merlin an incredulous look, unable to understand what he meant by that, as he reached his side. "Don't be stupid. Aren't we only going by your own insistence? Why wouldn't we be going?" He demanded, in this snooty and prissy tone. He was done entertaining Merlin, and if Merlin wanted him to go, then he should stop being stupid, and yet him through. Because Arthur didn't 'have' to do anything. He could stay right here, pretend that his kingdom wasn't in distress and falling around his feet as they spoke. Maybe spend what was left of the night trying to get rid of the Arthur doll he'd been gracious enough to let Merlin keep. He had a fire after all, capable of burning and destroying all the evidence of future Arthur showing Merlin any 'softer' side.

Merlin glared over at him for calling him 'stupid', but it was apparent Arthur didn't know what was going on inside of his own castle. The prince had been holed up in his room for hours, and the dark haired boy doubted the king would see fitting to inform Arthur that a hit had been placed onto the head of his consort. So, Merlin grudgingly took a moment to explain: about how he'd had to sneak around for over an hour just to get to him because he and Morgana had been ducking the guards on the look out for him. Arthur had blinked, looking at him disbelieving, and demanded to know what the consort had done to have the guards running after him. Merlin had glared more harshly, and snapped that it wasn't his fault. Arthur's father was the one who had broken their deal and came after him far earlier than he should have been.

"You…you've got to be kidding me." Arthur snarled out, feeling a rush of something indescribable as Merlin finished off his explanation. How the fuck was Arthur supposed to protect Merlin, while also keeping him at a distance, if his own men wanted to kill him. Not that Arthur blamed them anybody for wanting Merlin dead, the boy had this strange way about him that irritated everybody he'd ever met. But that made his own job so much harder in the long run…and his father…shouldn't Arthur had been informed about this as soon as the decision had been made? Merlin was his bloody husband, loathed as he was to admit it. But it should have been somebody's job to come inform him that his own husband was now under arrest. Arthur would be cracking some heads once this was all over, to teach his knights some bloody protocol. The Royal family should 'always' be informed, especially as the one being detained was…was…the bloody brat of his!

"So, what are we going to do?" Merlin demanded of Arthur, because the prince would have another thing coming if he thought he could just leave him behind. Merlin was the one who started all of this, the one that was going through hell to finish it and now that he was this close…he wasn't going to sit back and wait to hear news of what had happened later on. Merlin was a man of action, not one who sat back and waited for somebody else to correct his mistakes. And speaking of actions, Merlin was opening the door. Just enough for him to peek out through the crack, getting a glimpse down the hall to see if anybody was coming. But apparently, not one person had considered Merlin might've been with his own husband.

Merlin was distracted with keeping an eye out for anybody who might be coming down the hall, that he didn't notice Arthur had stormed off toward his wardrobe. He was too busy thinking…how was he going to get down to the caves? Merlin didn't trust Arthur would help him, would probably throw him right under the carriage if they got caught, so he'd have to…maybe they could go back through those servant halls and hope for the best…and this was when Merlin froze. Something landing on the top of his head, nearly knocking him off balance from where he was crouching in front of the door.

"…What…" Merlin lifted his hand up to grab at the hood that had fallen forward and covered his eyes since it hadn't landed straight. "What is this?" The cloth was heavy and thick around his shoulders as it fell awkwardly around him. It looked to be some kind of traveling cloak, the color a dark blue shade that complimented Merlin's eyes. It didn't look like anything like anything he would have expected for a prince to own. The material was still much better made than a peasant would have been able to get their hands on, thicker than most clothes a simple commoner could have put together. But the fabric also wasn't made out of silk or ruby inlined or any other crazy combination rich people used to make their clothes. Even the strings hanging off, meant to be used to tie around his neck, didn't have any embroidery or embellishment that would indicate who it belonged to. Wouldn't most nobles have an embellishment or design to indicate the cloth had belonged to a member of the Royal family? Merlin couldn't help but this it was extraordinarily plain to be in the possession of a prince…

"Don't make it weird." Arthur said gruffly, keeping his eyes purposely off of Merlin. He didn't want to let Merlin get his weird 'I like you' phase to come back just because he was allowing Merlin to use one of his cloak's. It wasn't even his better cloak, it was one he rarely used and was kept it the back of his closet. He didn't think he'd touched it since he was fifteen at least, didn't even know why he'd still had it, but he'd used it as a means of getting around when he'd gone through this 'I want to be a normal guy and don't want people to recognize me' phase. It had only lasted a week. "…It's just to keep your face covered. You can pretend to be my new servant or something if anybody asks."

And…there it was, Merlin thought with a roll of his eyes. Of course Arthur would have him pretend to be a servant, once again placing Merlin into a role that was underneath him. But he didn't protest, as there was limited options. He could always throw the cloak in Arthur's face and say 'screw you' and leave on his own while throwing instructions over his shoulder for Arthur to meet him downstairs at the pyre. But even Merlin could see this would be as good as it gets. The cloak itself wasn't exactly a magical spell that would change his features to somebody else, and allow him to get by without being noticed. But it would do in a pinch. Now, if only he wasn't going to smell like Arthur when he took it off. That infuriating…pine scent seemed to radiate off the cloak, and Merlin just knew he was going to be doused in it by the time this was over with.

"Let's just go." Merlin sniffed, opening the door up just far enough for him to slip out through. Arthur had to open it wider to be able to get his broader body out of the gap, before softly closing it closed behind him. Merlin's fingers were fumbling around with the strings, tugging it closed so he could tie it off, rearranging the cloak so it would fall better on his shoulders. Distracted by his cloak, stopping to make sure the hood was neatly over his head and fell in front of his eyes to shield as much of him as he could, he started walking down the hall.

Arthur clapped a hand on his shoulder, "What do you think your doing?" The prince asked, dropping his hand the second Merlin whipped around. He'd done it without thinking, and regretted it now that he could see Merlin peeking up at him from under the hood. It was why he'd been avoiding looking at Merlin earlier, because of how ridiculous it looked on him…or how he looked like a woman would look when slipping on her husband's clothes. The cloth made Merlin look more far more delicate than he'd been before. It only made Arthur realize there was no way Merlin would survive a proper discipline on him. Not if Arthur had been already been wider at the ripe age of fifteen, then Merlin was now at the age of nineteen. Arthur cleared his throat, "You're my servant now, remember. Not my consort. You'll need to remember to walk behind me from now on understood?"

And then he was storming past the consort on the way to the stairs, needing to keep remembering to have a cool head. Because yes, it would definitely fall on the weirder side of things with how torn up he was. On one hand, he could rip off that stupid cloth, and use those strings to tie Merlin's wrists together. It would be fun to see Merlin twisting his wrists around, trying to get free while demanding to know what Arthur was gonna do to him-being as saucy and as infuriating as ever. But then there was the other hand…where Arthur wanted to wrap that stupid cloak tighter around Merlin's shoulders like an overgrown blanket, safe and sound, before shoving him back into his room and locking up the door so none of the guards would find him. And so no magical beast could slice him up into ribbons…

What the ever-loving fuck was the matter with him honestly…

Behind him, following along like the dutiful servant he was meant to be, Arthur could hear an array of vicious cursing coming out under Merlin's breath, all of them angled towards him. And despite the fact that Arthur spent half his time wanting to kill him, the prince could feel something relaxing and loosening in his tense shoulder.

Arthur would never tell Merlin this but…

He knew that Merlin had never steered him wrong before.

Their arguing had been only a waste of time, even Arthur knew he'd end up coming with him. Who'd have thunk it…a month ago, Arthur had sworn that he would never trust Merlin again. All his emotions had been running high after Arthur thought Merlin had lied to him about Valiant. But now, here it was, Arthur breaking the vow he'd given Merlin, for the boy himself.

Merlin's methods were horrid, but what he said was always right.