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!

93. Chapter 93

One Hour Until their Original Execution:

The light was back within his domain, just as he'd known it would be. Something so pure, would not be able to live with itself, by allowing something as dark as himself, to live unbothered. The light's had its purpose, to chase away the darkness before he had a chance to finish his havoc. Not knowing that his darkness was far more powerful, the pure light would have to be smothered to nothing, if only for him to continue his great work. He could track the light down the very second it entered his home, its pureness radiating out like a beacon and calling to his attention. The pureness seemed to be ignored by the companions it had shown with-the boy with the blade shining brighter than moonlight (quite a silly thing, thinking such a weapon could destroy him) and the girl who had something dark stirring in her veins. It was barely in bloom, just a feather of it forming, hidden beneath the surface. Not yet strong enough to compete with himself, but it was not pure enough to rival even a fraction that came from the Light.

He needed to be patient, and wait for the proper moment to strike. If the Light knew he was here before he was ready, then the tables would have turned on Him. He could not disappoint Mother, if she only knew of this Light, she too would want it to be destroyed. Before it grew, and became too powerful to contain. No Light like that should exist in a world where darkness was meant to roam with freedom, destroying anything and everything in its path. The Light was the only thing that could stop him from achieving his Mother's great plan…so he needed to stop it, before it could stop Him.

X

Arthur tried to put what Merlin had said out of his mind, he really did. But it kept returning straight to the forefront of his mind, not allowing him a single second of reprieve. But it was hard not to think of it when he was forced to stare at Merlin's back, as the consort traveled ahead without a torch in hand to light his way. The conversation that had died as they were reaching the end of the tunnel, had not died in Arthur's mind. The way Merlin had saucily curled his tongue around the word 'lovers' as if he knew what the word was really implying. The way Merlin had strutted up ahead, acting as if he had been the one to win their verbal sparring. The way Arthur himself had tripped over nothing, frantic in his wondering's about what Merlin would consider a 'lover' to be.

Merlin didn't know anything about lovers. The boy had not known what he was implying by insisting he had what it took to keep a man inclined. Merlin didn't understand it would take a few more things than an innocent kiss or two to be considered as a 'lover.' It would involve much more than what little the two of them had been forced into doing by his own father. Not even if Arthur had managed to go through with the consummation of their wedding, would he have been willing to call them 'lovers.' It was a term that would have been for the willing. A term that involved eagerness and heat, as another much bigger than Merlin, threw him around for the sole purpose of wanting his hands on him. A term that would probably involve straddling Merlin into whatever surface he could, watching as the other boy blushed and giggled, smiling sweetly before a mystery man, one who was hidden by shadows in Arthur's mind, but was somehow familiar to him as well. It was a term that spoke of being careful, and gentle as he painstakingly removed Merlin's outfit, one article at a time. Kissing each new pale piece of flesh being given to him, running his tongue on places unseen by any other, taking his time to be soft and explain to Merlin where this was going to go. And giving Merlin the chance to back out if he wanted, or giving him the chance to turn onto his stomach and offer the figure his backside, giving it up for exploration. Lovers was a term meant for somebody mature enough to know what they had been getting into. Not somebody who would have panicked, and needed somebody else to spell the action out to him before he could understand it.

Merlin wouldn't know what to do. And Arthur felt irritated by the mere thought of Merlin finding out certain things by the clumsy hands of this mystery person in his mind. Only a coward would've taken the chance to explain things in the midst of doing the act itself. Where Merlin might feel pressure to continue, just to prove he wasn't some naive child, and could play as adults do. Arthur would've had a much different approach in mind-if he would ever go through with his deal with Gaius, and explain to Merlin of these things-and it didn't involve putting hands on the boy, for once. Arthur would know to literally spell it out for him to understand-unlike a stronger who had no idea how Merlin worked-and demand Merlin repeat it back to him to make sure he understood. Instead of a clumsy oaf, who'd no doubt overestimated Merlin and just assumed he knew what he was agreeing too.

Arthur found himself torn, between doing exactly that. So he could teach Merlin how improper he'd been, or how downright dangerous if he had said the same to another man. But then he'd be forced to explain other things to Merlin, because there's no way Merlin would understand the full gravity of how saying things like that might be considered to be an offer of something more-that a lesser man would take him up on-without having the context behind it…

Arthur blinked in sudden surprise when the tunnel opened up, revealing the larger cavern where the immediate water supply could be found in its little pool on the far end. Maybe it was just him, but the tension was very palpable in the room. And being in this opened space only seemed to make it more worse for some reason. Arthur harshly cleared his throat, "Is this the place where you saw it?"

Arthur's voice had came out gruff and raw, anger and irritation swirling around inside of him, while he tried unsuccessfully how annoyed he was with Merlin's loose tongue. But Arthur needed to put all of that aside, and focus on the dangers that could be lurking around in the depths of the pool ahead of them. Which would also involve 'talking' to the boy, and hope he didn't say anything else that was ridiculously stupid. Though, maybe the tension in the air was only in Arthur's head, because Merlin and Morgana seemed extraordinarily calm within the face of their situation.

"This is it." Merlin said bluntly, not looking back at Arthur. Arthur would have been annoyed by this as he considered it a brush off, Merlin thinking Arthur was not worth his time. It was a sharp contrast as Arthur had been irritated just moments before by Merlin's words, but it was there all the same. But there was a strange look in Merlin's eyes that had stopped Arthur from snapping at him. Merlin was staring down at the pool, stopping only a few feet from the water's edge, but not daring to step any clo to the surface. It took Arthur two seconds longer than he wanted to admit, to realize why the consort was looking as if he was expecting to be attacked at any minute,

Because he did expect to be attacked.

The memory fluttered against the brief edges of Arthur's mind. One of the many things Merlin had shouted at him when he'd been convincing Arthur to come here in the first place. Arthur had, at first, tried to convince Merlin this 'afanc' could only be a fever dream of some sort. Conjured by Merlin's own imagination, and nothing they needed to be concerned about. Merlin hadn't liked that, and had exploded on him about it. Shouting out some kind of explanation, where he had been attacked by it. How the beast had swiped its claws at him, or how Merlin could feel it's breath across his face due to how close it had gotten. Or how he had ran out of here as fast as he was able too, before he could get his head taken off. It was like a cold realization suddenly hit Arthur, so fast, it actually took away his breath for a second.

Merlin was traumatized.

Maybe not completely, in an irreversible things will never get better, kind of traumatized. Where he'd be waking up in the middle of the night, grasping for breath because he had nightmares where the claws actually pieces his flesh. Where he'd flinch or refuse to stay out of the water for years, since he'd be sure something was going to grab him and drag him back into the depths. Arthur had seen a similar look on the faces of some of their knights, when they had came back from a particularly bad and gruesome mission. And those were the ones that had actually managed to return. Arthur would still insist the whole Valiant debacle was far worse and more traumatized-the guy had tried to force himself on his consort, and the only reason Merlin was still okay was because he didn't know exactly how bad the damage would have been-then being attacked by some kind of…muck…monster was.

But rather fending off unwanted creeps, or facing against a dangerous beast, Arthur was faced with the same dilemma. He hadn't been able to protect Merlin…again. Arthur had been so caught up with his own misadventures, thinking of all the things he would do to Merlin to teach him discipline. And then wanting to curse him out for saying stupid things without thinking through what they could mean to the wrong person. Arthur hadn't thought of what Merlin might be going through, having to come back here again. When he'd nearly lost his own life down here not long before.

"Err…" Arthur strode up to Merlin, looking down at the water to keep his eyes off the boy. He wasn't entirely used to giving 'actual' helpful advice onto his consort, he usually just barked things at him and then left him to it. But Arthur had helped out a knight or two, when they needed something to get their frustrations or fears out. Beating the shit out of one of their training dummies could usually do the trick, or at least exhaust them so much, they'd be unable to think of their trauma any longer. But, Arthur did not think the same method would work on Merlin. Just glancing at those hands of his was enough to tell him that. Merlin would bruise like a peach, and ruin what meat he had on his bones if he tried to hit one of their dummies. Because, the prince definitely didn't trust Merlin to hit the thing with a sword. He'd be liable to cut his own off the hand holding it, rather than the dummy itself. But, Arthur could not allow Merlin to show a weakness like this…which was probably the kindest thing he could have said to Merlin. "…That water's not too deep. How big did you say this thing was, Merlin? Surely you could have handled it yourself if it's the size of a minnow fish."

This was Arthur's version of giving his consort just a bit of 'comfort' or peace, to make him relax and stop looking at the water as if he expected for the liquid itself to attack him. And he wasn't wrong in the least, the water in the pool wasn't exactly the deepest thing. It was probably only two feet deep, it would have gone only just past the lower part of his leg if he had climbed it. But Arthur also knew it had more of an underground thing going on-years ago, when the kingdom had first been built before Arthur's time, someone had dug up a trench that went underneath the surface. It would easily keep the pool of water filled, not even if the entire city tried to take their fill at the same time, would they be able to drain it. They had been blessed in that department, the water draining into the pool long before they could run out…

Merlin didn't find his poor joke against him, to be funny.

"Maybe we should spread out." Merlin suggested as he turned away from Arthur, without a glance in his direction as he ignored him completely. Arthur could feel his mouth dropping open in indignation-here he was, trying to make Merlin feel better, and get his mind off of the fact that this might be their last moments on this earth-and Merlin seemed to be content with ignoring him. You would think the consort would show Arthur a bit more gratitude as he didn't 'have' to come all this way. "We'll be able to cover more ground if each one of us takes over one of the tunnels." Merlin gestured, waving over to the ten tunnels splitting off from this main room and off to parts unknown. Arthur knew the tunnels down here were literally a giant labyrinth. Nobody had ever explored fully, or been able to create any map of the place. It was just too large, and there's far too many opening's, extra tunnels further down in the caves than just the main ten here that led to them. Somebody could probably explore for years and not be able to know exactly where they were going, as it was supposed to be very confusing as tunnels intersected or died off into dead ends. "If we're lucky, at least one of us will be able to find it and alert the others."

Merlin was clearly underestimating these tunnels, as he wouldn't know the first thing about just how confusing they could be. But the consort still kept his voice hushed, not wanting to alert the beast of their plan if it was nearly. His ears prickled, but he could not hear anything that would have indicated they were no longer alone. Merlin hoped, if he was the lucky one that found the beast, he might have a chance to get the drop on it. He wasn't sure how exactly, but he was sure he would be able to think of someway to quietly dispose of it before any of the others noticed. But…this would have defeated the whole purpose of bringing Arthur with him as an alibi. Arthur couldn't very well tell the court that Merlin had nothing to do with its destruction, if he wasn't there to witness it. So maybe he could find a way to somehow…organize it…to make it merely look as if Arthur had killed it. But for Merlin to get that, he would need to have the prince directly at the right place during the right time. He just…had no idea how he was going to do that.

"No."

Arthur's voice rang out from behind here, where the prince was still standing beside the pool. The consort whipped around, looking dangerously at Arthur. But the prince's stand on Merlin's plan was obviously clear, from the stiff way he was standing to the stern line in his jaw to the harsh look within his eyes. Arthur refused to agree with something as stupidly ridiculous as this plan, and he refused to continue trying to 'help' Merlin, through what trauma had occurred to him down here. The blond had no interest in losing anybody down here, even if that person was Merlin. So no, Merlin was out of his bloody mind if he thought for one second, that Arthur would be okay with allowing him out of his sight. That would not happen, even if he ended up having to improvise and literally use his own belt as a leash around Merlin's neck to prevent the boy from running off.

Arthur hadn't offered up any explanation for his single 'no'. No apologies, or explaining why this wasn't something they were going to do. So, the consort came to his own conclusions, "Why?" He demanded in a hot tone, Merlin bringing his hands up to rest on either side of his hip, steadying his stance and almost gearing up for a fight. Refusing to lay down for Arthur, because the prince thought his word was law. Well, guess what. Down here, in this cave, Arthur wasn't a prince. He was just one more man, without any army or his kingly father to back him up. Maybe when they finally emerged, it would cause some issues. But Merlin didn't think of future consequences, this wouldn't exactly be the worse thing he's done since he's been here. "Is it because it's my idea?"

Merlin's offense was clear-from his stance, to the pinched look on his face to his very tone. He was able to feel the muscles in his upper arms tighten and loosen, prepared for anything. Another fight against his husband, or one against the beast, he didn't care. It was obvious that Arthur was one of those guys who thought any idea other than one of his own was pure crap. Who would shun or turn down somebody else's plan, because they hadn't thought of it first. Merlin was disgusted. He might have thought Arthur would have been open at the idea of considering other ideas. He literally had an entire council at his disposal! And wasn't that the point of a council, for others to dissect and work through other alternatives, before deciding on the best course of action. Arthur would never make a good king if he couldn't keep an opened mind-he would also never bring back magic like the dragon said he would, if he was so narrow minded. Really though, what else would Merlin expect from a man who had once called his magic 'disgusting'…

Or maybe if wasn't considering other ideas Arthur had a problem with. It was probably because he'd been the one to voice it…

"No." Arthur answered him, in a snooty tone that literally said 'I come from money and you don't'. It was even accompanied by Arthur turning his nose up at Merlin, as if he smelt something awful. And Merlin had to resist the urge to try and smell his own armpits to see if there was something he was missing. "It's because it's just a stupid idea. And I am the one with the sword." The blond held up his sword as if to prove this point to Merlin, and show how bloody special he was…because he had been the only one practically born with a sword already in his hand, as if they made his idea somehow far better than Merlin's own. "So what exactly are you two going to do if you get caught by that thing?"

Maybe they should have came up with an actual plan before they were just standing here, trying to come up with something on the fly. But it was far too late for those kinds of regrets, and Arthur was gesturing towards Merlin and Morgana, bringing a bit of attention to the Lady who, for the most part, had been forgotten by both prince and consort as they verbally sparred. Merlin gritted down sharply on his teeth, hating to admit Arthur was right in a way. Morgana only had that stupid torch of hers to defend herself with, not even some dagger hidden within the cloths of her dress. And Merlin…well, he had his magic and that should be more than good enough. But even Merlin had to grudgingly admit, to Arthur, it would look like he was a helpless lamb ready to go off to the slaughterhouse.

But Merlin resented the imagery, and turned away his head with a scowl on his face, "I don't know, I might go old school and try using your own head to bash it in with. With any luck, it might knock a few of your brain cells back together. It's obvious you don't have that many up there to work with so it might be be a hard process." And Merlin could feel the way Arthur's eyes were drilling directly into the side of his head, looking like he's about to say something that was particularly scatting and more than likely to start off one of their fights.

Maybe Arthur decided now was not the time, or he might have grown as tired of them as Merlin was, because the prince stormed passed him. Merlin scowled and watched as Arthur started looking to the tunnels himself, obviously planning out one of his own plans that he would expect them to follow through with. "Okay, this is what we're going to do now." He declared, after a long moment of staring off at the tunnels. Merlin felt himself stiffening as the annoyance coursed through him. According to Arthur, his plan was already decided and would be expected to be executed. Merlin didn't like having decisions made for him. He'd already had 'whose he gonna marry' and 'what's his future gonna look like' decided for him before he'd even been born. Merlin could feel his jaw tightening with strain as Arthur turned back around to face them, starting to give out instructions, "First thing's first, we're gonna go down one of these tunnels together and once we do, we can spread out a bit and split off from the other. It might be slow going, but we can cover more ground and move things along-"

Merlin interrupted, rolling his eyes as he threw his hands in the air, "Oh, come on!" He exclaimed, his voice going far louder than it should be, and most likely drawing attention from anything else lying in wait down here somewhere. But rather that would be the beast, or anything else that would've made these caves their home, remained to be unseen at the moment. "How is that anything different from what I just said! You can't use different words and then act as if you came up with the idea. You…you …you utter dead brain!"

The idea of Arthur literally taking credit for what Merlin had already decided on doing, made him angry. It was bad enough that Merlin had to let the prince think he was the hero of this story, the one who defeated the beast and saved the entire city from its mass destruction. But to allow Arthur to take the credit for the little things that would lead up to that-when it was just among them three was upsetting. But…maybe Merlin was the dead brain, because even he had to admit it wasn't his best insult. But it had gotten Arthur's attention, as the prince had stopped dead in his tracks, and was now looking at Merlin as if he didn't know what to make of the boy in his life. But then again, he had never understood what to do with Merlin, so this was nothing new.

"Dead…brain…" Arthur repeated slowly, both face and voice sounding incredulous as he worked that through his mind, trying to understand what that term could possibly mean. Arthur would have to say he had an extensive vocabulary, but being a 'dead brain' wouldn't have exactly been a word used among his tutoring. And it was definitely not a more urban term used by his men. It could have been a peasant term, clearly an insult if he'd ever heard one. But…dead brain…was just weird, and it was entirely inaccurate. There was no way for his brain-or any other-to be dead, considering he was up and walking around. "What in the world does it even mean?"

Merlin clearly didn't have the foggiest idea about it himself, but he had no problem with just going with it. Unlike Arthur, he didn't need to be literal to make it mean something, some things were just as they were, "It means exactly what it sounds like! It means, you don't have a single, original idea in the thick head you call a skull! Now, I have learned you don't like to do anything, even if it's going to help your people, without asking permission from your father before you act. But that doesn't man its just okay for you to go around stealing ideas, and then claiming them as your own. I mean, what the hell!"

Merlin could clearly remember the few times he'd gone to Arthur, before just the mere presence of him started making him disgusted. The biggest of them would have been when the time Merlin had tried to warn him about Valiant. Merlin had wanted to storm straight to the knight and get a handle on the situation, quietly dispose of him before any of the kingdom would know. But Arthur had wanted to do it right, which included getting an audience with his father. In hindsight, this might have been the best thing to do to get the king on their side, and have Valiant put on trial for his actions. But it hadn't gone that way, and Merlin had been left in humiliation, and was still dealing with the fallout of it even today. And then, Arthur had apparently not learned his lesson-he'd gotten dismissed from the council chambers that day as well, only his status as prince stopped people from getting on his case about it to his face-because he'd wanted to do the same thing all over again. Merlin had felt his dread rising when Arthur suggested they gather some of the men together. Different scenario, but they'd all end up in front of the king and forced to answer to his demands just the same. Without anything that would show they were telling the truth.

Merlin wasn't naive, not any longer. The king was not going to believe them from word of mouth any more. Not even if that word came from the prince himself. Not when Uther learned Arthur didn't see the creature for himself, not when Uther learned it was once again because Merlin had been the one to claim it. Merlin's word…only marked him as the automatic liar, in Uther's books. Somehow, having a peasant heritage made Merlin less than people who thought they had the blue in their bloodlines, rather than the common red everybody else in the planet did. Merlin couldn't help being born as just a peasant, no more than he could help being born a sorcerer. But Uther was the one that had signed away his own son into a marriage with the 'simple peasant boy'. Of his own freewill and his very own volition.

"Hey!" Arthur barked out, voice snappish and sure as he 'got onto' Merlin. "Something you might not know, is it's proper protocol to go to the king long before you make a hasty move that could end up damaging the kingdom in the long run. Imagine if this creature managed to get out, and started it's rampage down the Main Street! And because we decided to come down here without having any of the proper backup to assist!"

Arthur knew on some level that it was the right call to make, but his every instinct was screaming so loudly, telling him this was wrong and to turn back now while they still had the chance. Arthur's own instinct's had been ingrained in him by his father, to always follow protocol and make decisions that were based on things his father had taught him all his life on how to rule a kingdom. But Arthur found himself conflicted, because he also had his gut to listen too. Something his father usually approved of if it was the right call, but this situation…Arthur knew his father wouldn't accept it as a reason to not follow protocols. There was just far too many things that could go wrong, things that would be landing on Arthur's head if they failed. His father would never trust him again, especially if a beast like this did manage to escape into the greater bit of the city. A creature rampaging and maiming all it came across had to be far more problematic if it spread to the other kingdom's. At least the water could be explained away with poor maintenance on the city, rather than somebody literally having the means and opportunity-their kingdom weak enough for it to happen at all-to poison them.

"But I didn't, because if you haven't noticed, I'm actually stuck down here with you right now!" The prince continued his lecturing of Merlin, acting as if it was Merlin's fault they were in this situation at all. One would think he'd at least be grateful to get an answer that made sense: a sorceress launching an attack against the kingdom made more sense than sweet Gwen being the culprit. "And for your record, our plans are very different! You wanted to have us going down separate tunnels, and getting us all killed! At least with my idea, we're all going down the same general direction! And I can keep an eye on you! Lest that thing attacks, and trust me, I have the greatest sympathy at the moment for that thing wanting to kill you!"

Arthur's plan definitely involved more safety, the whole safety in numbers thing. Because he would refuse to end up coming across one of their own corpses later on. And that was if they were even found, and the beast hadn't dragged their bodies off to parts unknown to feast upon their organs or whatever else a beast would do with a corpse. Or the thing might try to string up the corpse like one would a scarecrow, warning off predators-or other people-from coming any further. Merlin's skin had turned grey from death, his mouth going lax along with his limbs for all to see…Arthur shook his head to be rid of the awful visual trying to haunt him to an early grave. That wasn't going to happen on his watch. The prince was trying to at least do, the logical thing if they weren't going to do things by the book. The caves might not be mapped out, but Arthur thought it would be better to take one tunnel at a time, and comb through them as far in as they could risk going before trying another one. Kinda like one of his grid maps, where he was able to see what was right in front of him and mark off each section.

And Arthur watched furiously, eyes dropping right down to the lower part of Merlin's face, when the boy opened his mouth to argue back. Probably in response to Arthur saying he'd have sympathy for the beast if it went after Merlin personally. But, he would stand by what he said. Arthur had nerves of steel, something he prided himself on, just for not cuffing Merlin's wrist to his own to keep him close by. But that probably had more to do with the fact that Arthur didn't exactly go around carrying cuffs on him.

"Will you two shut up!" Morgana snapped at them before Merlin could breathe out the first word. The lady was absolutely miserable, being the only one focused. If this was how the two of them were on the daily, then it was no wonder Merlin had been so resistant to being the one to get Arthur down here in the first place. She didn't even know what they were fighting again, it was just anything! But at this point, the two would be spending their last final breaths to argue with each other. "I think I've might have heard something."

And Morgana wasn't just saying that to make the boys focus on their situation. She could feel her ears prickling, sure she had heard something from one of the tunnels. Maybe rocks sliding around on the ground? Or a low rumble…but Morgana wasn't able to pinpoint exactly what it was. Nor could she hear it again. Not when she had the prince and the consort yelling in her ears over the most stupidest of things. But with Morgana's words, the boys got their heads back in the game, as they shared this horrified look. The tension in the air growing thick, they could have cut straight through it clean, with nothing more than a butter knife. In one very swift motion, the three crowded together in front of the pool of water. Their backs were pressed together, the hard muscles of Arthur pressed against all the soft flat skin of Merlin against the womanly curves of Morgana. Each one staring down the tunnels in front of them, just waiting for something to come and emerge from within their depths.

Arthur's hand twitched around his sword, waiting and ready to see the beast with his own eyes. And Morgana brought her hand back-the one she was not holding her torch in-to brush her pinky along the side of Merlin's hand, pressing her back more firmly against his as she sought out comfort. The consort reacted in kind, reaching out to grab onto her hand more fully, offering what little comfort he was able to during this time. For a long moment, it seemed as if nothing was going to happen. There was always the possibility that Morgana had been wrong, and she hadn't heard anything at all. But it wasn't exactly something they wanted to risk, by relaxing their stances and trying to pretend that the largest issue wasn't roaming around in here somewhere…

A low growl rumbled from somewhere deep within the cavern, but it was impossible to detect which direction it was coming from. Morgana and Arthur and Merlin had their heads swishing around in all directions, trying to determine where it had came from. Arthur's sword was going back and forth in-between the two tunnels that were situated right in front of him. There was another long growl, and the prince could see a flash of brown in the corner of his eye. Arthur yelled, throwing himself back on top of Morgana and Merlin, raising his sword up in their defense, narrowly escaping the claws trying to come down on his head. But just as fast as the beast had appeared, was it gone, disappearing to the shadows of the caves, hiding itself from view.

"What just happened!" Morgana exclaimed, brain struggling to keep up with everything due to how fast it had all happened, scrambling back to her feet after being thrown to the ground when Arthur had crashed into them. Her eyes were wide, and it showed how absolutely terrified she was, it was a miracle she was still holding onto her torch and it hadn't went out when it hit the ground. Reacting on fear and instinct, Morgana threw herself at the man with the sword, grabbing onto the back of the prince's shoulder and practically melding against his back, as she peeked over him to look into the tunnels. "Did you see it?"

Morgana didn't usually show a fear like this, she had an impressive hold over her emotions. It was the only way she could get through most things, like important dinners she had no interest with attending but was expected to play her part. With false smiles, and innocent blushes, and feminine grace that would make Uther proud. Even when it was mixed with a wicked tongue, able to disguise and word things properly to not cause offense to those too dim-witted to understand the meaning behind her words. But this was obviously far more different than a simple dinner. And she didn't have to hide her emotions, the fear coursing through all of her body, until it was thrumming deep, inside of her eardrums.

"Yeah…" was the only word Arthur could choke out of his mouth, barely able to hear over the roaring going on in his own ears. The adrenaline coursing through his body, not even feeling Merlin stepping up on his other side to look down the tunnel their beast had fled down, was enough to calm it. If one wanted to be honest, it only made his anxiety get worse. They were too open, the cavern was much too large, there was no place for them to be able to hunker down in to stay safe. Arthur hated that he had to admit…the beast held all of the cards in this situation. What had he been thinking, actually listening to Merlin and coming down here without any backup! Forgot about what his father would have to say once it was discovered his heir, and his ward, and the consort, had somehow all been able to vanish unseen. Without anybody knowing they had came down here, it would be far too late for a search and rescue team to matter should the physician-Merlin had mentioned Gaius had came down here with him the last time, hadn't he?-was able to put the pieces together. All of them would be dead by the time a team was organized.

His kingdom was going to be left without a leader to take its place as next in line. His father was far too old to have another to take Arthur's place, he would be forced to appoint an heir before he was able to step down years from now, when his age started to catch up with him. The bloodline of the Pendragon family was going to end here and now, because he had bloody well listened to Merlin all over again.

"Where'd it go?" Merlin demanded, more focused on the 'what were they going to do next' instead of the 'did that just happen' aspect. He darted his eyes along that one tunnel, hoping he may have a chance at seeing something the others wouldn't immediately notice. But there was nothing, not a single stir in the air that could indicate it was still there. The beast had probably retreated back far deeper into the caves, too deep for their eyes to see from where they were standing. That didn't stop the hairs from standing up on the back of his neck, the prickling sensation of knowing he was being watched flooded his system. It had to be a warning…the beast was still there somewhere…it had to be close by. Close enough to watch them, but able to camouflage itself among it's dark and stony surroundings. It was just waiting for one of them to make the next move before it attacked. It was waiting to see who would be the chosen one it could snatch up, and drag down into its pit for the sins they'd committed by coming down here in the first place.

Arthur seemed to come back into himself, casting an incredulous look in Merlin's direction before he was turning back to the tunnels, his hand moving and readjusting itself around his sword. "If I knew that, wouldn't I have gone racing after it by now?" He demanded, keeping his eyes ahead as he was forced to muse over how dumb Merlin was. But, it was not the time for that. This mission now looked to be far more dangerous, and not worth the risk of their lives. If Arthur had been alone, he might've gone ahead. But with Morgana and Merlin behind him, seeking his protection, he needed to change and adjust his planning. First thing's first, he had to extract Morgana and Merlin-as the civilians in distress-out of the situation. It would be best for him to leave as well, only because he knew Merlin would need someone to drag him out, and he did not trust Morgana would be strong enough to do it on her own.

But once they have managed to get back into the safety of the castle, Arthur could do what he had wanted in the first place, and return with a platoon of able bodied men. Men who had already chosen, and were willing to lay down their lives, by wearing their uniforms and picking up their swords, to raid these caves with him. Unlike Merlin and Morgana, who were only down here by chance, and by their circumstances. Neither one was a fighter. The one and only good thing that had happened here, was Arthur seeing the creature's existence for himself. His father would be a lot more receptive, now that he was a key witness himself. He could even show himself much more confidentially, now that he was able to see this wasn't just a figment of Merlin and his imagination acting up. This wouldn't exactly be considered a case of Merlin's having another one of his mental affliction breakdown's. This was not Merlin acting up, or trying these bigger, and more outright dangerous ideas of getting his attention. Arthur hadn't imagined that claw trying to take off his face, and it was no bloody wonder his consort had acted traumatized earlier.

Unless…he really had been imagining things, and Merlin's brand of crazy was extraordinary far more vivid than he thought they were. But no, the other boy was only suffering from his mental strain due to how much trouble he was having adjusting into his new life. Something like that wasn't exactly the most contagious thing, though…Merlin had been bringing his stress in Arthur's life…good god! The prince could only hope Merlin's particular brand of crazy wasn't contagious! It would start spreading among the city, just as fast as the sickness had.

"That's a great idea, Arthur. Why don't you go on ahead and do that. Me and Morgana will just have to watch you go first to see rather or not it's safe for us." Merlin sneered, practically daring for their 'prince' to go ahead and lead the way into danger. What did it matter to him if Arthur got mauled just a bit, or thrown into a wall by something that most likely, was over three hundred pounds. Merlin was not able to imagine that much muck stacked onto it, was a light load to carry around. And if the thing wanted to use it's stone like teeth to bite off a little piece of Arthur's limb, well…somethings obviously needed to happen to distract it so Merlin could go in for the kill. Merlin wouldn't allow the beast to go ahead and 'kill Arthur' of course. No, it was far too suspicious when he showed up later with the head of the beast under his arm. The people needed to have answers, and would start asking Merlin hard questions like: if you could stop the beast, surely you could have done it before it ate the prince…so no. It was best not to risk his own freedom…as if it wasn't already hanging by a feather's edge.

…Maybe the beast would be willing to take a bite out of Arthur's head, the consort thought with this considering expression on his face, tilting his head as if trying to imagine it. Yeah…Merlin decided, the prince would probably look better without his own stupid head attached. At least Merlin wouldn't be forced to listen to him anymore, his mouth leaving with wherever they dropped his head off at. Arthur without a mouth was literally his favorite dream at this point. But alas…such a thing would not come to pass.

And Arthur was giving him a dirty look for what he had thought had been a very reasonable solution, before turning back around to look at the tunnel, "Do not be stupid, Merlin. We aren't going near it, or where it went. It's-" Arthur shook his head, and tightened his grip on his sword. "…It's quicker then I thought it would be." And to Arthur, this might as well be admitting a weakness. Arthur was the best in the land, moving with a strength and speed that was almost unmatched by anybody within the city boarders. He'd never faced anything that was able to move as fast as this thing could. Even when he would go hunting, Arthur knew the patterns or the habits certain creatures might decide to go along with. Knew how to form traps and what would be the most effective method for killing then, before bringing the corpse back to be added to their food supply in the kitchens. What Arthur couldn't have known was anything that had to do with this thing. There was no pattern, rhythm, or reason for what it was doing.

Other than what it's target was…

Them…

Arthur raised his other torch a bit higher in the air as he started backing up slowly-he wasn't a man who retreated easily, but even he had to admit he would be no match against this thing alone-so he could herd the two back down the main tunnel to where the stairs were. But he only moved back as he didn't dare turn around, and then his back onto the enemy. The first rule of combat was to always know where the enemy was, and be sure they did not ever get to see your back. Arthur had already failed the first part, as no matter how hard he tried to squint into the darkness or raise his torch to get the light to stretch out ahead, he couldn't actually see it. But he would be damned if he allowed for it to see his back.

…Morgana's scream was sudden, and pierced into the dark air, loud and shrill enough that it could've woken the dead. Merlin was the first to react, and he grabbed Morgana on the shoulders-before his brain could process the return of the beast when it came from the opposite direction they'd all been staring in-and dragged her behind him. A place to be safe in, the monster coming so close to being able to get her, it's claw caught onto the edging of her braid and dragged long strands of hair out of her head, Morgana's renewed shriek enough for Merlin's ears to ring. And then Arthur was there in an instinct, swinging his sword down harder than he ever had before towards its outstretched arm. It never made contact, the beast withdrawing and disappearing again just as fast as it had came to them, melding into the shadows so flawlessly-not even a shade of its brown muck breaking up any of the shadows forming in the tunnels-it was no wonder they hadn't been able to see it.

Arthur's breathing was frantic, his heart nearly in his throat as he readied himself for another attack on them, bending low in front of Morgana and the boy so he could be prepared to move even faster than he had been…he was already pushing on his speed though. He didn't know if he could go any faster than he had been…this thing was even more faster than a jackrabbit on the run. Arthur wanted to keep a stern eye on the shadows, making sure he would be ready when it emerged again, but he also knew he couldn't trust his eyes any longer. It had attacked them from behind, which meant that thing had went much further down the tunnel they had been looking at, and must have found another intersecting tunnel that led out to the one behind them. They had no chance of knowing whether or not it would emerge from the same tunnel it had just disappeared down, or if it would find another intersecting tunnel and come out somewhere else.

Arthur bit back a curse, knowing just how over his head they really were, and whipped around to get a good look at his companions. Merlin had an arm wrapped tightly around a shivering Morgana, and was using his other hand to rub up and down her arm as a sign of comfort. Arthur reached, running on nothing more than pure adrenaline, as he was reaching out and grabbing harshly to his consort's jacket, jerking him closer and nearly dislodging his grip around Morgana.

"Are you alright, did it get you?" He demanded, in a harsh tone as he looked Merlin up and down for any injuries he might have sustained. Maybe, the prince should have shown more consideration for Morgana who had almost been this thing's meal-as he actually liked her, well…more than Merlin at least-but Arthur wasn't blind. He'd seen the way Merlin had dived on top of Morgana, nearly losing his arm in the process of the creature's claw had not gotten caught in Morgana's braid. But he was not able to see anything that would be worrisome. There was something on Merlin's cheek that was quite possibly a gash…no, that was just a streak of dirt, looking misshapen in the torchlight. Then he could see a horrid stain on Merlin's knee, almost making Arthur want to jerk the pant leg up so he could inspect the bloody gash for himself. But no, it was also nothing more than the cave dirt being kicked up during the panic. Morgana and himself had similar markings on their clothes. So, Arthur should definitely not be imagining Merlin as one big, bloody gash stretching across the long length of his body.

Merlin snarled when Arthur's hand moved down from his shoulder, and to clench at the jacket part that covered the crook of his elbow, "Just get your bloody hands off of me!" The constant wailed, as he wiggled and jerked until not even Arthur would be able to keep hold of him. Arthur had put hands on his body again. Maybe he hadn't been trying to do weird things again-Arthur may have done it as they hid during a council meeting, but surely he'd not do the same directly in front of Morgana, eyes still wide like a startled deer with panic and fear as she watched the new scene playing out in front of her-but it didn't matter. Merlin absolutely refused to ever have one hand from Arthur touching him, it was something he refused to go back on or relent too. If Arthur wanted to put his hands on another, or do those weird things…it could be with anybody other than himself. A plaything, Merlin refused to be. He might not have any choice with the life he'd been forced into, but this-Merlin finally managed to wrench his arm free of the grip Arthur had on him-was the hill Merlin was willing to die on.

Merlin would never again, be caught in the awful compromising position he'd been in, when Arthur had thrown him face down onto his desk.

"Will you just bloody shut up!" Something inside of Arthur seemed to come loose, and leave him a shaking mess when he no longer had Merlin in his grasp-because Merlin wasn't bloody safe, Arthur couldn't protect him if Merlin kept trying to go off and get away from him, he was going to fail again and this time Merlin was going to end up dead, all because of him-and he was almost startled to feel an emotion flooding through him.

Fear. Arthur was actually scared, and that thought was nearly enough to undo Arthur completely. He knew better than to have his emotions on display like this, he knew better than to allow his emotions to rule his actions. He'd been trained 'specifically' to not allow his emotions get the best of him. But it was something about now, or maybe it had been slowly leading up to this due to how many times it had been one failure after another when the other boy had ended up in danger one way or the other, because Arthur hadn't been keeping good enough of an eye on him. His father would have killed him right now, if he saw how freaked Arthur was. In all his life, there had only been one thing the king had allowed Arthur to show a healthy fear of, but even it had only been allowed in the privacy of his own chambers. Where it wouldn't be seen by others in the kingdom, leading to doubt upon the future of the kingdom's ruling…magic. The king used to tell Arthur is was good to have a healthy fear for these beings, as a reminder to never allow your guard to be down around them. Witches and the like were scary creatures-Arthur had never seen anything to prove otherwise-who could do untold damage into the world with only a single wave of their hand. He knew there was nothing scarier than someone just striding into the kingdom, and being able to cause the buildings to collapse around them effortlessly. But that was when he was a child. By the time the prince had reached manhood, Uther had decided it was time for him to crush that fear. He couldn't continue Uther's great work, and his war against magic, if Arthur was still scared of it. But he'd not seen anything like this beast before, had never felt his throat closing up so tightly that he struggled to breath, as he realized he was going to once again fail to see to Merlin's protection. This creature was an unnatural being that should have not ever have been allowed in this world. And Merlin, he should not have ever been allowed to get within spitting's distance of it.

"Don't tell me to-" Merlin started to scream at the prince, allowing their own personal problems with the other get in the way of stopping this thing. But Arthur was so infuriating, and always getting in his way, and…god, Merlin would love anything for the beast to come back and get Arthur out of his own face.

Arthur grabbed him again, jerking him nearly off of his feet so their faces were close together, "Can't you just stop, and allow me to make sure that your okay!" The prince roared in his face, his words got away from him before he was able to rein them to underneath the surface. The entire cave seemed to go silent, not even the crackling of the torches could be heard as Merlin and Arthur stared down the other, eyes narrowed and sharp and focused entirely on the other man in front of them. Both of them were breathing raggedly, but neither made a move to step away, even as their breaths fanned out against the other's face.

For Merlin…Merlin allowed his eyes to dart around from one of Arthur's eyes to the other. Struggling to figure out what the trick was here, because he knew Arthur enough to know there just had to be something hidden in his words. Make sure he was okay…that was what Arthur claimed he wanted to do. What a load of absolute crap, that was. Merlin didn't buy this trickery-though what Arthur could be hoping to gain from this, would be a mystery to him-for even a second. Merlin was almost grateful for the pain he'd been through his time in the city-the pain reminded him he was alive, and wasn't in some kind of constant statement with Arthur that never went anywhere-because it meant he wasn't as naive as he was when he first arrived. He would not fall for Arthur's crap so easily, would not feel a thrill of excitement because Arthur showed him he was concerned about his safety. Arthur, during the entire time he's known him, had only ever shown him how much he hated him. So why would Arthur change now? Exactly, he wouldn't. But, no matter how deeply Merlin looked and searched, he could not see any deception hidden within the depths of Arthur's eyes. But he was sure it was there…all he needed to do was find it.

Arthur finally seemed to realize what he had said, and loosened his grip on Merlin's cloak as this thin line of red came across the upper half of his face, "Err…I just mean…" Arthur cleared his throat trying to stop himself from once again stuttering in front of Merlin like some kind of fool. It was not the kind of image Arthur felt like leaving Merlin with, seeing Arthur as nothing more than the mess he was. He was the trained warrior, the one who was meant to be projecting an air of calm and stability, keeping it altogether so Merlin and Morgana wouldn't start freaking out. "What kind of prince would I be, if I'd allowed my consort to join me in combat, and then brought him back injured. And when I knew, it was against my better judgment."

Arthur could just imagine the things that would be spreading once they managed to emerge from the caves. Everything Arthur had been working toward for the last twenty years would have ended up as ruins. Arthur would be seen as a poor prince, and a failure in more than just Merlin's eyes. The blond felt his chest tightening, the pressure getting back on him. Arthur had allowed himself to be talked by Merlin, into allowing them to come. Had put Merlin and Morgana-Camelot's Consort, and the ward-in danger, risking their lives. And then returned them under distress, bruised and beaten within an inch of their lives. 'Allowing' those injuries as they had happened under his direct watch and supervision.

Merlin's face shot down completely, because that was it, Arthur's reasoning for showing a false care for him. Arthur was once again only worried about himself, and what other people thought, instead of what really mattered. Merlin might allow himself to get sidetracked now and again-Arthur made it far too easy to get distracted-but he'd never allowed himself to forget why he was doing this. Why he'd sucked up his pride, and gotten Arthur to come to the caves with this…Gwen. "Trust me, Arthur," the consort said slowly, as he brushed off the prince's hand from his shoulder again. Already, a shiver of disgust rolled down his spine at once again being touched by him. Why did Arthur feel the need to constantly put his hands on him…he didn't like the feeling, almost being violated in some strange and odd way over and over again. Even a single touch to his shoulder was enough to upset him. "If there is anybody that's going to get injured after coming down here, it isn't going to be me."

Merlin could feel a flicker of his magic roaring up in his gut, warming his belly as if it had been trying to make a statement all on its own. Reminding the consort of it's presence, and giving Merlin another reminder he so desperately needed. He would not Ever be Defenseless. Arthur could insult him all he wanted too, he could go on and insinuate just how weak he thought Merlin was. He could be weird or awful or disgusting or a creep. He could give false affections, or pretend as if he cared for one single second about Merlin's well-being. Merlin would be able to endure the slashes and welts made with a sharp abandonment against his heart. For as long as he had too, or as long as he could…he just had to keep feeling his magic. Feel the push and the all encompassing pull of magic tugging deeply inside of his soul.

Arthur shook his head, wanting to roll his eyes as Merlin was doing that stupid thing where he talked big again. The consort might be able to smash his nose in, when Arthur was already distracted when he tried working up the courage to land that first spank on the rounded cheeks in front of him, but this monster wasn't going to realize what he was doing and stop himself from a smashed nose-did the thing even have a nose? No matter, it was just pure ridiculous that Merlin thought they would be staying down here to continue this. Arthur would be the last man to abandon a mission, but he was not going to risk more lives to do it, "Merlin, we're leaving right this instant, before it comes back and attacks again."

Arthur's voice was hard and commanding, giving out the orders to retreat from the battle. One his men would know to follow without question, since things had to be truly bad for Arthur to pull back on their forces. Decimating levels of bad, where it would most likely end up in the entire extinction of those around. Arthur's first concern when he was assigned a mission, was seeing it completed even better than what would be expected. And the next thing on the list, was the safety of his men. Arthur being a leader, needed to access the situation and decide rather or not the risk was worth what could possibly happen. Arthur had decided the risk was not worth the cost it would take fighting against a foe they were outmatched against. Not when they were not prepared, nor ready, to take on a beast like this…afanc.

"Excuse me?" Merlin demanded, and he arched an eyebrow at the prince with this almost feral scowl forming on his face. His heart had stuttered into a stop at Arthur's words, realizing Arthur was being serious about them leaving. When they had came this close to finishing it for good. Merlin would've thought Arthur was stronger than this, instead of cowering back like the sniveling maiden he always treated Merlin as. It had been a waste-even for an alibi-to get Arthur if he was just going to leave at the first sign of danger. They might have gotten a few close calls with the afanc, it might have come close to getting them once or twice, but the young sorcerer still had breath in his body. And that was all he needed to keep himself going, "If you want to leave, then just go!" Merlin gestured hotly, with wild abandonment towards where the stairs were located. "But I'm not going anywhere!"

And Arthur snarled in response, feeling an uptick in his anger as Merlin once again denied listening to him. To the one who actually had experience in dangerous situations, and had gone into battle far too many times in his youth. And knew when their mission parameters had changed enough that the only smart thing to do was to retreat so they could return to fight another day, "Don't be draft, Merlin! There is literally nothing we can do right now! We might outnumber it, but that monster is far bigger than all of us combined. It moves quicker than we can. It knows where we are, and it can come after us at any moment. And the only weapon we have among the three of us, is my sword! Which won't be enough to be able to defend ourselves against it if it mounts a full scale attack, instead of it just playing with us like it's been doing!"

That was another thing Arthur could see, that was causing a fearful shiver to go down his spine, cold from the inside out. This monster had every bit of advantage in the world, when it was compared to the three of them. It could probably kill then with a snap of their neck's before they even knew it was there, and could be on it's way long before Arthur got the chance to swing his sword down on it. So, why hadn't it? What was the beast waiting for? It might be how afanc's behaved…taunting their own food before going in for the kill, so it could have a feast on their bones. But Arthur couldn't help but think it was for more sinister reasons. Maybe that beast wasn't acting on some kind of oddly natural, animalistic manner that was entrained into its kind of creature. Maybe it wasn't just strong. What if it was smart as well, smarter than them, and maybe it knew exactly what it was doing. Mocking them, and taunting them, making them shriek and flinch at every moment of the shadows for its very own amusement. Before it went in for the kill. With that thing running around, and so many possibilities or unanswered questions…no. Arthur would not ever be leaving Merlin down here with that thing. He'd be dead long before Arthur could return, with his mass army at his backside.

"I don't need any sword with what I have planned." Merlin spoke, no hint of weakness in his voice. But there was a steely resolve, saying Merlin know the danger that was presented in front of him. And he was still going through with it. That freaked Arthur out almost more than anything else had, realizing he might need to throw Merlin over his shoulder to get him out. Merlin would hate him for it, but he'd thank him later once the tensions in the air cooled off and he was still alive. But it also wasn't one the prince wanted to do, not sure if he'd be able to go risking them making a break for it, which could've only dragged more attention onto themselves. He would also have Merlin on his shoulder, and this is something that would only show him down. Arthur was sure the boy would be kicking and screaming as well, risking all of them with his refusing to be quiet. No, Arthur needed to use whatever training he'd had-diplomacy training-to get Merlin to walk out of here on his own free volition.

"Merlin, you aren't thinking straight. Nothing you can think of is going to be able to stop this thing, especially not on your own." Arthur thought he'd started this off quite well, keeping his voice level and not yelling at Merlin for a change. He almost wanted to pat himself on the back for not giving into the urge. Besides, Merlin wasn't trained with things like tactical advantages or within evasive maneuvering. Whatever 'plan' Merlin thought he had came up with-apparently something that was so good, he didn't even need an actual weapon in hand before facing up to the beast-was doomed to fail right from the start.

But then, Merlin was walking ahead, heading into the direction of the tunnel the creature had fled to when it left. There was know telling rather or not it was still there, or if it had already ended up finding another intersecting tunnel and was watching the three of them from somewhere else in the room. It was, though, probably the best place to start up a search for it. And Arthur felt his heart stutter in his chest when he realized he was losing Merlin. He'd been doing good…or maybe he hadn't been doing any good at all. Merlin did seem to have a very big listening problem. And was obviously determined to go through with this, whether or not Arthur was there to offer his blade up for protection.

Arthur practically threw himself in front of the boy, hands clasped with sword and torch as he held up his hands, forcing Merlin to jerk to a stop before it was too late. Before Merlin walked himself into the dangerous situation he wouldn't have been able to walk himself out of so easily, "Merlin, you're being absolutely crazy right now!" He exclaimed, in this hurried rush. Arthur completely abandoned trying a more diplomatic approach. Merlin obviously was not so sophisticated, that he could be swayed into his way of thinking with a few pretty words. But he knew yelling wouldn't work either…maybe being a bit more point-blank and real, would get through Merlin's skull. Although just abandoning what was in his hands and dragging Merlin out was looking more and more tempting. He would have done the action already, if Arthur thought for one second he would be able to make it up the stairs and outside of the caves-with Morgana in tow-before the thing could catch them.

Merlin stared at him silently for what had to have been the longest second of Arthur's life, before he finally spoke up with a simple, "I'm not crazy. But I do know what I'm doing." And Arthur could feel an eye start twitching violently. Wanting to finally give into his urges and shake Merlin with violence, he'd be liable to lose his head by the time he would be done, but at least he could no longer protest. But it would only satisfy him for a moment, it wouldn't actually help to solve anything. So Arthur gritted down his teeth, feeling them almost curving under the sharp pressure he was giving them.

"You don't know what you're doing. Unless there are battles going down from wherever your from, you have never been in battle conditions before!" The prince hissed at him. Merlin thought it would be best not to mention the bandits that would raid the village every few years when somebody would remember they existed. Merlin never actually had the chance to protect his home, his mother made him stay inside before he could do anything. He'd listened of course, the last one to happen being a few years ago, when he was younger. "Have you considered things more throughly. This is…this is …this is probably just your mental problems acting up again! Causing you do things you wouldn't be doing if you were in your right state of mind!" He tapped on the side of his head as a visual to how absolutely nuts Merlin's state of mind was.

Arthur could only hope it was the instability of his consort's mentality was the reason for this sudden move. If it was, then it meant Merlin wasn't nearly as stupid as he was behaving in this moment. This had to be just Merlin reacting to the stress of their situation, but he was going to end up dragging the prince and the ward down with him. Being mental wasn't an excuse for doing stupid things-but he'd have to take responsibility for allowing that weak link in the chain, somebody who was know to act out when he got too stressed or overstimulated, to come down here-and Arthur could only hope that by speaking about it plain, Merlin would be able to see it for himself. Sometimes, Arthur knew people who fell over the more crazy side of the spectrum, didn't always recognize they were doing extremely crazy things. It was Arthur's duty-as the leader of the group, as a man who didn't wish to have these deaths on his head, and as a husband concerned for the safety of everyone-to make his consort see reason.

His consort, who was now frowning dangerously at him and clearly not understanding what Arthur saw was so crazy about his 'plan'. "I think I will be telling you this once, and only once, Arthur." said the consort, speaking as slowly as Arthur was, to drill the message into his mind once and for all. If it didn't work this time, then there was absolutely no hope for Arthur. And Merlin was just done with listening to his crap. "I do not go carrying around any type of 'mental affliction.' I'm not crazy, and I am not 'acting out'. So get that threw your head, I. Am. Not. Afflicted. By. Any. Mental. Problems. This is what I'm doing, I'm going back there, and I'll be the one to help Gwen. You can just leave, and not let the door smack you on the way out. Maybe if you're lucky, I won't return either."

The cave became eerily quiet again, after Merlin's words rung out loud and true. Morgana's eyes had darted back and forth between the two of them as she waited for something even worse to happen in the next few minutes. Arthur could do nothing but stare at Merlin, trying to figure out how somebody could be in so much denial over how his mentality was in a fragile state. He was saying there was the possibility of never returning! As if Arthur would've allowed Merlin to go through with this. If that was not crazy, then Arthur didn't know what was. And Merlin only stared at Arthur, silent but strong with his resolve, as he waited for the prince to move so he could continue on his way.

Arthur didn't move. In fact, Arthur only grew to be more stubborn, keeping his feet planted firmly on the ground in front of Merlin to show he wouldn't be going anywhere. Especially not anywhere that a door could smack him on the arse as he would leave the room, "Are you calling Gaius a liar?" The prince finally questioned the consort, hotly. Arthur only knew of Merlin's growing instability because the physician had seen fit to inform him. It was the leading reason for Arthur to allow Merlin to stay in his chambers, rather than enforcing his return into the Royal suites. Why he was risking the ire Arthur was sure would come should Uther find out, since a happy couple wouldn't be living away from one another. Uther wouldn't care about his consort's mental state if it got in the way of them putting on their act for the city. "I have known Gaius since I was born! He wouldn't make up some disease, he has no reason to do something like that!"

Arthur held full confidence within Gaius. The man had been treating every cut or broken bone Arthur had sustained during his time as a knight. He had treated every one of Arthur's colds, or the time he had to stay in bed for a week when he had grown ill with the flu. He was the only one trusted to give Morgana her medication to help her sleep without suffering through her night terrors. Gaius was the only one trusted enough to brew even the king's personal medication, a muscle relaxer to help with easing an old injury in his shoulder from a tumble he'd taken before Arthur was born. So yes, if the physician told Arthur there was something within his consort-even something as common as stress getting to him-causing his mental instability, then he would believe him. And if Merlin needed to get a break and move out to somewhere that would've been a more stress free environment, then that is what would happen. Although Arthur wouldn't call a physician's quarters 'stress free' it at least gave Merlin time away from the larger part of the castle as a whole. Arthur still wasn't sure how good this was working out though, considering Merlin would still act out. But maybe he just needed a bit more time to settle down before his behavior started to level out.

A low chuckle broke through the air, it was almost creepy and disturbing, especially as it came from the mouth of such an innocent looking face, "You really can't think of one reason?" Merlin asked the prince, raising his chin a bit higher as his chuckle died off just as fast as it had arrived, proving how little he found himself funny. Or how little he found this entire situation funny. Once again, it was not the appropriate time for such discussions, but the prince and the consort were not known for things like 'proper'. "You can't think of one possible little reason as to why Gaius would go so far as to lie to Camelot's prince about my mentality?"

Merlin could think of a million different reasons as to why Gaius would lie to the prince. He hated the physician had to go so far as to lie on his very own behalf, Merlin would not have been able to survive for much longer if he didn't have an extra place to go. He would have never got a restful sleep in that Royal bed, and knowing the prince was only barely a door away…it would have long since killed him if he found there was truly no escaping from Arthur. But Gaius was an adult, and could make his own decisions over rather or not he thought lying right to Arthur's face for Merlin's sake was worth it. But Merlin did have to question it…a mental disease, is what the physician came up with? Gaius couldn't have just said he had the flu or something, and he wanted to keep Merlin close by for observation? It would have at least managed to buy him a week or two before Arthur showed up, asking questions of why it was taking him too long to heal. A mentality problem was a lot more difficult to heal, and it was something he was fighting against everyday, since the prince had gotten too used to the idea of that being the reason Merlin did the things he did. Like a crutch, an explanation. Oh, you don't have to go worrying about what my consort's doing now, he's just acting out because he's mental…

"Of course this isn't any reason!" Arthur told the consort promptly, feeling wholly confident with his earlier assessment. There was nothing wrong with Gaius' assessment. And Gaius had never not once lied to him in all of Arthur's twenty summers. But, his consort must have thought he was something special if he thought for one second, that the man would back up whatever lie he was concocting on his own illness. "Gaius is a trusted member of the court! He would come straight to me if there was a problem with my consort, not lie about something like a mental disease!" But, Arthur decided on his own, without asking for any of Merlin's input onto what he thought of his own treatment plan. After all of this was over, Arthur was going to go right to Gaius and get a more solid treatment plan put into place. There was no point as well, for Merlin to be staying with Gaius if it didn't stop his acting out or his nonsense. Maybe there was some kind of odd potion Arthur would have never heard about that they could give him, something that would help to relieve the boy's stress levels so that he was able to somewhat behave himself with proper society.

Merlin already had a response though, right at the ready, as if he'd been preparing himself to explain himself better to Arthur. Or maybe this was all of a spur of the moment thing, and Merlin was able to finally let loose a few things, "Maybe, Gaius lied to you because he knew exactly how bad I was being stressed out just by living near you-" not that any of his stress had dropped, Merlin was still stuck in seeing the blond on a daily basis. But at least their was less of a chance of Arthur just popping into a room at Gaius, then just walking through that one shared door their suites had connecting them. "It was probably the smartest thing he could've done in the moment. Even he knows there was only so much longer I could stand without wanting to just push you out the first window I saw." Merlin said it in a particularly vicious tone, almost excitement in his veins when he saw the prince's eyes were now going rounded and wide, shock diluting them. "Or maybe Gaius was actually showing me just this bit of sympathy. He didn't want to see me executed in the near future after committing murder against a prince. That sounds like Gaius, does it? Doing his bit to help out?

Merlin wanted to do a bit more than what he'd just said. He wanted to completely ruin Arthur for what he'd done to him in the last two months. It was the prince's fault, why Merlin felt as if he was anxious all the damn time. Why he was being crucified by everybody he came across, from noble to peasant when all he wanted to do was take a walk around the city and explore some more. But Merlin…he'd already seen all he needed too, to know he didn't like it here. Arthur was the reason Merlin could be seen sinking and sinking, deeper underneath the waves that wanted to swallow him whole. And this would be the sorcerer, clinging onto a floating platform, that was nothing but a piece of debris floating among all the crashing waves. While hoping there was a hand that was going to reach out soon, just out of sight, before pulling Merlin out of the danger zone before it would become too much. He wasn't holding his breath for more than what he had already gotten, but the hope was there all the same. Merlin didn't tell Arthur any of this. Merlin was barely willing to admit to himself how bad it was getting, even to Gaius who had seemed to start realizing the severity of Merlin's situation. But it would do no good to tell Arthur. Merlin refused to go and bare his soul in front of his biggest tormentor. A man who would call him ridiculous, pat him on top of the head as if he was being funny, and then send him on his way without another word on the subject.

"I don't…" Arthur started saying, trying to understand what had just happened in front of him, but his voice died off as the oddly shaped dots started to connect, though their was still some pieces missing that didn't make any sense to him. Like why Gaius was being so invested in Merlin's up-keeping and well-being. Gaius was probably just doing his due diligence as the royal physician, making sure that the royal family stayed to the healthy side of the spectrum. But if the man had seen enough about Merlin to be worried, why would the physician not come and warn him about it? Why would he bother to have Merlin move in with him, that was going beyond and above what a normal healer would be willing to do for those under his care. Even more since living with him could very well be a more long term thing, and not just a few days it would take to get a clearer study on Merlin's mentality. Unless it was just Merlin trying to talk Arthur out of thinking he was absolutely insane? But…Arthur was loathing with having to admit it, had already admitted to himself in his head only…Merlin hadn't really ever lied to him. It didn't track with what Arthur wanted to think of him, but it was the truth. Which could only mean Merlin was telling him the truth now…could there really be nothing mentally wrong with Merlin? It seemed to be unreal, Arthur having trouble putting this idea onto what he knew of Merlin. Like, if Merlin really wasn't sick in the head, then…oh, god. Then all of this time where Merlin had been acting out-looking for himself a job, accepting flowers from other people, moving to Gaius' in the first place, even going against the very council itself! If all of that wasn't due to Merlin being crazy in the head…then it was his personality? Fuck. Arthur was the one that was going to need to have a bunch of serious check-in's with Gaius, he needed to have this confirmed for himself. He still didn't trust a word Merlin said but the idea of it…it led Arthur on a slow reel, his mind whirling at the horrific implication that everything Merlin had done was only because…he was Merlin. "That's not…"

Arthur had been going for, that's not possible. Since surely, Arthur would know there was nothing wrong with his consort's brain. He almost felt as if he'd just been told the sky had always been purple, and had never been the blue shade he'd been seeing during this whole time. Like his entirely world was now being turned on it's axis, leaving him as unsteady as Arthur would be if he was standing on quicksand. The stone under his feet doing absolutely nothing to keep him steady. He was interrupted far before he was able to get himself on the proper footing.

"Are you two really kidding me right now!" Morgana was suddenly right there, pushing between the two of them-almost making Arthur fall over, uncertain if the ground beneath him was really there, or if it was really only in his head-and effortlessly getting all of the attention onto her. She had her hands on her hips and was moving her head to look between the two of them disdainfully. She had finally had enough of the two bickering, thus had been a long time coming but somebody needed to tell them to shut the hell up. If fighting was what they wanted to do, they could go and do it on their own time, and not leave her forced to be in the middle. "Stop fighting!"

It was only two simple words, but Morgana's voice had came out sharp and clear, showing them just how much she was at her wit's end with them. Merlin looked away, almost ashamed for allowing himself to be caught up with Arthur once again. Even when the consort hated him, it was like Arthur was drawing him in like a moth to a flame. Merlin needed to fight, and he needed to assert himself, and he just needed to be heard. But it was never worth it, so why did he just keep on doing this to himself again and again?

"It's not me!" Arthur was the first one to protest with Morgana's treatment of them, pointing a finger to the boy across from him. He didn't appreciate his world being turned around so completely by Merlin. So he lashed out, as he always did, ready to place every bit of the blame right at Merlin's poorly crafted, probably a size too big and obviously hand-me-down, boots. It caused Merlin's mouth to drop open in anger, before he was forcing his jaw to tighten up to stop the harsh words from spewing out of his mouth. Fighting about everything had never worked in his favor. "Merlin has to stop-"

He had to stop everything, was what Arthur wanted to tell her. Merlin had to stop making Arthur feel as if he was walking on some kind of cloud, unsteady and shifting and constantly making him feel as if he was going to fall straight through the surface of it. Merlin had to stop getting inside of Arthur's head at all the worse moments, making him think weird thoughts he had never had cross his mind before Merlin had been the one to enter his life. Merlin had to be the one to stop everything, because he was the reason Arthur hadn't herded them out of here yet. He was the one and only reason Arthur was risking all of their lives as each second, was another second the beast would decide it had waited long enough. And finally show its face to claim their lives.

"No, Arthur." Morgana interrupted as she turned her attention wholly onto him, raising her hand to let the prince know that she was talking now. "Done think I haven't been listening in. You would think a prince wouldn't be wasting his time with this bickering-" the lady began to lecture Arthur, unaware that Merlin had his gaze locked onto them, watching. There was this deep and warm feeling filling up Merlin's gut, even if it didn't last for long. It was nice to see there was one more person out there who was as sick with Arthur's crap as he was. But, Merlin couldn't stand here and goggle his eyes at the two for long.

Tuning them out, Merlin darted his eyes to one of the tunnels standing behind Arthur. It was the one the creature had gone down originally, and it was the one Arthur had stopped him from going down when he'd stepped in front of him and prevented him from being able to leave. But…Arthur was a little busy right now, and most likely wouldn't notice Merlin going off by himself. Merlin started to slowly edge himself off towards the edge of their little group, casting looks back towards the other two as Morgana unknowingly distracted Arthur. Giving Merlin what was probably his one and only chance to move before he ended up dragged back by Arthur's grip on him again.

"And another thing," Morgana stated during her mid-lecture, flipping her thick braid over her shoulder and feeling as if she was on a roll. Nothing would be able to stop her now, not until her steam would run out as her breath did. "Just because you don't seem to care at all, I would just like to point out that I'm perfectly fine too." When the monster had attacked them, and Morgana had nearly had her head ripped back as the claws caught onto her braid, Arthur had only eyes for Merlin. It was almost an improvement in attitude with the prince being concerned, but the consort hadn't been the one that nearly lost his head. And she just felt it was something worth bringing up. Merlin was fine, no injuries to be had. Morgana was fine as well, albeit missing a few strands of hair. And Arthur was also not injured in the least…

Arthur hunched his shoulders up to his ears, as he heard what Morgana was saying. "Of course, I should have checked on you as well." He agreed. Maybe he had been overreacting when he had grabbed Merlin after the beast's last attack. The consort hadn't been screaming, nor had he been clutching at his arm as if he had been about to lose it. He had been absolutely fine. There was no reason for Arthur to lose his own head with Merlin's protection, when he should have been more concerned about the woman who is under his care while they were down here. At least Merlin-a stupid, stupid boy who…was apparently not mentally ill like Arthur assumed…?-was a man. Morgana was a woman, and she needed him. His father raised him to be better than that, and would have his head if he'd witnessed Arthur rushing to Merlin's side, rather than to Morgana's as soon as the beast was clear. He tried to fix things in the princely manner he was, putting all of Merlin to the back of his mind, "I will have to apol-"

"Don't." Morgana interrupted before she could hear the piss poor apology. It would have been sweet, to finally see Arthur rushing to Merlin's side to be sure that he was okay. If it hadn't developed into the non-stop bickering. Morgana didn't even want any kind of apology, she was not the kind of woman who needed to be coddled by the men around her. Nor would she be the type to stand here and argue with Arthur, not when there were other far more important things that were going on. She could tease the prince about how he had raced to Merlin's side as if he was nothing but a distressed maiden, later. And when she said later, it actually meant later. When they were out of this cave and the danger zone. She wasn't going to get caught up in any of this. "In case you haven't noticed, we're still in this cave. And I would like to get out, so we will be able to help Gwen by bringing back an army down here."

That seemed to finally jumpstart the prince into his action and he nodded his head jerkily, "Right, we will be leaving. Now." Now that Morgana had pointed the obvious out, Arthur's temper had waned and cooled enough for him to see…cave…not exactly the type of place meant for non-stop arguing. Merlin would just have to get with the program-and if he really wasn't mentally ill-then even he could see how staying here was a no good move. Though hearing Gwen's name…did give him a brief tinge of annoyance. Sure, they'd only came down here to clear her name and save the innocent handmaiden from a burning. But Gwen was also the reason Merlin was refusing to leave as easily as he probably would have. Arthur turned back to the consort abruptly, "Merlin, it's time to-"

Arthur stopped talking just as fast as he had started, and even Morgana was now looking just as stumped as he was. The spot where Merlin had been stood in a second ago, before Morgana had gotten in the way and rightfully interrupted their newest ongoing fight, was not empty. Not even a trace that Merlin had once been there was left behind. And Arthur felt his heart as it stuttered to a stop inside of his chest. For only a heartbeat of a second, Arthur could have sworn that the beast itself, had somehow managed to swoop in and snatch Merlin out of sight. Was probably making a feast off of what little meat it could manage to get off of Merlin's scrawny bones.

"Where…where the fuck is he!" Arthur roared, that loud expletive making Morgana jump with surprise, but there was nothing for it. There was no reason to keep his voice down-if they had even been lowered to begin with-if the monster was already picking the group off one by one. Arthur whipped his head in a wild motion, back and forth frantically, trying to find any sign for where Merlin had been taken. But there was nothing. No matter which direction he looked, or which direction he turned, everything looked as if it was the same. The same stone walls of the cave was greeting him, the pool of water on the far end of the cave didn't even ripple. The tunnels didn't even have a single moving shadow within their depths, proving that the beast hadn't gone as far away with Merlin as he was probably thinking it had.

Arthur could feel his heart dropping straight to his feet like a stone, his throat clogging up. This…this was all his fault. Arthur had sworn Merlin would be bloody safe underneath his roof, during that stupid party after he had slain Valiant. Arthur had failed in that once by allowing Clarissa to stay far longer then she evidently should have. And he had failed again in these caves, right now, because he'd gone and had allowed himself to get carried away with Merlin again and again. He should have ignored everything Merlin threw at him, should have thrown that stupid boy on his shoulder, and carted him out of here no matter a struggle it would have been. Because that wasn't the type of failure Arthur would be able to fix.

Merlin was dead…because of his own incompetence-

"Hey!" A strong and surprising voice suddenly came from one of the tunnels, echoing from how deep they were in it. A familiar voice, that had Arthur's head go up, his ears perking up as he swiveled his head right around to the tunnel the voice had came from. Him…Merlin. Arthur was almost sure he was hallucinating when nothing else happened, there wasn't even any hint of movement from the tunnel that could've put Arthur's worried to rest. He had just heard Merlin in full volume, had he not? It wasn't something his own mind had conjured, in order to protect him from the guilt of knowing he'd failed the one thing he had told Merlin…a woman in his chambers would be vastly different when compared to being eaten alive. Then he heard it again, "I think I see something! It's down here!"

Arthur still couldn't see Merlin, but he could feel the relief pouring into his body, his shoulders sagging as he realized Merlin was okay. He hadn't been taken to wherever this beast rested-it's den or whatever-to be kept as a snack. Because there wasn't enough meat on Merlin's bones to be considered a full blown meal, not for a creature that had to be at least seven or so feet tall. Merlin must have walked down into the long tunnel for himself. Arthur felt Morgana's hand on the crook of his elbow, and the prince turned to her with a stupid crook of a little smile forming, the ward was looking just as relieved as he was. Arthur apparently hadn't failed at all, was the only thing reeling about in his mind. He still had time to see to Merlin having his undivided and full protection. Especially if he'd been safe enough to…walk…down there…on his own…

It was as if Arthur's brain had slow down, the thought being tossed around in his head over and over again as he tried to make sense of it. Merlin hadn't actually been dragged back there against his will, somehow unnoticed during Morgana lecturing him. It made far more sense to realize Merlin had walked back there on his own. Into enemy territory. Without a weapon on his person, or backup to assist him. Merlin must have snuck off, and then strolled into the tunnels as if he had nothing better to do than go and die on his own time.

If Merlin wanted to die so badly, then Arthur would be the one to bloody kill him.

Forget about keeping him safe. Arthur would be the one to completely ruin him. He wouldn't just have the boy tied up in his chambers as he whipped him till he was all bruised and bloodied. He would have Merlin in there for not less than an entire month, where the prince would be slowly breaking him down. He would slowly and painstakingly peel the flesh from Merlin's bones himself, make the boy realize he was Arthur's only, his old mantra from the tourney starting to play in the back of his mind. Merlin was His to Control. He was His to Hate. And His to Protect. Arthur would be spending the next month controlling Merlin's every little moment, tied to the foot of Arthur's bed on his knees and answering to Arthur's every order.

Merlin would resist at first, it wouldn't be any fun if the consort didn't give him a proper challenge. The boy wouldn't have anything to protect his modesty, he had lost his right to privacy the second he'd took off into those tunnels on his own. Arthur wouldn't be able to take his eyes off the boy, even when tying him up by his wrists to the footboard tight enough, there was no possible way for him to slip them and sneak off again as Arthur slept in the bed itself. Merlin was going to shake and sob and beg for Arthur to let go of him. But Arthur's only answer would be to drag out the whip, and remind Merlin exactly whose he would belong to. Merlin would learn to start shaking at just the sight of his whip. His big, blue eyes would be wet and clumping his eyelashes together when the blond would appear over his shoulder, excited to leave just a few more fresh wells over the ones he had already left there in the earlier days. There wouldn't be a bit of skin that had been left untarnished by the time the prince was done.

Merlin would deprive no pleasure from what Arthur would force him to experience, taking his time and energy on shredding every layer of innocence Merlin had left-only his virginity would be safe from Arthur, as the prince refused to go that far with it. But all the rest…it would be free game as Arthur lashed his whip along every curve and line and crease of Merlin and his long and lean body. This would be a punishment, and one that would teach Merlin to heed his word as if it had been spoken by God himself. A very long and brutal punishment that would never be forgotten or brushed aside. Merlin would tremble every time he'd see Arthur walking in his direction, correcting every move he made for fear that Arthur would drag him to his chambers again for another session. To remind him of the dangers of running away from Arthur, and his immediate sight. Never again would Merlin deny him the pleasure of teaching him a lesson.

Maybe it could become a regular thing, something to allow Arthur to relieve his stress at the end of every day. It would get to the point where Arthur would find Merlin already waiting for him, stripped down from all of his garments and kneeling at the foot of the bed. It would be to wait for Arthur's arrival, so Arthur would be able tie his hands to the bed. Knowing full well, his punishment would be so much worse if Arthur had to go search for him-

Morgana let out a startled gasp, suddenly grabbing onto Arthur's arm so tightly, he could feel her nails as they dug into skin, straight threw his leather coat. He whipped his head out of his circulating thoughts-the thoughts that whispered to him in the back of mind, telling him it was okay. That it was for Merlin's own good. He would learn to appreciate it, learn to wince not at the marks that would never fully heal from his body, as Arthur would refresh them and not give the welts anytime to heal-to stare at her baffled. But the lady was staring ahead, looking towards the tunnels, and Arthur felt the dread looking into his stomach as he whipped his head around to look back.

A pair of great, big, yellow eyes-murky and far larger than even Arthur's fist-greeted him. Peeking it's head out of the tunnel where Merlin's voice had came from the first time. Arthur could see it now, in full detail as it was no longer trying to escape from them. Made of muck just as Merlin had told him, heavy clay that was looking as if it would weight him down. Arthur felt the cold shiver creeping into his chest, freezing his heart up completely, when the beast seemed to smile right at them. Teeth made out of thick stone, causing such a ghastly appearance. And then it was lumbering off to parts unknown, disappearing into the shadows of the tunnel.

The figure was barely gone out of sight before Arthur was racing across the ground as fast as his feet were able to carry him, not stopping to see whether or not Morgana was running behind him. Arthur's hand was going taut around his sword as he entered the cave, more determined than ever to do this right. He might not have 'failed' completely like he had first thought he had, but Arthur would be making sure that Merlin didn't die today, due to his own stupidity.