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!

92. Chapter 92

Two Hours Until their Original Execution:

Merlin wasn't surprised to notice Morgana was no longer at the foot of the stairs. He wasn't sure just how long he and Arthur had been arguing, but the consort knew it had to have been a while. But she had done exactly what she had set out to do, and Derrick was no longer waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Merlin didn't think Arthur noticed his guard was no longer there-Merlin still wasn't inclined on 'forgiving' Arthur just because he'd corrected his mistake and reassigned a knight to Gregory's old post-because he didn't say anything. His husband was a real observant man, wasn't he? But that was okay, Merlin figured. The less observant the blond was, then there was more Merlin himself could get away with.

Stalking across the castle, getting steadily closer towards the pyre, they didn't come across nearly as much trouble as Merlin would have thought. It had pretty much became a staple among them, to always expect the worse thing possible. And there was only one thing the consort could think of that would be the worse thing ever: ten knights falling straight from the ceiling-or the floor above them-to form a circle around Merlin. Before the prince turned around, grinning sinisterly now that Merlin had walked straight into his trap, and explained he was now being sentenced to execution. Not under his desk though…but because he had been seen using magic himself, and would now be treated to the same care all sorcerer's deserved…death.

Merlin, trailing behind Arthur, made sure to keep a weary eye on the prince's back, just in case things did go that route. Most people would probably call him silly for thinking his husband might have been planning some kind of trap for him, but Merlin had more reason than most to be weary towards all of the people in his life. And Arthur…Arthur would be the one most likely to try and kill him. All he would have to do is lead them straight to one of the very many patrols stalking around the castle. Probably the easiest thing in the world, to get rid of him at such a height of panic in the city. Nobody would think twice of the consort perishing when so many people were already dying off…

"Sire!"

Merlin's back went tense, and he ducked his head down further to hide behind his hood as he saw a knight approaching them from ahead. Well, this is it, time for Arthur to reveal who he was and be rid of him. He had a pretty good run of it, he'd made it a whopping nineteen years without being found or discovered. That right there was nothing less than a miracle, considering the life and chaos he found himself in. Even throughout his own childhood, the life he had was pretty turbulent, shielded from the worse of it by his mother's embrace. But hey, he'd at least lasted long enough that it wouldn't be his own hand that took his life.

"Status report." Arthur said bluntly, not giving any pleasantries to the knight, practically snapping his fingers like one would to a dog. But out the corner of his eye, Arthur was able to see Merlin shrinking back behind him, a pale hand darting out just long enough to tug his hood down, shielding more face from the fading torchlights. Arthur bit back a loud curse, Merlin's influence of course, when he could see a glimmer of Merlin's wedding ring shining on his finger. But the hand withdrew, disappearing in the folds of the cloak before it had the chance to be recognized. And recognized it would be, for no servant would have been able to wear a ring worth so much expense. Arthur still found himself sliding smoothly in front of the boy, shielding most of him from view. He couldn't afford Merlin to be caught, as he was the only one who knew what they would be looking for once they got to the caves.

The guard wrapped an arm around himself so that his fist rested over his heart, and lowly bowed his head in the traditional Camelot post, before giving his status report, "The girl is still being held down in the dungeon's. She's been restrained, and other men are waiting for the king to give the OK for her execution to proceed. But the consort, he's been extremely difficult in tracking down. Some of the men have been talking, and believe he might have been warned before we could move in on him. The Knight Gregory has been taken into questioning at the moment, but it's looking as if the knight didn't even realize we were coming for Consort Merlin till our arrival at the physician's."

Maybe the guard had already assumed that Arthur would have been informed of Merlin's impending arrest, since he spoke as if he expected for Arthur to know what was going on. This would have been an excellent assumption, because why else would the prince be awake so early in the morning. Even the servants would've been hard pressed to find so early, the colors of the sky had only just begun to lighten up as morning approached. Though, the prince was surprisingly steady, no emotion across his face that would have indicated he was finding how quickly this search and capture had managed to be organized so quickly.

Arthur gave the knight one sharp jerk of his head, "Carry on then. Report straight back to me should you manage to track him down. Or track down the traitor that could have warned him before you got him secured." Looking for Merlin would be nothing but a waste of time and resources that they didn't have to spare. But Arthur wouldn't exactly be able to call off the search without raising suspicions, or being summoned straight to his father in response to it. No, it would be best to play along and let his men do their little search around the castle, while Arthur became the traitor by smuggling the known fugitive out.

The knight gave another deep bow to the young heir before straightening up, "Of course, sire. I will see to things personally myself." But the knight did not leave as was expected. Instead, his eyes fell to Merlin, and it was obvious that he was wondering just who was following their prince around. Knight Whoever-for Merlin was pretty sure he had yet to see this one before-would have been right when showing caution towards a virtual stranger. Even more so when one considers the stranger was in the company of the prince himself. With the world they lived in, it never paid to be too careful. And to see a man who covered his face was often looked at as a bad sign. Assassins and people who didn't want to be seen-not realizing they were tracking more attention to themselves by hiding away from the people's eyes-covered their faces.

Merlin wouldn't dare speak for the irrational fear that something so much as his voice would end up recognized by the knight. Nor, would he move his head from it's bowed position, for fear of the hood flipping off of him and revealing his face. But as it turned out, amazingly enough, Arthur had decided to see to the problem on his own accord, noticing the lingering looks of the knight, "Don't need to be worried about him." Arthur said gruffly, giving the hooded figure a stern look over his shoulder, as if the figure was annoying to him, before turning to the knight again. "My latest servant. Morris seems to be lacking nowadays, and I find myself in need of another during those times. Boy's mute, so he's not much of a conversationalist. And has a horrid facial scar. You should see it sometime, it's left the boy with quite the ghastly sight."

Arthur seemed to have covered all of bases well enough, accounting for Merlin's need to stay quiet as well as for his hood. Smirking, with all the mirth one may use when speaking to a comrade as they made fun of another. He apparently knew what he was doing though, because the knight relaxed his stance and nodded, not questioning his prince on the matter. Servants were often lazy sods, and he knew royals often had more than one servant that would tend to their needs. This wouldn't stop the consort from biting on his lip to stop himself from snarling something particularly scornful towards the prince. Merlin had a dark feeling Arthur really saw him as something of a ghastly sight, even if he didn't really have any facial scar to blame away for it. But the consort would forever deny the way he'd tucked his arms further into his body, already hidden by the cloak but feeling as if he wasn't hid enough. Merlin had never been more aware of his scrawny body than he was now, far more awkward and gangly as he'd yet to grow into his limbs quite properly. He had put on some weight since he had came to Camelot, an abundance of food available to him-Merlin might be denied many things inside of the city, but he'd never been denied food-but it was still nowhere near a healthy level of where any boy his age should be. But expected, for someone of his upbringing.

The knight left after that, but Merlin could still not find it in himself to relax. Arthur had continued on as if nothing had happened, and Merlin grudgingly followed, stalking behind him at a distance. It took great strength to not use his magic to force Arthur into tripping over his own feet, and make him look to be the fool as he was constantly making Merlin look as. True, the knight had no way of knowing it was him under the hood, but that didn't make any difference, Merlin still felt the fool. And Merlin was mentally going around in his mind, wondering just how much he 'really' needed his alibi for this, or if there was a chance he could ditch Arthur and take care of everything himself. But then the fight they had just had would have been more wasted time…

"What in the world…" a feminine voice called out to them as they reached the courtyard, and Merlin blinked at the sight of the sun. It was just starting to peek over the horizon now, and Merlin was able to feel the bags for the first time right underneath his eyes for staying up all night. He hadn't realized they were so close to getting out of the castle, the knight being the only one that stopped them down the path. Which was a miracle considering the two of them had not walked down the servant hallways like he would have wanted. They had went straight down the more public halls, Arthur striding ahead with purpose in each step. "What have you done to each other?"

Morgana was standing in front of them, waiting by the pyre just as she had told Merlin she would be, with the sun casting this illuminating light behind her figure. She had been right, when she told the consort it would be the ideal meeting spot, there was no knight in sight among the courtyard. Most of them having taken shelter within the castle wall as the search for Merlin continued. But as of now, Morgana did not seem pleased that they would be making it to the caves without any interruptions. It was her boggled eyes that made Merlin realize…it was Arthur that was the one who looked a ghastly sight, in comparison to Merlin himself. The prince still had flecks of dried blood clinging underneath his nose, from where Merlin had slammed his face against him to get away from Arthur's odd, and his increasingly weird unwanted touching's. He must have realized what Morgana was talking about, as Arthur raised a hand and scratched roughly at the flakes to get the majority off. It did nothing to stop from bringing attention to his swollen nose, and it only brought attention to his bandages hand from where Merlin had stabbed him with the quill, blood still soaking through the cloth. It was a miracle the knight himself hadn't asked any questions about it or, maybe he thought he'd get yelled at if he'd got involved with Arthur's dealings…?

Arthur caught sight of the cloth himself, dropping his hand back down to his side. He didn't say one word to Morgana, only glared at her in response to her disbelief, before drawing his sword. The blond strode ahead, heading in the right direction, ready to take out a magical creature. Morgana watched him go, before looking at Merlin with her eyebrow sharply raised. Unlike the knight who had stopped them on the way there, she seemed to recognize who the cloaked figure was without having to see his face. But then again, there would only be few people following around with Arthur at this time.

"Hey, I got him here, didn't I?" Merlin asked, with a tinge of smugness in his voice. Arthur clearly had not learned his lesson about how far Merlin would go against him, going so far as to make the prince bleed. Anybody else would have been sentenced for attacking Arthur, but Merlin was confident that wouldn't happen to him. Or Arthur wouldn't have any choice but explain the story of how a boy with no formal training had gotten the drop on him. He doubted Arthur wanted word of how weird he was, pinning his body down and trying to play with his emotions, to spread among the city. Seeing all the 'war wounds' he had given Arthur made him feel a bit better about himself. Let Arthur look as bad on the outside, as Merlin felt on the inside.

"I said make him listen." Morgana pointed out, as she brought one hand up to rest against her hip, the long braid of her thick hair swishing along the side of her breast. "I didn't say you seriously had to maim him to get him here." But Merlin was sure she wasn't all that upset about it, the smirk on her face a good indicator. She knew as well as Merlin knew, how stubborn the prince was. If Merlin had to maim him to get his attention, then clearly that had been the only way to do it. Nobody else would have understood, only seeing an unruly boy who'd tried to kill their prince via ink poisoning-that may have still been clinging to the edge of the quill the consort had stabbed into him. Nobody would see that there was no time for niceties when facing an attack against their city.

"Trust me, you would have done it too if you had seen how he was dragging his arse. He should be lucky all I did was maim him. At least his won't be permanent." Merlin had so many scars across his heart, they would probably never heal. And more seemed to be added the more he stayed inside of this kingdom. Arthur's few scars was only the tip of the iceberg when compared to what Merlin had suffered through. But Merlin didn't have any time to fall into one of his depression moods, so rushed he did after Arthur, who had already made himself across the courtyard, not waiting for anybody. The Lady followed the Consort, as they went in for the worse fight of their lives as of yet…

X

Somehow, by the time the group of three made it around the castle and were nearing the doorway to the water reservoir, Merlin had ended up being the one in the lead, his long cloak fanning out right behind him in the soft breeze on the wind. And the Prince and the Lady were the ones trailing behind him, the pathway fading and growing wild with the underbrush and overgrown grass. Arthur glanced over at Merlin, wrinkling his nose when he saw the cloak he was draped in, was getting caught on the off stick here and there, tugging at the fabric. The prince didn't particularly care for that cloak, Merlin could at least show some gratitude and not have it ruined by the time he got it back.

But Merlin clearly wasn't paying attention to what was going on around him-what a stupid boy-even Merlin should always be alert. He was the consort now, and it was a miracle an assassin hadn't taken out this problem of his, using his inexperience and naïveté to get the jump on him. But that wasn't the problem Arthur cared to address at the moment, it was his chance to talk privately to Morgana before Merlin could notice and jump in, "Tell me now," the prince leaned over, hissing directly out of the side of his mouth to get Morgana's attention, while he kept a firm eye glued to Merlin's back. "I know you have grown strangely fond over him, for reasons I will never understand, but are you really believing him about this whole, monster in the water story, he's been spinning?"

Arthur knew Merlin hadn't exactly lied to him yet, even if he had done plenty of other things to get under his skin. But Arthur still felt reservations for following a virtual stranger-two months of hating somebody didn't mean he actually knew much of him-into a mission like this. Arthur led the mission, he didn't follow on them, so he was a bit out of his element here. But there was nothing much he was able to do about it, as Merlin seemed to have-as strange of an idea as it was-the most knowledge on what was going on. What he really needed long before he went down those steps, was an extra bit of perspective from someone else. Arthur's option for that was only Morgana, and he hoped she was at least able to not be bias in her opinion since the brat had somehow wormed his way into her good graces.

"Of course I do!" Would be the first answer Lady Morgana gave to him, the answer blurted out with an obvious tone to it. Arthur blew out a breath, hot and irritated, because that was now the answer he was going for. It had fallen on the more emotional side of things, as if Morgana was only agreeing to any of this because Merlin was her friend and for some reason, she trusted him. Or at least, she was trusting him far more than Arthur was. Arthur, who wanted to get this over and done with just so he'd be able to see for himself if Merlin's 'I'm not a liar' streak would continue.

"Thanks Morgana, that was really helpful." Arthur said sarcastically, throwing his arms out to show her just how 'helpful' that was to him. His fingers tightened and loosened up around the pommel of his blade, especially when Merlin seemed to know that something was going on behind him, and cast a glance over his shoulder towards them. He shot a glare to the interloper, and while Arthur was only able to see Merlin's mouth due to the long hood-it was scowling at him-he was pretty sure the other boy was glaring at him as well. Arthur could only roll his eyes when Merlin turned back around with a huff, speeding up his steps to get himself away from them. Nothing but a big baby, Merlin was, he was probably going to cry himself to sleep tonight because Arthur hadn't given him proper attention.

"Hey, Arthur, that's enough." Morgana suddenly said, grabbing onto the crook of Arthur's arm to make him stop walking. She wasn't blind, nor was she stupid. Even without Arthur's apparent injuries she would have known that something was going on here. She didn't know exactly what exactly had happened in Arthur's room, but she could see that there was something here, buried underneath the surface…something was building. She could have smelled the tension shooting off between Arthur and his consort a mile away if she had too. "Just so you know, Gaius was also there when Merlin was telling me, and collaborated with everything he was saying."

Arthur arched an eyebrow, had Merlin told him of Gaius being involved in this? He didn't think so, it didn't ring a bell at least. You would think Merlin might have mentioned that to collaborate how not off his rocker he was. Gaius being involved would only make this marginally better, since Arthur had actually respected Gaius. Far more than he would respect Merlin's word, at least. But he might need to reevaluate Gaius' role in his life, if even the old physician was falling into Merlin's problems. He'd known it was a bad idea from the start, allowing to have Merlin spending so much time down there. It wasn't good if Gaius was going to encourage what things filtered around in that head of his consort's.

"-But I believe I would have listened to Merlin even if Gaius wasn't there to agree with him-he has no reason to lie to me."

And Arthur glowered underneath his breath at her when she arched an eyebrow at him. He could see she was making a dig at him, as if it was somehow his fault for fighting tooth and nail against all that Merlin ever told him. Maybe Merlin had gone and sprouted lies about him off to Morgana? Yes, that sounded like something Merlin might do, if Merlin thought it would irritate him. Telling fabrications to Morgana about the fights they've had, being sure to exaggerate and make it look as if Arthur would always be the bad guy. Or maybe this was only the way Morgana was-she did like proving him wrong whenever she could. It only made sense that she'd aligned herself to somebody else who also would want to do the same.

"But you must believe him too, even on some kind of level, since you're going along with this. And as much as you claim to hate him, even you have to admit he's usually right about these things. It has became a bit of a pattern with him, hasn't it? The way he figures these things out long before even our own men has been able too."

Arthur scowled at her, knowing she had already hit the real problem on the head. He didn't like being forced to acknowledge that Merlin was far more resourceful than he'd first thought. Merlin was just a commoner in extraordinary circumstances. The boy should be greedy, and getting his hands into all of Arthur's gold, and…and…doing all the thing's Morris had told him about. Like lording his newest position over the people standing under the crest of Arthur's family. Merlin should be like all of those girl's who would throw themselves at him because they hoped to catch his eye and become his very own queen. Moments like that had slowed down since his marriage-except for Clarissa-but Merlin should definitely not be doing what he's doing at the moment. Getting his hands dirty, admitting he needed Arthur for something other than the name of his position, not hiding away in his room like the coward Arthur thought he was…maybe not exactly a coward since he was here…

"…Why does everyone seem to think I hate him?" Arthur grumbled under his breath, latching to this one part as he turned away from her irritable. This was the exact same thing Merlin had told him right before Arthur had thrown him onto the table. And had gotten stabbed with his own quill for all of his troubles. Like he'd said at the time, he needed to actually care about Merlin to feel something that was as strong as hatred. And he did care…only the more loathing kind of care. He loathed the consort for ruining his life, for coming here and becoming his husband. It didn't even matter if it hadn't been Merlin's fault, Arthur was far to blinded to put the blame on anybody else. But loathing another was far different than hating them. Arthur preferred to focus that kind of emotion on somebody who had more or less deserved it. Like the sorceress who'd cursed his city and sent dozens of his people-the total tallying up to almost one hundreds-into their early graces. This had been mass casualty event, and an attempt to wipe their entire city straight off the map, all in less than a week.

Morgana tilted her head at him as they continued down the grassy pathway, sticks getting caught up in her skirts just like Merlin's cloak, forcing her to have to stop and jerk it free, "Well, what exactly do you expect? You're not very good at acting as if you choose him, rather than him being chosen for you. And Merlin has been responding to it the only way he knows how. And I've honestly gotten surprised he hasn't done worse than just throwing himself into something like this." Morgana thought Merlin was trying so hard with all of this-because not only would it helped Gwen-but it kept himself and his mind busy. Busy so he wouldn't have to sit around and think about Arthur. Even though it was Arthur who was bleeding, Morgana fully believed it was of his own doing. There was only so much the consort could take, Morgana would have stabbed Arthur if it was her, ages ago.

Arthur shot her an almost deranged scowl, as if he was already on edge and this conversation maybe only the start to pushing him off completely, "He's been 'responding' to me? He's been dodging away from his guard, and running amok the city, getting into places where he shouldn't be. Just take one look at where we're heading!" He gestured wildly at their surroundings, bringing to attention exactly where they were, like Morgana hadn't known what they were doing here. "He's not exactly supposed to be anywhere around these parts! And while he has been doing that, I've been working intensely on own! I've probably worked harder during this last week while Merlin's been…"

Arthur trailed off with his self righteous anger, as he saw Morgana smirking at him in the way she'd do before saying something he didn't like, "Yeah," the lady said in a drawled out voice, her lady-like eyebrow arching up her face. "Merlin has taken to running around the city. But you have to admit he gets things done. While you've been-"

Arthur never figured out what Morgana thought he had been doing all this time-which was working on eighteen hour days, the other six being split trying to eat and sleep. He'd probably only bathed twice during this whole ordeal, and only after he started to smell his own stench. Because his consort was calling out to them, "Hey! I've found it!" And then Merlin disappeared from sight, and Arthur felt his heart clench up at the sight. Because this was it, it was real. And the beast did not like Merlin making his appearance known at all.

Arthur rushed ahead, leaving Morgana in his wake as he raised the sword above his head, prepared to take down the beast who had killed his consort. Merlin was dead…Arthur had failed to protect him when he shouldn't have even been here…this was, it was…the only reason Merlin wasn't screaming to get help to rein down on him, was because Merlin was already dead…Arthur's hand froze up around his sword, stopping before he could swing it down on his unsuspecting target when he finally got to the spot he had last seen Merlin. Merlin would've been dead if he hadn't stopped himself in time.

Because yes, Merlin was still alive, and standing there, looking at Arthur as if he was an absolute loon. "You're…okay…" the prince trailed off, before he flushed, relaxing his stance immediately when he realized how epically wrong he was. As Merlin hadn't disappeared at all, nor had he been taken by some mystery creature. The consort had only taken the three steps down that led to the doors of the water reservoir. Arthur wanted to demand to know what Merlin had been thinking, leaving his sight like that. This was dangerous! Maybe Merlin shouldn't come at all if he thought this was going to be fun and games. He could have died if they'd already been inside! Hell, Arthur was going to kill him himself, for the heart attack he'd just given to him.

"You know, you really should be careful when you go running off after your consort like that." Called Morgana as she caught up to them. It seemed she had put the pieces together fairly easy, from what a sight she had been greeted too. Arthur was able to feel the flush working it's way up his neck, able to recognize himself how much he'd overreacted. It wasn't like Merlin had been out of his sight very long! Only seconds at most before the prince had gotten to him. He was probably just on edge, this whole monster business driving him up the wall as they got prepared to go down for it. "People might mistake that for you actually caring."

Arthur glared at her, making his shoulders hunch up involuntarily towards his ears. He had a feeling he was being made fun of. But before Arthur was able to explain himself-or more accurately-lying to her straight through his teeth about how he'd only seen something but it turned out to be nothing but a false alarm. He was interrupted when Merlin gave a loud snort, and Arthur whipped around to turn his burning gaze onto him, lording over being a few inches taller than Merlin for once, standing on the top step while Merlin was stuck down onto the bottom. It wouldn't be often that he would get to be the taller one in the relationship.

"Don't make me laugh Morgana, we are supposed to be serious right now." Merlin said boldly, with an actual smirk playing around the corners of his lips, looking up at Arthur before rolling his eyes. Arthur was pretty sure he'd just been insulted somehow, and he could already feel the indignation forming inside of him, making his body bulk up. "If Arthur cared about anything, that means he may actually have a heart buried underneath that muscle some where." Which in Merlin terms…Arthur didn't have a heart.

Merlin honestly didn't think Arthur had a heart in those thick muscles, toned from whatever knight training regime he did. He thought it would make far more sense if Arthur had a block of coal, or a dark stone, or something else equally as lifeless as the next. People who had hearts didn't think it was fun to mock him-the way he claimed he didn't hate him back in his room, only to turn the tables on him by literally trying to throw him onto one of his tables. Merlin shivered in disgust, the sudden memory making him ill. Arthur could take all those weird things he liked to do and shove it straight up his arse. He was damn lucky all Merlin had done to him was stab him in the hand.

"What!" Arthur demanded, revulsion coiling inside of him with Merlin's brashness…they should have been focusing on the task ahead! Arthur got more and more convinced that Merlin shouldn't be here at all. Not if he was going to take this very serious mission and turn it into his own personal joke…or turn Arthur into his own personal joke. "I have got plenty of heart!" The joke at his own expense had been nothing but distasteful. You just don't talk to royalty like that! It was unprecedented, and Arthur couldn't help but wonder what kind of weirdo he'd been married too-for the umpteenth time-where he thought 'now' was an appropriate time to get in one more dig on Arthur.

"Oh, I'm so sure you do." Merlin said, waving one of his hands dismissively, turning his back around to Arthur. There was something in his tone, a tone that sounded disconnected and muted. As if he'd lost any interest in this conversation, turning back to the door in front of them. Both of the men were focused on each other, neither noticing the narrow look Morgana was shooting towards Arthur. She'd been the one to send Merlin on his way to Arthur's room. She had pumped him up, encouraged him with his endeavor to get Arthur's attention, before swallowing her own pride to become known as the 'weeping woman' once her little charade started to spread. And now Merlin was back, and while he cracked a sarcastic whip or two, smirked and even sneered whenever Arthur would catch his eye…it was obvious something more had gone on inside of that chamber than she even knew. But Morgana did know whatever it was, Arthur had managed to undermine whatever work she'd done by building up Merlin's confidence.

Merlin reached down into his pocket, and when the robes parted to reveal his pale hand, he was holding a little rusted key. Morgana couldn't help but roll her eyes when Arthur got himself involved again, because honestly, these two…there was so much tension between them, even with this most mundane task of unlocking a door, she could have cut the air with a knife, "And where did you get the key exactly! There's no reason for you to have got your hands on it!" Was what the prince had threw at his consort, tone accusing. Almost as if he was thinking Merlin was the evil mastermind that stood behind everything, and was now leading them into the darkness for some kind of trap. Getting rid of Camelot's heir in one fell swoop, and ruining what future Camelot had better than a disease could.

Though, Arthur did have a right to be mistrustful on this front. There was only a very small handful of keys leading to the water supply anyway. While Merlin was supposed to have access to them as a consort, he was untrustworthy and would've never been given any. Arthur himself had one of the only keys available, and had assumed they would use it to get them in. It was on his belt loop, hanging off a small rounded metal ring that prevented it from falling off to parts unknown. And it wasn't the only one. Arthur had at least ten keys hanging from his belt, something he wore more often than not so it was close at hand, under his watchful eye. Each of the keys led to someplace that was closed toward the public, only used by Arthur himself in the case of emergency. Like now. Even if Arthur was dumb enough to trust Merlin by handing one of the keys over-which he wasn't-the idiot would probably get it lost. Before some criminal or whatnot picked up on what it was…

"I'm pretty sure you don't want to know." Said the consort, not sure if Gaius would get in trouble for giving it to him, and not wanting to throw the man under the carriage if he would. Arthur scowled at his back, because yes, he really did want to know where Merlin had gotten his hands onto one of the Royal keys. Merlin hadn't realized how ominous he had sounded, which only fueled Arthur's desire to snatch the key out of hand, and throw the consort into the door to demand some proper answers out of him. But Arthur could hear the shuffling of feet as Morgana walked closer behind him, leaning up against his back so she could get a better look at what was happening over his shoulder. The stupid urges of his was getting out of control, where he'd go so far as imagining throwing Merlin down, and having him willingly hand the key over because he had finally learned not to mess with Arthur. And he had Morgana nearby! What the bloody hell was so wrong with him. It was like he 'literally' didn't have a chance at stopping it, the images flooding right through his mind as if he was actively doing it.

Morgana though, while Arthur was starting to have his mental freak out, was frowning deeply. Maybe it was just her, but Merlin had sounded…his voice …he was guarded. More guarded than she'd ever heard before. Sometimes, Merlin would sound sad and look even worse, inviting more and more pain into his life, as unwelcomed as it was. But now, he sounded as if he had walls up. Like he was finally starting to hit his breaking point when it came to Arthur, and the simplest of things could have set him off the deep end. The walls were probably a bit necessary, considering they were about to go into enemy territory, and nobody could afford the two of them getting into another one of their fits in the middle of battle.

…The lock clicked, and the door swung open with a hard push from Merlin, revealing the empty and dark chasm ahead of them. It would have looked far darker, as if they were about to go down these stairs and straight into the pits of hell, if there was not a roaring fire already flared to life situated on a torch on the nearest wall. It was the fire Merlin had started up the first time he'd came in here with his uncle, the flames still flickering to life after being left behind to continue burning as the two of them had fled for the safety of the outside world. Even now, Merlin could detect faint traces of his magic as it clung to the wood, keeping the fire going on the damp torch. There was no telling how long it would have burned, maybe for as long as Merlin was alive?, his magic powering it up even from the distance.

Merlin stiffened when he suddenly realized Arthur was at his side. But not to touch him, or to grab at him, or try to force weird things onto him again. It was none of that. The prince simply reached over him, acting as if he wasn't even there as the sides of their cloak/jacket, brushed together. Merlin did not loosen his stance though, prepared for Arthur to try anything-he did seem to have bad timing as to when he wanted to do things to Merlin, like the time he'd done weird things to him during the very important council meeting-but Arthur only took up one of the torches in a large bucket standing on a wall. And used the fire from the first torch to light up the end of it, the flames bouncing to life, and causing Merlin to have a pleasant shiver go down his spine as he felt his magic spreading. Arthur did not seem to notice the magic keeping the flames alive, nor did he notice the wood would have been to damp from moisture in the air to light normally.

Arthur passed the first lit torch off to Morgana, the lady curling her fingers around the base of it, and held it above her head to sign some more light on them. Arthur reached out and picked up a second torch from the bucket, and Merlin frowned when it once again felt like his magic was spreading when it leaped onto the second torch. He didn't think he much liked it, seeing Arthur playing around among his magic. It was like the echo of it was leaving the trace amounts on Arthur, marking him in a strange way that went unseen by anybody else. It wasn't even a physical mark that only Merlin would have noticed. It was just a feeling, but an unsettling one nonetheless. Arthur didn't deserve to have magic be his guide through these dark tunnels, nor was he someone Merlin thought was worthy enough to keep something as rare as magic was within his very grasp.

Oh, if Arthur only knew he was using magic…

Merlin would have assumed the second torch was for him, and Arthur would light up a third seconds later for himself. But that didn't happen. Instead, it was the second torch Arthur held above his head, his sword clenched in a white knuckled grip as he held it out at the ready, almost expecting the little group of three to be attacked at any given second. It left Merlin scowling as Arthur started walking up the landing towards the stairs leading right down into the abyss. "Let's move out." The prince called toward them over his shoulder, but all Merlin could see was how much of a jerk he was. Sliding into a leadership role with ease.

Morgana was at his side, purposely sliding along her hand against his to grab his attention, fingers hooking among his own for a brief second before she let go. It looked as if she was trying to ask him if everything was okay, but with just her eyes. And Merlin didn't want to bother her-it was better with him keeping this locked inside of him, far better to keep an eye on Arthur and wonder what he would get angry at Merlin with next, or if their tempered tempers would end up getting them all killed in the next few minutes-so he just nodded. Morgana did not look as if she believed him, but there was very little he could do at the moment. So, she nodded her head and followed after Arthur, before Merlin took up the rear. He could have gotten himself a torch-Arthur had been getting his own dig in him by ignoring his need for one-but he didn't. He had his magic, a torch wasn't exactly something Merlin felt compelled to use at the moment.

The air was just as clammy and as damp as it had been the first time Merlin was down there, and the consort allowed his fingertips to brush alongside the granite walls of the cave. Feeling the rough of it dragging along the soft skin, catching and trying to tear it open for his lifeblood to flow free, before it stained the stones he touched. He followed the glow of the torchlights ahead of him, but kept his ear straining to hear for any indication they were about to be confronted by the horrible beast. But it was all quiet, not a sound to be heard other then the dripping of water on the walls and the crackle of the flamed torches.

The group of three made it to the bottom of the epically long staircase, finding themselves at the beginning of a long tunnel that would lead them to the water supply. In the lead, Arthur held his torch up higher above his head, the fire flickering, while it made the wet walls of the cave glisten and start glimmering like little jewels. One could have even mistaken it for being covered in thousands of little diamonds. It woul have been beautiful, mythical or even mysterious, if they all weren't aware of what it was that was down here. And how it would take only one wrong move for one of them to lose onto their heads, "I swear Merlin, if you are really wrong about this, then I'm going too-"

Arthur must have said this by the umpteenth time by this point, only with the added addition of this mystery threat hanging in the air somewhere. But this was only a cover, some bravado meant for the prince to hide behind and distract himself with as they traveled deep into the tunnels. He wouldn't reveal how anxious he was, his heart dropping to his feet and then reappearing in his stomach over and over again, so quickly he could have gotten ill over it. And for the first time, Arthur would end up purposely bringing his weird thoughts into mind to focus on them: something that would taste sweet on his tongue, send fire through his veins, and this great satisfaction nestling itself in the very pits of his gut. Merlin bound up with ropes onto his bed, creating intricate designs across the flesh for how he had fashioned them, spread out like he were an eagle on his stomach, arms out and not even able to touch the edges of the bed, knees thrown open to reveal more of himself and bound there, one of his stupid neckerchief's-the red one, Arthur's very own color and the color of blood and his flushing face-forcing his mouth to split apart to be able to accommodate the cloth. Merlin would be stripped bare, meant for Arthur's eyes only, no longer was he allowed to keep his modesty with pants when he'd been the one to drag Arthur down into these caves. Stripes of red tearing open the skin along his back, bruising of color forming across the skin down the sides of his spine, the same marks were tracing his buttocks and blooming red streaks, as intricacy designed as the ropes were, right along the insides of his thighs. And Arthur, holding onto his belt in hand, folded up to offer the maximum amount of discomfort against Merlin's once pale, and unmarked, tempting flesh. Merlin's eyes were fluttering closed, barely able to keep them open as he floated away into bliss, each harsh snap of the belt creating another mark causing his body to jolt against his bounds but a muffled moan of pure euphoria coming from behind the neckerchief…

"But I'm not."

Merlin's voice rang out like a bell behind him, and it caused Arthur to jolt violently, nearly stumbling on his own feet as his imaginations popped like a bubble. His heart had returned to its place inside of his throat, and Arthur mentally cursed himself for being so stupid. He was a bloody knight! And a prince! Arthur Pendragon didn't scare easily when danger was a foot. He should be focused sorely on finding the monster. Not trying to go so far as to comfort himself with thinking of things he'd like to do to Merlin. They were weird things! That were never going to happen in reality, so he needed to let them go. Maybe Arthur had drawn all of those thoughts out on purpose, something that would make him feel powerful when he was feeling off and weak right now. But they were wrong, and the thoughts were tempting even if he denied them, it was Merlin standing right behind him, and he had Morgana right there…and Arthur would never be able to live it down if one of them saw his face and was somehow able to realize what he was thinking of. Arthur would be seen as the freak, and things would be taken out of context. Merlin was dumb enough to not know, but Morgana might see these thoughts being on a more…sexual…nature then he wanted them to be.

"You didn't see what I did." Merlin continued, not realizing Arthur was starting to deteriorate with a rapid pace right in front of him, his will not to start up those weird things he'd already swore never to do again starting to fray, fingers tightening against the torch in his hand to prevent himself before he could do something in front of Morgana. Or even distract themselves from the task at hand. "That thing is most definitely down here somewhere. I'm able to feel it in my bones. It's watching us, and its waiting for us to do something before it will attack us."

Arthur could feel this prickling of hair standing up on the back of his neck, warning him that Merlin was right about this. The muscles in his arms were bunching and and loosening in anticipation for the fight ahead, hand tightening and loosening up on the handle of his sword. And Arthur chanced one glance over his shoulder at Merlin, but the other boy didn't meet his eyes. Merlin was staring ahead of them, keeping a better eye out for the monster then Arthur was in his unsettled state. If the blond had it his way, Merlin would never take his eyes off him, because he would know the consequences of such actions, allowing himself to be distracted by something other than what Arthur was doing with him was a big no-no…wait. That was wrong. Merlin should be focused on the situation, like Arthur had to be…what was Merlin doing to him?

Arthur swallowed hard and turned back to look ahead of them, raising the torch as far as his arm could reach to stretch the light out further, "I don't suppose you know where it is?" He asked, making sure to keep an eye out for any odd looking shape in the shadows, something indicating they weren't alone. Though, Arthur couldn't have been able to say if the dread pooling in the pits of his stomach was because he had no idea where the next threat would be coming from, or if it was because Merlin was there.

"…I don't." Merlin answered him, which only made the unsettling feeling shoot further down Arthur's spine. The soft sound of Merlin's voice, broken up in a gasp as the consort tugged uselessly at ropes that bound him, weak and disoriented and blissed out. And Arthur standing over him like this vigilant protector, running slow hands along the folded up belt in his grasp, warm and supple from being skin kissed by Merlin's upper thigh's…Arthur could only feel more unsettled by the twisting of his thoughts refusing to leave him. And he wondered rather he would be able to convince Merlin to leave, to keep him from being distracted or tempted to do wrong during what was the worse possible time for those weird thoughts to make it's resurgence.

A low growl echoed throughout the tunnel, more of an echo as it came from parts unknown: miles down or right next to them, was a mystery. But it resonated within all of them. Arthur could feel the chill going down his spine, replacing the heat of his thoughts as goosebumps broke out across his forearms. Morgana let out a startled gasp of fear, the situation truly hitting her as she fell up against Merlin, clutching at his arm as if it could've been her only lifeline. And Merlin was stiff, darting eyes in every direction, trying to see anything that was out of place while he brought his other hand up to lock fingers with Morgana's around his arm.

Arthur was the first one to recover-he was trained to run into dangerous situations, knew how he had to react in certain scenarios, just because he was facing a magical beast did not mean he should be able to ignore his training. What kind of excuse for a prince would he be if he allowed himself to fall at just the sound of it. At least he knew now, without a doubt, that Merlin hadn't been making things up just to waste his time-and the first thing Arthur did was whip his head around to make sure the two he came down here with were okay.

His gaze landed on Merlin first, locking eyes with the freaked out ones of his consort. And wasn't it a head tosser that surprised Arthur. Merlin hadn't been scared about approaching him about this all, but he was scared now. The danger becoming as real as they were. Arthur should have never-even if he had thought Merlin could still be lying to him-brought him down here. Merlin was an idiot, but it was obvious that he was no trained fighter. All the boy could do was distract Arthur, and Arthur was obviously not able to focus on both the beast and protecting his consort from the imminent death he would have waiting for him if they went any further from here. He would have to go, Arthur decided in that moment. If Merlin couldn't handle just a little growl-Arthur himself was having problems hearing it, of course somebody not trained to run into the situations like this would have more problems then him-then he wouldn't be able to handle going any further. Merlin would probably freak once they did finally find it, and only drag attention to himself.

"Arthur?" Morgana was the one that spoke up, as she saw the warring and conflicting emotions that shot across Arthur's face. Arthur knew he needed to send Merlin away before they were in too deep and there was no going back, but the dread in his stomach didn't want to allow Merlin out of his own sight for even a minute. There was no telling what kind of dangers might be awaiting on the surface-bandits, assassinations, poisons, and a million of other 'probably never going to happen' sceneries worked him-and stopped him from sending him on his way. But Morgana was there, and Arthur felt he should curse himself for not checking on the ward before his consort. She looked more terrified then even Merlin was, cleaning at his arm like she were a scared maiden. And it made Arthur remember, it was for a good reason that women did not go and participate in battles. They were frail creatures, he needed to keep her safe. A woman shouldn't have to see the dangers of what was about to occur in the next few minutes, a woman should have never gotten this far in the first place. Especially if that woman was Morgana.

"Morgana, you should go back." Arthur said, as he surprisingly gentled his voice. To make sure she'd know there was no hard feelings if she wanted to turn back now, and save herself while she could. A woman's place was not down in the dredges, with her soft hands getting dirty by doing a man's work to protect the kingdom. He gestured up the stairs to send her off on her way, and with any luck, her leaving would get Merlin to go as well. Arthur did not like Merlin no longer in his sight, but all of his panicking was nothing but paranoia. It would be far safer above the surface, rather than down here in the pits. And Arthur would be left, forging over a path of his own, to take out his first magical beast.

Morgana wasn't like other women though, who'd take the chance she'd just been given and run off with it while she still could. Morgana dropped her hand away from Merlin's like it was a hot potato in danger of burning her pale flesh, "I'm coming with you!" She spoke boldly. Morgana could admit that she had been surprised by the growl at first, and it had this whole mystery-what will we be expecting to see next-vibe going on. But Morgana wouldn't be a coward, and she was ready now. Besides, if things turned south, Morgana was not going to be the one left waiting at the top of the stairs only for the boy's to never return. She would refuse to be the one who had to explain to Uther tha his only son had passed in the line of duty.

Arthur looked at her in disbelief, not knowing why she would refuse the hand of safety he'd just been offering to her. He shot Merlin an expression, as if to say 'help me with her', though Merlin didn't say a word to actually help convince Morgana to leave without Arthur having to bodily force her to. But it might be that Merlin knew Arthur would want him to go as well, and was now standing there like this united force against Arthur. Arthur turned back to Morgana and said point blank, no questions asked of him, "No." he would not have Morgana go any further with him. Nor would he have Merlin think he would ever come face to face with this beast. It was going to be him, plain and simple. Arthur was the warrior, the fighter, the strong ones, the one trained in battle. He couldn't have his focus being split between the safety of Merlin and Morgana…Arthur would actually like to see tomorrow. And he felt that wouldn't happen if he was more worried for them than the situation.

Maybe Morgana didn't realize just how dangerous the situation was after all, because she gave him a teasing smile, the glint of her white teeth shining under the torchlight, "Are you scared I'm going to show you up?" She asked him in a playful manner. Morgana had always wanted to show Arthur up on the field, had always wanted to be one of the men because being a man would have allowed her out on the practice field without judgmental looks. But she had put things like that aside in her youth, and imagined a time where she would no longer be left constrained by her womanhood. To live in a world where she could be the one left standing, proud in her femininity, even as she held a sword clutched within her grasp. But her limited training allowed to her wouldn't be enough to go up against those trained from birth. But just being here…Morgana could prove not only to Uther, but to herself, that a woman had every chance to be as brave as a man could.

Arthur didn't take too kindly to her teasing nature, and rolled his eyes as he got distracted by her, "I'd have you know, father will slam us both in chains if he knew I endangered you." And while Arthur had not come right out and said it, they all knew Merlin would be hanging right along with them for being involved. Hell, once the king knew Merlin was the one to involve Morgana in the first place, he would be lucky to walk away with only a simple hanging. It was something Arthur felt he should take blame for though. He was the one leading point on this mission, the one who was supposed to know the skills and asset of what his team members could do to get them the best results. Morgana…had a way with words that were sharper than a whip in some cases. And Merlin…could get underneath a person's skin without even trying. Yep, that would be the skill set of the one's he had with him…they were all screwed.

Morgana didn't take the subtle threat of Uther's soon to be involvement as anything to be worried about, "Well, it's a good thing he doesn't know of this, isn't it?" Morgana would be damned if she'd be told to return to her room, and pretend as if the beast wasn't somewhere underneath her feet. She had spent far too much time hiding away since the sickness had begun, and she refused to go, acting like a sweet damsel in distress. Content to wait for the big, strong man to return: the savior and hero of their kingdom. No, not this time. This time, she was going to fly free like the birds that flew by her window. She was going to do something that was dangerous for once, and know she'd actually done something to help save this kingdom. Even if she didn't have the skill set necessary to fight against it, even being used as a distraction for Arthur to be able to get the killing blow in, would help them all.

Arthur clenched up his jaw, and gestured with the hand holding his sword a bit more violently toward the stairs, "I'm telling you Morgana, there isn't any reason for you to be down here. You need to back up, before you end up getting yourself hurt." And the prince even shot Merlin a stern look, as if this was his way of conveying the same message. He could not be responsible for these two, and it was going to be on his head if something happened on his watch. If Arthur had to carry Morgana's pale or frail body over his shoulder up to the castle, if she got hurt…his father would never forgive him. And if it was Merlin's body he had to carry out of here, he'd never forgive himself for allowing the consort to come into the danger zone. And besides, he did not think he could trust Morgana not to faint once trouble arrived-women were really quite sensible creatures after all. And Merlin, well…he was quite a sensible creature all on his own, wasn't he?

"And you could, too…" Morgana trailed off, there was no sense of humor on her face. She was dead serious, and Arthur's eyes widened, looking to be almost comical in his shock, as he stared down at her. For a second there, it had actually sounded as if Morgana cared about him. And sure, Arthur held some sort of affection towards her. Since the two of them had grown up together, Arthur saw her as an almost annoying sister most of the time. Arthur thought Morgana saw him the same, which would explain her constant teasing of him during all the worse days of his life, when she wasn't going off on a lecture about how 'horrible' he was being to his poor, pitiful consort. But then Morgana grinned at him, effortlessly popping the bubble of solemn emotion that had fallen over them, "If you refuse to get out my way."

Morgana strode ahead, grinning cheekily among herself as she raised the torch higher above her head. But after she had passed by, feeling Arthur watching her continue on ahead, her smile fell in an instant. It was as if nobody realized Morgana herself had an invested interest in getting things fixed. Morgana wasn't doing this for kicks, or for her own agenda. Gwen was her friend too, she'd been nothing but kind to Morgana, going above and beyond her duty as servant. Helping Morgana through her nightmares wasn't exactly one of her duties, but she took it on like a champ. Staying up with her, calming her down, even when she would get no sleep herself. Merlin hadn't once tried his luck at stopping her, so maybe he understood this as well. They weren't going anywhere, and they'd not wait for Arthur-who hadn't even believed until moments ago-to be their solution. Besides, there was nothing scarier than witnessing the death of her friend. Not even some mysterious beast trying to hide in the dark…

Arthur tore his gaze away from Morgana's back, to see the first sight that greeted him was Merlin just grinning like the dickens. With the way these two were acting, Arthur could have mistaken this for a Sunday stroll through the forest. Not then having a life or death mission, where one wrong move was very likely to be there last. Arthur felt as if he was the only one around here who could see reason in these circumstances. Arthur hoped they realized what they were getting into…somewhere far, and deep down, they had to know that this wouldn't be fun and games.

Merlin seemed to catch Arthur's eye, noticing him glowering at him, the blue of Merlin's eyes caught in the light of the fire. And Merlin's amusement, it only grew under Arthur's ire, "I think I like her." He announced proudly, pointing down the tunnel, the only light being seen was Morgana's getting much further away from them. Merlin thought Morgana could be an inspiration to him. Somebody whose able to say something like that to Arthur, and who walked away. If Merlin had been the one to say it, he and Arthur would have ended up in this fierce argument that could have lasted an hour or more in some cases.

A surge of annoyance flooded through Arthur and the prince rolled his eyes, hand tightening around the torch in his hand-it was a miracle the wood did not bend or break under his touch, "Do you know anybody that you don't like?" The prince asked of him in a snooty tone, showing how agitated Arthur had grown from that simple statement. What was so special about bloody Morgana? Sure, she was able to throw in a half-clever (or completely stupid in Arthur's view) whip, and now Merlin would be all gung-ho over her. It made sense though. Merlin wasn't the sharpest tool in the said, of course this would have amused him greatly. Which was just a dumb thing to do, one would think one would be more kinder and less antagonistic to the man who is keeping his worthless hide alive.

"…You." Merlin said in response to Arthur snapping at him, which was something Arthur should have seen coming. He had literally walked straight into that one. And Merlin walked past him feeling the way Arthur's eyes latched onto his back as he was following after Morgana. Merlin was feeling pretty damn good about himself, for the very first time in a while, for being able to walk away from the other man. Just the same as Morgana had. Say what he needed too, and then just walk away. This maybe a new step for him, a new direction in life, where he no longer stayed around and became nothing more than entertainment for Arthur and one of his 'moods'.

Merlin's good mood didn't last long, because the prince finally seemed to realize he had been left all alone, and hurried after them. Within moments, he was walking alongside the other, the brushing of their arms had Merlin leaning away from him in mild disgust, "I don't suppose it'll do any good to suggest you stay upstairs either?" Would have to be the first thing Arthur said to him as they went deeper and deeper into the great caverns. Arthur almost felt as if it was a struggle to keep up with the long strides Merlin was walking off in. It was like he was eager to be the first to find the beast…or more eager to get away from Arthur…that little brat…

"…Wow," Merlin said, finally turning his head so he could look at Arthur with eyes wide, and full of this pure amazement…Arthur hated when Merlin would look at him like that. It would usually generate this itch underneath his skin, and was accompanied to his urge for doing weird things to Merlin to get him to shut up. "What do you know, you might actually have a brain buried in there somewhere. Honestly, I was starting to think you probably get too much sun, and your brain must have started melting at some point."

Merlin figured this was honestly, the nicest thing he could have said to Arthur. He was insinuating that Arthur had to have some kind of horrible brain damage to explain away why he constantly had his foot in his mouth. Why everything seemed enough to set him off, and get onto Merlin's case. When it could have easily been explained away by Merlin claiming he had some kind of brain defect. That it was probably something he'd gotten from birth or a young age, and that was why nobody noticed it before Merlin rolled into town. Or maybe he'd just gotten one to many hits against his skull. A good fighter or not, Arthur had to have taken some kind of fall when he was learning how to fight. At leas it wouldn't have been Arthur's fault if it happened to be one of those options. But Merlin was sure that it was less of a brain defect, and more Arthur just having a personality defect.

"…There's no reason to be nasty about it." Said the prince grudgingly, ducking his head. He had only been offering Merlin his chance to take off and run before they got in too deep, just as he had done to Morgana. Arthur would even be generous, and not judge him too harshly for it. Just because the boy had done the figuring out part, didn't mean he had to be here for the actual fighting part. But, maybe Arthur should know by now: Merlin was probably the most stubborn man he'd ever met. He wasn't leaving, easily since it was Arthur that had thrown him a life preserver. Maybe if Arthur had delivered the suggestion through Morgana, Merlin would've been more receptive towards listening…?

Merlin, unable to hold his tongue or continue to walk away like Morgana had-the lady closer than before but still a good bit ahead of them as they entered down another tunnel-whipped around to glare fiercely at Arthur, his hands free afforded the consort the chance to put them on his hips, "Yes, you know what. I have every reason in the world to be nasty to you!" The consort took what pleasure he could with ripping into Arthur this way. It would be his ultimate goal: to end Arthur right where he stood. Merlin loathed that he still needed Arthur to come with them, or he may have said a few choice words that would have had Arthur turning around and leaving them to their fate. As sensitive as he was towards anything Merlin told him, "You don't get to act as if your the innocent one around here, and I'm the problem. You got that? You are only here because I needed somebody with a blade to get in on this. But once the monster is slayed, and Gwen is freed, we can go our separate ways. Can we at least agree on that much, or should I expect you to fight me on this as well?"

Merlin's temper had gotten the best of him, after only moments after thinking he shouldn't rip into Arthur as much as he wanted too. But this would also honestly, be the light hearted minimum bit of what Merlin wanted to say to Arthur. He might be forced to deal with him right now, but Merlin was not going to sit here and act as if he liked it. Not after the failure he'd been in Arthur's room when he'd briefly pretended to be the 'good consort'. It had been a disaster and Merlin was not going to go back to that. It was 'infuriating' the way Arthur had said Merlin didn't need to be nasty. Oh, Arthur had absolutely no idea how much worse he could have gotten. Fucking prick. Once this was over, he could only hope he would not ever have to see the prince, of his fat face again.

Arthur-with his fat face-glowered petulantly at the floor, knowing there was a multitude of things he could have done to make Merlin see reason-tying hands behind his back and marching Merlin up to his room to make his voice scream raw, sounded as good of an idea as ever-but Arthur only nodded his head, "Agreed." He said sharply, irritate as ever that Merlin wanted to get away from him. Even if it was Merlin himself causing all of their issues. But, it might be a good thing, Arthur relented within his own mind.

Arthur's weird thoughts had gotten under his skin, and grown worse with each passing day. One day, he was throwing Merlin across a desk, and getting prepared to whip him into submission. And on the next day, Merlin might not get another lucky shot in and knock him off. Clearly, what Arthur needed was a break from Merlin. Some much needed time away from him, where he could just breath, take a minute to relax and go back about his normal days when he didn't have a consort to look after. It was meant to be a little vacation, until the next time he and Merlin got forced together when they needed to play their parts. But Arthur had a gnawing deep in his gut that told him…he'd probably spend that entire time stressing over Merlin. What was he off doing? Was he getting himself killed? Or maybe he should check the visitor logs, just to make sure he didn't have any strange knights-like Valiant-being a danger and running around his kingdom. Asking himself rather or not Merlin was spending his own break learning whatever he would from being with Gaius. Or if he had gone off and was now laughing with…Gwen…

"How are we going to find it?" Morgana called and her voice rung out just ahead of them. Neither boy had noticed they had almost walked right into her, having somehow caught up. Either, they had been walking much faster than either one thought they had been. Or Morgana had slowed down enough at some point, giving the boys the time needed to catch up to her. Morgana hadn't been paying any attention to the bickering happening somewhere behind her. She held up her torch, as high as her arm could reach above her head, trying to see far more than just three feet in front of her. She would have thought the creature would have attacked by now, it was obvious the thing knew they were here if the earlier rumbling growl had been any kind of indicator. But maybe that was the point. The beast was waiting until they were so riddled down within their own anxiety and nervousness, they would be far more easier to take down.

Merlin practically latched onto this change in the conversation, because anything that got him away from Arthur could only be a good thing, "I can only hope we find the thing, before it finds us." And the consort hurried forward, getting away from Arthur and into Morgana's space, using her own torch as if it were his light source and not hers. Even when he was squinting, all Merlin could see was shapes forming in the rock-some easier seen than others as the light bounced off the water clinging to the stones-but it was like an endless void staring right through them and into a dark abyss that would be leading to more darkness. Wherever the creature was now…it obviously could have stayed hidden in here for an eternity, without ever being caught by those who sought to destroy it.

If only their group of three were the predators with their situation. Because Merlin had a feeling they'd be seen as more like the prey, in the afanc's view.

"Stop." Arthur suddenly said from his spot behind them. He wasn't yelling, but the urgency within his voice gave off the same impression. Before Merlin could protest, Arthur had grabbed onto his arm to jerk him close, keeping the consort within a safety zone as he lifted his torch high above his head to see further behind them, in the direction they had just came from. Arthur's had reacted on instinct to what he perceived as danger, his heart leaping up into his throat as he kept this firm and unrelenting grip around Merlin's bicep, not allowing him to try and wrench free or get too far away from him. To a place where his consort would have been nothing but defenseless.

Merlin could have wrenched his arm out of the grip, but he didn't. There had been something in the prince's voice that had spoken of fear, even if he tried to hide it. For the first time, Merlin leaned against his husband, pressing his side up against Arthur's back as he tried to get a good look for a brief hint of movement. But the shadows were as still and as quiet as they had been when the three of them had passed it moments before, "…What is it?" Merlin asked, when nothing emerged out from the shadows to attack them.

Arthur didn't answer him at first, his eyes insanely focused ahead of him. But the longer he stared at the spot, the more the shadows danced in front of his eyes. And the more he had to admit there was nothing there, "…It's just a shadow." Arthur could only say, not sure if he was relieved about that or not. On one hand, they were still safe and weren't about to be mauled to death. But on the other, he knew it was still down here somewhere. Waiting to get them, watching out for them just as Merlin had said he was earlier. It didn't want them yet…which meant it might be playing with them. Seeing what they would do, seeing how long it could push the group before they tried to make a break for it. And then it would attack them, most likely going after the one that had the best chance of defeating him first-Arthur. But Arthur was trailed for high stress situations, he could handle this…

"…Just a shadow." Merlin grumbled underneath his breath, annoyed. Even if he knew it was better for them to be cautious, and check every hint of the shadows for something that could even resemble the seven foot beast Merlin had seen, this didn't stop Merlin from being annoyed. His eyes landed on the hand gripping his arm, and tried to jerk the grip off of him so he could back up and get some much needed space away from the jackarse. But Arthur didn't seem to notice, still staring into the shadows for something that wasn't there, Merlin gritted his teeth, before using his other hand to try and literally pry the fingers of Arthur's very white knuckled grip.

This finally seemed to get Arthur's attention, and his head whipped around to stare daggers at the consort, "What are you doing?" He demanded in a harsh tone. It was as if he had forgotten he'd been the one to grab Merlin in the first place, and didn't realize he was still holding on. For a single second there, the prince was almost convinced Merlin was trying to hold his hand. Which could only mean his consort was far more terrified than he'd been letting on. But Merlin wouldn't be finding any kind of comfort from him. He should have taken Arthur up on his offer and left when he still had a chance to do so. It was far too late now, and there was no way Arthur-in good conscience-would be able to send Merlin back now. They had already traveled too deep into the caves, and that thing was down here somewhere. It would probably attack Merlin, as the first one to wonder away from the group.

Merlin whipped his head back up to glare at him dangerously, the light from Arthur's torch caused shadows to dance across his face, "What does it look like I'm doing, you utter arse!" Merlin almost sounded fierce, digging his fingernails under the unrelenting grip of Arthur's, intent on pulling him off one finger at a time if he had too…god, why is Arthur's finger's so much larger than his own. This was probably just a way for Arthur's body to try to accommodate Arthur's fat arse. Arthur's grip may not be involving shoving Merlin against the wall or first available surface, but it was still too similar to Arthur leading up to his weird moods. Merlin cared not, that it would be extremely weird and stupid if Arthur tried something like this during a situation like this, he refused to allow Arthur to touch him in a similar manner ever again. Or at all! Arthur could go and grope Clarissa! But it wouldn't be him-he'd not be Arthur's little plaything on the side. A body for Arthur to tease, acting as if he was going after something like a kiss with Merlin but never going so far as to deliver it. Before running off to satisfy whatever urges he had with the skank. "I'm trying to get you to stop touching me, you utter-"

Merlin did nothing to mince his words, but he also found himself struggling to find the right word that would fill in the ending. Pervert briefly danced into his mind, but Merlin wondered if that would be the proper word. He knew Arthur hadn't actually tried doing something to him, like trying to kiss him but not asking if it was ok first. Like one would if they were a proper gentlemen, or even just the sweet guy Merlin wanted to be kissed by. Arthur only put their faces together when he was being weird with the intentions of teasing him. And pervert seemed to be a word used by women when a man tried to grab their delicate bits, or peek underneath their dresses. Merlin was pretty confident Arthur would have no reason to try doing similar tactics to him. But what else was he supposed to call a man who kept touching him when he didn't want him too? It was a word he could use…right? Even if there was nothing going on? Merlin wasn't exactly a woman, he didn't have a spot where Arthur could stick his unwanted…and Merlin was gonna stop right there. He did not want to spare a moment thinking what disgusting thing Arthur may have underneath his…yeah. This was enough.

Arthur seemed to have read his mind though, and the prince could feel the color draining right out of his face. Within seconds, he was dropping the arm as if it had burned him, as if literal fire had leaped off the skin and scorched Arthur himself, "I don't want you flattering yourself!" Arthur spluttered out in his panic, acting as if Merlin was completely out of line for even 'thinking' he would try to do weird things during this time. The only thing Arthur had been doing was his due diligence, by keeping the consort safe, before he died on his watch for his own sheer stupidity on insisting he be allowed to come with him. He hadn't been 'putting the move' on Merlin. He wasn't…Arthur was sure he'd gone paler still, remembering how he'd had plenty of his weird thoughts filtering in his mind since they got down here. Maybe Merlin wasn't as crazy as he'd like to say he was…

"Flatter myself?" Merlin sneered, stumbling back now that his arm was free, breathing in the musty air rather than Arthur, grabbing onto his own arm with the other hand to rub the feeling of Arthur off of him. Merlin was furious, feeling as if the prince had just tried to turn this whole thing around onto him, when it was sorely Arthur's fault. "Why would I want to do that when you are doing the flattering so well for me?" He responded with a sneer on his face, but was only greeted with Arthur looking at him completely baffled.

Arthur couldn't understand a single word Merlin had said if his own life depended on it. Flattering him? Merlin thought he'd been…flattering him? He couldn't remember a single incident where Arthur could have said something to Merlin that would've been considered flattering. Not even something Merlin could have taken out of context and made the mistake of thinking Arthur was flattering him. Honestly, Arthur had been trying to do the exact opposite this whole time. Going out of his way to watch his words, and make sure there couldn't be any misunderstandings on where they stood with the other. So basically, Arthur had been doing the exact opposite of what flattering somebody would be. So where on earth did Merlin get the idea that he'd been doing anything but…

Merlin seemed to take pity on Arthur's confusion, because he made a big and heavy show when he rolled his eyes, waving a flippant hand in Arthur's direction, "For a man who says he isn't gay," said Merlin in a drawn out obvious tone. "You sure have developed this bad habit of putting your hands on my person-" he waved a hand down his body as if to indicate this, forcing Arthur's eyes to trail along the body with it.

Merlin was only mocking Arthur by this point. He'd known full well that Arthur wasn't gay, he wouldn't be interested in any man, least of all Merlin. And if Merlin had any doubts before, believing the blond was lying to him for any reason, seeing him being all up close and personal with Clarissa's lady bits would have ended that. But Merlin couldn't help but point out how hypocritical, or strange, Arthur's behavior was. Merlin might not know much about the world outside of his little Ealdor, but he'd been learning more and more since coming here to the big city. And one thing he knew for sure, guys who were straight didn't go around touching other men nearly as much as Arthur went around with always putting his hands on him. And then the the weird things Arthur would actually do once he started…it didn't track. Especially for a guy who was bloody terrified he would be seen as gay just for talking to his own consort. As if marrying him hadn't made the world start seeing their Prince Arthur as a gay man.

"Hell," Merlin sneered at him, because if the blond was going to start being his usual jerk self, even in a life or death situation, then he was going to give him something to start freaking out. "There's been sometimes, when you do something weird, it looks as if your angling yourself for a kiss." And now, the only thing Merlin had to do was sit back, with this smug smirk on his face for once, and watch as the fireworks flare. Arthur hated the thought of being seen as anything other that this straight man, with all the macho-ness that comes along with it. And Merlin knew, Arthur's head was about to explode at the mere mention of their being any kissing in those weird moment's the prince would start up.

And true enough, Arthur could feel his face heat up in indignation, his heart might as well have just beat it's way straight out of his chest. He had not ever, not once, tried to give Merlin a kiss. The one kiss they've had at their wedding had been more than coerced, something he was forced into from the pressure of a wedding. If Arthur had 'ever' got his face close enough to Merlin's, where the other boy would think such a thing could happen, then it was obviously only because Arthur was purposely trying to freak him out. And Arthur opened up his mouth to tell Merlin exactly that: Merlin should put those ridiculous notions out of his mind because no matter how weird Arthur's thoughts could be, it had never developed into something truly as awful as putting his lips up against Merlin's would be…

"Um…guys," Morgana called behind her, far before the prince could get the first word of his would be rant out, which was a good thing as Merlin would have probably ended up scarred more deeply then he'd ever been by the harsh words that was going to erupt from Arthur. Morgana happened to be the only one focusing on what was ahead of them, the torch she held going back and forth as she would scan ahead, looking for any threats that would've been missed by the two bickering boys. "I'm sure the two of you can continue your lover's spat after we're done, and aren't current being hunted down by a magical creature, intent on killing us and the entire kingdom."

A lover's spat, was literally the only thing Morgana could have called what was happening behind her. She wasn't really paying them much attention, she was actually insanely focused on them surviving a morning like this. She'd barely heard little bits and pieces here and there, but most of what she heard had been forgotten as soon as it reached her ears. Their bickering was getting pure ridiculous by this point, and she didn't care how much Arthur would want to spend his time torturing his consort. They could go back to whatever fighting they would get up to on their own time. Because Morgana did feel tired of wishing the monster would just show up to take her, if only to get her away from the non-stop bickering. One would think realizing their own lives were in danger, would hand cooled the boys down long enough to focus. But nope. They seemed to be taking this time to get in whatever last minute insults they could.

There was a moment of silence that greeted the lady after she had admonished them for the poor way they were behaving. Arthur was the first one to recover, and he quickly cleared his throat while purposely looking away from Merlin, acting as the consort wasn't even there as he strode past him after Morgana, "You are absolutely right, Morgana, this is a poor time for fighting. We need to be able to keep our focus on the matter at hand." He said, as he put on his princely facade, agreeing with the lady for probably the first time in the decade or so they've known each other. "But just for the record, you know as well as I do, that Merlin and I are not lovers."

Arthur said this in a snooty tone, but as calm as he would have been if he was discussing the weather. He had to make the distinction very clear, before it caused Merlin anymore of his wild-maybe we'd be able to get together for real-to stir up again. But, it was a term…lovers…that caused the lower part of Arthur's gut to start twisting up. As if he'd swallow a rope, and it was knotting up somewhere inside of him. Lovers…that was such an odd term. It was something Arthur had never been before. Sure, he may have had a 'lover' a few times, but they were more like short flings. A few hours here and there, and then never seen again. Lovers sounded to be something much more permanent, something that was obviously intimate. Something intimate like…being along in Arthur's room while Arthur took all the time in the world to peek the flesh right from Merlin's bones, and then putting it back together as Merlin thanked him…shit. Arthur felt as if he'd just died a little inside. His weird thoughts….they were not meant to be seen as one would a lover. It was meant to be a punishment! Even if there were some people-from what little Arthur knew of that topic, completely crazy people the lot of them, in his opinion-who actually liked hurting their lovers, and their lovers enjoying it as well…just because it was similar in nature, didn't meant it was anything alike! It would be disciplining a troublemaker! Not 'playing games' with a lover…

And Arthur was freaking out far too much over the topic, when he hadn't even so much as gotten one single spank onto Merlin's backside, for constantly shooting off his mouth.

"For once, you are absolutely right darling." Merlin drawled out from behind, the mere sound of such a grating voice caused Arthur's teeth to be set on edge, and his eyebrow started violently twitching. It was made even worse by Merlin giving him this newest pet name. Arthur never thought he would miss the way Merlin called him 'honey' when he'd gotten upset with him again. Because 'darling' had a whole different tone to it. Honey sounded like it was new, indicating how young they were. But the word darling…sounded older. As if Arthur and him were suddenly an old married couple who'd been in love for the last five or so decades. Arthur was sure he didn't want to wake up five decades from now, if he even lived that long, and realize Merlin was still giving him migraines. Merlin would most likely give him an aneurism long before then.

And Arthur watched, disgusted and untrusting, when Merlin strode right past him and Morgana, going on ahead without a torch to light his way. It was almost effortless, the way Merlin kept the full attention of Arthur sorely on him, almost making him forgot Morgana at his side. The prince felt an urge to grab Merlin by the scruff of the blue cloak he had given him, and snap at him to stay in place, close enough to where Arthur would get a chance to grab onto him if something happened. But that-grabbing him-was exactly what led into this whole conversation in the first place. It wasn't worth any that might come next. Merlin was an adult, even if he acted like an irritating child most of the time. If he wanted to play bait, walk himself into danger or even get mauled by this beast, then that was also entirely up to him. Arthur says, let him have at it. It might be a good teaching moment for Merlin-that listening to Arthur would always be the best thing to do-if he survived.

"If we were lovers," Merlin continued on with what he was saying earlier, tone as sassy and as brash and as bold as ever, not sparing Arthur a glance at their hypothetical situation. "My lover would never leave me. Not once I got through with him." It was a bold statement as anything else. Maybe this was just Merlin's way of trying to goad the prince to do something that would give Merlin another reason to want to punch him in the gut. Or maybe Merlin just wanted to throw in Arthur's face about what he was missing. But it was nothing but talk. Merlin didn't even know how to kiss a guy properly, and Arthur wasn't exactly the prime target for teaching him. But Merlin still felt the urge to shove Arthur's face into it. Just because Arthur thought him to be nothing more than a waste of space, didn't mean some mystery guy in the far off future would think the same. Even if the idea of finding someone else sounded ridiculous-who would want an anxious or borderline depressed, magical freak-as their one and only? But, Merlin figured, if he would ever get so lucky as to meet somebody else-if he ever got out from underneath the thumb Arthur and Uther had him under-they would have to be something pretty special, if they managed to cure the whole, complete, demolition of his soul that Arthur had wrought onto him…Merlin might not know a damn thing about what it took to keep a guy interested in him, but…he could still dream of an ideal guy who would want him…right?

And speaking of guy's…Merlin never noticed the actions going on behind him as he stared off into dreamland, imagining a better life that could have been awaiting him…

Arthur tripped. He stumbled. He'd barely caught himself before he landed face first on the floor of the cave. He could claim there was a large stone in his path that he hadn't seen, but Arthur would know it had been nothing but air. Tripped over as if he was nothing but a clumsy oaf, instead of the dignified prince he was supposed to be.

Merlin's words rung in his ears as if they were on an endless loop: would never leave me, would not leave me, once I was through, was trough with my lover…the variations playing in Arthur's mind had not changed what the message had said. Arthur could not believe such daring words had left his brat's mouth, and for reasons unknown to him, he could feel his heart picking up like a jackrabbit at the thought of what Merlin would do to any lover of his. Probably end up kneeing them in the groin …and Arthur was going to pretend he hadn't just thought that. Because that was exactly what his consort had done to him. In a fit of anger, rather than passionate lovemaking, but it was the same nonetheless in Arthur's mind.

Arthur needed-with desperation-to get some kind of permanent ball gag tied around the back of his consort's head, and keeping his mouth shut. The torch in Arthur's hand had almost splintered from how tightly he had gripped it. The way Merlin was talking…he had no idea what kind of evil he would be inviting into his like life if he said something like that to another man. One who would have taken it as an invitation to have their wicked way with that boy. One who saw no problem with taking a bite of what Merlin was unknowingly offering, who would take pleasure in taking advantage of the clueless.

Merlin would get himself killed, bragging about his false sexual prowess…and now Arthur was pissed at the idea of Merlin showing off like that. He was an absolute idiot! Thinking he had something that might draw the interest of another…Arthur's eyes dropped down to Merlin's rump. And his hand was once again itching to teach Merlin to not 'ever' say things like that where other people could hear it. It could be said in front of Arthur all he wanted-he'd have a huge laugh later on about how stupid that consort of his was-but to say that again in a place that was more public than this cave…

It was completely unacceptable.

X

Arthur didn't hear the low rumbling growl as there was something stirring behind him.

Morgana didn't feel the steady gold eyes dashing over her form before skipping ahead to another.

And Merlin didn't sense the tinge of magic coming to the air as something started emerging from the shadows.