FIC: Fealty (8/?) - Merlin/Arthur, PG-13
TITLE: Fealty - part eight
AUTHOR: Demon Faith
CATEGORY: Hurt/Comfort, Drama
PAIRING: Merlin/Arthur
SPOILERS: Up to 1x03, to be safe.
RATING: PG-13
WORDS: 1,950
SUMMARY: A faithful and good servant is a real godsend; but truly 't is a rare bird in the land - Martin Luther
DISCLAIMER: I own not the boys, nor the show. Thankfully, they’re doing just fine.
NOTES: I made the fatal mistake of telling openskies that I was being harassed by a plot bunny. She then made me write on pain of capslock. ;) But give her lots of praise, because she also made my stunning banner!
Previous parts here.
I'm not entirely happy with this part, but I've messed you guys around a lot recently, so I wanted to get something out.
It wasn't quite clear. Why was it never clear?
Light filtered through the trees, but it was thick and sluggish, seen through a murky pond. The trees stretched for miles, green and lush - but there! Two people, together, tightly-bound souls and bursting hearts.
They were safe, but they were walking the wrong way.
Morgana muttered in her sleep and turned over.
Now it was Merlin who leaned on Arthur and she saw the look in their eyes, knew she had been right and wrong and right. They were lovers now, not then, but now - why did they return? Were they not afraid? No-
She gasped.
Uther, with a bloodied knife. Uther, with his angry scowl. Arthur, worn and worried and pale. No sign of Merlin.
No sign.
Morgana's eyes flew open. What did it mean?
The dragon stirred.
~
"Now, this is the plan-"
"Why do you get to make the plan?"
Arthur sighed. "Who here is a master strategician?" He raised his hand and glared pointedly at Merlin. "Oh, yes, that's right - me. Who here is a bumbling warlock?"
"Arthur-"
"That would be you. Are we clear?"
Merlin folded Arthur's hand between his own. "It's okay to be worried."
Arthur flushed. "As I was saying, the plan is this: I approach the gates straight on, making a bit of a spectacle."
"Shouldn't be hard," Merlin muttered and avoided Arthur's elbow jab.
"You come at them from the side, pressing into the wall and…concealing yourself. You can do that?"
Merlin wracked his brains for concealment spells and could only remember the one that turned him into a beautiful woman. "Should be fine," he said weakly.
"Good," Arthur said, seriously. "I will see what my father wants and leave as quickly as possible. If I'm not back by dawn, you will leave without me - is that understood?"
"I'm not leaving you!" Merlin said, heatedly. To his surprise, Arthur grabbed both his shoulders and shook them.
"Merlin, you have to promise me you'll leave. I won't put your life in danger."
"And I won't let you remain a prisoner!" Suddenly, his mouth went dry. "Unless…y'know, you've changed your mind."
Arthur rolled his eyes. "Don't be an idiot, Merlin. If I still have a sword in my hand, I will fight my way to you. Just - please don't come after me."
Merlin stuck out his chin. "I can't promise that."
"Prat." Arthur kissed him on the nose and eventually let go of his shoulders, straightening his tunic like the fussing mother hen he was. "You remember the plan?"
"I remember the plan," Merlin said dully. "Be careful."
Arthur took a step away, hand resting on his sword. "I'll be fine. What can he possibly do to me?"
Merlin restrained himself with difficulty, watching Arthur walk a few paces towards the gate. Reluctantly, he started moving west, coming at the wall slowly and with the vague haze of a silencing spell surrounding him.
"Guardsman! Tell the King his son has arrived!"
The old swagger was back, the faintly bored arrogance of the royal tone, and it had the desired effect, guards scurrying forward to attend him. Merlin edged closer and mingled with the few people still outside the city limits, finding a comfortable patch of wall where he could watch the gate and remain mostly hidden.
He watched Arthur disappear through the gate, unable to shake the feeling that something terrible was about to happen. He only hoped he would be fast enough to save him when it did.
~
Gaius caught a flash of red in the corridor and stared. It couldn't be…he wouldn't be that stupid, would he?
"Arthur?"
And yet there he was, the lunatic prince, greeting him with a warm smile. "Gaius." He looked better, more meat on his bones, but his face was far from untroubled.
"Are you mad, boy? Do you want to get yourself killed?"
Arthur sighed deeply. "My father summoned me."
Gaius frowned. "And where is Merlin?"
With a quick check behind him, Arthur stepped closer. "Outside the city gates, hopefully keeping himself hidden."
"Outside? He should be far away, Arthur, far from your father."
Arthur's mouth settled into a hard line. "I know. But his guards have been combing the forest for us and I dare not leave him unprotected. My father has once more brought me to heel."
Gaius placed a steadying hand on his shoulder. "Together, you and Merlin are strong. Remember that and he can do you no harm."
He looked so hopelessly young for a moment but then he straightened, squaring his shoulders and raising his chin. "You're right. I've made my choice and he will respect it."
Arthur marched down the corridor, but hesitated a moment, turning back to him with a slight smile. "And thank you."
"You're welcome, sire," Gaius said, and watched the boy stride off to become a man.
~
The crowd had thinned, but no one noticed him in the shadow of the battlements. Night was beginning to close, but at his position by the wall, he was defended from forced both without and within the city.
Arthur would be with Uther any minute now. Maybe Uther would manipulate him, tell him lies, convince him to stay - would Arthur be swayed? Merlin knew that he could not be tempted to leave him, but there was a tinge of doubt.
Uther was very persuasive. And naturally, Arthur would want to be a prince and remain with his family. Who wouldn't? Well, Merlin himself wouldn't want to be royalty, but that was different. It was the only life Arthur knew, and he hadn't sounded too sure about the village.
Would he leave at dawn? He didn't think so - but what were his options? Find Gaius or Gwen and involve them with a wanted man? Charge into Uther's chambers and demand he return his…friend? lover? Merlin flushed at the thought, ducking his head inside his cloak.
Not leaving then.
"Oi, boy, where y'going with those apples?"
A gate guard plucked the basket off the boy's head, holding it away from him. The boy yelled, reaching up for it, but he was too short. He couldn't be much younger than Merlin, wearing clothes that were too small for him, ragged and torn. An urchin, maybe.
"He were bringin' them t'us, weren't he?"
"Give them back!"
The boy swung a fist at the guard, but his friend caught the arm easily, twisting it behind the boy's back. "I could arrest you, kid."
"Leave me alone!"
"Oh, he wants a fight, does he?" The guard took a swing at the boy, his fist connecting with his stomach. Merlin had seen enough.
"You don't want to do that," he said.
~
The guards announced him like a foreign dignitary and when he ended the room, he found Uther and Morgana at table, enjoying glazed goose. Uther's mouth twisted into a smile but Morgana blanched white, her goblet slipping from her hand and spilling red wine over the ivory tablecloth.
Uther retrieved his knife, shaking red droplets onto the floor. "You're just in time for dinner."
Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Dinner? I'm in exile, father. I didn't just pop in for a bite to eat."
Uther replaced the knife on the table very carefully. "You are not in exile. You chose to leave the city temporarily-"
"Temporarily?"
"-for personal reasons, after that little show we put on for the public." Uther smiled. "I've always loved open air theatre."
He'd expected his father to arrange a suitable story, and he wondered what that meant for Merlin. Was he still charged as a sorcerer or was that believed to be part of the entertainment? And how to ask without revealing the true nature of their relationship?
"Father, a man's life is at stake. This is no time for jesting."
Uther rose from the table then and stalked towards him, grabbing his shoulder in a powerful grip. "You are putting your life in danger. How can I make you see sense?"
Arthur tore his arm away, furious. "You need to see sense, father! Merlin isn't a threat to me or to Camelot - if you weren't so blinded by hatred, you would see that!"
The king's mouth settled into a hard line and he leaned closer. "Let me tell you about Merlin."
~
When Gwen entered the dining room, she knew something was wrong. She saw Morgana's frantic signalling first - danger? - and then she saw Arthur. Why was Arthur here?
He was locked in conversation with Uther, a whispered tirade that left his eye wide and his face drawn. Morgana, however, looked worse, as if the plague had come to Camelot and was stealing her away - she repeated the signal for danger, eyes locked on Arthur. Where was Merlin?
Gwen slipped out of the door, heading for Gaius' chambers; he'd know what was going on. She hurried down the corridor, the look on Morgana's face looming at the front of her mind.
"Gwen, where are you going in such a hurry?"
She turned on her heel and grabbed his arm. "Gaius, Arthur's here!"
He nodded gravely. "Yes, I've seen him. Idiot."
"Morgana…she's worried. Very worried. Where's-" She lowered her voice. "Where's Merlin?"
"By the gates. Why?"
Gwen let go and started to run. "I have to find him!"
She didn't know why it was so important to find Merlin but something told her this was wrong. Arthur shouldn't be there, Morgana should not be sick with terror and Merlin should not be this close to the city. Something terrible was going to happen.
There was a crowd gathered by the gate, cheering and jeering, but she pushed her way through and found the commotion: Merlin. Three guards and one Merlin, no magic…
She wouldn't vomit, she wouldn't faint - she had to get help. As quickly as she'd appeared, she pushed back through the crowd. She was just one woman and she didn't even have a sword. She needed Arthur.
She ran for the castle.
~
His mind was reeling. They were just rumours - thoughtless, senseless village gossip. But they could be true. Could be. He didn't know what to think.
"I hope you understand now, son, why I…regretted your departure."
Yet he knew he loved Merlin. Did the old man think this changed anything? Did he honestly think-
The doors to the dining room burst open and Arthur turned to see Gwen between them, gasping for breath. "Merlin…hurry!"
Without a second thought, he ran from the hall, dashing through the corridors until he reached the courtyard. Couldn't he stay out of trouble for five minutes?
He heard the crowd before he could see them, and that did not bode well. If Merlin was using magic in full view of the city…
They were chanting. They were chanting 'kill him'.
Arthur drew his sword and yelled. The crowd parted.
Three guards were kicking a huddled figure in the dust. The figure didn't move.
Arthur charged.
The fight was a blur, but his sword flew hard and heavy - he would not hold back now. The steel drew blood and three men lay gravely wounded as he approached that still boy, trembling.
"Merlin? Oh, Merlin…"
Kneeling beside him, he pushed back his hair, matted with blood. Then, Merlin coughed and Arthur's heart leapt - he was alive!
Suddenly, strong arms grabbed his and he struggled for a moment, before feeling a blow land on his jaw. "I place you under arrest for assault on the king's guard. Come quietly, or we will use force."
He watched as Merlin was hauled up, unable to support his own weight, and he felt his stomach sink. They were really being arrested. It was over.