With Words Comes The Truth; Merlin
Title: With Words Comes The Truth
Author: mydoctortennant
Pairing/s: Arthur/Gwen
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Merlin, unfortunately, doesn’t belong to me… maybe one day!
Dedication: ella_rose88 for her prompt ‘Truth’.
Summary: When men come to Camelot in search of capturing the Prince something beautiful comes from the flames.
Notes: This comes to you un-beta'd so if there are spelling mistakes or whatnot they are all my own, and if you want to point things out to me, go ahead XD
my merlin prompt table
The sun was rising over the city, a sure sign to Gwen that she was already late. For the first time in a long time she had over slept. She ran to the castle hoping that her new boss, the woman in charge of the kitchens, wouldn’t have noticed her absence and she could pretend that she had been there all the while. After all, she hadn’t been that late, and if push came to shove, she could count on Gaius or Merlin, hell even Arthur, for an alibi.
When Gwen slipped into the kitchens, there was one thing she noticed, it was silent. Normally the busiest, noisiest place in the castle was now the eeriest place. Come to think about it, Gwen hadn’t come across a single servant on the way to the kitchens, or anybody. Not a guard, not Merlin. Even the Prince, who she ran into more often than not these days.
She thought briefly of Morgana. The friend she had lost. She longed to know if there would ever see her old mistress again. As much as she was grateful for a job in the castle, an income, she would rather be Morgana’s maidservant. It was a nicer job and working for your best friend wasn’t all that bad.
She found herself making her way to the throne room, on her way bypassing to check to see if Gaius or Merlin had any answers. It only served her to get more confused when they weren’t there. A candle was still burning in the corner, two bowls of porridge laid on the table, spoons still in them. Two cups of tea sitting next to them.
“Merlin?” she knocked on his door, with no answer she pushed it open, only to be greeted with his usual mess. “Merlin?”
Nothing.
On returning to the physician’s main chamber she heard something fall in the cupboard. Approaching it she nervously raised her hand to open the door. She faltered, this was ridiculous, there wouldn’t be anything in there other than Gaius’ books and pots.
On telling herself this she pulled the door open. She screamed, only to have a strong hand clasp over her mouth and being pulled towards it. It was bigger than she had imagined, she hadn’t thought it big enough for one person let alone two.
She struggled against her assailant, her elbow connecting with his rip cage but with little effect. An arm closed around her middle, pulling her into the cupboard completely, the door being pulled shut in front of her. She kicked out her feet trying to knock it back open but she was forced still by the person who had her embraced.
“Guinevere, stop,” the order was whispered into her ear, and suddenly she halted all movement. Any attempted at moving now would be accompanied by failing limbs and shortness of breath.
“Ar-er?”
“Is there anybody out there?” he gently removed his hand from her mouth and allowed her to speak.
“That is why I’m here. Where is everybody?” she asked, turning around so she could face him in the enclosed space. Maybe it wasn’t as big as she had thought it was, on closer inspection it really was more of the size she had originally mentally believed it to be.
“I’m not sure,” he said, placing his hands against the walls of the cupboard so not to cause an unnecessarily awkward situation, “I saw the captors rounding people up, I managed to keep out of their way, and hid in here.”
“You didn’t think to help Merlin?”
“I was concentrating on being able to help everybody else. How did you get out, anyway?” Gwen looked down, only finding herself concentrating on his belt buckle, so she turned her head to the side to concentrate on something else.
“I wasn’t in the kitchens when they were taken.”
“Where were you?”
“I was,” she cleared her throat guiltily, so much for getting away with it, “I was late.”
“Good job too,” he admitted. She looked back at him now to see a small smile on his lips, “I think we’re safe, come on.”
Arthur pushed out of the cupboard. Glancing around the room as if some sort of ninja assinsin would be hiding in the bookshelf.
“We need to figure out a way of finding them, without putting ourselves in danger.”
“We need help,” Gwen declared, looking at the Prince, he knew she was right.
“We need help.”
Checking around the corner before they moved into it, Arthur noted that the castle just didn’t seem right when there wasn’t the usual hubbub about the place. The little noises, the clanging of pots, the chatter of the guards and the Knights as they went about their business.
At a little less than a run, the two remaining free people of the castle made their way down the final corridor to the thrown room.
The clattered of armoured guards walking alerted Arthur that they were not alone. He quickly scaled their surrounding pulling Guinevere into the nearest alcove and caging her against the wall. Though the soft fabric of his shirt he could feel her hot breath, each one shaking more than the last.
The guards passed them, thankfully not noting their presence.
Waiting another half a minute, just to make sure they’re gone, Arthur finally moved away from Gwen in order to check that the coast was clear. He ushered with his hand that they were able to move out.
On reaching the throne room, Arthur listened at the closed door. He could hear the orders of whomever it was that had taken charge as they barked out instructions; “I want the Prince found. I don’t care how you go about it.”
“Run,” he rasped, grabbing Gwen’s hand and pulling her up the corridor.
The doors slammed open, pairs of soldiers trooping out of the halls, “Get them!”
They hadn’t been fast enough; the last of their limbs had been spotted as they’d rounded the corner. Without a spoken word they both picked up the pace, they couldn’t afford to be caught now.
“In here!” Gwen cried out, opening the passage for the servants quarters. There was no point listening at the door hoping for the troops to go past, they kept running. The end of the corridor they were met with the castle kitchens, “This way,” Arthur followed Gwen now, not being as well versed in the ways of the servant’s areas as Gwen.
They ran out of the back door of the kitchens, heading towards the town, they hadn’t been expecting part of the enemies guard to have beaten them down. The soldier announced his find, backing the pair of them against the wall as support arrive, surrounding them.
“Tell Algrave. We have the Prince.”
“What of the girl?”
“Bring her too. You never know, she may come in use later.”
“You’ll leave her behind,” Arthur commanded, only for the men around him to start laughing.
“If that is the case, my lord, she will most definitely be coming along.”
They’ve not been gone a day, yet it seems like a life time.
Arthur has been pacing for the best part of an hour but Gwen can’t find the heart to tell him to stop. She’s got too many thoughts going through her head from the way she needs him to understand that she doesn’t blame him for Morgana’s departure. Or the way in which she wishes that Morgana would return to her. Or the way in which she sees that Merlin has changed, but doesn’t understand how or why.
She wants to know what is going through his mind.
Escape plans? Reasoning? Her?
Don’t be so stupid, Gwen, of course he’s not thinking of you.
She was interrupted from her thoughts when Algrave, as they had come to know him, entered the dungeons in which they were being kept. He had told them before why they had wanted him. Said something about they leader he was to become and the world he was going to create and about not wanting it. If they couldn’t convince him to do things their way, they were going to have him killed. No matter how much of a fight he put up. They had magic beyond his power.
“You boy,” Arthur didn’t respond, he had never taken lightly to being address below his station, “Oi, Prince,” now he looked at the man, “Come here,” silently he obliged, “You have one more chance. Allow us to change your path, or you will be killed where you stand.”
Silence.
“Guard!” A burly man appeared through the doorway, “He is to be executed at dawn. Do not allow him to escape,” he said, as if the guard was really that stupid. Though, knowing the guards of Camelot, he knew some of them could be.
After he was done giving the guard orders and posting him back outside the door the man left.
“This is it then,” Gwen stated, “No more fighting?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t say anything!”
“They say actions speak louder than words.”
“There is no harm in speaking up once in a while,” Gwen replied, standing from where she had been leant against the hard stone wall.
“When I try to speak up you have knocked me down, Guinevere, what else would have me do?” it had gone beyond their current situation now and she knew it. First he had told her nothing could be and then she had echoed his words when he had tried. He stationed himself in front of her, bringing the backs of his fingers up to caress her cheek, “It isn’t something we can ignore anymore, is it?”
Gwen shut her eyes.
Arthur splayed his fingers over the skin of her neck and into the curls of her hair, running the pad of his thumb over her blush burning cheek.
She opened them again, “Arthur…”
Much like the first time they had kissed, he had kissed her, he leant down to her. This time, however, the gap between them was substantially smaller. His hand rested on her arm, guiding her to him, a smile gracing his lips despite their pending doom.
“Arthur?” he turned his head to look at the source of the voice, clenching his jaw, eyes wide in annoyance. He was going to kill Merlin when he got his hands on him. He heard a murmur of a language he couldn’t place and the door opened. Merlin grinning at him.
“Merlin.”
Merlin looked between them; Gwen looking sheepishly at the floor, dirt smudge on one cheek, Arthur, well, if looks could kill, Merlin would be dead where he stood. Arthur turned to face him properly shielding Gwen from his view.
“I can come back?”
“I’m still trying to get over the fact that you’ve managed to infiltrate the base to get us out of here…”
“I do have some talents, sire.”
“You could have fooled me,” he grabbed a hold of Gwen’s hand and led her towards the door, “Get us out of here then, Merlin.”
“You could have warn me that it was raining, Merlin.”
“I thought you might have figured by my drowned rat exterior that it might have been raining. Or were you that pre-occupied.”
“Shut up, Merlin,” Arthur leant against the corner of the building, leaning out slightly checking if the coast was clear. He beckoned for Gwen and Merlin to follow him.
It wasn’t long before the rain had plastered his hair to his forehead, running across the building’s courtyard. There was a littering of guards along their path, “Merlin,” Arthur looked around, distained surprise all over his face, “What did you do?”
“I had to knock them out.”
“How?”
“Let’s just get out of here,” Gwen said, giving the pair of them a pointed look. Both men fell quiet, there wasn’t point in arguing here, they would only get captured again, but then who would it help.
The rain was still pouring down. The Autumnal air chilling them, their clothes sodden. Merlin had something about there being a day’s walk back and now night was falling and they were only half way home, they had decided to call it a day, shelter under some tree cover and wait it out, maybe even try and get some sleep.
They all sat around a make shift fire, but with the rain as heavy as it was the drenched branches didn’t want to burn.
“I’m going to go collect some more fire wood,” Arthur declared, throwing the stick he had been fiddling with into the fleeting fire. Gwen nodded silently. The lat time the three of them had been sat around a fire like this, it had been after Gwen had been captured and Lancelot and Arthur had both tried to save her. Which sort of made things awkward.
Merlin looked around for a moment before settling back and attempting to sleep. He amazed Gwen sometimes with ability to just sleep. She watched her friend and when she was sure he was asleep she followed the Prince’s path.
“My Lord?”
“Guinevere?”
“What you said, back at Algrave’s-“
“I meant it. Every word.”
“Every word of what? You didn’t say anything,” Arthur dry swallowed. He hadn’t been allowed to get that far. He could blame Merlin until he was blue in the face, but he had had so many opportunities to tell her.
“Guinevere, I,” nerves suddenly over took him. What had he told Merlin? He didn’t get nervous, what a liar, “I wish things were different. I wish I was not the Prince.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“Fine, then I wish you were a Princess, because you are my Princess, Guinevere. I love you,” Gwen’s jaw dropped slightly. She was uncomfortable, with the rain plastering her hair to her face; at least she wasn’t alone looking like a fool. With the added information that the man stood in front of her was in love with her, well, she had never imagined she would find out this way, “Please say something.”
She had known. Is that something she could say? She had known he had loved her, otherwise her kiss when he was enchanted with Vivian would never have worked, but to hear him say it, it shocked her into silence.
He approached her, his eyes begging her to a reply, for an answer. For something to tell her that she loved him too. He raised his large hands to cup her face, gently pushing the hairs plastered to her skin out of her face.
“Just tell me to stop,” he whispered his lips already centimetres from hers. She didn’t stop him, she pushed herself towards him. His fingers threaded through her wet hair, one hand finding its way down to grip her waist.
Gwen pulled away from him, blinking a few times, sombre. Arthur waited for her to move, he didn’t want to push his boundaries too far and push her away. But finding himself have the woman he loved pressing another sweet kiss to his lips.
“One day, Arthur.”
“One day we shall be together, but I shall love you every day, from now until the day I die.”
“Until death do us part.”
A small smirk come smile graced his lips, and through her blushing embarrassment Gwen did too.
“I love you.”
“I love you too. One day,” he promised, “One day.”
Author: mydoctortennant
Pairing/s: Arthur/Gwen
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Merlin, unfortunately, doesn’t belong to me… maybe one day!
Dedication: ella_rose88 for her prompt ‘Truth’.
Summary: When men come to Camelot in search of capturing the Prince something beautiful comes from the flames.
Notes: This comes to you un-beta'd so if there are spelling mistakes or whatnot they are all my own, and if you want to point things out to me, go ahead XD
my merlin prompt table
The sun was rising over the city, a sure sign to Gwen that she was already late. For the first time in a long time she had over slept. She ran to the castle hoping that her new boss, the woman in charge of the kitchens, wouldn’t have noticed her absence and she could pretend that she had been there all the while. After all, she hadn’t been that late, and if push came to shove, she could count on Gaius or Merlin, hell even Arthur, for an alibi.
When Gwen slipped into the kitchens, there was one thing she noticed, it was silent. Normally the busiest, noisiest place in the castle was now the eeriest place. Come to think about it, Gwen hadn’t come across a single servant on the way to the kitchens, or anybody. Not a guard, not Merlin. Even the Prince, who she ran into more often than not these days.
She thought briefly of Morgana. The friend she had lost. She longed to know if there would ever see her old mistress again. As much as she was grateful for a job in the castle, an income, she would rather be Morgana’s maidservant. It was a nicer job and working for your best friend wasn’t all that bad.
She found herself making her way to the throne room, on her way bypassing to check to see if Gaius or Merlin had any answers. It only served her to get more confused when they weren’t there. A candle was still burning in the corner, two bowls of porridge laid on the table, spoons still in them. Two cups of tea sitting next to them.
“Merlin?” she knocked on his door, with no answer she pushed it open, only to be greeted with his usual mess. “Merlin?”
Nothing.
On returning to the physician’s main chamber she heard something fall in the cupboard. Approaching it she nervously raised her hand to open the door. She faltered, this was ridiculous, there wouldn’t be anything in there other than Gaius’ books and pots.
On telling herself this she pulled the door open. She screamed, only to have a strong hand clasp over her mouth and being pulled towards it. It was bigger than she had imagined, she hadn’t thought it big enough for one person let alone two.
She struggled against her assailant, her elbow connecting with his rip cage but with little effect. An arm closed around her middle, pulling her into the cupboard completely, the door being pulled shut in front of her. She kicked out her feet trying to knock it back open but she was forced still by the person who had her embraced.
“Guinevere, stop,” the order was whispered into her ear, and suddenly she halted all movement. Any attempted at moving now would be accompanied by failing limbs and shortness of breath.
“Ar-er?”
“Is there anybody out there?” he gently removed his hand from her mouth and allowed her to speak.
“That is why I’m here. Where is everybody?” she asked, turning around so she could face him in the enclosed space. Maybe it wasn’t as big as she had thought it was, on closer inspection it really was more of the size she had originally mentally believed it to be.
“I’m not sure,” he said, placing his hands against the walls of the cupboard so not to cause an unnecessarily awkward situation, “I saw the captors rounding people up, I managed to keep out of their way, and hid in here.”
“You didn’t think to help Merlin?”
“I was concentrating on being able to help everybody else. How did you get out, anyway?” Gwen looked down, only finding herself concentrating on his belt buckle, so she turned her head to the side to concentrate on something else.
“I wasn’t in the kitchens when they were taken.”
“Where were you?”
“I was,” she cleared her throat guiltily, so much for getting away with it, “I was late.”
“Good job too,” he admitted. She looked back at him now to see a small smile on his lips, “I think we’re safe, come on.”
Arthur pushed out of the cupboard. Glancing around the room as if some sort of ninja assinsin would be hiding in the bookshelf.
“We need to figure out a way of finding them, without putting ourselves in danger.”
“We need help,” Gwen declared, looking at the Prince, he knew she was right.
“We need help.”
Checking around the corner before they moved into it, Arthur noted that the castle just didn’t seem right when there wasn’t the usual hubbub about the place. The little noises, the clanging of pots, the chatter of the guards and the Knights as they went about their business.
At a little less than a run, the two remaining free people of the castle made their way down the final corridor to the thrown room.
The clattered of armoured guards walking alerted Arthur that they were not alone. He quickly scaled their surrounding pulling Guinevere into the nearest alcove and caging her against the wall. Though the soft fabric of his shirt he could feel her hot breath, each one shaking more than the last.
The guards passed them, thankfully not noting their presence.
Waiting another half a minute, just to make sure they’re gone, Arthur finally moved away from Gwen in order to check that the coast was clear. He ushered with his hand that they were able to move out.
On reaching the throne room, Arthur listened at the closed door. He could hear the orders of whomever it was that had taken charge as they barked out instructions; “I want the Prince found. I don’t care how you go about it.”
“Run,” he rasped, grabbing Gwen’s hand and pulling her up the corridor.
The doors slammed open, pairs of soldiers trooping out of the halls, “Get them!”
They hadn’t been fast enough; the last of their limbs had been spotted as they’d rounded the corner. Without a spoken word they both picked up the pace, they couldn’t afford to be caught now.
“In here!” Gwen cried out, opening the passage for the servants quarters. There was no point listening at the door hoping for the troops to go past, they kept running. The end of the corridor they were met with the castle kitchens, “This way,” Arthur followed Gwen now, not being as well versed in the ways of the servant’s areas as Gwen.
They ran out of the back door of the kitchens, heading towards the town, they hadn’t been expecting part of the enemies guard to have beaten them down. The soldier announced his find, backing the pair of them against the wall as support arrive, surrounding them.
“Tell Algrave. We have the Prince.”
“What of the girl?”
“Bring her too. You never know, she may come in use later.”
“You’ll leave her behind,” Arthur commanded, only for the men around him to start laughing.
“If that is the case, my lord, she will most definitely be coming along.”
They’ve not been gone a day, yet it seems like a life time.
Arthur has been pacing for the best part of an hour but Gwen can’t find the heart to tell him to stop. She’s got too many thoughts going through her head from the way she needs him to understand that she doesn’t blame him for Morgana’s departure. Or the way in which she wishes that Morgana would return to her. Or the way in which she sees that Merlin has changed, but doesn’t understand how or why.
She wants to know what is going through his mind.
Escape plans? Reasoning? Her?
Don’t be so stupid, Gwen, of course he’s not thinking of you.
She was interrupted from her thoughts when Algrave, as they had come to know him, entered the dungeons in which they were being kept. He had told them before why they had wanted him. Said something about they leader he was to become and the world he was going to create and about not wanting it. If they couldn’t convince him to do things their way, they were going to have him killed. No matter how much of a fight he put up. They had magic beyond his power.
“You boy,” Arthur didn’t respond, he had never taken lightly to being address below his station, “Oi, Prince,” now he looked at the man, “Come here,” silently he obliged, “You have one more chance. Allow us to change your path, or you will be killed where you stand.”
Silence.
“Guard!” A burly man appeared through the doorway, “He is to be executed at dawn. Do not allow him to escape,” he said, as if the guard was really that stupid. Though, knowing the guards of Camelot, he knew some of them could be.
After he was done giving the guard orders and posting him back outside the door the man left.
“This is it then,” Gwen stated, “No more fighting?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t say anything!”
“They say actions speak louder than words.”
“There is no harm in speaking up once in a while,” Gwen replied, standing from where she had been leant against the hard stone wall.
“When I try to speak up you have knocked me down, Guinevere, what else would have me do?” it had gone beyond their current situation now and she knew it. First he had told her nothing could be and then she had echoed his words when he had tried. He stationed himself in front of her, bringing the backs of his fingers up to caress her cheek, “It isn’t something we can ignore anymore, is it?”
Gwen shut her eyes.
Arthur splayed his fingers over the skin of her neck and into the curls of her hair, running the pad of his thumb over her blush burning cheek.
She opened them again, “Arthur…”
Much like the first time they had kissed, he had kissed her, he leant down to her. This time, however, the gap between them was substantially smaller. His hand rested on her arm, guiding her to him, a smile gracing his lips despite their pending doom.
“Arthur?” he turned his head to look at the source of the voice, clenching his jaw, eyes wide in annoyance. He was going to kill Merlin when he got his hands on him. He heard a murmur of a language he couldn’t place and the door opened. Merlin grinning at him.
“Merlin.”
Merlin looked between them; Gwen looking sheepishly at the floor, dirt smudge on one cheek, Arthur, well, if looks could kill, Merlin would be dead where he stood. Arthur turned to face him properly shielding Gwen from his view.
“I can come back?”
“I’m still trying to get over the fact that you’ve managed to infiltrate the base to get us out of here…”
“I do have some talents, sire.”
“You could have fooled me,” he grabbed a hold of Gwen’s hand and led her towards the door, “Get us out of here then, Merlin.”
“You could have warn me that it was raining, Merlin.”
“I thought you might have figured by my drowned rat exterior that it might have been raining. Or were you that pre-occupied.”
“Shut up, Merlin,” Arthur leant against the corner of the building, leaning out slightly checking if the coast was clear. He beckoned for Gwen and Merlin to follow him.
It wasn’t long before the rain had plastered his hair to his forehead, running across the building’s courtyard. There was a littering of guards along their path, “Merlin,” Arthur looked around, distained surprise all over his face, “What did you do?”
“I had to knock them out.”
“How?”
“Let’s just get out of here,” Gwen said, giving the pair of them a pointed look. Both men fell quiet, there wasn’t point in arguing here, they would only get captured again, but then who would it help.
The rain was still pouring down. The Autumnal air chilling them, their clothes sodden. Merlin had something about there being a day’s walk back and now night was falling and they were only half way home, they had decided to call it a day, shelter under some tree cover and wait it out, maybe even try and get some sleep.
They all sat around a make shift fire, but with the rain as heavy as it was the drenched branches didn’t want to burn.
“I’m going to go collect some more fire wood,” Arthur declared, throwing the stick he had been fiddling with into the fleeting fire. Gwen nodded silently. The lat time the three of them had been sat around a fire like this, it had been after Gwen had been captured and Lancelot and Arthur had both tried to save her. Which sort of made things awkward.
Merlin looked around for a moment before settling back and attempting to sleep. He amazed Gwen sometimes with ability to just sleep. She watched her friend and when she was sure he was asleep she followed the Prince’s path.
“My Lord?”
“Guinevere?”
“What you said, back at Algrave’s-“
“I meant it. Every word.”
“Every word of what? You didn’t say anything,” Arthur dry swallowed. He hadn’t been allowed to get that far. He could blame Merlin until he was blue in the face, but he had had so many opportunities to tell her.
“Guinevere, I,” nerves suddenly over took him. What had he told Merlin? He didn’t get nervous, what a liar, “I wish things were different. I wish I was not the Prince.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“Fine, then I wish you were a Princess, because you are my Princess, Guinevere. I love you,” Gwen’s jaw dropped slightly. She was uncomfortable, with the rain plastering her hair to her face; at least she wasn’t alone looking like a fool. With the added information that the man stood in front of her was in love with her, well, she had never imagined she would find out this way, “Please say something.”
She had known. Is that something she could say? She had known he had loved her, otherwise her kiss when he was enchanted with Vivian would never have worked, but to hear him say it, it shocked her into silence.
He approached her, his eyes begging her to a reply, for an answer. For something to tell her that she loved him too. He raised his large hands to cup her face, gently pushing the hairs plastered to her skin out of her face.
“Just tell me to stop,” he whispered his lips already centimetres from hers. She didn’t stop him, she pushed herself towards him. His fingers threaded through her wet hair, one hand finding its way down to grip her waist.
Gwen pulled away from him, blinking a few times, sombre. Arthur waited for her to move, he didn’t want to push his boundaries too far and push her away. But finding himself have the woman he loved pressing another sweet kiss to his lips.
“One day, Arthur.”
“One day we shall be together, but I shall love you every day, from now until the day I die.”
“Until death do us part.”
A small smirk come smile graced his lips, and through her blushing embarrassment Gwen did too.
“I love you.”
“I love you too. One day,” he promised, “One day.”