The Wheel's Always Turning Part 1
Title: The Wheel's Always Turning
Author: lycoris
Pairings/characters: Arthur/Merlin, Gwen, Morgana, Gaius, Uther, Leon, plus pretty much everyone who appeared in Season One. Also contains Arthur/Others and off-screen Merlin/Will.
Rating: Light R
Word Count: 67, 094 words
Warnings: Non-graphic prostitution. About the same level of violence you get from Season One. Character death.
Summary: Merlin arrives at Camelot to start his new life working for Gaius. First he meets Arthur, then he meets a dragon who tells him that it is Arthur's destiny to become the Once and Future King of All Albion. The only problem is that Arthur is only a servant and Camelot already has a Crown Prince ...
Author's notes: Thank you to my betas, emeraldsword and robert_frogg for their help, con-crit and suggestions. Thanks also to la_localfreak and versipellis, both of whom said the right things at the right times! And, finally, thank you to thisissirius for her wonderful artwork! This fic fills this prompt at the kink meme.
Art link: Here.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of Merlin and make no profit from any of this.
Destiny Calling
Meeting Arthur entirely changed the course of Merlin’s life. But he didn’t know that at the time.
It was his second day in Camelot and he was already wondering whether this had been his mother’s best idea. Using magic could get you executed and he’d spent the night dreaming of strange voices shouting his name. But Gaius seemed nice and the castle was beautiful so perhaps it would be all right.
He was delivering medicine for Gaius, which was a little trickier than it sounded but he managed it just the same. Smug in having completed his task, he had decided to head outside and explore from the outside in as it were. He was so busy trying to memorise all the corridors that he didn’t look where he was going and walked bang into someone who was carrying a pile of platters which crashed loudly to the floor.
“Bloody hell!”
“I’m sorry!” Merlin yelped, quickly dropping to his knees and beginning to gather them all up again. “I’m really, really sorry!”
The other fellow crouched down and stared at Merlin. He was just about a man, probably a year or so older than Merlin, with messy blond hair that fell into his eyes. He was dressed like a servant, a fairly neglected one too, Merlin couldn’t help thinking. His brown tunic was patched with various mismatched colours and his trousers looked slightly too tight and revealed several inches of ankle. Merlin’s own clothing was in a better state which surprised him a bit. He’d thought that everyone in Camelot would look much smarter than a country boy from Ealdor.
“Do I know you?” the man asked. He was scowling.
“Um,” Merlin said and held out a hand. “I’m Merlin.”
“So I don’t know you.”
“No,” Merlin said, not sure if that was a threatening statement or not. It appeared not - the scowl on the guy’s face was replaced with a lop-sided smile and he abruptly took Merlin’s hand and shook it. He had a very strong grip and Merlin winced a little.
“Sorry,” the fellow said. “I’m Arthur. So, where did you spring from, Merlin?”
He drawled the name in a friendly sort of fashion and Merlin relaxed a little. It seemed that Arthur probably wasn’t going to beat him up for his mistake.
“I’m Gaius’s new assistant,” he said and was greatly relieved when Arthur broke into a genuine grin.
“Oh, you,” he said. “Yes, Gaius mentioned you. I should hate your guts Merlin, not only have you knocked me over and got fingerprints all over my beautifully polished platters, you’ve stolen the job I rather wanted. Lucky for you, I’m a generous soul and probably won’t be killing you in your sleep.”
“Well, now you’ve said that, I’ll always be worrying,” Merlin said, straight-faced. Something about Arthur reminded him quite a lot of Will. “I expect I’ll have to sleep with a knife by the bed.”
“You’ll never see me coming,” Arthur said cheerfully, standing and helping Merlin up too, taking the platters from him. “Where were you rushing off to then?”
“Nowhere,” Merlin said. “I’m exploring. I was trying to remember the way.”
Arthur laughed.
“Help me deliver these and I’ll show you around,” he said in a way that sounded more like an order than an offer. “You’ll never find the way about by yourself, this place is huge. You need to have been born here to get to grips with it.”
Merlin took a share of the platters willingly - there seemed too many for one person in any case - and followed Arthur along the passageway.
“You were born here then?”
“Yes,” Arthur said. “Born and raised.”
He didn’t sound exactly happy about it and Merlin wondered if he’d done something wrong. Then Arthur abruptly grinned again and stuck out his foot, almost sending Merlin sprawling. He dodged the foot but dropped several platters.
“Ah hah!” Arthur said. “Vengeance is mine!”
Merlin picked up his platters again, putting on his haughtiest expression.
“I am far too mature to get involved in such a childish game,” he said, standing up and sticking his nose in the air. “Although you’d better hope you’re not wearing your best clothes the next time we walk past a puddle!”
Arthur laughed.
“I like you, Merlin,” he said. “Come on. Let’s get these delivered and see if we can’t charm ourselves a bit of food.”
The kitchen was the nosiest place that Merlin had ever been in and also the hottest and the most chaotic. People were rushing everywhere, shouting and clamouring and crashing pots around. Arthur didn’t seem at all phased by the chaos. He dodged around people easily - even when they seemed strangely determined to get in his way - making his way to a table where he deposited the platters and gave a courtly sort of bow to a young woman who was kneading dough there.
“For you, my dearest,” he said solemnly. “I would have brought roses but the gardens were closed so you must make do with these instead.”
The woman giggled.
“Oh, you!” she said. “Get out of my way now, I’m busy!”
“But my friend is starving,” Arthur said, slinging an arm around Merlin’s shoulders and pulling him forward. “Look at him. Look at his tragic cheekbones! Why, he may die if we don’t feed him quickly!”
The woman smiled at Merlin and he grinned back at her and rolled his eyes to show what he thought of Arthur. Her smile widened.
“Don’t let him lead you astray,” she warned, shaking her head. “All right - here, have these and get out before Head Cook catches you with them!”
She thrust several extremely nice looking buns into their hands. Arthur caught hold of her floury wrist and kissed her hand in a very courtly fashion.
“You are a princess amongst ruffians,” he informed her. “Come on, Merlin. Get that down your throat and I’ll show you Camelot.”
Merlin followed, rolling his eyes. Was Arthur always like this? If so, he was probably quite exhausting to know. Still, it was nice to feel that he’d made a friend already. Somebody who could show him the ropes.
“Is the kitchen always like that?” he asked.
“Usually worse,” Arthur said. “You probably won’t spend much time in there, although if you ask the right people, you can nearly always get a bit of extra food. Only if you ask the right people mind. Although you have the face for it so they’ll doubtless fall over to give you things to eat! Now, let’s start from the outside and work inwards, shall we?”
“That was my idea,” Merlin agreed.
“Ah, so there are brains lurking between those ears then? Well, that’s good to know,” Arthur mocked and Merlin considering kicking him. He decided that they didn’t know each other quite well enough for random physical assault and restrained himself to just giving Arthur his most withering look. Apparently, it wasn’t that withering - Arthur only laughed.
“All right,” he said. “This as you can see is one of the courtyards and - oh.”
Merlin followed his gaze and saw a group of youths standing in what he supposed was a training ground. They were possibly squires as a few wore armour and the sun was glinting off nearby weapons. One of the youths; a tall man with dark brown hair was currently scolding a servant who didn’t seem to have set a target to the man’s satisfaction.
“What’s wrong?” Merlin asked.
Arthur didn’t answer. He was staring at the group with a most peculiar look on his face; seemingly all greed and longing and loneliness all stirred up together. Merlin looked over at the group again. They were laughing together and looked fairly cheerful but it didn’t look that much fun. The dark-haired man had finished his scolding and now had moved back to his friends, gesturing irritably for the servant to set the target properly. The servant obeyed, looking kind of depressed. One of the others shouted something and there was more laughter.
“They shouldn’t bully him,” Merlin muttered. “It’s not right.”
“I’d keep that to yourself, if I were you,” Arthur said, his voice oddly flat. “That’s the prince.”
“No way,” Merlin said, turning to look. “That’s the prince?”
“Yes,” Arthur said, his voice flatter than ever. “It is.”
He turned away. Merlin took one last quick look at the group of men and then turned too, darting to catch up with Arthur.
“All right!” he said. “Courtyard! So, how do I find Gaius from here?”
Arthur blinked at him then grinned as though nothing had happened at all. He slung his arm around Merlin’s shoulders again.
“No, no,” he said. “I promised I’d show you everything. Tour first. Then helpful hints!”
Merlin grinned and let himself be swept up in Arthur’s cheerfulness. His new friend was definitely slightly weird but he was a lot of fun too. It was nice to actually have a friend. And Arthur certainly knew about Camelot. He pointed out rooms to Merlin, usually with a merry dollop of gossip about the owners. He told Merlin all the short-cuts and the ways to avoid crowded places if he wanted to. He seemed to know everything there was to know about Camelot.
“And here is Gaius!” he said dramatically, opening the door with a flourish. “Gaius, I found this poor waif a-wandering and have returned him to you!”
Gaius looked up with his eyebrow raised. There was something of a smile on his mouth though, as though he was used to Arthur’s theatrics and entertained by them.
“Hello Arthur,” he said. “I hope you haven’t been leading Merlin astray.”
“No one trusts me,” Arthur said with a tragic sigh. “I try to help and they only mock me. Merlin, do you see how hard my life is?”
“I do,” Merlin said. “I’m so sad for you. Honestly.”
“Liar,” Arthur said. “I hope you get lost tomorrow and find yourself in Sir Bastian’s quarters and he ties you up in his curtains and eats your brain.”
“Sir Bastian does not eat brains, Arthur,” Gaius said briskly, stirring something green into something yellow. “He does not tie people up in his curtains, either.”
“That’s what you think,” Arthur said with a smirk. “Some people don’t know as much about this castle as me.”
“Some people are shirking their duties,” Gaius said. “Greta was looking for you.”
“Oh hell,” Arthur said, slumping a little. “What does the old hag want now?”
“You to get on with your work, I should imagine,” Gaius said. “Go on, Arthur. Does as she tells you for once.”
Arthur scowled and made a grumpy noise then turned to Merlin.
“I’ll see you around, right?” he said and there was just a touch of pleading there, as though he wasn’t quite sure. Merlin grinned back at him, pretending that he hadn’t noticed.
“Course you will,” he said. “Assuming Sir Bastian doesn’t eat my brains!”
Arthur laughed. He gave Merlin a slap on the shoulder and then turned and walked out of the room, letting the door slam behind him. Merlin turned to Gaius with a grin.
“I’ve made a friend!”
“You have,” Gaius agreed dryly. “Come here and help me grind these roots.”
Merlin did as he was told, feeling cheerful. It seemed that things were going to work out in Camelot. A job and a friend who knew the place well. Those all had to be good, didn’t they? And he’d stayed out of trouble. The first day couldn’t really have gone better.
“So, you’ve met Arthur,” Gaius said.
“Ran into him actually,” Merlin said. “He seems nice.”
“Oh, he is,” Gaius said. “He’s a very friendly young man.”
Something in his tone made Merlin look at him. It wasn’t exactly disapproval. But it was slightly off somehow. As though Gaius was trying to hint at something.
“He showed me around,” Merlin said, trying not to sound uncertain. “He said he wanted to work for you.”
“Oh yes,” Gaius said. “I’ve let Arthur help me out in the past. He isn’t very reliable though. I don’t want him to lead you into bad habits, Merlin. If I ask you to do something, I expect it done!”
He looked fierce and Merlin nodded quickly to show that he was a dutiful young man who never ever failed to do his jobs and always did them on time too. Gaius gave him a “I don’t believe that for a minute” look and went back to working on what he was doing. Merlin continued to grind the roots industriously, feeling a little bit confused by the whole business. Ought he ask Gaius what he meant? He wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He wanted Arthur to be a friend. It was nice to think that he’d only been in Camelot a day and managed to make a friend.
“You won’t tell Arthur anything about your … skills, will you?” Gaius asked suddenly.
“Oh, no!” Merlin said quickly. “I promised, I won’t tell in anyone in Camelot.”
“Good,” Gaius said, quite calm.
He filled the rest of Merlin’s day with various chores and Merlin was quite glad to go to bed by the end of it. He curled up in his new bed and drifted to into a contented sleep.
He dreamed about the voice again. Deep and dark and crawling through his bones. Merlin. Merlin. MERLIN!
“Merlin! Merlin!”
Someone was bouncing on his bed. Merlin opened groggy eyes and found himself staring into Arthur’s cheery face.
“What are you doing still in bed?” Arthur asked cheerfully. “Get up!”
“It is not morning,” Merlin informed him grumpily. “Go away.”
Arthur fell onto him and began tickling him. Merlin shrieked in outrage and hit him with the pillow. The fight was interrupted by Gaius coughing darkly at the door and glaring at them.
“Hi Gaius,” Arthur said cheerfully, seemingly not at all embarrassed. Merlin sat up and tried to look as though this was completely and utterly nothing to do with him.
“Whilst I am grateful that you got Merlin out of bed for me, Arthur,” Gaius said, his voice dry. “Perhaps you could attempt to remember that some people do not enjoy other men bouncing onto their beds unexpectedly?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Arthur said, clearly unrepentant. “You got anything I can have for breakfast? I’m starving!”
Gaius gave a cross sort of sigh.
“Arthur, you are perfectly capable of feeding yourself. Or getting a meal from Greta. You really do have to stop coming in here and demanding food.”
Merlin couldn’t help noticing that despite what Gaius was saying, he was already rummaging around, clearly finding something for Arthur to eat. By the time Merlin had washed and dressed, Arthur was happily eating bread and cheese and gave Merlin a cheerful wave. Merlin rolled his eyes and sat down for his own breakfast. Gaius gave him a friendly smile and a large plate.
“Do you have lots of boring chores for him to do today?” Arthur asked.
“Yes,” Gaius said promptly. “All sorts of things. And I know you have things to do as well, Arthur. You’ll get in trouble again if you carry on shirking.”
“Oh, no one cares,” Arthur said flippantly. “Not with the big celebrations coming up. Merlin will be going to the feast, I suppose.”
“He’ll be helping me, yes,” Gaius said, sounding a little wary all of a sudden.
“How lovely for him,” Arthur said. Was a slight chill to his tone? Merlin looked between them uncertainly. He was sure that was some sort of atmosphere. Arthur seemed to be avoiding looking at either of them. Gaius was staring at Arthur with clear anxiety in his eyes. Arthur shrugged his shoulders and abruptly bounded to his feet.
“Well, looks like I’ll be busy all morning,” he said easily. He ruffled Merlin’s hair. “I’ll see you later, right?”
“Sure,” Merlin said, grinning. He watched Arthur leave, then looked at Gaius, who was still frowning a little.
“What’s wrong?” Merlin asked.
“Nothing,” Gaius said quickly. “Right. You have plenty of things you need to do this morning. And don’t you let Arthur talk you into having any fun until you’re finished!”
“Hey, I would never do that,” Merlin said, trying to look innocent. Gaius raised his eyebrow and then started providing chores. Merlin spent quite a bit of his morning mixing horrible smelling solutions and then found himself heading off to find clean bedding from somewhere. Naturally, he got lost after turning the first two corners. After turning a few more corners, he almost bumped into someone else coming the other way. This time, Merlin was swift enough to dodge out of the way and the girl he’d nearly run into smiled at him. She had sheets in her arms and Merlin blinked at them and then found his expression becoming pleading.
“Um. You couldn’t point me to where you got those from, could you?”
The girl smiled.
“Of course! Here, let me show you. I’m Guinevere but you can call me Gwen. I’m the Lady Morgana’s maid.”
“I’m Merlin,” Merlin said, sagging with relief. “Most people just call me Lost Idiot.”
Gwen giggled.
“It’s a bit confusing when you first start trying to find your way around, isn’t it?” she said. “I remember when I first came here - it was terrible.”
“I would mind but I got a tour yesterday,” Merlin said with an exaggerated sigh. “And I’m still lost!”
“Yes, I saw you,” Gwen said. “You were with Arthur.”
Merlin heard something in her voice and took a quick look to see her expression. Gwen wasn’t looking at him and she was smiling quite cheerfully still.
“Yeah,” he said. “He seems nice.”
“Oh, he is!” Gwen agreed quickly. “He’s very sweet. And he could use a friend. Not that he doesn’t already have friends, of course. Well, I mean, not close friends … well, when I say close … ”
Merlin stopped walking and grinned at her, enjoying the frantic babbling. Gwen swallowed and shrugged her shoulders sheepishly at him.
“Well, anyway,” she said. “I hope you’ll be a good friend to him. You can let him know I asked about him. If you like, I mean. It doesn’t matter. of course.”
“I’ll tell him,” Merlin said with a laugh. Gwen looked even more embarrassed and coughed so Merlin decided to spare her any more shame and quickly looked ahead.
“Ah! I remember where we are, I think! So, sheets …?”
“Just in here,” Gwen said, showing him. “I’d better get back to the Lady Morgana, if you’re sure you know where you’re going?”
“Definitely,” Merlin said. “Thank you.”
“No problem,” Gwen said, smiling again. “I expect I’ll see you around.”
“Definitely,” Merlin said and waved to her as she left before gathering up the sheets. Someone else who was nice. Although also someone else who seemed to think that Arthur was … strange. Or … not strange, they hadn’t said strange but … but there was something. Something to know.
Arthur was waiting outside Gaius’s rooms, leaning against the wall with his hands behind his head. He bounded upright when he saw Merlin and waved.
“Tell me you’re done,” he said.
“I’m probably done,” Merlin said with a laugh. “Open the door for me and we’ll see what Gaius says.”
Gaius gave him a look and handed him a potion bottle.
“Take this to Lady Helen first,” he said. “Then you can have some time to yourself, if you want. Arthur, tell me that you’ve finished your work.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Arthur said, flapping his hand. “C’mon Merlin, let’s get delivering!”
Merlin grinned at Gaius and then trotted to keep up with Arthur’s long strides.
“Do you know where Lady Helen’s chambers are?” he asked. He had heard quite a bit about Lady Helen just from wandering around the castle. Apparently, she was very beautiful and the most amazing singer anyone had ever heard. Merlin was really very much looking forward to seeing her.
“Sure,” Arthur said easily. “I’m looking forward to seeing her again - it’s been some years since she’s visited.”
“You’ve met her before then? Is she as beautiful as everyone says?” Merlin asked eagerly.
That made Arthur laugh. He aimed a playful punch at Merlin’s head.
“Merlin,” he mocked. “Nice to see you’re human.”
“Oh shut up,” Merlin said. “Is she?”
“Oh, she is,” Arthur said. “She’s a very, very beautiful woman indeed. Completely out of your league, I have to say. Mind you, most women are, I suspect. The ears definitely take away from your potential.”
“I hope you fall over and break your skull,” Merlin said. “Oh, speaking of women, Gwen said to say she asked after you.”
Arthur missed a step. Merlin sneaked a quick look at him. Arthur looked strange, anxious somehow. Then he shrugged and settled again.
“Met Gwen, have you? She’s nice. Sticks her nose into things though. Turn left here.”
Merlin did so, wondering if he ought to ask anything more. Arthur didn’t seem to want to talk about it, that was clear enough. He still looked slightly odd. Was he worried that Gwen would have told Merlin something that Arthur didn’t want him to know? Camelot was a bit confusing.
“Here you are,” Arthur said. “That would be Lady Helen’s room.”
Merlin knocked. When no one answered, he opened the door and peered inside.
“You know, you’re not actually supposed to do that,” Arthur drawled.
“Well, I need to deliver it,” Merlin said. “She might not have heard me … or she might not actually be here.”
She wasn’t. The room was big and empty with a large table in the middle. A mirror was propped up but it had a blanket thrown over it. There was a collection of really odd looking things on the table. Puzzled, Merlin walked over. A really old book, a strange box, a really weird straw doll …
“Huh,” Arthur said, right behind him. “I wouldn’t be keeping those around in Camelot, if I were her. Look a bit like magic.”
“You think so?” Merlin asked, twisting the doll in his hands. “Maybe it’s just an old toy. I used to have a corn doll a bit like this.”
“You clearly had weird parents,” Arthur commented. Merlin considered correcting him but decided against it. He didn’t like to talk about his father - or rather, his lack of a father. He didn’t know Arthur well enough for that yet. He was about to say something else when he heard a sound from down the passageway. Arthur gave him a panicked stare and leapt away from the table. Frantically, Merlin shoved everything back to rights and snatched up the little bottle of medicine, just as a woman who had to be Lady Helen walked in.
“What are you doing in here?” she asked, her voice chilly.
“Um,” Merlin said. “I brought this, for your voice.”
She took the bottle slowly, her eyes narrowed. Merlin gulped. Arthur stepped up.
“Hello, Lady Helen,” he said warmly. “It’s wonderful to see you in Camelot again.”
She gave him a quick, anxious sort of look and gave her head a sharp nod, then stepped out of the way. Clearly, she wanted them to leave. Merlin walked hastily out and after a second, he heard Arthur follow.
“Well, she is very pretty,” he murmured as they walked down the stairs.
“That was … odd,” Arthur said, his frown heavy in his voice.
“What was?”
“Well, she … we met last time she was in Camelot,” Arthur said. “She was … well. Maybe she’s heard something.”
Merlin looked at him. Arthur was looking pretty miserable. Merlin opened his mouth to ask what was wrong and then Arthur shrugged his shoulders and grinned as though nothing had happened.
“Well, whatever! C’mon, I’ll show you the market! It’s quite fun, pretty noisy. Might even be able to grab us a snack, you never know! Hurry up, Merlin! Time waits for no man!”
He was moving quickly down the stairs and Merlin had to leap after him, shaking his head. Arthur really was a bit peculiar, that was for certain. But how could Merlin complain? He wasn’t exactly normal either.
The market was busy, filled with noise and people and smells. Merlin found himself keeping fairly close to Arthur and then felt rather stupid. Arthur had clearly noticed and gave him a totally wicked grin, then began pointing out stall vendors that he knew. Merlin was just beginning to enjoy himself when Arthur suddenly went flying, landing flat on his face. A shout of laughter went up and Merlin realised that they were surrounded by the youths he’d watched yesterday, including the crown prince. The lad next to him had clearly tripped Arthur up. Arthur was slowly getting up from the ground, his arms shaking slightly.
“Not very steady on your feet, are you?” the lad sneered. “I thought you were going to be a knight.”
More laughter. The prince smirked, a cold sort of smirk that didn’t show much amusement. Merlin gritted his teeth. He loathed bullies. And what kind of noble picked on a servant? He stepped forward and stared at the youth, smiling brightly.
“Well, clearly if you’re what Camelot’s knights have to offer, he’d be quite capable,” he said lightly. “So brave, tripping someone up while their back is turned.”
The youth stared at him slightly stupidly, as though not expecting someone to call him on his remarks at all. The prince looked at him too but Merlin pretended not to see. Arthur was standing up now, his tunic a mess from the dirty ground. He was looking at Merlin thoughtfully.
“Who is this idiot?” the youth demanded.
“I’m Merlin,” Merlin said, still smiling as brightly as he could, aware that the group were forming a tighter circle around them and that people were staring curiously over.
“Well, Merlin - ” the youth sneered but a calm voice abruptly said “That’s enough.” and Merlin finally turned and looked at the prince head on. He wasn’t bad looking, Merlin supposed, but he wasn’t really a looker either. He was just … rather average. He did radiate power though. Merlin refused to be intimidated. He simply stared and the prince stared back.
“The boy’s right,” the prince said. He had a slow, deliberate way of speaking, as though each word was carefully measured before it left his lips. “You shouldn’t waste your time on nobodies.”
Merlin gritted his teeth. That hadn’t been exactly what he’d had in mind. He heard Arthur make an odd sort of noise and flashed him a quick glance. Arthur’s face was flushed and his fists were clenched. Without thinking about it, Merlin stepped closer to the prince and glared.
“Doesn’t anyone have any manners in Camelot?”
Gasps went up around them and Arthur made a noise that sounded rather a lot like a chuckle. The prince blinked and stared at Merlin, as though he couldn’t quite believe that Merlin had spoken.
“You don’t appear to,” he said at last. “Do you know who I am?”
“Yes,” Merlin said.
“Then you must be more of a fool than you look,” the prince said.
Merlin gritted his teeth. He glared at the prince furiously and folded his arms.
“I’d rather be a fool than a sheep!” he snapped. Another ripple of sound went up around them, shock and awe. Merlin knew that he was digging himself into a hole that he wasn’t sure how he could climb out of. But he couldn’t quite make himself stop.
“Oh Merlin, leave it,” Arthur said abruptly, his voice rough. “Us “nobodies” have tasks to do, in case you’d forgotten. Imagine how cross Gaius will be if he can’t get on with his work this afternoon because some twit has broken his fist on your face.”
This wasn’t exactly the support that Merlin had been hoping for and it didn’t seem to calm the mood of the group any. In fact, it seemed to annoy them all them more. A nerve in the prince’s jaw twitched and he stared at Arthur. Arthur stared back, his expression cold. He rested a warm hand on Merlin’s shoulder and squeezed very gently.
“C’mon Merlin,” he said. “Let’s go.”
“Yes,” the prince said. “Go.”
Merlin decided that was probably the best that they’d get. He turned around and found himself looking at the first bully again. He was smirking, as though he’d won. Merlin felt a stab of frustrated rage. Dropping his eyes as though he didn’t want to meet the lad’s eyes, he focused on the bootlaces. It took barely a flick of power to unfasten the bootlaces and then another tiny flick so that when the lad attempted to take a step, he stumbled and fell to the side, right into a barrel of peelings from the nearby stall. The lad opened his mouth to curse and Merlin couldn’t resist flicking his magic again so that some of the peelings got into his mouth. He might have done more if he hadn’t looked up and see Gaius staring at them, his expression cold. Merlin gulped. Time to stop then.
“What do the two of you think you are doing?” Gaius hissed at them both.
“We weren’t doing anything!” Merlin began to protest but Arthur cut him off.
“Nothing, apparently!” he spat. “Us “nobodies” don’t do anything, do we? I didn’t need your bloody help, Merlin! Do I look like someone who can’t handle himself?”
He turned and stalked off before Merlin could even try to answer. He wanted to follow but Gaius’s hand gripped his arm tightly and gave a very sharp tug.
“But Arthur … ” Merlin said limply.
“Now,” Gaius growled and this time, Merlin followed without protest.
“What did you think you were doing?!” Gaius yelled at him the moment they were safe in his rooms again. “Using your magic in public like that? Are you mad?”
“You didn’t see what he was doing!” Merlin shouted back. “He was a bully and he deserved it!”
“And what gives you the right to decide anyone deserves anything?!” Gaius demanded. “What gives you the right to make any decision like that?”
“He was bullying Arthur! Arthur’s my friend! You don’t let people bully your friends!”
“And if you have any sense, you learn more about your friends before you leap head-first into their fights!”
“What is there to know?” Merlin demanded. “What is there to know that would make it right to ignore someone picking on something else?”
“That isn’t what I said,” Gaius said flatly. “That isn’t what I said at all. And there is nothing that makes using your magic in public acceptable, Merlin! Don’t you understand the danger that you’re in?”
“Sometimes that doesn’t matter! Sometimes you just have to do what’s right!” Merlin said fiercely.
“No, Merlin! Sometimes, you have to protect yourself!”
Merlin turned away, fury boiling inside him. He took a deep breath to try and get control but it didn’t really work. Gaius was still glaring at him.
“Your magic is special, Merlin! It is to be mastered, studied, learned! Not for idiotic pranks on people who annoy you!”
“What is there to master? I could do things like that before I could talk!” Merlin snapped at him. “What’s even special about it, Gaius? What’s special about any of it?”
“Merlin - ”
“No!” Merlin threw at him. “If I can’t use magic to help people, then what’s the point? If I can’t use magic, I might as well die!”
Gaius stopped speaking then and Merlin turned and stalked into his room, already feeling something of a fool for his outburst. He was just feeling frustrated. He didn’t understand why Arthur had been so angry with him. He didn’t understand why he bubbled with so much power, power that no one else seemed to have. He didn’t know what he was doing in a place that killed people for having far less power than he did.
A noise. Gaius had followed him. He walked quietly in and sat next to Merlin on the bed, gently touching his shoulder. Merlin tried to smile, to show that his temper tantrum was over and that he was fine but it didn’t seem to quite come out right.
“You don’t know why I’m like this, do you?” he asked.
“No,” Gaius said quietly.
“I’m … not a monster, am I?” Merlin tried to phrase it as a joke but his voice cracked slightly. He couldn’t stop himself being afraid sometimes. What were you supposed to think when there wasn’t anyone else like you around?
“Don’t ever think that,” Gaius ordered him sharply. “Merlin, whatever your powers are for … I’m sure that they’re for good.”
“But you don’t know,” Merlin said. He swallowed and pushed that aside for now. “But you do know about Arthur, don’t you? There’s something I should know, isn’t there?”
Gaius gave a sigh. He looked very sad all of a sudden. Merlin stared at him, confused. What on earth was going on? Gaius patted his shoulder again and took a deep breath.
“Arthur … Arthur is Queen Ygraine’s son,” he said quietly.
“Queen Ygraine?” Merlin repeated slowly. “Uther’s wife?”
“Yes,” Gaius said. “She died giving birth to Arthur. The king … the king declared him a bastard. Said that Ygraine had betrayed him and gave Arthur to a servant family to raise.”
Merlin stared at him, unable to quite process what Gaius had just said to him. Gaius was looking grim, clearly waiting to see if Merlin was going to speak.
“Is Arthur … is he … did Ygraine betray the king?”
“There’s no way to know that,” Gaius said quietly. “In the end, it is irrelevant. The king does not accept him and therefore his true parentage doesn’t mean much. Whatever it is, he is still merely a bastard in the eyes of the law.”
“But that’s not right!” Merlin said. “That’s … does Arthur know?”
“Oh yes,” Gaius said and his voice was bitter now. “It is common knowledge, of course. Rarely spoken of openly but everyone in the castle knows who Arthur is.”
“So … so the prince is his brother?”
The odd sound Arthur had made when the prince had described him as a nobody. Of course. Who wanted their own brother to call them a nobody?
“Yes,” Gaius said. “Prince Aurelius was just three when his mother died in childbirth. Naturally, his opinions of Arthur are … conflicted.”
“But … that’s awful,” Merlin said, trying to take it all in. “That’s … it’s not right!”
“Of course it’s not,” Gaius said. “But that is how it is. Arthur is a servant - less than a servant in some people’s eyes. They have little need to treat him well because they believe that there is no one powerful who will stand up for him.”
“I’ll stand up for him!” Merlin said fiercely.
“Yes, that’s what I’m afraid of,” Gaius said, still speaking very gently. “Merlin, Arthur would do anything for the love and respect of the King. If he ever finds out about you, you may well be in real danger from him. Even if you’re only trying to protect him.”
Merlin didn’t answer that. He was too busy turning it all over in his head. Gaius seemed to understand that and gave him a final pat on the shoulder before walking out of the room, murmuring something about making them food. Merlin continued to sit and turn thoughts over in his head.
When he went to eat, he and Gaius didn’t talk about Arthur. They talked about Uther’s hatred of magic and his destruction of the dragons. Merlin listened to it all and acknowledged it and tried not to worry. He rather hoped that Arthur might barge in and make friends again but there was no sign of him and Merlin didn’t think he ought to be pushy. Besides, it occurred to him that he didn’t know where Arthur actually lived.
“Who is it who brings Arthur up?” he blurted out. Gaius didn’t seem too troubled by the change of topic but he suddenly seemed very interested in his food.
“Her name is Greta,” he said. “She had a son who died three years before Arthur was born. The king must have been aware of it and offered her a … replacement.”
Merlin flinched at the word and Gaius looked apologetic.
“She looks after him well enough,” he said. “There’s … affection between the two, I believe. But Arthur is inclined to be difficult … ”
“Can you blame him?” Merlin murmured, only half-listening now. He was suddenly remembering all the times people in Ealdor had called him difficult. His mother had never stopped loving him. But then, she was his mother.
“Did the king even ask? Whether she wanted a replacement?”
“Yes,” Gaius said. “She was asked. She accepted the responsibility.”
“I bet she didn’t know what it would be like though,” Merlin muttered.
“Does anyone?” Gaius pointed out. Merlin had to admit that that wasn’t unreasonable. His own mother could hardly have known what he was going to be like. She could hardly have known that he was going to be born some sort of freak.
He couldn’t stop thinking about Arthur though. About the way the prince had looked at him that afternoon. About the way his friends had bullied him. Because they thought they could. Imagine knowing that you ought to have been a prince and weren’t because of bad luck. Because your mother had died when you were born. Without family for no reason at all. Just thinking about it made Merlin’s stomach crunch up. Poor Arthur.
The thoughts made it hard to drift off to sleep which was probably why the voice seemed so much louder that night. Merlin sat up, wondering if he’d drifted off to sleep and dreamed it but the voice continued, even though he was now sitting bolt-upright. There really was someone - or something - crying out his name. Something below him that wanted him.
Part two here.Link to the Masterpost here
Author: lycoris
Pairings/characters: Arthur/Merlin, Gwen, Morgana, Gaius, Uther, Leon, plus pretty much everyone who appeared in Season One. Also contains Arthur/Others and off-screen Merlin/Will.
Rating: Light R
Word Count: 67, 094 words
Warnings: Non-graphic prostitution. About the same level of violence you get from Season One. Character death.
Summary: Merlin arrives at Camelot to start his new life working for Gaius. First he meets Arthur, then he meets a dragon who tells him that it is Arthur's destiny to become the Once and Future King of All Albion. The only problem is that Arthur is only a servant and Camelot already has a Crown Prince ...
Author's notes: Thank you to my betas, emeraldsword and robert_frogg for their help, con-crit and suggestions. Thanks also to la_localfreak and versipellis, both of whom said the right things at the right times! And, finally, thank you to thisissirius for her wonderful artwork! This fic fills this prompt at the kink meme.
Art link: Here.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of Merlin and make no profit from any of this.
Destiny Calling
Meeting Arthur entirely changed the course of Merlin’s life. But he didn’t know that at the time.
It was his second day in Camelot and he was already wondering whether this had been his mother’s best idea. Using magic could get you executed and he’d spent the night dreaming of strange voices shouting his name. But Gaius seemed nice and the castle was beautiful so perhaps it would be all right.
He was delivering medicine for Gaius, which was a little trickier than it sounded but he managed it just the same. Smug in having completed his task, he had decided to head outside and explore from the outside in as it were. He was so busy trying to memorise all the corridors that he didn’t look where he was going and walked bang into someone who was carrying a pile of platters which crashed loudly to the floor.
“Bloody hell!”
“I’m sorry!” Merlin yelped, quickly dropping to his knees and beginning to gather them all up again. “I’m really, really sorry!”
The other fellow crouched down and stared at Merlin. He was just about a man, probably a year or so older than Merlin, with messy blond hair that fell into his eyes. He was dressed like a servant, a fairly neglected one too, Merlin couldn’t help thinking. His brown tunic was patched with various mismatched colours and his trousers looked slightly too tight and revealed several inches of ankle. Merlin’s own clothing was in a better state which surprised him a bit. He’d thought that everyone in Camelot would look much smarter than a country boy from Ealdor.
“Do I know you?” the man asked. He was scowling.
“Um,” Merlin said and held out a hand. “I’m Merlin.”
“So I don’t know you.”
“No,” Merlin said, not sure if that was a threatening statement or not. It appeared not - the scowl on the guy’s face was replaced with a lop-sided smile and he abruptly took Merlin’s hand and shook it. He had a very strong grip and Merlin winced a little.
“Sorry,” the fellow said. “I’m Arthur. So, where did you spring from, Merlin?”
He drawled the name in a friendly sort of fashion and Merlin relaxed a little. It seemed that Arthur probably wasn’t going to beat him up for his mistake.
“I’m Gaius’s new assistant,” he said and was greatly relieved when Arthur broke into a genuine grin.
“Oh, you,” he said. “Yes, Gaius mentioned you. I should hate your guts Merlin, not only have you knocked me over and got fingerprints all over my beautifully polished platters, you’ve stolen the job I rather wanted. Lucky for you, I’m a generous soul and probably won’t be killing you in your sleep.”
“Well, now you’ve said that, I’ll always be worrying,” Merlin said, straight-faced. Something about Arthur reminded him quite a lot of Will. “I expect I’ll have to sleep with a knife by the bed.”
“You’ll never see me coming,” Arthur said cheerfully, standing and helping Merlin up too, taking the platters from him. “Where were you rushing off to then?”
“Nowhere,” Merlin said. “I’m exploring. I was trying to remember the way.”
Arthur laughed.
“Help me deliver these and I’ll show you around,” he said in a way that sounded more like an order than an offer. “You’ll never find the way about by yourself, this place is huge. You need to have been born here to get to grips with it.”
Merlin took a share of the platters willingly - there seemed too many for one person in any case - and followed Arthur along the passageway.
“You were born here then?”
“Yes,” Arthur said. “Born and raised.”
He didn’t sound exactly happy about it and Merlin wondered if he’d done something wrong. Then Arthur abruptly grinned again and stuck out his foot, almost sending Merlin sprawling. He dodged the foot but dropped several platters.
“Ah hah!” Arthur said. “Vengeance is mine!”
Merlin picked up his platters again, putting on his haughtiest expression.
“I am far too mature to get involved in such a childish game,” he said, standing up and sticking his nose in the air. “Although you’d better hope you’re not wearing your best clothes the next time we walk past a puddle!”
Arthur laughed.
“I like you, Merlin,” he said. “Come on. Let’s get these delivered and see if we can’t charm ourselves a bit of food.”
The kitchen was the nosiest place that Merlin had ever been in and also the hottest and the most chaotic. People were rushing everywhere, shouting and clamouring and crashing pots around. Arthur didn’t seem at all phased by the chaos. He dodged around people easily - even when they seemed strangely determined to get in his way - making his way to a table where he deposited the platters and gave a courtly sort of bow to a young woman who was kneading dough there.
“For you, my dearest,” he said solemnly. “I would have brought roses but the gardens were closed so you must make do with these instead.”
The woman giggled.
“Oh, you!” she said. “Get out of my way now, I’m busy!”
“But my friend is starving,” Arthur said, slinging an arm around Merlin’s shoulders and pulling him forward. “Look at him. Look at his tragic cheekbones! Why, he may die if we don’t feed him quickly!”
The woman smiled at Merlin and he grinned back at her and rolled his eyes to show what he thought of Arthur. Her smile widened.
“Don’t let him lead you astray,” she warned, shaking her head. “All right - here, have these and get out before Head Cook catches you with them!”
She thrust several extremely nice looking buns into their hands. Arthur caught hold of her floury wrist and kissed her hand in a very courtly fashion.
“You are a princess amongst ruffians,” he informed her. “Come on, Merlin. Get that down your throat and I’ll show you Camelot.”
Merlin followed, rolling his eyes. Was Arthur always like this? If so, he was probably quite exhausting to know. Still, it was nice to feel that he’d made a friend already. Somebody who could show him the ropes.
“Is the kitchen always like that?” he asked.
“Usually worse,” Arthur said. “You probably won’t spend much time in there, although if you ask the right people, you can nearly always get a bit of extra food. Only if you ask the right people mind. Although you have the face for it so they’ll doubtless fall over to give you things to eat! Now, let’s start from the outside and work inwards, shall we?”
“That was my idea,” Merlin agreed.
“Ah, so there are brains lurking between those ears then? Well, that’s good to know,” Arthur mocked and Merlin considering kicking him. He decided that they didn’t know each other quite well enough for random physical assault and restrained himself to just giving Arthur his most withering look. Apparently, it wasn’t that withering - Arthur only laughed.
“All right,” he said. “This as you can see is one of the courtyards and - oh.”
Merlin followed his gaze and saw a group of youths standing in what he supposed was a training ground. They were possibly squires as a few wore armour and the sun was glinting off nearby weapons. One of the youths; a tall man with dark brown hair was currently scolding a servant who didn’t seem to have set a target to the man’s satisfaction.
“What’s wrong?” Merlin asked.
Arthur didn’t answer. He was staring at the group with a most peculiar look on his face; seemingly all greed and longing and loneliness all stirred up together. Merlin looked over at the group again. They were laughing together and looked fairly cheerful but it didn’t look that much fun. The dark-haired man had finished his scolding and now had moved back to his friends, gesturing irritably for the servant to set the target properly. The servant obeyed, looking kind of depressed. One of the others shouted something and there was more laughter.
“They shouldn’t bully him,” Merlin muttered. “It’s not right.”
“I’d keep that to yourself, if I were you,” Arthur said, his voice oddly flat. “That’s the prince.”
“No way,” Merlin said, turning to look. “That’s the prince?”
“Yes,” Arthur said, his voice flatter than ever. “It is.”
He turned away. Merlin took one last quick look at the group of men and then turned too, darting to catch up with Arthur.
“All right!” he said. “Courtyard! So, how do I find Gaius from here?”
Arthur blinked at him then grinned as though nothing had happened at all. He slung his arm around Merlin’s shoulders again.
“No, no,” he said. “I promised I’d show you everything. Tour first. Then helpful hints!”
Merlin grinned and let himself be swept up in Arthur’s cheerfulness. His new friend was definitely slightly weird but he was a lot of fun too. It was nice to actually have a friend. And Arthur certainly knew about Camelot. He pointed out rooms to Merlin, usually with a merry dollop of gossip about the owners. He told Merlin all the short-cuts and the ways to avoid crowded places if he wanted to. He seemed to know everything there was to know about Camelot.
“And here is Gaius!” he said dramatically, opening the door with a flourish. “Gaius, I found this poor waif a-wandering and have returned him to you!”
Gaius looked up with his eyebrow raised. There was something of a smile on his mouth though, as though he was used to Arthur’s theatrics and entertained by them.
“Hello Arthur,” he said. “I hope you haven’t been leading Merlin astray.”
“No one trusts me,” Arthur said with a tragic sigh. “I try to help and they only mock me. Merlin, do you see how hard my life is?”
“I do,” Merlin said. “I’m so sad for you. Honestly.”
“Liar,” Arthur said. “I hope you get lost tomorrow and find yourself in Sir Bastian’s quarters and he ties you up in his curtains and eats your brain.”
“Sir Bastian does not eat brains, Arthur,” Gaius said briskly, stirring something green into something yellow. “He does not tie people up in his curtains, either.”
“That’s what you think,” Arthur said with a smirk. “Some people don’t know as much about this castle as me.”
“Some people are shirking their duties,” Gaius said. “Greta was looking for you.”
“Oh hell,” Arthur said, slumping a little. “What does the old hag want now?”
“You to get on with your work, I should imagine,” Gaius said. “Go on, Arthur. Does as she tells you for once.”
Arthur scowled and made a grumpy noise then turned to Merlin.
“I’ll see you around, right?” he said and there was just a touch of pleading there, as though he wasn’t quite sure. Merlin grinned back at him, pretending that he hadn’t noticed.
“Course you will,” he said. “Assuming Sir Bastian doesn’t eat my brains!”
Arthur laughed. He gave Merlin a slap on the shoulder and then turned and walked out of the room, letting the door slam behind him. Merlin turned to Gaius with a grin.
“I’ve made a friend!”
“You have,” Gaius agreed dryly. “Come here and help me grind these roots.”
Merlin did as he was told, feeling cheerful. It seemed that things were going to work out in Camelot. A job and a friend who knew the place well. Those all had to be good, didn’t they? And he’d stayed out of trouble. The first day couldn’t really have gone better.
“So, you’ve met Arthur,” Gaius said.
“Ran into him actually,” Merlin said. “He seems nice.”
“Oh, he is,” Gaius said. “He’s a very friendly young man.”
Something in his tone made Merlin look at him. It wasn’t exactly disapproval. But it was slightly off somehow. As though Gaius was trying to hint at something.
“He showed me around,” Merlin said, trying not to sound uncertain. “He said he wanted to work for you.”
“Oh yes,” Gaius said. “I’ve let Arthur help me out in the past. He isn’t very reliable though. I don’t want him to lead you into bad habits, Merlin. If I ask you to do something, I expect it done!”
He looked fierce and Merlin nodded quickly to show that he was a dutiful young man who never ever failed to do his jobs and always did them on time too. Gaius gave him a “I don’t believe that for a minute” look and went back to working on what he was doing. Merlin continued to grind the roots industriously, feeling a little bit confused by the whole business. Ought he ask Gaius what he meant? He wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He wanted Arthur to be a friend. It was nice to think that he’d only been in Camelot a day and managed to make a friend.
“You won’t tell Arthur anything about your … skills, will you?” Gaius asked suddenly.
“Oh, no!” Merlin said quickly. “I promised, I won’t tell in anyone in Camelot.”
“Good,” Gaius said, quite calm.
He filled the rest of Merlin’s day with various chores and Merlin was quite glad to go to bed by the end of it. He curled up in his new bed and drifted to into a contented sleep.
He dreamed about the voice again. Deep and dark and crawling through his bones. Merlin. Merlin. MERLIN!
“Merlin! Merlin!”
Someone was bouncing on his bed. Merlin opened groggy eyes and found himself staring into Arthur’s cheery face.
“What are you doing still in bed?” Arthur asked cheerfully. “Get up!”
“It is not morning,” Merlin informed him grumpily. “Go away.”
Arthur fell onto him and began tickling him. Merlin shrieked in outrage and hit him with the pillow. The fight was interrupted by Gaius coughing darkly at the door and glaring at them.
“Hi Gaius,” Arthur said cheerfully, seemingly not at all embarrassed. Merlin sat up and tried to look as though this was completely and utterly nothing to do with him.
“Whilst I am grateful that you got Merlin out of bed for me, Arthur,” Gaius said, his voice dry. “Perhaps you could attempt to remember that some people do not enjoy other men bouncing onto their beds unexpectedly?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Arthur said, clearly unrepentant. “You got anything I can have for breakfast? I’m starving!”
Gaius gave a cross sort of sigh.
“Arthur, you are perfectly capable of feeding yourself. Or getting a meal from Greta. You really do have to stop coming in here and demanding food.”
Merlin couldn’t help noticing that despite what Gaius was saying, he was already rummaging around, clearly finding something for Arthur to eat. By the time Merlin had washed and dressed, Arthur was happily eating bread and cheese and gave Merlin a cheerful wave. Merlin rolled his eyes and sat down for his own breakfast. Gaius gave him a friendly smile and a large plate.
“Do you have lots of boring chores for him to do today?” Arthur asked.
“Yes,” Gaius said promptly. “All sorts of things. And I know you have things to do as well, Arthur. You’ll get in trouble again if you carry on shirking.”
“Oh, no one cares,” Arthur said flippantly. “Not with the big celebrations coming up. Merlin will be going to the feast, I suppose.”
“He’ll be helping me, yes,” Gaius said, sounding a little wary all of a sudden.
“How lovely for him,” Arthur said. Was a slight chill to his tone? Merlin looked between them uncertainly. He was sure that was some sort of atmosphere. Arthur seemed to be avoiding looking at either of them. Gaius was staring at Arthur with clear anxiety in his eyes. Arthur shrugged his shoulders and abruptly bounded to his feet.
“Well, looks like I’ll be busy all morning,” he said easily. He ruffled Merlin’s hair. “I’ll see you later, right?”
“Sure,” Merlin said, grinning. He watched Arthur leave, then looked at Gaius, who was still frowning a little.
“What’s wrong?” Merlin asked.
“Nothing,” Gaius said quickly. “Right. You have plenty of things you need to do this morning. And don’t you let Arthur talk you into having any fun until you’re finished!”
“Hey, I would never do that,” Merlin said, trying to look innocent. Gaius raised his eyebrow and then started providing chores. Merlin spent quite a bit of his morning mixing horrible smelling solutions and then found himself heading off to find clean bedding from somewhere. Naturally, he got lost after turning the first two corners. After turning a few more corners, he almost bumped into someone else coming the other way. This time, Merlin was swift enough to dodge out of the way and the girl he’d nearly run into smiled at him. She had sheets in her arms and Merlin blinked at them and then found his expression becoming pleading.
“Um. You couldn’t point me to where you got those from, could you?”
The girl smiled.
“Of course! Here, let me show you. I’m Guinevere but you can call me Gwen. I’m the Lady Morgana’s maid.”
“I’m Merlin,” Merlin said, sagging with relief. “Most people just call me Lost Idiot.”
Gwen giggled.
“It’s a bit confusing when you first start trying to find your way around, isn’t it?” she said. “I remember when I first came here - it was terrible.”
“I would mind but I got a tour yesterday,” Merlin said with an exaggerated sigh. “And I’m still lost!”
“Yes, I saw you,” Gwen said. “You were with Arthur.”
Merlin heard something in her voice and took a quick look to see her expression. Gwen wasn’t looking at him and she was smiling quite cheerfully still.
“Yeah,” he said. “He seems nice.”
“Oh, he is!” Gwen agreed quickly. “He’s very sweet. And he could use a friend. Not that he doesn’t already have friends, of course. Well, I mean, not close friends … well, when I say close … ”
Merlin stopped walking and grinned at her, enjoying the frantic babbling. Gwen swallowed and shrugged her shoulders sheepishly at him.
“Well, anyway,” she said. “I hope you’ll be a good friend to him. You can let him know I asked about him. If you like, I mean. It doesn’t matter. of course.”
“I’ll tell him,” Merlin said with a laugh. Gwen looked even more embarrassed and coughed so Merlin decided to spare her any more shame and quickly looked ahead.
“Ah! I remember where we are, I think! So, sheets …?”
“Just in here,” Gwen said, showing him. “I’d better get back to the Lady Morgana, if you’re sure you know where you’re going?”
“Definitely,” Merlin said. “Thank you.”
“No problem,” Gwen said, smiling again. “I expect I’ll see you around.”
“Definitely,” Merlin said and waved to her as she left before gathering up the sheets. Someone else who was nice. Although also someone else who seemed to think that Arthur was … strange. Or … not strange, they hadn’t said strange but … but there was something. Something to know.
Arthur was waiting outside Gaius’s rooms, leaning against the wall with his hands behind his head. He bounded upright when he saw Merlin and waved.
“Tell me you’re done,” he said.
“I’m probably done,” Merlin said with a laugh. “Open the door for me and we’ll see what Gaius says.”
Gaius gave him a look and handed him a potion bottle.
“Take this to Lady Helen first,” he said. “Then you can have some time to yourself, if you want. Arthur, tell me that you’ve finished your work.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Arthur said, flapping his hand. “C’mon Merlin, let’s get delivering!”
Merlin grinned at Gaius and then trotted to keep up with Arthur’s long strides.
“Do you know where Lady Helen’s chambers are?” he asked. He had heard quite a bit about Lady Helen just from wandering around the castle. Apparently, she was very beautiful and the most amazing singer anyone had ever heard. Merlin was really very much looking forward to seeing her.
“Sure,” Arthur said easily. “I’m looking forward to seeing her again - it’s been some years since she’s visited.”
“You’ve met her before then? Is she as beautiful as everyone says?” Merlin asked eagerly.
That made Arthur laugh. He aimed a playful punch at Merlin’s head.
“Merlin,” he mocked. “Nice to see you’re human.”
“Oh shut up,” Merlin said. “Is she?”
“Oh, she is,” Arthur said. “She’s a very, very beautiful woman indeed. Completely out of your league, I have to say. Mind you, most women are, I suspect. The ears definitely take away from your potential.”
“I hope you fall over and break your skull,” Merlin said. “Oh, speaking of women, Gwen said to say she asked after you.”
Arthur missed a step. Merlin sneaked a quick look at him. Arthur looked strange, anxious somehow. Then he shrugged and settled again.
“Met Gwen, have you? She’s nice. Sticks her nose into things though. Turn left here.”
Merlin did so, wondering if he ought to ask anything more. Arthur didn’t seem to want to talk about it, that was clear enough. He still looked slightly odd. Was he worried that Gwen would have told Merlin something that Arthur didn’t want him to know? Camelot was a bit confusing.
“Here you are,” Arthur said. “That would be Lady Helen’s room.”
Merlin knocked. When no one answered, he opened the door and peered inside.
“You know, you’re not actually supposed to do that,” Arthur drawled.
“Well, I need to deliver it,” Merlin said. “She might not have heard me … or she might not actually be here.”
She wasn’t. The room was big and empty with a large table in the middle. A mirror was propped up but it had a blanket thrown over it. There was a collection of really odd looking things on the table. Puzzled, Merlin walked over. A really old book, a strange box, a really weird straw doll …
“Huh,” Arthur said, right behind him. “I wouldn’t be keeping those around in Camelot, if I were her. Look a bit like magic.”
“You think so?” Merlin asked, twisting the doll in his hands. “Maybe it’s just an old toy. I used to have a corn doll a bit like this.”
“You clearly had weird parents,” Arthur commented. Merlin considered correcting him but decided against it. He didn’t like to talk about his father - or rather, his lack of a father. He didn’t know Arthur well enough for that yet. He was about to say something else when he heard a sound from down the passageway. Arthur gave him a panicked stare and leapt away from the table. Frantically, Merlin shoved everything back to rights and snatched up the little bottle of medicine, just as a woman who had to be Lady Helen walked in.
“What are you doing in here?” she asked, her voice chilly.
“Um,” Merlin said. “I brought this, for your voice.”
She took the bottle slowly, her eyes narrowed. Merlin gulped. Arthur stepped up.
“Hello, Lady Helen,” he said warmly. “It’s wonderful to see you in Camelot again.”
She gave him a quick, anxious sort of look and gave her head a sharp nod, then stepped out of the way. Clearly, she wanted them to leave. Merlin walked hastily out and after a second, he heard Arthur follow.
“Well, she is very pretty,” he murmured as they walked down the stairs.
“That was … odd,” Arthur said, his frown heavy in his voice.
“What was?”
“Well, she … we met last time she was in Camelot,” Arthur said. “She was … well. Maybe she’s heard something.”
Merlin looked at him. Arthur was looking pretty miserable. Merlin opened his mouth to ask what was wrong and then Arthur shrugged his shoulders and grinned as though nothing had happened.
“Well, whatever! C’mon, I’ll show you the market! It’s quite fun, pretty noisy. Might even be able to grab us a snack, you never know! Hurry up, Merlin! Time waits for no man!”
He was moving quickly down the stairs and Merlin had to leap after him, shaking his head. Arthur really was a bit peculiar, that was for certain. But how could Merlin complain? He wasn’t exactly normal either.
The market was busy, filled with noise and people and smells. Merlin found himself keeping fairly close to Arthur and then felt rather stupid. Arthur had clearly noticed and gave him a totally wicked grin, then began pointing out stall vendors that he knew. Merlin was just beginning to enjoy himself when Arthur suddenly went flying, landing flat on his face. A shout of laughter went up and Merlin realised that they were surrounded by the youths he’d watched yesterday, including the crown prince. The lad next to him had clearly tripped Arthur up. Arthur was slowly getting up from the ground, his arms shaking slightly.
“Not very steady on your feet, are you?” the lad sneered. “I thought you were going to be a knight.”
More laughter. The prince smirked, a cold sort of smirk that didn’t show much amusement. Merlin gritted his teeth. He loathed bullies. And what kind of noble picked on a servant? He stepped forward and stared at the youth, smiling brightly.
“Well, clearly if you’re what Camelot’s knights have to offer, he’d be quite capable,” he said lightly. “So brave, tripping someone up while their back is turned.”
The youth stared at him slightly stupidly, as though not expecting someone to call him on his remarks at all. The prince looked at him too but Merlin pretended not to see. Arthur was standing up now, his tunic a mess from the dirty ground. He was looking at Merlin thoughtfully.
“Who is this idiot?” the youth demanded.
“I’m Merlin,” Merlin said, still smiling as brightly as he could, aware that the group were forming a tighter circle around them and that people were staring curiously over.
“Well, Merlin - ” the youth sneered but a calm voice abruptly said “That’s enough.” and Merlin finally turned and looked at the prince head on. He wasn’t bad looking, Merlin supposed, but he wasn’t really a looker either. He was just … rather average. He did radiate power though. Merlin refused to be intimidated. He simply stared and the prince stared back.
“The boy’s right,” the prince said. He had a slow, deliberate way of speaking, as though each word was carefully measured before it left his lips. “You shouldn’t waste your time on nobodies.”
Merlin gritted his teeth. That hadn’t been exactly what he’d had in mind. He heard Arthur make an odd sort of noise and flashed him a quick glance. Arthur’s face was flushed and his fists were clenched. Without thinking about it, Merlin stepped closer to the prince and glared.
“Doesn’t anyone have any manners in Camelot?”
Gasps went up around them and Arthur made a noise that sounded rather a lot like a chuckle. The prince blinked and stared at Merlin, as though he couldn’t quite believe that Merlin had spoken.
“You don’t appear to,” he said at last. “Do you know who I am?”
“Yes,” Merlin said.
“Then you must be more of a fool than you look,” the prince said.
Merlin gritted his teeth. He glared at the prince furiously and folded his arms.
“I’d rather be a fool than a sheep!” he snapped. Another ripple of sound went up around them, shock and awe. Merlin knew that he was digging himself into a hole that he wasn’t sure how he could climb out of. But he couldn’t quite make himself stop.
“Oh Merlin, leave it,” Arthur said abruptly, his voice rough. “Us “nobodies” have tasks to do, in case you’d forgotten. Imagine how cross Gaius will be if he can’t get on with his work this afternoon because some twit has broken his fist on your face.”
This wasn’t exactly the support that Merlin had been hoping for and it didn’t seem to calm the mood of the group any. In fact, it seemed to annoy them all them more. A nerve in the prince’s jaw twitched and he stared at Arthur. Arthur stared back, his expression cold. He rested a warm hand on Merlin’s shoulder and squeezed very gently.
“C’mon Merlin,” he said. “Let’s go.”
“Yes,” the prince said. “Go.”
Merlin decided that was probably the best that they’d get. He turned around and found himself looking at the first bully again. He was smirking, as though he’d won. Merlin felt a stab of frustrated rage. Dropping his eyes as though he didn’t want to meet the lad’s eyes, he focused on the bootlaces. It took barely a flick of power to unfasten the bootlaces and then another tiny flick so that when the lad attempted to take a step, he stumbled and fell to the side, right into a barrel of peelings from the nearby stall. The lad opened his mouth to curse and Merlin couldn’t resist flicking his magic again so that some of the peelings got into his mouth. He might have done more if he hadn’t looked up and see Gaius staring at them, his expression cold. Merlin gulped. Time to stop then.
“What do the two of you think you are doing?” Gaius hissed at them both.
“We weren’t doing anything!” Merlin began to protest but Arthur cut him off.
“Nothing, apparently!” he spat. “Us “nobodies” don’t do anything, do we? I didn’t need your bloody help, Merlin! Do I look like someone who can’t handle himself?”
He turned and stalked off before Merlin could even try to answer. He wanted to follow but Gaius’s hand gripped his arm tightly and gave a very sharp tug.
“But Arthur … ” Merlin said limply.
“Now,” Gaius growled and this time, Merlin followed without protest.
“What did you think you were doing?!” Gaius yelled at him the moment they were safe in his rooms again. “Using your magic in public like that? Are you mad?”
“You didn’t see what he was doing!” Merlin shouted back. “He was a bully and he deserved it!”
“And what gives you the right to decide anyone deserves anything?!” Gaius demanded. “What gives you the right to make any decision like that?”
“He was bullying Arthur! Arthur’s my friend! You don’t let people bully your friends!”
“And if you have any sense, you learn more about your friends before you leap head-first into their fights!”
“What is there to know?” Merlin demanded. “What is there to know that would make it right to ignore someone picking on something else?”
“That isn’t what I said,” Gaius said flatly. “That isn’t what I said at all. And there is nothing that makes using your magic in public acceptable, Merlin! Don’t you understand the danger that you’re in?”
“Sometimes that doesn’t matter! Sometimes you just have to do what’s right!” Merlin said fiercely.
“No, Merlin! Sometimes, you have to protect yourself!”
Merlin turned away, fury boiling inside him. He took a deep breath to try and get control but it didn’t really work. Gaius was still glaring at him.
“Your magic is special, Merlin! It is to be mastered, studied, learned! Not for idiotic pranks on people who annoy you!”
“What is there to master? I could do things like that before I could talk!” Merlin snapped at him. “What’s even special about it, Gaius? What’s special about any of it?”
“Merlin - ”
“No!” Merlin threw at him. “If I can’t use magic to help people, then what’s the point? If I can’t use magic, I might as well die!”
Gaius stopped speaking then and Merlin turned and stalked into his room, already feeling something of a fool for his outburst. He was just feeling frustrated. He didn’t understand why Arthur had been so angry with him. He didn’t understand why he bubbled with so much power, power that no one else seemed to have. He didn’t know what he was doing in a place that killed people for having far less power than he did.
A noise. Gaius had followed him. He walked quietly in and sat next to Merlin on the bed, gently touching his shoulder. Merlin tried to smile, to show that his temper tantrum was over and that he was fine but it didn’t seem to quite come out right.
“You don’t know why I’m like this, do you?” he asked.
“No,” Gaius said quietly.
“I’m … not a monster, am I?” Merlin tried to phrase it as a joke but his voice cracked slightly. He couldn’t stop himself being afraid sometimes. What were you supposed to think when there wasn’t anyone else like you around?
“Don’t ever think that,” Gaius ordered him sharply. “Merlin, whatever your powers are for … I’m sure that they’re for good.”
“But you don’t know,” Merlin said. He swallowed and pushed that aside for now. “But you do know about Arthur, don’t you? There’s something I should know, isn’t there?”
Gaius gave a sigh. He looked very sad all of a sudden. Merlin stared at him, confused. What on earth was going on? Gaius patted his shoulder again and took a deep breath.
“Arthur … Arthur is Queen Ygraine’s son,” he said quietly.
“Queen Ygraine?” Merlin repeated slowly. “Uther’s wife?”
“Yes,” Gaius said. “She died giving birth to Arthur. The king … the king declared him a bastard. Said that Ygraine had betrayed him and gave Arthur to a servant family to raise.”
Merlin stared at him, unable to quite process what Gaius had just said to him. Gaius was looking grim, clearly waiting to see if Merlin was going to speak.
“Is Arthur … is he … did Ygraine betray the king?”
“There’s no way to know that,” Gaius said quietly. “In the end, it is irrelevant. The king does not accept him and therefore his true parentage doesn’t mean much. Whatever it is, he is still merely a bastard in the eyes of the law.”
“But that’s not right!” Merlin said. “That’s … does Arthur know?”
“Oh yes,” Gaius said and his voice was bitter now. “It is common knowledge, of course. Rarely spoken of openly but everyone in the castle knows who Arthur is.”
“So … so the prince is his brother?”
The odd sound Arthur had made when the prince had described him as a nobody. Of course. Who wanted their own brother to call them a nobody?
“Yes,” Gaius said. “Prince Aurelius was just three when his mother died in childbirth. Naturally, his opinions of Arthur are … conflicted.”
“But … that’s awful,” Merlin said, trying to take it all in. “That’s … it’s not right!”
“Of course it’s not,” Gaius said. “But that is how it is. Arthur is a servant - less than a servant in some people’s eyes. They have little need to treat him well because they believe that there is no one powerful who will stand up for him.”
“I’ll stand up for him!” Merlin said fiercely.
“Yes, that’s what I’m afraid of,” Gaius said, still speaking very gently. “Merlin, Arthur would do anything for the love and respect of the King. If he ever finds out about you, you may well be in real danger from him. Even if you’re only trying to protect him.”
Merlin didn’t answer that. He was too busy turning it all over in his head. Gaius seemed to understand that and gave him a final pat on the shoulder before walking out of the room, murmuring something about making them food. Merlin continued to sit and turn thoughts over in his head.
When he went to eat, he and Gaius didn’t talk about Arthur. They talked about Uther’s hatred of magic and his destruction of the dragons. Merlin listened to it all and acknowledged it and tried not to worry. He rather hoped that Arthur might barge in and make friends again but there was no sign of him and Merlin didn’t think he ought to be pushy. Besides, it occurred to him that he didn’t know where Arthur actually lived.
“Who is it who brings Arthur up?” he blurted out. Gaius didn’t seem too troubled by the change of topic but he suddenly seemed very interested in his food.
“Her name is Greta,” he said. “She had a son who died three years before Arthur was born. The king must have been aware of it and offered her a … replacement.”
Merlin flinched at the word and Gaius looked apologetic.
“She looks after him well enough,” he said. “There’s … affection between the two, I believe. But Arthur is inclined to be difficult … ”
“Can you blame him?” Merlin murmured, only half-listening now. He was suddenly remembering all the times people in Ealdor had called him difficult. His mother had never stopped loving him. But then, she was his mother.
“Did the king even ask? Whether she wanted a replacement?”
“Yes,” Gaius said. “She was asked. She accepted the responsibility.”
“I bet she didn’t know what it would be like though,” Merlin muttered.
“Does anyone?” Gaius pointed out. Merlin had to admit that that wasn’t unreasonable. His own mother could hardly have known what he was going to be like. She could hardly have known that he was going to be born some sort of freak.
He couldn’t stop thinking about Arthur though. About the way the prince had looked at him that afternoon. About the way his friends had bullied him. Because they thought they could. Imagine knowing that you ought to have been a prince and weren’t because of bad luck. Because your mother had died when you were born. Without family for no reason at all. Just thinking about it made Merlin’s stomach crunch up. Poor Arthur.
The thoughts made it hard to drift off to sleep which was probably why the voice seemed so much louder that night. Merlin sat up, wondering if he’d drifted off to sleep and dreamed it but the voice continued, even though he was now sitting bolt-upright. There really was someone - or something - crying out his name. Something below him that wanted him.
Part two here.Link to the Masterpost here