The Three Swans (Merlin To Break A Spell Fic) PART 2

[woodsgal]

Gaius invited Merlin to stay with him until he'd built his strength back up, and the dark haired boy had been rather surprised that the King had been so accepting of him staying. From what he had heard back home Uther Pendragon was a monster but he had simply told Gaius that Arthur had spoken with him about Merlin living in the forest and Uther had said that he had a job for Merlin that would allow him to stay in the castle.

The job however was a lot less then Merlin expected. He had to get up early every morning only to get moaned at for being late and letting the breakfast go cold. He had to pick up and mend nearly everything and he was certainly going to have to become adept at cleaning and putting on armour, for the job that Merlin had been given was that of Prince Arthur's manservant. Apparently the last one had been useless and Arthur had gotten rid of him. That didn't give Merlin much hope, Arthur was always telling Merlin what a useless manservant he was and was always calling him an idiot. He didn't enjoy working for the Prince but even though he and Arthur didn't get along he still tried to save Arthur's life when necessary.

The first time it happened was a few weeks after Merlin had started his job and Uther had decided to hold a tournament. At first Merlin had looked forward to it, his mother had never enjoyed such activities, the only time he'd been able to witness fights were the sparring matches his sisters and the knights took in. He knew the atmosphere and the level of fighting would be very different and he had been eager to witness the differences. A problem made itself quite early on during the event though in the form of a Knight from the Western Isles known as Valiant. Merlin hadn't like him from the beginning, he had seemed like a creep and the brunette didn't like the way he had been looking at Arthur. He had become even more worried after he had witnessed the snakes on Valiant's shield come to life. One of the knight's he'd faced had been found with bite marks on his neck and showed symptoms of poisoning after he had proved to be a challenge to Valiant. After witnessing Arthur fight Merlin knew that the Prince would be a challenge and that even though he was a prat he had to be warned about the snakes. So he had snuck into Valiant's rooms when he was at dinner and had drawn the snakes out, cutting one of the creature's heads off before he went to find the Prince.

Arthur hadn't believed him at first, had asked him how someone like Merlin could have cut a magical snake's head off, but after Merlin taken the sheet with his explanation back again and had practically gotten on he knees and begged Arthur to believe him, the other male had simply sighed and asked him if he would swear that it was true and of course Merlin swore that it was true for it was, he wouldn't lie about such things. Arthur had said he'd believed him then and had even gone to his Father to inform him but somehow Valiant must have found out that Merlin had told Arthur as the Knight that had been bitten had died so quickly after he'd started to get better. Uther had been angry that a 'Knight' was being accused of sorcery and that bastard Valiant had stepped forward and had asked for Uther to forgive his son and had suggested that Arthur might be afraid of fighting him. Arrogant, infuriating and a good liar, they were only a few words that Merlin could use to describe the cheating Knight. Merlin hated his sort and he hated even more that Arthur had been angry with him afterwards. When Marlin and Arthur had returned to the Prince's chambers, Arthur had been quiet and had seemed upset with him but all of a sudden he was shouting at his servant. “My Father and the entire royal court think I'm a coward! You humiliated me!” But that wasn't the only thing that he did, no Arthur then promptly fired Merlin. Before when Arthur had been willing to trust Merlin he had found himself thinking that maybe they could be friends and it stung to think that he had been wrong. He hadn't given up on saving Arthur though, he knew Valiant would use the snakes on Arthur so he had stayed up all night trying to find a spell that he could use without speaking to bring the remaining two snakes alive. It seemed like a near impossible task and he fell asleep before he became successful but when he woke up the next morning, he kept working and eventually he succeeded. He then jumped to his feet and had sprinted towards the grounds where the matches were being held, he couldn't help but worry that he would be too late but he was determined and he managed to get there just in time. As soon as Arthur and Valiant were in such a position where everyone would be able to see the snakes, Merlin cast the spell. It worked and Valiant was found to be the vile man he was rather then the honest Knight he had been pretending to be. He was quickly defeated by Arthur and then later executed for using magic in Camelot. Merlin had just been relieved that he hadn't been caught and that he had managed to save Arthur. Especially as Arthur gave him his job back at the feast.

It was never going to be the easiest and most relaxing job but Merlin couldn't help but feel that he wanted to do it. It was certainly more interesting to serve a Prince rather then be one.

As more time had passed Merlin found himself saving Arthur's life on several other occasions but they did start to become closer and you could almost say that if Merlin wasn't thought of as the servant he'd became in Camelot they would be friends. The term idiot held a more affectionate ring to it and Merlin had found himself smiling more often, even with the fact that his work for Arthur was disrupting his time for making the shirts slightly. Some days he ended up forgetting about them all together though he never forgot the fact that he had to remain mute. The shirts would be finished, he had three years to make them after all but he couldn't allow a single word escape his lips nor a single laugh or groan. He needed to save his siblings and he would do anything he had to do, even if it did make life more difficult.

*****

In the first year Merlin spent with Arthur he saw him with very few women so when Uther summoned Arthur to court one day to introduce him to Princess Sophia of Tirmawr who was to become his fiancé he was surprised. He had never seen the rather attractive Princess before. She wasn't beautiful for she looked younger then her twenty years suggested but there was some sort of lure about her. People congregated towards her like bees to honey and she certainly seemed sweet enough but surely Arthur would be allowed to get to know her before deciding whether he would marry her or not. Back in Ealdor, Merlin and his sisters had been prepared for the fact they may have to marry to help their country at some point but Hunith had promised them that they would have some choice. They had very little dealings with other countries and barely any problems along the borderlines so it had been no problem but in such a large and prosperous country like Camelot, things were obviously different.

The courting process was a long and rather boring one, there appeared to be no romance though Sophia kept convincing Arthur to go on rides and walks with her without the proper chaperones. She seemed to like Arthur a lot and was constantly flirting and glaring at any of the maids when they even looked at Arthur in a way she didn't like. She was very possessive of both him and her Father it seemed. Merlin had came across her screaming at some maids she had overheard making a joke about her Father. It had not been a pretty sight but it had warned Merlin about how she could behave so he took care to avoid her when he could. It was difficult however when Sophia was trying to spend as much time with Arthur as she could. For that reason however she didn't seem to like Merlin, he had heard her say to Arthur once that he wanted to get in their way but that wasn't true.

One day though Sophia's hate for Merlin grew for he had felt ill when he'd woken up that morning, but he'd assumed it would pass so he just avoided breakfast and went to work. He was too busy to grab lunch because he was trying to get through, and by the time he was helping Arthur get his armour on for practice his legs were shaking. He felt extremely unsteady as he headed down to the practice field with Arthur and the moment the Prince had stepped in front of his Knights, Merlin was hit by a dizzy spell. He managed to steady himself without anyone else noticing but when he fainted in the middle of practice everyone noticed and Arthur rushed over to him. Merlin's long lashes fluttered as he slowly opened his eyes to see Arthur standing above him, looking down at him with a frown.

“Merlin. If you weren't feeling well you should have just stayed in bed. You're going to be more useless than usual otherwise,” he commented dryly. Merlin had felt himself flush indignantly as he attempted to push himself up onto his knees but Arthur had just sighed and bent down, picking him up and carrying him bridal style. Merlin had found himself blushing even deeper as the Knights all looked on at them in amusement. “Come along, I guess I better get you to Gaius since you're incapable of looking after yourself,” Arthur had told him before he'd just walked off the training grounds with no orders for his Knights. After Gaius had insisted that Merlin went back to bed, Arthur had disappeared for a little while only to return with a hot bowl of chicken soup which he sat and made sure Merlin ate. He stayed with his servant as long as he could until Gaius came in and informed him that Sophia was looking for him. Arthur had left with a small threat of what he'd do to Merlin if he came into work ill again. Merlin had been smiling for the rest of the evening, even with Gaius shooting him strange looks every now and then.

The next day Merlin had been feeling perfectly fine and had gone off to work though Arthur had given him slightly less difficult duties then usual but none of the other servants batted an eyelid. The only person who seemed to have a problem was Sophia as she made known as soon as she saw Merlin. She had demanded they find somewhere private to talk in the sickly sweet manner of hers but as soon as they were alone her gaze was icy and her tone sharp.

“I know what your plan is Merlin. You want Arthur to all yourself but you can't have him. He's my fiancé and when we are married I will get rid of you, I'm sure my father could use a servant in his old age and we are rather lacking in those right now,” she had told him. Gone was the attractive, young Princess that Merlin had first seen and in her place stood an evil witch with an ugly smirk contorting her face as she looked up at Merlin, and despite the fact that he was taller the brunette couldn't help but feel so small compared to her. “Stay away from Arthur when he doesn't need you. I cannot have his precious time taken up by a servant like you.”

With those words the Princess had turned and left the shocked servant alone, her mind occupied as she formed an oh so perfectly evil plan in her mind. She could not risk Merlin ruining everything she had with Arthur, her Father was out of money and their country’s defences were weak. They needed the marriage, Sophia was worried for her Father's health and she was sick of wearing the same styles of dresses over and over again. She needed new clothes, jewellery, and to save her Father. She could not allow Merlin to get in the way, for her enchantment on Arthur to fully work she needed him to kiss her, but he never seemed willing to and he always managed to get out of her embrace only to claim things like he needed to check Merlin was doing his work or that his Father had asked him to attend a meeting. She couldn't get rid of Uther just yet, not until she was married to Arthur but Merlin she could deal with but she could not let Arthur know that it was her fault. No, she would just have to get Uther to execute Merlin and the only way to do that was to frame Merlin for doing magic.

Yes, she had the most perfect plan. Only now to execute it.

*****

The plan was difficult to pull together for she could not be caught doing the magic herself, it had to be seen that it was Merlin or things would go horribly wrong for her. It took her several long, busy days to get everything together and after she had planted a poultice under Merlin's pillow she called him to her chambers. The only problem was that Merlin would see her do magic. Now as long as no one else saw she wasn't worried for who would believe a lowly servant if he accused a Princess of using magic. It would be unheard of, the only kingdom in which the royal family openly practised their magic was Ealdor and it wouldn't be long until they were destroyed. Uther would never believe that she had cast a spell, no and not even Arthur would be able to save Merlin then. Even if he didn't believe that Merlin did it he still wouldn't suspect Sophia, it would all go perfectly.

When Merlin finally arrived he entered cautiously, he wasn't too sure why Sophia would call him. The Princess had made herself quite obvious the last time and he wasn't looking forward to another conflict with her. He found women to be fearsome creatures and he did not enjoy being threatened by them, he was always worried they would cut off something rather important. Sophia appeared to be smiling when he looked up at her though.

“Ah. Merlin, isn't it? I just thought that I should apologise for saying I would get rid of you yesterday. I was tired and you have been a good servant to Arthur so of course you will be kept on,” she greeted. Merlin was admittedly surprised - he had never been apologised to by another royal since he had become a servant. Maybe he had the Princess all wrong but at the same time he still felt nervous around her. He did not like the spark in her eye that contrasted with her otherwise innocent face. As Sophia beckoned him closer to the window where she was standing he took each step nervously until he was standing beside the window looking on at the Knight's training session. He was thinking how he really should be getting down there for when Arthur finished but as he thought out his apology to Sophia he felt the pressure from a small hand on his back as he was pushed forwards and out of the open window. As he turned his head he saw Sophia smirking down at him and as he squeezed his eyes shut, desperately trying to think of a spell that would save him or at least protect him from the impact of the ground but just as he expected to collide with the ground and die he felt himself land on something soft. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around, he had landed on a pile of mattresses! They certainly hadn't been there before. That was when the dreaded cry came out,

“Sorcery! He just used magic to save himself!”

Merlin had not used magic, of that he was certain. He would have felt the power flowing through him but if the mattresses had not been there before then someone else must have summoned them. As the Prince turned servant tried to figure things out he felt the mattresses move as armed guards climbed up to join him, grabbing him roughly by the arms as they man-handled him down. As he reached the bottom he saw Arthur join them, a frown prominent on his brow. The guards bowed their heads slightly to the Prince,

“What is this? Unhand my servant,” Arthur snapped at them as the two guards turned to look at each other unsurely, “But sire, he was seen practising magic. The mattresses appeared out of no where and he would have been killed if he didn't summon them...it was a wonder,” one of them replied. The two heavily protected men looked nervous as their Prince glared at them before he simply sighed and shook his head. He stepped forward and pulled Merlin out of the men's grip,

“Merlin is a wonder but the wonder is that he's such an idiot! There's no way he's a sorcerer,” Arthur said giving Merlin a playful shove. A scowl grew on Merlin's lips as the guards looked at him before they burst out laughing,

“Perhaps you're right sire. I guess we better be on the look out for the real sorcerer. Good day,” the other guard said before they walked off, jostling each other as they continued to laugh. Arthur just shook his head and told Merlin to get back to his duties.

Above them Sophia was fuming, her plan had failed. She should have just forgotten the magic and let Merlin fall to his doom. He was going to be much more trouble then he was worth but for now she would leave him be. The enchantment process had started and that would be enough to keep Arthur interested and missing her while she was away. They would not be married for a year or so anyway, she had time.

*****

The next day Princess Sophia returned home to Tirmawr, after that she visited several times but she never got the chance to finish her spell. Another year and a half had passed in a relatively easy manner, Merlin had gotten well used to his duties and he had managed to get two shirts completed. Things didn't always go the way he expected though, one night Uther had held a feast to celebrate the knighthood of a new Knight and the servants had been allowed to drink. Merlin had been notorious for being a lightweight when it came to alcohol back home but with no one in Camelot to watch him he was able to drink as much as he liked. By the end of the night he could barely walk straight and as he had taken an also very drunk Arthur back to his quarters they had somehow ended up in bed together. When they had woken up the next morning things had been rather awkward but in his head Merlin couldn't help but hope he didn't speak as well as think to himself that from what he remembered of the night, Arthur had been a lot better drunk then Will had ever been sober. Well, if the fact that his backside was still sore a week later was an indication that was.

Two months later and Sophia returned once again, this time with her Father in tow. You see enough time had passed for the Royal wedding to start being planned and it was Sophia's final chance to finish the enchantment. Not that she'd didn't believe in her own natural charms but she believed it was best to never leave anything to chance. The problem was that Merlin was still in her way, the two had grown even closer, I mean of course Arthur dropped duties every now and then because he didn't want to do them to go hunting, but usually he took the other Knights with him. She had been informed that recently he had taken to just going with his manservant and that they would not return for hours. She had seen the love struck looks they shot at each other when they assumed the other wasn't looking, had heard the way Arthur spoke to Merlin when he thought no one else was around. It was sickening, infuriating and could destroy Sophia's chances of getting the riches she so deserved. One morning she had entered Arthur's rooms to discover that Arthur was sat in the bath, Merlin washing his hair. She was well aware that it wasn't odd for a servant to do such a thing but Arthur's former servant who now worked in the stables had informed her that Arthur preferred to be left alone to wash, and the scene had looked so entirely domestic. Arthur had told her off when he spotted her, saying that she should have knocked and that it wasn't acceptable for a Princess such as herself to be in the room as her future husband bathed. She had nodded politely and had apologised, saying that she was just excited to see him but as she left the room she had silently fumed, her mind turned as she attempted to formulate a plan that would end Merlin once and for all. As the idea reached her a cruel smirk grew on her lips as she headed for her rooms. She knew exactly what to do and she wouldn't even have to use her own magic, she had all the evidence she needed in the form of other servants.

A quiet cackle escaped her as she shut her bedroom door and walked over to her vanity, picking up a brush as she eyed herself in the mirror. She had to look perfect if she was to present herself in front of the King after all.

*****

When Arthur was summoned into the throne room, Merlin followed as expected but he was completely unaware that his downfall was about to come about. He had been in a rather good mood seeing as he had nearly finished the final shirt with only a week to go, he had been working on the final shirt rather quickly and with only one arm left to go he was feeling rather hopeful. Arthur had already commented on how unusually compliant he was being and had asked him what was making him so happy. Of course Merlin had been unable to answer so Arthur had just dropped the subject before he started off to meet his Father. Once there Arthur quickly realised that the entire court were present so he bowed to his Father before speaking.

“You asked to see me Father.” Uther nodded and signalled for Sophia to step forwards,

“Princess Sophia has informed me of a very interesting theory. She seems to think that you have been enchanted by your manservant,” the King explained. Sophia was standing straight, her hands clutching each other in front of her as she nodded, looking worriedly at Arthur. Arthur simply resisted the urge to snort,

“That is absolutely ridiculous, Father. I have not been enchanted by anyone, least of all by my bumbling manservant,” Arthur responded. Uther was watching him carefully and he sighed as he leaned back into his throne,

“Very well. You claimed to have evidence Princess?” Uther had said, turning to the woman once again as she nodded. She clapped her hands loudly and two servants and a Knight were brought into view. Uther questioned them all, one servant had said that Arthur had started to give Merlin less duties, the other told him of how they had heard a scuffle and a lot of noise the night of the feast in the Prince's room so they had looked in the room to see if everything was okay. They had witnessed the two men's drunken activities that night, and the servant stated that they both looked like they were enjoying it very much, though everyone knew that the Prince enjoyed the attention of the many women that liked him. Uther had glowered at his son before he finally called the Knight forward. The Knight informed him of the time that Merlin had nearly fell to his death only for him to be saved by a pile of mattresses appearing suddenly. He said how Arthur had just left the training field to see what was going on and to get Merlin away from the Guards that were trying to arrest him for sorcery. Finally Uther dismissed the Knight and the rest of the court but he remained otherwise silent as Sophia, his son and his manservant stood in front of him. He could not understand how he had not seen it before, Arthur had seemed slightly infatuated with his servant but the King had never questioned it. Now he understood why and he was angry at his son for trying to hide the magic the servant obviously had from him. Uther called the Guards in then and pointed out Merlin,

“Arrest him.”

Arthur started at that, he couldn't let Merlin be arrested, yes he had enchanted the Prince but not by way of magic. How could he not be attracted to Merlin, he was kind and usually friendly but he could be so stubborn and insolent that Arthur wanted nothing more then to hit him. The strange mix of Merlin's big ears, full lips, high cheekbones and far too skinny frame made him good looking but not in the same way that Arthur knew he was good looking. He couldn't let anything happen to Merlin, Sophia was lying.

“Father! Stop this, Merlin is no sorcerer. He has not enchanted me but had earned my absolute trust,” he shouted but Uther just turned his icy gaze on his son. “I do not care about any trust he has earned by being in your bed. I expected better of you Arthur.” His Father's words froze Arthur and he could do was watch as Merlin was dragged away by the Guards, not even bothering to fight. He could see Gaius waiting outside of the door, shoving what looked like three pieces of material in Merlin's arms as he told the brunette something.

“He will be executed in a weeks time,” Uther stated before he stood up and left the room.

That was it, Merlin was going to die and there was nothing Arthur could do about it. Arthur reached out and punched a nearby pillar.

“Everything will be alright now Arthur. We can be together with no worries now,” a sickly sweet female voice spoke up. Arthur looked up, a sneer marring his usually handsome features.

“I don't want anything more to do with you, Sophia. Get out of my sight!” he roared. A look of anger crossed Sophia's own features as she turned to stalk off.

It was pointless, she would never get Arthur to love her now. Not even using her magic, but she knew he would still have to marry her if his Father had anything to say about it.

*****

A week passed quickly for Merlin as he silently sat in the dungeons, he had cried himself to sleep the first night, burying his face in the incomplete shirt. He had gotten Arthur in trouble, he was going to die and he'd never be able to save his siblings now. Without any more flowers he was unable to complete the final shirt so on his final day, he clutched the valuable clothing to his chest as he was led out to the courtyard where a stake was waiting from him. He was resigned to his fate as he stared down at his feet, trying not to cry as the guards started to tie him to the wooden pole. That was when he heard a curious sound. There was a hissing noise from above and as Merlin looked up he saw three swans swooping down upon them. The guards leaped away, dropping the ropes that they were attempting to tie Merlin down with. The brunette found a large grin growing on his lips as he picked up the shirts from where the guards had wrestled them from out of his arms and threw them onto each of the Swan's with the help of his magic of course. As the shirt slipped over the Swan's heads they begun to glow, their shapes changing as they landed until two intimidatingly beautiful women stood there with a much younger boy with a single Swan's wing. Since the final sleeve had been incomplete his other arm had been unable to change back but the boy did not seem upset. In fact he was studying the wing carefully as the blonde woman bent down to untie Merlin's legs from the stake. The brunette leapt forwards and wrapped his arms tightly around his older sister's neck before he escaped her grasp to hug the other two siblings.

Morgause's glare seemed to be doing an effective job of stopping Uther and anyone else from doing anything to stop them but as the siblings all stepped into a line she spoke up.

“Uther Pendragon, if you were to burn our Brother that would be seen as an act of war. Ealdor may only be a small Kingdom but we the children of Balinor and Hunith Emrys have enough power between ourselves to destroy you and your entire Kingdom if you harm one hair on Merlin's head,” she announced. The two sister's nodded as Morgana wrapped an arm around her younger brother's waist but it was Merlin who spoke up against her.

“Don't. They've been good to me here, the only one who deserves punishment is Princess Sophia of Tirmawr. Yes, I have magic, but she was simply trying to cause trouble with her own magic to try and get rid of me. It seems she is possessive enough over Arthur to see even his servant as a threat,” he explained. The eyes of all the Emrys siblings, Uther and Arthur moved onto Sophia who was staring at them wide eyed.

“What say it is the Princess who is burned in place of my brother, Uther? She is the one you really wish to punish after all,” Morgause called out and for the first time in many years, Uther agreed with a magic user.

*****

After Sophia Tirmawr was burned to death and her Father arrested a feast was held to celebrate the welcome of the Emrys siblings. In apology Uther was allowing them to stay for the night before he sent them home with an escort the next morning. He still despised the fact that they used magic but he had taken heed of Morgause's threat and he knew that he didn't have enough Knights ready to fight a magical war. As the festivities died down for the night, the two Prince's Merlin and Arthur could be found quietly talking in Arthur's chambers.

“So for nearly three years you have been playing my servant when you're a Prince yourself? No wonder you were so useless,” Arthur commented as he wound an arm tightly around Merlin's waist as they relaxed back into the pillows. Merlin half heartedly slapped Arthur on the arm,

“Don't ruin the afterglow, you prat,” he grumbled. His voice was still hoarse from not having used it in exactly three years but Arthur seemed to love hearing it. The blond chuckled as he dropped his head on Merlin's,

“Sorry.”

They lay in silence for a little while longer, just taking in the scent and the feel of each other before Merlin spoke up again softly,

“I'm going to miss you.” Arthur sighed as he lifted his head up and took a gentle hold of Merlin's chin, turning it so they were looking at each other,

“I'll be coming for a visit soon and if Father complains I'll just claim it's for diplomatic relations.”

Merlin chuckled in response at that before he lent forward and captured the man's lips with his own. Things were going to be a lot better now. He could feel it.