Work Text:
Missing Merlin
"You bastard!“
Merlin barely managed to duck the helmet he saw coming his way. He tried to get around Arthur to flee out of the door but there was no way. Gods. This was a disaster.
“You… you treacherous little asshole!”
It didn’t seem that Arthur would calm down any time soon. Merlin would have liked to say something but his brain had stopped functioning the moment the door had banged open. The prince had come in while his sword was still hanging in the air, getting sharpened by itself. The sorcerer wondered how he could have been so stupid to work magic in Arthur’s rooms. At the same time, he wondered if he would have the time to find an answer for his question. The Crown Prince had a murderous look in his eyes.
“You… come here!”
Yeah sure, Merlin thought. Not on your life. By now, they had surrounded the table for the third time. He was concerned about what would happen when the prince caught him. Merlin didn’t think he had to worry about getting his head chopped off; he was sure he wouldn’t make it out of this room alive. So much for hoping Arthur would be calm when he found out. Destiny. Two sides of a coin. Cannot hate the other half that makes it whole. The Dragon was demented.
Suddenly, the prince stopped the chasing and stared at Merlin, a look of betrayal on his face.
“You’re a warlock? That explains a lot. Tell me, Merlin, how did you manage to enchant my father to get near to me, huh?”
Merlin started seething at once. This arse!
“What do you mean, enchant your father? Are you mad? Your father made me your manservant because I saved your live, you ass! Get near to you! As if I had wanted to get near the biggest idiot I’ve ever known!”
Now, this had been a mistake. Merlin had stopped paying attention to Arthur because he had been too furious to get his speech out without spitting; and now he found himself dragged over the table by his scarf. In the next moment, he was smashed against the stone wall by the equally furious prince.
“Ow! Let go…”
Bang. Merlin’s head impacted with the wall behind him for the second time and he felt Arthur’s hands closing around his throat. He kicked the prince’s shin hard but Arthur didn’t even flinch. His hands pressed against Merlin’s neck and the sorcerer began to struggle in earnest. He couldn’t breath. Arthur would actually kill him right here and there was nothing…
Abruptly, the prince let go of him and Merlin crashed to the floor. He was wheezing and coughing, drawing the scarf away and feeling for his throat. Looking up at the prince, he didn’t know if he should be expecting some kicking or being dragged down to the dungeons next.
Arthur’s face was very pale now. He stared down at Merlin for a moment and then slowly backed off.
“Get out,” the prince said hoarsly. “Get out, and leave Camelot. Now. I don’t ever want to see you again in my life. Is that understood? If I should see you again I will personally hold the torch to your stake.”
“Arthur… don’t! Please, just think for a moment and…”
Merlin felt himself being hoisted up and literally thrown across the room; he ended smashing headfirst into the wooden door, going down again. His head was spinning.
“Shut up, traitor. Shut up and fuck off as long as you still can. Or I will throw you in the dungeons and Gaius right behind you, you hear me?”
“Gaius? Gaius didn’t do any…”
Ungh. Maybe Merlin should really shut up now. He didn’t know how much abuse his head could stand anymore. But Gaius…
“Just leave, Merlin,” Arthur said in a deadly voice. “Don’t even think about gathering your things or running around the castle to do even more harm than you have already done. Just leave as long as you can before I change my mind about letting you leave.”
“I will. I will. Just please… promise me you won’t hurt Gaius. He has got nothing to do with me… please, Arthur!”
For a moment, Merlin thought that Arthur would go for his throat again. Then he saw the prince taking a deep breath.
“Gaius is no concern of mine, as long as you heed my words. Leave.”
Merlin turned around, opened the door and stumbled out. He tried to get a last look at Arthur, only to see the door shutting in his face, being locked immediately.
Gods.
***
Arthur started smashing his chamber as soon as he heard Merlin’s unsure footsteps vanishing in the hall.
When he was done with destroying everything breakable, he fell on his bed, breathing unsteady. He felt shaken to the core, betrayed in a way he never even thought he could be. Merlin. How could that be? The one person Arthur had let come near, had felt understood him. The one person Arthur had sought out, had looked forward to seeing all day… was a warlock. His daft but lov… likeable manservant was a sorcerer.
The Crown Prince shook his head. That was it. He would never again trust another person. His father had been right all along. There was no place for attachments in their lives.
***
Merlin leaned back against a large beech; he was exhausted.
He had done exactly what Arthur had demanded… he had left the castle immediately, hadn’t stopped for clothes or food, hadn’t said goodbye to anyone. He had been too afraid of the prince’s wrath… not for himself but for Gaius. Better to leave everything and everyone behind than risking the old man’s life.
Merlin wasn’t sure how far he had run but right now he felt like he couldn’t take another step. Things were starting to catch up with him and he was miserable. He had always thought that Arthur would be infuriated when he found out but he hadn’t for a moment expected that things would go down this way. Merlin had been sure that there would be a way to reason with the prince; they had been so close lately. With all their bantering, he had felt friendship hum around them. Friendship, and even more, at least from his side. The sorcerer had considered for quite a while how to tell Arthur the truth about himself. Now he wished he had just done it… nothing could have been worse than what had happened today.
Merlin rubbed his hands over his face. It was getting dark, even more here deep in the woods, and he still didn’t know where he should go. Ealdor was out… he couldn’t bear to go back to his home village. Maybe it would be for the best if he just tried to find a place to sleep for the night; he didn’t seem able to make any decisions right now.
Looking around gloomily, Merlin started to wonder how he would survive the next days. Thankfully it was late summer, so he wouldn’t freeze but he had no idea how to protect himself from wild animals while he was asleep. Food was another problem. Merlin was sure he could kill some rabbits with magic, but he didn’t know how to cook them. Before the horror of his situation could bring him down even more, he decided to tackle one thing at a time. For now, he needed a safe place to sleep. Tomorrow morning, he could search for food. One night without eating wouldn’t kill him.
About an hour later, the sorcerer crept beneath some bushes that grew in front of a large rock. That wasn’t really what he had had in my mind; it wasn’t a safe place at all. But Merlin couldn’t see a thing anymore and he didn’t dare to light a fire. He didn’t want to draw attention to himself and there was always the possibility of raiders in the forest. That would be the last thing he needed right now; his head hurt enough as it was.
Merlin curled himself into a tight ball; he hadn’t known it got so cold at night. With all his might, he tried to not give into self pity. He wouldn’t cry his eyes out about things he couldn’t change anymore and were his own fault anyway. Sighing, he tried to ignore his thoughts of doom. In the next moment he flinched when he started to hear cracking sounds coming from everywhere. Merlin was sure he wouldn’t be able to sleep at all; not with these ominous noises… and not while being this hungry.
Suddenly, there was a new sound and Merlin started to get wet. Great. It was pouring. Well, at least that meant he wouldn’t die of thirst.
Before his closed eyes, he could see a picture of a laughing Arthur throwing an apple at him. This had happened at breakfast today. Merlin swallowed his next sob. Gods, he hadn’t known he could miss another person this much.
***
Arthur was lying in his bed, unable to sleep. The day had been awful; so much for getting rid of Merlin.
The first one who had sought the prince out had been Gaius, of course. He had been looking for Merlin. Arthur had still been so angry that he had yelled at the old man, telling him how he had chased Merlin out of Camelot and if he -Gaius- would know what was good for him he shouldn’t ask too many questions about it.
The physician, looking aghast, had made a short bow and had left the prince’s chambers with glassy eyes. Arthur had wanted to feel good about this, but he hadn’t been able to. There was nothing to gloat about hurting Gaius, and he had hurt him deeply. Arthur had known that.
The next one had been Gwen. By then, Arthur had been on his way to the afternoon meeting with his father, and so he had just snapped at her that Merlin had left Camelot and had gone past her. This time he hadn’t felt so bad; he hadn’t been too fond of Gwen lately anyway.
Then something real strange had happened. Arthur had been talking to his father for about five minutes, when the King had suddenly looked around and had asked Arthur where Merlin was. The prince had been shocked. Firstly, he hadn’t even known that his father remembered the name of his manservant. Secondly, Arthur would have never guessed his father would notice said manservant’s absence, let alone comment on it. For a moment, the prince hadn’t known how to answer. Finally he had rallied and had mumbled something about another crisis in Ealdor and that Merlin had left his service, probably forever. Uther had just shrugged and said, “well, maybe that’s for the best. I am still not sure how you had been able to stand him. Pick another one and do yourself a favor this time, pick someone with a brain.”
Thankfully that had been the moment when the stewart had appeared and had been out of his head due to some crisis in the granary. Uther had left immediately with the other man, leaving his son behind. Arthur had stared at the black table for minutes. Pick yourself another one. Another servant would be around the prince from now on, not Merlin.
Until that moment, Arthur hadn’t realized that Merlin wouldn’t be there anymore. That had been stupid, really, because he himself had thrown Merlin out. But…
Arthur had stood up abruptly. He had gone down to the stables and had picked the first young man he had seen. “You! I need another servant. You will bring me my breakfast tomorrow at dawn and then clean my chambers.” Then the prince had almost run to the knight’s training. He had been sure to find some peace in beating the crap out of the other men.
As if. Percival had been the first one to ask where Merlin was, followed closely by Gawain and Henry. They had only shut up when Arthur had begun hearing the blood pounding in his ears. Obviously his facial expression had been bad enough so the other knights had tiptoed around him for the next hour. Beating his knights up hadn’t been fun at all.
Of course, the Gods had decided that the last one who had had to interrogate Arthur about Merlin just had to be Morgana. She had barged into his chambers just an hour ago, the moment Arthur had started to get ready for bed. Without any regard at all for his half naked state, she had immediately begun to rant at him. How could you have let Merlin go? Why didn’t you accompany him to Ealdor? Why is Gaius so miserable? What have you done this time, you idiot? After what happened last week, you should be very grateful for Merlin and don’t you know that he will be lost out there on his own? What happens if there are trolls out in the woods, seeking revenge? You are such a moron, Arthur! You could have at least told me, so I could have helped him! This poor boy! You don’t deserve him, idiot!
Arthur had needed half an hour to finally get rid of her, and he had heard her railing at him for another ten minutes in front of his locked door.
And now… he couldn’t sleep. His eyes fell on the door to his left; behind that door was the room of his manservant… in the last two weeks Merlin had spent more and more nights there. It had been fun to yell for Merlin in the middle of the night for some insane order and listen to Merlin groan and hiss at him. It also had been fun to watch him run around in his ridiculous nightshirt, hair sticking up in every direction possible. And to talk to him. Because they had been doing exactly that after the prince had laughed at his manservant and had released him from the stupid chores. It had been too hot to sleep anyway; so Arthur and Merlin had sat on the prince’s bed and had talked. About everything, or so the prince had thought.
Arthur sighed. It was stupid to even think about it. Merlin was a traitor, a warlock. If he had really cared for Arthur at all, he would have told him the truth, not lied to him for a year.
After some heavy pillow punching, Arthur turned on his right side and closed his eyes full of determination. He would sleep now. He wouldn’t waste another minute thinking about Merlin. And no way would he look under his bed. He wouldn’t… a sudden noise made him open his eyes again. Heavy rain had started to rattle against his windows. Gods, it was pouring. And Merlin was out there… alone in the woods most probably, without any shelter. He would be freezing, and Arthur knew how much his manservant hated the cold.
Merlin… Arthur groaned and pulled a pillow over his head. He wasn’t worrying about Merlin. He didn’t even think about him. And most of all, he was not missing Merlin.
***
A very wet and cold sorcerer woke up to the morning sun. Thanks to the Gods, it had stopped raining sometime in the night. Merlin crawled out from under the bushes and stretched… for a second. Then he winced; somehow he had pulled a muscle in his back during the night.
“I slept almost my whole life on the floor,” he muttered to himself. “One should think my back could still remember that.”
Merlin looked around; he had no idea at all where he was. Now what did Gaius say? If you’re lost in a forest, try to find running water, it will lead you out of it. Hopefully not straight back to Camelot, though. Merlin wandered around listless for about an hour, picking berries here and there. Once, he got caught in a bush of brambles and left half of his shirt there; his mood was not improving. Even if he did actually find a river or at least a beck, Merlin still had no idea where to go. What had been so much fun a week ago, laying out a trail for Uther’s guards and hiding in Camelot again… this time it was real and not funny at all. Inwardly, Merlin was becoming more scared and hopeless by the minute. He knew himself well enough to know that he couldn’t tough this out. Wilderness vs. Warlock… Wilderness would win, hands down.
Suddenly the sorcerer heard the sound of rushing water. Merlin immediately swung to the right and stumbled over a few weeds and roots until he came to some sort of very small beach; with lots of very big rocks on it. A pathetic little stream purled through the woods here; Merlin could probably jump over it with a little start-up. There was really no way to follow this beck due to the giant rocks lying everywhere. Merlin would probably have to wade through the water. While he was still considering getting wet again after he just had dried up some, he started to get wet. It began pouring again.
***
“Get out of here, you imbecile!”
The ex-stable boy, now ex-manservant and stable boy again, just barely avoided getting the plate with breakfast smashed into his face and ran from the Crown Prince’s chambers. The prince himself steamed. Everyone in this castle should know by now that he hated oatmeal.
My, my, aren’t we in a bad mood today?
“Shut up!”
Great, now Arthur started to talk to the thin air. Since he had woken up one hour ago there had been a strange voice in his head… sounding like the weirdest mixture of Merlin, Morgana and himself. And he couldn’t make it shut up.
Maybe you should have warned this poor boy about your temper? Or maybe you should have kept Merlin… he would have thrown that plate right back at you.
It had to be a curse. This little arse had cursed him somehow before he had left Camelot and…
Oh yes! Of course, he cursed you… right after you almost killed him.
“I didn’t kill him!”
I said almost. Do you remember your hands around his throat? Do you remember how scared he had been? You must be so proud of yourself… treating someone you care about so much like this. Quite like your father actually. Do you remember the way Uther had grabbed Morgana at her throat? I knew you could.
Dammit. Arthur sank down on the bed and closed his eyes. Yes, he could still see Merlin’s face all too well… lying on the floor, gasping for breath. But… Merlin had lied to him. For months. If he had just told Arthur the truth, then…
Yes. That would have been my advice, too. Go, Merlin, tell the Crown Prince you are a warlock. This is the right course of action here in Camelot. Oh, don’t be afraid. The prince is so good-natured, after all. Nothing bad will happen. Are you serious, idiot?
Arthur swallowed hard. Then he swallowed again, ignoring the stinging in his eyes.
“He was my friend. I trusted him. And he betrayed me… he… I…”
Your friend, you say? You’re really naïve, Arthur. How could he be your friend? A servant. Did he ever act as your friend? Did he maybe save your life or something like that? Oh wait… he did, didn’t he? But you’re still right, he lied to you. Bastard. How could he? How could he try to protect his life here? After all, you were the best friend Merlin ever could have wished for. And you told him so often what a good friend he was. Again… wait. You didn’t, did you? You didn’t tell him how much he meant to you. And since we’re being honest here… it wasn’t really so much about friendship was it? Good thing you didn’t tell him that. He would have dropped dead. You know what you are, Crown Prince? You’re a coward.
Arthur had enough. Swiping his face with one hand, he jumped up and dressed himself. Then he left and started looking for his father.
***
Merlin was freezing. Seriously, what was it with this rain in August? The last weeks had been so hot that no one could sleep and now it was raining and it was cold like the world had tumbled into November? That was probably just his luck.
The sorcerer had blasted magical energy into one of these huge rocks until he had carved out some kind of an extremely small cave; there he sat now and watched the stream out of sad eyes. He was wet again, still hungry and his nose was running. And right now, Merlin would really like to see all those things that had been written about him, like the dragon had said. It would be something like: And then, the guards of Camelot found the dreaded warlock, frozen inside his evil magical cave.
Merlin hated his life. He hated these woods, this stupid little stream, the rain, his wet clothes, his empty stomach. He hated Uther, Camelot and most of all he hated Arth… Merlin sighed. No, sadly he didn’t. He kinda loved Arthur. And really, that should have been his first inkling that something wasn’t right with the blathering of the dragon. This blasted thing never told him he should fall in love with the Once and Future King… just that he should protect said king. Maybe there was another Merlin out there somewhere? Some older guy, like Gaius, who could lead the Great King?
That would be so typical.
***
“You want to go on a hunt? It’s pouring out there, son.”
“I know, Father. That’s exactly why I want to go… the last weeks had been so hot; it will be a refreshing change.”
Inwardly, Arthur groaned. Why in Heaven’s name did his father want to discuss Arthur’s plans? The King didn’t care about things like that; at least when Uther himself didn’t want something from his son.
“What do you want to hunt in this weather?”
“Whatever crosses my path, father.” Lost manservants, for example, he thought to himself.
“You really shouldn’t go alone, Arthur. I know it’s… difficult to go on a hunt with ten guards but you shouldn’t be alone in the woods. At least take your new servant.”
Arthur looked at his father for a moment. He wasn’t in the mood to tell him that he already sacked… whatever his name was. Then a thought crossed his mind; he started to smile and said, “but of course, Father, I will.”
Half an hour later Arthur stood in Gaius rooms and smiled even broader. The expression on the old man’s face was priceless.
“I beg your pardon, sire?”
“You are my new manservant, Gaius. My father told me to pick someone with a brain… please don’t tell me you don’t have one.”
“Sire, you can’t… by orders of your father I’m a free man of Camelot.“
Shit. Arthur had forgotten that.
Well, my dear Crown Prince, maybe you need a brain to pick someone with a brain? Ever thought of that?
“Look, Gaius… “ Arthur wrestled down his pride with all he had, “… I need your help. Of course I don’t want you to be my new servant forever. I just need a few hours to get my lost one back.”
“Your lost one, sire? As far as I remember you told me you had thrown Merlin out because he is a warlock. Sire.”
Arthur felt blood rush to his face. Until now, he hadn’t known the voice in his head could applaud. He looked for a moment at the defiant face of the physician and then he sighed.
“Alright, Gaius, I made a mistake.” Arthur ignored the soft fainting noises in his mind. “Now I need some advice. I have no idea where Merlin is now. Do you want to help me or not?”
***
Merlin looked at the trout in his hands and grimaced. He had magicked them right out of the stream and now he had no idea what to do with them. The rain was so bad that no matter how often he started a fire it went out just as fast. That meant… ew. The fish were slippery and not appealing at all. But Merlin was really hungry by now; after all he had eaten a beetle once, not to mention tasting the awful troll potion. Nothing could be as bad as that. But before he could take a bite, Merlin had to remove the head of one trout. No way would he eat something that still seemed to look at him.
***
Arthur scratched his head. He had left his ‘new manservant’ behind in an empty hut three hours ago and he could still hear Gaius ranting. By now he doubted the wisdom of going on this hunting trip alone… he had already searched for traces of Merlin in and around four rivers; so far, nothing. Since Arthur knew Merlin’s non-existent competence in hiding his whereabouts in the woods, he found himself in a frustrated state. Maybe he should have listened to Gaius’ advice and just patrolled the rivers near Camelot. The old man had been sure that Merlin would just stumble over the castle while trying to get away.
At least the voice in his head had vanished. Arthur sighed thankfully. He would have probably lost his mind if the voice (which had sounded more and more like Morgana) had commented on his stumbling and the fact that he was soaked to the skin.
Arthur cursed the weather; it would be impossible to light a fire, so it was also impossible to look for traces of smoke. Where was the moron? Sighing, he leaned on a large oak to eat some of his dried meat. He let his eyes wander around some bushes and trees; suddenly he startled. Was this…? Arthur went over to a bush of brambles and found it not only bare of any berries but he also found a few shreds of blue linen, and Merlin had worn a blue tunic.
Full of sudden excitement, the prince looked around the bush more closely. And there it was. A trace, trampled into the earth like a whole pack of boars had made their way through the woods. This had to be Merlin. Ignoring the funny feeling behind his breastbone, Arthur broke out in a dead run.
And what will you tell him when you find him? Maybe you should start thinking soon, brainless wonder.
Great.
***
Merlin managed to not throw up. Barely. Raw fish wasn’t delicious but it was edible. Or so people had told him. The sorcerer shook himself all over and laid the other fish to the side. He wasn’t hungry anymore but Merlin didn’t think it was because he had eaten so much. His stomach was probably scared at what would come down next so it stopped making noises.
It was still raining. Merlin knew that he should make use of the daylight and get more distance between himself and Camelot. But he didn’t even know anymore in what direction Camelot laid. It would be just like him to follow the stream back to the castle.
Merlin threw a stone morosely into the beck. Didn’t matter anyway. He felt lonely and betrayed, and without his destiny… what was there to live for? Maybe he should try and get back to Camelot. To Arthur. The Once and Future Arse. Maybe he had to see it with his own eyes that the prince would kill him. Then he would believe that…
Someone behind the rock cleared his throat. Merlin froze.
***
The first thing Arthur saw when he followed Merlin’s trail down to the little stream was the head of a trout flying through the air, shortly followed by some fishbones, a suppressed retching sound and some moaning. Merlin’s ‘I hate the world’ moaning; Arthur would recognize it everywhere.
The prince started to gnaw on his nails. He had no idea how Merlin would react to his presence. They never had had a fight like the one yesterday. Alright, it hadn’t been exactly a fight. It had been more like Crown Prince beating up Manservant. Arthur noticed that he tried to forestall the voice. On that way lay madness, he was sure of that.
Okay. Arthur had to apologize immediately. All questions about sorcery could and would have to wait. If the prince ever wanted to be on good terms with Merlin again –never mind being on really good terms- he had to make sure to not make Merlin scared of him again.
Arthur swallowed and then cleared his throat. Carefully.
For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then the bedraggled face of his manservant appeared at the right side of the large rock, looking scared. Arthur gave his best smile.
“Merlin, I’m glad that I…”
Splatch. Arthur, who prided himself for the ability to duck every arrow coming his way, had no chance at all against a flying trout. He took the fish right in his face and the fact that he had his mouth open didn’t make things better at all. Very unroyally spewing all over the place, Arthur didn’t notice that after the trout a very angry Merlin came his way, giving the prince a heavy shove.
“What? Don’t you like fish? It is supposed to be healthy! You really should eat it!”
And with that, Merlin grabbed the trout and started to try and smack Arthur with it. The prince backed off quickly, stumbled over a root and went down. Staring up at his manservant, Arthur was completely dazed. Scared, my ass. He had never seen anyone so not scared like Merlin. His manservant should have looked ridiculous, like a drowned rat with one limpy fish in the hand. But he didn’t; he looked like some weird kind of warrior right now.
“Hello? Are you in there, Arthur? Or did the fish do something to whatever is left of your brain? Don’t you want to bully me around a bit more? Or, hey, didn’t you say if you lay eyes on me again you would burn me on a stake? Go ahead, your Highness! If you manage to start a fire here, I will congratulate you!”
Arthur had to admit that Merlin’s voice was much, much worse than Morgana’s. The sorcerer could bitch like no one else… Arthur had known that of course, he had just forgotten it over this whole mess.
“Now, Merlin, wait a moment…”
“Oh look, it can talk! I did wonder for a minute. What, Arthur? What do you want here? I did what you told me and left. And now what?”
Arthur continued to stare at the other man. By now, Merlin had lost his furious expression and started to look miserable. But the prince wasn’t fooled by that for a minute. One wrong word and this trout would impact with his face again, he was sure.
“I… I missed you, Merlin.”
There, the truth. When no fish flew after a few seconds, Arthur looked hesitantly at Merlin again. The other man stared back.
“You what?”
“I missed you. Everyone missed you. Hell, I think even my father missed you. But I missed you most,” Arthur stated. “I’m sorry, okay? I… overreacted. I…”
“You overreacted? Killing me is overreacting for you?”
“I didn’t… Merlin. Look, I didn’t know what to do or to think at that moment. I… I really wished that you had just told me, you know? But that is no excuse for beating you up. I’m really sorry, I am.”
Right in front of Arthur’s eyes, Merlin deflated. He looked down at his sodden boots for a moment, and then sat beside the prince, throwing the trout into the weeds.
“It’s okay. Wasn’t so bad anyway. I look worse after one of our training sessions.”
“That’s not the point. You were scared… rightly so. I was strangling you.”
“I wasn’t scared because of that. I was scared because I didn’t know what would happen the moment you let go of me.”
Arthur bit his lips. He vaguely remembered threatening Gaius.
“I’m sorry,” he repeated. Then he had another thought. “Why didn’t you… er… defend yourself with magic?” Arthur flinched, suddenly remembering that he hadn’t wanted to bring that up so soon.
Merlin huffed. “I don’t think I could use any magic at all when I would hurt you with it. I may be able to play a few tricks on you but otherwise… no.”
“So… you are very powerful, aren’t you?”
“Yes. I have to be, because I have this great destiny at your side, you know? Protecting you from evil. And since every madmen in the whole world is after your hide I have my hands… oh, don’t look like that. Believe me, I’m not rambling… I could introduce you to a dragon who does, though.”
“Dragon? Never mind. Can’t you stop that rain, then?”
Merlin laughed. “Why is everyone asking me stuff like that? No, I can’t. Believe me, if I could it would be sunny right now.”
“What about that rock over there? Is there a cave in it?”
“Yeah. But a real small one.”
“Doesn’t matter to me, Merlin. I just want to get out of this weather, as soon as possible.”
Arthur stood up, helped Merlin on his feet and then both of them were scrambling down towards the rock. Brushing off the worst of the dirt, the prince followed Merlin around the large stone and finally saw the cave.
“Okay, this is really… a very small… hole in a rock.”
***
Wow. Merlin had known that the cave was small but not that it was this small. He had to literally sit on Arthur’s lap so both of them managed to stay out of the rain. Not that he minded, exactly. Being close to Arthur was what he needed right now. Merlin knew that he had, as always, fooled the prince with his hissy fit out there but inwardly the sorcerer was shaking with relief. He would have never guessed that Arthur would come after him, never mind being full of remorse and guilt ridden.
So, Merlin had been missed by the prince. Interesting. He hadn’t even been gone for two days… and there Arthur was, wet, dirty and glorious. And he had become even more glorious a few minutes ago, when he had pulled off his cape and his tunic only to impose said tunic on top of the cape on Merlin, just because the sorcerer’s shirt was a little shredded and obviously Merlin’s lips were turning blue. Which was nonsense because Merlin felt very cosy here in this little cave.
“Look Arthur, at least take back the cape, okay? Because let me tell you, your lips are blue, too.”
Beneath him, Arthur shifted uncomfortably. “Believe me, Merlin, I’m not cold. At all,” the prince muttered, shifting again.
Wow again. There was something really big in this little cave. Thanks to the Gods that Merlin wasn’t the one with Arthur in his lap… it was much more fun the other way around. Merlin turned around, still on top of Arthur, trying for a look filled with indignation. The prince stared at him like a rabbit would stare at a snake. Merlin held on to that look for about ten seconds, and then he gave up. He started grinning and bent down quickly to catch Arthur’s mouth with his own before the other man could even move.
Arthur’s lips were warm. No, scratch that, they were hot. Merlin moved his own softly against Arthur’s. The prince seemed to have frozen beneath Merlin; only after a few seconds the other man started to kiss him back. Arthur’s lips opened and let Merlin’s tongue slip in; at the same moment the prince slung his arms around Merlin’s waist and drew him impossibly close.
The two men kissed for what seemed to be an eternity.
Finally, Merlin raised his head a bit to take in some air. He glanced at the other man. Arthur was still looking like a rabbit, but at least now he looked like a happy one. Merlin dove right back in; he could tell Arthur later that the rain had stopped.
***
The King sighed and looked at his son for awhile.
“Alright, Arthur, I… well. Just be careful, you hear me? It could get difficult to find a princess for you to marry if word get out that you… you know.”
“Father, I’m telling you, I only…”
“Yes, yes. You stumbled over him. Right. Just… please don’t be too obvious.”
With that, Uther left the table and toward his chambers. Arthur stared at the table for some time, and then he started grinning. His father had mellowed out quite a bit since his last marriage. The Crown Prince was sure he had to thank his troll stepmother for that. Pity he had to kill her. Grabbing a few grapes, Arthur stood up as well and left for Gaius’ rooms. He had to help Merlin pack and convince him that whatever magical things he had been hiding in his quarters, there would be much better places in the prince’s chambers.
***
Deep under the castle, the Dragon laid one paw over his snout and sighed. Maybe he really shouldn’t have said all that funky stuff to Merlin. Two sides of a coin and all that rubbish. Now both of them were in love with each other and that meant… all bets were off.
The End.