The Speechless Sea

Chapter 5

Merlin floudnered in the open water. The sea air whipped wildly at his face. The sun shone down, the heat blared at him reflecting off of the sparkingly sea and back to Merlin's delicate skin. For the first time in his life he could taste the salt that hung in the sea air as he gasped for ahir in his human lungs. Above him flew a flock of albatrosses.

The new human splished in the current and tide, his unaccustomed feet kicking the sea water. A bird broke off from his pack and swope down to meet the man who broke into a smile as he recognised his friend - it was kilgarrah. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Instead he sank into the ocean, the sea's salty water swashing into his mouth as he dipped below the surface. In a panic, he pushed himself back up above the water, then grinned at the new feeling of water rushing over his leg skin. Kilagarrah hoovered in the air watching him with a concerned and septical eye.

"What have you done, foolish boy?" came the seabirds voice, directly into Merlin's head. He opened his mouth again to talk, stopped only by the narrow eyed glare of the bird.

"You made a deal with the sea-witch, didn't you, you imperilious child?!" exclaimed Kilagarrah in his head. Merlin nodded in response. The seabird gave a deep sigh and rolled his beaded eyes.

"For what?!" asked the large bird.

"I have legs now! I can go on land and walk and-and-dance!" Merlin said in his head to the bird kicking his legs in glee.

"Legs?! Annd what was the cost?" the gull asked aghastly.

"My voice but I-" Merlin started explainin but the bird cut him off in his thoughts

"For Legs! Melin, you father will kill you. What are you going to do with leg? You don't even know how to walk!" he swkarkled.

"It was worth it!" thought Merlin delightedly.

"Oh?" asked the bird.

"This way I can meet Arthur, I couldn't very well woo him from the ocean now could I? Everyone knows about UTher and how he hates merfok" answered the merprince to the bird's mind, shuddering in his mind att he thought of the king in his distant castle as he trod the salty water with his new long legs. The albatross signed again, and wished he could bury his head in his wings. Without another word in his head, Merlin began to paddle away from the bird.

"This is a torrid idea, Merlin, you don't know anything about him" pointed out the bird factfully.

"He's....kind, and handsome, and I know I love him. I felt something Kilgarrah! And anyways you said yourself we have an interwtined destiny" replied Merlin inwardly, still swimming.

"You don't know where he is! You'll never find him!" rejoineded the albatross into his head.

"I left him in on the Camelot shores. I'll start looking there." Answered Merlin - his telepathic voice peppery with resolution like a shoreline peppered with seashells.

"Well you're swimming in the wrong direction!" finished the bird mentally. Merlin stopped swimming and looked at Kilagattah expectanly. The bird stared back before pointing a defeated wing in the direction of land.

"Thank you!" came the calling thoughts of Merlin as he crawled off towards the land.

"Oh no, young princling, you'll need me to watch over you." Cawed the bird pensively as he swooped across the sea after the small swimming figure.

----

The sky was refracted in the princes eye as he watched the waves crash serebley onto the surface of the beach down below the aching white stone castle battlements over him where he stood: fixated in thought. He sighed deeply oblivious to the figure that idled up beside him.

"It's best forgotten, sire" said a voice out loud aged with wise primness. Arthur sighed some more and cast his eyes and their gaze towards the tottering man who stood next to him. Looking at him he smiled gently but with great sandess. His eyes laced with entrapped tears as he spoke.

"Forget him? How can I, he....he....When I think, about him, Gaius, it's like poetry, he is the sparks in a supersolar blaze, he is the canonade of war, the-" Arthur recited, his blue eyes sparkling in adoration.

"Yes and your father will have kittens if he finds out." Gaius saged wisely. The prince's broad and stong shouldners slummed in defeat.

"I know Gaius...." he agreed glumly looking back out to the glittering glassy see sadly.

"Honestly why did it have to be a total stragener, you know Uther's feelings. You couldn't have taken up with a nice princess or a lord. Or even Gwaine." Gaius joked to try to lift the sad princes mood.

"I don't know, Gaius when I was with him it was like we were two parts of a whole the sides of a coin, perfect-paired as eagle's wings. God it just felt so-" the blonde man started again. Gaius silenced the poetry with the hurried movement of a hand.

"Arthur, Arthur my boy, you need to put these throughts out of your head. You've been staring at the line where the sky meets the sea for as long as I can rememeber and it'll do you no good. And anyways you know your place is here in Camelot you can't go running off to find some mystery man." said the old physician kindly, his hand rested in gentle comfort on the prince's shoulder clad in a fine red shirt which sat on him hemmed with grand gold thread in shining contrast to his brooding business.

Suddenly, a dot appeared bobbing out in the vastness of the ocean. Arthur's keen eyes, trained as they were to spot enemies, spotted the figure immediately as he watched the waters. A bolt of something unnamebale run through him, like electricity. He smiled wide at Gaius.

"You know, Gaius, you're right, I need to shake off this obsession off. Anyways I barely know the man" he smiled widely and gave a chuckle. The other man eyed him suspiciously.

"Yeeeees....And your alright?" he asked, eyebrow curved into punctuation.

"Just peachy Gaius! You need not to worry. I am going....to go....for a royal walk. By the ocean. Unrelated to our conversation." the prince said very convincingly his tone firm with a command he had been taught since a child. It allowed no questions. Gaius nodde through his raised eyeborw. The prince turned swiftly on his heel and strobe manfully through the castle, grabbing his long brown coat against the ocean chill, down the rocky cliff paths and along the beachyshore line. As he did, he look out to sea looking for the speck to see what it was, could it be, what he thought? But there was nothing but the heartless souless waves stretching out as far as his eye could see. His heart dropped into his stomach, being burned by the acid that dwelt there. Arthur guttered. He looked sadly at the sand on the floor. Suddenly he heard a noise, and looked up, starleted and confused.

"Hello?" Arthur said, calling out loud. His voice was bold with authority. There was a crashing sound from behind a large rock that sat proudly on the beach immovable by the tide. Arthur took a step back and moved into the authadox fighting stance, his aegean eyes never left the stone as his hand moved to his hip for the sword that hug there. But his tanned hand was left clutching at thing air. With a gulp he remembered the scabbard that lay on his bed., freshly polished a gleaming hue by the over adapt George; his manservent.

"Who goes there?!" he called out in a compulsatory voice. There was a low morbid grown from behind the granite slab. Arthur screwed his courage together as a dark, looming shadow drew across the sun, clouding him in temporary darkness as a squawling mass moved staggeringly from behind the rock and towards him. The prince drew a deep breath and faced the unknown boldly.