The Shadow of the Moon

Chapter 4

The air the next morning was crisp and fresh as the noise of the knights jostled Arthur from his slumber. Opening his eyes, the sky above him was a pure cloudless white of an early morning dawn, the sun still low amongst the trees. He sat up and shook off the sleep, taking note of the activity around him.

"Percival - where's Merlin?" He asked blinkishly. Percival looked around and, failing to see the other man shrugged.

"I don't know, haven't seen him all morning" he shrugged. Arthur was not amuse.

"He's gone to collect herbs. Said something about us being dangerously low on feverfew" said Elyan over his shoulder as he geared up his horse with a point between two cavernous beeches. Arthur grumped and stood up and stretched.

"I'll get him. We'll be leaving soon." he said and the knights all nodded. Arthur stalked through the woods leaving the knights behind him clattering and banging as they ate breakfast and packed up the camp for the day.

He came on Merlin crouched under a tree, lost in a day dream as he was plucking leaves from the ground and carefully placing them in his back - the knights own medicine bag he noticed. A twig snapped under his leather boot as he approached.

"Merlin!" called Arthur regally.

As soon as the words left his lips, the dark haired man jumped, spilling the leaves from the top of the bag. At the same moment a humongous creaking crack split through a birch tree on the other side of the clearing, and a massive branch, crashed from the bough to the ground between them with a deafening thud. Wildlife scurried away around them in the bush. Birds squawking in panicked flight.

"Merlin! What did you do?" scolded Arthur looking at the dark hair man in skance. Merlin stared at the tree in panic.

"Oh my god! It must have been....lightning!" Merlin said, wild eyed and thinking fast, his panicked face as white as a sheet of ice.

"Lightnening?!" Arthur cried before he was struck by a dawning realisation. Merlin didn't know. He still thought Arhur didn't know about his magic. But then why - why would he stay away? Just to punish Arthur? He scowled, irritated.

"Lightning." Merlin affirmed.

"It's a beautiful day, Merlin: cloudless" Arthur pointed out.

"Yes. Old lightning.... Gaius told me it can happen. If it was hit in the last storm...it was probably hanging on by a thread and then if a, uh, big bird landed on it..." Merlin trailed off, looking at Arthur's unconvinced face.

"Maybe a really heavy owl." He suggested in a last attempt to convince the king. The king sighed dramatically and tolled his eyes with tact.

"Is that a common problem around here?" He asked voice laced with sarcasm like fine wine.

"Oh yeah. The owls around here are huge." Merlin announced with wide eyed innocence.

The pair stared at each other, the air between them pregnant with electricity.

"Are you out of your goddamn mind I-" suddenly Arthur was cut off before he could start his tirade by an emergence of Sir Leon at his side, from the boughs another branch shook threateningly. Leon quirked an eyebrow before speaking.

"Sire, we must be moving on" The curly haired head knight said respectfully. Arthur sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Fine. Merlin could tell him in his own time then. He could wait. He'd waited this long for his trust.

"Right. Come on Merlin" With that he turned on his heal and left the other men to follow behind him.

Behind him Merlin lets out a quiet sigh before following back to the camp and mounting his horse. That was too close. Ever since he'd been turned his magic had become more and more jumpy the closer it was to the full moon every month, and he couldn't control what it did or when it did it any more. His heart fluttered in concern. He had never considered it problem in a cave by himself, but now it would be a big one. He resolved to be careful, to keep his magic tamped under control.