Once Upon A Dream (Merlin Love Story)

Chapter 9, Part 1

Astrid's P. O. V:

I stalk quietly through the forest with Merlin, Arthur, and a few other knights as we hunt for the beast that had appeared in the forests surrounding Camelot recently, my sword in my hand. Fog covers parts of the forest.

A few days ago, Merlin's home village, E'aldor, was attacked by Kanen and his men, and Merlin had to go back to help his mother. Morgana, Gwen and Jas had offered to aid him, and I wanted to as well, but Uther wouldn't let me or Arthur; because he's Crowned Prince and I'm the Queen.

But that didn't stop Arthur and I from sneaking out after them on our horses, in the dead of night. We'd caught up to them but scared Merlin when Arthur had pretended to be a thief. It was funny.

In the end, though, my friends and I were able to successfully drive out the bandits, though not without Merlin's friend, Will having lost his life by protecting Arthur from an arrow shot by Kanen just before he'd died, and Merlin nearly blowing his secret for he'd had to use his magic to drive off the enemy. Arthur had seen, but Will had told him he was the sorcerer, not Merlin or I, though he knows because Will was told by Merlin. Arthur had believed I was the one who'd conjured that wind, but I'd told him it wasn't me.

If it weren't for Will, Merlin would probably be dead by now.

It wasn't long after Merlin came back with us that he and Arthur went on a hunting trip with two other knights. Arthur had killed a unicorn, and I'd almost thrown up upon seeing Merlin, pale faced, carry it into the council chambers. I'd given Arthur a piece of my mind about it and a curse had befallen Camelot, due to Arthur having killed the unicorn. I'd seen several of them in the past, and know them to be creatures of purity.

Arthur had refused to listen to me when I told him as such, and refused even more when I mentioned Anhora, the Keeper of the Unicorns, deeming it a fairytale. I'd then pointed out to him that I'm a fairytale, too, what with being a fairy, but Arthur had just shrugged me off.

After facing a few trials, however, Arthur was faced with drinking a pound ones goblet, or one without poison. Merlin and I had suggested pouring the liquid all into one goblet, but before either of us could drink it, Arthur had snatched the goblet and downed the whole drink.

It turned out to be a simple sleeping draft, and that Anhora seems Arthur to be pure of heart, and he's passed the test. Now, as you can tell, Camelot has returned to its normal state, and now that the Prince has deemed himself pure, the unicorn was reborn again.

Just recently, before coming with Arthur and Merlin on this hunting trip, I'd had this vision of Arthur being killed by a terrible beast with the head of a serpent and body of a leopard. It was so terrifying that I ended up staying up the rest of the night with Merlin in his bed, too afraid to go back to sleep. I'd told Merlin but he didn't seem to be too worried about it, believing that nothing like that will ever happen to the Pendragon, though I have my uncertainties.

As I pause beside Merlin and Arthur through some leafy branches of a small tree, we hear a couple of growls from up ahead.

Arthur says, "Merlin, spear!"

Merlin goes to hand it to him, only to lose his grip on the weapon, causing it to fall and hit Arthur on the head. I giggle. Frustration flitting across his face, Arthur yanks the spear off the ground, glaring at his servant.