Twin Things ~ Merlin x OC

Chapter 2 - 1.1.1

Season 1, Episode 1: The Dragon's Call - Part 1

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The two princes stand on either side of their father as he introduces the sorcerer headed for the axe to the crowd. Leofwine, standing to the king's side, silently disagrees with his father's handling of the situation. He knows this man - Tom Collins - and knows that he would only ever use magic for good. When Uther gestures for the executioner to do his job, Leo discreetly averts his eyes, not wishing to see the brutal death of a good man.

He blanks out the rest of his father's speech, only tuning back in when he hears the wailing of a grieving mother. His heart goes out to the woman, for he can hardly imagine the pain she must be feeling. However, when she changes her tone and threatens his family - "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a son for a son" - he loses a lot of that pity. He wishes it doesn't have to be this way - an eye for an eye just breeds more pain and bloodshed.

The princes turn to go back inside with their father, Leo dismissing himself to go to his chambers. His father only agrees once Leo specifies his plans to have another read through a treaty that he and his father are in the process of negotiating with a neighbouring kingdom. Once he gets there and makes sure the door is locked behind him, he flops onto his bed and groans into his pillow. Some days, he really wishes he could be a commoner - this royal life is far too much for him at times.

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At the feast that night, Leo finds himself wishing Morgana wasn't so stubborn in her protests, for at least then he might have someone intelligent to talk to. Of course, he completely respects and agrees with her position. He just knows he cannot let his father know that.

The king already looks down on Leo for not being proper "ruling material", with his relative dislike for fighting compared to his brother's and his overall lack of charisma when giving speeches. The only thing his father seems to approve of is his penchant for negotiation and his ability to spot loopholes in policies.

Leo decides he really doesn't want to have to deal with those thoughts in his head anymore, so he takes advantage of the current absence of the king and finds his wine disappearing much faster than before.

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It is the next morning and Leo finds himself waking up with a banging headache and an inability to remember how he got back to his room the night before. He assumes one of the knights carried him back and decides he just needs to sleep off the headache.

It seems like no time has passed at all when Leo re-finds himself in the land of the living, even though he still feels like death, when he is startled awake just a few hours later by Gaius knocking on his door. The physician seems about to ask Leo for a favour when he sees his dishevelled state. Sighing, the older man instructs Leo to get himself dressed while he goes to fetch a cure for that headache.

It's not long before Gaius has returned and Leo is thanking him profusely for helping him regain the ability to think without feeling like his head's about to explode. Gaius then tells the tale of his recently gained lodger - a boy called Merlin - and explains how even though the boy has only been in Camelot for less than a full day, he has already gotten into trouble by insulting Arthur.

Leo finds this highly amusing, and as a thank you to Gaius for the hangover remedy, he agrees to convince Arthur to set the boy free. Fortunately, he got Arthur to give in and release the boy in the morning. Unfortunately, however, the boy would not be let off without consequence.

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Waking the next day feeling much better than he did the morning before, Leo decides that today is an excellent day to shirk his duties entirely. He heads out of his room to go find Gwen, and together they end up wandering through the lower town, chatting away merrily about nothing at all.