Mysteries of a 'serving' boys past.

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Merlin sat on his bedroom, facing the woods that surrounded the sleeping group with a whirlwind in his mind. Sir Markus, Sir Elliot, Sir Kyle and Sir Kyler were in Camelot, Gwaine knew of his heritage and blood lines while the others were oblivious. Should he fell Arthur everything as he'd done with Gwaine or should he wait for the secrets to come to life on their own? Should he follow Elliot's advice and tell, or follow his own and stay silent? A voice suddenly startled him from his thoughts, the Raven Prince looked up to see Sir Elliott sitting of the his own bedroll, watching the prince silently, fully aware of the sleeping Camelot knights lying not a full 15 feet away.

"Sire?"
Merlin smirked weakly before mumbling, turning up face the maybreakian knight.

"Titles Elliott, titles." Which in turn received a chuckle from the knight.
Elliott walked over before he took a seat next to his Prince, his position offering silent comfort towards his silently distressed Prince, soon to be king. Merlin sighed and brought his knees to his chest, where he quickly rested his arms as a sulky teenager would. Elliott smiled affectionately at his Prince and ruffled the boys dark hair, marveling at how much the boy had changed in the short years they'd been apart, but also marveling at how he hadn't changed at all.
Merlin was still as loyal and kind-hearted, never cruel and as wise as he had been all those years ago. And yet, this Merlin, seemed more guarded and protected after years of being beaten down, the boy was still standing.
This Merlin had matured the way nice wine did. It didn't spoil and it didn't rot, if matured in taste and musk, this Merlin was as loyal and wise as he had been before, as well as he was now as protected and guarded as a prince, soon to be king, should be. In the time it took Elliott to think these thoughts, Merlin had shifted and was now looking at the Knight dead on, an odd look in the never ending blue wash of his eyes.

"Elliott.. We know that Gwaine has accepted me for me, the title as well as the magic that's been boiling in my blood since birth.. But will the others? Leon, Percival, Elyan, Arthur, Gwen, all of them. Will they look past the mask of a hidden Prince run out of his own kingdom by those he trusted and the marred face of the magic born warlock to see me? Will they look past the shattered mirror go see the actual reflection?" Elliott smiled weakly, noting that Merlin had not yet lost his beautifully poetic tongue. Elliott sighed as soon as the small smile melted away, before he reached over and squeezed Merlin's shoulder tightly, a physical as well as silent comfort as he began to speak again.

"My prince.. I do not know how to answer that. They are your friends and we can only hope that they will look past it all to see the you they have known for years. And if things do go awry, you know that Sir Markus, Sir Kyler, Sir Kyle and myself included, as well as Sir Gwaine, will raise our swords against anyone that would dare cause you harm." Merlin smiled weakly at the tone of the older mans voice, the Raven had heard it before. The day Maybreak fell, Merlin had heard that tone in Elliott's voice when the man swore his allegiance with the promise that the knight would sooner die than allow any harm to come to the Prince. Merlin smiled, the smile that spread over his face was watery while his bright blue eyes were filled with unshed tears. Merlin let out a shaky breath before he nodded, a few tears sliding down the pale skin of Merlin's face, as well as the cheekbones that could cut glass with a single swipe, Elliott smiled weakly before he leased forward and brushed away the few tears, a loving as well as brotherly action for Elliott, as the knight had repeated the action several times in the past in many given situations.

Elliott smiled weakly, the knight stood and walked forward, before he sat down next to Merlin on the bedroll, the Knight reached over and wrapped an arm around Merlin's shoulders, both men chuckling weakly as both men chuckled at an unspoken joke between the two.

That's how the two men were found the next morning by Gwaine and Kyler, Merlin and Elliott leaning on one another. Merlin in a solid sleep, soft snores leaving the boys nose with every breath, Kyler had chuckled and stood, walking over to help situate Merlin back into his bedroll, not stirring once. When the other men woke, Arthur and the others, they were shocked to see Merlin asleep. When Arthur when to attempt in waking up the Raven, he was stopped by Elliott, as well as Kyler and Gwaine.

"Why wouldn't we wake him up, he's just being lazy." Elliott scoffed under his breath before turning and saying aloud,

"He didn't get much sleep last night, leave him be. I doubt you'd be able to wake him up anyway." Percival straightened and asked, the gentle giant speaking softly as if frightened to wake the Raven boy. Elliott turned to Kyler and said, his voice at its regular volume.

"Sir Kyler, I believe it's time for an example as to why Merlin won't be waking up for some time." Kyler grinned slightly before he grabbed two metal pots, old and clunky, making quite a bit of noise by themselves. Kyler, with the two pots in hand, walked over and stood directly over Merlin's bedroll. Then, with no warning, the maybreakian Knights began clanging the two pots together, an ungodly minute of scratching metal and sheer force colliding in a horrific way. Birds, hundreds and hundreds of feet away took off from the tree tops in surprise, animals off all kinds skittering away quickly in shock and fear.
As men's ears had stopped ringing, they returned their attention to the pot clanging Knights and the Raven boy, that's when the noticed something shocking.

Merlin hadn't even stirred at the noise, let alone awoken from it.

A few of the men, mainly the maybreakian Knights and Gwaine, chuckled weakly as the pots were returned to their proper places before Elliott spoke again,

"I mean, you can attempt in waking the lad up but if the pots clattering together couldn't even make him stir.." He didn't finish his statement, he didn't need to, the Knight quickly turning to Kyle whom was trying to draw his attention to something. Elliott whispered something and Kyle nodded before returning to his own folded bedroll. The Camelot Knights watched the sleeping Merlin for a few minutes longer, it being a rare thing to see the normally active and energetic boy so still and so silent, as well as so relaxed and so calm. The lines in Merlin's face were completely slack, the boys lips parted in the slight, his face was the picture of calmed relaxation.

It was silently decided that Merlin had earned a few extra hours of sleep, so the men let him rest.
It was mid morning when Merlin woke and he didn't wake in the way everyone thought he would. Most had assumed that he'd randomly sit up and rub at his eyes groggily, almost like a child, they were shocked when, while they were in the mists of their own conversations, Merlin bolted up from his bedroll sharply, his breath jutting out in sharp and ragged pants, a thin layer of sweat made itself visible on Merlin's hairline. Everyone was frozen, especially at the momentary flash of fear and terror that sat in Merlin's eyes for several seconds, the widened look of fear that was unwelcome as well as unusual in the boys eyes. After several seconds, Merlin pulled off his neckerchief and used it to dry the sweat that had accumulated in that short amount of time. Merlin's breathing was still slightly ragged though it no longer came out in sharp pants and puffs, the boys face was pale and his eyes red, but Merlin being Merlin, swallowed harshly and turned to his friends, just then noticing the expressions on their faces.

"Are you lot alright?" No one answered fog several seconds, though Gwaine of all people, stood carefully from his seat next to Percival, where the longer haired Knight carefully walked forward before falling to his knees before Merlin. Merlin, was confused to say the least, though he couldn't deny the slight yelp of shock that escaped his throat when Gwaine quite suddenly pulled Merlin into a hug, the Knights head coming to rest where Merlin's neck met his shoulder. Merlin chuckled weakly, his voice harsh and rough, before he muttered weakly,

"Alright then.. Gwaine, are you alright?" And Gwaine couldn't do anything to stop the sad sounding chuckle that escaped his throat.

"Yeah Merlin, I'm alright. I'm alright." Merlin smiled weakly and despite his obviously shaky state, he hugged back and whispered quietly, almost impossible to hear, even for Gwaine,

"Thank you my friend."