The Rise of Merlin

THE DRAGON'S CALL (3)

I was originally going to put this up last week, however, I ended up going camping before I could finish the chapter, and of course there was no signal where I went. I was planning on just making this episode be three parts, but then this chapter got too long so I had to make an extra part. I would have put the chapter up sooner, but my sister insisted on having the fourth part finished, because she didn't want to wait to read the last part. Anyways, I hope you enjoy reading this.  :)

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Merlin...

Merlin awoke from her sleep and looked around her cell in confusion. She was sure that her name had just been called out, but when looking towards the cell door she saw that no one was there. Feeling perplexed, Merlin sat up from where she had been lying and groaned when she became aware of how sore she was, especially her arms. She wouldn't be surprised if she had bruises, considering how hard the prince and the two knights had grabbed her. While in the middle of rubbing her hands down her arms the same voice that had woken her up called out again, Merlin.

Warily, she scrambled off the floor and moved towards the door. She looked wildly around the cell and tried to find where the voice was coming from, but she couldn't pinpoint the source.

Merlin.

Again her name was called out, and Merlin found herself questioning her sanity when she looked to where she had previously been sleeping. For a moment she thought the voice was coming from beneath the floor. Wishing to prove herself wrong, Merlin went to kneel by her makeshift bed and put her ear close to the floor, waiting to hear the voice again.

"Merlin!"

Almost losing her balance after being startled, Merlin turned sharply towards the sound of her name, and saw Gaius standing outside her cell door. Once she recovered from the shock, she beamed at the sight of the old physician and hastily stood to face him. However, when she got close to the door she was able to make out the angry look on Gaius's face, and her smile dropped from her face. Being aware of his displeasure, Merlin hoped that the guard standing next to the physician wouldn't open the door. She was probably safer inside the cell than outside with Gaius. Unfortunately, the guard opened the cell for the physician, and Merlin quickly stepped back when Gaius rushed in to stand in front of her.

"You never cease to amaze me!" Gaius growled. "The one thing that someone like you should do is keep your head down, and what do you do? You behave like an idiot." Merlin cringed at his harsh words. She knew that he was right, even if she didn't want to hear it. She had acted like an idiot when she had confronted the prince for being a prat, and a part of her accepted that she got what she deserved. She was just lucky that her only punishment was a night in the dungeons, because it could have been a lot worse. What she wasn't prepared for however, was the obvious disappointment that was easy to see on Gaius's face. She didn't think that it would hurt as much as it did, because, although the old man had been kind to her since her arrival to Camelot, Merlin barely knew the physician. However, she knew that it was because of his kindness and his willingness to take her in, even with his knowledge of her magic, that she felt ashamed for disappointing him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean-" She stopped mid-sentence, unable to continue as she didn't know how to explain why she thought picking a fight with a complete stranger, who turned out to be the future king of Camelot, was such a good idea at the time.

"Of course you didn't mean to. No one ever means to do anything," Gaius said, raising a brow in disapproval. Merlin smiled sheepishly at his words and let out a sigh of relief when Gaius gave her one last look of irritation before dismissing the situation. "You're lucky that it wasn't worse than a night in the dungeons," Gaius remarked and Merlin nodded in agreement. "And of course time in the stocks," he continued, looking towards the waiting guard by the cell door. Merlin nodded, also turning towards the guard before quickly turning back to Gaius with a confused look on her face.