'Those who don't believe in magic
will never find it.'
-
The sky was thick with grey clouds, quiet thunder rumbled in the distance and tiny droplets of rain fell sadly to the floor. It was the late 5th century, and people were living in desperate times. The kingdom of Camelot currently ruled by their king, Uther Pendragon. A strong ruler, his laws upholding duty and tradition and defying the use of witchcraft or magic. His two children Arthur, and Morgana did not share the same views as their father but tried their best to maintain the family image and monarchy.
Prince Arthur of Camelot ran faster into the deep, murky forest as he heard Merlin's desperate cries for help. Merlin was Arthur's friend, and guide. They'd fallen asleep during one of their late evening hunts, and when Arthur awoke he found his guards and knights slaughtered and Merlin missing. What happened, and why was he left alive?
"Hey. Come on now, that's enough." A voice called from the far side of the village.
Arthur spun around to see who dare tell him what to do, him, the prince of Camelot.
"What?" He further chuckled at the man approaching. "You've had your fun, my friend." The man spoke with a smile on his face. Arthur was in the middle of picking fun at one of his servants along with his fellow guard friends. Arthur raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "Do I know you?" He asked abruptly, looking around at his friends for confirmation.
"Um. Probably not. I'm Merlin." The man introduced himself and placed his hands in his pockets.
Arthur stood in surprise and folded his arms. "So I don't know you?" Merlin shook his head slightly.
"No, you don't know me." Arthur walked towards him as to be intimidating. "Yet you called me friend?" Both of them stood almost face to face now. "That was my mistake." Merlin replied. "Yes, I think so too."
"Merlin!" Arthur yelled, as he sprinted towards the struggling sound. At the scene, Merlin was tangled in tight, sturdy ropes and chains. Arthur stopped dead in his tracks, and cupped his face with his gloved hands. Merlins clothes had been shred from him. He was beaten, bruised and his eyes were so swollen, he could not open them. His hands were bound together so forcefully that Arthur could see the wounds forming underneath.
"Merlin," Arthur said softly, in almost a whisper.
"Merlin, can you hear me? It's me, Arthur." Arthur remained calm, as he managed to get the ropes and chains untangled and lifted him onto his back. Arthur removed his thick red Camelot Cloak and wrapped it around Merlin to keep him warm.
Merlin fell unconscious, his lack of answering struck fear into Arthur. In all the adventures they'd ever been on, Merlin had managed to come away from them all with nothing more than a scratch. Arthur was nervous, he had no guards to protect him. He was alone with his hurt friend, with no idea how to get them both back to the castle.
Arthur looked around for anything that might be able to help. He spotted Merlin's baggy brown trousers and ripped shirt and shoved them into his satchel.
Merlin was freezing, wet from the rain and looked an inch from death. Arthur tried to remember what happened the night previous, he didn't know what had happened. One minute everyone was chattering, laughing and enjoying pints; the next, he woke up to this.
It was clear Merlin had been beaten, and probably used for other disgusting, vile, inhuman uses. Arthur needed to get Merlin back to his home before anyone saw what had happened to him.
Judging by the amount of foot prints imprinted within the mud, it wasn't one man alone. Arthur guessed that by waking up and have not been killed, they wanted to send a message. They wanted to get to Arthur. One of his friends died in the guard, and then to attack Arthur's best friend. Arthur sighed and shook his head. He hoped no one knew of his true feelings towards Merlin. He made it abundantly clear almost everyday. Treating him like the servant he is. Constantly reminding him to clean his chambers, wash his clothes, repair his armor, clean his boots, exercise his dogs, air out his fireplace, change his bed, and muck out his stables. However, occasionally he'd accidentally let his soft side slip, and invite his feelings out to play. These were his favourite moments.
Arthur remembered the time Merlin went missing and Arthur was forced to get a new manservant. This new servant dressed the same as Merlin, but Arthur felt lost. He couldn't confine in this new servant, he was boring and dull and definitely not Merlin.
So Arthur took it upon himself along with some of his knights to search for Merlin. When Arthur found Merlin stumbling in the forest, he rushed to hug him. Arthur then realised how much he values Merlin, he revealed that Merlin is the only person he can truly trust. Merlin didn't remember this afterwards.
Arthur was able to carry Merlin back to the castle, he felt exhausted, having not eaten or drank and walked for miles. He had been crying, so he quickly dried his eyes before being seen by anyone. The prince of Camelot couldn't be seen crying. He cleared his throat as he saw someone approach them. It was Giuas.
"What happened?" Giuas gasped, as he looked at Merlin's lifeless body. Giuas was the father Merlin never had, Giuas basically raised Merlin. He was elderly and had scruffy white hair. Once on a quest, Merlin set out to meet his biological father, but on the same day he was sadly taken from him. Merlin was forever grateful for Giuas.
Arthur was only guessing what had happened to Merlin during the night, but held onto the slight hope that his fears weren't true. Giuas examined Merlin carefully as the palace physician, he desperately wanted Merlin to awaken and tell them what had happened. Giuas looked up at Arthur who was sat on the wooden bench in their dorm, patiently waiting for some news.
"I'm afraid it was brutal for him. He will wake with a lot of trauma and he also may not want to be spoken to or touched."
"But Giaus. What do we tell the people?"
"We tell them there was an attack, and nothing more. You were there, they will take your word and your father won't look into it - as per Merlin is just simply your servant. If you'd like, you could fetch me some white willow bark, devil's claw, bromelain, turmeric, and ginger. This will all help to relieve Merlin's pain."
Arthur nodded and thanked Giuas. Before leaving, he slid his chair closer to Merlin's bedside. He looked much more at ease than he did earlier.
"Merlin. If you can hear me, I'm so sorry for what has happened. When I catch whoever it was who did this to you, I'll make them suffer. They will pay, I'll kill them."
Gwen knocked on the door quietly and walked in. Gwen was Princess Morgana's maidservant, she had been for years before Merlin's arrival in Camelot. She bought some flowers with her and placed them into the empty vase on the windowsill. They were bright yellow and green. Gwen was Merlin's first friend when he arrived in Camelot. She looked down at her feet and shook her head in shock as she joined Arthur by Merlin's bedside. Gwen wrapped her arm around Arthur's shoulder to comfort him.
"I'll stay with Merlin and keep him company. He'll be okay, Sire."
"Gwen, I think we've known each other well enough by now. You don't have to call me Sire. Just Arthur."
Arthur glanced at Merlin. He sighed and dipped his head defeated. He placed his hand on top of Merlin's for a second, and then turned to Gwen and Giaus. He nodded and left without another word.
After what felt like forever, Arthur finally managed to crawl to his chambers. It had been such a long, heavy day, that even crawling the stairs felt like a chore. Arthur led in bed and closed his eyes. His mind started to play tricks on him, a constant nightmare of what might've happened on a loop.
"It's no use, I just can't sleep." Arthur groaned, as he lifted the covers off himself. He immediately got himself dressed, which felt weird without help and decided he was going to stay with Giaus and Merlin tonight.
"Gwen. You're still here? I really can't sleep, you should go home and get your rest." Arthur said as he fumbled through the wooden doors once more.
Gwen smiled and took a curtsey before leaving the room.
Arthur once more took Merlin's hand in his. He felt warmer this evening, it was a relief to know he was starting to get better. Merlin winced. Arthur let go of his hand and took a deep breath, finally the first sign of life Merlin's shown for hours.
"Arthur." Merlin croaked, only just managing to squeeze the name from his cracked lips. Merlin had a purple bruise from one side of his neck to the other. Arthur could barley look at him without feeling guilt, anger, and sadness.
"I'm here, Merlin. You're safe, get some sleep."
Arthur could still see fear in Merlin's eyes, as he barely opened them. The whites of his eyes were blood shot and sore, the swelling had gone down since Giaus' medical attention. Arthur wished he could take the pain away, but mentally and physically Merlin was hurting and only time could help fix that.
-
The next day Giuas came down from his bed and was shocked to see Arthur slouched across Merlin asleep, he had dribbled a little which was quite funny but the most important thing now was to wake him and send him back to his chambers before anyone noticed him gone.
Giaus fixed up a new potion for Merlin's pain and carefully woke them both. Arthur snorted before waking, and Giaus raised his eyebrows. "Good morning your majesty, sorry to wake you but it's time I give Merlin his medicine, and I think you ought to be getting back before you get into trouble." Giaus was half smirking by the end of his sentence.
Arthur was confused, he sat up and wiped his mouth. He furrowed his brows, and realised why Giuas was smirking. He felt slightly embarrassed that his drool seemed to leak onto Merlin's sheep skinned blanket.
Merlin began to wake, he could barely speak as his vocal chords had been damaged so he insisted on a smile instead.
After drinking the potion, Merlin retraced what had happened so that he could support Arthur in catching these thugs, thief's, pirates, whoever it was and make Camelot safe again. It was Merlin's duty to protect the prince and ensure his safety, as well as the palaces.
Images flickered through Merlin's mind.
The knights were sleeping peacefully, as was Arthur. Merlin crept away in hopes he could call for the great dragon for some advice. Then it all went dark?
He was hit on the back of the head with something and the next thing he remembers is waking up tied to a tree, sore. His head was pounding, and he was freezing. He attempted to use magic to set himself free but quickly realised the chains used were magic proof. Whoever was doing this knew of Merlin's magic. He started to cry, as his body being pressed up against the tree as if he were hugged it, was being tortured, hit, whipped, he was strangled, punched, and worst of all, the person doing this was just one man, he was also being inappropriate, disrespectful. He- it was- Prince Fabian. The Prince that had been visiting Camelot as a guest from another city, welcomed by King Uther. But why? Merlin felt there was something off about Fabian from the moment he arrived, but couldn't quite tell what it was. He never expected him to turn out to be this type of monster.
Merlin snapped out of his trance, and decided he needed to warn Arthur about the guest currently roaming the halls of Camelot. He noticed Arthur and Giaus talking in the corner.
"Giaus I need to go hunting with Prince Fabian today, for our fathers sakes we need to somewhat be friends to protect the kingdoms from war. Please, watch Merlin for me. Don't let him go wandering off to the tavern again." Arthur smirked, a hand on Giaus' shoulder.
Giaus nodded, and walked over to Merlin as Arthur left. He sat on the chair beside him.
"I know what you're thinking, Merlin. I can see the strain between your eyebrows. You've never been fond of Fabian, but it will be alright Merlin. They're just going for a hunt." Giaus said, and any other time Merlin might've believed him. But not today. It wouldn't be alright. Of course it wouldn't. Even the sound of his name made Merlin flinch.
He felt useless, he needed to do something, and fast.
-