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Chapter Text

Arthur and Merlin were running for their lives. Bandits with swords were chasing them down a hill. Arthur fell face first onto the muddy ground and Merlin looked back to see the bandits come closer. He used a spell the make trees collapse on top of the bandits and quickly helped Arthur up.

Back at the castle Merlin noticed the mud on Arthur’s face. ‘You look like a pig’ he said laughing at his king. Arthur looked him in the eyes: ‘you really think you can say that stuff to me?’ Merlin chuckled but quickly realized Arthur was being serious. Merlin didn’t think he would be in trouble, however Arthur called the guards and told them to take Merlin to the dungeons. Merlin was flabbergasted: ‘what have I done? Is this because I called you a pig?!’ Arthur looked at Merlin with disgust and told him he had seen everything today. He had seen him use magic. Arthur turned around to face the window. ‘I never expected you to do this to me. My father was right, I can’t trust you.’ He waved the guards away and they took the struggling Merlin with them.

Arthur knew this is what his father wanted and tried not to think to much about it. He just lost his best friend. He didn’t know if he could ever recover from this loss if they chop off Merlin’s head. Arthur realized he wouldn’t be able to face the execution of Merlin and decided to banish him in secret so no one knew he wouldn’t get killed for using magic.

In the evening the council got together in the throne room. Arthur presented the problem: ‘Welcome all and today we will be banishing Merlin for the use of magic inside the country of Camelot.’ Everyone gasped in shock. No one saw this betrayal coming from the kings servant. One of the man yelled: ‘why won’t he be beheaded like the rest of the dirty magic users?’ Arthur just answered a simple ‘no, I’m the king’ to the man and silence hit the room before everyone started talking with each other.

Everyone was chatting for a few minutes and finally the guard brought Merlin into the room. He was handcuffed and thrown onto the floor, head first. When he recovered from his fall he saw everyone staring at him in disgust of his betrayal. Arthur spoke first: ‘you will be banished from Camelot for life, because of your unloyalty to you king and land.’ Merlin faced the ground fighting the urge to say something, but it slipped out.

‘You think you’re like Uther, a commanding tyrant forbidding people from practicing magic. You’re not, it’s your destiny to break the laws and make your own!’
‘Silence!’ the king yelled. ‘Do you confess that you used magic?’

Merlin slowly nodded and Gaius, who was standing in the back, was very surprised.

‘You can pack your things and leave, there is the door. Just be gone before the night falls’ were the kings last words before he let Merlin get his bags.

Merlin walked to his room to pack his bags. Gaius walked in hastily to wish Merlin well. ‘I’m so sorry Merlin. There was nothing I could do.’ ‘Don’t worry Gaius, it was my fault and now I will pay for it.’

They hugged each other and Merlin was given some bread and was on his way out of Camelot.

Merlin walked out of the city without looking back once. Arthur on the other hand was looking out of his window feeling empty. He felt lost without his friend. Now he had to find a new servant. Guinevere walked in and tried cheering Arthur up a bit, however nothing had worked.

-

Over two years had passed and Arthur was going to Gawant who is now ruled by queen Elena. Arthur greeted her with a friendly handshake. Elena was happy to see Arthur again. They’ve kept messaging each other for some time and now they finally meet up again. Elena showed Arthur everything in the castle. The throne room, weapon vault, guest rooms and much more. She wasn’t married and ruled the kingdom with her friend who was a knight for Gawant. His name is Jake Theoson. He was a very nice fella. The evening was a big dinner for welcoming the quests from Camelot: king Arthur, Leon, Percival and Geraint. It was a big evening with jesters, magicians that did card tricks and acrobats. At the end of the evening everyone was drunk and went to bed.

Next morning the guests were awoken by loud music coming from the throne room. According to Elena this is a tradition since she was queen. The morning begins with music and dance with breakfast after. Everyone enjoyed themselves and loved the food.

Elena planned a hunt for the guests and Jake would take them to the nearby forest. Everyone mounted a horse and went on their way. Entering the forest, the hunt has begun. Leon was the first to catch a bunny. It was a big one. Percival congratulated him: ‘nice job mate, keep going.’ The path kept getting darker, but Jake kept going and everyone followed. But suddenly a sound from the side of the path was heard. It couldn’t be an animal. Bandits came forth and attacked the knights. Geraint slaid two in one go and rode away to circle out the bandits. He was followed by Jake and the rest of the guests were in the middle. Leon and Percival got shook of their horses immediately by the twenty bandits. Arthur was sitting more sturdy but eventually fell from his horse. He was put to the ground by the bandits. Leon and Percival were laying on the ground knocked out and there was nothing Arthur could do. He tried to stand up but was knocked out by an earthquake.

When he woke up and opened his eyes he saw that he was laying inside a cave. A recognizable voice told him: ‘don’t move, you’ll reopen your wounds. And don’t worry, Leon and Percival are save.’ Arthur immediately knew it was his old friend Merlin talking. He didn’t know if he should be mad or happy to see him. ‘Did you save us by magic?’ was the first thing he asked his old friend. Merlin confirmed it, but added that they otherwise would’ve died and they should be grateful.
Arthur slowly sat up and looked around him and saw that this cave was used for a long time. He saw Leon and Percival still sleeping and started talking with Merlin.

‘So you’ve lived here the whole two years?’

‘yep’

‘You should know that I did miss you. I also wasn’t able to find a new servant for months’

Merlin was brewing soup and poured it into little bowls. He gave one to Arthur.

‘I knew you would be assassinated today. I couldn’t let that happen, that’s the only reason I came.’

‘Who would do that?!’

‘I don’t know yet, but I overheard guards saying it.’

Arthur looked at the soup and then at Merlin.

‘I should confess that I only banned you to please my father, however I thought a lot about what you said. It may be my destiny to change this world into a more pleasant one for everyone and not suppress some people.’

Leon and Percival almost woke up in sync and groaned in pain. When they saw Merlin they were happy. ‘Merlin, nice to see you!’ Leon said very happily. Merlin handed both men some soup and everyone ate their soup.

A sudden noise made Merlin jump up and walk out of the cave.

Chapter Text

When Merlin looked around the corner he found two limping bandits. They spotted him and Merlin quickly used a spell to kill them. When he walked back into the cave he saw Arthur standing up reopening his wound. ‘Don’t move! You’ll open your wound idiot!’ Arthur turned around and looked at Merlin. ‘You haven’t changed a bit, have you’ Arthur said smiling and slowly sitting down.

They all stayed in the cave for a few days catching up with different topics. Merlin didn’t tell much about his life in the cave, but listened to the story’s of the knights.
When everyone was feeling better they left for the castle. They had to go by foot, because the horses had run away in the ambush. The castle was only a few hours by foot.

Upon arrival every person they walked past was surprised. Arthur had the feeling something was off.

The doors to the throne room opened and Elena was crying in her friends arms and Geraint was drinking wine next to them. Jake was flabbergasted when he saw the men walk into the room.

‘I thought you were dead?! And who is this weird old man?’ Jake said. The knights looked over their shoulders and saw Emrys standing behind them. ‘We found this poor old man in the woods and he had treated our wounds. So naturally we have to repay the favor.’ Leon said quickly, not wanting to let Jake be suspicious of Merlin.
Jake greeted the old man and welcomed him. He told the knights to show him the empty room next to theirs where he can stay. ‘But wat is your name?’ ‘Kerkylas of Andros is the name, oh humble king’ Merlin said before walking out of the room.

The knights walked together with Merlin to the empty room. ‘Geraint was a little bit to comfortable there’ Percival noticed. Everyone agreed and continued to argue about who send the bandits. Their conclusion was simple: Geraint is hired by Jake to kill Arthur and then he can take over Camelot and Gawant.

The night fell after a big dinner and Arthur suggested he would spend the night with Merlin, so that the rooms would be equally filled. ‘Can’t handle the thought you won’t have the luxury of a private room?’ Merlin said jokingly and Arthur pushed him into the room. Leon and Percival wished them a good night and went into their room.

Merlin took off his disguise and grabbed some pillows and threw them on the ground. ‘What are you doing?’ Arthur asked. Merlin was confused. Wouldn’t want Arthur to sleep in the bed? ‘Come on, we can share this bed right? You’re not my servant anymore, that means you won’t have to obey me anymore.’ Merlin picked the pillows up and crawled into the bed. He dimmed the candles and they both went to sleep without sound.

In the middle of the night, Arthur wakes up and needs to pee. He lighted the candle and went on his way. He almost bumped into a guy with a cloak walking through the hallways but didn’t think much of it.

The mysterious guy on the other hand went into his room where Merlin was sleeping. The man was surprised to find a young man instead of the old Kerkylas. But he still continued his plan. Picking up a bunch of paper and throwing it around the room. But before he lit a candle and let the paper burn, he used some herbs to let Merlin fall into a deeper sleep. He quickly ran as the fire spread around the room.

Five minutes later Arthur came back from the toilet and smelled toast, which was weird for the middle of the night. He finally woke up and realized the smell of fire came from his bedroom. Merlin was still in the room. He knocked hastily on the door of Leon and Percival who woke up fairly quickly. The door was barricaded. Percival used his whole weight to open the room which was filled entirely with smoke and fire. Arthur ran in without using his shared braincell with Merlin. ‘MERLIN!’ he yelled repeatedly but Merlin didn’t make a sound.

Arthur was struggling to see, however after some time he felt a body on the floor. He could feel from touch alone that it was Merlin. He picked him up and tilted him out of the room. He ran to the physician. The physician wasn’t in his bed. Definitely the plan of the assassin. Leon and Percival grabbed towels and water to treat Merlin’s wounds and Arthur was searching for an antidote for the sleeping herbs. He made frustrated noises trying to find something to help, until he noticed a piece of paper in Merlin’s hand. He grabbed and opened it. The paper said: “Hunter and Ginger, Valerian root -> feathery plantus.” Arthur didn’t understand the plants but did know that the “Hunter and Ginger” refer to Jake and Geraint.

Leon peeked at the paper and said: ‘Valerian plant is used to sleep better, which mean the feathery plantus would be an antidote. But if magic is used we have to be quick’ .

‘What is a feathery plantus then?’ Percival asked. The three of them all looked at each other like the answer would be written on someone’s forehead. A message made out of sparks appeared which made an arrow pointing at a vial containing a plant. Arthur jumped up and grabbed the vial and quickly boiled it in water.

While he was boiling the water an arrow came flying next to his head and barely missed him. Percival took defensive position and ran to the door. He grabbed a man with a cloak by his neck. Unhooding the man revealed Geraint. Percival tied him to a chair and unarmed him from any weapons.

The antidote was finally done and Arthur slowly let Merlin drink it and now they had to wait. But suddenly a second person came into the room with a big sword. None of the knights had their weapons with them. The person unhooded themselves and revealed that he was Jake. ‘No dramatic entry unfortunately, but I will be the last thing you see.’ He said before swinging his sword at Percival. Leon was just in time to use a piece of wood as shield. Percival threw Geraint through the air to prevent him from escaping with Jake next to him.

‘Arthur, protect Merlin and don’t let Geraint escape. We will hold Jake back.’ Leon yelled before throwing himself at Jake. Percival picked up a dagger that was once Geraint’s and stabbed Jakes foot. Jake yelled out in pain and stabbed Leons shoulder in return. Leon lost a lot of blood and was knocked out with the back of the huge sword. Percival got mad and punched so hard that you could hear bones break in Jakes body. Jake was exhausted from the blow and also fell to the floor.

Percival picked Leon up and brought him to where Arthur was. He treated Leons wound and now they had to wait. The room was a mess. Loads of glass on the floor, a man tied up to a chair laying on the floor and an almost dead man laying not two meters next to him.

When Merlin and Leon woke up it was already morning. Merlin tried to sit up straight but his wounds wouldn’t let him. He knew he wouldn’t be able to stand, but Arthur picked him up and Percival picked Leon up. ‘Only my shoulder is wounded, I can still walk’ Leon said. But Percival didn’t listen and held Leon up high. The men both carrying their friends walked outside the room of the physician to the throne room. Everyone was looking at them.

Elena saw the men coming and didn’t know what happened. Arthur explained everything what happened today. Elena thanked them for saving her kingdom from Jake and specially thanked Merlin for saving Arthur, because otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to stop Jake and Geraint.

Jake and Geraint were send to the dungeons and didn’t live happy there. Merlin on the other hand restored his place in Camelot, but instead of being a servant he became an advisor of the king.