No One and Nothing part 5A
Author: archaeologist_d
Title: No one and Nothing part 5A
Rating: R
Pairing/s: none
Character/s: Merlin, Arthur, Gwen
Summary: Merlin saves Arthur’s life in front of the whole court and has to run for his life. But when Arthur shows up, asking for help, what was Merlin to do, say no?
Warnings: none
Word Count: 1063
Camelot Drabble Prompt: 550 Student
Author’s Notes: The other chapters are found at https://archiveofourown.org/works/46585663/chapters/117313327
Disclaimer: I do not own the BBC version of Merlin; They and Shine do. I am very respectfully borrowing them with no intent to profit. No money has changed hands. No copyright infringement is intended.
-------------------
The first test came only a few days later.
It was Merlin’s fault, of course. He was beginning to think that everything was his doing, his choices, his failures. Arthur finding out was the least of them.
This time, though, Gwen’s apprentice was the one accused. Merlin knew that Rolf hadn’t a thimbleful of magic, that he was as innocent as they come.
But rumours can kill just as easily as a sword-thrust and Rolf was caught fast in Uther’s war against magic.
----------------
After Morgana had been whisked away by Morgause, after Merlin poisoned her -and while he accepted that it was the only course of action he could take to save them all, he had tried to murder someone who trusted him and that guilt would always be with him, Gwen had been left behind, rudderless.
Merlin’s fault.
Without someone to take care of, without an official position at the court, Gwen started doing odd jobs, filling in for sick servants, arranging for flowers and dusting and embroidery. Her needlework was impeccable, but without Morgana there, the other ladies of the court seemed to find Gwen unlucky and shunned her.
In the end, needing coin, she reopened her father’s forge. But strong as she was, skilled as she was, she needed help. She hired an older boy, mid-teens, thinking to train him to take over for her once Morgana returned.
Merlin hadn’t the heart to tell her that he hoped Morgana would never come back.
Rolf was a bit shy, but he seemed to take to Gwen’s lessons as a duck to water, turning out horseshoes and swords and door hinges with equal skill. Before long, Gwen was turning away business, Rolf’s work growing more and more ingenuous and sturdier than the wares of the other blacksmith in the lower town. He was absolutely brilliant, turning iron into art. Gwen would go on and on about how he was doing whenever she ran into Merlin and Merlin would smile, happy for her.
She had even confided in Merlin that the royal smith had grudgingly admitted that Rolf’s skills were growing, that he was soon going to be the best in Camelot. Ethlebert talked about stealing him away from Gwen and using him as a secondary smith at the royal forge.
Not that Arthur would have allowed it. Merlin knew that Arthur felt badly about Gwen’s precarious position in Camelot. Besides, Arthur had sworn when Morgana disappeared that Gwen would want for nothing and had made sure that her house remained hers when money grew scarce. So he sent work to Gwen’s forge, and with Rolf’s skills, things were looking up.
But now that Merlin was known as a sorcerer and to be executed without mercy if he were discovered, he could only watch her from afar. He avoided her, worried that she’d recognise him under the paint and women’s scratchy kirtles and be condemned along with him.
And so it went until one day, poor Rolf was dragged in front of the court, protesting his innocence.
It was easy to see why.
Jealousy can be a bitter thing, building in the hearts of men. In the end, it was Mardoc, the other blacksmith in the lower town, losing money and clients to Rolf’s skills, who accused Rolf of sorcery.
It didn’t take long. Mardoc showed the clever locks Rolf had invented, the lovely ironwork used in door hinges, the knives with perfect balance. And Uther fell for it, didn’t want to hear that it was only skill and not magic that had produced such things.
The roar of Uther’s condemnation completely engulfed the room, Rolf’s pleas for mercy unanswered. Dragged away, still protesting his innocence, but knowing there was no hope, Rolf grew limp, giving up even before the cell door clanged shut.
-----------------
Merlin was scratching at the wool kirtle, his shaved chest itching like mad, when Arthur stomped in. He thought he was a hint of mockery in Arthur’s eyes at the ridiculous outfit but surprisingly, Merlin was growing used to it. At least, he no longer tripped over the skirts although the muck on his lips remained unpleasant.
“I suppose you heard about the boy,” Arthur murmured, looking around as if searching for spies.
“Rolf isn’t a sorcerer, Arthur. He doesn’t have magic,” Merlin said, making sure that Arthur wasn’t being led astray by his tyrant father.
Rolling his eyes a little, Arthur snapped back, “I know that. It was obvious that scum, Mardoc, was pushing for Rolf’s execution, just to get back to them both. He runs the forge poorly, is drunk half the time, and some of his swords shatter. He’s inept at best. But… my father won’t listen to reason. He demands that the boy be put to the pyre tomorrow.” Arthur sat down and began fiddling with a phial of Gaius’s, full of frog guts and herbs and green oil, watching the dried leaves twirl as he shook it. He finally put it down, much to Merlin’s relief, and wiped his hands on his breeches. “Luckily, it’s been raining so the wood is wet, and I’ve mentioned that it would cost more for dry wood and that turned the tide a bit. So day after. That’s how long we’ve got.”
“I’ll contact Iseldir.” At least, Merlin was prepared for this. He’d been busy contacting the Druids, setting up routes and alternates, just in case this was a trap. He wanted to believe in Arthur’s sincerity, gods how he did, but there was too much on the line to just accept things at face value. “Do you think Rolf will understand his part in this?”
Arthur shrugged. “It’s that or die horribly. I think he’ll run once he gets the chance.”
Merlin thought so, too. Of course, there was always a spanner in the works. No one had died that week, although while Gaius and Merlin were happy about that, it did give them a bit of a problem. “We don’t have a dead body to substitute, but a pig will do just as well.”
Looking at Merlin as if he had lost his mind, scowling at him as if it was Merlin’s fault that things were already going wrong, Arthur said, “Make sure. If this goes badly, I don’t know what my father would do. Likely kill you both and exile me or worse.”
Title: No one and Nothing part 5A
Rating: R
Pairing/s: none
Character/s: Merlin, Arthur, Gwen
Summary: Merlin saves Arthur’s life in front of the whole court and has to run for his life. But when Arthur shows up, asking for help, what was Merlin to do, say no?
Warnings: none
Word Count: 1063
Camelot Drabble Prompt: 550 Student
Author’s Notes: The other chapters are found at https://archiveofourown.org/works/46585663/chapters/117313327
Disclaimer: I do not own the BBC version of Merlin; They and Shine do. I am very respectfully borrowing them with no intent to profit. No money has changed hands. No copyright infringement is intended.
-------------------
The first test came only a few days later.
It was Merlin’s fault, of course. He was beginning to think that everything was his doing, his choices, his failures. Arthur finding out was the least of them.
This time, though, Gwen’s apprentice was the one accused. Merlin knew that Rolf hadn’t a thimbleful of magic, that he was as innocent as they come.
But rumours can kill just as easily as a sword-thrust and Rolf was caught fast in Uther’s war against magic.
----------------
After Morgana had been whisked away by Morgause, after Merlin poisoned her -and while he accepted that it was the only course of action he could take to save them all, he had tried to murder someone who trusted him and that guilt would always be with him, Gwen had been left behind, rudderless.
Merlin’s fault.
Without someone to take care of, without an official position at the court, Gwen started doing odd jobs, filling in for sick servants, arranging for flowers and dusting and embroidery. Her needlework was impeccable, but without Morgana there, the other ladies of the court seemed to find Gwen unlucky and shunned her.
In the end, needing coin, she reopened her father’s forge. But strong as she was, skilled as she was, she needed help. She hired an older boy, mid-teens, thinking to train him to take over for her once Morgana returned.
Merlin hadn’t the heart to tell her that he hoped Morgana would never come back.
Rolf was a bit shy, but he seemed to take to Gwen’s lessons as a duck to water, turning out horseshoes and swords and door hinges with equal skill. Before long, Gwen was turning away business, Rolf’s work growing more and more ingenuous and sturdier than the wares of the other blacksmith in the lower town. He was absolutely brilliant, turning iron into art. Gwen would go on and on about how he was doing whenever she ran into Merlin and Merlin would smile, happy for her.
She had even confided in Merlin that the royal smith had grudgingly admitted that Rolf’s skills were growing, that he was soon going to be the best in Camelot. Ethlebert talked about stealing him away from Gwen and using him as a secondary smith at the royal forge.
Not that Arthur would have allowed it. Merlin knew that Arthur felt badly about Gwen’s precarious position in Camelot. Besides, Arthur had sworn when Morgana disappeared that Gwen would want for nothing and had made sure that her house remained hers when money grew scarce. So he sent work to Gwen’s forge, and with Rolf’s skills, things were looking up.
But now that Merlin was known as a sorcerer and to be executed without mercy if he were discovered, he could only watch her from afar. He avoided her, worried that she’d recognise him under the paint and women’s scratchy kirtles and be condemned along with him.
And so it went until one day, poor Rolf was dragged in front of the court, protesting his innocence.
It was easy to see why.
Jealousy can be a bitter thing, building in the hearts of men. In the end, it was Mardoc, the other blacksmith in the lower town, losing money and clients to Rolf’s skills, who accused Rolf of sorcery.
It didn’t take long. Mardoc showed the clever locks Rolf had invented, the lovely ironwork used in door hinges, the knives with perfect balance. And Uther fell for it, didn’t want to hear that it was only skill and not magic that had produced such things.
The roar of Uther’s condemnation completely engulfed the room, Rolf’s pleas for mercy unanswered. Dragged away, still protesting his innocence, but knowing there was no hope, Rolf grew limp, giving up even before the cell door clanged shut.
-----------------
Merlin was scratching at the wool kirtle, his shaved chest itching like mad, when Arthur stomped in. He thought he was a hint of mockery in Arthur’s eyes at the ridiculous outfit but surprisingly, Merlin was growing used to it. At least, he no longer tripped over the skirts although the muck on his lips remained unpleasant.
“I suppose you heard about the boy,” Arthur murmured, looking around as if searching for spies.
“Rolf isn’t a sorcerer, Arthur. He doesn’t have magic,” Merlin said, making sure that Arthur wasn’t being led astray by his tyrant father.
Rolling his eyes a little, Arthur snapped back, “I know that. It was obvious that scum, Mardoc, was pushing for Rolf’s execution, just to get back to them both. He runs the forge poorly, is drunk half the time, and some of his swords shatter. He’s inept at best. But… my father won’t listen to reason. He demands that the boy be put to the pyre tomorrow.” Arthur sat down and began fiddling with a phial of Gaius’s, full of frog guts and herbs and green oil, watching the dried leaves twirl as he shook it. He finally put it down, much to Merlin’s relief, and wiped his hands on his breeches. “Luckily, it’s been raining so the wood is wet, and I’ve mentioned that it would cost more for dry wood and that turned the tide a bit. So day after. That’s how long we’ve got.”
“I’ll contact Iseldir.” At least, Merlin was prepared for this. He’d been busy contacting the Druids, setting up routes and alternates, just in case this was a trap. He wanted to believe in Arthur’s sincerity, gods how he did, but there was too much on the line to just accept things at face value. “Do you think Rolf will understand his part in this?”
Arthur shrugged. “It’s that or die horribly. I think he’ll run once he gets the chance.”
Merlin thought so, too. Of course, there was always a spanner in the works. No one had died that week, although while Gaius and Merlin were happy about that, it did give them a bit of a problem. “We don’t have a dead body to substitute, but a pig will do just as well.”
Looking at Merlin as if he had lost his mind, scowling at him as if it was Merlin’s fault that things were already going wrong, Arthur said, “Make sure. If this goes badly, I don’t know what my father would do. Likely kill you both and exile me or worse.”