Fic: Naming the Future
Title: Naming the Future
Author: Stella Wind
Prompt image no.: 65, 69, 18
Rating: PG
Length: 1905 words
Summary: Lancelot brings Mordred to Merlin, asking for help, and Merlin must find a way to deal with the one he's been told will kill Arthur.
Warnings/Spoilers: All of season 1
Author's notes: I'm rather afraid that next episode will render this AU. My apologies for any typos and posting mistakes.
It took nearly three months after he left Camelot for Lancelot to finally admit to himself that things might have been easier if he had swallowed his pride and had let himself be knighted.
There had been doubts in his mind that he was doing the right thing, even as he declared that he couldn't lie anymore, but it had felt like the right thing to do, for all the disappointment he had felt. Being a knight of Camelot had been his dearest dream, but Uther hadn't been the king he wanted to serve.
In spite of that, with a persistent patch of rust on his mail and his coin was all but gone, he began to wonder if he had been too hasty.
After the second time he had helped fight bandits and took a slim purse --not saying anything of how it felt less than promised as he looked at piteous faces-- Lancelot vowed that he would make sure that he was paid more than a pittance for his next job.
Later, as he watched ten bodies fall to a foe that his sword couldn't touch, he regretted his decision, though it was clear that he still had a duty to the last of the eleven.
***
"Pssst, Merlin!"
Merlin looked around wearily, shifting the amour Arthur had ordered him to take back to the armory under one arm.
"Lancelot?" he asked incredulously, seeing the figure leaning against a wall.
Lancelot looked more haggard since he had last seen him, dark shadows under his eyes and a freshly healed scar running down his arm. His hand was hovering around his sword with edgy wariness.
"What happened?"
"It's a long story, but I need your help."
"Of course. What with?"
"Not here." Lancelot's eyes slid away from Merlin's and scanned the hallway.
"Let me put this away."
Lancelot stayed quiet in the armory, nearly jumping when two guardsmen came in to fetch arrows.
Merlin frowned, and put the last of the amour on the table, all in a pile and pulled Lancelot with him, back out the door.
"What happened after you left?"
"I traveled, here and there," Lancelot answered. "I picked up a few odd jobs, but... one of them didn't go so well."
"Yeah?" Merlin prompted, but Lancelot didn't say anything, only pulling him out of the castle, through the gate by the stables and into the woods that Arthur usually hunted in when he wasn't roaming far from the castle.
"I was supposed to be a bodyguard, but... there's not much I can do when magic is involved," Lancelot admitted in a rush, the words tearing their way out in painfully honesty. "You were the only person I could think of. All the others are dead, and he's just a boy."
"Magic? Did--"
"Yeah," said Lancelot bitterly. "All nine, the whole circle, dead. One of the apprentices tried to help, she died too. Only the kid was left and while I can't even talk to him, it's not right to just leave him. You were the only person I could think of."
"This is Camelot," Merlin pointed out quietly. "I'm not sure I can do anything to help him."
"But surely you must know someone--"
"Almost everyone I know of who has magic has tried to kill Arthur. I'm not the best person to ask," he pointed out delicately.
Lancelot slumped. "I can't just leave the kid."
Merlin ran a hand through his hair. "I'll do what I can. I can try asking around one or two people." Maybe even the dragon, if he had to, as much as the thought pained him. "In the mean time, at least stay with me and Gaius, it's almost time for the first frost."
"Thank you," said Lancelot, his shoulders becoming straighter, like a burden had been lifted. "How have things been anyway? Anymore griffins?" he teased.
"No griffins per-say, but I'm surprised that Arthur managed to live this long," Merlin admitted with brutal honesty.
"I remember when all the crops failed and then re-grew," Lancelot said seriously. "And I'd heard about the wraith knight. Was there more?"
Merlin only laughed.
Emrys.
The word echoed through his mind and Merlin froze like a startled deer.
"Merlin?"
He blinked and looked at Lancelot's concerned face.
"Are you alright?"
"Fine, but this boy with you, is he..." Merlin looked around, then finished, whispering, "a druid?"
Lancelot gave him a short nod and Merlin rocked back on his heels, tearing a sleeve on brambles, but he ignored the ripping sound.
"Is his name Mordred?"
"He doesn't speak."
Merlin bit his lip at the near confirmation. "You shouldn't brought him here. I'm sorry, but you really shouldn't have brought him here."
"Why?" asked Lancelot, eyes narrowing.
He said that we would meet again, but how did he know? Merlin thought and then pushed the question further back into his mind.
"Mordred was a druid boy that was nearly killed here a few months ago. The only reason that he wasn't--" Merlin looked around again and still only seeing himself and Lancelot, continued in a faint whisper, "The only reason he wasn't was because Arthur and Morgana helped. He had to be snuck out of the dungeons. Even... one of the other creatures of magic wanted him dead."
"He's just a boy!" Lancelot repeated.
Merlin looked closer and wondered just how old Lancelot had been when raiders had killed his family.
"I know he is, but..." Merlin paused, desperately wanting to tell someone plainly about what the dragon had said.
"He can't have done something."
"It's not what he's done, but what he will do. There's a prophecy or something, I think. That he'll kill Arthur."
Lancelot touched Merlin's shoulder, but Merlin could feel the forced stillness in his fingers. "Do you believe this?"
Emrys, he heard again and tried to ignore.
"I-- No, but... yes. I don't know, honestly." Merlin slumped. "Arthur is supposed to be a great king, according to the prophecies," Merlin barely remembered to switch out dragon for prophecies. "And I can see that sometimes, but others days, not so much."
"He will be," said Lancelot firmly, without pause. "I've seen what a kind of king he'll be myself. I'll become knight of Camelot then and maybe you'll be the court wizard."
"Maybe," Merlin snorted.
"But I don't think a prophecy that he might kill Arthur means that he's evil, I can't let you--"
"I don't want to kill him!" Merlin yelped. "I'm not sure how far I can trust the d-- prophecies anyway."
"I'm not asking you take the boy in," said Lancelot, but Merlin wasn't sure if that hadn't been his intention. A traveling mercenary's life didn't have much room for a child and Lancelot was too noble to just abandon him. "I can't take care of him. I don't have enough for myself most seasons, let alone him. And if he really is Mordred, if he really is supposed to kill Prince Arthur what should we do?"
"I don't know," said Merlin shortly and looked at the sun. "Is he around here?"
"Just a little further," said Lancelot and they walked deeper into the woods.
Emrys was repeated twice more before they saw Lancelot's horse and the boy that sat in the fork of the tree beside it.
His skin was still too white, and his were dark and intent as he looked at Merlin under the hood of his cloak. He'd grown a little since Merlin had last seen him, but not enough to have out grown his clothes. The boy's face was solemn as stone and Merlin wondered how much he knew.
"Emrys," Merlin found himself saying.
The boy in the tree still watched him.
"Come down from there, Emrys."
The boy slid down and stared up at Merlin, pale and wane.
Merlin picked him up, sweeping his bangs to one side, almost feeling the future shift. The feeling of unconscious magic swept through him, and though he didn't know how or even what he was changing, he knew he rearranging something.
"This is Emrys. There are prophecies about him too," Merlin began, staring back into the dark eyes of the boy. "He's supposed to help Arthur. I always thought that he'd be older, but well, Uther may be king for a while still."
Lancelot looked relieved. "So he's--"
Merlin knew he meant to finish it with not Mordred, but interrupted. "Very important to the future. He's a magician too and keeping him in Camelot would be asking for trouble, but he'll be in danger anywhere he goes. You must keep him safe."
"I'm not--" the boy began.
"You are now," said Merlin, smiling a little, aware of the slightly fanatic edge to his tone.
"So you do speak," said Lancelot with no little wonder.
His only answer was the boy turning his head back to Merlin's chest.
"He does, but only sometimes," said Merlin softly and quietly, as he ran a hand down the shaking back in a motion he half remembered his own mother doing after he had accidentally dumped Will into the duckpond in midwinter when he was ten.
"Do you really believe in these prophecies?" Lancelot asked quietly.
"That Emrys will help Arthur when he's king?" Merlin shifted slightly and looked into the confused face staring at him. "Yes, I truly do."
Lancelot looked at Merlin for a long moment and then to the boy. "It's not going to be easy."
"I know. Be careful about letting Emrys be seen, but come back whenever you have trouble. In fact," Merlin paused, shifting most of the boy's weight to one side, balancing him awkwardly as he felt in his pockets. He pulled out several coins. "Keep these for now. I'm afraid it's all I have for now, but--"
"That's gold."
Merlin nodded. Gaius had given it to him after he'd nearly been caught doing magic a month before. He'd said that if worse came to worst, Merlin might be able to bribe someone to save his life. If it came to that, Merlin figured, he'd be far more worried about other things.
"I can't take this. It's too much."
Merlin's arms tightened around the child. "Not really. This is important."
It took several more tries to convince Lancelot of the graveness of the situation and Merlin felt only a hint of guilt at his lies. It wasn't the noblest thing for him to have done, but somehow he thought that this was for the best.
Just as Lancelot was about to leave, both of them agreeing that staying in the immediate vicinity of Camelot wouldn't be a good idea, the boy spoke.
"Thank you," Emrys said.
***
Arthur was in right mood when Merlin returned, ranting about missing manservants leaving their work half finished and adding another long list of duties Merlin had forgotten to do that afternoon. He let it all wash over him and did them without too much compliant, remembering those rarer times that he saw more to Arthur than arrogant prat.
It was finally late that night, just as Arthur was about to get into bed, he asked, "What were you doing this afternoon?"
Merlin smiled and said with flippant honesty, "Creating hope."
"Uh-huh." Arthur sounded unconvinced. "In the future I would prefer it if you did that on your own time."
Merlin's smile only grew.
Author: Stella Wind
Prompt image no.: 65, 69, 18
Rating: PG
Length: 1905 words
Summary: Lancelot brings Mordred to Merlin, asking for help, and Merlin must find a way to deal with the one he's been told will kill Arthur.
Warnings/Spoilers: All of season 1
Author's notes: I'm rather afraid that next episode will render this AU. My apologies for any typos and posting mistakes.
It took nearly three months after he left Camelot for Lancelot to finally admit to himself that things might have been easier if he had swallowed his pride and had let himself be knighted.
There had been doubts in his mind that he was doing the right thing, even as he declared that he couldn't lie anymore, but it had felt like the right thing to do, for all the disappointment he had felt. Being a knight of Camelot had been his dearest dream, but Uther hadn't been the king he wanted to serve.
In spite of that, with a persistent patch of rust on his mail and his coin was all but gone, he began to wonder if he had been too hasty.
After the second time he had helped fight bandits and took a slim purse --not saying anything of how it felt less than promised as he looked at piteous faces-- Lancelot vowed that he would make sure that he was paid more than a pittance for his next job.
Later, as he watched ten bodies fall to a foe that his sword couldn't touch, he regretted his decision, though it was clear that he still had a duty to the last of the eleven.
***
"Pssst, Merlin!"
Merlin looked around wearily, shifting the amour Arthur had ordered him to take back to the armory under one arm.
"Lancelot?" he asked incredulously, seeing the figure leaning against a wall.
Lancelot looked more haggard since he had last seen him, dark shadows under his eyes and a freshly healed scar running down his arm. His hand was hovering around his sword with edgy wariness.
"What happened?"
"It's a long story, but I need your help."
"Of course. What with?"
"Not here." Lancelot's eyes slid away from Merlin's and scanned the hallway.
"Let me put this away."
Lancelot stayed quiet in the armory, nearly jumping when two guardsmen came in to fetch arrows.
Merlin frowned, and put the last of the amour on the table, all in a pile and pulled Lancelot with him, back out the door.
"What happened after you left?"
"I traveled, here and there," Lancelot answered. "I picked up a few odd jobs, but... one of them didn't go so well."
"Yeah?" Merlin prompted, but Lancelot didn't say anything, only pulling him out of the castle, through the gate by the stables and into the woods that Arthur usually hunted in when he wasn't roaming far from the castle.
"I was supposed to be a bodyguard, but... there's not much I can do when magic is involved," Lancelot admitted in a rush, the words tearing their way out in painfully honesty. "You were the only person I could think of. All the others are dead, and he's just a boy."
"Magic? Did--"
"Yeah," said Lancelot bitterly. "All nine, the whole circle, dead. One of the apprentices tried to help, she died too. Only the kid was left and while I can't even talk to him, it's not right to just leave him. You were the only person I could think of."
"This is Camelot," Merlin pointed out quietly. "I'm not sure I can do anything to help him."
"But surely you must know someone--"
"Almost everyone I know of who has magic has tried to kill Arthur. I'm not the best person to ask," he pointed out delicately.
Lancelot slumped. "I can't just leave the kid."
Merlin ran a hand through his hair. "I'll do what I can. I can try asking around one or two people." Maybe even the dragon, if he had to, as much as the thought pained him. "In the mean time, at least stay with me and Gaius, it's almost time for the first frost."
"Thank you," said Lancelot, his shoulders becoming straighter, like a burden had been lifted. "How have things been anyway? Anymore griffins?" he teased.
"No griffins per-say, but I'm surprised that Arthur managed to live this long," Merlin admitted with brutal honesty.
"I remember when all the crops failed and then re-grew," Lancelot said seriously. "And I'd heard about the wraith knight. Was there more?"
Merlin only laughed.
Emrys.
The word echoed through his mind and Merlin froze like a startled deer.
"Merlin?"
He blinked and looked at Lancelot's concerned face.
"Are you alright?"
"Fine, but this boy with you, is he..." Merlin looked around, then finished, whispering, "a druid?"
Lancelot gave him a short nod and Merlin rocked back on his heels, tearing a sleeve on brambles, but he ignored the ripping sound.
"Is his name Mordred?"
"He doesn't speak."
Merlin bit his lip at the near confirmation. "You shouldn't brought him here. I'm sorry, but you really shouldn't have brought him here."
"Why?" asked Lancelot, eyes narrowing.
He said that we would meet again, but how did he know? Merlin thought and then pushed the question further back into his mind.
"Mordred was a druid boy that was nearly killed here a few months ago. The only reason that he wasn't--" Merlin looked around again and still only seeing himself and Lancelot, continued in a faint whisper, "The only reason he wasn't was because Arthur and Morgana helped. He had to be snuck out of the dungeons. Even... one of the other creatures of magic wanted him dead."
"He's just a boy!" Lancelot repeated.
Merlin looked closer and wondered just how old Lancelot had been when raiders had killed his family.
"I know he is, but..." Merlin paused, desperately wanting to tell someone plainly about what the dragon had said.
"He can't have done something."
"It's not what he's done, but what he will do. There's a prophecy or something, I think. That he'll kill Arthur."
Lancelot touched Merlin's shoulder, but Merlin could feel the forced stillness in his fingers. "Do you believe this?"
Emrys, he heard again and tried to ignore.
"I-- No, but... yes. I don't know, honestly." Merlin slumped. "Arthur is supposed to be a great king, according to the prophecies," Merlin barely remembered to switch out dragon for prophecies. "And I can see that sometimes, but others days, not so much."
"He will be," said Lancelot firmly, without pause. "I've seen what a kind of king he'll be myself. I'll become knight of Camelot then and maybe you'll be the court wizard."
"Maybe," Merlin snorted.
"But I don't think a prophecy that he might kill Arthur means that he's evil, I can't let you--"
"I don't want to kill him!" Merlin yelped. "I'm not sure how far I can trust the d-- prophecies anyway."
"I'm not asking you take the boy in," said Lancelot, but Merlin wasn't sure if that hadn't been his intention. A traveling mercenary's life didn't have much room for a child and Lancelot was too noble to just abandon him. "I can't take care of him. I don't have enough for myself most seasons, let alone him. And if he really is Mordred, if he really is supposed to kill Prince Arthur what should we do?"
"I don't know," said Merlin shortly and looked at the sun. "Is he around here?"
"Just a little further," said Lancelot and they walked deeper into the woods.
Emrys was repeated twice more before they saw Lancelot's horse and the boy that sat in the fork of the tree beside it.
His skin was still too white, and his were dark and intent as he looked at Merlin under the hood of his cloak. He'd grown a little since Merlin had last seen him, but not enough to have out grown his clothes. The boy's face was solemn as stone and Merlin wondered how much he knew.
"Emrys," Merlin found himself saying.
The boy in the tree still watched him.
"Come down from there, Emrys."
The boy slid down and stared up at Merlin, pale and wane.
Merlin picked him up, sweeping his bangs to one side, almost feeling the future shift. The feeling of unconscious magic swept through him, and though he didn't know how or even what he was changing, he knew he rearranging something.
"This is Emrys. There are prophecies about him too," Merlin began, staring back into the dark eyes of the boy. "He's supposed to help Arthur. I always thought that he'd be older, but well, Uther may be king for a while still."
Lancelot looked relieved. "So he's--"
Merlin knew he meant to finish it with not Mordred, but interrupted. "Very important to the future. He's a magician too and keeping him in Camelot would be asking for trouble, but he'll be in danger anywhere he goes. You must keep him safe."
"I'm not--" the boy began.
"You are now," said Merlin, smiling a little, aware of the slightly fanatic edge to his tone.
"So you do speak," said Lancelot with no little wonder.
His only answer was the boy turning his head back to Merlin's chest.
"He does, but only sometimes," said Merlin softly and quietly, as he ran a hand down the shaking back in a motion he half remembered his own mother doing after he had accidentally dumped Will into the duckpond in midwinter when he was ten.
"Do you really believe in these prophecies?" Lancelot asked quietly.
"That Emrys will help Arthur when he's king?" Merlin shifted slightly and looked into the confused face staring at him. "Yes, I truly do."
Lancelot looked at Merlin for a long moment and then to the boy. "It's not going to be easy."
"I know. Be careful about letting Emrys be seen, but come back whenever you have trouble. In fact," Merlin paused, shifting most of the boy's weight to one side, balancing him awkwardly as he felt in his pockets. He pulled out several coins. "Keep these for now. I'm afraid it's all I have for now, but--"
"That's gold."
Merlin nodded. Gaius had given it to him after he'd nearly been caught doing magic a month before. He'd said that if worse came to worst, Merlin might be able to bribe someone to save his life. If it came to that, Merlin figured, he'd be far more worried about other things.
"I can't take this. It's too much."
Merlin's arms tightened around the child. "Not really. This is important."
It took several more tries to convince Lancelot of the graveness of the situation and Merlin felt only a hint of guilt at his lies. It wasn't the noblest thing for him to have done, but somehow he thought that this was for the best.
Just as Lancelot was about to leave, both of them agreeing that staying in the immediate vicinity of Camelot wouldn't be a good idea, the boy spoke.
"Thank you," Emrys said.
***
Arthur was in right mood when Merlin returned, ranting about missing manservants leaving their work half finished and adding another long list of duties Merlin had forgotten to do that afternoon. He let it all wash over him and did them without too much compliant, remembering those rarer times that he saw more to Arthur than arrogant prat.
It was finally late that night, just as Arthur was about to get into bed, he asked, "What were you doing this afternoon?"
Merlin smiled and said with flippant honesty, "Creating hope."
"Uh-huh." Arthur sounded unconvinced. "In the future I would prefer it if you did that on your own time."
Merlin's smile only grew.