Fanfic: The Tinder Box (2/3)
Title: The Tinder Box (2/3)
Author: gal_znai
Prompt: The Tinder Box by Hans C. Andersen
Rating: PG-13
Length: ~ 7600 words (all of it)
Pairings: Arthur/Merlin, hints of Valiant/Merlin, Valiant/Morgana
Spoilers: Merlin S1, The Tinder Box by Hans C. Andersen
Warnings: slash, character death, Valiant being lecherous
Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction - none of this ever happened. No copyright infringement is intended. No profit is made from this work. Please observe your local laws with regards to the age-limit and content of this work.
Summary: Arthur and Merlin may be in love but Merlin has to flee before they can work out their feelings. Fortunately, Merlin comes into the possession of a tinder box with unsual properties. Based on the fairy tale The Tinder Box by Hans C. Andersen.
Author's note: First of all, a huge thanks to my lovely beta englaroma. This was written for the tobreakthespell challenge. The story was initially based on The Tinder Box by Hans C. Andersen. Read the original story if you want. I had to change lots of bits because it didn't make much sense. I used parts of the original dialogue and description in the fanfic so if bits sound more fairy tale-ish than the rest, it's probably because it's from the original. (NOT MINE!) Also, I'd like to apologise for Valiant's behaviour beforehand. He developed a life of his own and wouldn't leave me alone. I blame Will Mellor. I hope you enjoy this somewhat fluffy story!
<- Chapter 1
THE TINDER BOX
***Chapter 2***
It had been weeks since his escape and Merlin was not quite sure what to do with himself. He was in a daze, trudging down the merchant route through the forest, avoiding any thoughts concerning his future. Walking and searching for food was a good distraction. However, trying to fall asleep in the woods made them even worse. When the path turned into a clearing Merlin noticed an old woman standing next to a big tree. She was short and her face wrinkled.
“Come here, my lad. I can feel your heart is good and your powers … pure.”, she said.
Merlin was confused. Was she talking about his magical powers? How could she know?
“My dear boy”, she continued. “I can see your pockets are empty and your future uncertain.”
Merlin frowned. What was she getting at?
“Who are you?”, Merlin asked.
“I have a proposal for you.” She smiled a toothless smile. “I will give you more money than you can count if you do me a favour.”
Merlin blinked. He was not a greedy person, had never been. He only ever wanted enough to survive on. That had, after all, been the reason why he asked for a job at the royal estate in the first place, why he had started serving the prince... and look where it had landed him. The young sorcerer chuckled bitterly, thinking back on the past weeks of fearful flight. While he could not bring himself to regret meeting Arthur, his modesty seemed to have brought him little good. Maybe it was time to stray from his humble ways.
“Alright. What do you want me to do?”
The old woman grinned and pointed at the tree next to her.
“This tree is quite hollow. Climb up to the top, and you will find a hole large enough for you to creep through, and thus you will get down into the tree. I will tie a rope round your waist, so that I can pull you up again when you call me."
"But what am I to do down in the tree?" asked Merlin.
"What are you to do?" repeated the woman; "why, fetch money, to be sure! As soon as you get to the bottom, you will find a wide passage; it is quite light with more than a hundred candles burning there. Then you will see three doors; you can open them, the keys are in the locks. On opening the first door you will enter a room. In the middle of it, on the floor, lies a large chest. A snake is seated on it, its teeth are as long as daggers; but never you mind, don't trouble yourself about it!”
She produced a ragged apron and continued, “I will lend you my blue apron; you must spread it out on the floor, then go briskly up to the snake, seize it, and set it down on the cloth. When that is done, you can open the chest, and take as much money out of it as you please. That chest contains none but copper coins. If you like silver better, you have only to go into the next room; there you will find a griffin with a beak as large as a man's head. Don't be afraid of it; you have only to set him down on my apron, and then rifle the chest at your leisure. But if you would rather have gold than either silver or copper, that is to be had too, and as much of it as you can carry, if you pass on into the third chamber. There will be a dragon that sits on this third money chest, it is as large as a tower. But don't be alarmed; if you set him down on my apron, he will do you no harm, and you can take as much golden treasure from the chest as you like."
“And how much of the money do you want?”, Merlin asked.
“None, you can have it all. All I want is a tinder box that you will find down there. It belonged to my dear son who died this year. My poor boy was beheaded by King Uther.”
“Then I am sorry for your loss and I will make sure you have at least something left of him.”
Merlin was about to take the rope when a tall stranger entered the clearing. He came towards Merlin and the old woman and bowed.
“I couldn't but overhear your conversation. My name is Peter, I am a squire on my way to the Mercian capital. It is very noble of you to help this poor lady to retrieve the only souvenir of her son. Here, have my bag and I shall help you with the rope.” He stepped closer to Merlin and murmured to him, “You cannot expect a woman her age to pull you all the way up!”
Merlin eyed Peter. He was a decent-looking fellow with broad shoulders and a crooked yet charming smile. The old woman's expression remained neutral. He assumed Peter would ask for some compensation but Merlin was willing to share the money and he was right about the rope. Finally, Merlin agreed and let the man tie the rope around his waist. Peter even helped him climb the tree, his strong hands steady on Merlin's hips. The touch reminded him somehow of Arthur and he felt a tinge of guilt. But by then he was already descending into the dark of the hollow tree which made him abandon the thought and concentrate on the task at hand.
He reached a cave, and it was filled with trees bearing fruit and lit by hundreds of candles. Merlin felt that the plants inside the cave were surviving through magic. He opened the first door. There was the snake with teeth as long as daggers, glaring at him distrustfully.
After spreading the old woman's apron on the floor, Merlin lifted the snake upon it. He was very relieved that the snake wasn't attempting to bite him. He found copper coins in the chest and filled the bag with them. Then he shut the lid and returned the snake back to its place.
Afterwards, he went into the second room. There sat the griffin with a beak as large as a man's head. Merlin could not possibly lift the beast, so maybe the woman had really known about his magic and had chosen him because the mission could not be accomplished without sorcery. With a movement of his hand, he set the griffin down on the apron. This chest contained even more coins, but these were silver. Quickly he replaced the copper coins with the more valuable ones. When he entered the third room, he discovered the dragon, as large as a tower.
He hesitated for a second before removing the giant reptile. The apron disappeared under it. Merlin gaped at the open chest, never having imagined that so much gold even existed. He threw out the silver coins and took the golden ones instead. After he restored the dragon to its former position, he looked around for the tinder box. He spotted it right away but as it didn't fit into the bag, Merlin decided to carry it in his hand and returned to the rope.
“I'm ready! Pull me up!”, he shouted towards the hole.
The rope was pulled and Merlin prepared to ascend any second, but his feet did not leave the ground.
“It's too heavy!”, he heard Peter shout. “Let's get the bag out first.”
So Merlin tied the rope to the bag and let Peter lift out the treasure. Soon the rope returned and he was lifted and pulled through the hole. The brightness outside blinded him for a moment but when he could see properly again, Merlin gasped in shock. The old woman's head lay several feet away from her body, right next to Peter who was smirking at him.
“Thought I was a gentleman, did you? Oh, I have fooled many boys like you. I must thank you though, for you made me a rich man.” He looked fondly onto the bag that almost burst with gold. “Unfortunately, I have to get rid of you. I can't afford witnesses now, can I? Not even a pretty one.”
Peter's smirk turned particularly ugly when he let go of the rope. Merlin disappeared inside the tree with a scream.
“Oops. Poor boy, his death was a tragic accident”, Peter said with faux innocence to no one in particular and snickered. After hiding the woman's corpse, he left the clearing, carrying away more gold than he could count.
# # #
Merlin screamed whilst falling towards the ground. Milliseconds before the inevitable collision with the solid stone floor, his eyes flashed golden and he stopped, hanging in mid-air. He sighed with relief, put his feet slowly on the ground and … fainted.
# # #
It had been three days since Peter had abandoned Merlin in the cave. Admittedly, his attempts to get out had been somewhat half-hearted, after all he had no idea what to do outside. If Uther's men had followed him across the border he'd be safe in here. He wouldn't starve thanks to the fruit-laden trees and the dim light of the candles matched his mood perfectly. All his thoughts circled around Arthur, wondering what his father might have done to him, what the king might have told Arthur about him. He couldn't quite understand his own feelings but whenever he remembered their kiss his heart ached. Arthur had his flaws but Merlin had learned to like him, eventually. They were friends and the thought that they could have become something more didn't let go of him. It could have been amazing and overwhelming but they had been torn apart. Too bad that happy endings only existed in fairy tales. Merlin sighed. He didn't want to admit defeat. He couldn't bear the thought they'd never see each other again. But maybe it just wasn't meant to be. Merlin groaned, growing tired of his frustration. He was running in circles and couldn't break out. He screamed, trying to let off steam. Without meaning to his eyes shone golden and an angry gust of wind blew through the entire cave. Everything turned into blackness.
“Brilliant.”, muttered Merlin.
He felt around for the tinder box he had left on the floor. When he found it, he began to strike light. As soon as had he rubbed the flint-stone and sparks flew out, he heard a strangely slithering voice.
"What commands has my master for his slave?"
“You what?”, Merlin stuttered. “Who are you? I can't see you!”
“Would my master like to see me?”, the slithering voice asked.
“I do.”, Merlin said although he didn't sound like he did.
Suddenly all the candles caught fire and the room was even brighter than before. The snake from the first room was in front of Merlin, staring at him.
“What do you want?”, Merlin asked, almost shyly.
“Nothing but to serve you. You are my master and I am your slave. If you wish to see me you simply have to strike the flint stone once. If you do it twice, the griffin will come and do your bidding. If you do it three times, the dragon will come and fulfil your wishes. So, are you in need of my services?”
Merlin was slightly irritated by the snake's quizzical stare. It seemed to raise a non-existent eye brow at him. But what did it expect from him? What would Merlin want to do with these creatures? Merlin didn't want to be a master, he had been quite happy being a servant. Then he thought of Arthur and slowly, a plan formed in his mind.
# # #
After the snake had told him that Uther had relocated the court to Camelot's capital and that Arthur was practically held prisoner within his own castle, Merlin made a decision. He would see Arthur again, secretly. The griffin flew him into the capital and now, he was hiding in the highest attic room of the city. After the sun had disappeared behind the horizon and the city had turned quiet, he asked the griffin to bring him Prince Arthur. The beast vanished and returned shortly with Arthur on its back, fast asleep, and placed him on Merlin's bed. Merlin looked at him, grinning, and moved closer.
“Wake up, Arthur.”, he whispered into the prince's ear. It did no good; Arthur continued his nap.
“Wake up, you prat!”, Merlin said, louder this time.
Arthur opened his eyes immediately, gaped at Merlin and backed away until he hit the wall.
“Merlin? Where am I?”
“We're not that far away from the castle. This is my... attic.”
“I don't understand. Father said you had left Camelot.”
“I did, but I came back. I thought maybe you'd, like to see me.”, Merlin said hesitantly.
“I... I was told that you escaped using magic. Father said you bewitched me to do... what I did the day you were arrested. Is it true? Are you a sorcerer? Did you bring me here with magic to finish what you began?”, Arthur asked. He looked defiant at first sight, but his eyes revealed that he was afraid to be right.
“Well, yes and no. I mean, it wasn't like that!” Arthur crossed his arms and frowned at Merlin's babbling. “Alright, listen. I am a sorcerer, I didn't mean any harm, I was born that way. I used magic to break out of the dungeons, that's all. I swear, whatever it was that happened between us, it had nothing to do with magic. You have to believe me, Arthur.”
“I trusted you. And I really don't know why I still do.”
“You do?”, Merlin asked, grinning from ear to ear.
“Yeah, I trust in your incapability to do anything right. You are useless, you'd probably mess up a love spell if you tried. Stop grinning, you look like an idiot.”, Arthur snapped.
Merlin told him what had happened to him and how Arthur had gotten to the attic. He showed him the griffin at which Arthur simply gawked before calling it a “weird flying bird-horse” and laughing at Merlin.
“You couldn't find anything less conspicuous, could you?”
They quickly fell back into their banter and Arthur explained what happened after the court had left the royal estate. Uther had been convinced that Arthur had been under a spell and had locked Arthur up in his room until he would come to his senses. It had driven Arthur mad, and in order to get out he had announced that the curse had faded. When Uther questioned his feelings, he had indicated that he was very much in love with the Lady Morgana and could hardly remember what had happened with Merlin. It had been Morgana's idea, she always knew what to say to Uther and it was as she had predicted.
They spent hours talking until the sun was about to rise.
“You have to go back.”, Merlin sighed.
“Will your bird thing come for me tonight?”, Arthur asked, hope showing in his eyes.
Merlin nodded. Arthur was about to climb the beast when he turned around and touched Merlin's shoulder.
“Merlin?”
“Yeah?”
“I'm glad you're back.”
The griffin vanished with Arthur and Merlin returned to his bed. He fell asleep with a smile on his face.
# # #
-> Chapter 3
Author: gal_znai
Prompt: The Tinder Box by Hans C. Andersen
Rating: PG-13
Length: ~ 7600 words (all of it)
Pairings: Arthur/Merlin, hints of Valiant/Merlin, Valiant/Morgana
Spoilers: Merlin S1, The Tinder Box by Hans C. Andersen
Warnings: slash, character death, Valiant being lecherous
Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction - none of this ever happened. No copyright infringement is intended. No profit is made from this work. Please observe your local laws with regards to the age-limit and content of this work.
Summary: Arthur and Merlin may be in love but Merlin has to flee before they can work out their feelings. Fortunately, Merlin comes into the possession of a tinder box with unsual properties. Based on the fairy tale The Tinder Box by Hans C. Andersen.
Author's note: First of all, a huge thanks to my lovely beta englaroma. This was written for the tobreakthespell challenge. The story was initially based on The Tinder Box by Hans C. Andersen. Read the original story if you want. I had to change lots of bits because it didn't make much sense. I used parts of the original dialogue and description in the fanfic so if bits sound more fairy tale-ish than the rest, it's probably because it's from the original. (NOT MINE!) Also, I'd like to apologise for Valiant's behaviour beforehand. He developed a life of his own and wouldn't leave me alone. I blame Will Mellor. I hope you enjoy this somewhat fluffy story!
<- Chapter 1
THE TINDER BOX
***Chapter 2***
It had been weeks since his escape and Merlin was not quite sure what to do with himself. He was in a daze, trudging down the merchant route through the forest, avoiding any thoughts concerning his future. Walking and searching for food was a good distraction. However, trying to fall asleep in the woods made them even worse. When the path turned into a clearing Merlin noticed an old woman standing next to a big tree. She was short and her face wrinkled.
“Come here, my lad. I can feel your heart is good and your powers … pure.”, she said.
Merlin was confused. Was she talking about his magical powers? How could she know?
“My dear boy”, she continued. “I can see your pockets are empty and your future uncertain.”
Merlin frowned. What was she getting at?
“Who are you?”, Merlin asked.
“I have a proposal for you.” She smiled a toothless smile. “I will give you more money than you can count if you do me a favour.”
Merlin blinked. He was not a greedy person, had never been. He only ever wanted enough to survive on. That had, after all, been the reason why he asked for a job at the royal estate in the first place, why he had started serving the prince... and look where it had landed him. The young sorcerer chuckled bitterly, thinking back on the past weeks of fearful flight. While he could not bring himself to regret meeting Arthur, his modesty seemed to have brought him little good. Maybe it was time to stray from his humble ways.
“Alright. What do you want me to do?”
The old woman grinned and pointed at the tree next to her.
“This tree is quite hollow. Climb up to the top, and you will find a hole large enough for you to creep through, and thus you will get down into the tree. I will tie a rope round your waist, so that I can pull you up again when you call me."
"But what am I to do down in the tree?" asked Merlin.
"What are you to do?" repeated the woman; "why, fetch money, to be sure! As soon as you get to the bottom, you will find a wide passage; it is quite light with more than a hundred candles burning there. Then you will see three doors; you can open them, the keys are in the locks. On opening the first door you will enter a room. In the middle of it, on the floor, lies a large chest. A snake is seated on it, its teeth are as long as daggers; but never you mind, don't trouble yourself about it!”
She produced a ragged apron and continued, “I will lend you my blue apron; you must spread it out on the floor, then go briskly up to the snake, seize it, and set it down on the cloth. When that is done, you can open the chest, and take as much money out of it as you please. That chest contains none but copper coins. If you like silver better, you have only to go into the next room; there you will find a griffin with a beak as large as a man's head. Don't be afraid of it; you have only to set him down on my apron, and then rifle the chest at your leisure. But if you would rather have gold than either silver or copper, that is to be had too, and as much of it as you can carry, if you pass on into the third chamber. There will be a dragon that sits on this third money chest, it is as large as a tower. But don't be alarmed; if you set him down on my apron, he will do you no harm, and you can take as much golden treasure from the chest as you like."
“And how much of the money do you want?”, Merlin asked.
“None, you can have it all. All I want is a tinder box that you will find down there. It belonged to my dear son who died this year. My poor boy was beheaded by King Uther.”
“Then I am sorry for your loss and I will make sure you have at least something left of him.”
Merlin was about to take the rope when a tall stranger entered the clearing. He came towards Merlin and the old woman and bowed.
“I couldn't but overhear your conversation. My name is Peter, I am a squire on my way to the Mercian capital. It is very noble of you to help this poor lady to retrieve the only souvenir of her son. Here, have my bag and I shall help you with the rope.” He stepped closer to Merlin and murmured to him, “You cannot expect a woman her age to pull you all the way up!”
Merlin eyed Peter. He was a decent-looking fellow with broad shoulders and a crooked yet charming smile. The old woman's expression remained neutral. He assumed Peter would ask for some compensation but Merlin was willing to share the money and he was right about the rope. Finally, Merlin agreed and let the man tie the rope around his waist. Peter even helped him climb the tree, his strong hands steady on Merlin's hips. The touch reminded him somehow of Arthur and he felt a tinge of guilt. But by then he was already descending into the dark of the hollow tree which made him abandon the thought and concentrate on the task at hand.
He reached a cave, and it was filled with trees bearing fruit and lit by hundreds of candles. Merlin felt that the plants inside the cave were surviving through magic. He opened the first door. There was the snake with teeth as long as daggers, glaring at him distrustfully.
After spreading the old woman's apron on the floor, Merlin lifted the snake upon it. He was very relieved that the snake wasn't attempting to bite him. He found copper coins in the chest and filled the bag with them. Then he shut the lid and returned the snake back to its place.
Afterwards, he went into the second room. There sat the griffin with a beak as large as a man's head. Merlin could not possibly lift the beast, so maybe the woman had really known about his magic and had chosen him because the mission could not be accomplished without sorcery. With a movement of his hand, he set the griffin down on the apron. This chest contained even more coins, but these were silver. Quickly he replaced the copper coins with the more valuable ones. When he entered the third room, he discovered the dragon, as large as a tower.
He hesitated for a second before removing the giant reptile. The apron disappeared under it. Merlin gaped at the open chest, never having imagined that so much gold even existed. He threw out the silver coins and took the golden ones instead. After he restored the dragon to its former position, he looked around for the tinder box. He spotted it right away but as it didn't fit into the bag, Merlin decided to carry it in his hand and returned to the rope.
“I'm ready! Pull me up!”, he shouted towards the hole.
The rope was pulled and Merlin prepared to ascend any second, but his feet did not leave the ground.
“It's too heavy!”, he heard Peter shout. “Let's get the bag out first.”
So Merlin tied the rope to the bag and let Peter lift out the treasure. Soon the rope returned and he was lifted and pulled through the hole. The brightness outside blinded him for a moment but when he could see properly again, Merlin gasped in shock. The old woman's head lay several feet away from her body, right next to Peter who was smirking at him.
“Thought I was a gentleman, did you? Oh, I have fooled many boys like you. I must thank you though, for you made me a rich man.” He looked fondly onto the bag that almost burst with gold. “Unfortunately, I have to get rid of you. I can't afford witnesses now, can I? Not even a pretty one.”
Peter's smirk turned particularly ugly when he let go of the rope. Merlin disappeared inside the tree with a scream.
“Oops. Poor boy, his death was a tragic accident”, Peter said with faux innocence to no one in particular and snickered. After hiding the woman's corpse, he left the clearing, carrying away more gold than he could count.
# # #
Merlin screamed whilst falling towards the ground. Milliseconds before the inevitable collision with the solid stone floor, his eyes flashed golden and he stopped, hanging in mid-air. He sighed with relief, put his feet slowly on the ground and … fainted.
# # #
It had been three days since Peter had abandoned Merlin in the cave. Admittedly, his attempts to get out had been somewhat half-hearted, after all he had no idea what to do outside. If Uther's men had followed him across the border he'd be safe in here. He wouldn't starve thanks to the fruit-laden trees and the dim light of the candles matched his mood perfectly. All his thoughts circled around Arthur, wondering what his father might have done to him, what the king might have told Arthur about him. He couldn't quite understand his own feelings but whenever he remembered their kiss his heart ached. Arthur had his flaws but Merlin had learned to like him, eventually. They were friends and the thought that they could have become something more didn't let go of him. It could have been amazing and overwhelming but they had been torn apart. Too bad that happy endings only existed in fairy tales. Merlin sighed. He didn't want to admit defeat. He couldn't bear the thought they'd never see each other again. But maybe it just wasn't meant to be. Merlin groaned, growing tired of his frustration. He was running in circles and couldn't break out. He screamed, trying to let off steam. Without meaning to his eyes shone golden and an angry gust of wind blew through the entire cave. Everything turned into blackness.
“Brilliant.”, muttered Merlin.
He felt around for the tinder box he had left on the floor. When he found it, he began to strike light. As soon as had he rubbed the flint-stone and sparks flew out, he heard a strangely slithering voice.
"What commands has my master for his slave?"
“You what?”, Merlin stuttered. “Who are you? I can't see you!”
“Would my master like to see me?”, the slithering voice asked.
“I do.”, Merlin said although he didn't sound like he did.
Suddenly all the candles caught fire and the room was even brighter than before. The snake from the first room was in front of Merlin, staring at him.
“What do you want?”, Merlin asked, almost shyly.
“Nothing but to serve you. You are my master and I am your slave. If you wish to see me you simply have to strike the flint stone once. If you do it twice, the griffin will come and do your bidding. If you do it three times, the dragon will come and fulfil your wishes. So, are you in need of my services?”
Merlin was slightly irritated by the snake's quizzical stare. It seemed to raise a non-existent eye brow at him. But what did it expect from him? What would Merlin want to do with these creatures? Merlin didn't want to be a master, he had been quite happy being a servant. Then he thought of Arthur and slowly, a plan formed in his mind.
# # #
After the snake had told him that Uther had relocated the court to Camelot's capital and that Arthur was practically held prisoner within his own castle, Merlin made a decision. He would see Arthur again, secretly. The griffin flew him into the capital and now, he was hiding in the highest attic room of the city. After the sun had disappeared behind the horizon and the city had turned quiet, he asked the griffin to bring him Prince Arthur. The beast vanished and returned shortly with Arthur on its back, fast asleep, and placed him on Merlin's bed. Merlin looked at him, grinning, and moved closer.
“Wake up, Arthur.”, he whispered into the prince's ear. It did no good; Arthur continued his nap.
“Wake up, you prat!”, Merlin said, louder this time.
Arthur opened his eyes immediately, gaped at Merlin and backed away until he hit the wall.
“Merlin? Where am I?”
“We're not that far away from the castle. This is my... attic.”
“I don't understand. Father said you had left Camelot.”
“I did, but I came back. I thought maybe you'd, like to see me.”, Merlin said hesitantly.
“I... I was told that you escaped using magic. Father said you bewitched me to do... what I did the day you were arrested. Is it true? Are you a sorcerer? Did you bring me here with magic to finish what you began?”, Arthur asked. He looked defiant at first sight, but his eyes revealed that he was afraid to be right.
“Well, yes and no. I mean, it wasn't like that!” Arthur crossed his arms and frowned at Merlin's babbling. “Alright, listen. I am a sorcerer, I didn't mean any harm, I was born that way. I used magic to break out of the dungeons, that's all. I swear, whatever it was that happened between us, it had nothing to do with magic. You have to believe me, Arthur.”
“I trusted you. And I really don't know why I still do.”
“You do?”, Merlin asked, grinning from ear to ear.
“Yeah, I trust in your incapability to do anything right. You are useless, you'd probably mess up a love spell if you tried. Stop grinning, you look like an idiot.”, Arthur snapped.
Merlin told him what had happened to him and how Arthur had gotten to the attic. He showed him the griffin at which Arthur simply gawked before calling it a “weird flying bird-horse” and laughing at Merlin.
“You couldn't find anything less conspicuous, could you?”
They quickly fell back into their banter and Arthur explained what happened after the court had left the royal estate. Uther had been convinced that Arthur had been under a spell and had locked Arthur up in his room until he would come to his senses. It had driven Arthur mad, and in order to get out he had announced that the curse had faded. When Uther questioned his feelings, he had indicated that he was very much in love with the Lady Morgana and could hardly remember what had happened with Merlin. It had been Morgana's idea, she always knew what to say to Uther and it was as she had predicted.
They spent hours talking until the sun was about to rise.
“You have to go back.”, Merlin sighed.
“Will your bird thing come for me tonight?”, Arthur asked, hope showing in his eyes.
Merlin nodded. Arthur was about to climb the beast when he turned around and touched Merlin's shoulder.
“Merlin?”
“Yeah?”
“I'm glad you're back.”
The griffin vanished with Arthur and Merlin returned to his bed. He fell asleep with a smile on his face.
# # #
-> Chapter 3