FICLET: Love-Spurned ~ Merlin ~ Merlin/Arthur ~ Teen

[batsutousai]

Title: Love-Spurned
Fandom: BBC's Merlin
Author: Batsutousai
Rating: Teen
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon
Warnings: Magical OC death, canon-typical violence
Summary: An attack by a spurned sorceress leave Arthur and Merlin separated from the other knights.

A/N: Every winter season, I send out cards to anyone willing to give me their address, and I decided two winters ago to start adding fic to the cards. This year, I settled on the very loose prompt of getting stuck in a cabin because of a snowstorm. Which some fics held to better than others, whoops. XD

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"How is it, Merlin, that any time you're involved in something, it goes completely pear-shaped?"

Merlin rolled his eyes and continued trying to light the damp pile of wood he'd managed to gather from just outside the cave they'd found shelter in. Which would have been much simpler if Arthur wasn't standing directly behind him, complaining about the sudden blizzard. Though, really, he should have been thanking Merlin, since he'd been the one to find the cave after they were cut off from the knights they'd been travelling with.

"Oh for– Here," Arthur said, kneeling next to Merlin and taking the rocks he'd been striking together from him in a manner far gentler than Merlin was used to. "You really are the worst manservant."

"The wood's damp," Merlin muttered, because there were times when he couldn't not talk back to Arthur. Especially when he decided to complain about something Merlin was plenty capable of doing when he wasn't fighting with damp wood, while also worrying over the current threat and the fate of those who had been with them.

In less than a minute, Arthur had a small fire going, and they quickly set about working together to build it up to something that would keep them from freezing to death. Building the fire wasn't something they usually did together, but they worked so well together, after so many years, that it felt familiar. It also went remarkably smoothly, given how much Merlin had struggled before Arthur intervened.

Once they had a respectable source of heat going, Arthur turned towards the mouth of the cave and the growing snow piles outside it with a heavy sigh. "I'm worried about the others," he admitted, quiet enough that Merlin could have pretended not to have heard him, if he so pleased.

"They're smart and resourceful; I'm sure they've all found shelter and are waiting this storm out, same as us," Merlin said as he opened his pack to find the food he'd packed that morning for in case they didn't manage to forage or hunt anything before they needed to stop for lunch. Partially because his magic was always strongest when his belly wasn't empty, but also because Arthur turned into even more of an insufferable prat than usual when he was hungry.

"True," Arthur agreed, though he didn't sound any less concerned. When Merlin started pulling food out, he huffed and demanded, "How can you possibly be thinking about your stomach at a time like this?"

Merlin politely waited to lift his head until after he'd rolled his eyes. Then he held out some of the dried meat to Arthur. "Best to keep our strength up, sire," he pointed out when Arthur didn't take it right away.

Arthur's gaze was sharp, but he did take the meat without further comment, and they both settled in to eat the little bit of food Merlin had got out for them; he wasn't certain how long they'd be trapped, and he hadn't brought enough food to last them more than a day. Maybe two, if they were sparing with it.

Once they were both done with their servings, Arthur turned back to the mouth of the cave and said, "You think this storm is magical in nature."

Merlin swallowed and set about feeding the fire some more wood. "I think it came on a little too suddenly, and it was far too effective in separating us from the rest of the group."

Arthur's mouth had flattened into an unhappy line while Merlin spoke, and his gaze had turned to where his sword was resting in easy reach beside him. "Yes, my suspicions exactly. I expect we'll simply have to wait for the one behind all this to make their appearance."

"Yeah."

Arthur nodded and turned his attention back towards the cave mouth, the fingers of his dominate hand resting against the hilt of his sheathed sword. "Do try not to get killed when they come."

Merlin rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about me; I'll be hiding in the corner, well away from the fighting."

The look Arthur shot him left Merlin wondering – not for the first time – if his prince was really as unaware of Merlin's powers as he seemed.

Which was about the time a woman appeared, cast a spell to hold both Arthur and Merlin still, then proceeded to monologue about how Arthur had spurned her at some point before Merlin had met him, and she'd gone looking for a way to pay him back, found magic, and was finally secure enough in her skills to have her revenge.

It took Merlin almost no time at all to free himself from the spell, and then he started casting about for a way to help without letting on that he was a sorcerer. Arthur, unusually, was letting the woman talk without interrupting, and Merlin had to keep looking over and checking he wasn't dead. Which he wasn't. Looked bored, actually, like he'd heard this explanation before. (He probably had, or else one very like it; if there was one thing the Pendragon men excelled at, it was spurning people to the extent that they wanted revenge.)

And then the woman, clearly recognising that she was being ignored, let out an angry scream and thrust her hand towards Merlin. A cone of freezing air and snow shot at him, and Merlin rolled out of the way of it and behind a strategically-placed boulder, blocking his view of the rest of the cave.

"Merlin!" Arthur shouted, sounding so honestly terrified that Merlin froze in surprise for a moment; sure, they were as close to friends as a crown prince and his manservant could be, and Arthur had risked his own life a few times to save Merlin, but that shout sounded somehow...different. "Merlin!" Arthur called again when Merlin didn't immediately respond, sounding no less terrified.

The woman laughed, loud and victorious in a way that made Merlin shudder. "Oh, this is perfect. I came to kill you, but who would have guessed I'd have a chance at the man you love, instead? Here I thought you would have locked someone that precious in the securest tower you could find."

"Shut up," Arthur snarled, vitriol and grief colouring his voice, and Merlin's head was spinning, because there was no way that grief could be for him. "He's my servant. And if he's dead, I will–"

She laughed again, cutting off Arthur's threat. "You'll what, Arthur Pendragon? Kill me? Go ahead; I promise you it won't bring your love back. You'll be alone and missing him forever. Which is exactly what you deserve, after everything you did to me and the tens of other women's hearts you've so carelessly broken."

Arthur's silence was enough to break Merlin out of his disbelieving shock. He'd grabbed a goodly-sized rock at some point, and since he couldn't seem to recall of the words for any useful spells right that moment, he stood with it in his dominate hand and stepped out from behind the boulder.

The woman wasn't facing him, was standing over where Arthur was somehow managing to slump, despite still being held by her spell.

Merlin didn't let himself wonder about Arthur's posture, just threw the rock in his hand. And maybe he'd filled it with magic unconsciously, or maybe his aim wasn't as shaky as it felt, because it connected with the back of her head and she dropped.

For one moment, when Arthur looked up, Merlin thought he might understand why the woman had thought the prince loved him, because he looked absolutely wretched. But then his expression twisted back into a far more familiar show of irritation. "Took you long enough! Go see if the storm's cleared."

Merlin huffed and went to check, though the reappearance of birdsong suggested it was clear outside, and it was. But there were times, he knew, when everyone needed a moment to recollect themselves without an audience, and he suspected this was one of those times.

He also suspected that he'd never have an explanation for what the woman had said, or that brief glimpse of Arthur's grief. But Merlin could live with that; all he wanted was to continue keeping Arthur safe, and he didn't need to know why Arthur kept him around to do that.

One day, Arthur would be the king Camelot needed, and Merlin would be able to stop hiding what he was. When that day came, maybe his magic wouldn't be the only secret laid bare.

.