Merlin Oneshots

The Mysterious Magician

He was a paradox.  Silent yet clumsy.  Graceful yet uncoordinated.  Skilled yet untaught.  His name was Merlin, and he was a mystery.

No one had ever heard what became of Merlin's father, he never spoke of it nor did his mother, on her rare visits, seem to recall his memory.  His father was unknown.

His native language was impossible to learn.  It took nearly 2 years for Merlin to speak Greek like the rest of Escetir, and he still had an accent.  By age 8 he learned as many languages as he could, earning a repertoire of 7 languages.  By age 18, just before he left for Camelot, Merlin knew every, single, language, a polygot in every sense of the word.  The irony, his mother could only speak Greek.

When tasked as Arthur's servant, the tasks came naturally, as though he was born and raised a servant.  His motions fluid and effective, quick and efficient, but yet he was still untrained.  Even George, the head servant, could admit just how efficient the lad was, and he did not know why.

Training with the knights was gruelling for even the golden prince, but not for the servant tasked with carrying shields, swords, dummies, and literally anything else.  Hells, when an enraged knight attacked the servant for making a snarky comment towards Arthur, Merlin simply disarmed him with a quick side-step and a sweep of his leg.  The important aspect was Merlin had been carrying Arthur's quiver and bow and neither touched the ground.  But Merlin was the worst fighter in the whole of Camelot wasn't he?

These are just a few instances of course that attracted the attention of the Pendragons.  They even had a dinner together to discuss Merlin's aptitude in almost everything despite his happy-go-lucky outlook.  The dinner brought the decision that Merlin would be investigated, subtly of course, before action would be taken. 

It started with training Merlin to be both a servant and a backup plan - genius considering how often something goes wrong in Camelot.  Merlin had been extremely clumsy during the training, more so than usual, and the royals knew it.  Merlin had been "attempting" to load a bow and arrow for the last 5 minutes, not just any bow, but Arthur's.  The one bow in the armory designated for the Prince, the one with the highest pull back weight and hardest wood, the bow knights would aspire to one day be strong enough to use.  The training screeched to a halt as the lanky manservant stiffened, spun, shot over Arthur's shoulder, right by Uther's head, and hit a ranged assassin in the trees about 50 meters behind the royals.  In the commotion everyone lost sight of the manservant, but as Gaius was called to inspect the body, it was apparent just how incredible the shot was.  One arrow, straight through the right eye, an instantaneous death.  Everyone knew it, but could they really believe Merlin did it, of course not, so the story shifted to Arthur, after all, his bow was used.

The Pendragons had dinner once more, this time inviting Merlin to wait upon them.  Uther knew Merlin was not a born servant, but his son said he was the absolute best one he has ever had or seen, so Uther decided to see for himself.  Dinner was immaculate.  There was no other word for it, every dish was exquisite, the food warm and on time, the wine refreshed at just the right interval.  It was perfect, except for the assassination attempt by a guard turned by greed.   The guard had waited for the perfect moment to kill the father and son, it was just them and a scrawny servant, it would be easy.  As the guard approached, Merlin was walking away with a platter containing two sets of plates, knives, and forks.  He just started to draw his sword as Merlin stiffened, spun, and threw the two knives perfectly, each finding a convenient gap in the armor - one at the neck, the other at the eye slit.  Shock and awe froze the royals and Merlin vanished once more, Gaius came and confirmed the man would have never survived his wounds.  Gaius even said whoever's did this had to have had decades of experience - not the manservant who just reached his twentieth name day.