Cadagorien And Its Lost Prince (Prince Merlin AU)

Almost Home

The next day, we wake up early. Immediately stand and go to gather some berries for our breakfast, much to the protests of Arthur. I trample through the trees scavenging the sweet blackberries. Arthur and Ray are back at the camp, packing everything back up again. After I have gathered enough I turn back towards the camp, silently thinking about my younger brother. When I arrive back at camp the Prince and my Knight are sat on a rock arguing about something. At first I don't know what they are saying to each other but then the looks on their faces tell me instantly that they have been arguing about me. I walk forward and hand them both the berries, keeping none for myself.
"Sire, what about you?" Raymond pipes up, he holds his hand out for me to take some berries but I shake my head, refusing.
"Merlin! Take the berries," Arthur orders. He hands out half of his berries and puts them in my hand.
"No! I can't just sit here eating berries, whilst my brother is still locked up, probably terrified," I say strictly, returning the blackberries to Arthur's hand. He glares at me.
"Eat them on the way then, you are going to need all the strength you can get," Ray says, he takes a cloth out if his satchel and lays some berries in it, he folds it over and hands it to me. I take it reluctantly. They stand up and walk to the horses, I follow. After I am up of my own mare, we begin to gallop towards the border of Cadagorien. Towards the border of my kingdom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As we come to the border we slow down and stop at the edge of the tree line. I swing myself off my horse and look out over the Kingdom of mountains and forests. Just ahead in between the first two mountains is a great oak tree. Carved into the bark is the Cadagorien crest, but it looks almost dead, like the very life has been drained from it. No. Not the life, the magic. The magic is gone. The grass around the base of the oak is dry and no longer bright and florescent. The tree marks the edge of the border. I walk forward to step into the light but a hand grabs my arm.
"Merlin, there are Balaine's guards hidden in the mountains. Be careful," Ray whispers in my ear. He turns me around and hands me a cloak to cover my face and he does the same for Arthur. We wrap them around ourselves and pull the hoods over our faces. He releases my arm and I walk forward, guiding my mare, Arthur trailing behind me. I take a glance at him and his eyes are filled with concern and a hint of nerves. We continue to walk forward and stop ten feet from the border. I look towards the mountains and rocks. Ray was right a few men are seen hidden behind the boulders, cross bows and swords in hand. Damn it... I was hoping this would be easy. I go to open my mouth but Ray elbows me in the stomach hard, so I hunch over.
"Walter, it's alright, it's just me!" Rays voice echoes off the cliffs and rocks. I glance around cautiously, still hiding my face. To the right of us there is movement and I spot Arthur's hand reach towards his hidden sword, cautiously. A young man, I don't recognise, holding a bow walks out into the open.
"Sir Raymond," he says nodding to the knight before him.
"I wish to pass, I found these two in the woods. One is injured, we need to get him to a physician as quickly as possible," Ray tells the man. 'Walter' turns to me and Arthur, and I lean on Arthur as if injured. Arthur realises what I am doing and holds me up. I hold my stomach and silently make an incantation. A sharp pain spreads across my whole body. I look down and the wound from before has reappeared and has begun to bleed. I shake all over from the stinging pain. I let out a groan and Walter eyes me up and down. He pulls back my cloak to take a look at the deep gash in my side. His raises his eyebrows and turns to Ray.
"Very well, you may pass," he says. Arthur's face loses its colour when he sees the wound that has reappeared. He lifts me onto my horse and climbs onto his own. Ray does the same. The Camelotian prince takes the reins of my steed and we begin to gallop away, past the enormous, branched oak tree. As we pass I feel a tingling down my spine, but it disappears as fast as it came.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Merlin! Why did you do that?!" Arthur's voice echoes in my ear. After riding for an hour, we have stopped at the foot of the great mountain. I hug my stomach and grunt.
"It had to be real, Arthur," I say as a small bead rolls down my cheek. He sits beside me, trying to dab away the blood.
Ray walks towards us and lights a fire a few feet away.
"Can't you just heal yourself?" Arthur says. He looks at me hopefully. It's nice to know that people actually care.
"I could try, but I don't know. Magic is different here," I say. I look down at my wound.

Licsar ge stadol nu

I whisper the incantation quietly. The wound slowly disappears with a faint shimmer. The wound starts to heal but it doesn't seem to work completely. There is still a small opening, dripping with blood. And the pain is unbearable. I groan and try to sit up.
"It hasn't worked properly, but it's smaller than before. Pass me my bag," I say, struggling to sit up. Ray reaches out and passes the leather satchel to me. I open it and find some fresh bandages and a jar with a pale green paste inside. I open the jar and gently lather my wound in it, tears sit behind my eye lids. I then take the bandage and cover the wound.
"It will be okay, it should be healed by the morning. You should sleep, both of you. I can keep watch," I go to stand to walk over to the fire but both men pull me back down.
"Merlin! You are injured, you can't defend yourself if someone attacks. So, no," I go to open my mouth to argue back with the arrogant prat but he whacks my round to top of my head with the back of his hand.
"No, buts, ifs or whys!" He says, "go to sleep, the sooner that wound is healed the better!" He walks over to the fire and leaves me sat against a rock. I lay down on my sleeping mat and turn my back. I close my eyes but sleep doesn't come. After a while I hear a quiet whisper, coming from Arthur.

"What do you think of Merlin?" I hear.

"What do you mean?" Rays voice sounds.

"He's a prince and I never even knew... And now we are on our way to save his kingdom. I thought it would be the other way around."

"He's a good man. He has been my friend since we were only three summers old. We've been through thick and thin together," this makes me smile. The memories of me and Ray fighting for our lives, the time I fell out of a tree and the many times bandits have attacked us.

"I'm just so worried about him, he is badly injured and he is going to fight tomorrow," Arthur says.

"He'll be okay, he might be a complete Clotpole but he is brave and strong. He will get through this. He will be the most amazing King," This comment makes my cheeks grow warm and I blush, even though there is no one looking, I still feel embarrassed.

"But what then? I will probably never see him again. Believe it or not, no matter how much of an idiot he is, I still like having him there as my servant. I feel like either way I will lose him. And my father will never let me go visit him and he will definitely not let Merlin come to Camelot," he voices my silent thought and my eyes gloss over with the tears that are threatening to spill. I will miss that Dollophead.

"When you are King Arthur, then you can see Merlin as often as you want, I am sure he'd love to visit you and I believe that our kingdoms can form a great Alliance," Ray says. I can't take this anymore. I sit up and walk over to them and sit beside Arthur by the dying fire. He looks at me and blushes.
"M-Merlin you are awake," he says his eyes wide with embarrassment. I frown at his reaction as if I don't know anything. I grin widely and pat him on the shoulder.
"You two get some sleep," I say casually.
"Mer--" and glare at him.
"I will be fine Arthur, if anything happens, I will shout you," I reassure him. He nods his head and walks away to his sleeping mat. He lays down and closes his eyes. Ray, however, continues to sit and watch the flames.
"He cares about you. You know that, right?" He says quietly.
"Yeah, I guess so. I don't completely hate him either," I say with a chuckle. He looks me in the eye and smiles.
"It's good to see you," he stands and walks away to his own sleeping mat and he too shuts his eyes. I sit for about ten minutes staring into the flames. The orange and golden light illuminates the stone of the mountain. The power that runs in my very veils begins to tingle. I take a small branch and light is in the fire. I hold it in front of me, the sparks crackle.

Upastige draca

I blow on the branch in my hand, the flame and sparks fly over the fire and form the shape of the Camelot crest. It glows for a few moments before disintegrating and the sparks fall back into the flames. I sit watching the flames deep into the night until the flames die out.

Sorry, nothing exciting really happens in this chapter. It is more of a filler really. Well I hope you enjoyed! XD
You should read my other Merlin book, it's called "Two Sides Of The Same Coin". It's about a modern day girl, who unexpectedly arrives in Camelot. Her name is Raven and she is pretty sassy... Just saying. Here's the description:

" In a land of reality.
A time without magic.
The destiny of a great magical kingdom
Rests on the shoulders of a young girl.
My name is Raven."

If you are looking for another Merlin fanfic to read you can start reading this! XD Keep reading my amazing Merlinians!
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