Merlin Fairytale Series

Chapter 2: An Arranged Accident

That jerk!!
Above picture is Karayan.
Summary: Karayan wants Rose as his bride so tries to get rid of Merlin.

     The morning after Merlin kissed Rose for the first time, Merlin woke up in an incredibly good mood. He was in love, more so than ever before, and since Rose returned his feelings, he could marry her.
     This particular morning was the one in which the heavens would rain down their gifts so that the men could please the women they so admired.
     So he headed out to the far side of the island where the gifts would be. A group of men had already appeared. He recognized Mordred standing there as well as the popular group of boys. Damen was also there, nervously tugging at the medallion he always wore.
     Although they weren't really friends, Merlin and Damen had a mutual respect for each other. Merlin already knew that Damen was pining for Elsa but he still didn't know who Mordred was going for.
     "Hey." He greeted his friend. "So, Mordred, who's the lucky girl?"
     Mordred seemed to blush as he muttered, "Callista."
     Merlin grinned. "She is very beautiful. I wish you good luck my friend."
     "And you as well, Merlin, with Rose and all."
     The two idly made chit-chat while they waited for the others to appear. The last to arrive was the king himself. Karayan carried himself with quite a bit of dignity and pride.
     He sauntered over, grim determination set on his face as he approached the vantage point to begin the ritual.
     "Never happy, is he?" Mordred replied. "I really don't understand what his problem is."
     "Don't know." Merlin said quickly, not wanting to know.
     They waited. Karayan lifted his hands to the sky and recited the usual speech the king delivered every 10 years on this exact date. And as usual, jewels, gold, silver, and all the other sacred things fell from the heavens like a torrent of rain. And then....then everyone went savage.
     You see....in this game of can I give her what will make her say yes, every man's objective was to get his girl the best, and this would hopefully make her say yes.
     The only one who didn't have to fight over gifts was the royal family. So after the ritual, Karayan strode forward, grabbed a few things then stepped back and gave a nod. Then the fight began.
     After this, all the men jumped in and began fighting over jewels, precious metals, and stones.
     Unfortunately for Merlin, he wasn't a good fighter so he was constantly getting things snatched outta his hands. He began to lose hope.
     That night, he went to the side of the cliff where he'd taken Rose on their first date and many more after that. There, he prayed that something good would happen.
      He was in luck for no sooner than he finished praying, a bright light descended from the sky. When it landed, he found himself surrounded by gold, silver, jewels, and all the other beautiful things. He found himself laughing in happiness. Truly the gods must want him and Rose to be together!
      In the center of the pile of riches was the most beautiful jewel he had ever seen. It was a dark blue in color but other colors swirled inside it in a consistency like blood.
     It was perfect.
     Merlin scooped up the jewels and things and raced home. It was late so he decided to start creating the next day and went to sleep, dreaming of his love.
     Over the next week, the girls were the only ones on the island who stayed outdoors. The men were all shut inside their homes, creating beautiful works of art for their lady loves. It was better this way. Besides, if their love was returned, they'd have their whole lives to be together. The men worked using a mixture of hard work and magic. But none so much as Merlin. He wanted to please his love.
     Finally, at the end of the week, with three weeks to go until the Full Moon Marriage Ceremony was to be over, the men emerged from their homes and began the process of proposing to their loves. Only noon and already the popular group were married to their choice of lady. Merlin, Mordred, and Damen, however, still had not.
     Damen was nervous about proposing to Elsa as she wasn't into romance, whereas Merlin and Mordred were looking for their opportune moments.
     Merlin waited until later in the day when Rose would be taking her daily walk and, if he timed it right, wouldn't be surrounded by her usual group.
     Finally, the time was perfect and he rushed out to find her. He had, clutched in his hand, a beautiful necklace and matching ring, each with the same jewel that he had deemed perfect for her.
     On his way to find her, he ran right into Karayan who, coincidentally enough, was also on his way to propose to Rose. Karayan jumped to his feet and stalked over to Merlin.
     "Watch where you're going, nerd!" When he realized who it was, Karayan let out an evil laugh. "Oh it's you. So, a little birdie told me that you wanna be a big ladies' man." He shook his head. "No good will come out of this for you." With that, he used his magic to throw Merlin several feet. "Rose is mine! No one can have her but me!"
     Merlin grabbed up the necklace and ring that he'd made for Rose and shouted back, "You b-big bully!"
     Karayan raced over to him. "Show some respect to your king! Nobody wants to marry a loser like you!" He glared at Merlin.
     Rose was taking her daily walk, with her group of girls around her, while all this was going on. Karayan knew that he had no choice but to let Merlin go or risk losing the favor of Rose. He needed a sneaky plan to be rid of Merlin.
     Rose walked over to the two of them, smiling, as she broke off the chatter she'd been having with her friends to give a friendly greeting to each man who both returned it with a gentle look.
     Rose wanted to go on a walk with Merlin but Karayan insisted on spending time with her first. She reluctantly agreed. Unlike most of the girls on the island, who all crushed on Karayan, Rose didn't like the king that much. She saw past his good looks and power and, unfortunately, he didn't have much else going for him.
     In fact, the more time she spent around him, the less she liked him. Karayan could sense this and he figured it had to have something to do with Merlin. He just couldn't for the life of him figure out what she found so much more appealing about the boy than him. He was poor, shy, couldn't even speak to a woman, was rather useless at everything except magic but everyone was good at magic, and he had absolutely nothing to offer her. But Karayan was rich, handsome and good-looking, had the whole world at his finger tips, and could give Rose anything she ever wanted in life. Why then would she choose Merlin over him?
     Whatever the reason, Karayan came to one simple conclusion: he had to get rid of Merlin. But he had to make it look like an accident or else people would get suspicious. That's why he used his elemental powers to get Merlin to fall over that cliff into the sea surrounding the island. No one would ever realize what he'd done.
     But the second he turned around, after doing it, he saw the look in Rose's eyes that said she knew what he'd done.
     Rose raced to the cliff side and yelled Merlin's name while he kept yelling hers. She tried to jump but Karayan caught her.
     "Don't, Rose! We don't need to lose two people today."
     She rounded on him. "This is all your fault, Karayan, and I will never forgive you!"
     Meanwhile, Merlin was taken somewhere far away from home....a place where none had travelled before. And he had no idea that his entire life was about to change forever....
To be continued....

Sorry about the long wait!