Bound

Chapter 10

The first thing Leon noticed when he woke up is that Arthur was no longer laying near him. He looked around and realized that Arthur wasn't there at all! He jumped to his feet and looked around for any clues to what happened. That's when he noticed Merlin, awake.

"Merlin! You're up! Where's Arthur?"

"I don't know. They took him earlier this morning."

"What? But that's not right. That doesn't make sense."

"What going on?" Gwaine asked groggily.

"Arthur's gone."

"What do you mean gone?"

"This morning the guards came. Only Arthur and I were awake. For some reason they took him instead of me."

"I'm sure it'll be fine. Merlin's usually back within a few hours, so I'm sure with Arthur it'll be no different. You two can stop freaking out and for goodness sake's Merlin enjoy your day off!"

"While enjoy may be the wrong word," Leon remarked, "Gwaine's right. You should try to regain your strength. Arthur will be back."

"Yeah... yeah sure."

Still, Merlin couldn't shake the bad feeling that this was not going to end well.

***

The day passed and of course, Arthur didn't return. Everyone was on edge most of the day. Merlin was especially freaked out. After all he endured by Edith's hand, he didn't dare to think of what Arthur could be going through.

The next morning Merlin woke with determination to find out what was going on. As per usual, the guards came in and opened his cell and dragged him off to the throne room. When he got there he found that it was just Edith today.

"Hello Merlin."

"Edith."

"How are we today?"

"Well I'm here. Although I'm more curious where Arthur is?"

"Prince Arthur? He's been moved to more appropriate living quarters."

"What did you do, Edith?" Merlin asked through clenched teeth.

"I gave him clarity... and a more comfortable room. He's perfectly fine if you want to see him. However, I doubt that he wants to see you."

"Why not?" Merlin asked, confused.

"I helped enlighten him to your true nature. After all, you're the one that said he should hate you. He doesn't even know about everything else you told him about."

"What? How did you know about that? What did you tell him?"

"Oh, you don't think I can't see into the dungeons do you? I'm a sorceress, Merlin; trained by the high priestess. And I just told him about his mother's fate. The fate that you kept from him."

Merlin started to spiral. Arthur knows. It was for his own good, but Arthur won't see it that way. Arthur probably hates Merlin by now. If Arthur hates him, then he's doomed. If they ever get out, Merlin wouldn't last a week.

Snap out of it, Merlin thought to himself. There are other problems at hand.

"So why did you bring me here? To gloat?"

"Partially. I also need your help. Come with me."

She led him and the guards out to a sort of garden. It was only a small space surrounded by the castle, but it was beautiful. To his surprise, she handed him a daisy.

"What's this for?"

"Destroy it."

Even as she said it the flower started to wither in Merlin's hand. He dropped it, surprised by how effortless it was.

"What are you doing?"

"Proving a point. Now the trees."

Merlin eyes flashed, and the leaves on the all trees turned brown. They continued to wither as the bark on the trees turned gray.

"Set fire to the bushes."

Merlin felt his magic go out from him as all the bushes filled with flowers surrounding him caught fire. He looked around in fear at the garden around him. The trees had turned to ash and the fire raged from the bushes onto the grass. It took him a minute to notice, but the sky began to darken. Did he cause that? Everything surrounding him was fire and death. The world grew progressively darker until he could hardly see. The smoke filled his lungs and heat burned his skin. As the world spiraled around him so did he. He did this. How could he cause such a thing?

"Stop," Edith ordered.

Immediately the fire went out and the sky cleared up. All that was left surrounding him was ash. Everything was gone. He was turned facing the garden in wonder, and he didn't even bother to turn and look once Edith started talking.

"Hmm, quite a knack for destruction. Wouldn't you say your majesty?"

Majesty? Merlin turned quickly to see Arthur standing in the doorway with fear in his eyes. Fear and anger. A moment after their eyes met, Arthur turned to walk away.

"Wait, Arthur!" Merlin made to go after him, but Edith held up her hand and Merlin found that he could no longer move.

"Chaos. Destruction. That's what you are Merlin. Now your prince's eyes have been opened to that."

"No... no, that's what you made me to be!"

"Oh really? Then why is it that you destroy everyone you come in contact with? We both know that started long before you met me."

Merlin wanted to do something or say something, but he couldn't. He couldn't move. Couldn't talk. He couldn't tell if he couldn't talk because of a spell or because deep down he knew she was right.

Edith motioned for the guards to take him away. He didn't fight. He let them drag him, limply between them. He let them lock him up in his cage without saying a word. The whole time he couldn't get Arthur's face out of his head. The fear, betrayal, and anger. The hatred, all directed toward Merlin.

***

Arthur was brought to the courtyard by two guards. They didn't drag him or anything like that, he walked freely but guarded. When he arrived at the doorway, the first thing he saw was Merlin. He had a flower in his hand. He tried to call out to his servant, but he didn't seem to hear. Then the flower withered in Merlin's hand. Next, Merlin was looking around and the trees all around the courtyard began to wither. For some reason, Arthur couldn't hear a thing. Then lastly, with Merlin facing the other direction, the bushes caught on fire. Merlin seemed to be looking around, spinning in circles. The sky darkened. When Arthur saw Merlin's face again his eyes were burning a bright bright gold. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. His eyes seemed brighter than the fire, and they wouldn't change back. Finally, everything became still.

The whole garden was destroyed. Merlin destroyed it. Arthur had never seen such a display of power before, and it was all for destruction. Then he heard Edith speaking to him.

"Quite a knack for destruction, wouldn't you say your majesty?"

Merlin turned around to look at Arthur, his eyes their natural blue once again. But Arthur couldn't get the image out of his head. Merlin surrounded by chaos with his eyes glowing gold. Arthur couldn't bear to look at him anymore. Arthur turned and walked away, not looking back. The man that he just saw was not the man he once knew, or the one he thought he knew. This man was powerful. This man was a liar.

How could he trust a man who lied to him?

Alright... so this kind of just happened. Hope it made sense. I really do hope you all are enjoying this so far. This book was a lot more 'for fun' than previous ones. As a result, it can tend to make less sense. 😂
Thank you again for reading!!