Within Your Heart

“Oh Gwen! When was the last time I held you in my arms?” Lancelot murmured. The pitcher giggled.

“Now is that 'when did you last hold me', or 'when did you last have arms'?” The sword gave her a mock frown.

“If I wasn’t so in love with your graceful curves I would have dropped you by now.” The pitcher changed colour slightly, the nearest Gwen came to blushing,

“You’re not supposed to be looking at my ‘graceful curves’.”

“No, I’m supposed to be looking for the boy escaping like he’s doing now!” Lancelot rushed past Gwen as quickly as he could, leaving Gwen a little stunned for a moment until she realised what he had said.

Merlin popped his head out of the door. No one seemed to be around so he stepped out of the room and closed the door silently behind himself. Will had tried to object but Merlin knew there was little the wardrobe could do. He walked along the corridor and down the impressive flight of stairs. Realising everything had gone dark again, he quickly formed another ball of light. When he reached the bottom of the stairs he suddenly realised he had no idea where to go. He sat down on the bottom step and huffed.

“Well done Merlin. Really thought that one through didn’t you. No point getting lost in this maze is there?” he berated himself. Lancelot finally caught up with him.

“Those long legs of yours can really move,” the sword panted while Merlin looked at him with surprise. “So, out for a little wander?” Merlin shrugged.

“I don’t care what the prat says. I’m not staying in that room any longer. I’ll go mad.” His stomach rumbled slightly and his high cheekbones flushed pink. “And I might be a little hungry.”

“Of course. That’s what we’re here for. We are servants you know,” Gwen told him as she hopped down the stairs.

“Gwen was the serving maid,” Lancelot said brightly. “She was very good at it.” Merlin raised his eyebrow as he saw Lancelot gaze at the pitcher lovingly.

“Is there something I need to know about?” he asked with a cheeky grin.

“Gwen is a fair maid and my only love,” Lancelot replied in what Merlin thought was a rather sappy way. Gwen giggled.

“Lancelot was Arthur’s best knight,” Gwen told him. “But he thinks that means he has to be all chivalrous and manly. I’m really sorry but that’s why your mother ended up being… you know… I’m sorry I’ll shut up.” Merlin gave her a sad smile.

“It’s alright.” He turned his smile to Lancelot. “I’m glad someone was kind to her. I hope she’s ok.” His stomach decided to grumble again.

Gwen said brightly;

“Come on. Let’s find you something to eat.” She and Lancelot hopped ahead leaving Merlin to follow.

-x-

“But he needs to calm down. He needs to befriend the boy, not scare him off. He could be the only chance-” Gaius looked to the door to see the trio walking in. “Ah Merlin. Good to see you leaving your room at last. I am Gaius, the court physician.”

“The court prattler more like,” Lancelot whispered. Gaius raised a rim at the sword.

“I’ll have you know that his highness holds me in the highest esteem.” Lancelot barely managed to suppress a laugh. “Anyway, dear boy. What brings you to the kitchens?”

“I’m a little hungry. I don’t suppose there’s any food left is there?” Merlin asked a little nervously. All the objects in the room squealed in delight. Gaius sighed a sigh of the long suffering.

“They will cook you a feast now, you know.”

“Oh. Um. I don’t want anything too fancy.” A kitchen stove snorted.

“Ridiculous. Look at you. You’re skin and bones boy. I’ll soon fatten you up. A good meal. That’s what you need.” Merlin gave a startled glance to the cooker but didn’t argue. Everyone seemed so happy to be doing anything for him. Gwen and Lancelot led him to the table and he sat at it. He listened as the kitchen staff sang as they worked. He told them stories of Ealdor but left out certain subjects like his mother and Uther. As he sat, with more dishes than could feed the whole of Ealdor, he showed the enchanted objects a few spells that he knew. Gaius stood with his glass handles folded, scowling and mumbling that if they didn’t shut up, they would wake the master and then they would all be in trouble. It was very soon clear that Merlin and the staff were going to be firm friends. This became even more evident when hours later they were still talking.

-x-

“Now, everyone. Time for bed. A good night’s sleep means a good day’s work,” Gaius told them all knowingly.

“I can’t go to bed now. I’ve never been out of Ealdor since we moved there when I was a baby. Let me see the castle at least. If I’m going to be stuck here I’d at least like to know my way around.”

Lancelot, Gwen and Gaius all shared looks.

“He can’t go on his own,” Gaius gasped, horrified at the idea. “He might go where… he’s not wanted.” After a moment Gwen smiled up at Merlin,

“I think it’s a brilliant idea. You two can show him around and I’ll help this lot.” She looked around at the kitchen.

“What? I am not a sign post,” Gaius huffed.

“No, but you are a fountain of knowledge,” Gwen told him, fluffing his ego a little.

“Well I…”

“Come on Gaius. What harm will it do?” Lancelot encouraged, excited to be doing something different for once. Finally the vial agreed. It was safer if they went with the boy. At least they could keep an eye on him.

-x-

“…was built a long time ago for Arthur’s great great great great great grandfather, King Harold. Harold had a taste for the ornamental, so all the limestone edgings are all hand carved and all are individual. Each gargoyle has a different style, each stone a different cut. Some say it is a little-” Gaius looked around as Lancelot seemed to be drifting off beside him. The vial finally caught sight of Merlin trying to climb a flight of stairs. “No! Wait!” Lancelot jolted awake and noticed the boy as well. They both moved over to the stairs as fast as they could.

“So, what’s up there that you’re all suddenly protective about?” He gave the two objects a curious smile.

“Protective? We’re not protective,” Lancelot denied while making sure he was blocking the stairs the best he could.

“There’s just no point taking you there,” Gaius added, “Dust, empty rooms, spiders, that sort of thing. Nothing to see in the south wing.” Lancelot nodded his pommel enthusiastically. Merlin’s smile became a little worrying.

“Right. So that’s the forbidden south wing.” Lancelot slapped his pommel with his cross guard. Gaius looked a little uncomfortable. “So what’s up there that the prat doesn’t want me to see?”

“There’s nothing up there. I can assure you,” Gaius tried again.

“If there was nothing up there, I wouldn’t be forbidden to see it, now would I? I’m not that stupid you know.” He tried to get past but the objects stood their ground, which was surprising considering what they were.

“Perhaps you would… like to see the gardens instead. We have some beautiful-”

“If I didn’t know any better, I would think you were implying I was stupid again.” Merlin couldn’t help the look of hurt that crossed his face. Did everyone really think he was? “It’s dark and it’s snowing. What gardens would there be to see?” Gaius blinked,

“Well, I, uh, the library then.”

“I don’t read much.” Merlin sighed.

“Ah, but we have the biggest collection of magic books in this country. Perhaps you would care to look?” That grabbed Merlin’s interest.

“Magic books?” It made his heart ache for home, remembering his gift left on the shelf.

“Yes. Hundreds of them,” Gaius encouraged. Both he and Lancelot turned to lead Merlin away, hopping off down the corridor, not checking if he was following. Merlin had been sorely tempted by the promise of books filled with secrets he could not even imagine, but his curiosity got the better of him. He badly wanted to know what Arthur was hiding. With a quick look around him, he began to climb the stairs.

The corridor he followed grew darker, dirtier. It seemed that this was a part of the castle that was unused. It certainly appeared unused. Who would live in a place like that? Merlin looked all around him as he slowly made his way forwards. Why had he been banned from here? There didn’t seem to be anything worth seeing, but Merlin’s curiosity still plagued him. There had to be a reason.

He came to a pair of double doors; giving a cursory glance over his shoulder, he pushed them open and walked into the room beyond. He jumped when he spotted something, only to realise it was a mirror. It was shattered, an imitation of the one in his own room. He could see his face reflected in each shard. The centre was completely smashed as if a fist had been thrust into it. Merlin moved on. The room was filled with broken furniture and cobwebs. Something on a nearby wall pulled at his interest once more. It looked like a picture frame. The canvas within it had been slashed, destroying the picture that it had held. With careful fingers, Merlin uncurled some of the painted fabric, startling, but beautiful blue eyes stared back at him, a hint of blond hair shone in the dark. Merlin raised his hand, recalling a spell to mend things. He wanted to see the picture in all its glory, but before a single word could be uttered, a red glow filled his peripheral vision. Turning his head he paused to look in wonder at the single beauty before him. A red rose in a glass jar. It glowed in the darkness, a single brightness among the gloom. Merlin was immediately drawn to it. He walked over to the table the supported it, almost in a trance. The flower itself was perfect. He had never seen anything as beautiful. The petals looked as soft as the most delicate fabric; he just wanted to touch them to see if it was true. Carefully he removed the glass that protected the rose. Slowly he moved his hand towards a petal.

“What are you doing here?” Merlin jumped back and knocked the table. It wobbled violently. Arthur leapt at it and covered the rose with the glass quickly and steadied the table at the same time. After a moments pause, he turned all his ferocity on Merlin. “I told you never to come here!”

“I- I- I’m sorry, I didn’t-”

“Do you know what you could have done?” He prowled towards Merlin on all fours, teeth bared, blue eyes burning with anger. He swiped at some nearby furniture and sent it flying into the wall, smashing it to pieces. Merlin moved backwards, feeling true fear of the beast for the first time.

“I- I- please!” He tripped over a broken chair and fell to the floor. Quickly, he scrambled away and tried to regain his feet.

“Get out! GET OUT!” The creature roared at him. Turning around, Merlin ran for his life, trying not to trip over his own feet in his haste. Arthur watched him go, still growling with fury before the realisation hit him. Merlin could have been the only chance he had at breaking the curse. He had ruined his and his servants’ chances of ever being normal again. The snarls quickly turned to whimpers of despair.

-x-

To Racheldr: Yeah i still can't believe i did that! Anyways. No it's not archieved as such but it is on my livejournal! I was going to post it on here when this one was done but as you've asked...

http://rose-walker22.livejournal.com/32395.html#cutid1