Chapter Text
Well, so this is the border of Camelot? How depressing to look at.
Merlin couldn't help but find the whole place one big, tragic resting place. It's almost chilling despite all its beauty. The trees in that forest mourn over souls who hanged themselves or were hanged there, the ground weeps innocent blood from magical creatures that once lived there, the wind whispers sad promises and supplications from people who passed by.
Merlin feels sick of walking on such depraved ground, but he forces himself to step, he forces himself to walk under the sad and tragic stories that one day ended there.
Wanting to forget the terrible place where he finds himself, Merlin begins to observe the still living beauty.
Though the trees mourn, they stand tall and proud, all pointing to the heavens and bathing in all the sunlight that hits them. Even though the ground was soaked in red tears, it was the brightest shade of green and contained the most beautiful flowers.
As his walk continued, Merlin watched squirrels and birds passing by, there were deer and foxes nearby too, they seemed scared and walked almost cautiously. Despite the strangeness, this was good, he was happy that there was still life in that poor forest, after all, what was the point of beauty and grandeur if no one had company?
Aside from the surroundings of the great land, the sky there was unlike any Merlin had ever seen, it was clear, there were few clouds and lots and lots of sun, it was as if the sun was the ruler of all the lands in the kingdom of Camelot and not Uther Pendargon, the glow was beautiful.
During the night things seemed to change, it was as if all the trees forgot their sadness and focused on the crickets' songs and the owls' calls. Creatures that ran scared during the day, slept peacefully and gave space for others to walk, Merlin could even swear he saw a unicorn in the middle of all the forest.
Everything seemed calmer and more beautiful during the night, even if it was still slightly creepy.
Triiiim-triiiim
Tink chirped to get his attention, the poor bird had flown all day to help her young prince not get out of the way and was now exhausted.
"Sorry to make you fly so much, Tink, you can rest now."
And so she did, landing under Merlin's bag and falling asleep right there.
He turned his face to heaven for the third time that day. Stars sprinkled the blanket of darkness above everything and illuminated the freckles on Merlin's neck. Set amongst the brilliant splashes of stellar white was a large, unassuming abyss that glowed almost magically.
The serene silver tone of the moon was an immense comfort to him. Ever since Merlin was born his eyes were the exact same color as the moon, Dad had told him that they always shone silver, but now, after his kingdom and his parents were lost, his eyes only glowed when he used magic and not the full time as they did before.
Looking at the moon made him remember his castle, made him remember his mother and father, made him feel lonely. Of course, Tink was with him, but she couldn't talk, she could hear him, yes, however, she couldn't answer him, she was just a family member, not even his family member, Tink was his mother's, Merlin didn't have the chance to get your own.
Thinking about the lost kingdom made him think about the tribe that welcomed him, about old Allan and Will, his longing was immense and he had barely begun his journey.
With a sigh, he lay down on the ground, bushes gathered under his head to serve as pillows and a small set of foxes came over and lay down on top of him, it was a cold night, Merlin would be warming them as much as they would be warming him.
Merlin spends his night, comfortably warm and protected among the group of foxes. Once again, upon waking up, the young man is greeted with the warmth of the sun and, even far from home, birds sing to him.
"Uh." He yawned, scaring the animals that surrounded him for a moment. "Good morning everybody." He greeted everyone absently, not even paying attention when the bushes returned to their previous resting place. "Thank you for the accommodation." One of the bushes waved its branches at him and Merlin stood up to begin his walk again, today was the big day, he would finally be in Camelot.
As he walked along the dirt trail, small rodents graced him with part of his meals, birds presented him with tasty fruits taken from the tallest trees and even a crow brought him a small pot of honey, it was probably stolen, but who was Merlin to stop him? Refuse, right?
When the bright sun reached the highest point in the sky, Merlin was amazed at the sight of the mighty kingdom.
Honestly, Merlin couldn't help but find the entire area as creepy as the forest he had walked through. Of course, he had already come a long way from his starting place, but it all still felt very unreal.
He couldn't believe that, after everything that had happened to him, he would actually enter the most terrifying territory of all. He was heading straight for the kingdom where one of his greatest fears dwelled, the Pendragon.
Even now, years after the purge began, he was still able to remember the horrible men in armor and red cloaks, all trampling sacred lands and staining the ground with their cruelty. And yet, after suffering at the hands of these same men, he still forced himself to make this trip. He forced himself because it was the only way to keep his people safe and free them, killing the Pendragon would be his only chance to be better than his parents, his parents who were cowards and refused to fight.
In fact, how would he fare in this new land? Would he be able to finally make a home for himself and make some friends, like all the druids his age were able to do? He knows he is royalty, even though he no longer has a crown or kingdom, even so, no one treated him like just another, he was always 'my lord' to everyone except Will.
It was thinking about all these questions that Merlin crossed the bridge and passed through the gate in the walls, entering the kingdom of Camelot.
The kingdom was huge, bigger than his own and fuller too, he was genuinely surprised, standing there at the gate with a wide smile on his face, Camelot had nothing to do with Asterion, but both were beautiful in different ways. He certainly walked a bit to get there, it took almost two days on foot, but it was worth it just for the view of the place. Merlin had never seen such man-made beauty and grandeur before, it was always just the wonders of nature and magic that graced him, but this, despite being frightening due to its size and history, this was beautiful.
Asterion was a kingdom created entirely from a single large tree, the Nemeton. Its roots were connected in all corners of the world and distributed life and magic to everyone, after the purge it took Uther's knights 2 years to cut and, when they succeeded, the entire kingdom crumbled into dust, it would take thousands of years until Nemeton returned growing up, that is, if he could still grow up.
Triiiim-triiim-Triiiim-triiim
"Ah! Tink!" He complained, trying to fend off the crazy bird that was now pecking his head. "Hey girl, stop it. What's wrong, what's wrong?" It chirped louder and then flew off in one direction. She wanted him to follow her, she had probably been trying to attract him for a long time, but he was too lost in the whole scenario to pay her due attention.
"Alright, I got it, I'm going, I'm going." Everyone looked at him, probably finding his height strange, old Allan always told him that he was too tall to be normal, but what fault was he?
Merlin passed so many stalls on the way that he almost lost track of Tink. Some were selling wool, others were selling bread, fruit and vegetables, there were even cakes, while these were surrounded and seemed to be doing well, there were some that attracted his attention the most, some were books, another was toys, and there was a small cart full of small bottles of dye, probably makeup, although it wasn't the products that caught his attention but rather the writing on the small sign: "Wagon Collins, makeup to kill your man in love."
Merlin found her very creative.
It was almost dark when he arrived at the castle gates, where his friend was guiding him, and -
Was that a bonfire in the middle of the courtyard?
Men, who Merlin can only assume were servants, carried wood to pile in a spot surrounded by rocks. When he finally realized the purpose of that fire, Merlin was thankful he didn't eat so much, as he could have vomited right there in the courtyard.
Oh! He thought before running after the canary that was leading his way and crossing a small passage, probably the castle's servants' passage. Merlin runs after Tink while trying to forget what he saw and the shiver he felt.
"Oops!" He screams in surprise. In the midst of his frantic run, Merlin ran into a lovely girl with black hair and pale skin, just like himself, this woman was taller than the others usually were, but a little shorter than him, she wore a beautiful indigo and green dress and seemed to stand out in the middle of that stone corridor. Looking closely, Merlin almost felt that they might be related by some common relative.
Despite his shock, having obviously bumped into a lady from the king's court, the first words he is able to utter are compliments.
"Oh my Gods! I loved the colors of your dress, they match the color of your skin so much." The lady looks confused, even a little amused, but Merlin can't sit still now, he was already late to find Ganymede and Tink had just turned the corner of one of the corridors. "Oh, I'm so sorry milady, I have to go now!"
And she ran after her friend, but not before bowing briefly and leaving a smiling young woman behind.
"Tink? Tink you crazy bird, come back here, where the hell did you go?" Despite running to catch up with his friend, Merlin lost sight of her and soon found himself lost in the corridors of this large place. "Ah, that's great, lost, again."
He scoffs, but he was shaking, being lost in the middle of a castle like Ronrah's was bad enough, but being lost and alone was worse.
Heavy footsteps pounded on the stone tiles, loud laughter and jeers were coming their way. Merlin began to lose his breath, his heart began to race, his wrists and ankles were tingling, Merlin could feel chains binding him, the corners of his vision began to cloud and darken, and he felt himself staggering. Merlin felt like he was going to die.
"Hey, you! What's your problem?" A tall, red-haired man shouted at him, who, in his fear and trembling, did not notice the approaching knights.
"I-I" Despite trying to respond, he couldn't get bad memories and feelings coming back with a vengeance, the red-haired knight frowned and tried to get closer.
"Tell me who are you and what are your intentions here in the castle?" The redhead asked again, no one interrupted him or stood in front of him, he should be the leader of that group of warriors.
Merlin still wasn't able to breathe enough to give him an answer. Looking increasingly irritated, the man stepped forward and reached out to touch him on the shoulder.
"Since you won't answer my questions, I suggest you come with me - hey! Stop this instant! Men!"
Merlin fled without direction, barely noticing when several people were blatantly watching him.
Gods, he had barely reached the place and was already in pursuit for his life, damn it, he shouldn't have run away, hopefully the men weren't like Ron's knights and were just doing their jobs.
He managed to lose them, but now he had no way out.
"Hey, come this way." It was the lady in the purple dress again, she was calling him from a door, probably her own room. With nowhere else to go, he ran to her and entered. "Wow, when Gaius said you really knew how to make an entrance, I didn't expect that's what he was talking about -" His majestic voice gradually faded away as the smile faded as he watched how the young boy was shaking. "Gods, are you okay?"
She crouches down where he fell and tries to touch him, he shrinks and tries to appear smaller, which is a big challenge given his immense height.
"Merlin?" Call hoping to get some reaction. "Merlin!?" He looks up, eyes of the deepest black watch her fearfully, the poor guy looked terrified.
"What happened, are you in danger?" He nods. "Who terrorized you like that?"
The answer comes in the form of a knock, the knights had arrived at Merlin's hiding place and now they would catch not only him, but the young lady as well.
She turns away from him and walks to the door, he holds his breath and waits.
