The Aftermath 2 (Merlin) ON HOLD

Chapter Three: Hunting

It had been a couple of days since Merlin had rejected Arthur's offer of becoming leader of the magic council. And the boy would not speak a word of his reasoning, only that he wished to serve as the King's manservant.

Gaius had tried, in true fatherhood fashion, to convince the Warlock otherwise, that turning down a prestigious position for no reason was a foolish thing to do. But Merlin did not waver in his choice, saying he wished to still learn things from the old man as a physician's apprentice.

The truth was that the boy wanted to spend as much time as he could with his friends, he did not wish to be in meetings promising events he could not make true.

What kind of magic council would it be if their leader was all that was wrong with magic? He possessed the darkest form of sorcery, it encased his heart, soul, and soon his mind. Merlin couldn't do that to them, not to the members of the council, not to his friends, not to Arthur and not to Camelot.

The knights had all had their fair share in trying to pry some information out from the boy but none of them succeeding. With the constant nagging it made Merlin's temper very hard conceal, on more than one occasion his friends nearly saw his outburst and red eyes.

And so here we are right now, with a young warlock led on his chamber floors crying uncontrollable sobs and writhing in inconceivable pain as his eyes glow red. It wouldn't stop no matter what he did, his shouts, his screams and his pleas were of no consequence.

It continued like this till the early hours of the morning. Eventually the boy had fallen asleep when the pain had subdued enough to rest.

Arthur barged into Merlin's chambers only to find the warlock sprawled out on the floor, sleeping heavily after being exhausted from the nights events.

The King gently kicked at the Raven's feet, he was late to work, again. And Arthur was in his nightwear after walking around the castle to find the lazy manservant. The boy simply groaned in his sleep but did not stir.

Going back to his old antics the blonde reached for the goblet of water on Merlin's desk and threw it over the poor lad, waking him up instantly. The boy blinked rapidly as he shot up into a sitting position.

"What are you doing on the floor?" The King asked.

The warlock looked at his surroundings, realising what had happened he scrambled his mind for an excuse.

"I was asleep." The boy was too tired for this.

"I can see that." Arthur returned sarcastically. "You do know what a bed is for don't you?"

"Yes" Merlin replied in annoyance.

"Really? Could have fooled me" The blonde smirked.

"What do you want?" The raven gave up trying to debate with the man

"You're late."

"Late for what?"

"The hunting trip."

Merlin sighed and fell back onto the floor.

~~~

"I don't understand why I have to come with you" The Warlock complained to the group of knights who rode in front of him.

"To water the horses, carry the animals, and cook our food of course." Arthur returned. "You're the one who wanted to remain as a servant, this is your job." The King was hoping to spark a reaction out of his friend, but to no avail, the boy just accepted the words of the man.

Lancelot was looking back at the warlock, he couldn't help but notice the bags under his friend's eyes, his pale complexion and the fact that he kept scratching at his chest. The knight slowed his horse's pace allowing Merlin to catch up.