Always Be With You - Merthur

Chapter 16

Merlin pov.

Merlin and Arthur turned around yet another corner, anxious everytime that they would find an army waiting for them, or whatever guarded the Fomorroh.'or Morgause' Merlin thought, glancing behind him for what was probably the 28th time this corridor. A shiver ran down his spine. A few feet in front of him, Arthur carefully peeked around the corner for any sign of movement down here.

From what Merlin could see on his face, there was no one. Merlin looked around. The large grey stones flickered in the dim light of the torches and the Essetir crest was carved above a stone arch entrance to his right that led into another hall containing several more doors. 

'Exactly how big is this castle?' Merlin thought, mentally rolling his eyes.

It was way too quiet here and an unnerving ambience hung in the air. Nothing about this place brought any feeling of comfort. 'How can this be someone's home? I could be in the woods, sleeping next to a bear and I'd probably feel safer than I do now.' 

He followed Arthur, who had already silently made his way into that hallway and was now standing by a door, listening for any signs of danger behind it.

It felt nothing like that time he and Gwen had gone to the kitchens in the middle of the night to steal some food for the surprise party for Arthur. He never really enjoyed the birthday parties his father trew for him. Sure, he appreciated them, but Merlin had noticed that he was never completely comfortable around all the strangers from neighboring kingdoms.

Gwen had agreed and together they organized something small for him. They knew that Arthur wasn't the one who liked too much of a surprise, so only Gwen, Morgana and he would be there. That was before they met Gwaine and the rest of the knights, so that's why they hadn't been there. 

That would have been a disaster. Gwaine helping with a surprise party? Merlin grinned. That would be hilarious, maybe they should do that sometime in the near future. Arthur's birthday was close. 

The next day, Gwen had sent Morgana out to take Arthur on a walk so they could decorate his room. It hadn't been too difficult to do, Gwen just filled the table with flowers in a pot with small hummingbird figurines. Merlin had used his magic to hang the gold decorations on the walls, got their presents and set them by the window, Each of them had been something small to give.

Because Morgana could draw so well, she had the honour of making the designs on the cupcakes the evening before Arthur's birthday before. It was mostly little doodles and the number '24' on it in purple with an exaggerated neatly curled handwriting. Morgana had said it was a necessary thing to do, Gwen had agreed with a serious face, but there definitely had been some kind of meaning behind it.

Eventually, when they were sure everything was done, Morgana had come running in, giggling uncontrollably. They'd only had a few seconds before Arthur followed behind her. It had been a success, that's what Merlin could say about it. They'd played board games all day, Morgana and Gwen had definitely not made tiny braids in Arthur's hair and they totally didn't rush to hide behind the changing screen while Merlin pretended to clean the room when Uther barged in, asking what his son was doing.

Later that evening Merlin had been proud to see that Arthur could actually enjoy himself at the royal party from his father. It had been a fun day for all of them, so they did something like that every year when it was someone's birthday.

Shaking his head to come back to the present, Merlin looked at Arthur again. He had a slight frown on his face as he concentrated on hearing the faintest of noises. Arthur mouthed something like 'step back' while making a hand gesture, Merlin complied and watched as he opened the door. The room was small and dark.