Burning Change

Part 2~The Fire

Ah yes, the joy of hunting with the king was a long list, the unbearable heat and lack of any talent were just the tips of the iceberg. 

It wasn't as if he needed to hunt, he simply did it for the sport and that said enough. It did not help that everybody was staring at me!

My little display early did not help me keep a low profile like I normally do but I suppose it was only so long until they started figuring something was off about me and this was one of the lesser evils for them to find.

"So… are you going to tell me where you learnt all that fancy spinning?" Gwaine pulled his horse next to mine, a cheeky grin on his face. "We both know you didn't pick it up overnight." 

Mordred was watching us out of the corner of his eye, waiting for my response. 

I took a second to pause, thinking over the many things I could tell him. "I guess it's just another one of my hidden talents." 

Gwaine was unhappy with my retort. As was Mordred as he invaded my head. "Are you going to tell me where you learnt that?" 

Taking a second, I hesitated. There was no way I would tell Mordred after everything he… will… do? The prophecy was clear but on the same hand, it would be a lot nicer to have Mordred on our side. Either way, I couldn't tell him the truth. "I guess it's just another one of my hidden talents," I repeated into his mind, getting a similarly huffy response from the druid. 

A long silence fell over the group, quietly following Arthur further into the woods. Something was tingling at my neck, a bad sense of foreboding I hadn't felt in a long time, then again, we hadn't left the castle in a long time.

Trying to shake off the feeling, I focused on the hunt, easily spotting a few tracks that I took joy in hiding. Just because one could hunt, didn't mean I was going to let it be easy. Sukie used to do it to us. She said it was a challenge to see if you could get the prey when everything was stacked up against you. The little brat loved torturing us. 

And now I was torturing Arthur.

Snapping a twig, I watched the animals scuttle away. Arthur spun around, his sharp gaze piercing into me. "Merlin!" In typical Arthur fashion, he drew out the first part of my name too long, making it sound like an insult. "Do you have to be so brain numbingly incompetent as to scare away all the prey! And here I thought you might have actually turned over a new leaf but no, still as useless as always."

No one said anything for a few seconds, gauging my reaction as I snickered. "And what's got you in such a bad mood, one less sausage in your breakfast? Maybe getting up at a reasonable time or doing your job?"

Arthur spun around, throwing his glove at me. I only chuckled more.

"If your hunting is as good as your throwing I doubt it's me scaring away the prey." I chuckled harder as Arthur continued to scream at me. 

Snap.

Quietening my voice, I stretched my magic out, drowning when I couldn't identify the source of the sound. None of the others seemed to notice, moving on with the hunt.

Maybe I didn't get enough sleep…

~~~

Stalking closer to the deer, Arthur remained unaware of the eyes focusing on him, almost like how the deer was unaware of him. 

Just as he went to pounce, Gwaine let out a loud shriek, scaring away the deer. Together, the Knights spin around, expecting to find a threat, instead, they found Gwaine rapidly swatting away a bird he seemed to have annoyed- no surprise there.