We had found a river just a few minutes' walk away. The knights had washed their clothes and hung them on a tree to dry while they swam in their undershorts to pass the time. Ezy and Gwen were lying on the grass with their soaking dresses drying in the sun and conversing. Jon and I - the only two who didn't get covered in quicksand - were walking around the bushes. Then, Gwaine and Sam came out of the water and towards us, drying themselves with towels. Gwaine secretly whispered something into Jon's ear, glancing at the drying clothes and Arthur. Jon grinned evilly, and I immediately understood. "Please don't," I sighed, knowing full well it wouldn't change anything.
"Dear, Dear, Merlin, I'm sure you wouldn't mind embarrassing Princess a little bit," said Gwaine.
He was right. I couldn't miss the opportunity to make a fool out of Arthur. "Alright," I grinned, "go ahead."
"There's a good prince," smirked Gwaine. I rolled my eyes. Gwaine and Sam, who were in the act of pulling on their still slightly damp clothes, began passing everyone else's garments to Jon, who passed them to me, which I hid carefully behind a bush.
"We should begin leaving now," began Arthur, "I'm sure our clothes are dry enough..." Arthur trailed off when he realised the clothes weren't there.
"Oh, great," murmured Lance.
"Those three," groaned James.
"Oi, return our clothes!"
"I don't have them," replied Sam, throwing his hands up in the air.
"Neither do I." Gwaine mimicked Sam's actions.
"Don't look at me." Jon copied the others.
"Merlin has them," shouted Gwaine.
"Thanks, Gwaine," I said sarcastically, "just throw me in front of a dangerous monster. I'll be fine."
"Did you just call me a monster, Merlin?"
"No, I was talking about Ezy," I snarkily replied.
"Excuse me!" She demanded.
"Merlin, if you don't return those clothes right now, you're going to find yourself in a lot of trouble," warned Arthur.
As I moved to get the clothes from under the bush, I noticed the troublesome trio shaking their heads at me to tell me not to give Arthur the clothes back. So instead, I tossed some clothes to the other three, and we scrambled away. Coincidentally, I ended up with most of Arthur's things, so when I looked around, I saw him and Lance chasing me. That's why there are a bunch of knights running around in their undershorts. I'm sure the ladies are enjoying the view. Ethan decided he didn't want to run around half-naked and took a seat under the tree.
Meanwhile, the trio and I were running for our lives. Elyan and Percy had cornered Gwaine, Charlie and Mordred were about to push Sam into a river, James and Leon had driven Jon up a tree, and I was still running from a blood-thirsty monster and a knight with reflexes that weren't in my favour right now. Suddenly, there was a whistle, and we all looked towards the source of the noise, Ethan. He held a bottle of mead, and he shook it around making the liquid swish inside. "Is that...?" Jon looked at the bottle, longingly.
"Mead? Yes, and if you stop making everyone run around after you, it's all yours," offered Ethan slowly.
"What do we say, boys?" Gwaine asked, "It's been a long time since I've tasted mead."
"It's only been a few days," Gwen said exasperatedly.
"It's mead that's come from the tavern in Camelot," encouraged Ethan. "Surely you want to drink it before James does. We know what happens when he gets his hands on a drink."
"Don't remind me," Charlie chuckled.
"I thought we agreed not to talk about that," James groaned.
"Alright, here you go," Jon surrendered the clothes. He, Gwaine and Sam dropped the clothes and scrambled for the mead like their life depended on it. Meanwhile, I had no interest in the mead, but I was stuck in front of Arthur, whose clothes I still held.
"What do I get in return for the clothes?" I asked.
"Oh, I don't know," Arthur cockily replied, "maybe your life."
"Fair enough," I returned his garments to him.
"I think we've lingered long enough," Leon mentioned. We all agreed to continue travelling until it became dark through the safe passage of the forest of Godney.
"Why did you bring the mead with you, Ethan?" Jon asked him after the last few drops of it were drained.
"Thought it would come in handy. And it did, didn't it?"
The silence of the walk was filled with small chatter.
"I forgot to ask, Charlie, how's your arm?" I questioned.
"It's feeling better, thanks to you."
I"m surprised we haven't been attacked by anyone yet. It's been pretty calm except for the quicksand," Ezy commented.
"Don't jinx it," laughed Gwen, "the forest is the safest place we've been so far." After we made it to the edge of the forest, we made a camp behind some trees and ate. As Gwaine settled for the first watch, I noticed that, again, Ethan swapped places with him. I decided to ask him about that tomorrow morning and lay myself to rest.
Sunlight blinded my vision as I opened my eyes after my long sleep. I blinked, trying to get used to the sudden brightness. Surprisingly, no one else was awake yet, even with the sun high in the sky. "Merlin?" I heard a sleepy voice call.
"Elyan?" I answered after sitting up and seeing who it was.
"Why is everyone asleep?"
"That's what I was thinking," I walked up to Arthur and shook him, "Arthur, get up. C'mon, you dollophead. You're asleep in your bathtub." He didn't make a sound and just turned over. At least we know they're not dead. Elyan and I went around trying to rouse everyone, but there was no luck, so we stopped to think of what to do.
"That's my hand you're standing on," someone murmured from below.
"Jonathan!" Elyan exclaimed, "You're awake!"
"Well of course I'm awake. What did you expect?"
"Everyone else isn't waking up."
"What're you on about?"
"They're in some sort of deep sleep," I explained.
Jon got up with an unbelieving expression and then kicked the closest sleeping person, which was Sam. When Sam didn't react, he gave an amused smirk. "Yeah, they're asleep."
"What do we do now?'
"No idea. How come we're awake?" Elyan inquired.
"They did something that we didn't. Like when they were trapped in the quicksand," mused Jon.
"I was there too," said Elyan.
"But you got out before the rest of them," I contemplated.
"So there must have been poison in the quicksand!"
"Remember when they said there was quicksand in their mouths!" I exclaimed.
"The sand was enchanted," Elyan said in realisation.
"How do we wake them up?" Both heads turned to me for an answer. "Why are you looking at me? I don't know what to do," I protested.
"You're the one who always gets out of trouble, Merlin."
"I don't always get into trouble!" I defended myself. Both knights gave me a knowing look.
"Fine, we'll see if there is anything in Gaius' books that I brought."
It's been a while, but I'm finally back, guys.
YOU ARE READING
The Kingdoms (Prince Merlin Fanfic)
Fanfiction"It can't be him! It can't be Ethan!" Follow Merlin as he goes through the troubles of being a prince in hiding. What happens when a letter arrives in Camelot followed by someone he never thought he'd see again. He does all of this with the help of...
