AM I THE ONE? | Arthur Pendragon [1]

What?

*Annabelle's P.O.V.*

I walked quickly towards the crowd of people next to the town market. I pushed through many people, but they didn't seem to notice, as they watched the King's son and my brother fight. I stopped once I was in front of the crowd. I looked around desperately. There must be something that I can do to stop them, before they kill each other! Suddenly, my eyes fell on a rope that was on a hook on a wall. I quickly stood on a stool next to the wall and grabbed the rope. I swirled it couple times around my head and threw it at the mace in Arthur's hand once my brother was on the floor, and he was standing in front of him ready to strike. Once the rope fell on it, I quickly pulled it, along with the mace in Arthur's hand. Merlin stared at me, but I couldn't read his expression. It seemed as if though he was happy that I saved his butt, but was angry at the same time, since I didn't let him fight Arthur.
The King's son whipped around and stared at me with shock and anger written all over his face. The crowd silenced and was now staring at me as well. I ignored all the stares and just stared at my brother with disappointment. He looked down, ashamed. Arthur then turned to me.
"What do you think you're doing?!" He yelled outraged. I just looked at him blankly.
"I'm stopping you from killing my brother." I replied.
"You have no right to do that!" He yelled at me. Doesn't he have any manners?
"Yes, actually, I do if my brother is concerned." I replied calmly. I saw Gaius out of the corner of my eye.
"Do you know who I am?!" He asked, raising his head high. I just stared at him.
"First of all, please stop yelling." I said in a soft tone. His eyes seemed to soften a little bit, so I continued. "And second of all... Yes I do, Sire." I said curtsying, but still holding the mace in my hand. He looked at me, actually looking pleased. "But that doesn't change the fact that this is my brother and I won't let you continue the fight. No matter who you are." He stared at me for a couple of seconds, but then nodded and stepped aside, letting Merlin get back on his feet and walk towards me. Once my brother was at my side, Arthur turned around to leave. "My Lord!" I called, and he turned around to look at me questioningly. I just shrugged and threw the mace at him. He caught it and looked back at me. "I think you should have this back." I said with a small smile. He smiled a small, real, warm smile at me, and then left. I turned around, and pushed Merlin in front of me, leading him towards the castle, with Gaius following closely behind us, and leaving the shocked crowd behind us.

*In Gaius's Chambers*

Merlin threw the door to Gaius's chambers open and barged in with me following, whilst Gaius continued scolding him behind us.
"How could you be so foolish?!"
"He needed to be taught a lesson." My brother replied, trying to control his breathing and temper. Gaius closed the door with a loud bang.
"Magic must be studied, mastered in use for good, not for idiotic things!" He yelled, scolding my brother like a little child. I saw Merlin loosing his temper. He turned to face our guardian.
"What is it to master? We could move objects like that before we could talk!" He exclaimed. I just stood to the side and watched the two of them arguing, not wanting to get involved.
"Then by now you should know how to control yourself!" Gaius exclaimed. That's when my brother lost it.
"I don't want to! If I can't use magic what have I got?!" Gaius's expression softened, but my turned into complete shock. I didn't know that he felt this way. "I'm just a nobody. And I always will be... Anna's different, she might even marry a King with her beauty and become a Queen, but if I can't use magic... I might as well die." With that speech he turned on his heel and walked into our room. He closed the door and left me and Gaius standing with shock written all over our faces. Mine had also hurt on it. Did he really feel this way? And if he did... Why did he never tell me?
I looked at Gaius for a split second before running to Merlin and I's room. What I saw after I opened the door broke my heart. My older brother was lying on his bed with his face down. I closed the door quietly behind me and silently walked over to him. I slowly sat on his bed and he lifted his head to look at me. His face was heart broken, and he had tears in his eyes.
"Oh Merlin." I whispered and wrapped my arms around him. He snuggled into my embrace. I tightened my arms around him and just held him for a couple of minutes until Gaius walked in carrying his medicine bag in his hand. He walked over to us.
"Merlin." my brother looked up at him, and wiped the tears off his face. "Sit up. Take your shirt off." Merlin was about to protest, but I gave him a stern look, and he obeyed. He sat up and slowly and carefully took off his shirt, wincing slightly. There was a big scratch on the right side of his back. It must have been after he fell on the floor. Gaius took a small cotton ball with some kind of potion on it and started gently touching it to the wound. I just watched with tears growing in my eyes.
"You don't know why we were born like this, do you?" I asked, my voice cracking slightly at the end. Gaius looked at me for a couple of seconds with softness and warmth in his eyes.
"No." He replied, frowning slightly.
"We're not monsters, are we?" My brother asked jokingly, but I could easily tell that it was a serious question and that he really wanted an answer. As did I. Gaius looked at us seriously.
"Don't ever think that." He said slowly.
"Then why are we like this? Please, we need to know. Why?" Merlin asked desperately. Gaius hesitated.
"Maybe there's... Someone with more knowledge than me."
"If you can't tell us, no one can." My brother dismissed the subject quickly, but I couldn't help thinking about what Gaius said. Who else is there that would be able to tell us? He obviously knew, even a blind man could see it. But he tried to hide it. Why? Who was he talking about? I was snapped out of thoughts with Gaius giving Merlin a small potion.
"Drink this. It will help with the pain." He told Merlin, and my brother took it and gulped it down. He gave the bottle back to Gaius, and he took it, as well as his medical bag, and left. Merlin put his shirt back on, and lied down on his back. I slowly made my way over to him and smiled a small smile trying to make him feel better. He just looked at me with a sad expression. I covered him with a blanket and he gave me a small smile. I leaned down and kissed his forehead gently.
"Go to sleep." I whispered. "You look exhausted." He nodded tiredly and closed his eyes. I went behind the screen and changed into my nightgown. I then put down my hair, brushed it, blew off the candles, and got into bed.
I couldn't sleep for about an hour, because I was thinking about what Gaius told us. After some time tiredness took over, and I closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep.