Two Sides of The Same Coin (Merthur)(Discontinued)

I Love Him

Arthur's POV

An hour later and they still weren't back yet. Some ten minutes ago, I had jumped to my feet and begun to pace, Eric and Gaius watching me.

That idiot! Merlin should have been back by now, unless something had gone wrong. I don't think I could stand the idea of something going wrong.... but then again, it was an entire town. It would take at least an hour to map. I felt so hopeless. What if something had happened? Merlin could be dead, and I was just standing around. 

An hour and a half, now. I couldn't wait any longer. 

"We need to walk around the perameter. See if they might have left from a different exit," I tried to keep my voice calm and cool, although I was terrified on the inside. Nothing ever showed through, though. My father had taught me to keep all human emotions hidden since I had been only a small child. He tought me to 'be a Pendragon'. 

My emotions always felt so strong, threatning to overpower my sences at every moment. I never let more than the surface of my emotions show. My people had to believe that I was human, but wasn't weak. That's one of the reasons I had to find Merlin. He was the one person I could truly be myself around. He was annoying, and always spoke out of terms, but it was quite refreshing. When everybody called me Sire and did exactly as I wanted, it got.... alienating. Merlin only called me Sire when mocking, and made fun of me all the time. I think that he was my one true friend. 

Now Merlin was off somewhere, possibly hurt. Possibly even- no. No thinking about that. 

Soon enough, Eric and I (Gaius had wanted to rest up a little back at our original hiding place) found the group of thirty men. Their mood was dangerously low, as if something horrible had happened.

Scanning over the group, I soon realized what that horrible thing was. Merlin was missing. 

A couple of Morgana's army were bound and gagged near the center of the group, but they didn't look as if they were trying to make escape, and Rowan, one of the younger men, was moping far away from the group. I noticed some pitiful glances in the boy's direction, and made my way to them. 

"What's happened?" Rowan looked up, surprised to see his king.

"Sire! Sire, I'm sorry! I tried- I couldn't- He just ran! I don't know what to do, Sire!" Rowan was panicking. I felt sorry for the boy as well, but carefully left that to myself. 

"Start from the beginning," Rowan took a deep breath, and let it out, shakily. Then he spoke. 

"Well, Sire, Morgana had found all of us. Merlin told us he had made a promise and then ran in the direction of the guards so that we could escape... I think... I think he's gone," A knot formed in my stomach when I realized what promise Rowan was speaking of. It was my fault.

"Gone? What do you mean gone?" 

"I mean he's well.... gone," Rowan waved his hands in the air, seemingly unwilling to elaborate further. 

"He's not...." I found myself unable to continue, but Rowan got the message.

"I don't think he's dead, Sire," Rowan said, looking sadly at his feet. 

Arthur nodded, trying not to think about whatever fate Merlin had succumbed to. He threw an arm around the young boy's shoulder in a comforting gesture. 

"We'll get you back to Camelot soon, yeah? You'll spend the next week with your family," The boy nodded. Arthur vaguely saw a tear roll down Rowan's cheek. Arthur than turned back to Eric.

"We wait until he comes out," I commanded, although somewhere in the back of my minf, I knew it wasn't going to happen. We waited for thirty more minutes, then Eric spoke some words that should have counted as tretchory. 

"I don't think he's coming," I tasted something sour in my mouth as the bile rose up my throat. "We should probably go. It's a miracle Morgana hasn't spotted us already," He spoke softly, as if to make me think I still had the authority. Too bad for him that I did.

"No!" I wasn't sure if it was a yell or a scream or what. I was just so, so angry. "No, we either wait for Merlin or we go get him now. One thing I will not  do is leave him in Morgana's grasp by himself. He's too important to me," Eric's face was suddenly bright red. Had I let him use me as a puppet? The realization was just starting to hit.  He tried to pull me away, but it was angry to yank out of the knight's grip.

"I said no," The low growl that came out of my mouth even frightened me a little bit. Eric backed off, keeping his space now. 

"Arthur, please. To get him out we would need a true army. We don't have one," What a stupid argument.

"I am the king of Camelot. One trip home, and there are already ten marching here,"

"We can't just give up the lives of Camelot's men for your servant!:

"And why not?" 

"Because, although Merlin is great and all that stuff, he's not important! He's only a servant!" If only Eric knew... the next words I said shut the knight up completely, not an argument left in mind. It was amazing, the affect of three simple words.

"I love him."

Author's Note: Yes, Arthur, yes!! You know that you do! So, here's your little treat after the annoying last chapter, and the wait. Updates will be coming more slowly now, maybe one chapter a week. I'm really sorry, guys, but things just started getting hectic. I've got a religion to teach myself, a date to find, a school club to run, a social life to build, and a crazy amount of homework.

On a brighter side, 1k reads! The most amazing thing a writer could ever feel; when they know people read their stuff. And you guys are reading! Thank you all so so much. I could never use words to describe how much I love you, my readers. 

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