500 Days of Freya (Merlin)

Story

Chapter 42

Warning/s: None that I can think of.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.

A/N: I had a friend over yesterday and it was the best day of my life I'm so happy

Prompt: ruapilot02 – "Merlin tells the story of the Lady of the Lake, adapting it to sound more like a legend and trying not to reveal his true connection to the Lady."

"Got any good stories, Merlin?" Gwaine asked, poking at the fire. Merlin always had a variety of strange tales up his sleeve, mainly due to Gaius and his extensive reading, but also partly due to his old experiences in Ealdor and Camelot alike.

"I don't know...depends on what you feel like," Merlin replied, sorting out his bed roll.

"Something nice," Gwaine said decisively. "Not about monsters and stuff...how about one that has a pretty maiden in it?"

The other knights groaned, but Merlin smiled a little. "I think I know one."

"Go on then," Gwaine grinned, looking like a small boy who had just been given the greatest gift of his life.

"Well, there was once a girl, who was quite remarkable although nobody took much notice of her. She was born into a small community and was taught magic at a young age, and by the time she was becoming a woman, she was quite accomplished." Merlin saw Arthur stiffen at the mention of magic but ploughed on with his story anyway.

"Her parents died, quite tragically, and knowing no other way, she went to the druids for help. They took her in for a short while, but eventually she decided that it was time to make her own way in the world. So she set off but not long afterwards, she was attacked by a man much bigger than her.

"She panicked and, not knowing any other way, fended herself with magic. But she was in such a state that she ended up killing the man, even though that wasn't her intention to do that. And in revenge, the man's mother tracked her down. And to punish her for what she'd done, even though it was in no way her fault, she cursed her to turn into a great, black cat at night and kill for the rest of her life."

"Hang on," Arthur interrupted. "We had a great, black cat in Camelot that attacked at night."

"Yes, we did," Merlin said softly. "Her name was Freya and she was actually a girl."

"I killed her?" Arthur asked, in a small voice.

"Yep. Not sure why you'd care considering she was a sorceress." The knights exchanged wide-eyed glances at Merlin's bitter tone but before anyone could react, Merlin was sweeping on with his story.

"Arthur found her one night and stabbed her in the shoulder; the cut caused her to revert back to her human form and someone found her, someone who cared for her very much." Merlin cleared his throat suddenly. He hoped none of the knights had heard him say 'I' by accident. "He took her to a lake that he knew she would love, with mountains and some fields, the place she'd always wanted to live when she became married.

"They were going to run away together and get married and have a happy life. But she was cursed and he wasn't able to save her, because despite the fact that he was meant to be a brilliant man, he wasn't brilliant enough."

Silence followed Merlin's story, and then Gwaine cleared his throat. "Um, Merlin?"

There was a sniff, and then, "Yes?"

"How do you know that story?"

"Gaius told me it. He knew the person who saved her." He wasn't lying there, at least. He slipped into his bedroll and pushed his face into his arms, willing the betraying tears to go away.

"Goodnight," Arthur said finally, drawing an end to the conversation. He sensed the awkwardness in the air, as all those present did, and the feeling that perhaps Merlin wasn't telling them the whole story.

He had laid his bedroll down right next to Merlin's, and about half an hour later, when he was sure that the knights were asleep and Merlin wasn't, judging by the shaking of his shoulders, he leaned across and whispered three simple words, "You tried, Merlin."

Arthur wasn't expecting a reply, so he was startled when Merlin's thick voice rang out in the night air. "I love her. Trying isn't enough."

"Trying is all you can do."

"This is the lake, you know."

"The lake where?"

"Yeah. That's why I told the story. Because we're here. And because she was fantastic and beautiful and the best person in the world."

Heavy, thick silence. "You tried."

A/N: well that ending went away from the prompt slightly, sorry!

Let me know if you have any more prompts that I can only vaguely follow!