Merthur - The Blue Butterfly

Chapter 4 - Pinky Promise

Arthur dashes into the small room, his footsteps echoing loudly as he sits down beside the grate, dropping the book on the ground and sending up a plume of dust. "Merlin!" he shouts into the abyss.

"You're here early," Merlin comments from down below.

Arthur grins then sticks his arm through the grate with the book and a lit candle in his hand. "I said I would come as soon as possible didn't I? Besides, I brought you a book! I know you'll love it!" he boasts with pride.

Like before there's a glow of gold from the room before the book and candle is gently tugged from the prince's grip. They hover down to the waiting hands of the boy below, the candle illuminating the path down. As the light drifts further into the darkness Arthur finds himself leaning closer to the grate, trying to see more of his friend below. What he sees is pale skin and short, dark hair. He sees bright blue eyes and ragged clothes. His first thought is that the boy is small. He has a lanky frame so his clothes seem to hang off his body and from what he can tell Merlin seems to be younger than himself. Seeing the frail boy sends a surge of protectiveness over the prince. He feels that it's his duty to protect this young warlock. To protect his friend. Isn't that what his father always said? That a prince's job was to protect his people?

"This is wonderful," Merlin says from below, sitting by the firelight as he flips through the pages. "they're all spells for magic! Not even my Papa had a book like this!"

Arthur smiles, again feeling proud of himself. "I borrowed it from my teacher. He said that it should be simple enough for you to understand. You can read right?"

"A little. My Papa taught me some."

"Then I can teach you whatever you don't know. You can ask me anything, okay?"

Merlin nods with a smile as he looks up at the prince above him. "Thank you."

-----

It's on the third month of the prince's daily excursions that he finally breaks his routine. He had woken up that morning with a high fever and of course no one in the entire castle was willing to let him walk out of his chambers. His father had sat by his bedside, seated on a chair by his bed with worry in his eyes. Arthur had wanted to leave of course, knowing that Merlin was waiting for him and that he had promised to deliver another book to him, but his father would never let him out of his sight and besides, even if his father wasn't there he was too weak to even make it across the room. And so, the prince had remained bed ridden for the entire week, unable to visit his friend whom he thought constantly about.

Now, when he's finally well enough to leave, the first thing the prince does is grab a candle and race out of his room with the book in his grasp. He reaches the closet in record time and pushes it open hastily, quickly making his way to the grate before kneeling to look through the bars. His heart almost stops when he looks inside because inside all he can see is nothing. Nothing but pitch black darkness. A chill runs down his spine at the sight. It's been three months now. Three months since he last saw this abyss. He almost forgot what it looked like. Forgot the shadows that seemed to crawl up the walls. He's afraid. Afraid of what has become of the boy that's trapped in this all encompassing darkness.

Arthur holds the light up, bringing it close to the grate until there's a faint glow cast throughout the room. He squints, trying to focus his eyes in the dark and he just manages to see a few toppled books and candles strewn across the ground. He holds the candle out further into the room, stretching as far as his arms wills go until he manages to spot a faint figure crouched in the opposite corner. Hope flutters in the prince's chest. "Merlin? Are you okay?" he asks.

There's no response.

"Merlin?" Arthur calls again, louder this time. He even shakes the bars a few times with his other hand, hoping that will get his attention. "Merlin? Did something happen?!"