Just a servant?

Chapter 3

A/N: In this story all the knights of the round table are still alive. It's set during season 3. Uther is alive and Morgana is evil. Just thought you'd like to know.
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      That same morning:
          Morgana's POV
   I woke up from another restless night's sleep. It's not because of the nightmares. Those ended a long time ago. A new nightmare plagues me every night now. Uther, still alive and still the tyrant that he is. Arthur claiming the throne that is rightfully mine.
     But one thing has changed. Part of these nightmares contained Arthur being married to Guinevere and she then becoming queen of Camelot. Her? A lowly servant? A queen on MY throne?! The mere thought of it made me furious, but recently it doesn't appear anymore. It's the same nightmare but Gwen is no longer a part of it. Someone else stands with Arthur. I don't know who it is. I can't see their face but I feel as if I know the person.
        Anyways, Arthur informed me and Uther last night over dinner that he would be going on a hunt for at least 3 days. That meant no Arthur to protect Camelot or his precious father and no Merlin to foil my plans.
       Merlin. That servant has been a thorn in my side for far to long. Perhaps this little trip could solve both problems. Two birds with one stone as they say.
       I had my breakfast and quickly made for the forest where I met my sister Morgause.
    "Sister. Why have you summoned me at this hour? We could be caught." She said. "I have a plan." I replied. "Arthur and Merlin, along with some knights, are going out on a hunt supposedly for 3 days."
     She nodded in understanding, "Yes I know. You told me already of this."
     "What if we use this to get rid of some other problems?" I suggested. Morgouse looked mildly interested. "What problems?"
      "More like annoyances. Little pests like say, Merlin. Many of our plans would have succeeded if it weren't for Merlin. He is to loyal to Arthur for his own good and is going on the hunt with him. I propose one of us leads the attack here while the other goes to take care of Merlin."
         My sister now looked excited. "Yes! That would benefit us greatly! What's your plan?"
      If I could see myself I knew I would have a mischievous grin on my face. "Well,.........."
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Back in present time:
      Arthur's POV
We stopped to let the horses rest for a few minutes. I would take this time to go talk to Merlin. There is something going on with him. Nothing bad but I want to know what.
I noticed this morning. His beautiful grin was wider than ever. Yes. I just called Merlin beautiful. My feelings for Gwen were just that. Feelings. I actually talked with her and we came to the conclusion to be just friends. I just see her as a sister now rather than a lover or my future queen.
Merlin on the other hand. Where do I start? He doesn't treat me like royalty. He just treats me like, well..... me. And I love that. I think I like Merlin but I can't let anyone know. Especially my father. He would not stand for it. Anyways,...
"Merlin!" I called out. "Yes, sire?"
"Tell me. What is it?" Merlin tried to suppress a grin. "What is what?" He's going to play that game, huh. Very well. "Then I'm going to have to guess then. Is it a girl?" I inquired. He seemed flustered by the question but not as if he were embarrassed by its truth. "No. Definitely not a girl." He replied. Those words actually made me feel a bit relieved.
"Then what is it? I know it's something Merlin. I know you too well." As soon as I said that I swear I heard Merlin snicker. "What was that?" "Oh, nothing." He replied a bit too quickly.
"Really. What's going on?" I asked seriously. Merlin seemed to contemplate his answer when he said "Ok. If you want to know so badly. Today is just a really good day because...."
He was cut off by sir Leon yelling "Sire! Bandits!"
As soon as he said that an arrow was flying towards me and Merlin. We both jumped out of the way at opposite directions. The arrow lodged itself into a tree. I quickly got up and grabbed my sword. "Merlin! Run!"
I saw he was about to argue with me so I yelled "Merlin, please just do as I say!" He obeyed and fled the battle to take cover behind some trees.
"Knights! On me!" I ordered. Instantly, the knights were by my side and the battle begun. Many bandits came at us from all directions. Apparently Mother Nature was at our side since many branches fell on a few bandits every time it seemed we would be overpowered. They also had archers. Many times I believed the arrows they shot would meet their target. But they seemingly missed. They would turn mysteriously at midair. How lucky! That's how the battle seemed to go on until......

Merlin's POV
I listened to Arthur and took some cover but I made sure to stay close enough to help. I made branches fall and arrows turn midair. I hope Arthur doesn't get suspicious.
As I was doing this I heard I voice I knew all to well behind me. "Look what we have here. Merlin, did you stray from your little group?" Morgause taunted. As I turned around she used her magic to push me back. I hit a tree. Hard. That made me dizzy for a while. Before I could do anything she conjured up another spell. This one kept me planted on the ground while she created a small tornado. It was sucking the air out of me. My lungs started to burn and before I passed out I could hear her laugh at what she already knew would be our downfall.
Arthur's POV
We kept fighting but our luck seemed to have turned on us. We were still able to defeat many of them but at a slower pace.
We were at the peak of the fight when we heard rustling coming from behind us. The bandits stopped attacking and we turned to see what it was. I was shocked to see it was Merlin's unconscious body rolling down toward us. At least, I hope he was unconscious.
I was about to run toward him when I heard Morgause say "One more step and the servant gets roasted." We looked up to see her with a fireball in her hand. "Put down your weapons." I could see any other way of getting out of this without Merlin getting hurt. "Do it." I ordered my men.
As soon as we did, Morgause ordered her men to tie us up. She stepped in front of me and roughly grabbed my chin. "Oh little Arthur. You're not going to like what comes next for you and Merlin."
"Merlin?" I was about to ask what he had to do with this when I was knocked out by one of her men. What was going on?