"This way!" Arthur called flagging his manservant over to him with his gloved hand. The sun was lowering itself in the horizon and soon the vast lands of Camelot would be covered in a thick velvet sky. Desperate to catch at least one animal on their hunting spree King Arthur of Camelot and his dopey servant Merlin continued on their way; following the little lead they had. As they crept forward the soft crunching of leaves caught Merlin’s attention. There in the middle of a clearing stood a beautiful deer. Merlin’s breath caught in his throat at the sight of the delicate creature observing him with huge brown eyes.
“Merlin” Arthur admonished “What are you looking at?”
Before Merlin could even begin to answer a high pitched scream echoed through the woods; they froze in baited breath. Again the scream rang through the blossoming trees.
“Let go!” Arthur cried over his shoulder as he raced through the woods towards the sound; Merlin trailing behind him. They rounded the bend looking down upon a string of carts pulled by two very tired looking donkeys. At the end of the now stopped carts was a small girl. Her dress was ripped and her bloody hands were tied to a rope that was attached to the cart in front of her. She was on her knees and a buff man standing over her yelling; his hand raised.
“Bandits” Merlin breathed staring in horror.
“When I say three” Arthur whispered not taking his eyes of the crying girl “We charge. Try not to get in the way.” Arthur slipped the second sword out of his belt and handed it hilt first to Merlin.
“1,2,3” Arthur had barely finished his three when he barreled down the hill towards the men; Merlin at his heels. Arthur charged towards the two men standing guard near the donkeys, slicing them down with little effort. Wiping his blonde hair out of his eyes Arthur turned to the remaining man who had by now looked up from the trembling girl; sword raised.
“Put down your sword” the man said his thick accent thwarting his words. “You have no business here.” To this the little girl whimpered.
“Nah, I’d rather not” Arthur said cockily as he barged forward into action. The bandit raised his sword to meet Arthur’s. Soon the two had begun the elegant dance of their fight; side stepping, stabbing, slashing, blocking. With the clanging of the swords still echoing through the woods Merlin ducked behind the carriages towards the whimpering little girl. Cutting the rope holding the girl to the carts, Merlin knelt next to the trembling girl. The girl flinched away hiding her tear-filled, deep brown eyes in her hands.
"Hey it's alright." Merlin said softly keeping a respectful distance. "My name's Merlin. And over there that's my uh… friend Arthur."
At this the girl looked up at him through her dirt and blood coated hands but the tension never left her fragile body.
"We want to help you, okay? We'll get you away from here." Cautiously he held out his hand for her to grab onto. Hesitantly she reached up her gorgeous brown eyes holding him in a suspicious gaze.
"Don't touch her!" An angry voice howled from behind Merlin. "Keep your filthy thieving hands off my girl!"
Merlin whirled around finding himself face to face with a furious bandit. Before he could react the bandit raised his sword and smashed the hilt down on his head causing his knees to crumple and white dots erupt in his vision. Through his blurry, strained view Merlin saw the disgusting bandit reach over to the girl grabbing her by her waves of brown hair hoisting her up onto her worn, shoe barren feet, emitting a yelp from the girl.
“You listen to me yeh little bitch.” He seethed his spit flying on her tear stained face. “When we get out of here you are going to wish you were never b-” The end of his sentence was cut off by a sword; driven by King Arthur prodding through his chest; as the man crumpled to the ground the girl turned her face away an expression of disgust imprinted on it.
After a moment of silence Merlin staggered to his feet and teetered over to the trembling girl, his head throbbing.
“Are you alright?” He asked softly placing a gentle hand on her trembling shoulder. Mutely she shook her head, no.
“We’ll bring you back to your family, okay?” Merlin continued. Again the girl just shook her head, tears slowly leaking down her face. Merlin gently squeezed her shoulder in understanding.
“What do you mean?” Arthur asked, confused on the sidelines. “Why don’t you-” Merlin shot him a look, a shut-up-you-idiot look.
“Oh…” Arthur murmured in understanding “Well, you’ll just have to come back to Camelot with us.”
“Camelot?” The girl asked her voice tentative, trembling and so quiet that Arthur could barely understand her.
“Yes, Camelot.” Merlin smiled. “That’s where we live.”
“You-you want me to come to y-your house with you?” The girl asked her eyes lighting up with hope.
“If you’d like to.” Merlin said softly. The girls smile faltered for a second.
“Will you make me do bad things?” Her voice cracked with emotion.
“No” This time it was Arthur speaking. He stepped forward and took her hands in his. “No one will treat you badly ever again.”
This time the girl genuinely smiled. “I’d really like that.” And with that she promptly tumbled over landing face first onto the ground.
“What happened!?” Arthur cried as Merlin quickly squatted next to her examining her.
“She’s exhausted and malnourished. We need to get her to Gaius.”
Arthur swooped down looping his arms around her shoulders and tucking them under her knees. He pulled her to his chest and straightened up.
“Well hurry up you Dollophead!” Arthur cried in exasperation. “Run ahead and get the horses.”
“Yes, sire” Merlin mocked before he raced off to get the horses.
Ten minutes later Merlin raced back in the clearing to see Arthur cradling the unconscious girl in his arms.
"Took you long enough." Arthur scolded as he gestured for Merlin to get on his horse. After Merlin had clambered up Arthur very cautiously handed the girl to Merlin. Merlin settled the small girl in front of him and once Arthur climbed up on his horse they rode away towards Camelot
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Kin Twisted Fate
FanfictionGwaine has always been the hidden sort of person. The one who keeps all his god awful feelings welled up in his chest. But, what happens when a person very important to him shows up at Camelot? What happens when he is reunited with his supposedly de...
