Broken Crown - Merlin

Going Somewhere Else

"Merlin..." Arthur's voice broke.

Suddenly everything made sense, but at the same time, nothing did. How had Merlin ended up like this? Who did this to him? Why?

"Sire?" Leon looked at the king with questioning eyes. Hadn't they noticed? Or was Arthur the only one who could see it, was he going crazy? Hardly.

He always recognized Merlin. In fact, that's a lie. Arthur just never realized that Merin could possibly be a sorcerer, he just assumed he was helpless and, well, normal. Even with several accusations thrown towards his servant, he still didn't get it. He didn't pay enough attention, Merlin thought.

"I-..." Arthur didn't take his eyes off the horse- no. Merlin. He didn't take his eyes off Merlin.

Everything and nothing ran through his mind, he was simply speechless. It wasn't humanly impossible to suddenly become a horse, right? That's how Arthur knew it had to do with magic.

"Are you alright?" Sir Leon asked. Arthur met his gaze and looked absolutely taken aback by his question. How could he ask that? Of course, Arthur was not okay. Merlin had saved his life once again, and he couldn't even thank him. Not that he usually made a big fuss about thanking Merlin in those situations, but this time... It was different.

Merlin had taken an arrow for him, it was not the first time, and at what else? He was a horse, for crying out loud, even as a horse, non-human, no matter what, he would protect the king at any cost. Arthur realized that now.

"I'm... Fine" Arthur responded, fidgeting. Obviously, he hid the fact that he had no idea what to do.

-

Darkness had found its way to the men, and the trees looked like a bunch of tall shadows constantly keeping them under surveillance, as weird as that may sound.

The fire was lit, being the only light source. Leon kept an eye on Arthur, and Gwaine surprisingly hadn't said a word for the first time in a while. Leon had to admit he was worried for the king. He worried, that Arthur claiming Merlin was a horse, was in fact not correct. It could be dangerous. But he waited.

Arthur worried too, and he had so many questions, so many unanswered questions. He hadn't quite processed the situation yet, maybe he was in disbelief. Or was he? Not even that, did he have the answer to. He was confused. Shocked, that's for sure.

It wasn't cold that night. Arthur leaned against a tree, and Merlin was lying to his far right, but he stayed close. It was a mystery how Arthur and the knights had moved the horse to a new location, but then again, it was a flesh wound. Nothing too serious.

The knights looked tired, the king knew they would fall asleep soon, unlike Arthur. He had a lot on his mind.

He wanted to ask Merlin, talk to him, find out what kind of stupidity had led him to this.

But he couldn't, could he?

There was no way in hell he was going to talk to a horse, he thought. But... It wasn't just a horse, of course, it wasn't, it was Merlin. Arthur was surprised, not only because of Merlin's current four-legged appearance, but Arthur knew him... He knew how the young man worried about him – the king -, he knew how he was determined to do anything to protect him, and he knew he was utterly hopeless at it. So why was it he couldn't protect himself? If he was so keen on laying down his life for Arthur's, surely it would be because he knew he could. So why couldn't Merlin look out for himself? Did he really put Arthur's life over his own so much, that he'd do it- do anything, even though he, in reality, could not?

These were only a few of the questions he so desperately wanted to be answered. This whole situation had Arthur's mind explode, and on such a short notice as well.