Mirrored Liasons

 

“You may practice magic at your discretion, but do not be blindingly obvious about it. I will not allow you to go around parading your powers. I will not protect you if you are discovered. You will be executed, as all the others have been.”

 

“I understand, milord.”

 

“Uther in confidence, brat. We are co-conspirators. It is only fitting that I allow you to use my name.”

 

“Yes then…Uther. As my name is Merlin.”

 

“Very well…Merlin.”

 

They eyed in each other in either amusement or iciness. Surprisingly, Uther was the one amused and Merlin the one with the cool gaze.

 

“Do not reveal our covenant with Arthur or anyone at all. I will have you executed. You may subtly let Gaius in, but say nothing and let him draw his own conclusions.”

 

Merlin nodded, dipping in a slight bow and an almost smirk on her face.

 

“As you wish, so shall it be.” And so she left to sleep, before the morning came and she had to start work as Arthur’s manservant.

 

“It’s going well then, serving my son?” Uther’s cool tone made her flinch.

 

“Tiresome,” she drawled, leaning casually against his table.

 

He barked out a harsh laugh, “Yes, I see. Arthur seems to have taken to you though.”

 

Merlin let a small smile play across her lips before it smoothed over and her face was expressionless again.

 

Uther narrowed his eyes at the mirror, trying to adjust his cape. Merlin pushed herself off of the table and stood behind him, nimble fingers going up and fixing the cape herself. He said nothing, glaring at her reflection in the mirror, condemning eyes ever present.

 

She ignored them.

 

“Must I continue to play idiot?” she murmured, finishing the last touches.

 

He straightened up and observed himself in the mirror, “Yes. You can better stay in your role as an incompetent, than bring attention to yourself. Cheery and idiotic.”

 

He knew full well she wasn’t. Not from the moment she straightened up after their covenant and from the many conversations he had forced her to have with him. She was bright, almost as calculating as him, and very dangerous –though in a more subtle way than he. She was very deceptive of how powerful she was, like all treacherous magic-users, but nonetheless capable. She just rather preferred standing in the shadows and not drawing attention to herself.

 

“My son would be wondering where you have been. Go, finish your tasks. Report to me if anything of importance should be known.”

 

She nodded mockingly obedient, before heading out.

 

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“You are completely incompetent, aren’t you?” Arthur asked annoyed, and Merlin looked back to see the sword she had “forgotten” to include.

 

“Ah yes. That. Sorry,” she grinned, inwardly rolling her eyes.

 

“Stupid, dazed, and incapable of anything. And girly. Jeez, haven’t you heard of cutting your hair, Merlin?”

 

She ignored his jibe and handed him his sword. “Ready?”

 

“Of course,” he answered arrogantly.

 

She walked with him to the tournament, before standing back and letting him enter the arena with the rest of the contestants. Merlin was surprised she had enjoyed the tournament at all, but she did and watched eagerly as Arthur fought, cheering him on.

 

The first day of the tournament was over and there was a customary feast back at the castle, and while there was some sort of quiet scuffle between Morgana, Arthur, and Valiant, Uther’s eyes locked onto hers. She nodded and slipped more into the shadows, going back to carefully watching Arthur.

 

She was surprised when later, Arthur headed towards her.

 

“What are you doing skulking about here?” he grinned at her.

 

“I am not skulking,” she deadpanned. Her eyes darted to Uther, who was watching. She quickly grinned widely, and laughed loudly. “I’m just…you know. Don’t feel comfortable walking about with all sorts of refined people around.”

 

Arthur laughed with her, “And I, for one, hate it as well. Why don’t we just leave? I’m sure Father won’t mind. Everyone else is too drunk and I’ve stayed for my obligatory time. You’re not needed at all, manservant.”

 

She twitched and frowned, “You are such a prat.”

 

“So you say.”

 

She huffed, but allowed him to lead her out.

 

She couldn’t believe how Arthur kept surprising her, this time by bringing her to the kitchens where they snacked on some sweet bread and talked about their childhoods. It was very odd for her, especially having branded Arthur as a hopeless case and a complete moron.

 

The next morning, as she went to go replace Arthur’s armor, she heard hissing. Following the noise, she narrowed her eyes at Valiant’s shield, having deducted that the hissing came from it. Then one of the snakes winked at her, and she almost squeaked aloud.

 

“What are you doing here?” Valiant appeared suddenly.

 

“Ohoho!” she laughed idiotically. “I was just replacing Arthur’s armor. Man, these things are heavy, eh? Well, I have to go before he starts complaining again.”

 

Valiant smirked, “Good luck with that then. I’m sure you need it with his big mouth.”

 

She hid her shiver and tried not to run away.

 

After the tournament trials that day, Merlin worked with Gaius to try to help Knight Ewan recover for what seemed like a snake bite.

 

“Gaius,” Merlin whispered, staring at the bite. “I must leave.”

 

“What? Why?” her uncle looked at her confused.

 

“That bite. I know it was caused by Valiant’s shield. Those snakes are enchanted.”

 

“How would you know this? Do you have any proof? We cannot just go accusing Knights of dishonor like this. It will be a grave offense and a huge accusation. Without proof, we will not be looked upon favorably.”

 

Merlin kept staring. “I could feel the enchantment’s power humming to me. I saw one of the snakes wink at me.”

 

“That is not enough,” Gaius hissed. “And certainly, you cannot go and say ‘I could feel the magic!’ They would ask how and find out what you are! Then you would be killed!”

 

She backed away, “I need to go.”
 

“Go? Go where?!”

 

“I’ll be back!” she yelled as she ran.

 

But once she was at her destination, she hesitated. Licking her lips nervously, she knocked on the door to King Uther’s chambers.

 

“Come in.”

 

She reluctantly came inside and watched the cool-gazed King watch her from his table, still not asleep.

 

“Valiant is using magic,” she revealed calmly, watching him with the same cool gaze.

 

“I know.”

 

She froze.

 

“In his fight against Knight Ewan, I only was able to see three quick forms leap from his shield and bite Knight Ewan before retreating.”

 

“If you knew, then why hadn’t you warned me? I could have better prepared Arthur somehow before his upcoming fight with Valiant tomorrow.”

 

“I was waiting for you to come to me. Besides,” he scoffed, “You cannot prepare Arthur any more than he is for this. He must learn to be stronger and overcome challenges such as this, to better prepare himself for his role as future King.”

 

It was her turn to scoff, “I thought you wanted to keep him safe?”

 

“Of course. But I am preparing him to face challenges and obstacles on his way to greatness, and you will be behind him to protect him if things go worse. You will find a way to expose of Valiant and get rid of him. Go then, to your little magic book and find a way.”

 

She pursed her lips, “And what of Knight Ewan? He will die without an antidote. An antidote I can easily take from Valiant’s shield and expose him at the same time.”

 

“No,” Uther hissed out, glaring at her. “He will not admit to it and keep his shield inactive. Then he will find out Knight Ewan will be revived and kill him so his secret will not be exposed. Your efforts will be fruitless.”

 

She glared back. “Fine,” she gritted her teeth and left before being dismissed.

 

But she didn’t go back to Gaius. Instead, she went to Valiant’s chambers and saw that he was still out. Quickly sneaking in, she prodded at the shield and wondered if she could just call on her magic and force the snakes out. Her eyes flashed gold and the snakes suddenly half leaped out.

 

Frowning, she cut one’s head off with Valiant’s sword, picked it up and ran. She let Gaius get the poison out so he could work on an antidote, but she grabbed the head and ran again, heading to Arthur’s this time.

 

“You are sure of this?” he questioned her, looking quite serious.

 

“Yes,” she said firmly, pleading with her eyes.

 

He looked hesitantly at her. “Merlin, so help me…You aren’t lying?”

 

“I’m not lying! Look at it! Have you seen a snake like that here in Camelot?!” she practically screamed at him.

 

He frowned heavily. “I’m trusting you on this. You better not have lied to me.”

 

“I’m not,” she said confidently.

 

“I’ll have to get an audience with my father, and then convince him of Valiant’s treachery,” Arthur said wearily. “And you’re sure that Knight Ewan will be waking up soon?”

 

“Yes. Gaius is working on an antidote now and probably administering it as we speak.”

 

“Very well.”

 

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Things didn’t go to plan. First, as Uther had warned her, Valiant wouldn’t admit to it. Worse, she couldn’t be in the room to use her magic and force the snakes to show themselves. Then Knight Ewan had died, apparently from another snake bite.

 

Uther was right again. Valiant had finished the job.

 

Then the worse part came. Arthur had screamed at her, yelling about how he had trusted her and ended up being humiliated and thought of as a coward. After that, he told her that he couldn’t trust her, especially when it seemed she was a liar.

 

She was promptly fired after that.

 

So now she was sulking in a dank cave and glaring at the Great Dragon.

 

“I just came to tell you, whatever you think my destiny is, whatever it is you think I'm supposed to do, you've got the wrong person! That's it. Goodbye.”

“If only it were so easy to escape one's destiny.” She really hated the patronizing tone.

“How can it be my destiny to protect someone who hates me?” she grumbled.

“The half cannot truly hate that which makes it whole. Very soon, you shall learn that.” Half? Whole? What the hell was it talking about?”

“Oh, great. Just what I needed. Another riddle,” very soon, Merlin was going to start foaming in the mouth and start snarling at the Great Dragon. That’s how frustrating it was talking to it.

“That your and Arthur's path lies together is but the truth.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” her glare intensified. Maybe she could conjure some water and fling it at the dragon…

“You know, young sorceress, this is not the end. It is the beginning.”

“Just give me a straight answer!” she finally just screamed.

 

It flew away, laughter billowing behind it.

 

That’s it, next time she was going to be armed with water.

 

So now, instead of sulking in a dank cave, she was sulking on the steps in open sunny air.

 

“Merlin?” she glanced to her side balefully and saw Gwen.

 

She smiled ruefully. “Hey.”

 

“Are you okay?” Gwen asked fretfully.

 

She sighed, “Yes…A bit upset, but I’ll be okay.”

 

“Was it…true? Valiant is using magic to cheat in the tournament?”

 

Merlin slumped forward, shoulders hunched over. “Yes, but no one believes me.”

 

“You must do something about it.”

 

Merlin scoffed. “Do what? There’s nothing I can do. And besides, why should I always do something?”

 

Gwen offered a shy smile, “Because you seem like the type of person always wanting to help and do good. No one believes you, well you should prove them wrong.”

 

Merlin peered at her intensely, causing Gwen to blush and start to fidget. Then Merlin grinned and hugged her. “Thanks, Gwen.”

 

She ran off and tried to find Arthur. He was getting ready for the tournament final, and she anxiously approached him.

 

“What are you doing here?” he asked her gruffly, not bothering to look at her.

 

“You can’t fight Valiant. You know I’m telling the truth and he’s going to kill you if you don’t concede.”

 

“Better to die than be a coward. I cannot lead my people, if they think I am a coward who’d rather run away,” he answered in a short tone.

 

“How can you say that? You would be throwing away your life for nothing!” she said harshly.

 

Arthur stopped dressing himself and hesitantly placed a hand on her shoulder.

 

“I believe you, Merlin. I don’t know why, but I do,” and then he was walking away from her and to the arena.

 

She gaped after him before chasing him and finally having to hide. The battle was starting and she could glimpse Uther watching on. Suddenly, his eyes were on her and she could read the message in them.

 

‘Do not let me down.’

 

She breathed in deeply and called out to her magic, desperately wishing for the snakes to move. And then they did, moving out of the shield of their own volition, upsetting Valiant and surprising Arthur.

 

Uther played his part, being outraged but allowing his son to continue. She bristled at that, but didn’t do anything more than watch, only subtly throwing a sword closer to Arthur, who picked it up and used it to slay the snakes and then kill Valiant.

 

It was a happily ever after scenario.

 

It seemed that way as they held the celebration feast, honoring Arthur’s win, and after he had some sort of talk with Morgana had headed to Merlin’s way and indirectly apologized, giving her her job back. She was keen on turning him down, but knew she couldn’t. Not with Uther anyway. Besides, the job was growing on her and she was actually starting to sort of like it and enjoy Arthur’s presence.

 

But it was after the feast that things had gone downhill. At the end of it, Uther had sent her a look and she knew what that meant. The feast over, she headed to his rooms and waited for him to start talking.

 

“You disobeyed me.”

 

She winced, “I’m sorry, Uther.”

 

“I deliberately told you not to do something and you went ahead and did it anyway. Sometimes I wonder if you really are as bright as I had thought you were!” he turned around and glared at her full force, making her turn her head slightly in shame, though her face looked resentful.

 

“I couldn’t let a man die,” she muttered.

 

“And he did anyway,” he said coldly.

 

She had nothing to say to that.

 

“I am your King, you foolish girl. No matter how invaluable you are or how familiar or any allowances I give you, does not mean you may disobey me whenever you feel like it,” he sneered.

 

She still kept silent.

 

“You must be punished,” he murmured, softening slightly. “The stocks is nothing serious for you, and is more suited to your idiotic façade. No, something more serious and grave must be done to punish you.”

 

He observed her and still she kept her mouth closed, and her eyes shamefully to the floor.

 

“You will swear an oath not to use magic for an entire week, and do everything from your chores and errands manually. Am I clear?”

 

She sucked in a harsh breath, shoulders tensing. “And what if I need it to protect Arthur?”

 

“Then add that to the oath.”

 

She swallowed slowly but nodded. “I swear on my magic, let it be binding, that I will not use it for an entire week, unless I require its use in protecting or helping Arthur Pendragon. So shall I swear by the roots of Gaia, lest I face the consequences as determined by Uther Pendragon.”

 

“Good. Now don’t disobey me again.”

 

“And what if there will come a time where I may have to?” she asked bitterly.

 

“Then be prepared to not be able to use magic for another indefinite time.”

 

She nodded curtly and left without another word.

 

Uther had essentially cut off that which gave her life and reason of being.

 

It was the worse punishment that he could have ever given her.