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The first time Arthur heard the thunder, he was five and alone in his chambers.
The wind was unforgiving as it lashed across the windows of Camelot's castle, making the glass windows shake at the hinges. When King Uther and his advisors had forecast the storm, they did not realize the wind would be this strong. But it was still better than having half the kingdom flooded—broken roofs are easier to fix.
Inside one of the spacious chambers, Prince Arthur pressed his palms even harder against his ears. The windows along the walls, especially the ones near his bed, were vibrating so much he was scared that they'd shatter.
He tried, but no matter what he did, with all the noise around, sleep evaded him.
He wasn't sure what time of day it was, as the sky had been dark since he woke earlier in the day, and became even darker just after lunch with the King—and then the storm had arrived.
He was quite sure that it was already late as it had been a while since he ate the dinner brought to him by a servant. And no servant had come in to see him again after they were done getting him ready for bed. They must be asleep now—or doing whatever it is that servants do when the wind seems to want to take down a whole castle.
Without removing his hands from his ears, Arthur tried to get out of the blankets and furs that enveloped him. He had hoped that going under those heavy covers would lessen the noises, but it had only made him hot—making it harder for him to get some sleep.
He tried to sit up on his large bed, which looked enormous against his small frame, and struggled a bit. Once he was up, he surveyed his chambers, looking for something else to distract himself with. And then his eyes went to the shaking windows. As if on cue, a loud crack sliced through the air, followed by a flash of bright light which lit almost the entire room.
Startled, Arthur let out a loud, terrified yelp. It was not very princely, the King would be disappointed. But it didn't matter—no one came to check on him.
Strange. The guards would've wondered what happened.
His eyes flicked towards the doors to his chambers, and then back to the shaking windows.
What was that? Where did that sound come from? And what was that light?
CRACK
Arthur almost tripped as he tried to get off the bed and ran for the doors.
Perhaps his shout earlier was timed with the loud sound and the guards outside his door didn't hear. He wanted to ask them what it was, to make sure that everything was okay.
Wrenching the door open—and looking immediately outside, Arthur was disappointed to see no one.
CRACK
Arthur jolted at the sound and closed his eyes as the whole hallway lit up briefly.
CRASH
Arthur opened his eyes and swivelled his head to the sound.
ba-bump ba-bump ba-bump
For a moment, all he could hear was his heavy breathing and the thudding in his chest. And then—
—all the torches went out.
Arthur froze and felt his hairs stand up. He noticed that one of the windows had shattered letting in the harsh wind and light rain.
CRACK
Arthur retreated back to the safety of his chambers and ran for the bed. He went right under the mountain of blankets and furs and curled in on himself.
CRACK
He brought his palms against his ears and shut his eyes tightly.
It'll go away, it'll go away, it'll go away , he kept chanting to himself.
It was a long time before the sounds disappeared for good and sleep came to him.
*
CRACK
King Arthur woke at the sound.
He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and tried to sit up, peering at the window. Balancing on one elbow, he observed that the sky was starting to darken.
CRACK
It looked like the storm was almost at Camelot. It was just in time, too—just as Merlin said.
They held a council meeting a week prior, as his Court Sorcerer forecasted that a storm would come upon Camelot. They immediately went to work and gathered supplies for the people, while Merlin and other sorcerers went to strengthen the homes and buildings throughout the city. They expected a heavy downpour so spellworks were also placed to redirect the rainwater and make sure that the lower town was not flooded.
They were ready for it.
Gently, Arthur felt a warm hand caressing his sides.
"Are you worried?" came a deep voice, thick with sleep.
"No, I believe we did everything necessary," he replied.
He finally took his eyes off the darkening sky and laid back down. He turned to look at Merlin and found blue eyes already staring at him.
CRACK
"Ugh, that's so loud," Merlin whined. Then his eyes burned gold for a moment.
"What did you do?" Arthur asked as he put his arms around his warlock and pulled him close against his chest. Merlin went readily and put his own arms around Arthur.
"Blocked out the noise," Merlin mumbled, eyes closed and ready to go back to sleep.
Arthur hummed and closed his eyes. Sleep came easily as the candles started burning low and all he could hear was Merlin's gentle breathing and sweet peaceful silence.
Outside, the thunder cracked and rain started to spatter against the ground.
