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The cold winter breeze chilled his bones as he went deeper into the forest. Now that the young prince had fulfilled all his duties and attended his classes he was free to wander in the woods and hunt only with a dog by his side. Outings like this were the best part of his day, no annoying nobles nor a father to impress, just Arthur and Fig.
Fig was a gift from his father, since he turned thirteen springs, and he wanted to show he was capable of training his new companion. Maybe he could impress his father with this! He highly doubt it though, his father wasn't one for complements, and he wasn't going to be impressed by simple dog training, but Arthur hoped for it anyway.
A little bit of hope wasn't bad after all.
The prince whistled loudly, the sound cutting through the forest, as he searched around for his companion. He got too lost in thoughts and now Fig was nowhere to be seen. The sun was hours away from setting, but his father wanted him there early as they had some noble visitors to tend to. He hated visiting nobles as much as his poetry classes, always with the high expectations and the snarky comments he was supposed to ignores as ‘It isn't proper for a prince to react hastily’ and ‘he needed to get his act together and not restore to violence as a first option’ or whatever. Apparently hitting the heir of a neighboring kingdom for talking ill of Morgana for using a sword wasn't ‘the right thing to do’, so he had to apologize to the arsehole. Morgana did had her revenge after beating that kid in a tournament, though, so it was worth it.
A loud bark brought him back to reality. Fig was running around a hole, most likely a pitfall trap some hunter put in hopes for an animal to fall into it. He've heard this year's winter was a tough one for the townsfolk.
“Come on, Fig” He whistled again “Father wants me home before the sun goes down ”
His dog didn't listen a thing. She kept running around the trap and barking to something inside, maybe a rabbit or a deer.
“Come on now” The prince got near the border to see just what had Fig so distracted “I dont have time for thi-”
Arthur froze.
There was an unconscious boy at the bottom of the hole. He was his age, maybe younger, but as pale as the snow around him and thinner than a stick. His lips were purple because of the cold weather, and his thin clothes didn't helped with his situation. His hair was the blackest black he'd ever seen in his life, giving him some ethereal look while covered in snow. That color made him think about ravens.
Arthur snapped the moment he saw the boy gaining consciousness, body trembling as he started to feel the cold floor beneath him. The prince quickly searched for something to gelp the boy out.
“Are you ok?!” The prince keept searching for a branch or anything that could help.
“I'm ob-b-bviously o-ok!” they boy was trembling all over, but it didn't stopped him from shouting sarcastically “I was ju-just rest-ting in this damn hole!”
Arthur couldn't help but roll his eyes. The boy was as pale as a ghost and still had the energy to talk like that.
Finally, Arthur restored to use his belt, as there was no other thing around to help the boy. It was another gift he recieved on his birth-date, Leon used his savings to buy it for him and he couldn't be more grateful. He had to get his friend something nice for his birthday too.
“Here!” The prince kneeled and threw the belt onto the hole, holding it by one end “Can you reach it?”
The misterous boy tried to stand up, only to stumble and fall. It seemed that his left leg was injured by the fall. The boy tried to stad up again, desperation filling his body, but it was worthless.
“F-f-fucking g-great” The boy was loosing his patient and kept mumbling curses as he tryed to stand once more, but this time supporting himself on the dirt walls aroud him “I'm g-going to be trapped here for f-fucking eve- ”
“Can't you shut up?!” Arthur couldn't think with Fig barking like crazy and the boy cursing his arse out like that, such ugly words for a pretty boy like him. “I can't think!”
“Oh so-sorry, your pratness” the boy attempted to bow mockingly, but almost fell again. Arthur smirked “I'll just be here freezing my arse off while you think!”
Arthur was considering leaving the boy right there if he didn't shut the hell up, but he knew he couldn't live with that guilt.
“I have an idea!” Arthur layed down, getting as close to the edge as he could without falling “Try grabbing it now!”
It wasn't much of a difference but it was enough for the boy to grab the end of the belt. Now all he needed to do was pull the scrawny boy out. I wasn't difficult or was it?
“I got it!” the boy beamed, his freedom closer by every second, but then Arthur began to slip over the edge “Don’t f-fucking fall!”
“I'm trying!” Arthur tried to search for something to hold to with his free hand, but only found snow, until he miraculously grabbed a root form a nearby tree and started to pull the boy out with the help of his dog. If he had been looking towards the boy he would have seen his eyes shine with a golden gleam.
“We did it!” Arthur celebrated his victory, finding it odd to not hear a thing from the stranger, not even complaining “Raven boy?”
The prince rolled over to find him shaking uncontrollably and Fig nudging the boy's face with her snout. He didn't looked that bad when he was cursing at every turn, but now that he was out of the trap and had no adrenaline left, he looked on the brink of death.
“Shit”Arthur quickly stripped the boy off his soaked clothes and wrapped him on his winter coat. It was thicker than the rags the boy was wearing “Can you hear me, Raven boy?”
“Merl-Merlin” His words came out as a faint whisper that was drowned out by the breeze “My name is Me-Merlin”
“That's a good name, Me-Merlin” The prince couldn't help but make fun of Merlin. The boy gave him an annoyed look, but then laughed soundly. It was a good sight.
“Prat” Arthur's face just made the Raven boy laugh even more “What's wi-witth that face?”
“You can't talk to me like that!” To say Arthur was scandalized was an understatement.
“Why not? I'm only say-saying the truth!” Merlin gave Arthur a playful look “Prat”
The prince was shocked for a moment while processing the boys words. No one ever dared to say anything like that to him. He’ve heard some people talk about Morgana behind her back or when some kids fought between eachother near him, but they never said anything of the sort to his face. It was refreshing to have someone treating him so lightly.
“Heavens to Blond boy!” Merlin waved a hand in front of his face “A-are you g-g-going to think all day till I fr-freeze to death?”
“Right” Arthur standed up and offered his hand to Merlin “Where do you live? I can help you get there”
“Well, I c-can't really walk right n-now” Merlin pointed to his leg, making Arthur feel dumb. He had forgotten about the leg “I live n-near a lake straight a-ahead, but I don't really now how m-m-much time I walked so it might take a while. Also, grab my c-clothes”
“Why?” All Arthur saw was some rags that didn't fitted with the weather at all.
“I don't know about y-you, but I don't have much to sp-p-pare, and they're the thickest clothes I own”
Arthur was shocked by this. He knew commoners didn't had as much as him or other nobles, but this clothes were in a precautions state, even for a less cold weather. He really wondered how Merlin survived for so long with this cold weather, he could feel his bones chill even with his coat on and now Merlin had it.
Without much to say, he picked Merlins clothes and put them on his bag. Arthur kneeled in front of Merlin to give him a piggy ride, and off they went.
The prince didn't really cared about the delay, cold weather and all. He'll find an excuse to tell his father and maybe bear with some extra poetry lessons as punishment, but at least he did something good and that had to count to something , even if his father would have said to leave the boy behind. He wasn't his father, as much as he wanted to be like him.
“You never t-told me your name”Merlin broke their silence, fighting to keep his consciousness “We need to start talking or I fear I might n-not wake up again”
Merlin tried to make it sound as a joke, but his fear was evident, so he complied.
“I'm Arth-” The prince stopped before completing his sentence. Did he really wanted to reveal his identity to the boy? He already knew he might have guessed he was a noble, with the coat and all, but would he change his attitude of he knew he was the prince of Camelot? He didn't wanted to risk it. “Arthi! My name is Arthi”
“I like it” Arthur could feel Merlin's hot breath on his ear “It s-sounds kinda dumb, it suits you”
“Than-Hey!” Merlin laughed at this.
“Prat”
“Have some respect!” Arthur was slightly annoyed by his attitude, then again, he was the only one who talked to him like that, apart from Morgana of course “I just saved you!”
“Mind you, I could've gotten out without your help”
“Oh yes, cause your unconscious ass was getting you out of there” Arthur knew what the boy was doing, and he was falling right into it “You know I'm a noble right?”
“I figured that much” Merlin shrugged “you're still a p-prat to me”
“That's it!” Arthur leaned playfully, giving the illusion that he was going to drop him “I'm leaving you here!”
“No! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! ” Merlin clung to Arthur as tightly as he could . His next words came as a whisper and Arhtur feared that if he had breathed loud enough he might have no heard it “Please don't leave me here”
They remain silent for a while, Merlin for fear of being left in the middle of the forest and Arthur for the guilt of having scared Merlin like that. It seemed Merlin was scared, of what? Arthur wasn't sure, but he needed to fix this. His first real friend and he already fucked it up.
“You know I was joking, right?” Arthur finally broke the silence, missing his companion’s constant banter. Fig growled at him, like she sensed that Arthur made something bad to Merlin “I'm not leaving you in the middle of nowhere, you know that right?”
Merlin remained silent for a little while as Arthur carried him, each second more unbearable then the other.
“Sometimes it's d-difficult to tell with nobles” Merlin's gaze was fixed on the ground and his eyes looked sad, as if he was reliving an unpleasant memory. “I d-don't really want to talk about it”
He probably sensed Arthur's curiosity.
The prince noticed that Merlin's shaking got worse, so he didn't pushed the matter any further. Instead, he tried to change the subject to cheer his new friend up and, when he notices how merlin was glancing at Fig, he knew just what to talk about.
“Do you want yo know why I named her Fig?”
“Sure” Merlin wasn't as loud as he was before, but at least he was talking.
“My friend Morgana is kind of obsessed with Figs, she loves them” Merlin looked bored but he still continued the story “But they're not so common around Camelot, so father forbids her to eat them all at once. And she's the most stubborn preson I know, so she's always going against him.”
Merlin was paying more attention after he said stubborn. How not surprising.
“So, one day, Morgana asked me to distract the kitchen staff so she could get her figs and some pastries for me and I obviously said yes. We were like nine and i have the worst sweet tooth you've ever seen” Merlin snorted at this, finally relaxing his body and leaning into Arthur's back. The prince though this felt really nice “We got our food and sneaked out to the stables so no one could see us, and there's also were we keep our dogs so-”
“Dogs?” If it were anyone else Arthur would have yelled at them for interrupting him, but Merlin seemed so happy and the didn't had the heart to.
“They're Figs siblings. I'll bring some of them along when we next meet” Both boys were surprised with the mention of meeting again “Anyway, we set our bounty on the floor, but someone entered so we got distracted for just a second, and it was enough for Fig and her sister to eat Gana’s figs and my cinnamon buns!”
Merlin's laugh filled the princes ears as he finishes his story. It may have been the best sound ge had ever heard.
“Don't tell me you called the the dog Bun or something like that”
“Cinnamon, actually” He had suggested the name Bun but, apparently, it was dumb “It was Gana’s idea”
Merlin keep laughing for a while, until they could see a frozen lake in the distance and a small house next to it. The sun was still up, but he was running out of time. Still, he didn't cared about it one bit as he felt Merlin's cold body against his back, determined to get him home safe. His father's wrath was aproblem for future Arthur
They kept chatting about everything and nothing until one question scratched Arthur's mind
“Why are you living so deep into the forest?” He knew that some people didn't lived within a citadel, but never this far away into the woods “Isn't it dangerous?”
Merlin tensed up again and Arthur considered to change the subject. He didn't wanted to make Merlin uncomfortable but, before he could, Merlin started talking.
“I was born in Elador and lets just say mother and I weren't really welcomed there”
“And your father?” The raven hugged Arthur tightly, silently begging him to just let it go “Never mind that, we're almost there”
As they approached the house a woman run towards them screaming Merlin's name.
“Merlin! Where have you been?!” The woman—Merlin's mother, he assumed— quickly checked his son up and down, her eyes landing on the prince “And who is this young man?”
“I'm Arthi, ma'am” Arthur bowed lightly at her “I found Merlin down a hunter's trap and brought him here”
“Dear heavens! Come inside dears, you must be freezing!”
Hunith —Arthur learned—quickly set up the fire and wrapped the boys with all the coats and sheets in the house, which weren't much but it was enough to warmn them up, while the boy's filled her up with the details.
“Thank you for saving Merlin, my lord” It felt weird to be called that way. Even Merlin made a face.
“Why are you calling hin that? It's weird- Ow!” Hunith was fixing Merlins leg and decided to be a little rough after what he said “What was that about?!”
“Do you want me to remind you why we left again, my child?” Hunith sounded calm, but her ayes were showing daggers at Merlin. So their moving had to do with Merlin pissing off a noble…It didn't really surprised him. The woman then turned to Arthur “I apologise if my foolish son caused any trouble”
“He's quite bold, I'm not going to lie” Merlin mouthed ‘Traitor’ at him, as his mother kept hurting him by ‘accident’. This almost made Arthur lose his good boy facade. He just wanted to laugh at Merlin “And there's no need to call me that way, just Arthi is fine”
“Isn't it a bit to late to be outside, dear Arthi?” Hunith looked at him with a raised eyebrow as he watched how it was time to get home. Shit.
“It's really being a pleasure, Miss Hunith” Arthur grabbed her hand and kissed it, nearly making Merlin vomit.
His mother reprimanded him.
“Learn something from him Merlin! He's such a gentleman!”
“More like an idio-” Merlin shut himself before finishing, Hunith’s eyes piercing as they dared him to finish that sentence “Nothing. Here's your coat by the way”
Arthur shaked his head
“Keep it, you need it more than I do” he could always ask for a new coat, it was an old one and he didn't really liked blue that much. It did had a beautiful dragon embroidery in gold thread, so he had to come up with a good enough excuse “I insist”
“Nonsense!” Hunith grabed a coat, Merlin's he assumed, and gave it to him “At least take this. It's not much and it's still dirty, but it's all i have to offer since I can't have you walking back home without protection!”
The three of them said their goodbyes and Hunith wrapped him in a warm hug. Next was Merlin.
“Thank you again, prat” That nickname really didn't stick to him, but he wasn't going to say anything.
He started to walk towards Camelot but turned arroud to ask one more question.
“Can I see you again?” Merlin was his first real friend apart from Morgana and he didn't want to lose him.
“it's dangerous to bring attention to our house, being this far from a citadel” Hunith’s eyes looked sad as she watched the boy's faces frown in disappointment.
“But maybe we can see eachother while I'm out looking for herbs!”
Both kids eyed Hunith with hope.
“Maybe, but only if you don't go to far away”