Chapter Text
No POV:
Leon and Merlin are walking through the woods together. Merlin had to go get herbs for Gaius, and Leon came along just because he had nothing to do. The two of them often hung out in the woods together. It was only when Leon got a break though, since Merlin always seemed to have something going on in his schedule. The two of them shifted between silence, talking about everything happening, and Merlin telling Leon about each type of herb they’re getting and why. Sometimes he disguised some of his breaks as needed herb collecting to make it seem like he was doing something. Because while he was doing something important, collecting herbs that aren’t urgent was usually soothing to Merlin because he gets to be in the woods. Occasionally he lets some magic out to make the plants feel more alive and healthy. It was one of things he allowed himself while still continuing to focus on work and his destiny.
But this time Merlin did actually need to collect herbs for Gaius as ordered to do so by him. Luckily, they weren’t urgent unless they took longer than a day to get them. Which of course wouldn’t happen because the herbs Gaius needs are quite common and easy to find. Them being common means that they’re used in a lot more things though, and that’s why Merlin needs to collect some right now.
As Merlin is talking about a mushroom in his hands, someone walks up to them. The two of them stop talking and turn to this mysterious person. It was a woman, around the same age as the two men, with auburn hair and light brown eyes. She was wearing a beautiful dark green dress with a black cloak over it. Her hood was down though, and she seemed harmless, so the two men were not on edge.
“Excuse me sirs, could you happen to point me to the main path?” She questions in a sweet tone. “
Leon, being the knight, points her towards the path and offers to help her get back to it. She declines this offer and instead just walks closer to them. The duo figured she just wanted to show her appreciation by offering them something or maybe giving Leon and pat on the arm. But then she suddenly puts a hand onto each of their faces. Before either of them could properly react, she says an incantation and they’re out like a light.
Leon awakes with a groan. He sets a hand onto his head and sits up. Looking around in confusion, he realizes he and Merlin are in some sort of cellar. It was dark and damp. Leon can feel moss under his hand that’s keeping him upright. Must be an old place, likely abandoned, Leon thinks. He thinks back to the things that could have led to this, sighing as he realizes the woman that walked up to them wasn’t actually lost. At least, if she was, she just needed to know the way back so she could take them easier. Leon shakes his head and tries to focus on the present instead. They need to figure out how to get out of here before they dwell on what happened to get to this.
Shifting his focus onto Merlin, he gets up and walks over to him. Merlin hadn’t woken up yet from the looks of it. Unless he purposely put himself in an uncomfortable position on the floor. Leon chuckles at the thought of Merlin doing that. Then he crouches down next to him and shakes his shoulder gently. “Merlin, wake up.” Leon says. Luckily, it seems Merlin wasn’t too deep in his slumber, because he wakes up just after a few moments of Leon shaking his shoulder and calling his name.
Merlin sits up and looks at Leon in confusion, “What happened? Where are we?”
“Some sort of cellar. The woman we encountered was a sorcerer.” Leon replies. Merlin takes a moment to process the information, his brain still trying to wake up fully, but then nods his head. He brings a hand to the back of his head and grimaces as he feels a small bump. It’s likely the woman didn’t bother to catch them as they fell. Then again, she did just kidnap them, so Merlin probably shouldn’t expect her to do that.
“Has anyone come by yet?” Merlin asks as he looks around the room to see what was in the cell. There really wasn’t anything in there. Nothing that resembles a bed or cot anywhere, no food, no water, and no bucket or anything they could use as a toilet. It didn’t really resemble a cell. It was more like an empty, square room with bars on one wall. Maybe everything in it got removed or was just never built? Or maybe Merlin is just thinking too hard about it. (Why am I spending so much time on a room oml.)
Leon shakes his head and responds to Merlin’s question with, “Not since I woke up. It also doesn’t seem like anyone’s been around before that either.” They are probably waiting until we wake up, Merlin thinks. With the help of Leon’s hand on Merlin’s bicep, he stands up. He’s starting to feel slightly light headed from hitting his head while they were getting kidnapped, but he’s sure that’ll go away soon. And he doesn’t think he has a concussion. It’s unlikely Leon has a concussion either because he woke up before Merlin did and was able to walk and respond clearly.
Suddenly, the door opens and someone who seems to be a random bandit walks in. “She wants to see you.” He says, walking up to Merlin and grabbing his bicep roughly. Merlin winces at the initial pain, but quickly gets used to it. Leon walks over to the and forces the bandit’s hand off of Merlin’s arm. But before he could do anything else, he’s thrown into the wall by an invisible force. Merlin glances over at the door and sees the same woman who kidnapped them walk in with an annoyed look on her face. She doesn’t say anything, letting the bandit grab Merlin again and the three of them leave Leon alone in the cell. Merlin notices another bandit walking towards them and then standing at the door. He’s probably the guard since they woke up, Merlin thinks. But the three of them continue walking away and into a separate room far away from the cells.
Merlin recognizes the room to be a throne room. He’s been in them enough to see what it is. Or well, was. The room has cracks in the walls and light coming in from the broken ceiling. It was definitely a broken and abandoned castle. The people who kidnapped them probably inhabited it years after it became abandoned. There’s another woman sitting on the throne, which was somehow not broken despite the ones next to it being demolished. She isn’t anyone Merlin recognizes. Before he could say anything, he’s forced onto his knees and into a bow by the bandit. He sends a glare at the man holding him, but he doesn’t react to it.
The sorcerer that kidnapped them walks up to the woman who is sitting on the throne, standing next to her. She was probably a servant or someone close to the woman on the throne.
“Hello, Emrys.” The woman on the throne spoke. Her voice was cold and smooth. She wasn’t too much older than anyone else in the room, or younger if Merlin had to guess. Her dark brown hair is put into an intricate updo. She’s wearing a satin green dress, around the same color of grass when it’s healthy. Despite the distance between the two of them, Merlin can see that her eyes are also the color green. She would’ve looked like a noble if they weren’t in an abandoned castle. “My name is Iris, and-” Merlin tunes her out after she says her name. He’s already heard hundreds of people monologue about killing Arthur, and how he failed his duty as Emrys to all magic folk, and blah blah blah.
But as Iris gets up from the throne, he tunes her back in. But she’s no longer speaking now. Merlin mentally bashes himself for tuning her out. He really needs to stop doing that.
Iris grabs Merlin’s face roughly, forcing his mouth open and then forcing a potion down his throat. Merlin coughs and sputters the thick liquid, but she makes sure he doesn’t spit any of it out. She smiles down at Merlin and lets go of him once she knows he’s swallowed all of the potion. Merlin takes a few deep breaths. He doesn’t feel anything immediately wrong with him, but potions usually take longer than spells do.
“Take him back.” Iris says, motioning for the bandit to take him away. The bandit follows her order without another second, hoisting Merlin up and dragging him back to the cells. The other bandit Merlin saw earlier is still standing at the door. They honestly looked like brothers to Merlin. Both of them had dirty blonde hair, with brown eyes, and freckles on their cheeks. They also had a matching scar on their right arms. Merlin isn’t sure of the significance or reason of the scar, but he’s sure there’s some story to it. All scars have a story. Even if they’re forgotten, or silly. It’s what makes a person themselves.
Merlin is thrown into the cell without another care, and the door slams shut behind him. Leon gets up from where he is sitting and comes over to him with a worried look on his face. “What happened? Are you alright?” Leon questions.
Merlin nods his head, “Yeah. We've been kidnapped by someone named Iris, she wants to kill Arthur.” Leon’s face hardens as he hears Merlin’s reply. Obviously Arthur was king and people would want to kill him for many different reasons, but he still took every threat to his king very seriously. But there was nothing he could do about it right now. All he could do was make a plan to escape, and try his best to keep Merlin out of harm. Then again, he failed the latter earlier. Not much he can do against a sorcerer though. The good thing is that Merlin doesn’t seem injured in any way.
But Leon knows more than to just expect their kidnapper to take Merlin out to talk about their plans, so he decides to keep a close eye on him.