Author's Note

This is a story written as a script about 2 years ago, set between S3 and S4 – I had a slight problem when S4 actually started, as it portrayed Uther almost completely incapacitated post 3.13 – which he's not in this story. So, I'm going to change this version slightly, putting it post 3.10 (Queen of Hearts) and pre-3.12 (The Coming of Arthur, part 1). I don't know if anyone's posted a storyline like this before – however, I will now freely admit to a small piece of plagiarism! On the BBC website, there is an area for Script writers, and on it is posted two Merlin scripts, including Howard Overman's awesome episode 4.3 – The Wicked Day. It included a scene that was never filmed, which in my opinion was a tragedy, as I thought it was one of the funniest scenes of the whole series – involving Merlin accusing Arthur of looking like a puppy dog (after seeing Gwen) and Arthur retaliating in a very un-puppy like fashion. The ear clipping incident in chapter one below is inspired by that scene!

Chapter One

Merlin sat staring into space, the piece of Arthur's armour that he was supposed to be polishing in one hand and the cloth with which he was meant to be accomplishing that task in the other. Both hands were motionless, as if frozen in time, as Merlin's imagination conjured up visions of dragons, of magic and of great deeds being done. But it was the deed NOT being done that put a scowl on Arthur's face as he walked into his chambers at that precise moment. He was already in none too good a mood after a training session that had been particularly trying, and the scene that greeted him did nothing to improve his general frame of mind.

"MERLIN! What are you doing? …..No, on second thoughts, don't answer that question because I can answer it perfectly well for myself…." - although he paused before doing so in order to give himself time to slam his sword and scabbard pointedly down on the table in front of his servant , as he took in the full extent of unpolished armour on the table. "…you're wasting time!"

Merlin lowered his hands – and their contents - and cocked his head to one side as he looked back at Arthur. "Ah, well that's where you're wrong, sire."

Arthur stopped moving around, deliberately folded his arms, and said, with an expression of extreme scepticism on his face: "Let's hear it then."

"What I was actually doing was pausing for a moment to think about the prince's extreme generosity towards his servant in giving him so much time off to rest and recuperate between the never-ending list of tasks that he is required to do for him (often without any thanks whatsoever) from sunrise to sunset and all the hours between them and quite often all the hours outside…."

Arthur decided, however, that he had heard enough of his servant's thinly veiled dig at him and cut in before he had a chance to complete his sentence: "You do know what they say about sarcasm, don't you, Merlin – about it being the lowest form of wit?"

Merlin looked down and threw himself into some vigorous polishing as he muttered to himself (although loud enough for Arthur to hear), "It has to be aimed low so that it won't go over a certain someone's head….. Ow!"

The clip round the ear was nothing less than Merlin would have expected under the circumstances.

"That was for that last comment….." Arthur clipped him round the ear again.

"Ow!"

"….. and that was for not getting your jobs done."

"Ow!" The third clip made Merlin look up with an expression of indignation on his face, "What was that for?!"

Arthur gave his servant a smug smile, "That was for what you said this morning after breakfast."

Merlin opened his mouth to reply but was once again taken by surprise, this time by a clip to his other ear.

"OW!"

"And before you ask, that was for what you were about to say!"

Merlin decided for the sake of his ears to keep his mouth firmly shut this time and be content with thinking dark thoughts instead.

Arthur busied himself around the room as he continued speaking, "And now, Merlin, I need you to get my horse ready immediately."

"Where are we going?"

" I am going to arrest a women in one of the villages who has been accused of being a witch. You are going to be staying here polishing my armour, which clearly you've barely started on!"

Merlin's annoyance with Arthur was quickly put to one side, as fears for his friend's safety surfaced in the young warlock's mind. "I should be going with you."

Arthur replied in a firm tone that made it clear that he wasn't going to change his decision: "Merlin, I need you to get my armour ready for the knighting ceremony tonight, and if you had done your jobs quicker, instead of spending your time day-dreaming, you would be coming with me on my nice little trip to the country …." Arthur paused and gestured with his hand towards the dull pieces of metal that were strewn around the table. "… but you haven't… and so you won't!"

Merlin wasn't ready to give up, however, and countered: "I can do it later! What if this woman uses magic against you?"

"Later I might have something else for you to do! And besides, how is having you there exactly going to help if she is a witch and does use magic?"

Merlin opened his mouth to speak, but in the absence of anything he could sensibly or safely say, he shut it again.

Arthur made eye contact with his servant for a few seconds: "Precisely!"

"Arthur, you need to be careful."

The serious tone in Merlin's voice only had the effect of exasperating the prince further however.

"Merlin – I appreciate your kind concern for my well-being but I do not appreciate your annoying inability to accept that the heir to the throne of Camelot can carry out a simple task for himself! In fact, it is extremely IRRITATING! I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself without you."

Merlin snorting loudly did nothing to help Arthur's mood.

"And what, pray tell, is that supposed to mean?"

Despite the recent ear-clipping bout, Merlin's voice was again heavy with sarcasm as he spoke, "Oh yes, you can take care of yourself perfectly well! After all, you have spent all of your life doing your own cooking, dressing yourself, sorting out your armour, clearing up the mess you make, cleaning your boots…."

Merlin stopped abruptly when he found Arthur's face perilously close to his own. "Merlin – what have I told you about trying to be clever?"

"That… it's another of my endearing qualities that you greatly appreciate?"

"I believe my exact words were: such cleverness will be appreciated even more by my horses as you're mucking them out. And speaking of horses, get your bony little arse off that seat and come and do what you've just been asked to do."

And with that, Arthur marched out of the door with Merlin following him, neither of them in anything approaching a pleasant mood.

~~~ o ~~~

The village of Aldur was not a large one. Like many of the places where the peasant farmers in the kingdom lived, it consisted of not much more than a dozen houses, with a few other small sheds dotted between them, and a communal barn standing on the edge of the small settlement. Chickens scurried across the dirt that separated the small, thatched dwellings and a few children played simple games as the adults in the village busied themselves with the tasks that helped them eke out a fairly meagre living. As was the case with other villages, there was also an old pump that supplied the villagers with vital water standing in the centre - and that was where Arthur and the half a dozen knights that accompanied him found the old and haggard woman that they were searching for. As they approached her from behind, she paused for a moment, with one hand on the pump and the other holding a bucket which was already half-full with water. She sensed they were there before she heard them, and slowly put the bucket down, turning to face them as they drew near.

Arthur stopped not more than four paces from her, unrolled the scroll of parchment that he was carrying, and prepared himself to read out the charges that had been brought against her. The other villagers who were nearby had already stopped what they were doing, and an uneasy silence fell as they waited for the prince to speak.

"Ysabel of Aldur, according to the laws of Camelot you are now under arrest on suspicion of performing acts of witchcraft, with the aid of spells, charms and incantations. You will be escorted immediately to Camelot where you will stand trial for these crimes and, if found guilty, will face the just penalties accorded by the law of the land and its sovereign, Uther Pendragon."

When the witch responded, her voice was full of contempt: "And that coward Uther sends his son to do his dirty and hateful work that stains this land with so much blood!"

Arthur lifted his gaze from the words on the parchment, and fixed her with a stern expression: "You will not speak of my father in that way….."

"Your father deserves every bit of the contempt I have for him!" Her words were spat out with anger and feeling. "And you, young prince - you blindly carry out his twisted orders knowing full well the fate that awaits those whom you arrest!"

Arthur replied with a low voice that didn't seek to disguise the threat in it: "You will hold your tongue, woman…."

But his words did nothing to dissuade the witch from speaking further, and she shook her head as she did so: "You are blind, so blind."

Arthur rolled up the scroll. "You will come with me"

"You are wrong, Arthur Pendragon. My fate is already sealed, and so is yours. Know this - my face will be the last face that you will ever see!"

Arthur moved to step forward to take hold of her, but before he had even taken his first pace, her arm was raised towards him and she began to utter her words of magic. Leon already had his crossbow ready, but before the arrow that would kill her had even left his bow, her incantation was complete, and Arthur was thrown backwards to the ground and lay there motionless.

~~~ o ~~~

When Arthur finally came around, he found himself lying on his back, but his head hurt so badly that he didn't even want to move or to open his eyes at first. He was vaguely aware of voices that sounded muffled and distant to begin with, and for several moments he couldn't quite think where he was or what had happened. He groaned slightly, and began to raise himself up onto his left elbow, but found himself in a darkness that was so intense that he couldn't see a single thing, no matter how hard he strained his eyes. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice that sounded close by: "Arthur!" and he could hear the relief in Leon's voice. But he also heard the concern as the knight then added, "Are you alright?"

Arthur raised his right hand to his head, as if to try to alleviate the intense pain he was feeling there, "I've felt better." He peered into the darkness: "Where are you, Leon?"

"Right here, my lord." Arthur felt the knight's hand on his shoulder, but the tone of slight confusion in Leon's voice suddenly struck a cold fear into Arthur's heart. He paused for a moment, and then with a growing panic slowly asked the question the answer to which he was dreading: "Why is it pitch black?"

There was another pause, and then Arthur heard Leon's voice answering, "It isn't, my lord. It's broad daylight."