He walked through the mighty city of Camelot's courtyard, the sun shone brightly but he still couldn't get over the shock. How could everyone be acting so normal when not even an hour ago a man's head rolled across Camelot's courtyard by order of King Uther Pendragon. Merlin ran his hand through his inky black hair and took in a shaky breath. It was unnerving, now, to be in this city; to be the ward of the court physician; to be born with the gift of magic. The young man now had secrets, Dangerous Secrets.<br/><br/>Merlin made his way through the bustling crowd towards the open air. He stopped to calm down and watch the knights of Camelot practice their sparring, but they weren't sparring. There was a young servant boy running back and forth on the practice pitch with a wooden shield nearly half his size.<br/><br/>"Come on! Keep moving!" A young man around Merlin's age was throwing daggers at the shield, using him as a sort of moving target. The boy fell to the ground and the shield rolled to Merlin's feet, the raven-haired male rested his foot on the shield.<br/><br/>"Hey, come on, now. That's enough, you've had your fun. Leave the boy alone, Friend."<br/><br/>The young knight strode forward with an air of arrogance rivaling the King himself, "You don't know me, do you?"<br/><br/>Merlin extended his arm to shake hands, "I'm Merlin."<br/><br/>"So you don't know me then," The Knight's light blond hair was ruffled from his activities, his icy blue eyes piercing Merlin's own.<br/><br/>"You called me friend," He could almost taste the disdain dripping from the blond's words.<br/><br/>"Right, my mistake."<br/><br/>"Yes, it is," there was a glint of something in the man's eyes that seemed out of sync with his actions, though Merlin couldn't quite place it.<br/><br/>"I wouldn't have a friend who was such an ass," Merlin turned away when the Knight spoke again.<br/><br/>"And I one so stupid," The Knight grabbed him by his wrist and twisted it behind his back, trapping him. Merlin tried to turn and see the pompous young man, but couldn't.<br/><br/>"Who do you think you are, the King?"<br/><br/>"No, I'm his son, Arthur," Merlin felt a sharp pain in his legs as his knees buckled to the ground. Before Merlin could stand up he was grabbed the arms and hauled toward the Castle.<br/><br/>--<br/><br/>The Dungeons of Camelot were dark, cold and wet. Merlin sat in his cell with his back against the stone walls. How could he have not recognized that stupid git's cockiness, his arrogant swagger? It was a shame the Prince had such an attitude, he could actually be considered quite beautiful if you could get over the fact that he was a complete ass. But now Merlin was in a cell. Maybe Gaius would realize he was gone and come get him out of this mess. The wizard leaned his head back against the cold grey stone and closed his dark cobalt eyes and thought of the man in the courtyard. He simply couldn't get past the fact that a man who simply was found with magic was now dead because of it. He would have to be careful, very careful, from here on out.<br/><br/>"Merlin, You never cease to amaze me. Not even a full day in Camelot and you're already getting into trouble."<br/><br/>Merlin was jolted out of his thoughts by Gaius' voice; he smiled and shrugged, following Gaius back home.