Love, Faith and Family

Chapter 62

"So, Merlin says that if you tell me where this cup is, you have to kill me," Gwaine said to the prince as they walked.

"He'd have to go through me first," Miriam said slowly and Gwaine smirked at her.

"Easy there, wildfire. Though I appreciate your concern, Arthur might as well tell me because let's be honest. He couldn't kill me if he wanted to."

"Yeah? Try me," Arthur challenged as Miriam's lips turned up a bit at Gwaine's nickname for her.

"I already did, back in the arena. I had you bang to rights, did I not?" Gwaine bragged and Miriam's smile died.

"That was just a game," Arthur retorted as they followed his lead.

"Oh, a game. Right. I won that game, did I not?"

"No, you didn't," Arthur spat as the boys faced each other, Miriam and Merlin glancing at each other in annoyance. "One more minute-"

"One more minute and you both would have been dead. Your plan was a half-baked disaster. And if it wasn't for that fire, we'd all be pushing up daisies, save for my sister who would've been sold into slavery!" Merlin yelled before pushing past both of them.

"He took the words right out of my mouth," Miriam smirked as she tapped both of them on the chest before following Merlin, leaving both men sulking.

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Miriam was walking ahead of Merlin and Arthur, Gwaine by her side as she filled him in on all he'd missed in Camelot. And when she told him of what Uther did to her, suddenly her attitude and distance towards Arthur made sense.

"Mira, I'm so sorry you had to endure that," Gwaine said as she fidgeted with a small twig she'd plucked off a tree.

"I hardly see how it's your fault."

Gwaine held more sympathy for the girl than she'd ever know.

"It isn't but no one deserves that, least of all someone as lovely as you," he said as he squeezed her into a side hug, the girl resting her head on his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"You know when I thought I was going to be banished, I considered riding south to find you?"

Gwaine gasped.

"Well, I'm honoured I was even a prospect. We banishment buddies have to stick together in this cruel world."

"Banishment buddies?" Miriam asked as she looked up at him with a raised brow. "I'm not so sure that's a thing, Gwaine."

"On the contrary, wildfire. It's a secret society that you only know about once you've been banished by a king."

"And how many people are in this secret society?"

"Well," Gwaine began. "Considering that you had your banishment and therefore your membership rescinded, just me."

Miriam laughed, a sound Gwaine was more than glad to hear from his friend's lips.

"I've missed you Gwaine."

"I've missed you too, wildfire," he replied as he kissed her head, and she felt a lot more relaxed than she had in a while.

"If you're going to start calling me wildfire, I'm going to have to come up with a nickname for you."

Gwaine scoffed.

"I'd like to see you try. You fit your nickname. I, however, am so unpredictable that I cannot be summed up in a single word."

"Care to put a wager on that?" Miriam asked with a raised brow and Gwaine grinned.

"I like the way you think, wildfire."

Meanwhile, Arthur was watching them, a little too far behind to hear the conversation but part of him didn't want to.

"Merlin, why is Miriam avoiding me?" Arthur asked.

"She's not avoiding you. She followed you on a dangerous quest, if she were avoiding you, she wouldn't have attempted to rescue us from Jarl."

"Merlin, you know what I'm talking about. Something's not right with her so tell me what it is," he ordered, and Merlin stopped walking as he sighed.

"She's scared," he admitted.

"Miriam, scared? Of what? Me?"

"Of your father."

His entire body slackened.

"What are you talking about?" Arthur asked, voice deadly soft.

"Uther hit her more than once before sentencing her to die. Mira is strong but any person would break under that weight. And it wouldn't take much for him to do it again and she's petrified of that happening. And she can't fight back because he's your father. He means a lot to you, and you mean a lot to her. If she hurts him, it's as if she's hurting you. She's terrified and no one can blame her for it."

Arthur was at a loss for words before Merlin kept going.

"And then you held a sword to the throat of an innocent child to get that cup. The first thing I told you about Mira was that she hates the mistreatment of others. How do you think she felt when she saw the man she loves do the one thing she hates most in the world? And you have the gall to act jealous and ask why she favours Gwaine's company?"

The weight of Merlin's answer was heavy as his servant walked off, leaving Arthur to stew in the consequences of his actions.