Flogging Merlin (Aliyaha)

[em]

Well that was fun. Merlin now felt that if he were to look at another cabbage or tomato again then he would be sick.
He’d spent all day in the stocks having everything under the sun thrown at him – well vegetable wise anyway. That was the ‘few strings’ that Gauis had pulled?! He’d much preferred to stay in the dungeon now. How was he to know that he was about to throw a punch at the Prince of Camelot? A right royal prat if Merlin said so – which he had, to Prince Arthur’s face.

His back ached as the guards unlocked the stocks so as he could be freed. He stretched out and gave a small groan. “Thanks” he said to them and moved his neck from side to side. He was covered. It would take a lot of cleaning to get the smell out too. He didn’t want to walk around smelling of rotten cabbages and tomatoes. Then again he’d been hailed a hero by the handmaiden of Lady Morgana. Gwen. Now that was a meeting to remember – oh well, at least he wasn’t the only one who recognised that Arthur was an idiot.

Merlin began the walk back to the castle – receiving a lot of looks from the passing people of the town. Yes he’d been flogged. Yes he’d tried to punch the prince. He needed to be taught a lesson anyway.
On entering the square he hoped that Gauis had a bowl of water at the ready. He desperately needed a wash! Hopefully he’d be able to give him something for chronic neck and back pain too, and while he was at it - perhaps something for a pain in the arse (I.E -Allowing Prince Prat to be punched by him more freely this time) .

Tagged: Aliyaha
Timeline: Beginning of S1 – The Dragon’s Call
Setting: The Square [/color]

[Aliyaha]

Of all the places for her to work at, Aliyaha thought it was a dream when she was hired on as a servant in the castle of Camelot. She still needed to know the going ons but it wasn’t as if she was new to the servant life. She was born in it and her previous master and mistress were like second parents and she knew how rare that was. Even when she had lost both of her parents at twelve they still kept her around. Until they had to be forced to make cuts because they couldn’t afford any more servants and they were getting old. Unfortunaly Aliyaha was one of the servants who had been cut. She remembered the mistress crying as the master had told her with a grief stricken look on his face. The fifteen year old girl wondered what they were doing right now. She also wondered if she would ever go back if they need her. A part of her would go back in a heartbeat. That was, after all, the home that she had grew up in and learned what she needed to know. She was thankful that she had a wonderful and loving owners and not many servants could say the same thing she was sure of that.

Aliyaha had been keeping her story to herself. She sighed softly to herself as she walked around the city market, in search of something that she wasn’t too sure right now. She enjoyed the city and the many things to see. It almost made her wished that she was born in it but she knew she couldn’t do anything about it now. And besides, she loved her life the way it was. Slowing down past a fruit stand, her ears pricked forward hearing the people gossiping about something that had happened earlier. She shook her head as she continued on, but stopping to look at a cloth that was on display. She ran her hand over it and felt…silk? The blonde haired girl frowned as she continued to run a hand over the cloth. She wanted to learn more about it but movement caught the corner of her eye. Aliyaha snapped her head up and winced as a big burly man glared at her. She took a step back after stammering that the cloth was lovely. He grunted to himself as he looked away and Aliyaha quickly took the chance and ran, not wanting to find out what would have happened if she had stayed there a minute longer.

Well wasn’t this fascinating, she wondered to herself as she quickly made her way back to the castle, purchases in a basket to make dinner for that evening. I always manage to get in trouble no matter where I am. The corners of her lips twitched into a small smile as she smoothed out her pale, blue dress. It was nothing fancy, just something that was suitable for her status. She had long since dreamed of wearing the type of dresses that the noble girls and women wore in the court. That would be just simply lovely now wouldn’t it. She scuttled through the square and bumped into someone. “S-sorry!” Aliyaha stammered as she took a step back.

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[em]

Merlin was preparing himself for the lecture he was obviously going to receive when he returned to the chambers he shared with Gauis. Already the old physician had giving him a small telling off in the dungeons that morning. At least he’d managed to let him go free though – even if Merlin had had to spend the day being pelted with fruit and vegetables.
He knew what Gauis was going to say, and it ran along the lines of “you idiot” and “how could you be so stupid?”. Merlin decided that when Gauis decided to talk to him, he’d just shove his head under the water in the wash bowl.

BOOF!

“S-sorry!”

He hadn’t been looking where he was going and had walked straight into a young girl. She managed to make him take a few steps backwards to stop him from falling to the ground. “Ah…sorry – that was my fault” he admitted, “wasn’t looking where I was going”.

He noticed the basket that she’d been carrying (it must be hers otherwise it wouldn’t been now rolling around concussed on the floor) and it’s contents scattered everywhere.
Merlin crouched down and began to pick them up, putting them back into the basket before getting back up again and handing it to her. “Hopefully no harm done” he smiled, still holding out the basket for her to take.

[Aliyaha]

Aliyaha hesitated a little as she raised her head to look up at him. She managed a small, rather shy smile. “I was rushing back to the castle to get some cooking done…or at least attempted to,” she added as an afterthought. “I’m not that good with cooking.” The young girl felt her cheeks turning a little pink. She had remembered when her mother tried to get her to cook. She hadn’t done to well and the mistress had kindly told her to keep to the chores that she had been doing. The blonde haired girl didn’t mind the cleaning as long as she was kept away from the kitchens when a meal was being prepared. She was disastrous at that. Aliyaha shook her head finding that she was becoming lost in her thoughts again. The girl felt her cheeks growing warm as she slowly took her basket from him. “Thank you,” she told him with a rather grateful smile. Aliyaha found herself staring up at him a few minutes before looking away from him. Oh goodness where was her manners. “My name is Aliyaha. But most people just normally call me Ali.” She introduced herself quickly. Her mother would have a fit if she knew that Aliyaha was starting to forget her manners.

Isabel had raised her well. She was always mindful of her manners. No matter what happened. The young girl shook her head to clear her thoughts. Not to mention bringing her mind to the present. “I usually do the cleaning but one of the cooks wanted to see how well I am in the kitchen,” Aliyaha added after a few minutes of silence. “They would be wanting me out of it sooner rather than later.” There was an odd bright look in her eyes as she looked away from him. She was starting to find that she was becoming more of her old self. The talkative and friendly type of a girl instead of shy and quiet as well as withdrawn. “I just came to the castle and still learning my way around,” she added with a small blush. The young girl thought of something and quickly checked her basket to make sure that everything was right where it should have been. She could not be too careful around him. He did seem friendly enough but Aliyaha wasn’t sure if she was being honest.

The young girl lifted the basket up since it was slipping again. It was something that she always found annoying at times. She could never held it steady. She had a sudden feeling that she was forgetting something. It always lingered in the back of her mind when she was shopping for ingredients for a meal or cloth or whatever she was sent to do in the city. Aliyaha remembered the cloth that she had seen in the city. It was indeed a fine cloth. One that she wasn’t even expecting to see in a bustling city. She usually found that type of cloth in the castle with the nobles. She raised her head to stare up at the sky for several minutes before lowering her head back down to look at the boy again.

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[em]

Merlin smiled lightly as the young girl blabbed on about how she wasn’t very good at cooking. She took the basket from him. “You’re probably a better cook than I am” he grinned.
Aliyaha? A very unusual name. He held out his hand for her to shake, “and im covered in rotten fruit and vegetables” he quickly put his hand back down, “Im Merlin, sometimes I go by the name of ‘idiot’ too”.
Ali looked a little shy, especially as now he could see her cheeks burning. “sorry” he apologised, “I don’t mean to embarrass you”.

“I just came to the castle and still learning my way around,”

Merlin smiled, “I arrived here a couple of days ago. Already ive managed to get myself thrown in the stocks” he told her, although from his attire she could most likely see that. “I live with Gauis, up in the physicians quarters?” he wondered whether she knew where it was.

He saw her looking up at the sky and then frowned again, “are you alright? You look a bit…dazed?” was that the right word? “I could carry that back for you if you like? Make up for walking straight into you” he offered and looked at the basket that she was holding.

[Aliyaha]

Aliyaha managed to blush at what he had said. “I doubt you had ever managed to almost burn the food,” she teased him slightly. She remembered that event well. “Ever since my previous owners thought that I was ready, I had always followed my mother around, doing what she was doing. Both my mother and the mistress thought that I would be ready to learn my way around the kitchen. That didn’t go to well as they had hoped,” she felt her cheeks turning even more pinker. The fifteen year old shook his hand, a smile was playing on her lips. “Pleasure to meet you Merlin,” Aliyaha couldn’t help but to laugh at his next words. “I think I’ll just call you ‘Merlin,’” Her eyes were twinkling slightly. “Surely you couldn’t have done something bad to earn that name,”

She took a small breath and shook her head. “It’s nothing really,” the fifteen year old girl told him when he apologized. Aliyaha wouldn’t say this out loud but she was starting to rather like Merlin. She perked up with an interested look when he said that he had arrived a couple of days ago. Aliyaha laughed again. “I’ve heard about the stocks from the other servants. I even saw them whenever I am in the city getting a few things.” The young girl frowned a little. The name was familiar but she didn’t have a clue where the physicians quarters were. She shook her head. “I don’t know where that is,” She told him. “The only places in the palace I’ve been are the servants quarters and where I need to go. There were a couple of times where I have been in the prince’s room,”

The young girl smiled a little shyly at him. “He was the one who had gotten me a job in the castle. My parents died when I was twelve and there were some cuts a year later.” She paused when Merlin had asked if she was alright. Was she? She supposed she was but she nodded to his question nonetheless. “I’m fine,” Aliyaha told him. The shy smile started to grow slightly when he asked if he could carry the basket. The blush on her cheeks deepen a bit as she nodded, looking at him with a grateful look. “Thank you,” she told him as she handed him the basket. She managed another smile at him. “Where do you work in the castle?” she wanted to know.

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[em]

He noticed her blushing. It was quite sweet actually. Either she was highly embarrassed or the sight of him covered in fruit and vegetables was incredibly irresistible. Thankfully it wasn’t either of these, and it was just the fact that she apparently couldn’t cook. “Im sure your cooking isn’t that bad – well…anything is better compared to the stuff that Gauis has been giving me” he smirked. On his first night there, Gauis had produced some kind of congealed browny green stuff that was meant to be soup. Well…if that was soup then Merlin wondered what on earth people in Camelot lived on.
Surprisingly Aliyaha shook his hand when he produced it. “Sorry…im kind of covered” he told her, wiping it as clean as it could become on his shirt.

“Surely you couldn’t have done something bad to earn that name,”

Merlin smirked knowingly, “I met Prince Arthur”

She must not really know her way around as well as he thought. She didn’t know where the physician’s quarters were, but then again – he supposed that was normal. She was a serving girl so she didn’t really have any reason to access there. He raised his brows at the fact that she’d been in the prat’s chambers. “And what did you find? Voodoo dolls? Torture instruments?”
For Merlin to say that he hated Prince Arthur was an understatement. Oh well, at least Gwen had thought he was the hero.

He smiled weakly at the mention of her parents being dead. “Im sorry…”. To lose both of them at just twelve was hard enough than losing one. Merlin knew all too well what it was like to only have one parent. He’d never known his father. His mother never spoke of him. So Merlin chose not to ask too many questions. He was happy enough with it just being him and his mother – and she’d brought him up well. He hadn’t wanted to leave Ealdor and her on her own, but the time came when he hadn’t really had a choice. Besides – Hunith was only doing what was best for him.

“Where do you work in the castle?”

“Oh…err I don’t really have a job.” He shrugged, “I just run errands for Gauis and help him out”.

[Aliyaha]

The young girl couldn’t help but to hide her giggles. “Really covered,” she teased a little. She was enjoying his company if she was being honest. Of course she wouldn’t exactly say that out loud. She didn’t want to embarrass herself. It was normal after all. Or so she had hoped anyways. “It looked like they threw everything they had,” she commented. Her eyes were twinkling with a friendly look. Aliyaha was completely at ease once she had gotten past her shock of running into him. Well him running into her if one would look at it that way. “I’m sure it’s the other way around with that,” she told him when he commented that he was sure that her cooking wasn’t that bad. She smiled a little at him. Her eyes were still twinkling. Aliyaha couldn’t help but to perk up a little when he said that he had met Prince Arthur. “And did you two met in a good way or a bad way?” There was a half teasing tone to her voice. Her eyes now held a curious look to them, very curious.

Aliyaha couldn’t help but to laugh when he asked her what she found. “It was completely normal.” She teased. “No voodoo dolls or anything like that. And if he had he would have hidden them well,” she wondered if he had gotten on the bad side of Arthur. The fifteen year old bit down on the inside of her cheek, remembering the bandits. Certainly they had seen his bad side when they were trying to kidnap her. And then he had shown up. The young girl smiled a little. “It’s alright. I had learned to deal with the fact that they wouldn’t be around anymore. It…was hard at first…” her voice trailed off as she was starting to become lost in her thoughts, more like her childhood memories. She sighed softly as she shook her head bringing herself to the present. Aliyaha glanced up at him. “I bet that leaves you with a lot of work doesn’t it?” she inquired with a small tilt of her head. She had yet to meet him but she doubt that she would.

Her work was keeping her busy and she liked that. Sometimes in the late evening hours she would retire to her room and immediately fall asleep. Other times she would be too wide awake. She shifted a little restlessly. She glanced up at the sky and noticed she still had plenty of time before she was due to come back.

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[em]

“It looked like they threw everything they had,”

“They did” Merlin replied.

His adoring public had stood there for hours on end just lobbing ANYTHING that they had at him – even the baskets! Surely that was assault?
“The strawberries were my favourite – even if they were a little mouldy, but I can’t say I enjoyed the rotting tomatoes, apples and other fruit that were being aimed at my face”

The conversation then turned to Prince Prat again. Merlin was adamant that if he ever ran into him again, he’d demand a rematch. Rough, tough, save the world type of prat or not.

“And did you two met in a good way or a bad way?”

“I think you can guess what way, judging by the way I look” he gestured to his dirty shirt, “and what did he do? Nothing – just let daddies men drag me away to spend the night in the dungeon and then all of today being target practice”.

Merlin was surprised to hear that Arthur’s room was actually normal. No torture instruments (the most torturous probably being a mirror or a hairbrush – Merlin hoped that whenever Arthur looked in it, which was most likely every moment he got, that the glass cracked!), no voodoo dolls?! Then again there wouldn’t be as magic was banned.

“No chains or rats – im impressed” Merlin smirked

It was sad to know that she’d lost her parents at a young age. Ali seemed to have taken it all in her stride. “And it’s still hard now” he finished off her sentence as she trailed off, obviously feeling upset. “Im sorry – I didn’t mean to upset you” he quickly fumbled for a handkerchief or something and when he couldn’t find one, he took off his scarf. “Here – sorry it’s a bit covered but if you cry or anything, then at least you can dry your eyes” he smiled and handed it to her.

“A lot? – Well just the small odd jobs” he shrugged, “such as running tonics to ill people, sweeping the floor and washing it, washing the clothes, tidying the books, cleaning a leech tank, collecting supplies, cooking (occasionally) – so not much” a small grin became prominent on his lips.