68Chapter Two: Trained to Kill
Arthur pushed the dangerous firebender down the road, wracking his brain for ideas. It was not the committing murder part he was worried about (he told himself), but how to do it without being caught. Firebenders were rare, and this one was sure to be missed, especially if he had told his partner about Arthur. If Arthur was not careful, he would be going from the frying pan into the literal fire. First course of action would be to find someplace closeby where no one would bother them, and then he would have to . . .
Oblivious to Arthur's internal struggle, his companion tried to make smalltalk.
"If you are actually interested in talking to me, you should probably know my name. I'm Merlin, and I am very pleased to meet you!"
"I'll bet you are," Arthur muttered. He had thought of a place just a corner away where they would not be disturbed, and he began leading Merlin there (What kind of name is that, anyway?).
"Listen, you really don't have to be scared of me," the young man earnestly told him. "I don't want to hurt you or your friends, I just-"
"I don't really care, I just want to know why you're so interested in me." He was starting to think this boy had an actual, serious mental condition.
Merlin gave him an incredulous look. "You can really drop the 'I don't know why everyone is following me' act; I already know who you are. I thought you'd gotten that by now."
They had arrived at an abandoned shop and house in the middle of a deserted street. Arthur remembered it because he had slept in here, both before he had money for his own apartment and the few times he had felt like someone was following him. Made up mostly of one large room, scattered with dirt and broken detritus, it was not a place most people paid attention to, and Arthur knew the walls were thick.
"And who, might I ask, do you think I am?" Arthur said, pushing Merlin through the doorway into the dusty, abandoned room beyond.
Merlin turned around and regarded his would-be murderer with an almost proud look. "You're the Fire Prince. Prince Arthur. The heir to the throne of the Fire Nation."
Arthur's heart seemed to simultaneously leap and sink. So, he had not been wrong about what this boy knew. There was nothing for it-he would have to go through with his plan.
"So, Merlin, I suppose you know, being a firebender and soldier and all that, just how dangerous that bit of information is?"
"Of course I do!" Merlin replied hotly. He did not seem to notice how Arthur was slowly closing in, boxing him closer and closer to the wall, where there was no escape . . . "That's why I've kept it a secret! I mean, Morgana discovered you were in Ba Sing Se, and we found out where you lived, but I never told anyone that I saw you! Not even my partner. I had to shake him off in order to come back for you. If he knew . . . well, he's a good enough man, but he'd turn you in straight away. I had to be very quiet and secret about this."
"So you're the only one who noticed me? Are you sure?"
"Positive. You do look different than in your portrait, but I have an eye for detail."
"Well, this will make everything a lot easier then, won't it?" Arthur said. Merlin cocked his head to one side, and then an awful look of comprehension came into his eyes.
"Oh," Merlin said, as if Arthur's true purpose had only just dawned on him. "Oh . . . you're going to kill me now, aren't you? That's why you brought me here."
Arthur smiled tightly. "Yes," he said simply, and started to stalk forward. He did not need a weapon; he'd been trained to kill since birth.
Merlin's eyes widened, and he backed away. "Whoa, Arthur, don't do this! I am not your enemy!"
"Then why have you been following me, watching me? Why do you wear the uniform of the Fire Nation? I've been hiding for too long. You should have realized that any threat to my secrecy has to end in a swift execution."
"That's what you call this?" Merlin asked incredulously, still backing away; he was almost to the wall. "Murdering me in an empty house without even hearing what I've got to say? Wow, you are really living up to your father's memory, aren't you, Arthur Pendragon!"
This pulled Arthur up short for a second, and then he attacked without warning, throwing himself towards the younger man. Merlin gave a squeak and brought his hand up to defend himself. As Arthur expected, a spurt of red flames erupted from Merlin's hand, but that was no problem-the prince dodged easily. His opponent then tried sending out twin scything blasts of fire, dodging to the side to get around Arthur, but Arthur leapt up and over the first ring, then ducked down low to avoid the next. All of the breath in Merlin went out with a WHUMP as the Fire Prince barreled into his stomach. His head cracked painfully against the earthen floor, and there ensued an intense but brief struggle as Merlin attempted to push Arthur off of him. He failed miserably.
Dazed and confused as the firebender was, it was not hard for Arthur to wrap his hands around Merlin's neck and proceed to choke the life out of him. Merlin only had the strength for a single flame, but Arthur batted his hand away easily. This gave Merlin one breath:
"Please!" he wheezed. "Annis-help!"
Arthur considered this in a dispassionate sort of way. What sort of Fire Nation soldier put out the Earth Queen's name in his last breath? Why would he say he was not Arthur's enemy, as he clearly wore the uniform of Morgana's soldiers? He was a firebender, the enemy his father had always taught him about, the danger Arthur had been hiding from for five years. He felt all his anger and frustration with the Fire Nation swell up inside of him, concentrated down on this young man whose struggles were slowly getting weaker and weaker and weaker beneath Arthur's hands.
As he watched his victim's pale fingers unclench from their death-grip on Arthur's wrists, the Fire Prince felt all that anger and hate drain out of him as if someone had pulled a plug to release the bathwater. Arthur thought about how young Merlin was, about how he had probably been forced to leave the Fire Nation when he was just a child. Arthur thought about how he had never had friends his own age when he lived in the Fire Nation. He had noticed this at the time, but it had not been until Morgana had thrown him in the dungeons that he had found out why.
"I wish I could trust you, Arthur; you've always been so kind to me. But I know, in the end, you're going to follow right in your father's footsteps."
He released his grip and got to his feet suddenly, his stomach churning. Merlin fell back against the floor with a gasp, clutching his throat. For several minutes neither said anything, Merlin struggling for breath and Arthur struggling with himself.
"I'm not saying I believe you," Arthur said quietly, barely making himself heard over Merlin's labored coughing, "but I'm willing to hear you out. You can see that you're not really a threat to me, so don't plan on double-crossing me."
The young firebender looked up at him, obviously wondering what had caused this change. "Where-" he started to rasp, then coughed painfully several times before continuing. "Where did you learn to overcome firebenders like that?"
"Doesn't matter," Arthur snapped. "What matters is why you are here and what you want from me." Merlin nodded, making a concentrated effort to stand. After that failed, he shifted until he was against the wall.
"Um, right." He stopped, looking a little confused. "Where do I even start?"
"How about how you knew where to find me?" Arthur said testily. Merlin gave him an irritated look.
"Firelord Morgana received intelligence that you could be found in Ba Sing Se, so I took my chance and volunteered for the job. I've had my doubts about Morgana for a long time, and having my own sources about your character, I thought I'd take my chances and seek you out."
"Who betrayed me?" Arthur asked. "Who told her I was here?"
Merlin shook his head. "I don't know. We were never told. Whoever it is, they sent us to your neighbor Valiant. He told us what he knew about you: that you were a chimney sweep, came here four or so years ago, spent most of your spare time with the blacksmiths, and treated him like he wasn't worth the dirt on your boots."
Arthur's lip curled. "He's not."
Merlin tried to laugh, and ended up choking a bit. "Anyway, we wanted to be absolutely sure-Morgana does not tolerate botched-up jobs-so we haven't even sent in our report by message-hawk yet. I've managed to misdirect everyone so far, but I don't know how much longer that's going to work. I'm not a great actor. Pretty sure the only reason I've gotten away with it so far is because everyone believes me to be supremely innocent and naive. Eventually I'm going to be found out."
"Trust me, you are supremely innocent and naive," Arthur told him dryly.
Merlin glared. "Are you always such a prat to people you've almost murdered?"
Arthur gave him a quelling look, and then was silent for several moments, mulling it all over, before he spoke again. "Alright, you've answered how you found me. Now what do you plan to do with that knowledge?"
Merlin raised an eyebrow. "Can't you even guess?"
The answer as to why a firebender with doubts about Morgana had sought Arthur out was so obvious that it was pretty much a given, but Arthur was tired, so he just shrugged.
Merlin squared his shoulders. "We're going to overthrow Firelord Morgana and get you your throne back."
The urge to strangle this boy again came over Arthur, but he restrained it. For a moment they looked at each other, hope and eagerness in Merlin's eyes, with Arthur feeling bleak and annoyed.
Arthur lifted his head until he almost felt like a prince again. "No," he told Merlin firmly. Then turned on his heel and walked out.
AN - I hope you all enjoyed Chapter Two! I would love to hear what you are thinking of the story so far :)