The market square was just as busy as it usually was at that time of day. Salesmen calling out about the price of their best meat, their fine leathers or their choice fur. Merlin skulked through the crowds, looking around with a strange sense of awe. Even though he had been in Camelot now for almost a year, the hustle and bustle of the town never ceased to amaze him and give him a strange giddy sensation. Perhaps this was because he'd original come here from such a small village. The 'big city' was very pretty even though, Merlin had to admit, it was a bit intimidating.

Many people pushed past the warlock as he tried to get back to the castle. Gaius had sent him out on an errand, to go and visit one of his patients and make sure that they were taking their medicine, and seeing as it was early in the morning and Arthur had already had his breakfast, Merlin was left to his own devices for a few hours. He'd seen that part of the town so many times in the past but he'd decided to see if there was anything interesting happening. Even though Camelot castle was beautiful, and things were constantly going on, at that moment in time it seemed a bit drab. There were no fancy competitions, no elaborate dinners, not even a measly monster attacking the townsfolk. To be honest, nothing had happened in weeks and that scared Merlin just a little. He knew, deep down, that something big was about to happen.

It was at that moment that someone pushed him to one side. Merlin toppled out of the way, but managed to regain his balance.

"Hey," he cried out, spinning around with an annoyed expression on his face but whoever had bumped into him had vanished.

Oh well, he thought. It was probably for the best. He had been told several times by Gaius not to pick fights with strangers. Look where that had got him with Arthur.

He tutted loudly to himself but kept on walking, thrusting his hands into his pockets.

His fingers brushed against something smooth. Metallic. Warm.

He stopped.

His chest was burning warm, rippling against his ribcage, fluttering against his lungs.

Merlin quickly darted out of the main square to the back of a small thatched cottage on the side of the road. His eyes darted about himself in a flurry of panic. The young manservant didn't know what was happening to him, but he did know when it had started. Reaching into his pocket once more, clutching at the smooth object inside he pulled it out and stared as the head inside of him began to spread down his arms and legs.

It was a pendant. Worn and faded lettering encircled a strange jewel that seemed to glow purple and black, like a day old bruise and Merlin could hardly draw his eyes away from it. It seemed to suck him in, whisper inside of his head, show him images that made his mind struggle to retain its' grip on reality.

Put me on, the pendant whispered.

"What?" Merlin's voice was barely a whisper.

Put me on, the pendant repeated. I will be the gateway to your future. I will make you all-powerful.

"I--" the warlock started. "I don't want to be all powerful." The heat was now searing, Merlin's breathing becoming heavier as he tried to stay upright, unaware of what was happening to him.

But you do. I can see it in your eyes.

Merlin quickly closed his eyes.

The pendant laughed.

And Merlin laughed too.

It had been a usual day so far for Arthur. He had woken up early, Merlin had served him what he thought was probably breakfast, even though it looked and smelt like it had taken not even five minutes to prepare, and rushed off for morning training with his knights. Arthur had then been summoned to the throne room by his father, King Uther, only to be told he was being too soft on his knights during training, and needed to harden them up for real battles that were certain to occur. After being dismissed and making his way to his chambers, Arthur had thought that he was already in need of a hot bath.

Only when he actually entered his chambers did he realise that Merlin was nowhere to be found, so instead, he had to ask another servant, who looked like he was probably around the same age as himself with very plain brown hair that fell messily around his face, to prepare him a bath.

"Thank you, you are dismissed," Arthur said lazily as he waved his hand in the unknown servant's direction. He turned to face the bathtub and heard the door to his chambers open and then close.

Finally, Arthur thought to himself, some peace and quiet. He pulled off his long brown jacket and hung it on the back of his chair before tugging his red tunic off over his head, leaving his blonde hair in disarray and his upper body exposed to the icy chill in the air. He shuddered, then carried on getting undressed before climbing into the bathtub and letting the hot water surround his aching muscles.

The young Prince let himself slip into a relaxed state as he felt the tension in his body fade away. He decided that he probably needed to wash his hair, too, so he laid back and let the water soak in before massaging his head. This would usually be Merlin's job, but since he wasn't here, he would have to make do. Arthur would surely be having words with his manservant when he next saw him; after all, it was his job to serve Arthur.

After what seemed like hours, even though it had probably been only minutes, he heard someone approaching his chambers with a quick pace. He hadn't been expecting anyone at this time of the day unless, of course, it was Merlin.
He heard a knock on the large, wooden doors of his chambers, shortly followed by a voice that he recognised immediately.

"Arthur?" It was Merlin.
Arthur felt a slight pang of relief that it was Merlin, and not someone else who he had not been expecting.
"Oh, so you finally decided to show up did you, Merlin?" Arthur did like his manservant, but found amusement in being particularly snarky towards him.

"Yes, sire." The Prince was taken slightly aback by the tone of frustration in Merlin's voice, but decided to ignore it. Arthur thought it might be time to vacate the bathtub now, he felt he'd been in long enough and would no doubt have to go and see his father again at some point. He got up slowly, trying not to slip.

"Could you pass me a towel?" he looked at Merlin with a raised eyebrow and held his hand out expectantly.

"Sire..." Merlin said, sounding almost bitter as he passed Arthur the towel.

The blonde Prince frowned a little before taking the towel from his dark-haired servant, whose eyes now seemed a deeper, darker shade of bluethan before, Arthur noticed.
"Are you okay, Merlin?"

The darkness. The never ending hatred. It had overwhelmed Merlin and taken control and now all he could feel was anger. He had never felt so powerful before, like his entire mind, all of his body, his strength was a hundred times greater. A few minutes ago he was just a lowly serving boy, fetching and carrying for the spoilt prince of Camelot. Now he was a sorcerer. A warlock. He could destroy said prince with a twitch of his fingers. But no, that wasn't fun. The new Merlin liked destruction. He liked murder. But he wasn't just going to kill Arthur Pendragon. Oh no. He was going to make a sport out of it.

The towel he was handing to Arthur felt warm and soft against his skin. He couldn't wait to be rid of it. Merlin mentally scolded himself, feeling the pendant cold against his skin under his shirt. He mustn't keep thinking as he used to do. He mustn't be so nice, so warm and caring. Helping people used to be the one thing he believed he was good at, and what had that ever done for him? Apart from that warm sense of satisfaction and the occasional 'thank you' Merlin had never received a penny for being so affectionate.

"I'm fine," Merlin bit back at Arthur who was watching him move towards the wardrobe in the corner of the room and open the great oak doors. He didn't have to lie. He was fine, infact he was better than he had ever been.

Inside of the wardrobe were so many regal clothes of thick, rich reds and purples, of blacks and blues, yellows and golds. Merlin would have all of these things soon, he would bring the fall of the Pendragon reign nearer and he would rule over Camelot and bring magic back to the realm. Or at least, that was what the pendant told him he should do. It whispered in his ear, such good ideas for an inanimate object. A piece of worthless jewellery. Well, it wasn't worthless to Merlin.

Behind him, Merlin heard Arthur slip into the towel.

"Where have you been?" He asked his manservant. "You weren't here when I got back. You weren't skulking around the town, were you?"

His voice sounded concerned, almost worried for Merlin's welfare and the boy couldn't help but smile. A crooked, evil looking smile. Ah, how funny it was that the prince was finally becoming concerned in his servant's affairs, in his life. He had never been this interested before. It was almost ironic.

"I was, yes," Merlin answered back. "What's it to you?"

Arthur said nothing in reply, but the warlock could feel the prince's eyes boring into his back.

Pulling out a red shirt, a dark pair of trousers and a thick fur coat, Merlin quickly shut the wardrobe door and span around quickly to see Arthur standing beside the bath, his arms folded, the towel wrapped around his waist. He raised his eyebrow expectantly at his manservant, but Merlin did not seem to notice.

"What's that?" Arthur nodded towards Merlin's chest and, looking down, he saw that the dirty, glowing pendant had slipped out from underneath his shirt.

"Nothing," he quickly dismissed the prince and quickly pushed the jewel back under his shirt, feeling the cold sting against his skin.

"I'm sure you can put these on yourself, sire," he spat. "I've got somewhere important to go." He brushed past Arthur and placed the clothes onto the grand bed in the middle of the room. Offering him a sarcastic smile, Merlin said. "You're not that incompetent, are you that you can't even dress yourself?"

Arthur didn't have time to think of a witty and demanding retort as Merlin had already rushed from the room, slamming the door violently behind him. And if the prince had been looking very carefully he might've seen his manservant's eyes flashing black as he was given one last fleeting look before the door shut tight.