~~Merlin's POV~~
I stand behind Arthur as we walk around the really big castle.
I think we are going to meet the king now. Mother always said the king hurts people who have my power. I don't want to get hurt.
I slightly tug on Arthur's pants and he stops to look at me.
"What's wrong Merlin?"
"I don't want da king to hurt me."
Arthur looked around the then knelt down to me.
"I promise you, the king won't hurt you. You just have to remember what I told you."
As we were walking to the castle, Arthur told me that I can't use any of my superpower, or magic as he calls it. I trust Arthur.
"Okay!"
Arthur knows best. Mother always taught me to listen to people who are old.
We stand behind these really big doors with dressed-up men on both sides. Arthur gives them a nod and they open up the doors.
Ahead, there are a bunch of people standing towards the side, with a man in a big chair in the middle. There is a smaller, empty, chair next to him.
As we walk in, I can feel the stares of the people around me. I don't like that.
Oh! There are my friends! I see them standing all together near the front. There's also a really really old man standing with them. They keep exchanging glances.
I feel like I've seen that old man before.....
"Arthur! Why have you returned early from your hunting trip? And why do you have a child with you?"
I looked at the man. I think he's the king. He's wearing this crown and his clothes are really nice.
"Father. We had a, um, dilemma. On our trip, we encountered a sorcerer who intended to kill me. Merlin took the blast and as you can see, turned him into a child. Four summers exact."
I knew this was my turn where I'm supposed to say hello to him.
"Hi your, your, your, uh, your-"
What was the word Percy said?
"-umm umm-"
In a panic, I look over at Percy. He is mouthing a word out.
Unknowingly, the candles in the room started to get a little bit higher.
Okay. I think I got it.
"-your magicisty."
A snort comes from the direction of the knights and I see the old man hitting the back of Gwaine's head. That wasn't very nice.
I look back at the king to see him staring right at me. Do I have something on my face?
"Well, he sure is your incompetent servant. Are there any side effects with the magic?"
"No father. Just that Merlin doesn't have any of his memories past the age of four. I figured I'd have him brought back for Gaius to examine."
I wonder who Gaius is. Hopefully, he is nice.
"Good. Get right on that. In the meantime, a replacement servant will be given to you. Gaius?"
The king looked towards the old man. The old man nodded his head in acknowledgement (Mother taught me that word last week!).
"If anything is strange, magically that is, you let me know immediately."
"Yes, sire."
Oh no. I don't like him. He hit Gwaine.
"Artur?"
I whisper to try and get Arthur's attention.
He glances down at me quickly.
"Yes?"
"I don't like Gaius."
A snort comes from him. I didn't realize I said something funny.
"Is there something funny?"
"No father."
"Please Artur. He hit Gwaine. I don't like people who hurt my friends."
"If there is something you wish to say, you may say it in front of everybody here."
I look at the king and see him staring at me.
"I-I don't want to go wif Gaius. He hit Gwaine and Gwaine is my friend."
It is dead silent until one person laughs. Then everybody started laughing.
I feel tears start coming to my eyes and I look down at my feet. My hands start unknowingly fiddle with the bottom of my shirt.
As people continue laughing, tears start rolling down my face.
Please don't cry. Will said only babies cry and I'm not a baby.
I try and bite the inside of my mouth to try and stop crying. The laughing slowly died down as there was a slight shake in the ground. I only tried and focused on not crying.
"Everybody calm down, it's only an earth shake."
I won't cry.
~~Arthur's POV~~
Two earth shakes in two days?
I look down at Merlin to make sure he's okay, but he looks weird. He's staring at the ground with a death grip on the hem of his shirt.
"Merlin?"
The shaking started to worsen and worried faces spread across the room.
Dam it Merlin.
I take Merlin and pick him up.
"Merlin."
He wraps his arms around my neck and buries his head into my shoulder. I run soothing circles on his back with my hand.
"Shhh. It's okay. Take a deep breath. It's okay."
The rumbles start to go away.
"You're safe Merlin. Nobody here is going to hurt you."
The rumble stops.
"The earth shake is over. Everybody go back to their duties."
With the last sentence, my father looks me dead in the eye. Right, I forgot showing any emotion to anyone is a crime.
I look at Gaius and give him a nod.
He starts walking towards me and I turn around and head for the door. Everybody stares at the little boy in my arms. The guards open the doors ahead of me and politely look down.
~~Gaius's POV~~
That boy is going to be the death of me. I know he is only a babe, but he is going to get himself killed with how reckless he is with his magic.
As I walk into my chamber, I see Merlin sitting on my table, sucking his thumb.
"Stop sucking your thumb. It's bad for you."
Merlin gives me a strange look before his face lights up.
"GG!?!"
He remembers.
"Glad you remember Merlin."
He jumps onto the table and into my arms.
"GG? You've met Merlin before he came to Camelot?"
I look over at Arthur's curious look. Nosy boy.
"Merlin's mother, Huther, asked me to bring him some books to learn how to read and write for his third birthday. Older Merlin doesn't remember me as it was a long time ago, but young Merlin does. Let's just say after I left, I got Merlin to stop sucking his thumb. Or at least I thought I did."
"But GG Gaius?"
"The boy was three."
"GG. How come you never came back?"
I look at Merlin in the face and his face has a sadness to it. I know I should've came back but it was too much of a risk. Merlin's magic was becoming stronger and I couldn't teach him. The purge was still fresh in people's minds and any sign of magic would've been a death sentence.
"I'm sorry Merlin. I know I should've came. It's been busy here in Camelot. How's your mother doing?"
"Mother is doing really good. Da plants are growing really big and we had extra food!"
"That's good."
"And GG, guess what!"
"What's that?"
"Mother and me worked really hard on writing and reading. I started teaching Will too! Will is going to be soooo mad he didn't come wif me into da woods. GG?"
"Yes?"
"Can you send mother a note to say I'm okay? I promised dat I am only going to da pine tree over da ridge. I don't want to make her mad at me."
How can I tell a boy four summers old that he is actually twenty summers old?
"Don't you worry. Your mother won't worry at all."
A smile grows on Merlin's face.
"Dant you!"
"Gaius?"
I look over at Arthur, who's awkwardly standing to the side.
"I hate to ruin your reunion but can you do a quick check over of Merlin? He went through a lot in these past few days and I want to make sure he's okay."
"Is there anything I should know?"
"Of course not."
Liar.
"Are you sure there is nothing I should know about?"
"Yes."
And the eyebrow goes up.
"Okay okay. We came across some bandits and Merlin, he, umm, he put them to sleep. Then he was kidnapped by Morgana and he also put her and all her men to sleep...as well as take down a whole castle. But he did sleep for a while."
Nothing I should know about, huh. Nothing my ass.
"Next time, start with that."
"Right."
I turn my attention back to Merlin.
"Is there anything that hurts you?"
"No. But the lady wasn't very nice. I should've listened to Kilgharrah."
Nothing passes Kilgharrah.
"Kilgharrah?"
"Nothing for you to be concerned about. Get Gwen for me."
"Who's Gwen?"
"Gwen is a very nice lady who is going to watch over you while I work."
"Okay."
"Gaius. Outside."
"Merlin. See that room over there?"
I point towards his bedroom.
"Yeah."
"Can you go in there for a bit and clean up for me? That's going to be your bedroom and the last person who was in there left it a mess."
"Okay! Mother says I'm a very good cleaner."
"Good."
I watch as Merlin skips to his bedroom and then follow Arthur to outside my chamber.
"Arthur."
"I can watch over Merlin. He's only a little boy and-"
"Sorry to interrupt you, but that might not be the smartest idea. Not that you aren't capable, but it will be best to have a motherly figure caring for him. He's in a new and strange place. And as much as you want to care for Merlin, you also have your own duties to worry about. Merlin seems physically fine. I will have to research on what enchantment this is to figure out how long this will be here."
"Okay, Gaius. You have steered me right before. I trust you. I will find Gwen."
"And you should tell your father what you told me about Morgana."
A dark cloud fills his eyes as he turns away.
~~Gwen's POV~~
One sheet over the other. I believe these go to the guest rooms on the west wing and these go to the rooms on the south wing.
The one Mary is washing will go to Arthur's room that I'll replace soon. The sheet already on his bed is okay, but Arthur will be away and he will need new sheets. Maybe I'll wait for a few days so they're fresh for when he-
"Gwen! There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you."
The voice makes me jump at the suddenness of it.
"Arthur?"
"From the last time I checked. Gaius sent me to get you. Though I should warn you about a few things as they'll probably be important and...... Gwen?"
"I'm sorry sire. I didn't expect you here. I thought you were going on the hunting trip with Merlin, Sir Gwaine, Sir-"
"Yes yes. Well, that's where the explanation comes into play. See, we were attacked by a sorcerer and now Merlin is a child. Four summers old. And one more thing."
Arthur leaned closer to me.
"How do you feel about magic?"
In shock from everything he just said, I absentmindedly just answered.
"It's fine."
"Good because Merlin has magic. He was born with it. Do anything thing to hurt him and things won't be pretty. Now I have to go to the king to make up a story on how Morgana is now dead with all of her men that Merlin definitely didn't do all himself with magic. And you should really stop with all the formalities."
"Arthur."
"Yes?"
"Calm down."
Even though too many things are racing in my brain, I hate seeing Arthur all worked up. He's a good man.
Arthur leans against the side of the wall and slides down to the ground. I take a seat next to him, making sure to keep an appropriate distance.
"Arthur. Is there something you'd like to get off your chest?"
"I want everything to go back to the way it was. I, and you can't tell anybody this, actually miss Merlin. My Merlin. He....he means a lot to me. Servant wise of course. I mean, now I'm going to have to listen to George talk about brass all day. Who can think brass jokes are funny? And I can't throw anything at him without it being taken as an offense."
I let out a chuckle at that one. I can remember all the times where Merlin would be folding sheets with me, complaining nonstop about Arthur's "abuse". But anybody who knew him would see the pride shining through his eyes as he talked about Arthur.
"Everything will work out in the end. I mean, whatever the sorcerer did can't last forever. Merlin will be back to his normal self soon. And if you don't mind me asking, on a scale of one to ten, how cute it baby Merlin?"
Arthur's eyes roll and a smile takes his face.
"One."
"Awe. He is just a babe."
"He's still Merlin. Just a no filter Merlin."
"Merlin ever had a filter?"
With that comment, Arthur lets out a laugh.
"Surprisingly, he has."
While talking, we both somehow missed George walking up to us.
"Sire."
"Yes, George?"
"The king requests your presence in his chambers immediately."
The smile that was on Arthur's face a moment ago has disappeared.
"Thank you, George."
Being the polite servant he is George bows and takes off without a glance. He's the only one who wouldn't immediately start gossiping around about seeing the prince and a serving girl sitting on the floor together.
"I guess I must go now."
"Just tell the truth. Well, maybe not the entire truth in this case. But don't lie too much. You aren't the best liar, my lord."
"Guinevere. To inform you, I am an excellent liar."
If only he knew how the entire castle, besides the king and Merlin, knows how he's in love with Merlin, he wouldn't be saying that.
I give Arthur a small smile and stand up.
"I must be going to Gaius's then. Maybe this time, Merlin and I can have a proper introduction."
"What was your introduction for the first time?"
"That's a story for another time, my lord."
"Well, good luck with Merlin. And Guinevere. Please remember the laws on magic. Any kind, no matter how small, will be punished if caught by anybody."
Oh yeah. Merlin has magic. I'm going to have to ask Gaius more about that.
"I understand."
"Good. And good luck. You're going to need it."
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Word Count: 2460
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