"Excuse me, what are you doing in my bed?"

My head turned quickly to find the source of the voice. A man stood in the doorway of the strange room. I took in his pale skin and dark hair, scanning his face for any hint of familiarity but I could find none. His clothes, much like the room I found myself in were...strange. They were like something from a medieval painting, reminding me vaguely of a Horrible Histories style set. However, given that I'd woken up in his bed a few moments ago with absolutely no knowledge as to how I got there I probably wasn't in the best position to judge his life choices.

"I'm not entirely sure..." Despite being aware of how suspicious that sounded I had always been of the belief that honesty is the best policy.

"Well could you get out of it?" His request was by no means unreasonable, but I had found myself to be quite comfortable in his bed and so was somewhat reluctant to get out.

"Yes, sorry, I'll do that now." I brought myself to my feet. His quizzical look made me self-conscious, he seemed to be holding in a laugh. "What?" I noted my passive aggressive tone and tried to rein it in, I was intruding in his space, it wouldn't do to be rude.

"You look ridiculous." I looked down at myself and realised I was wearing my purple hoodie and neon yellow and pink striped pyjamas. I frowned slightly, I didn't remember going to bed in this, well not in the hoodie at least. "How did you get in here?"

I looked back at him, he seemed more amused than annoyed, but I remained wary nonetheless.

"Erm...I don't really know...Let me check my phone there's probably something on there maybe..." I trailed off as I reached into my pocket and was relieved to find my phone there. I quickly turned it on and unlocked it... How odd, I couldn't connect to the internet, and there wasn't any signal either. Suddenly my phone was snatched from me, I glared at the now irate man in front of me and reached to get it back, but he kept it out of my reach.

"You have to get rid of that. Magic is outlawed in Camelot, are you trying to get killed?"

"What? Magic?" I managed to grab my phone back and took a few steps away from him, partly to protect my phone but mostly because alarm bells had started ringing in my head, he seemed dangerous. "This is my phone you idio-Wait did you say Camelot?"

"Yes, Camelot." He seemed completely serious, although his claim was utterly ridiculous. I tried to keep calm, this man was potentially delusional. I'd learnt how to interact with delusional patients at university a few weeks ago, the most important thing was to remain calm and polite, they usually weren't dangerous unless in extreme situations.

"By Camelot do you mean King Arthur and his knights of the round table?" I was attempting to ask a few (hopefully) harmless questions as a way to assess whether I was in any danger.

"Well, there's a Prince Arthur, Uther is king. and there are knights, but I am not aware of any tables." He seemed stable and harmless enough. I would still rather be elsewhere though, preferably with someone who could explain what on earth was going on.

"And what about Merlin?" He seemed to stiffen at the name, I hoped I hadn't triggered anything. "The wizard? The one who helps Arthur." He started to walk towards me, there was hostility in his eyes and I felt the need to get away as soon as possible. I scanned the room for the closest exit.

"How do you know about him?" I noted the aggression in his voice and decided quickly that I needed to escape.

"Oh...Well...You see-" I pushed him backwards as hard as I could and ran past him to the door. I heard him yell after me and didn't look back to check if he was following me.

I ran as fast as I could, trying to figure out where I was. I seemed to be in some sort of stone building, a castle perhaps? And everyone seemed to be dressed as oddly as the man had. I didn't have time to process this information before I collided with someone whilst turning a corner. I yelped as I fell to the floor, scraping my arm on the wall in the process. It appeared to be bleeding quite badly and really fucking hurt. I looked around to see who I had collided with and watched in awe as a stunning woman got herself to her feet. Her hair cascaded behind her, her lips a deep red, her eyes sparkling. I tried to get myself to my feet but struggled, dizzy both from the fall and her beauty. She extended her hand towards me and I took hold of it, it helped stabilise me as I got up. But once I had stood up I couldn't bring myself to let go of her hand.

"Oh God I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going I just- I was being chased and I didn't mean-"

"Somebody is chasing you?" She seemed genuinely concerned.

"Yes, I'm scared he might hurt me if he finds me." She pulled me into a room close by, our hands still clasped. My heart was racing, and I wasn't sure if it was the adrenaline from being chased or being so close to her.

"These are my private chambers, you will be safe here. Are you alright? Your arm seems to be injured quite badly."

"Yes, that was from the fall. I'm so sorry again-"

"It is quite alright, it was obviously an accident." She smiled reassuringly at me and I returned it. This felt significantly safer than when I was with that man. "What is your name?"

I paused momentarily. I weighed up whether I should be truthful, she was a stranger and I did not know whether her intentions were good. However, she had gone out of her way to help me, and she seemed to be kind...and insanely pretty. "Tasneem, and yours?"

"Morgana." Even her name was pretty. "What happened to you Tasneem?"

I tried to think of a way to explain that wouldn't make me seem insane, it was definitely an odd situation. "I'm not too sure... I remember going to sleep in my own bed but... Well I woke up in the bed of this man, I have no idea who he is or how I got there. It's like this whole chunk of my memory is just missing, which seems impossible I know but it's true, I swear. And I think the man was delusional, he said I was in Camelot, which just isn't possible, and I managed to get away and he was the one who's chasing me."

"Tasneem... You are in Camelot." She looked as serious as the man had. Something clicked in my head as everything fell into place. She was telling the truth. It explained why my phone didn't work, why everyone was dressed so oddly and spoke so formally, and why I was in a medieval castle. I took a deep breath to calm myself down.

"It doesn't make sense, I'm not from here." A tightness started to form in my chest and I choked back tears, this didn't seem real. I thought maybe it was a dream, or perhaps some ridiculous new reality show and any second now someone would jump out and say I was part of some stupid TV prank. But that never happened. Morgana frowned slightly, noting my obvious panic. She squeezed my hand gently in an attempt to reassure me, but it did little to settle me nerves.

"Come, let us get you to Gaius, he is the royal physician. He will be able to help with your arm, and maybe help you make some sense of what has happened." As she walked towards a dresser I tried to stop myself from shaking and prayed that I didn't throw up. "Here, let me put this on you, I don't want you to hurt your arm more." I nodded meekly, she wrapped the cloak around my shoulders and tied it in the front, "Now the man who was chasing you should not recognise you" she said gently as she pulled the hood up to shield my face.

"Thank you." I whispered

She took my hand again and led me through the castle. I appreciated her remaining silent as we walked and allowing me to have time to process what was happening. As we walked my eyes searched for anything that would indicate that this wasn't real, but everything seemed legit. I just wanted to go home. What if I never saw my family again? Or my friends? I had an entire life that I might never go back to. I felt sick. My breathing began to quicken and I struggled to keep the tears from falling as my lip quivered. It was all too much. It didn't make sense. Why was this happening? Morgana squeezed my hand and the small smile she gave me allowed some calm to the storm in my mind. She knocked assertively on the door in front of us. I was incredibly grateful that she had taken the time to help me.

"My lady," an elderly man had opened the door, "what brings you here?"

"My friend has been injured, I was hoping you could treat her." Gaius motioned for us to enter the room and Morgana told me to sit on a nearby bench. Gaius had spotted my bloodied arm and had gone to his workbench to fetch some bandages and a few bottles containing various concoctions. "She has also had some memory loss, do you think it is possible she has had a head injury?"

"Perhaps." mused Gaius as he went to the opposite side of the room to find some other objects. "I would have to do a more thorough examination to determine that."

"I am afraid I have to leave now Tasneem, I have a meeting with the King I am terribly late for. However, I will come here immediately after. You will be safe with Gaius." her smile seemed apologetic but it reassured me greatly to know that she was looking out for me.

"I appreciate everything you've done for me Morgana. Thank you." I smiled back at her and waved her goodbye as she left. "Thank you too Gaius, I imagine you must be very busy." he smiled at me kindly.

"It is no problem, this is my job after all." He came next to me and started applying bandages that had been soaked in something, I presume some form of antibacterial, that smelled strongly of herbs. It stung slightly and so I winced whenever he put some on a new bit of flesh. "Morgana mentioned some memory loss, can you tell me more about that?"

Just as I was about to begin my story the door was abruptly slammed open. "Gaius we have a problem..." The man who had been chasing me trailed off as his eyes landed on me. It seems I was the problem he had been searching for. Although I no longer believed him to be delusional he still made me extremely wary. But it seemed he knew Gaius, so I should at least attempt to make amends for running from him.

"I'm sorry for pushing you, I thought you were delusional. I didn't realise I was actually in Camelot. Did I hurt you?" He seemed startled and just stared at me.

"Merlin, will you stop standing there like a statue and go get me some more bandages?" Gaius scoffed at him. My eyes widened at the realisation. It seemed impossible and yet... Well I'd somehow ended up in Camelot, nothing was really impossible. I knew Merlin as an old man who, from my memory of Shrek at least, was kooky as fuck.

"You're Merlin? As in THE Merlin? But you said magic was like illegal or something so how are you Merlin? Not that that means you're not Merlin but like it's a weird name it's not like there's gonna be loads of you... Although maybe it is a common name it's not like I'm from around here I wouldn't know. But if you are Merlin then how do you do your magic stuff?" Gaius looked at me in shock, completely unaware of what had happened between us.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He was obviously lying, his body had stiffened when I had first mentioned Merlin, and now he was acting all tense. Not to mention Gaius' reaction.

"I think you do. Come on I know already, plus you're like famous." He turned to look at me frowning.

"Famous?" I realised how insane it would sound if I told Gaius where I was actually from, especially with him being the physician, maybe he'd think I was a witch or something and kill me like Merlin had said earlier.

"Nope. I misspoke. I wasn't thinking of Merlin, I was thinking of Marlin, you know like the fish. Complete mix up sorry. Must be that head injury Morgana was talking about Gaius. Yeah I'm just a bit confused sorry about that." Merlin frowned at me and I tried to ignore it. I fixed my eyes to a spot on the ground and attempted to hide my embarrassment. He handed Gaius the extra bandages and the room remained silent as Gaius continued with the bandages. Merlin's frowning also continued.

"Gaius knows about my magic."

"Merlin!" Gaius chastised.

"Oh thank God. Ok this sounds crazy but I'm from the future like in a thousand years, and I have no idea how I got here or how I can get back. Like I woke up in your bed and like all of a sudden I was here. And magic isn't even real in the future, well maybe it is but it's definitely like underground if it is. But you're like famous like I learnt about you in primary school. I mean I don't remember much about what you do because it's been like twenty years or something but I know you're important but also you're just like a myth like none of this is supposed to be real. This is just so weird I have no idea what's happening and I just want to go home."

Merlin and Gaius both looked at me in shock. I prayed I hadn't made a mistake in telling them everything. Merlin began to smile and I felt myself relax.

"Look at that Gaius, I'm famous. No more bossing me about." Gaius scoffed at him. "Does everyone dress this strangely in the future?"

I chuckled at that. "No, this is what I wear to sleep, I didn't think anyone would see me." I was incredibly relieved that he believed me, although Gaius still seemed somewhat sceptical.

"We should probably get you some new clothes. Merlin, will you go to Gwen and sort something out?"

"And what exactly am I meant to tell Gwen? It might look a bit odd if I just ask for some dresses Gaius."

"Say she's a friend from home and you're gifting her them." Merlin frowned at that. But he nodded and walked out. I smiled to myself, glad I had somewhere to be myself. Merlin's head popped back through the door.

"What's your name? You never told me."

"You never asked." He scowled jokingly at me and I laughed, feeling lighter than I had all day. "Tasneem." He nodded and left again.