A/N: Just a small story that has been floating around in my brain for a small while. The child's approximately 5 years old. Please Read and Review!
Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.
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Fear
Rain pounded the land, thunder fought lightening and the wind roared with anger. The castle resisted the assault, her stone walls keeping the angry elements outside. In a large chamber, in a large bed, there laid a small child. The child gripped his sheets. He wept silently.
The child ran from the chamber as lightening filled the room. He continued running, desperate for somewhere, someone, something to take away his fear...
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The storm reached overhead and Merlin cursed. One of Uther's men had told him that the King wanted to speak to his Son. However, said Son was being somewhat illusive. He'd checked the Prince's chamber, the library, the stables, the armoury... heck, he'd even checked Morgana's chambers and his own living quarters! The castle was big, but not that big!
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He kept running. Past guards, past courtiers, deep into the heart of the castle. To the territory of the servants...
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Merlin groaned, if Arthur didn't meet with Uther soon, the King would not be happy. And Merlin did not want to end up in the stocks again. Merlin did something very dangerous (no, not magic, although he was tempted), he thought hard. He had looked everywhere that he expected the Prince to be, so now he should look in places the Prince never visited. He ran towards the kitchen...
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The small boy could hear female voices, full of warmth and laughter punctuated with the sound of splashing water.
"Would you look at this? What has His Lordship been doing?"
"It's better than what I've got, Sir Percy's garment could stand up on its own it's that filthy!"
He ran to the door and peered in.
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"Okay, Okay, I'm going!" protested Merlin as he was unceremoniously dumped outside the kitchen door, "So Arthur wasn't there."
He brushed down his clothes before setting off again. Just where was that prat of a prince?
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He peered around the door. There was a collection of women washing garments. One round jolly lady sang as she worked. The other ladies laughed and joined in. The boy let out a yelp as thunder roared through the castle. Without thinking, he ran to the large woman, grabbing her skirt and burying his head in it.
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Merlin dragged his feet. He was definitely going in the stocks for this. He stopped at the door to the washing room and sighed. 'Might as well collect Arthur's clean clothes while I'm passing,' he thought to himself.
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The ladies stopped singing and stared at the child.
"Cor! Tis the young prince!" Gasped one lady.
"What's he doing here?" Said another.
"Shush!" Said the round lady. She bent down to face the prince, "You don't like the storm, do you?"
The boy shook his head.
"You wanna know something? I hate storms too."
The prince stared at the washing lady.
"I know, why don't you stay here and we'll keep each other company until the storm passes?"
He gave a small smile and placed his hand in hers.
The washer lady led him to a pile of clean blankets and sat him on top. Smiling, she returned to work and her singing, followed slowly by her fellow workers.
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Merlin walked into the room, his jaw dropped. Sitting in the room, talking to the washer women was Arthur. Arthur spotted him and stood up. Merlin somehow managed to find his voice, "Um... the King wants to see you."
Arthur turned and faced the women and said to one plump, jolly woman "See you later Margret." He turned on his heel and marched out of the room. Merlin ran after him, still suffering from shock, 'What on earth was Arthur doing in the washing room?'