Disclaimer: I don´t own the characters of the series.
Warnings: This is an AU. I know some history but tend to be "creative" while writing. Also my general knowledge is in Spanish and gets lost in the translations ;)
Thanks to Fantasyy-Freak, MidnightSky101 and Winchester-Jackson-Petrelli for all their help.
The remaining mistakes are all mine.
.*.Introduction.*.
Two individuals hid in the shadows of the old castle. They scurried through an unused tunnel and ran to the outside of the fortress. After a while the younger of the two stopped and tried to catch her breath while waiting for her companion.
"Don´t wait for me, milady." said the oldest catching up.
Princess Merewyn huffed in a very unladylike fashion, "You are coming with me Hunith. I can´t risk father finding out that you helped my escape… he would kill you!"
"But I´ll slow you down!" tried the princess´ nanny.
Shaking her head the princess instructed, "Come on Hunith, we have to hurry!" and reassumed moving, but at a slightly slower pace so her nanny could keep up.
.*
The two shadows kept a hasty stride through the forest, whilst getting away from the castle. As morning approached, they changed course to the frontier of the kingdom, finding the cave where Hunith had stashed their traveling packs.
"Here milady, have some water."
"Thanks Hunith," said the princess taking the water-skin, "We´ll rest for a moment. We need to cross the border before my father block the roads." She took a few sips and passed the water to her nanny.
Hunith nodded her head in thanks and gladly accepted the cool liquid.
Merewyn started unpacking the supplies to find a change of clothes for the journey. "We need to get to Ealdor and settle there, before word of my escape reaches that kingdom."
"Don't worry, milady. We can be there in three days," Hunith said while helping to prepare the clothes, "and the enmity between the territories would slow the news from spreading for a week or so." she unwrapped a small bundle and turned sadly to the princess, showing her the scissors in her hand.
The princess closed her eyes and breathed deeply. When she opened them again she looked determined. "I don´t like the idea of cutting my hair… but it is necessary if I´m going to pass for a male commoner, isn´t it?"
Hunith gazed tenderly at the young princess, "Yes milady, if we want the disguise to work we need to chop your hair close to the scalp."
Gulping, Merewyn sat in front of her nanny. "Just not too close, please. My ears look bad enough when I cover them, I don´t want to think how they would look with short hair… they would look enormous!" she said pessimistically.
Hunith smiled a little at the old complaint.
.*
Merewyn wasn´t a spoiled princess; She was compassionate and always tried to help her people, but she was a princess and had been pampered all her 15 years of life.
Even if she had grown up in her father´s castle, being educated in their customs by the best teachers, had always wearing the finest gowns, and could have become a very spoilt young woman; however the princess had remained a kindhearted blossoming young woman.
Her only recurrent complaint: her dislike for her own ears.
.*
It was with a heavy heart that Hunith started cutting Merewyn's beautiful ringlets, remembering all the times she had helped the princess get ready for a feast or a festival, or when at night she had brushed the silken locks before the princess retired to sleep.
After the new hairstyle was done, Hunith helped Merewyn out of her dress; they bandaged her upper chest so it looked completely flat, and swapped the dress for peasant clothes and footwear. The disguise was completed as Merewyn cast a light glamour on herself to rough a little her facial appearance.
She was young and had just starting ^developing^ so the light alteration was enough to look like a young boy and to conceal her femininity.
.*
As they continued their hurried journey, the princess fell down a few times.
"Are you hurt, milady?" asked Hunith after a nasty-looking fall.
"Not really, but I have managed to scrap my knees and hands," hissed Merewyn, "I thought that the breeches would make it easier to run in the woods."
"I think the problem is the shoes, milady." reasoned Hunith. Using the excuse to rest a little, she sat next to the princess and examined the footwear.
"Well, I think they are too soft for this ground and maybe too big for my feet," accepted Merewyn trying to tighten the straps on the shoes.
Giving up on the straps, she turned to her nanny, "You also need to stop calling me ^milady^ and start calling me Merlin, remember?"
"Yes mi… Merlin" sighed the older woman.
"So, ^mother^, we are almost at Ealdor, aren´t we?"
"Yes, Merlin… Almost."
.*
Merlin and Hunith arrived at Ealdor; to the house that Hunith´s cousin had prepared for her and her son, and settled in. Hunit would have a good life in the small town.
A few weeks later Merewyn, now known as Merlin, was ready to leave for Camelot, having mastered her disguise to an almost innate level.
.*
"I´m not happy with this part of the plan," argued Hunith for the tenth time, "Camelot is too dangerous for somebody like you. You barely notice when you do magic and…"
"Hunith… mother" interrupted Merewyn, "that´s why I should go there, father would never think to look for me there… and your uncle agreed to give me a place to sleep."
"Yes, he´s a good man and… I´ll write to him and let him know a little about your gifts .He´s also the court physician, so he can help you with any other issues" at this Merewyn blushed a little remembering the talk that about now being a woman that her nanny had had with her a few months before.
Unaware of Merewyn's wandering thoughts, Hunith continued, "I´m sure he would help you to at least restrain your magic." She finished and went to write the letter.
.*
A few hours later Merewyn, with her disguise of a male peasant firmly in place, started her new journey toward Camelot.
.*
When she finally arrived, the first thing she saw was an execution and a mother swearing revenge to the king and his offspring. Greatly shaken, Merewyn went in search of Gaius.
By asking the guards of the castle she found Gaius´ quarters relatively easily, and after a little incident that involved saving Gaius´ life using magic, Merewyn gave him the letter from Hunith.
The old man took a seat and gestured to her to do the same.
.*
From the letter Gaius learned of her innate ability to do magic, the entire story of her running away from her kingdom, and the reason of the disguise as a male while traveling.
"Do you understand that I´d have to treat you as my ward and not as royalty?" he asked her.
"I understand" she answered.
"I´ll always call you Merlin, so I would not mistakenly call you another name in front of people" he pressed.
"I'd appreciate it" said Merewyn, glad that Gaius had understood her plight.
"I could also use a hand with some of the cures I brew." Gaius said, wanting to know if she would accept to help him.
Merewyn smiled, "Of course, it would be a way to earn my keep, wouldn´t it?"
Gaius blinked at that, "It would help me, so, in a manner, yes, it would be a way to ^earn your keep^" He hadn´t expected the princess to take it so well, but she continued smiling.
He cleared his throat, "you´ll have the room up there" he said pointing to a door, "It's not as spacious, but that way you´ll have privacy even when I have a patient here."
"Thanks." She took her pack to her new room.
That night she enjoyed the sights from her new chambers´ window, and sighed remembering the view of the "Kingdom of Falcon" that she had enjoyed from her tower at her father´s castle.
"Merlin" called Gaius from the main chamber just before he retired to sleep.
She looked out the door, "Yes?"
"Tomorrow morning I need you to do some errands for me, ok?"
"Of course sir, I´ll love the chance to know the city and some of the people." she said and went to bed thinking about all that she could do now in her new life.
*tbc*
*Next chapter: Merewyn meets the Camelot lot…*
A/N: Hope you liked this story and leave a review.
Please be kind; English is not my first language.
.*.*.*.