(AN: I'm redoing this story a bit. I hadn't quite realized how long it had been since I last worked on it. I can't promise regular updates, but reviews do inspire me. I hope you enjoy! ;)
Disclaimer: I own nothing Merlin.
No one, no matter how great, can know his destiny. He cannot glimpse his part in the great story that is about to unfold. Like everyone, he must live and learn. And so it will be for the young warlock arriving at the gates of Camelot. A boy that will in time father a legend. His name… Merlin.
Merlin was trying really hard not to be afraid. But it was dark, and the forest path was confusing. His mother had said he should make it to Camelot by nightfall if he didn't dawdle, but... Well, he'd had a really neat idea for a trick he could do with his magic. He was so seldom alone to use his magic for fun, and his mother was always afraid someone would catch him. It was a rare treat for Merlin to be able to use his magic without fear of discovery, so, taking advantage of the solitude the woods provided, he'd spent a little while making fire-pictures of dragons and knights dance through the air, manipulating them as if they were puppets.
By the time Merlin was finished with his game, the sun was close to setting. He remembered his mother's warning, and began running frantically towards Camelot. After a few minutes of sprinting, he stopped in horror. He recognized the twisted, gnarled tree he'd just passed. He'd seen it on his way from Ealdor! He was going the wrong way.
Merlin sighed and continued walking, ignoring the occasional howls and growls from the forest. He pretended he was a brave knight on a quest to a faraway city, and when he got there, he would learn that the city welcomed magic-users! He would be lauded and praised, and he'd be able to help everyone with all of their problems using magic. And-
Merlin froze, shaking slightly. He heard what sounded like a stampede of horses, frighteningly near. He clumsily crouched behind a tree in terror, hoping desperately he wasn't about to be accosted by bandits.
"Come out, Boy, we've already seen you," a voice called out in a lazy drawl. Biting his lip, Merlin decided to stay put. Childishly, he hoped that if they couldn't see him they'd go away. "Come on, then," the man said impatiently, "we're not going to harm you!" Merlin stayed quiet, still ignoring the man. Merlin heard him sigh loudly before briefly conferring with his compatriots. Merlin couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but he knew they were talking about him.
Suddenly, Merlin felt himself being yanked up by his collar.
"Let me go! Let me go you stupid, dirty, no-good... clotpole!" Merlin finished vehemently, struggling fiercely against the man's hold on him.
"Easy, kid. Calm down! We're not going to harm you, all right?" the man holding him said evenly. Merlin stood there, breathing heavily from his short-lived fight.
"You're hurting my arm," he said plaintively after a moment. The man immediately let him go, eyeing him carefully.
"I'm sorry," he said, and he seemed genuine. "I was afraid you'd run off. What are you doing in the middle of the woods at this time of night?"
"I'm meant to go to Camelot, only I got distracted and now it's dark and I don't know which way to go," Merlin said mournfully. "I'm supposed to stay with Gaius to learn a trade and find some work to help Mother but how can I if I can't find Camelot?" The man chuckled a bit.
"You'll return to Camelot with my knights and I," he said lazily.
"Really? I can go with you? Hang on- you have knights? Are you the king?" Merlin babbled excitedly. The man smirked.
"Prince, actually. Prince Arthur of Camelot. And I wouldn't be a very good prince if I left a small boy like you to wander the woods by yourself, would I?" He said in a slightly mocking tone. Merlin knew he was being teased, but he couldn't find it in himself to care too much. He was going to ride with the knights of Camelot.
The ride turned out to be a lot different than he'd anticipated- not that he'd known what to expect. Merlin had expected to ride with one of the other knights, so he was surprised when Arthur told him to mount his horse. Merlin was ecstatic- until he remembered that he had never ridden a horse before, and mounting one was way more difficult than it looked. In the end, the prince had rolled his eyes before grabbing him by the torso and lifting him up himself. He'd placed him up front, so 'he wouldn't fall off.' Merlin had been tempted to protest that comment, but as he was quite literally not out of the woods yet, he stayed quiet.
"So what's your name, boy?" one of the largest nights asked.
"I'm Merlin," the boy said excitedly. He'd been a little nervous, but it only took the one question to put him at ease. "I'm going to stay with my Uncle, Gaius,- he's the court physician, you know," Merlin told the men proudly. "He's not really my uncle, but he and my father were practically brothers, so it's not a lie, Mother said so." Several of the men cracked a smile at this anecdote. Arthur took advantage of the boy's pause for breath to introduce him to all of his knights. Merlin was eager to meet all of them, and any initial misgivings he'd had about his safety were out the window.
"Why are you coming to stay with your uncle, Merlin?" Percival asked the boy some time later. The child was obviously sleepy, and they were all trying to keep him awake so that he wouldn't fall off of the horse. Arthur kept a cautious eye on the boy just in case, ready to grab him if he started to drift off.
"My mother sent me away to apprentice with Uncle," he told them. It was the truth, but only part of it. He was sick of the pity people gave him over his mother. The last few weeks in Ealdor had been miserable, mainly because he missed his mother but also for the mournful, pitying looks the other villagers gave him. He was hoping for a fresh start in Camelot, and he didn't want his first interaction with the people there to be sad.
"Bit young to apprentice, aren't you?" Arthur asked absentmindedly. This time, Merlin couldn't help his indignant reply.
"I'm twelve years old!" Arthur raised his eyebrows. The boy was small and slight, and he looked no older than eight. But given the care he'd taken to explain his relation to his 'uncle,' Arthur doubted he was lying.
"All right, we believe you," Percival placated him. Merlin, however, was distracted by the sight that met him over the next rise.
"Is that Camelot?" he chirped excitedly. At the knights' assent, he squirmed with glee, and Arthur had to grab him by the collar to keep him from falling off the horse.
"Yes, this is Camelot," Arthur replied, with a long-suffering sigh. As they walked through the Lower Town, Merlin peppered the knights with questions. It really was a testament to the loyalty and patience of his men, Arthur thought, that they bore them all good-naturedly and answered the boy kindly. Arthur was relieved when the boy finally stopped- until he realized why he'd stopped. There was a body hanging in the courtyard of the castle.
"Is... is he dead?" Merlin whispered as tears filled his eyes. Arthur winced.
"He... committed crimes against Camelot. He was executed," Arthur said after a moment. To his horror, Merlin began to cry. Arthur gave his knights a panicked look, which most of them returned.
"Look, Merlin, it's... it's complicated. You'll understand when you're older," Leon tried. But the boy wouldn't, or, Arthur thought more likely, couldn't stop.
"It's just so sad," he cried.
"Arthur, why on earth do you have a sobbing child with you?" rang a familiar voice from across the courtyard. Arthur was actually relieved to see Morgana, even while met with her disapproval- she loved children!
"We found him in the woods, says he's come to stay with Gaius. He's upset about- er, that," Arthur finished awkwardly, indicating the body. Morgana's face softened considerably as she approached them.
"Oh, poor child. Why don't we get you a hot drink and some dinner before we find Gaius? You must be starving," she said sympathetically. Merlin dried his eyes before looking uncertainly at Arthur.
"Go on, it's all right," Arthur urged. Merlin continued to stare at him. "What is it?"
"I can't get down," Merlin whispered in a voice that carried throughout the group. Arthur stifled a chuckle, only just now seeing the humor of the situation. Prince Arthur of Camelot, a man trained to kill since birth, playing nursemaid to a wayward moppet! He lifted the boy off his horse, groaning and complaining, but he gave the boy a wink to let him know he wasn't really irritated.
"What's your name, child?" Morgana asked him kindly.
"M-Merlin," he stammered. She smiled warmly.
"Come along, Merlin, I'll have one of the cooks make you a nice cup of drinking chocolate, have you ever had that? It's sweet like cake, I'm sure you'll love it," she told him, holding out her hand. With one last look at Arthur for approval (who gave him an amused nod), Merlin took Morgana's proffered hand and let her lead him back to the castle. Nearly there, Merlin turned back suddenly and stammered,
"Thank you for saving me, Your Majesty." Arthur gave him a dismissive wave and breathed a sigh of relief that the strange little thing was no longer his responsibility. His knights snorted, and one of the bolder ones teased,
"You're quite suited to children, Sire!" Arthur bristled at the teasing, but he had to admit- the child had been sort of endearing.
He wondered idly if he had ever been that way as a boy. Probably not. Morgana wasted no opportunity in telling stories of how beastly he'd been when they were children, and even his father would tell stories of Arthur's famous fits of anger (so he'd flung a chair across the room once, who hadn't?). The boy seemed to have an entirely different worldview than any child Arthur had ever met.
Most children would not be saddened by the sight of a dead body. Frightened, surely, and upset, but not sad. And yet Merlin had shown remarkable sympathy for a man he didn't know...
Or perhaps the boy was just sensitive. His tears had seemed melodramatic, but still, it was something to think on. As he watched the boy enter the castle trailing behind Morgana and her maid, Arthur resolved to keep a distant eye on the boy, if only as a sort of experiment to test how quickly his sheer innocence faded.
"I'm Morgana, and this is my maid, Gwen," Morgana told Merlin kindly.
"Nice to meet you," he mumbled miserably. Gwen gave him a pitying look and patted his shoulder kindly. Both she and Gwen sympathized with him, for not only did they have a tender heart for children, but they too were upset by the man's execution.
The ladies in the kitchen surely picked up on the boy's mood, and were equally determined to cheer him up. Bertha, the head cook, stopped Morgana and addressed him warmly.
"You are an absolute dear! Look at his blue eyes, Susan, if those aren't the prettiest I've ever seen! What's your name, child?"
"Merlin," he answered shyly, blushing. Bertha patted him on the shoulder.
"Well Merlin, any time you want a treat, you come down here and I'll fix it for you, all right?" Merlin quietly said his thanks, still blushing bright red. He clearly wasn't used to the attention.
"Why don't we go find Gaius? You look exhausted," Morgana commented. Merlin was about to protest, but he cut himself off with a yawn. Perhaps she was right. They walked the length of the castle, heading for a tower on the outskirts that seemed to overlook the courtyard. Merlin was glad he'd had help finding Gaius's place, because he never would have found his way on his own.
Merlin knocked carefully on the door. Gaius's chambers were at the very top of the tower, which he thought was pretty cool. He waited for several moments with no answer.
"Just go ahead and open the door, Merlin, perhaps he didn't hear you," Morgana suggested. Merlin did as he was bid and opened the door to find the chamber within empty.
"Uncle Gaius?" he called uncertainly. There was no answer.
"I'll check upstairs," Gwen offered immediately, but even Merlin could tell it was no use. The place was empty.
"I'm sure he's just down in the Lower Town, why, you must have ridden right past him!" Morgana said lightly, masking her own concern. "We'll just ask Uther where he is, then." Merlin frowned.
"Uther?"
"The king," Gwen explained. His eyes widened.
"The king?!" Morgana gave him a gently smile.
"Yes, Merlin, I'm the king's ward. He won't mind my asking after Gaius, I promise you. He considers him a good friend." Merlin nodded reluctantly. Determined, Morgana led the group to Uther's private office. She knocked lightly until he bid her to enter.
"Morgana! What a wonderful surprise," he said, rising to greet her with a smile. He took in her entourage and frowned. "What's this?"
"This is Gaius's ward, Sire. He's come to apprentice with Gaius, but we cannot find him. I was wondering if you knew where he was?" The king's face took on a pained look.
"Dear child, I've sent Gaius to Ipswich. They've had a terrible influenza outbreak there, and he's gone to cure them." Merlin tried to stifle his reaction, but he couldn't help the tears filling his eyes. He'd come so far for a fresh start, and now he had nowhere to go! "Morgana..." The king knew she'd likely want to take the child in anyhow. "Arthur's manservant quit this morning, did he not?" Morgana nodded uncertainly. "Well, perhaps the child could take his place until Gaius returns. Arthur can look after him," Uther said decisively. Morgana's eyes widened.
"Sire, I'm not sure-"
"You can tell Arthur that Gaius has been a loyal friend and servant for many years, and that I'm tired of him firing his servants left and right." Morgana nodded hesitantly.
"Thank you Sire, I will do so," Morgana promised. Merlin was by no means well-versed in manners, especially when addressing royalty, but he felt that he ought to say something as well.
"Thank you, S-sire," he stuttered, bowing his head low. He felt a hand ruffle his hair, and was surprised to see that it was the king.
"Gaius is perhaps my oldest friend, my boy. I will not fail his ward." Merlin beamed shyly at the man before Morgana escorted him out.
"We'll look after you Merlin, of course. We won't let him mistreat you," Morgana assured him.
"Mistreat me? Arthur's very kind," Merlin said, brow furrowing. Morgana and Gwen exchanged a glance he couldn't quite understand.
"No. Absolutely not. I will not."
"Too bad," Morgana mocked. "Uther said he was to be your servant until Gaius returned. And you are to treat him kindly," she said firmly.
"Well, where's Gaius gone? When will he be back?" Arthur asked.
"He's gone to Ipwich to treat an illness there. Uther instructed him to stay until it was in no danger of spreading." Arthur sighed.
"This was your idea, wasn't it?" She rolled her eyes.
"No, actually, it wasn't. I know how cruel you can be, and I wanted to look after the boy myself, but Uther insisted."
"All right, all right. He can be my manservant until Gaius returns. How bad could it be?"