NOT MADE FOR PROFIT! ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO THE BBC!

Fare you well

Chapter One

Silently hundreds of raindrops made their way down the window surface. Arthur stood in front of the window and watched them as they did so. He sighed heavily. It had been raining for days now and it didn't seem to stop. He didn't know how and why it all had happened. It just had, and he

couldn't change it any more.

Merlin has gone.

He still expected his clumsy manservant to bounce into his chambers without knocking, and asking if Arthur wants him to do something. But that was in the past and the prince had to look ahead now. Had to keep going on without his trusted friend. "Arthur?", a concerned voice asked behind him. "Are you all right?" The prince turned around to look into Morgana's worried eyes. He wasn't able to answer, he just stared back. Then she reached out for his hands. " Whatever it is... you can tell me. You know you can trust me, don't you?" Arthur nodded. " I do." He forced a little smile to touch his lips. " All right. You know where to find me, just in case you want to talk." Morgana turned to go, but before she'd reached the door of Arthur's chambers she looked back for the last time. "And Arthur? I understand you're a little upset about Merlin's sudden leaving, but it has been his free choice. Don't blame yourself, it's not your fault that he's gone!" Morgana gave him a last hopeful gaze and left the room.

"You are wrong, Morgana." Arthur said under his breath. "You can never understand."

The day after the rain began to soften a little. So the young Prince tried to remove all the bad memories from his head and concentrated on his daily outdoor sword practise . He succeeded actually; until the moment he saw the Court Physician Gaius in passing, probably in quest of new herbs, he always needed to make his potions and remedies. Arthur didn't know anything about this stuff. But something else caught his attention. The old man was pale and it seemed as though he was troubled. The Prince also knew what it was. Merlin. Gaius was worried about Merlin. He hadn't returned back to Camelot for days now. Since that heavy rain had begun.

"How are you getting along, Arthur?" His father, King Uther, asked when they were having dinner together. "What do you mean?" Arthur was obviously a little confused. " With finding a new man servant, of course. Is there someone you could imagine to hire, yet?" Yeah, right. How could he forget? " No... they're all just... boot lickers. And they all would jump out of the window without hesitating if I told them to. But I'll keep searching." Arthur answered quickly. He wasn't in the mood for long explanations. Uther nodded. "You'll better do this."

This night Arthur had a nightmare.

It was still raining heavily and the young Prince began to wonder whether even in his dreams this damn rain was chasing him. He was in a forest. And he recognised this place as the DarkForest south of Camelot where he sometimes was used to go on a hunting trip with Merlin. Arthur cringed at the thought of his erstwhile manservant.

He began to make his way through the closely standing trees, at first hesitantly, but then it seemed as though a strength pushed him forward. It led Arthur to a clearing. That place seemed pretty familiar to the young Prince. He'd been on this clearing just recently. Suddenly somebody yelled his name.

"Arthur!"

Surprised he turned around, but he wasn't able to see clearly through the rain. But the Prince was sure he knew this voice.

"Arthur!"

There was this voice again. "Can't you see me? I'm right here!" Arthur swung around. There was nobody. "Who are you?" The Prince shouted into the nothingness. "Now, now! You've forgotten me that quickly?" Now it sounded like this someone, whom the voice belonged to, stood directly behind Arthur's back. Finally the Prince rolled over... and recoiled at the sight that was now revealed to him.

"Surprise!"

I'm sorry if there are some mistakes in it. I'm not a native english speaker, but I'm doing my best :)

I will update soon!