Merlin heaved the basket back into his arms. He was almost done with Gaius's herb collecting and was ready to head home.
Emrys... A voice said in his head.
Emrys...
There it was again! Where are you? The warlock replied.
I am here, the voice said, but this time he felt a direction like when the dragon had called him. The voice, from the sound of it a woman, called his name again. Merlin followed the sound of her voice.
He came to a clearing. He was about to go through when he heard the cry of a baby.
"Mam, he's cwying again!" A young boy said.
"Shh, shh," A woman shushed the crying child. "It is alright Arthur." That voice? Could it be?
Merlin followed the new voices, heading to his left. After a minute or two he came to a small secluded campsite. In the small space he saw five young men, one was wearing Camelot's colours, another Cenrid's and yet another Mercia's. Each of the Elder five wore a different Kingdom's colours.
The five younger, one girl and four boys, all wore a white gown of some description. The eldest had bright orange hair and was obviously going to have some height when he was older. This boy wore a blue bow around his collar. The next was a dark haired, still slightly orange-y, boy. He was rather short, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be taller when he was older. This boy had a lamb at his feet and wore a red bow, Merlin swore he saw a red dragon peek it's snout out from the boys hair. Next were the boy and girl, obviously twins, both had dark hair and both wore a clover in it. Their bows were orange-y red. The girls slightly redder than the boys.
The youngest was blonde. The same blonde as the king. Instead of a bow he wore a druid green cloak. In his tiny hands he clutched a bow, which Merlin was sure he could shoot - no matter if he was only a few months old-, and a book of magic.
The mother of all ten stood by a small tent, that looked far too small for even herself let alone her 9 sons and daughter, she wore a green cloak that looked like an enlarged version of her youngest son's cloak.
Looking at each again, Merlin noticed it wasn't only the youngest that held a weapon and book of magic, each member of the large family held one. Another thing Merlin noticed about the family was, despite the varying hair colour, each had strikingly green eyes and overly thick eyebrows.
The oldest stood around their mother and the younger four, with the youngest in his mother's arms. "Emrys!" The mother said. "My name is Britannia and these are my sons and daughter."
The eldest of the ten children looked at Merlin. Merlin swore he had seen this boy somewhere before. "My name is Camelot, but you know me as Sir Brenis."
"You're Camelot?" Merlin asked. "As in the Kingdom?"
"Well Gawain was right!" Camelot said running a hand through his dusty-brown hair. "You are smarter than you look."
"Percival broke your wrist?" Merlin said. "Percival broke the wrist of his kingdom?" Merlin looked confused. "Does that count as treason?" The five kingdoms, as Merlin now realised, laughed at the question.
The first to recover, Mercia from the colour of his clothing, said, "I suppose it should! As you have probably guessed by now, I am Mercia."
"I am Essetir, Merlin," The one in King Lot's colours said. "Your father's death saddened me greatly."
The other two identified themselves as Meridor and Aliend's Kingdom.
The oldest of the younger five said "My name is Alba!"
"I'm Cymru!" Said the next oldest.
The twins said "We're North and South Airlann!"
"Okay, and what about this little guy?" Merlin asked.
"Albion!" The little boy said. Merlin lost the ability to think briefly.
"This little boy is what I am supposed to help Arthur unite?"
"No," Britannia said looking at Merlin. "You are to unite them." She pointed to the oldest five, who were currently at each other's throats. "Until they are united Albion will be little more than a savage beast."
Merlin felt a long explanation coming along so he said, "Should I get comfortable or is this not going to take long?"
Britannia laughed. "Merlin, follow me." She turned on her heel and entered the tent. Merlin, as instructed, followed.
Once he entered the tent he gasped. Inside the tent was at least 10 times bigger than his room at Camelot and it even had separate rooms!