CHAPTER 1 : A PORT IN A STORM
The wind was blowing down the alleyways in the lower city, when a woman dragging a sleepy child reached the inn. Pushing on the door, she finally managed to open it, shoving the child ahead of her. She sought out the landlord and asked for a night's accommodation and if at all possible something to eat. The locals looked up but only saw a weary traveller and resumed drinking.
The landlord's wife came out and said, "Not a night to be out, Dearie. Bring the child and come into the back, there's a fire and some stew. Have you far to go?"
"No, Camelot is my destination and in this weather I'm happy to be out of the wind and the threatening rain."
"No family here, then?"
"No, just an old friend whom I haven't seen in a long time."
"She'll be happy to see you then?"
"Yes, I hope so!" The women looked at her son sitting near the fire and smiled. For him, she would do anything...
The landlord's wife put two bowls of stew on the table. The woman reached over and took one, holding a spoonful out to her boy, "Eat, it will warm you and then you can sleep. Come on, wake up, My Love!"
"Is there enough for two?" the boy asked. His mother smiled lovingly, always seeing if there was enough for her, she'd miss him but she was unable to cope. He deserved better and hopefully she had found a solution, as sad as it might be, to their predicament.
The landlady said, "There's plenty, Love, we have to have food available for travellers and any guards from the castle." The boy's head came up and he looked at her and smiled. She was stunned by his beauty. He'd give some of the local lads a run for their money when he grew up.
When they both had finished eating and were sufficiently warm, the landlady lit a lantern and took them upstairs to a room. The mother immediately said, "We didn't pay for private quarters, I have no more money."
The landlady said, "Dearie, the room is empty, no one will come in later tonight and the communal rooms are too rough and not safe for an unaccompanied lady."
The boy spoke up, "I look after you, don't I, Mam?" His mother smiled.
The landlady ruffled his dark hair and said, "I'm sure you do, young sir, but sleep in here tonight to make an old woman happy." And, after lighting the candle by the bed, she smiled at the mother saying, "Join me for breakfast tomorrow before you go to find you friend."
The boy smiled and ran to bounce on the cot. "Like yours, Mam," he said.
"Hurry up and get in as it won't get any warmer in here if we stand around." The lad curled into his mother's side and fell asleep. She glanced at him lovingly and blew out the candle. He was soon breathing steadily and she ran through her plan for tomorrow. She had to find her friend, put forth her proposal and then convince her son. She knew deep down that she wouldn't be strong enough if he cried out for her.
She finally fell asleep but not before going over all their problems, running away, had really been the only way.
-0-0-
The castle town woke up early, she could hear people in the alleyways. Her boy was still asleep so she got up and looked out the window; it was a lovely April morning. The castle loomed over the town and she marvelled at it remembering the towers and turrets. Below her guards were patrolling and then she heard hoof beats and someone yelled, Messenger!" and a rider went flying by, the horse climbing towards the castle.
Her son, stirred and stretched, she tried to absorb every nuance in his face. Soon, all she would have would be memories. "Time to get up. Wakey, Wakey!" She bent over and gave him a little kiss, he put his arms around her neck.
When she had put out the clothes which she wanted him to wear, he got washed and dressed, complaining as usual that the water was cold. She wrapped his old things in the bundle she carried and together they went down to the kitchen. The landlord's wife was as friendly as ever and gave them porridge with milk much to the boy's delight. She then handed him a piece of bread, in case he got hungry later on.
The mother thanked the landlady profusely, before taking her son's hand and walking him up to the castle. They were passed by three knights in flowing red cloaks on big horses and the boy gripped his mother's hand all the tighter. She stopped to ask directions from a guard and he pointed her in the right direction.
There was a queue which she joined trying to stay inconspicuous. She wanted to be the last person to gain entry. She let women with wailing children go ahead of her and left when her son wanted to drink at the pump.
"Careful, you don't get drowned!" joked a manservant with a bucket. The boy smiled. The man turned to the women saying, "His smile would brighten up anyone's day!"
The women smiled and returned with her son to the queue. It was getting hot and the boy was tired but she had to keep to her plan. Finally there were only two people ahead of them. The old man was helped up the stairs and still they waited, the women in front finally carried her baby in and it would then be their turn.
They mounted the spiral staircase and stood in the corridor. The baby had stopped crying and she could hear a sympathetic voice coming from the room. The door opened; the lady walked out smiling.
The mother took a deep breath and walked over the threshold. The court physician turned and the little boy caught his eye, he said, "...and whom do we have here?" He put his hand on the boy's head and his whole universe was jolted. Finally, he caught his breath, he looked up at the women and said, "Hunith?" and she burst out sobbing.
Her son looked at her in dismay and stood in front of her, between the stranger and her. She said to him, "It's alright, Merlin, Mam's a little tired that's all."
Gaius walked over and put his arms around her leading her to a chair by the fire. The boy was standing in front of the leech tank mesmerised. He left him there and swung the kettle back over the fire and fetched two mugs. Hunith had composed herself sufficiently, that it was no longer apparent to her son that she was still upset.
"Gaius, we're in trouble. I can't keep him safe any longer. He doesn't understand. The villagers no longer trust me as a healer, they think he's the devil and have threatened to report him to the soldiers the next time they come through. Gaius, he does nothing wrong, just little things to help people but they are frightened."
"...and are you?"
"No, he's my sole reason for living, I love him so much and understand it but I am afraid, that he will be taken."
"He's very powerful, Hunith. When I laid my hand on his head, I saw things which still shock me. Such power in one so young is unusual. Has he received any training?"
Hunith smiled even though the tears were still wet on her cheeks. "He was born with it. As a little baby he loved rabbits and when he was in bed with me, he would smile and then we would have all these magical rabbits on the bed with us. As he grew older, he started lighting the fire for me, always with a little duck of his head and a shy grin, as if he knew that it was a secret but sharing it with me, none the less.
"I have to watch him continually even when we are alone, as we must have the cleanest house and the quickest cooked meals in the village. But one day, a kid fell in the well, the goat herder was furious as someone had left off the cover and goats being goats, the kid had jumped up thinking that it was a rock. He fished it out of the well and its tongue was blue. He dropped the body on the ground. Merlin saw the whole thing and before I cold stop him he'd lifted up the kid and held it, smiled at the man before putting it on the ground where it shook itself and ran off to its mother." Hunith was again getting upset.
Gaius said, "It's very hard for you, I can see but..." He looked down and his floor was being magically cleaned and the tables and shelves dusted. Gaius walked over and barred the door. He said, "Merlin, don't do that, come and sit with us instead. Do you like apple juice?" He made a relaxing drink for both Hunith and himself and watered down some sweet apple cider for the boy.
Merlin took to Gaius almost immediately and liked to hold his hand. He smiled as he told his Mam that he could feel little tingles in Gaius's hands. "Why don't yours do that, Mam?"
Gaius smiled and said matter of factly, "Because we're boys and your Mam is a girl." Hunith looked at him and nodded. She knew that Merlin had picked up on something which Gaius had kept hidden for a long time.
At lunch, Gaius went to the kitchens and got enough for all of them. He explained after lunch that he had some rounds to do in the castle and that they should stay but in case someone came for him, they should go up the little stairs and wait for him in the little store room.
Merlin liked the little room and quite happily said, "Mam, I could stay here, there's a cot for me and you can sleep in the main room with Gaius."
"Well," said Gaius, "I think that might be a good idea for tonight. Now, you wait for me and be good Merlin, I want to find no surprises when I come back."
Merlin looked at him seriously and said, "I promise...no cleaning, no fire lighting and maybe only one rabbit."
"Hunith, there is a little enclosed private courtyard off this room, so if his lordship wants to play with rabbits maybe out there would be a good spot. I should be back within a few hours. The prince has a cold and isn't cooperating with his manservant and nursemaid. I also have to look at a sprained arm for one of the young squires," he laughed, "Boys will be boys!"
-0-0-
Gaius checked on Arthur first. Arthur's manservant Charles, let him into the royal chamber and nodded his head to the prince who had a cold and felt rotten. "He's not a happy camper, Gaius, and driving poor Libby batty. Had to get her as I couldn't do anything with him, poor mite, when you're feeling sick you really need your mother or in this case a substitute."
"Don't worry, Libby was with him as a youngster, she'll know how to get the best out of him." He walked over to the young lad, bundled up by the fire, leaning against his nursemaid who had her arm around him. He did look under the weather.
"So...Arthur, not feeling great today?"
Arthur looked up to him hearing the sympathetic voice and sniffed, "Daius, I can't breave. My dead hurts and I ache all dover. Have you anyding to make me bedder?"
"Well, I certainly intend to try! Sit up, let me listen to your chest." Arthur complied, pushing the nursemaid out of the way as she tried to help him. With Gaius in the room, he didn't want her fussing even though minutes ago, he had appreciated all her attention. Big boys had menservants, the king had said not nursemaids.
Gaius smiled. Arthur's upbringing had been different from the average child's. For one thing he was a crown prince and for another motherless, actually for all the interest the king showed in him, fatherless might also be qualify. Nursemaids had raised him under the close supervision of the Lord Chamberlain, not the best life for a growing boy. He was isolated from the other children in the castle and had no idea how to talk to anyone. Apart from the times, when he was with Gaius or his tutor Sir Martin, his life was one of giving commands and having his orders carried out.
He did get respite from this when he was with his riding master Sir Richard, who treated him more like one of his own children, while still being respectful of his position. He'd asked on numerous occasions, permission to allow the crown prince to play with his younger boys, pages. There were approximately the same age but the Lord Chamberlain always overruled the request, even though Gaius was in favour of it, feeling that it would do the prince good to learn to interact with someone his own age, learning how to share and argue and not always getting his own way.
Respecting Arthur's desire to be considered a proper boy, he dealt with Charles when he was discussing the medications he wished the prince to have. Libby smiled and nodded, they'd been through this before but more often than not, she was the one who administered the doses to the nine year old.
"Well, young man, once you begin to feel better, I think you might take time from your studies and spent some time with your horse and Sir Richard."
"As soon as I feel bedder?"
"Yes, if Charles agrees that you are well enough. Maybe tomorrow, you could take a walk down to the library and back. Not good to spend all your time cooped up in these rooms. Now, try to have a little supper and a good night's sleep and you might be feeling like another prince tomorrow morning."
Arthur laughed thinking, 'How could he feel like another prince as he wasn't too sure if there were any other princes?'
The squire turned out to be easier to deal with and Gaius told him to rest his arm, no training, no riding and no wrestling and fooling around with the others. As he said it, he thought of Arthur, he wouldn't even know what fooling around with another boy of his own age meant. He had to do something to broaden the prince's life without running afoul of the Lord Chamberlain.
He delivered his other medications and visited the new baby of one of the knights and his wife. A strong healthy boy, Gaius was pleased for them especially as his father was already talking about his becoming a knight in twenty-one years. He smiled at the young mother who shrugged her shoulders and smiled back knowingly.
Eventually, all his visits done, his steps quickened as he made his way back to his quarters and his two guests. Just thinking of Merlin made his heart race, such potential, such ability, such a wonderful child. Then he thought of the boy's mother, who had been worried enough to seek him out after all these years. He could tell she was very stressed. He hoped that once he found out what her intentions were, he would be able to alleviate her worries and advise her in dealing with Merlin in a manner which would benefit the lad.
Not wanting to barge in on them, he tapped politely on his own door, announcing himself. No response, he opened the door barring it behind him and seeing the empty room went up the stairs to the little store room and found Hunith asleep on the bed next to a lovely bunch of flowers.
He felt sure that the boy couldn't be far away and opened the courtyard door to a veritable animal nursery. There were chicks and ducklings, kittens and puppies, a kid, a calf and a colt. Seated in the middle of this adoring audience was Merlin, holding a rabbit and a fox cub. Gaius listened in...
A very grown up discussion ensued between the rabbit and Merlin, "I realise, you want to run away but with me there is no need to be frightened. Like my Mam does, I will keep you safe. ...and you Master Fox, you have to be gentle if you want to visit us again. Do you both understand?"
Gaius was stunned. The calibre of a spell needed to materialize a variety of living things was very advanced, reputedly an ability which only the highly trained and exceptional warlock could muster. Here in front of his eyes was a child who possessed it innately. Gaius was astonished.
"Merlin, lad," he said quietly.
The boy looked up horror stricken, "Don't tell my Mam, she would be disappointed in me. I had promised to be on my best behaviour but the garden is secret, she is asleep and I was lonely." Slowly, the animals seemed to become nebulous and faded away all except the rabbit and the fox which he was still holding."
Gaius moved slowly and sat on the bench just outside the door. He smiled, saying , "I'm pleased to see all your friends. Tell me, if you don't mind, do you always bring back the same animals or are they different ones, each time?"
Merlin looked up and grinned, Gaius liked his animals and wasn't cross. "That depends, Gaius..." Gaius could hear Hunith's intonation and voice as the boy spoke. "...Knightly here," he lifted up the rabbit, "usually comes as he is my favourite but some of the others are just what I imagine at the time."
Merlin put the fox down and it disappeared in a haze. He stood up and walked over to Gaius sitting beside him on the bench and handed the rabbit to him. Gaius took it and it struggled. Merlin said, "Now, Knightly be good, this is our friend Gaius." He looked up adoringly at Gaius who smiled down at him and that was how Hunith found them as she walked into the garden.
"I thought, I heard voices. He isn't being a nuisance is he?" Gaius shook his head. "Don't you think that it is now time for Knightly to go. Maybe, Gaius doesn't want a rabbit in his courtyard..."
"Oh, Mam, Gaius liked all my animals, didn't you, Gaius?"
"Well, I was rather partial to the little fox!"
"Oh, Merlin...!"
"No, Hunith, it was a wonderful experience and an ability of which I am in awe. Merlin, we can have a visit with them another day, can't we?"
Merlin grinned at the man who wasn't upset and leant against him as he smiled up at his mother.
Gaius stood and Merlin put the rabbit down and it dematerialised. The three of them walked back into the court physician's quarters.
"As the day is not over, how would you like a little tour of the castle? We can go into the main courtyard and we might even find some knights and horses."
Hunith said, "Why don't you go with Gaius, Merlin, and I'll stay here and make us something to drink?"
"But you'll miss all the fun!"
"No, I have been here before and I think you two men, would have a nicer walk without me."
Merlin looked up at Gaius checking that it was alright with him and then said, "We won't be long will we?"
"No, if you get bored, we can come back sooner."
Hunith held her son to her in a hug and said, "Have a nice time and behave yourself, be obedient and do whatever Gaius tells you. You are very precious to me so I wouldn't want anything to happen to you."
Gaius opened the door and the two of them walked out, Merlin seeking out Gaius's hand as they descended the stairs. Camelot was big and he didn't intend to get lost...