PART I:

THE ELEPHANT PRINCE

"I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none". - Macbeth (Act I, Scene VII).

Chapter One

"Welcome to New York"

Oh, Shit. Merlin thought. This can't be happening.

The entire hall was filled with fancy suits and lavish gowns and dresses. It was full of laughter and smiles and chit chat but Merlin couldn't understand half of them. A small orchestra was playing at the middle corner of the hall ignored by half of the crowd. A few couples danced, laughing and giggling as they swayed to the music looking beautiful as ever. The crystal chandelier glistened from the ceiling and the size of it was elephantine. None seemed to notice the boy, pale and sweating, peeking from the curtains waiting for the time of his introduction, and anyone who saw him would point out that he was sick and was about to puke any moment.

Any minute now, He went back inside and grumbled his thoughts.

Merlin's stomach rumbled. He hasn't eaten for three hours now and the American cheeseburger didn't helped at all. He peeked outside again and he can see all kinds of food spread across a long table. It's more than he can count with all sorts of Spanish, Indian, French and German cuisine with names he couldn't even pronounce let alone know the ingredients on the food. It gave him a headache. Why can't they just translate them to English and in that way, he knew what he's eating.

A loud and obnoxious laughter broke Merlin's train of thought. It's coming from the small chubby guy in his mid-fifties, talking to a couple from a corner. Merlin noticed all the expensive accessories and they seemed too bored from their conversation. "Oh yes, Prime Minister. I hope you and your lovely wife a wonderful evening!" The lady in the purple gown flashed a fake smile.

Plastics. Merlin shook his head and started pacing again.

Merlin was sure half of the hall are full of plastic people just there for publicity. In the past few months, his life has turned upside down and gutted like a fish. He bet half of them just hopped on his royal fame clamoring to be his friend or his best of friend. But with those expensive dresses and plastic surgeries, their intentions might not be as friendly as he thought. These people consisted of royals, local and international celebrities and filmmakers, public and government officials, super rich businessmen and lucky citizens of the country invited to a major feast. With everything that's been happening to him, he can't believe he didn't jumped off to the nearest cliff and drowned himself to death. Though, he chickened out from the thought. Life was such a bitch.

He heard the clinking sound of a wine glass and cutlery. He was sure the man behind the curtain was about to give his speech, and hopefully its long so he could take a breath, and introduce him to the ladies and gentlemen waiting to see him. His contact lenses started to bother him and he missed the feeling of his glasses.

This is it. Every inch of hair on his body rose, his palms sweat. Big moment of my life. His heart pounded fast making it harder to hear the man speak. He's now afraid he might miss his big entrance. Merlin, if you screw this up, I'll cut you. Merlin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then, he heard his call.

"Your majesties and royal highnesses, Ladies and gentlemen, It is an honor to welcome you, Prince Merlin of Ealdor!" The speaker said it with so much enthusiasm and the whole room applauded. It's too late to jump off the cliff now. Shit.

Merlin took another deep breath, and stepped into his public execution.

I.

Six months ago,

New York City.

Spring Break.

Merlin's life might smell like a dead rotting body six months later but this was when the wounds started showing up, the first open flesh of his life, his privacy taken in an instant drowning on the great lakes. Looking back, His life was a melodramatic roller coaster full of non-stop action and suspense and drama straight out of a good Mexican soap opera. At least it's better than Twilight. If he could choose which life to live between six months ago and six months later, he would choose this time of day anytime even if he's bribed with AnnaBelle chocolates, his favorite.

"Merlin, what are you going to wear tomorrow?" Maggie asked.

Merlin turned his attention from the little kids playing from the distance to Maggie, his best friend, as he put his glasses back on his eyes. Central Park has been looking great lately.

"The usual pants, a shirt and a jacket because it's going to be cold," Merlin said with a smile.

Maggie pulled a straight face, "You're killing me." Merlin stared at her with indifference. "Seriously, you're killing me."

Maggie was what you called, a control freak. Super competitive and you could get injured, or worse, killed, in a stare down. But she has a softer side, too. She can't tolerate bullies and she's a super humanitarian as well. She's the one who saved Merlin from the homophobic jocks trying to smash his skull. Maggie came to his rescue and kicked the shit out of them. From that day on, they became best friends for the reason that Maggie wanted to have a gay friend, but Merlin knows that's not it. No one wanted to mess with her. She may be small, but she could rip your head off.

"Isn't that what we always wear?" Merlin had no idea what Maggie was so upset about.

"Boo Boo, Have you heard any of what I just said?" When Maggie's discussion was about planning for something, it went to great detail and Merlin just chose to tune her out and asked Freya later. She paid more attention than he did. It's what Freya called multi-tasking. Freya and Maggie had the same brain. They act alike. And the nickname was annoying Merlin a lot.

"Yeah, I heard everything!"

"Well," Maggie caught on his lie. "I want us to be in a presentable manner tomorrow when we meet the love of our life!" Maggie enthusiastically clapped her hands giggling like a school girl. Freya joined in, too. Both of them have had it for days now.

"The prince," Merlin annoyingly said the word which caused Maggie and Freya to stare at him.

Yes, the Prince. Who could ever forget the Prince. For the past three weeks (felt like a year), Maggie and Freya couldn't help but felt giddy and so excited when they heard the heir of the British Throne was coming to New York City for a charity event, and other activities, for four days. They called him, "The biggest love fish in the Bachelor Pool" and they've been mentioning that nickname for days now. Love Fish. Merlin had only seen the Prince three times. Once on a computer when Freya tried to show him what he looked like and twice in Maggie's room, where she had a life-sized cardboard cutout of him. It was a bit creepy and thankfully, Maggie's Mom rarely let them in her room. She preferred them to hang out in the basement. With the two girls talking about the Prince's great features, Merlin wasn't interested. He may be gay but throwing himself to a Prince, who's surely going to marry a princess or a rich woman for an heir, just didn't click in Merlin's train of thought. He realized he doesn't remember his name.

"What was his name again?" Merlin asked, but it sounded like a mumble but Freya heard him.

"His name is Prince Arthur! Bachelor of the year in Cosmo for three years straight now! Heir to the throne! His blonde hair, His striking smile, His nice ass…" Freya swooned as she thought about the man. Merlin had never seen it before but he realized Freya was the light version of Maggie.

"And his piercing blue eyes and oh, so gorgeous body…seriously, I've seen him shirtless a lot of times now," Maggie trailed in.

"You've seen him shirtless?" Merlin asked, puzzled.

"Of course I have. If you're going to be obsess with someone, least you can do is see him shirtless so you could obsess some more!" Maggie said matter of fact. It didn't sound as a reasonable answer but Merlin just nodded and smiled.

"And don't forget he's going to be King someday. Every girl dreamed to be Queen of the United Kingdom since he's birth, including the elderly." They both laughed at the thought.

"So, Boo, I need you to dress nice. I already convinced Will to do the same." Maggie looked him on the eye. "Boo, promise me that you'll dress super gorgeous tomorrow." It doesn't sound like a request. It's a demand.

Merlin huffed. "We're just standing in front of the airport, wait for him to land, see him and we all get his attention. Then, we follow him to his hotel where we scream some more and then go…" Maggie shut him up with her fingers.

"Still! Dress nice! He might notice me, or Freya or even you! And don't wear those glasses!" She took it out of his eyes as Merlin protested.

"Maggie, he may be a prince but I'm not that gay! And I'm pretty sure he's not gonna notice me. I'm a guy."

"Everyone knows every gay guy throws themselves to the prince!" Freya tuned in saying like it's a fact.

"I'm not one of them."

"Shush!" Maggie pressed her finger on Merlin's lips again, deeper this time. "No arguing. I need my beauty sleep tomorrow. Merlin, we're not just going to stand and see him walk," She said.

"I don't even know what he looks like," Merlin chimed in. the image of Prince Arthur was long gone in Merlin's memory. Like he said, it just didn't click.

"Shush," Maggie pressed her finger hard even more. "We're going to see Prince Arthur up close. I can assure you that." Maggie's smile turned into a smug. A look that consisted of a dirty plan and usually involved him at the middle of it.

"Maggie, what are you up to?" He didn't receive an answer from the blonde girl.

II.

Merlin's Residence.

Merlin's apartment overlooked the great Central Park. His mother, Hunith, and her second husband, George Phillips, chose this location because they wanted to see nature every time they woke up every morning and not buildings. Hunith worked as a florist three blocks down the street. She grew up around in a farm and liked the idea to grow plants and flowers. She's the reason why Merlin was eating healthy and had a good diet. Their apartment was full of beautiful and fragrant flowers handpicked by Hunith herself. Most of their neighbors in the building bought their flowers from her and they went to her for advice to grow vegetation in the mini garden on the roof top. On the other hand, George was a Pediatrician and Merlin admired him on his work. He would also liked to be a Pediatrician when he grew up so that he could take care of children because he adored them. He thought they're adorable and cute and the children felt the same way.

"Hi, Mom." Merlin greeted his mom when he walked in. There was no sight of George, and he thought he may be at work.

"There's dinner in the fridge if you're hungry!" Hunith called from the living room watching TV. Merlin looked at the television for a second and read the headlines. It said something about the Prince coming. The prince, again. America was so obsessed with celebrities and royalties nowadays. He ignored it.

"I already ate on my way here." Merlin walked up behind his mom and kissed her on the cheek. "Goodnight, mom!" Hunith smiled at her son and returned to watched what's going on the television.

Merlin knew that his mother knew that he preferred men when he was five years old. It was her favorite story to tell at the dinner table. The story would go one like this; Hunith noticed that when Merlin gave a flower he picked up on the playground, he gave it to the boy who he just met not an hour ago. And as years passed by, she came to accept his son because she loved him so much. Then, Merlin told her and George, and Merlin liked to think that his step-father handled it pretty well. He suspected that his mom knew about it and it came as no surprise when Hunith hugged him after he told them.

Their home was a two story apartment. It probably caused half of Hunith and a half of George's salary and that's almost in millions. But, Merlin couldn't complain of having a nice home to go to. As Merlin walked up the flight of stairs, he heard the phone rang. He backtracked himself and ran down the stairs and picked up the wireless phone.

"Phillips residence. To whom am I speaking?" Merlin asked. There was a brief pause and Merlin was about to hang up when the speaker on the other line spoke.

"Uh yes, my name's Balinor. Is this the home of Hunith Essetir?" Essetir? Merlin never heard anyone spoke of his mother's maiden name. Could this be someone who knew her when she was young? She hardly spoke of the people back in her home country. Merlin noticed the man has a distinct accent.

"Yes. This is my mother's house. Would you like her on the phone?" There was another brief pause. Merlin was sure he could hear a glass smashed on the floor from the other line. The sound was too familiar every time Hunith was washing the dishes.

"Sir, Are you okay?" Merlin asked, concerned.

"Yes I um…my glass slipped out of my hands. Clumsy me! Yes, I would like to speak to her if I may." The man on the other line chuckled.

"I'll call her. Hold on." Merlin carried the wireless phone into the living room.

"Mom!" Merlin called out. Maybe this friend of hers knows my real father.

Hunith turned around from the sofa and saw Merlin carrying the phone.

"Who's that?" She asked curiously. She got up and muted the TV, now in the channel of a crime show.

"I don't know. A friend of yours maybe. He seemed to know you." Merlin handed her the phone. "Name's Balinor."

III.

A shocked expression crossed Hunith's face. The phone pleading on her hands. For a second, she couldn't believe what she just heard. A part of her wanted to end the call or threw the phone across the room and the other part wanted to speak to the man on the other line. Hunith tried to hide her expression in front of her son. She doesn't want him to be suspicious. Merlin had been asking about his extended family and father because all he's got was his third cousin in Wyoming, an uncle on the other end of the Atlantic, and an aunt and her husband down in Florida. She never talked about her parents or her family history. There's too much blood and carnage that she tried to shield Merlin from the truth. But it's too late. Merlin has caught on her mother's expression and the look on his face told Hunith that Merlin would have a lot of questions to ask.

"Thanks, son. Now go to bed. I'll wake you in the morning." Merlin turned around and moved straight towards the stairs. Hunith watched him as he went.

She has a big apartment and she knew Merlin won't overhear them unless he poked his head in the corridor. Hunith raised the phone toward her ears, took a deep breath and greeted the man on the other line.

"Hello." Hunith tried to fight her emotions.

"Hunith. It's good to hear your voice. I didn't know." The other man on the other line sounded the same way.

"It's good to hear from you, too, your Majesty."

IV.

Up in the Air…

On a Royal Private Jet.

Prince Arthur Pendragon, Prince of Wales, was too distracted talking to his father from the very attractive stewardess five feet away from him. He smiled at her and it melted her away like ice. He loved doing that to women. It almost came as a hobby for him. Princess Morgana has found herself annoyed by her brother's actions and womanizing act. Queen Ygraine also agreed with her. They've seen the prince with many women coming out of his bed chambers and while they did approached the prince about it, he turned a blind eye and by the next week, he did it again. Seven past girlfriends since the age of fifteen and they have come and go with tears on their eyes. The people of England called Prince Arthur a heartthrob, a womanizer, and a heart-breaker. Many have publicized Arthur's conquests on paper in full detail. This received a parental talk between Arthur and King Uther and Queen Ygraine about sex, which Arthur swore scarred him for life and vowed never to remember that day again. Now at the age of nineteen, in his second year of University, the Queen hoped that their talk put a sense into the bloated head of his. His doings had almost caused a few heart attacks to Uther. He knew Arthur was young but that doesn't mean he can be irresponsible to his duties as Prince.

"If we weren't in front of your mother, I can assure you that I would hit you on the head for ignoring me." Uther said calmly.

"What?" Prince Arthur snapped back into reality from imagining the stewardess on his lap.

"Never mind. I can see that you're obviously busy."

"Distracted of what, father?"

"Oh, like you don't know. I've been talking to myself for five minutes blabbering like an idiot." Uther chuckled.

"This is the first time I've ever heard you say you're an idiot, Father." Arthur acted like he's surprised. This was actually the second time. The other one was in Germany during a family vacation when Uther couldn't pronounce the cuisine in front of him. But, Arthur decided not to remind him of that because it was in front of the German president.

"Don't flatter yourself."

Arthur and Uther's relationship was hanging lightly by a thread. The question was when it would snap. They don't get along too well on some occasions, mostly about royal duties and the rest was Arthur's attitude and the shame he brought to the family name by partying non-stop in night clubs with friends and the negative publicity it caused. Uther tried hard educating Arthur about royal duties because he would soon be King. But there's something he can't put his finger on about the young prince. He might think that he's son was all about ego and bravery and all that bravado but with no brain, but there's too much thought every time he saw him in the study hall just thinking and sitting there about a particular thing. He knew Arthur has a fantasy about being normal but Uther knew that he couldn't be. Since birth, he was never normal. He was born of royalty and class. He hoped that Arthur realized that before everything's too late. He lost count of the days when Arthur requested to have a normal day in London when he was just a little boy. But Uther's too scared that someone might harm the boy that he never gave him a chance to venture outside. Since he got his freedom when he turned sixteen, he has been in night clubs more than those trashy American celebrities he saw from Morgana's magazines and television. He hoped Arthur would end his rebellion and act like what's he's meant to be.

"Do you still remember what you promised?" Uther broke the silence between them. His eyes on the newspaper, reading about their soon-to-be arrival in New York. The light and warm atmosphere between them turned cold.

"Yes, Father." Arthur's words were cold and silent.

Uther confronted Arthur three weeks ago after another trip into a club and threatened to halt all his credits and money unless he got some sense of who he was and what he's about to do to the country in the near future. It was a long hard argument that ended up bloody on both sides but Arthur promised his father that he would behave on the trip to New York for the Charity Gala. Arthur wasn't proud of his actions. He's grown tired of being treated as the "Heir to the throne" since birth resulting to a rebellious phase. Rebellion for treating him like a prisoner, for treating him like he's higher than everyone, and for not having a chance to experience the world. He was never given a chance to walk among his people and feel what it felt to be normal.

"This is an important ball, Arthur. A lot of royalties and other people are going to this event. Be respectful this time. I didn't raise you to treat galas and charity events as pick up spots for women." Uther looked at his son who was obviously trying to not look him on the eye. "Besides, there's an auction to raise funds for animals. You love animals, don't you? You can donate money to that or buy something in there. And if I ever heard from the guards that pretty blondes or brunettes have been coming out of your room, I will do what I told you and this time, I won't warn you."

And for this, Arthur hated his life. He hasn't been with a woman for seven months now. And yes, he counted. The sex was great and wonderful, but something was missing. In dating, he enjoyed the company of his girlfriends but ended up breaking the relationship because he felt it's not going to work in the future. There's a part that's missing between him and the girl he's with. There's no spark. No fireworks when he touched and entwined their hands. Well, in sex there was and it's a big atomic bomb after it happened. But as the relationship went on, the sex was different and the erupting volcano just turned dormant the rest of the night.

Sometimes, Arthur just wanted to lie down and closed his eyes and fly somewhere he couldn't be bothered by royal responsibilities and his father's glare.

V.

Merlin's Residence,

Morning.

It was nine AM in the morning and Merlin found himself too lazy to get out of bed. Freya, Maggie and Will were going to barged inside his room any moment. Today was the day Prince Charming landed on the airport and Maggie texted him many times that they couldn't be late or else Maggie would start World War III.

Hee wondered more about who Balinor was and what his relationship was with his mom. Right after the phone call, he asked his mother about him but he was ignored, an old friend back at her home country, Avalon, a phantom place that Merlin have ties to and yet, couldn't bring up a didn't know anything about Avalon. When his mother came to America, he was in her womb. His mother spoke rarely of family members there from time to time but when Merlin asked further, she just told him they're probably dead or didn't really care about her. Merlin always heard his mom talked about bad memories there. He googled search the country many times and it was breathtaking and so beautiful.

Avalon was a small nation sitting between the Netherlands and Belgium and across the U.K., it's the most beautiful thing Merlin had ever seen. Their government was an absolute monarchy, the king still has power over the lands. They held great festivals and other merry occasions. They were one of the most hospitable people in the whole world and the lake of Avalon has been in the 7 great wonders of the world list three times. They're the first country to legalized gay marriage and accept them for who they were. That was in 1999, when nobody thought any country would do such a thing and other countries followed suit. Their neighboring country, the Netherlands, followed. Merlin pressed his mother to visit the country for years but his mother just shrugged and told him that there's nothing there for them. Merlin promised himself that when he got his own money, he would visit the country. Of course, he wouldn't tell his mother that.

Right on cue, Will, who lived four doors down the hall, burst into his room.

"The witches are going to arrive in fifteen minutes." He walked towards the bed and pulled the covers off of Merlin. Merlin groaned.

Will had been his best friend since he was five in kindergarten. Some punk ass bullies tried to bully Will and Merlin stepped in front and stomped his feet. The bully scoffed and walked away and Merlin felt so proud that day and it earned him a friend. After Merlin told Hunith about him being gay, Will was the next person he told and he calmly put down the Xbox controller and said, "You're not going to kiss me, are you?"and Merlin gave him a hard punch. Then, the whole school knew and gay jokes started rolling in. He was quite surprised more stood up for him against close minded people. It gave him hope that not all people are ignorant. It earned him a lot of friends, including Freya, who was his biology partner and a religious person, asking him how it felt receiving it from the behind. But Merlin didn't know because he planned to keep his dignity and self-respect on the long road ahead. He planned to be honorable and respectable since society thought nowadays that gays jumped on the next guy with a glowing, neon-signed disco stick.

"At least five minutes wouldn't hurt, Will." Merlin tried to return to bed but Will already pulled him out of it and handed him a towel.

"Merlin, I don't want my head on a chopping block so you better get ready or…I won't give you AnnaBelle." For a second, Merlin was about to make an insulting remark when he heard AnnaBelle. Ah, it's like music to his ears. He wouldn't argue with that. Without a word, he walked outside his room and entered the bathroom. The moment they're out of this house, Will was going to buy him those chocolates. He bribed him, now he's getting them.

Merlin saw Will smirk, his mission accomplished. Within the next hour, they were off on the street rushing toward the airport.

Yes, Merlin muttered. This is the worst day of my entire life.

Screaming girls…and gays had gathered around the airport entrance. Under the bright rays of the sun, Merlin didn't want to be here. It's too hot and too many fan girls crying for their prince carrying signs and card board cutouts of "Marry me NOW!" or worse, "I could rock your bejeweled pole!" signfrom a red headed girl on the far right. If the prince ever read that, he would be scarred for life.

Freya and Maggie were jumping up and down trying to get a glimpse of the blonde haired prince as he walked out the airport. Merlin couldn't see him clearly thanks to the advice and by force from Freya and Maggie not to wear his glasses. Will was surely not amused. Merlin felt so sorry for Will that he has to put up with Freya pining on her for months now but sadly, Freya hadn't realize that yet. Merlin couldn't wait to grab his AnnaBelle chocolates after this.

Merlin decided to disobey Freya's command to not wear his glasses. He wanted to see the prince in person to see what the fuss was all about and why they're so head over heels and would kill to meet this bloke. He put them on when someone from behind pushed him, and he fell on the ground, his glasses broken, trampled by the feet of the people around him. Shit! He got up again carrying the broken pieces of his glasses and craned his neck to catch a glimpse at the prince but he was too late.

Oh well, Merlin thought. He looks like a prat.

The car drove off. Half of the girls ran to catch it but he saw no point on doing that.

"Did you see him?!" Freya screamed.

"Yeah. He had nice hair." Merlin said. That's the only thing he could see.

"What happened to your glasses?" Maggie asked.

"Someone pushed me and I fell on the ground. My glasses got stomped on. Don't worry, I have a spare back home."

"But did you get a good look at him?" Freya asked.

"No. And thank god I did not see him because he seemed too arrogant and snobbish." he joked. But that was the biggest mistake he's ever said because the two women were shooting daggers at him and Will won't even help.

Freya and Maggie was chit chatting about their encounter with Prince Arthur. It wasn't much of an encounter but an ogling session. The four of them walked toward Will's parked car from a distance. Most of the girls on the crowd started to spread out. As Merlin turned to the left, he noticed two men, a handsome young lad probably in his late twenties in a black suit and in a trench coat and a hulking black man in his mid thirties, standing beside him. They were looking at Merlin's direction. Merlin looked around to find the person they were looking at but he realized that they were staring at him.

"Hey Merlin, you still wanna ride?" Will snapped him out of his thought.

"Of course, you idiot."

Merlin looked back. The two men started to get inside their car. Maybe it's nothing.

"Is something wrong?" Freya asked him.

Merlin just hoped his day would run smoothly. He smiled and shook his head.

Throughout the afternoon, they hanged out at Times Square and had a coffee in Starbucks waiting for Arthur to go to his hotel. Maggie talked about Arthur's plans in his four day trip in New York.

"King Uther and Queen Ygraine are visiting the White House for the second time while Prince Arthur and Princess Morgana are left here in New York for a full day tour around the city but with bodyguards of course. the next two days, they will be visiting two charity events. One is for breast cancer and one is just a Charity Gala for selected causes. Tomorrow would be the breast cancer and the day after tomorrow would be the other one. And the last day, well, I think they're just staying in town for a few hours then leave." Freya spoke so fast, Merlin couldn't understand half of what she just said.

"That means they're going to be around here any minute!" Maggie almost screamed.

"If I were him, I would put on a restraining order of every girl in the city." Will shook his head.

"Why Will? Are you jealous?" Maggie teased.

"Jealous?!" Will shrieked. The three people in front of him laughed. "Merlin, Why are you laughing?"

"Oh Will, even if Freya has Arthur in her heart, There's a tiny chair for you there, too." Merlin earned a slap on the head from the girl.

"Very funny. He's only joking, Will. You know I only see you as a friend." Freya said, oblivious to the pained look Will was suppressing inside him.

VI.

When the young royals toured Times Square, there were hounded by many people. It went too far that they couldn't step outside their car so their trip consisted of only looking at the buildings and other tourist attractions through their tinted car windows. Even paparazzi and photographers crowded their car every time they stopped while the tour guide informed them about the place. Arthur grew annoyed every minute.

"What a lovely building." Morgana pointed at the Empire State Building. "I've seen this in a lot of movies. Right, Arthur?" She turned to him, obviously not listening and not paying attention. The tour guide noticed this, too. Morgana just ignored him.

"Yes, your highness. Used to be the tallest building in the world back in the day."

"I've heard. I read it on the history books." The car started to drive away from the building. "Shouldn't we try and step foot in it?" Morgana asked.

"I'm sorry, your highness, but King Uther ordered us not to leave the car." Tristan, the head of security, informed her. There was a bit of disappointment in his tone.

"That's a shame, really."

Arthur rolled his eyes. Even in vacation, he is a prisoner. He wanted to enjoy the city of New York. It's his first time here and it's a great shame that his days standing on this magnificent city went wasted. His parents won't be back by tomorrow. And he knew Morgana won't make a fuss. Arthur has a plan tonight. He knew all the security details of the hotel he's living in. If he could find a crack from the bodyguards roaming around the corridors, he could slip out into the city and go unnoticed and hopefully, enjoy his stay. And he'd be back before midnight.

"What are you smirking about?" Morgana noticed her brother's deep thought.

"Nothing," Morgana, you don't fool me. Like you don't already know. "Just nothing."

VII.

"Maggie, can we just stop?" Merlin whispered.

"Shush!"

Merlin didn't like this plan, trespassing into the hotel. Since Maggie threw a fit for not seeing Arthur in Times Square, She and Freya went to plan B which usually involved him. Because of his lock picking skills, thanks to a kid in school named Bobby John, he was forced to pick the back door of the hotel where Arthur currently reside. Maggie has bribed the guard but failed. They used Will as a distraction instead and that guard has currently been chasing Will around the perimeter. They slipped in and this is the only obstacle left before they entered the building. In the mercy of these two women, Merlin had no choice but to oblige.

When Merlin finally heard the click, he got up and warned the girls one more time that they could go to jail but Freya and Maggie walked passed through him and entered the building. Merlin finally saw Will.

"Where's the guard?" Will smiled and winked at him.

"Oh, around." Both of them walked inside and locked the door behind them to avoid suspicion.

The four of them stumbled into the kitchen. Most of the chefs and cooks were too busy on realizing four teenagers walking passed them. They entered into a dining area and none drew suspicion on them, too. Everyone thought they were guests. Merlin started thanking Maggie of having the brilliant idea of dressing up like a rich money whore.

"Okay, from Prince Arthur girl dot net, rumors have it that he resides at the tenth story. between room 1030 to 1050. But it was leaked that Morgana's room was room 1041 so maybe Arthur's room is beside or across from that." Freya said. This girl was like a talking Prince Arthur encyclopedia.

"Wouldn't they just stick to a very bigger room? possibly, three rooms connected. maybe?" Merlin added in. "A presidential suite?"

"Boo, that is so smart!" Maggie kissed him on the cheek. "You put your gay smarts to good use."

The four of them went into the lobby and they were shocked to see how magnificent and beautiful it was. A big crystal chandelier shined the whole area and there were a lot of guests trying to check in. Paparazzi and hopeless romantic teenagers were all parked outside the entrance waiting for the prince to come out. It's like a zoo out there. With their attires, they could easily fit in.

This was supposed to be the most lavish and one of the expensive grand hotels in New York and everyone here expected class. Emrys Hotel, named after the great kings of Avalon, had received high praise from its customers and critics and had been used by royals, big celebrities and even leaders of other countries as home for a few days in New York. The building was named after the royal family of Avalon, who currently still rule the land and sometimes visit the place, too.

Merlin caught something on his left corner. He turned around and saw the same men he saw on the airport. The man on a trench coat and the hulking guy next to him were both sitting comfortably with newspapers both on their hands looking like FBI's. They appeared not to have noticed him looking at them. What if they've caught on what the four of us are doing? But that seemed ridiculous seeing they just planned this an hour ago. What if they're CIA? or possibly M.I. 6? But the idea of it was laughable and Merlin came to a conclusion that the two men in black were just ordinary guests in this magnificent hotel. Heck, they could turned out to be doctors or businessmen on a trip here in New York.

The four of them went into the elevator and climbed to the Eighth floor. Freya pushed the tenth button but Maggie insisted that they go to the Eighth. Later on, Maggie admitted she scoped the place out five days before Prince Arthur arrived planning on sneaking on the stairs through the eighth floor to the tenth fearing they'll meet guards on the elevator. As soon as they reached the floor, they sneaked up to two more floors and planned to greet Arthur with smiles. Merlin hoped they don't end up behind bars but he doubt it. Merlin's head swirled with second thoughts. They crouched in front of the door leading to the hallway as Maggie pushed the door open.

"Maggie, Are you sure?" Merlin hesitated.

"Boo! Stop worrying! we're fine! We're minors that means they can't do anything to us." Maggie was no stranger to the law. "Besides, some people do this all the time but nothing happened to them."

"Because they're probably six feet under the earth."

Ahem. A cough. It doesn't sound that familiar. Freya, Maggie and Will were both in front of Merlin and he didn't see them cough. In fact, Freya seemed to have the same expression as Merlin did. The confusion turned to horror when they both realized none of them did it.

Ahem.

The next one was intended and loud. Maggie stopped trying to sneak into the hall and the four young teens slowly turned around to find a guard crossing his arm and glaring at them for eternity.

Maggie, you stink. Merlin muttered under his breath.

The four of them ran for their life.

A/N: I love this story a lot and due to life taking a toll, I have to delete the story for quite a few years. Now, I've decided to revisit this world, continue building it, and published it again. There may be changes on the stories to come because of edits. I do apologize immensely to readers who may have missed this story a few years ago. Without further adieu, Enjoy!