Arthur woke up to the light streaming through the window onto his face. He waited for Merlin's usual cheery voice to loudly exclaim, "Rise and Shine!" Except it never came. This was Arthur's first warning that something was wrong, but he ignored it and pulled his blanket closer to himself. When he still did not hear his servant's voice telling him to get up, or feel him tugging the sheets off the bed, he realized that something was definitely wrong. He rolled over and sat up, only to groan at the face he was met with. "George."
"Good morning sire. I-" he began but was quickly interrupted by a highly annoyed and confused prince.
"Where is my manservant?" Arthur announced, as he began to clamber out of bed.
"He is could not attend you this morning sire."
"That is plenty obvious. Why can't he? Is he ill?"
"I do not know sire."
Arthur had already thrown on some more decent clothes and had made his way to the door. As he opened and left George quickly followed him. "Sire you have not eaten br-"
"I know." Arthur growled at him. "Now leave me alone." He quickened his pace even as George turned around and went back into the prince's chambers to clean.
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Arthur opened the door without a second thought. He was about to shout for Merlin when he noticed Gaius sitting at a table with a sad look about his face. "Sire, how can I help you?"
"You can help me by telling me why Merlin could not attend to me this morning." Gaius could tell that the prince was annoyed.
"I am afraid, sire that Merlin is not here."
"Well then where is he? And when will he be coming back?"
"I don't know where he is. He received word of a situation concerning his family and he had to leave immediately. He was not sure when he would be able to return." Arthur could not help but notice the worried look that passed over Gaius's face.
"A situation? What happened? Is Hunith alright?"
"Last I heard she was fine, however that is not the family I am referring to."
"I was unaware he had other family besides his mother. At least that he was in contact with."
"Merlin has a very large family, and he does not talk much about them. It is not surprising he has not told you. I doubt he has told anyone."
"Oh." There was an uncomfortable silence for a while during which Gaius wondered if he had revealed too much to the prince. His thoughts drifted to Merlin. Wondering where he was now, and what he was doing, until the silence was broken. "Uh, right, well then, thank you Gaius." And with that Arthur left thinking about Merlin and realizing that he really did not know anything about his servant's past and family.
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Merlin had finally made it to the Valley of the Fallen Kings. He looked up to the trees and whistled. Out of the thick foliage came Níl who landed swiftly on his outstretched arm. He smiled and brought up a piece of meat he had grabbed before leaving, and gave it to the bird. Merlin waited for him to finish eating it before saying anything again. "Alright Níl, I need you to find Ileana." The falcon seemed to be thinking for a minute before jumping up and flying ahead a few feet before landing on a nearby tree branch. Merlin followed and as he got closer Níl repeated the same move. Merlin watched closely being sure to not miss the quick movements. He knew that soon enough he would be seeing his friends once again.
