Years later, I was sixteen and I was still dating Lance. Nobody knew except for us. We were afraid that if we told anyone we would be killed. So we dated in secrecy. One night Lance and I were having one of our make out sessions by the pond when we got caught.
"Merlin, who the hell do you think you are sneaking out of my house?" My mother said furiously.
"Mom, I, I'm sorry." I said, my face was crimson red, and so was Lance's.
"There is no way to talk yourself out of this one, and who is this boy giving you a hickey? Lance? Well that's certainly not the nice girl that I had always hoped that you would bring back home. Get the fuck up both of you. Lance leave. Go home. You are never to see my son again."
It would be awhile before I saw Lance again. I was so scared what would happen to him. I wondered if my mother would butcher his reputation, or even worse have him executed. All I could remember was my mom dragging me home and she was screaming and yelling all these vicious words at me. I wished she could just accept me for who I am. When we finally got to the house the last thing my mother ever said to me was to pack up my things and never return.
I traveled through Wales for days, maybe even weeks until I came across a castle in the nearby distance. I walked towards it. As I approached I was stopped by two guards.
"What brings you to Camelot?" The guards asked.
"My mother kicked me out, and I've got nowhere to go."
"Very well, you may enter."
Camelot was so much bigger than the Ealdor. It was swarming with knights. I swear they were everywhere you looked. There was this handsome looking blonde knight that I saw harassing a peasant, I thought knights were supposed to be protectors. As I was watching him I realized something. The dragon's last words were that Camelot was where I was supposed to fulfill my destiny. What was my destiny? He also said that one day our paths will cross again. When would that be I wondered, though I did not wish to see him again.
I was turning around to check out the place more when I accidentally bumped into a little old man.
"Oh I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to."
"It's fine kid. I'm Gaius, you are?"
"Merlin, I am Merlin."
"Are you Hunnith's son?"
"Unfortunately, yes I am." By the mention of my mother's name my good mood turned to bad in a matter of seconds.
"Having some family conflicts?"
"You can say that, my mother wants nothing to do with me anymore."
"You may stay with me. I have a spare bedroom that I'd be happy to give you. I must ask, why did you get kicked out of your house?"
"My mom, she caught me kissing my boyfriend. She didn't want a gay son. So she threw me out of the house. Really though thank you for lending me your spare bedroom."
"There's no need." Gaius said with sympathy in his voice.
That was how I met Gaius. He walked me over to his house, and he showed me where I would be sleeping. His place was small but cozy. I couldn't help but notice that there was a rather large supply of herbs and a lot of text books.
"Why do you have all these herbs and text books, Gaius?" I asked curiously
"I am the court physician." He stated rather bluntly.
"Oh. You know it has, been a very long journey and that bed is really sounding great to me right now, I think I might just hit the hay."
"Very well then goodnight Merlin."
That night I had a dream about the blonde boy I saw earlier. He was telling me to get him dressed and clean out the stables. Why would I possibly ever listen to him? He's a prat. Then I went to visit the same dragon that killed my dad. He was telling me that it was my destiny to protect some prince. Then I was back at Gaius's, he gave me this book. It was a book of spells. He said something after but I can't recall what it was. Later in the dream I was with the blonde boy, and we were fighting some weird creature I had never seen before. Then Lance showed up, and I casted a spell on his sword and he killed it. What awoke me was somebody calling my name.
Merlin
I looked up and there was no one there. I wondered who said that. Oh well I'm going back to bed.
Merlin
There it is again! Maybe this is all in my head.
Merlin
Without a thought, I instantly got up and started walking towards the castle dungeons. I had no idea why, but deep down inside of me I felt like there was something I needed to do. Unfortunately for me, when I got down, there the guards were playing a game of monopoly waiting for any intruders so they could block off the passageway. A thought came to my mind, I have magic I can distract them. As one of the guards was rolling the dice to play his next turn I focused on the dice and I moved it half way across the room. "That's weird," they said. As he was about to bend down and pick it up, I made it move again. Once they were chasing after the dice I made my way through the passageway and grabbed a torch.
I walked down the steps in the deepest darkest part of all of the dungeons. I stopped in my own tracks when I came face to face with the dragon with killed my father.
"Merlin I've been waiting for you."
"What are you doing here?" The sight of the dragon just made me tremble with anger.
"The night after I attacked your hometown, Uther sent his knights to capture me and hold me under imprisonment. That's why I need you Merlin. I need you to free me."
"I will never free you in a millions years." With that I left.
MERLIN! He kept yelling at me but I ignored him. I ran back to Gaius's and I ran into my new room and cradled myself in a fetal position rocking back in forth with tears streaming down my eyes. There was a knock on the door, and I figured it was probably Gaius so I told him to go away. He opened the door anyways and it was not Gaius it was the blonde kid from yesterday.
"Hello, my name is Arthur and I'd like to welcome you to Camelot."
"Thanks. Could I have some peace and quiet now so I can mourn in peace?"
"Want to talk about it?" He asked with the sweetest concern. It was so sweet that I blushed in front of him.
"No. Not really."
"I'll leave you be then." He left the room closing the door very gently behind him.
It was odd for a stranger who I really only had a glimpse at to come visit me. A part of me wanted to chase after him and ask him what he really wanted from me, but the other side of me just did not care. My day has already been dreadful enough the last thing I really wanted to do was to make it worse.
It's not just that I was upset with the dragon, or confused about Arthur. It's also that I missed Lance. I can't stand one second without being with him. He was all that gave me hope some days, he was all that made me happy. Being away from Ealdor and Lance is like a stab straight through the heart. I just don't know how I'll manage.
All of my angry and heartfelt thoughts got to me. I cried, and I cried until I finally ended up falling asleep again. The next morning I woke up, and that same blonde kid was at my bedside, looking down upon me in my restful state.