A week passed and Merlin was loving the new town he was in. He loved the smells from the many shops in the marketplace, and also he enjoyed looking at the different people. Reluctantly, he left his solitude and walked up to the big castle to find his friend with the light colored hair.
He followed his gut and found the boy watching the knights train. Merlin approached and tapped him on the shoulder. Arthur turned and smiled.
Arthur waved at the boy and pointed to the knights. He stood straight and poised and pointed to them. Merlin brought out his toy figurine and pointed between it and the real knights. Arthur nodded and stood straight and poised again. Merlin frowned and pretended he was unsheathing a sword and blocking with a shield. Arthur nodded and copied Merlin. Merlin beamed and did it again, nodding his understanding. Arthur then pointed to himself and the knights after. Merlin raised his eyebrows.
"I will be a knight." Arthur said as he used their new sign for knight and pointed to himself. Merlin laughed.
"Sire!" Arthur turned and saw Gaius walking toward them.
"I have come up with an alphabet for Merlin." Arthur smiled and pointed to Gaius and then back to the castle.
Merlin followed the old man back toward the chambers he had been sleeping in. When they arrived, he sat in the chair closest to the fire and watched as Gaius placed a book in front of him and Arthur. Arthur looked at the pictures.
"So, I have drawn handshapes for an alphabet. Since Geoffrey has not found nay information on a language for the deaf, I think this is a good place to start." Arthur looked at the handshapes and started to mimic them. Merlin was watching the prince curiously.
"Gaius, how do you spell my name?" Arthur asked. Gaius had a blank journal and he wrote "ARTHUR" neatly. Arthur looked and started to spell his name. He looked at Merlin when he felt confident and pointed to himself. He spoke, "I am Arthur." And he fingerspelled his name. Merlin followed Arthur's hands and looked at the book, trying to match the handshapes to Arthur's. He let out a frustrated groan and looked at Gaius. Gaius sighed and pointed to the "A" and showed it to Merlin. Merlin copied immediately. He continued with all the letters in Arthur's name and Merlin continuously followed and copied. He looked at Arthur after 10 minutes of looking at Gaius' hands and fingerspelled "Arthur." Arthur nodded and pointed to himself. Merlin fingerspelled it again and smiled.
Gaius beamed, Merlin had the connection. He watched as the black haired boy eagerly looked at Gaius again. Gaius then pointed to himself and fingerspelled, "Gaius." Merlin spent only 5 minutes with Gaius name before he had it. He looked at Arthur and signed his name. Then Gaius and signed his name. Merlin pointed to himself with eyebrows raised.
Gaius pointed to Merlin and fingerspelled "Merlin." Merlin's eyes grew huge as he copied the old man with excitement. Merlin looked at Arthur and waved, pointed to himself, and signed his name. Arthur smiled at his friend.
"I see that he will learn quickly." Gaius said as he watched the boy look around the small room and point to things, wanting Gaius to spell them. Gaius looked at the fire and spelled "fire." Merlin spelled it, but frowned. He looked at how the fire acted, it went up and down, and would fade away. He brought his hands up and tried to mimic the way the fire moved. He turned and pointed to the fire then showed his new sign for it. Arthur copied and so did Gaius.
Suddenly, the door banged open and King Uther himself was standing in the doorway. Merlin looked at him in fascination, while Gaius bowed. Arthur looked everywhere except his father.
"I have been looking for you Arthur." Uther said with no emotion. Arthur looked sheepish. "You were supposed to have lunch with me. And you never showed. I expect better behavior out of you in the future." The King looked over at the black haired boy that was staring openly at the King.
"Why do you look upon your king in that way?" Uther boomed, Merlin simply started. Gaius quickly stood in between the King and the young boy.
"Sire, he is deaf. Arthur and he have become friends and Arthur has begun to help the boy communicate."
"I forbid it. Arthur is a prince, not a play-date for a deaf commoner." Arthur paled and looked at his friend who was beginning to notice the hostility in the room. Merlin began to stand and back up toward his room. Arthur wanted to follow, but his father's piercing gaze stopped him.
"Come Arthur, you should not entertain yourself with commoners. Especially if they are disabled." Arthur wanted to say something, but no words came to him. He simply bowed his head and clutched the book that held Gaius' alphabet in between his hands behind his back.
"Bye Gaius." Arthur said sadly, he looked over to Merlin who looked close to cry. Arthur waved slowly to his friend and used his friends sign for, "see you later." Arthur slowly walked out of the physicians chambers. His father followed close behind.
"Arthur, that boy is below you. You have no business playing with him. I forbid you to see him again." Uther told his son sternly. Arthur wanted to refuse, but he bit his tongue. He only nodded and he was escorted to his room by his father. Uther demanded two guards to stand outside of the prince's door to make sure he would not go visit the deaf boy again.
