As the sun rises, the others, save the prince, begin to stir. Percival wakes up first and shakes Gwaine awake beside him. The two share a small kiss before packing up their blankets and preparing the horses. Mary wakes up a short time later and fetches some food from her pack. She gives a small amount to each of the knights before eating the small share saved for herself. Mary looked at the still sleeping form of the prince and asked the knights;
"Should we wake him so he can eat something before we leave ?"
"Merlin won't be waking up for the next day, probably day and a half." replies Percival from beside the horses.
"How come? Is he sick ?" she asks worriedly, kneeling down beside the prince and putting a hand to his forehead.
"he has a slight fever, but nothing that should keep him from waking." she says after a moment.
"Merlin's magic acts up sometimes, more than he can control, and it exhausts him. This kind of thing happened once yesterday and again during the night. It usually takes a day to two days for him to regain his energy back." replies Lancelot.
"He'll have to ride with one of us until he's awake, we don't want him to fall off of Storm and injure himself." says Gwaine, looking at Lancelot who nods.
They finish packing up their things and they get the prince positioned in front of Lancelot. Once positioned on Midnight, the prince's head resting back against his first knight's shoulder.
The prince wakes up when they are a few hours away from Camelot. He had slept for almost two full days. The group stops to allow him to eat before they continue their journey from Tamarang to Camelot.
In the forest outside of Camelot the knights remove their armor and clothing bearing the insignia of king Redford. Merlin changes from his nobles riding clothes into his lower quality clothing. He also gives Lancelot his sword to look after.
"Sire, are you sure that you shouldn't hold on to this? You might have need of it." the loyal knight asks his prince.
"I don't want any attention drawn to myself, we'll already have enough as a group. You know that someone who looks like me carrying a sword will draw attention." answers the prince with a small smile.
"Merlin, the only people able to beat you with a sword are your brothers, not even Percival could beat you." Gwaine replies. He throws a smile towards the prince and a longer one towards Percival, who returns it.
" I know that Gwaine, and you know that, but I don't exactly have the body type of an expert swordsman."
"You're right I suppose." answers Lancelot, reluctantly strapping the prince's sword to his saddle with his other belongings.
They remount their horses and head towards the castle. They ride past the castle guards with a slight nod from both groups. They place their horses in a stable closest to the castle's courtyard. Each of them grab their belongings and make their way into the castle.
"Mary, do you know where we can find your brother?" asks Merlin as they head down a main corridor in the castle.
"I think his rooms are in the western side of the castle, but beyond that no. I'm sorry sire." apologizes Mary as they come upon a tall knight of Camelot. He has medium length reddish blonde hair and a beard of a matching color and eyes a baby blue color. The knight turns around at the use of the word sire, scanning the faces of the group before him. He does not recognizing any of them as being nobles.
"Excuse me sir, would you be able to direct us to where the court physician is located ?" asks Lancelot, hoping to distract the knight from what he had heard. The knight once again gives the men and woman a look over, eyes finally coming to rest on Prince Merlin. Merlin can feel the knights eyes lingering on his bruised jaw and throat, before flicking to the dark circles under his eyes. He shifts under the scrutiny trying not to appear nervous. The knight gives the group a small polite smile, unsure of their status and says:
"Of course. I am Sir Leon and if you would just follow me, I will show you the way." indicating for them to follow him.
"What brings you to Camelot ?" he asks them after a few moments of silence.
"Gaius is my brother and it has been many years since I last saw him. I have traveled far and these gentlemen have been kind to me along the way. We have decided to remain together." replies Mary, hoping the story will hold.
The knight nods his head in understanding,
"Are you expected ?" he asks
"No sir, we did not have the chance to send word ahead that we were coming. We ran into a bit of trouble in the last place we were staying." replies Percival, eyeing the prince quickly before turning his head back forward. He looks towards the knight who has paused and is also eyeing the prince.
"Where were you staying for such a thing to occur ?" asks the knight. He also takes in the nice clothing of the young dark haired man with the bruises. The one who for some reason seemed to be in charge of the others.
The knights and ex maidservant remain silent. The prince, deciding to remain as close to the truth as he can says:
"We are coming from Tamarang, we were in the service of the...of the late Queen Hunith. Upon her death King Redford became quite upset." the prince rubs at his still sore neck.
"Afterwards, we felt it best to move on. The Queen had our loyalty, and after her passing we felt no inclination to stay. Especially after what happened to pri ...Merlin here." says Gwaine hurriedly, attempting to cover up his almost slip.
The Knight once again nods in understanding. He internally cataloged him almost saying what sounded like Prince when referring to the dark haired man with the bruising. He made a note himself to tell Prince Arthur when he next saw him.
"I'm sorry to hear about Queen Hunith, when she last visited she seemed to be a wonderful and kind woman." he says to the dark haired man who has tears in his eyes.
"Yes, her loss came as a shock to us. She will be greatly missed." replies the woman, rubbing her hand up and down Merlin's back comfortingly.
"well, this is it, just up these stairs and you'll find Gaius behind the door at the top." says Leon after a few seconds of silence.
"I hope everything works out for you, good day." says Leon, leaving the group to go find Prince Arthur.
Prince Merlin allowed Mary to climb the stairs first, with the trio following. Mary knocks on the door at the top of the stairs and they wait for an answer. When they get no response after a few moments, Mary pushes the door open and calls out for her brother. Percival closing the door behind the group. They hear shuffling above and to the left of where they are standing. They turn in time to see and older man lean against the thin railing which breaks under his weight. He begins to fall towards the floor back first. Merlin's eyes glow gold and time slows down. The prince quickly looks around the room for something soft for the physician to land on and he spots the bed. His magic sends it across the room until it is underneath the falling man. Merlin releases his magic and time returns to its normal speed. The physician falls onto the bed with a loud thump and he lays there for a few moments before jumping up:
"who did that? What did you just do ?"
The men are frozen into silence from shock and worry so Mary answers her brother
"Gaius calm down! You could have died!" She exclaims hugging him close.
"Mary ?! I wasn't expecting you, it's been years since we last saw one another." Gaius says hugging her back for a moment. He steps back, remembering what had just happened.
"who did it ?" he questions, looking at each of them in turn, finally resting his eyes back on his sister.
"Mary I thought you were in Tamarang working for Queen Hunith. What happened ?
She sighs:
"It's a long story, do you think we could sit and you could take a look at his bruises ?" she says indicating the prince. Gaius nods, gesturing for them to take a seat around his table, grabbing a small jar of cream for bruising. The others take their seats as the prince stands in front of Gaius. The physician begins to examine the bruises.
"What happened to you my boy ?" he asks as he begins to gently spread the cream onto the bruises, a few hisses of pain escape Merlin's lips.
"I'll get to that Gaius, if you can wait a few moments to hear the rest of the story ?" replies Mary instead of the prince. Gaius nods his okay.
"Alright, well... where to start... Four days ago Queen Hunith died. King Redford said that she took her own life, but there are some of us who do not believe that to be the truth. King Redford called his four children to the throne room to tell them about their mother's death. While they were there the truth about Prince Merlin's parentage was revealed. This shocked all the children. His father was in fact not King Redford, but Lord Balinor, the Dragonlord." she says shooting a quick look at Merlin who seems to be crying silently while staring down at his hands. Gwaine has his arm wrapped around his shoulder, murmuring something into his ear.
"The king has been quite abusive to the prince for some years. Nobody but the queen and the king knew why until four days ago. He took all his anger and frustration out on the youngest prince whenever he was within reach. Queen Hunith protected him, but there was only so much that she could do. With her death that protection was lost and in the throne room the King tried to kill the prince. He would have succeeded if not for the eldest princes pulling him off of their brother." at this Merlin, almost subconsciously, raises his hands to his throat. At this movement Gaius turns and looks at him. The last piece of the puzzle falling into place and he understands the importance of the story. Under the table Lancelot and Percival grip the hilt of their swords tightly. They are prepared for any outcome.
"The eldest prince, Patrick, held the king back while Prince James helped his brother. Prince James told prince Merlin to run from the kingdom until the king was no more. Then it would be safe for him to return or for them to find him. The prince left Tamarang with his three personal knights and the Queen's maidservant." finishes Mary, looking sadly at the prince who's still under Gwaine's arm. Tears still running down his face. Whenever his mother had been mentioned tears have sprung from his eyes.
"So then you are the maidservant in that tale, these are the three knights and this is the prince." says Gaius, looking at each of them in turn. His eyes finally settle on the emotional prince who finally raises his head.
"Please, we need your help" says the prince, his voice strong despite the tears.
"Of course sire, if my sister is with you it means she cares about what happens to you. If she cares than so do I." replies Gaius with a small smile.
The three knights and their prince sigh in relief. The two release their hold on their weapons. Gwaine removes his arm from around his prince and Merlin straightens his back. A fleeting smile races across his lips.
"Camelot is a good place to stay, it's large and one can disappear within its walls for safety." says Gaius after a few minutes of quiet:
"though I should bring up the matter of magic within the kingdom."
The prince and his knights look at Mary who nods her head. The prince then looks at the knight to his right before turning back to the physician.
"I'm Prince Merlin of Tamarang, youngest son of the late Queen Hunith. These are my personal knights and friends; Sir Lancelot is my first knight." he says indicating the man to his right. "Sir Gwaine," here he indicates the man to his left and then to the man at the end of the table " and this is Sir Percival."
"I was born with magic and I am the one who prevented your fall from being lethal." says the prince, looking over to where the bed still sits under the balcony.
"I should hope that you are aware of the laws against magic here in Camelot?" asks Gaius, eyebrow raised.
"Yes, we are quite aware of the laws in Camelot. Our prince was right though, in his thought that we should find someone that we could trust." replies Lancelot, the other knights nodding in agreement.
"Alright, then we'll need to find work for you. People don't come to Camelot to stay, they come for work, unless they are nobles. Am I right in assuming you wish for your true identity and reasons for coming to Camelot to remain hidden?" asks the physician, already sure of the answer.
"Yes, no one should know who I am or why I'm here. Besides, Mary is your sister and the rest of us have been travelling with her for some time. That is what we told Sir Leon, who showed us the way here." says the prince, a thoughtful look on his face.
"well for now you can help me out around here sire, and we can try to find Mary some work in the kitchens perhaps. And you three..." he trails off in thought.
"They are all three of noble birth" says the prince after some time of silence has fallen on the room.
"They should be able to become knights of Camelot."
"But mate, we'd have to swear our loyalty to the king and to the kingdom. We have already sworn our loyalty and allegiance to you." protests Gwaine, not liking the idea one little bit.
"As long as Prince Merlin is alive your loyalty will remain with him. the pledge of fealty here in Camelot will simply be spoken words without any binding. The only way it would become binding on your honor would be if the prince were to take part in the ceremony. He could allow a spouse or his own children, perhaps even a sibling to have split allegiance. Even if that were to occur, your loyalty would remain first to your prince." explains Gaius patiently. The knights have a frown on their faces, but they nod their head in understanding.
"Do you have any rooms yet ?" questions Gaius after a few moments.
"No, we wanted to speak to you before we made any plans to stay in Camelot, replies the prince.
"Well you're welcome to stay in the backroom. Unfortunately there is only one bed in there and an extra cot out here, so three of you will have to sleep on the floor." he says gesturing towards a small flight of stairs at the back of the room, they can see a thin wooden door at the top.
"That will be fine Gaius thank you." thanks Lancelot.
"You four can take the back room, I'll take the cot out here with my brother." says Mary kindly. They are grateful for this in case the prince has another magical episode, as she isn't aware of them.
"Thanks Mary. Why don't we all try to get a few hours of sleep and then we can discuss the details about everything then." instructs the young prince getting up from his seat and grabbing his pack off the floor. The knights follow suit. The four men thank Gaius before climbing the small flight of stairs and disappearing into the back room. The door closing behind them with a small thud. Mary also thanks her brother and gives him another hug;
"we'll catch up more after this nap" she promises. As soon as she lays down she's asleep.
