Author's Note - Thanks to everyone for their extremely kind reviews: Lenaeuphoria, kesterel2106, MagicByMerlin, ToiletFacility(love the name!), allthenamesiwantedweretaken and static-as-you-walk-away. I'm sorry to say again, despite you guys asking, that this chapter contains no Merlin but I promise the next chapter will! Honest! Cross my heart and hope to die.
By the way, on the off chance, do any of you watch Robin Hood, if so this is a potential spoiler but....I cannot believe they killed Allan! And in such a horrible way! He was my favourite character. :( Needed to share my anguish with someone!
Ellie watched with a repulsed expression on her face as Arthur dug into the greasy fish with just his bare fingers. They had forgotten to grab any of the little wooden forks from the dispenser in the chip shop so he had to eat without cutlery. It didn't look like he really minded though. The girl made a face and wrinkled her nose as he dropped particularly slippery piece of batter on his shirt and then he picked it off again, popping it in his mouth before munching loudly. Why did he have to make such horrible squelchy noises? It turned Ellie's stomach.
To his credit, however, he had offered her a handful of chips covered in salt and reeking of vinegar – a sweet, acidic smell. For some reason the smell made her taste buds tingle but also made her feel sick at the same time. She had declined the sticky offer because, firstly, she wasn't particularly hungry and secondly, she had sworn off take-aways after watching one too many of those shows on television about the vile places. Seeing the amount of grease that collected in those vats and the state of the workers' hands kind of put you off fast food.
She wondered what she was going to do with him once he finished his meal. Judging by the speed he was eating, she didn't have a lot of time to come to a decision. Her first thought was that she could not leave him alone. She'd already seen how quickly he became wrapped up in trouble just in the last hour. It wasn't safe to let him find his own way home. However, it was going to be difficult to find out where he actually did live.
"Arthur, do you know your address?" Ellie broached the subject.
"My address?"
"Yeah, the road you live in? The number of your house?"
"I live in Camelot Castle. I've told you this before."
Ellie groaned inwardly. "But you don't though, do you? You live somewhere but not in some imaginary castle. Come on, Arthur, its late, I want to go home, I'm sure you want to go home. Give me something to go on."
"Ellie." It was the first time he'd used her name. He didn't say it quite right but she resisted the urge to correct him. "I'm telling you the truth. I have lived in Camelot Castle all my life. Now, I don't know where we are now but if you can direct me in the direction of Camelot then I will leave you in peace."
"We're in London, Arthur, Camelot doesn't exist. It's part of a legend."
Arthur stared at her. "Of course it exists."
"Not here, not now."
"But I live there."
"You don't, Arthur." Ellie found herself shouting, vehemently.
Then quietly: "I don't understand."
Arthur looked so lost and honestly crushed that the girl instantly felt bad for yelling at him. He was delusional, she reminded herself – belatedly. He couldn't comprehend that what he said was not the truth. She should calm down and approach this situation with a cool head. Perhaps she should start at the beginning of the day, take Arthur step by step through it and then maybe he would reveal where he lived.
"Okay, I'm sorry, Arthur. Let's start at the beginning. Perhaps then we can get you home," Ellie said.
"The beginning?"
"Of the day. Start from when you got up."
Arthur shoved his last chip in his mouth and found it rather floppy and cold. That was annoying; he'd been enjoying those immensely. He'd never tasted anything like it but it was delicious. Once he'd done this, he balled up the paper and wiped his hands on his trousers.
"I got up at dawn, like usual. Breakfasted with Father in the dining hall. He took me through some issues that needed to be dealt with in the villages and then told me to deal with them and then I was free to do what I wanted. Merlin and I travelled out to the villages and I checked on some of the grain stores and dealt with a few thieving problems. Once that was done, I decided that I wanted to go on a ride." Arthur paused, trying to remember what happened next. "We found this natural pool in the foot of the mountains. There was a waterfall running down on one side. I wanted to go swimming but Merlin wanted to explore....he went behind the waterfall. At first I thought he'd drowned but then he called to me." Once again, Arthur hesitated, recalling the instance exactly. "I thought I might as well follow him because he's always getting himself into trouble and we found this cave. It was rather dark though and I...."
The man stopped suddenly and abruptly, his eyes flashing with embarrassment. He clamped his mouth shut.
"And you what?"
"Nothing."
"Arthur! That could very well be the most important part of the story. Tell me!" Ellie practically ordered him.
Arthur caved.
"I walked into a wall. That's how I did this," he gestured to his nose and watched as Ellie tried to hold back a laugh. "Anyway, I went outside to wash it and Merlin said he'd dropped something and would be out in a moment. It was only as I went out that I realised that his wasn't wearing a clasp so he couldn't have dropped it. I went back in and then everything went black. Then I ended up here."
Ellie looked perplexed. Her face contorted slightly as she tried to comprehend what he'd told her. It didn't make much sense. Perhaps, he'd been knocked out or lost his memory or.....she couldn't believe she was even considering it but maybe he had jumped forward in time. That seemed completely absurd even as she thought it. This wasn't some sci-fi film nor was it Doctor Who. People couldn't jump in time. Why was she even believing what Arthur said? He was no doubt mental and was giving her an imaginary story.
Yet he seemed so convincing. He had the clothes...he had the language....the sword if she remembered correctly....the attitude....and the smell.
No. She was just exhausted and allowing her mind to come up with these ridiculous possibilities. There was no way he could be from the past. It was impossible...He didn't seem to know about this world though; he didn't even know what a light was. Couldn't it be plausible that his lack of knowledge was because he'd never experience such things? Besides, who could really come up with such an improbable tale with such detail?
"Who's Merlin?" she suddenly asked.
"Merlin?" Arthur paused. "Oh, Merlin is my manservant. I'm not sure where he is."
As he said this Arthur realised that he'd given his friend very little thought since he got here. Where on earth was the annoying idiot? Did he have something to do with the flash in the cave? Perhaps he should be worrying about him. There was a mild anxiety forming in the back of his mind. Merlin did have a knack for getting into trouble. He often needed saving from situations if previous encounters with magical beasts was anything to go by.
"Did he come through too?" Ellie said before catching herself and realising what she'd entailed: that she believed this ludicrous story. She was really getting caught up in this situation. Why did she have to be so damn gullible? It was usually John that got sucked in by these fakes.
The man shrugged. "I don't know."
Something suddenly clicked in Ellie's head. "Wait. Did you say your manservant's name was Merlin?"
"Yes, I did, what's that got to do with anything?" Arthur frowned.
"And you're 'Prince Arthur'?"
"Yes and why did you do that weird curling motion with your two fingers?" The blond man questioned, bemused.
"It's an air quote. It means....oh it doesn't matter," Ellie sighed, she couldn't be bothered to explain, "Anyway, so you are Prince Arthur from Camelot and you have a friend called Merlin and you're from the past. He doesn't happen to be a wizard does he?"
Arthur's eyes widened. "You mean a sorcerer? Don't be ridiculous. Merlin couldn't perform a spell any more than he could wield a sword. Trust me; you don't want to be in the way when he's swinging the blade."
"It was just a question," Ellie shrugged and then said, "So; do you think you've come forward in time?"
Arthur raised his eyebrow and offered her an amused look. He couldn't believe that this girl was suggesting that he'd come forwards in time. That was preposterous. You couldn't go from being in your own time to being in another one. He couldn't even comprehend skipping forward a couple of days, let alone years. In fact, if he was in the future then by how many years? All through his life, Arthur had never really thought about tomorrow, he didn't really think about the people that would be in existence after he'd died. They hardly mattered. All he would care about was marriage and the birth of a son; his heir. That's the extent of the future he thought about.
"How would I have?"
"Well, I don't know. I'm not a rocket scientist."
"I don't even know what that means," Arthur stated, bluntly. He was surprised when Ellie chuckled.
Then she looked up at the darkening sky and the moon that was already peeping out of the thin grey clouds. It was a bright white orb among varying shades of pewter. A couple of twinkling stars could be seen as well; Ellie immediately recognised Orion's Belt. That was the only one she could ever spot. When she was younger, her dad always tried to teach them to her but she forgot as soon as he'd told her. It frustrated him no end.
It was almost the weekend. Tomorrow would be Friday and she would have to work but when Saturday came she didn't have anything to do except study. However, tomorrow would be a seven o'clock start for an eight thirty shift back in dreary dermatology. Looking at her phone, she saw the time was now almost seven and therefore she should be really heading home ready for an early night. Often she went out with her friends but for once they were studying (not a regular occurrence) for some upcoming exams.
But what to do with Arthur?
"I think I should find Merlin," Arthur suddenly said.
"You can't go now. Who knows what trouble you could get into at this time of night," the girl informed him.
"I'll be fine. Besides, where am I meant to stay?"
Ellie sighed, she couldn't honestly believe she was saying what she was about to say. Never in a million years would she have thought she'd say it. "You could...." she took a deep breath, "Come back with me."
Why she was inviting either a psycho or a man from the past to her home was beyond her. Obviously she was over tired.
"To your cottage?"
"Arthur, I don't live in a cottage. I live in a house but with other people."
"Your family?"
"No, they're...um....well friends."
"You mean I can stay at your home?"
The girl made a face. "Yeah, I guess that's what I'm saying."
They arrived outside. It was a large Georgian town house with a stucco white wall which had yellowed slightly with age. The building was part of a terrace of identical houses that stretched all the way down the street. Not much else could be seen in the dim light apart from a dark green creeper twisting its way from above a high window up into the gables. It looked oddly haunted.
That was until you saw the bright red door with its peeling paint and the lone traffic cone sitting on the post of the gate up to the house. A couple of wheelie bins were parked up in the small space between the street and the house. About twenty empty beer bottles were lined up at their feet. Arthur nearly knocked several of them over as he followed Ellie up to the front door.
She rummaged in her bag and brought out a jangling set of keys. Arthur was surprised at the size of them, they were tiny compared to the huge ones he had for the armoury and the castle gates. Then again, he thought, the sizes of the keys in this world were the least of his problems. Shoving them in the lock, she performed a strange jerky manoeuvre and then proceeded to kick the door before it opened.
"It gets jammed," she murmured.
As they stepped into the house, Ellie reached over and flicked on a switch. Light flooded the hallway. Arthur blinked, blinded. He would never get used to these instant-burn torches. Walking across the patterned tiled floor, Ellie swept several pairs of shoes to the side with one foot and then threw her coat on the banister of the stairs.
Pointing to the first door on the left she said, "That's Calvin's room." Then she moved on a little further and pointed to another door. "That's Ben's. And through there is the kitchen and the living room. My room is upstairs. I'll show you in a moment. First I'm just going to get some food."
She strolled off and Arthur was left standing in the hallway wondering whether he was meant to be following her or not. This place was so foreign. He'd never seen a house of a peasant with so many rooms. In fact, she must be a noble considering the size of the place. However, it was strange that she seemed to be sharing this house with men who she told him were not related. Was one of them a husband? If not, then it seemed a very bizarre arrangement indeed.
The sound of a door handle turning awakened him from his ponderings and the prince spun round just in time to see a topless young man step out of one of the doors beside him. When this man spotted Arthur he froze, eyes widening with shock.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Um...well, I'm...." He had been about to say Prince Arthur but he stopped himself, people here never seemed to react well to his title. "I'm Arthur."
"And why are you in my house?"
"Ellie..." Arthur gestured meekly in the direction where his host had gone.
"Oh." A grin suddenly broke out across the fellow's face. "Why didn't you say so?"
Arthur wanted to say' I just did' but refrained out of politeness.
"It's about time she had a little bit of fun if you know what I mean," he smirked and nudged Arthur, knowingly. "Well, anyway." He held out a hand. "I'm Ben."
"Right."
It was at this moment that Ellie reappeared and Arthur couldn't have been happier to see her. He didn't want to continue this conversation with this half naked man. It was making him uncomfortable. He looked hopefully at the girl and she smiled slightly at him, a sandwich in her hand.
"I see you met Ben."
Arthur nodded.
"Well, let's go upstairs then."
Ben's grin widened even further. "Yeah, off you go, El, I'll be sure to be playing my music loud tonight."
Ellie grimaced. "Shut up. It's not like that." She grabbed Arthur's arm for what must have been the tenth time that day and hauled him up the stairs.
In her room, which was on the third floor, and therefore up in the eaves of the house Ellie collapsed on her bed. Arthur looked interestedly around the space. It wasn't a huge bedroom and the headroom was only just enough for him to stand up in but it was a very cosy place. In fact, Ellie was very proud of the way she'd made her room her own. Having been in the same house with the same people for two years she'd had time to personalise it. The walls that weren't the roof (and therefore wooden) were a kind of burnt orange and she had hung fairy lights which she had been given for her birthday last year around the walls to brighten the space. On one of the walls she had a collage of photographs which she'd stuck up with Blu-tack which showed her friends and family. A wooden bookshelf stood in one corner, beside a chest of drawers, which was filled with a multitude of books ranging from novels that her mum constantly sent her and textbooks to do with the human body and all its ailments. There was also a pile on the floor where she had plonked them after getting them out of the library and had not had time to stow them away.
On the floor, which was made up of varnished wooden floorboards, was a fluffy orange and red rug. Beside that was a small writing desk and a chair. Everything was coordinated. Ellie had made sure of that.
Slumped against the wall, she watched as Arthur wandered over to the photos and began inspecting them one by one, fascinated. He even went so far as to stroke one delicately with his fingertip to see if they were really real. Then he turned to Ellie. "How?"
She groaned. "I'm too tired to explain. They're photographs. Like paintings but instant image capture. You take them with cameras."
Arthur nodded, as if that made a whole lot of sense to him.
Beep. Beep.
Ellie sighed and rolled over slightly to pull her mobile phone out of her back jean pocket. It was a Nokia, she didn't know what type and didn't particularly care. Phones had never interested her much. In her opinion, you used them to call people and text people and that was it. None of this stupid internet surfing and the like. In fact, hers didn't even have Bluetooth....whatever that was.
Sliding it open, she flicked through and saw that she had one missed call. Probably from the friend she'd missed at the hospital. Oops. And then she had a list of texts running down her screen. It seemed they were all from Ben. Each one said the same thing.
sooooo....wuu2. ha ha. ;)
He could be such an idiot sometimes.
"What's that mean?" Arthur had suddenly come up beside her and was reading the text.
"Nothing!" Ellie exclaimed, snapping the phone closed.
I promise promise promise that Merlin will be in the next chapter!