Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin or any of the associated characters.
Ch. 6
Gaius insisted that Merlin sit down as soon as he saw Arthur helping him, and this prompted Arthur to give him the afternoon off.
However, when Gaius returned to his rooms later that day, Merlin was about to leave. The young wizard grinned sheepishly.
As Gaius said, exasperated, "Merlin! What are doing up? You could have a concussion."
"But I don't, and I gave myself the magical..."
"You know I don't like it when you mix magic with medicine!" Gaius cut him off angrily.
Merlin grinned, and said, "I have to buy some supplies to make protective amulets for Arthur and the others. I'll be back to help serve dinner this evening."
"Merlin," Gaius said as the youth walked out the door.
Merlin stuck his head back in.
"Be careful, boy."
"I will," Merlin said with his easy grin, "When am I not?"
Gaius shook his head in dismay.
Merlin was halfway across the courtyard when he glimpsed a familiar figure with a hawk slipping into the stables. "That's weird," Merlin muttered. "His horse is in the inn's stables."
Merlin paused, and waited and waited and was about to go make sure everything was okay when the stables opened and out came, not Jon, but a young girl wearing a blue dress and a red scarf around her head. Strangely enough, Dragon was on her shoulder and she was wearing hawkers' leather fingerless gloves just like Jon's.
"Hello," Merlin called, walking forward, "Are you lost?"
The girl spun around and relaxed when she saw Merlin.
"Hi Merlin...you're Merlin, right?"
"Yes I am," Merlin said, stepping in front of her, "And you are?"
"Oh, sorry," she said, extending he hand to shake his, "I'm Josephine Starmount. I'm Jonathon's twin sister."
"Oh...I didn't...maybe he did..." Merlin said confused as he shook her hand. As he made eye contact with her, he suddenly noticed that Josephine's eyes were very similar to Jon's and very beautiful in her feminine face.
"How did you know who I was?" Merlin asked.
"Jon pointed you out," she admitted.
"You were at the tournament?" Merlin asked, "He didn't point you out."
"Well," Josephine began with a sheepish smile, "Strictly speaking, I'm not supposed to be out of Francia. Let alone in Camelot."
"So you're trying to stay it of sight," Merlin said grinning, "I can relate."
Josephine laughed and added, "I'm not going to be here for long. But I promised my younger siblings that I'd buy them presents before I returned home to Francia."
Merlin frowned, "Now I'm positive Jon didn't mention younger siblings."
Josephine smiled. "We have two - Holly and Benjamin. So mom and da...dad...had two boys and two girls."
Her voice broke slightly at the mention if her deceased father and Merlin, on impulse, reached out and touched her shoulder, "I'm sorry for your loss."
"Well...thank you," she gave him a small smile, and shook her head as if clearing her mind.
"I better get going," she told Merlin, "I've got to go before it gets dark."
"Going to the market, right?" Merlin asked, falling into step besides her as she began to walk away.
"Yes," Josephine confirmed.
"May I accompany you?" Merlin said in a posh sounding voice. A bit too grandly, he realized a second later. Damn you Gwaine, you're rubbing off on me.
She smiled, happily this time, but said, "I've got Dragon for protection. And won't Arthur get angry with you?"
"I've got a rare afternoon off thanks to the bump Boknavon gave me on the head."
"The one good think he's done for the kingdom," she muttered angrily before adding in a slightly louder voice, "You may come of you call me Jo - only my parents call me Josephine. And even they only do it when I'm in trouble or being formally presented to someone."
"Okay...Jo," Merlin replied, nodding to the guards on duty as they left the castle. One was a very surprised Gwaine. Who gave Merlin a thumbs-up none the less.
"So what's with the nicknames?" Merlin asked Jo a few seconds later. "And the hawk," he added as Dragon suddenly took flight.
"My grandfather came up with Jon and Jo," she answered, watching Dragon fly high into the blue sky, "He said our names were too stuffy for swordsman."
"So you can also fight?"
She smiled mysteriously, "You ask a lot of questions, don't you?"
Merlin shrugged, "You can ask me some too, you know."
"Fair enough," she replied, "Anyway, Dragon was my birthday present a few years ago. My father and...Some friends...helped me train him..."
This time Merlin picked up no sadness when she mentioned her father, only thought-fullness.
"My turn," Jo said, "Arthur reacted much more...strongly than I expected when Boknavon attacked you. He also seems extremely close to the four men in his royal guard. My question is why."
Merlin was silent, thinking of how to respond. Thinking of Morgana and Uther, of magic and of lies, thinking about his long ago a young prince reaching across a table to drink a poisoned goblet to atone for killing a unicorn despite the protests of a manservant he barely knew.
"It's hard to explain, Jo," Merlin finally said as they approached the market, "But Arthur...what makes Arthur different is that he does care and, on some level, it's because he's able to pick up on who is loyal and who is willing to die for him."
Jo nodded, thoughtful.
Merlin looked down at his hands and murmured so low that Jo was not sure if she's imagined it or not, "I have to believe it."
By this time, the couple had reached the crowds and the conversation ceased. Jo instantly began bartering with vendors selling daggers and decorated belts. Merlin web a few stalls down and began looking at herbs. The woman assumed that he was buying for Gaius and gave him a large discount, and then Merlin found Jo again at a stand full of jewelry. Jo bought bracelets for her sister and mom and Merlin bought stone amulets that were - in one word - ordinary.
"But of course," thought Merlin, "They'll look different once I enchant them."
But the best part of the day was how easy it was to talk to Jo. Joking and laughing as if they had known each other for years, the two wandered among the stalls. Jo paused by a vendor selling material appropriate for the town of a queen. She fingered some dark blue velvet and sighed, "I wish I had room for a dress in my pack."
"Why don't you?" Merlin asked, "That color would look beautiful on you." Merlin blushed slightly at his own words but Jo seemed too preoccupied to notice. Finally she said, "You...won't see me again, Merlin."
"Why not?" He stopped in surprise, nearly tripping over his own feet.
"I've got to leave...now actually," she said with a glance at the darkening sky.
"But...can't I visit you in Francia? Or, I mean..."
Jo smiled and told him, "I've enjoyed spending time with you, Merlin." She turned sharply on her heel and began to walk away, soon she was running.
"Wait, Jo! Jo!" Merlin began to follow, scanning the crowd for the bright red scarf she had worn wrapped around her head all day, constantly fixing it so that it covered most of her cheeks. But a man leading four horses got in his way and then Merlin could not find the red flower in the sea of people.
"Damn it!" He hissed, then he too began to run. It was getting dark and he'd be late for dinner if he delayed another minute. Besides, he could always ask Jon about his sister.