Uther set down his wine goblet cheerfully as Arthur entered the Throne Room looking thoroughly disgruntled. "Ah, Arthur, I would like you to meet lady Sophia and her brother Lord Cenred. They are our guests for as long as it pleases them, and I need you to look after them."
"But Father, what about Merlin?" Arthur protested feebly.
"Merlin, will be fine, I'm sure Morgana will take good care of him." Uther replied coldly, silently daring Arthur to talk back. Arthur gulped as his mind conjured up all kinds of images of what his evil stepsister would do to Merlin. She could corrupt his innocent mind, or worse, she could turn Merlin to the dark side. There was no way that he was going to let her get her hands on Merlin. But there was no way he could disobey his father...He'd have to figure something out.
Merlin looked around amazement as he took in all the stalls covered with vibrant colours and foods that he had never seen before, let alone tasted. He was drawn in by the fantastic smells, his hands reaching out to take some away with him. "Hey! You going to pay for that?" A burly, beer bellied man cried in anger as Merlin reached for a shiny apple. Merlin looked up, and tilted his head in a questioning manner. "You have to pay for that apple." the man explained, reaching for Merlin's hands, "if you don't pay, you lose a hand." he explained calmly, bringing out a large silver knife. Merlin gaped at the weapon and started to struggle, trying to pull away from his strong grip.
Suddenly, a hand gripped the vendors arm, "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Morgana said in a deadly manner. The vendor stuttered at the presence of the Lady and released Merlin's arm.
"My Lady, I'm sorry, but he was stealing my fruit, and you know the laws on thievery." he tried to explain.
"This man is my guest, I will pay for anything that he wants. No harm shall come to him whilst he is under my care." Morgana announced to the Lower Courtyard, where she had garnered quite a crowd from the spectacle. "Come along, Merlin." she said, as she walked away.
Merlin followed her quickly, the apple still clutched in his hand. "Honestly Merlin, have you never eaten an apple before?" Morgana sighed when she noticed him staring at the fruit with reverence. Merlin looked at her with his childish blue eyes and shook his head slowly. Morgana's jaw dropped. "Where did you come from?" she asked fondly, as Merlin took a large bite and grinned at the sweet flavour.
"Antarctica." a voice answered her. Morgana looked around for the source of the voice, whilst Merlin choked on the piece of apple that he was chewing. "Down here your ladyship."
Morgana looked down at her feet and blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Three times just to be sure.
"A crab." she muttered. "A crab is talking to me. Oh Arthur would just love this. He would love to see me finally go crazy just like he always said I would. There's no way this can be happening to me!" she ranted, pausing when she saw Merlin glaring at the crab, whilst the crab made some gestures with his claws. She frowned as Merlin shook his head resolutely, before giving up and looking at Morgana apologetically. "Merlin? I'm not dreaming am I?"
Merlin shook his head and brought the crab closer to her face. "Lady Morgana. I am Gaius, Advisor to King Balinor, Emperor of the Seven Seas, Ruler of Antarctica and so forth." Gaius introduced himself pompously.
"Oh er...hi?"
"We are in desperate need of your help, as Merlin here did something stupid and has to fix it before he loses everything." Morgana nodded slowly, wondering whether she had finally lost it - she was after all, conversing with a crab.
Nimueh cackled with glee as she saw Sophia and Cenred take up all of Arthur's time thus keeping him away from Merlin, ensuring that she would be the victor in this deal. With Arthur occupied, she felt no need to watch over Merlin, there was nothing he could do anyway, he was just a pathetic merman without a tail.
"...And that is why we need your help." Gaius finished explaining to Morgana.
"Right, so let me get this straight. Merlin is a merman who happens to be a Prince. He saved Arthur from drowning. He has magic. He made a deal with a Sea Witch to get human legs. He has to get Arthur to fall in love with him within a month or he becomes the property of the Sea Witch. And worst of all. Worst of all, you're in love with Arthur?" she directed at Merlin who nodded. "Are you insane? How can you love Arthur of all people?"
Merlin blinked at Morgana's outburst. Out of everything Gaius had just told her, she took away the fact that he was in love with Arthur? At least he knew he could trust her.
Morgana looked at his confused face. "Okay, for some reason, I believe you. But, could you show me your magic, just so I know I'm not going crazy?" she asked quietly.
Merlin bit his lip and focussed on the wilting flower that was lying on the side of the road. His eyes flashed gold and the flower slowly bloomed again, regaining the white colour it had lost. He picked it up and handed it shyly to Morgana, blushing slightly as she gasped in amazement. "That is...that is amazing! How can Uther say that magic is evil?" she ranted.
Gaius inched closer, "One more thing...you might want to know...we think that you might...have...magic?" he squeaked at the end as Morgana rounded on him.
"Me? I have magic?" Morgana laughed, "I think I'd most likely be dead if I had magic. Uther would have killed me at the first sign of it."
Gaius nodded. "Yes, but your powers seem to be manifesting late in life. Those headaches and black outs you keep getting? They're synonymous with Seers. People who can see the future, except I've never seen a human with these powers. You're a very special person Morgana." he explained gravely.
Merlin suddenly jumped up, pointing to the distance where a body that could just be made out as Arthur's was slowly coming towards them. Merlin's grin fell as he saw him accompanied by two beautiful people.