"Tell me Arthur, what is this I hear about a sorcerer fighting in your name?" Aldred asks.

Arthur tenses, "The Guardian of Camelot, you mean?"

"I don't know what you people call him." Aldred says. "All I know is that he's a sorcerer."

"Well, he only fights with people he sees as ill intent to Camelot." Arthur says.

"Yes, for now." Aldred says. "But let me tell you something about sorcerers. They are unpredictable. They help you out one day and the next they are slaughtering your entire family."

"I don't think we have to worry about this sorcerer doing that." Arthur says.

"Yes, you might be right. This might be the first trustworthy sorcerer in a long time." Aldred says and smiles before taking a drink of his wine.

Merlin was at the end of the head table, next to Sophia, listening to the conversation between Aldred and Arthur. All of the knights of both kingdoms, and people of importance were in the dining room as well. Camelot went all out on celebrating the arrival of Dacia's royal family. His attention was pulled away from the conversation when someone tapped at Merlin's shoulder.

Merlin looked down to see that Sophia tapped him on the shoulder. "Yes?"

"I just wanted to formally say hello to you myself, without everyone staring at us." Sophia says.

"Oh, well then, hello. My name is Merlin."

"Hello Merlin, my name is Princess Sophia of Dacia."

"Sophia, I must say that you are different than I thought you'd be."

"How so? I hope it's not in a bad way."

"Of course not. I merely mean to say that you are more… down to earth."

"You thought I would be a prattish and spoiled girl, did you not?"

"Yes, I did."

"I thought you would be the same way as well. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw you for the first time."

"Oh look at you two," Gwaine says walking to them, Percival and Leon behind him. "Flirting already."

"Are you two happy for the wedding?" Leon asks.

Merlin turns to Sophia who is looking at him with the same look that says 'I don't know'. Then the doors burst open and Elyan runs inside a piece of parchment in his hands. "Sire, this was from an arrow that was shot into a guard's chest."

Elyan gives the parchment to Arthur, who was standing at this point. Arthur reads it out loud, "I know who you are Emrys. Hear my command and come find me or I will attack Camelot every day until it is mine."

The room is silent after that, the only sound coming from the breathing of the people. Merlin looked around for Gaius and saw that he was already looking at Merlin. The letter obviously came from Morgana and she had found out about Merlin's other name. Merlin gave a pleading look to Gaius, as if to say 'help me' and all Gaius could do was stare.

Arthur looked up from the parchment, fury clearly written all over his face. "Who is this Emrys that Morgana speaks of?"

The room is silent. Arthur says, "If you wish to remain silent, Emrys, that is fine, but if you do not tell me who you are in the next thirty seconds, I will kill you when I do find out."

"Arthur," Gwen says. "There is no reason for such brash actions."

"Guinevere, our kingdom has been threatened, we cannot allow it to be put in more danger." Arthur says.

Aldred speaks this time, "Arthur, I can see that you are in need of our assistance. However, my hands are tied until the wedding. I suggest moving it up to two days from now."

"Yes. We will need your help, especially now." Arthur says, his eyes darting to Merlin's direction when he says it. Arthur turns around to Gregory. "Gregory, see to it that the preparations for the wedding are done by dusk tomorrow."


Merlin enters Arthur's chambers, Arthur right in front of him. The ceremony ended an hour early last night because most people were scared and wanted to get to the safety of their homes. Merlin had followed Arthur to his chambers from the throne to talk about the wedding that had been pushed forward to tomorrow. Arthur turns around to hear what Merlin has to say.

"I can't do this Arthur." Merlin says. "I can't marry Sophia. She's nice, but I just can't."

Merlin expects Arthur to start yelling, but he only sighs. "If that is what you want, then fine. I got carried away with doing everything I could to protect Camelot, I did not even consider your happiness."

"It is alright. I just want to get back to my life of checking the stables, and walking around." Merlin says.

Merlin turns around, but before he can take three steps, Arthur calls him back, "Merlin."

"Yes?" Merlin says turning around.

Arthur has a look on his face that shows both sadness and pain. Arthur says, "All those times I said you were useless, or a coward, I never actually meant any of it. I always thought that you were the most selfless and bravest man I have ever met, even before you left Camelot."

What Arthur says next nearly breaks Merlin. Probably thinking Merlin couldn't hear it, Arthur whispers, "I guess I was wrong."

Arthur turns and sits at his desk and starts reading something. Merlin stands there staring at Arthur, not even bothering to hide the hurt on his face. Gwen enters the room a smile on her face and her maid servant walking next to her.

Gwen notices Merlin and says, "Hello, Merlin. How have you been with the wedding coming up?"

Arthur looks up surprised to see that Merlin was still in his chambers. Merlin is still looking at Arthur with the look of hurt on his face. He suddenly doesn't want anybody to look at him and runs out of Arthur and Gwen's chambers.

Merlin runs out of the castle, the sunlight shining over him. Merlin turns right and runs into someone, knocking both him and the person he ran into down. Merlin sits up and looks at the person and sees that he ran into Sophia. Sophia sat up and looked at him in surprise.

"I'm sorry Sophia, I should have been more careful." Merlin says and stands up.

Merlin lowers his hand to help her up and Sophia takes. "It's quite alright Merlin."

"What were you doing running so fast?" Sophia asks.

"Running away from Arthur." Merlin says.

"Is he chasing you?" Sophia asks.

"No." Merlin says and Sophia gives him a confused look. Merlin quickly changes the subject. "What are you doing by yourself? I would have thought that the princess would have guards surrounding her all day."

"Running away from my family." Sophia says with a smile.

Merlin chuckles, "I have to tell you something about the wedding."

"Alright, but I need to say something as well." Sophia says. "If we are going to get married tomorrow at dawn, then we need to at least get to know each other."

Merlin looks at Sophia and makes the decision of whether to tell her or not. He decides that he will, but after getting to know Sophia. There was nothing wrong with making friends with Sophia. Merlin says, "Yeah, we probably should get to know each other better."

"Excellent, meet back here in an hour and bring a basket with food for the both of us." Sophia says.

"Why?" Merlin asks.

Sophia smiles, "We're going on a picnic."


Merlin walks back outside, the sun now high enough that it indicates midday, a basket full of food in his arms. Sophia is waiting for him by their horses, a blanket in her arms. Merlin walks up to her and puts the basket down and helps Sophia onto her horse. Merlin hands her the blanket once she's safely on her horse.

"You brought silverware, right?" Sophia asks.

"Yes." Merlin says and gets on his horse and sets the basket in front of him on his horse.

"Good." Sophia says. "I saw a perfect spot on the way to Camelot for our picnic."

"Lead on then." Merlin says.

Sophia smiles and she orders her horse to move, and her horse gallops away, Merlin not far behind her. Sophia leads Merlin through the forest on a trail heading west, a trail not many commoners go on. They eventually go off the trail when they get to a river that smoothly and calmly runs to the East, back towards Camelot. Merlin takes in the beauty of the scene.

"It's amazing." Merlin says to Sophia.

"Yes," Sophia agrees. "Now let's get everything in place."

Sophia jumps from her horse and lays the blanket down across the grass next to the river. Or she tries to, but the blanket curls up and wrinkles unevenly. Sophia tries again but gets the same result as the first time. Merlin sees her struggle is real and puts the basket down next to a tree and goes to help.

"Here, let me try." Merlin says and hold his hands out for the blanket.

Sophia hands it to him and waits. Merlin, having done this plenty of times for picnics between Arthur and Gwen, was almost an expert at this. He raises it high and slowly brings it down, almost like letting it float down. The blanket lies flat on the ground for them to sit down on.

Sophia looks at him, "That was almost perfect."

"I was Arthur's servant for over five years." Merlin says and sets the basket, which he had retrieved from the side of the tree as he was explaining, in the center of the blanket.

Sophia's eyes widen, "I have never heard of someone promoted from a servant to Master of the Horse before. I didn't think anyone that was a servant was able to become such a highly respected figure."

"You'll find that Arthur really doesn't care about titles." Merlin says. "He rewards people how he sees fit whether they be a common man, a servant, or a king. Everyone is equal in his eyes."

"That's so… fair." Sophia says.

"Indeed." Merlin agrees smiling.

Merlin pulls out two metal plates from the basket, as well as glasses and a bottle of wine and silverware. He puts a plate next to Sophia and himself, a glass next to each plate and fills both glasses, and puts the silverware next the plates. Sophia has set down on the blanket at this point and starts to take out the food to put on both plates. The food Merlin has brought is bread, cheese, ham, and chicken that he wrapped up in a clean towel and set it in its own corner of the basket in hopes of not ruining it.

Once everything was set out and all the food was split equally between the two, Merlin takes a sip from his glass. Merlin can tell that Sophia is looking at him, but pretends not to notice it. Sophia looks away and takes a bite out of her chicken lunch and then drinks from her glass. Merlin eats some ham and cheese together and wipes his mouth before speaking to Sophia.

"Please tell me, what does a princess like yourself do for fun?" Merlin asks.

Sophia looks up at him and sighs, "I love to ride horses, I read many hours of the day, and I sometimes like to fight."

"Fighting?" Merlin asks. "You don't seem like the kind of person who likes fighting."

"Neither do you." Sophia says with a smile. "But I hear you are a very skilled fighter."

"I know how to protect myself." Merlin says.

"And what does a man like you do." Sophia asks.

Merlin thinks for a moment, "Let's see… I am often subject to my friend's science tests, I am yelled at quite often, and… nope, I think that's it for what I do."

Sophia laughs and takes a drink of her wine. She sets her glass down and says, "What do you enjoy?"

"Being with you." Merlin says with a smile.

Sophia smiles too. Merlin did not know where the sudden outburst of affection came from, but he wasn't embarrassed by it. Just from their brief time together, Merlin could feel a connection to Sophia. The two talk more about their hopes and what else they like and finding similarities with each other. Merlin was surprised by how much the two had in common. He really would be happy married to this girl.

Merlin had just cleaned up the picnic and gotten on his horse when Sophia shouts, "Race you back to Camelot!"

Sophia gallops away on her horse and Merlin chases after her on his horse. Merlin has a smile on his face as his horse pulls up next to hers and the two are neck and neck. Being Master of the Horse, Merlin had spent a lot of time on a horse. However, Sophia must have ridden her horse back in her kingdom more than him because she pulls ahead from him.

It's dusk when they actually get back to Camelot, Sophia still in the lead. Merlin tries to make his horse go faster with a spell, but he accidentally makes his horse go slower. Sophia is still in his sight, but she is ahead by a great distance. Merlin catches up to Sophia at the courtyard of the citadel and sees Sophia cheer for her victory.

"I win!" She says.

"For now, but we will have another race." Merlin says and dismounts.

Sophia dismounts from her horse and Merlin takes the blanket from her arm and puts it under his arm and takes her hand. Merlin looks up at the night sky and smiles at the sight of the full moon. He looks back down at Sophia and smiles at her and leads her through the castle to her guest chambers. They laugh spontaneously at times during their walk, but stay silent of words. Merlin brings her to her door and spins around to see her one last time.

"Thank you for a wonderful evening Merlin." Sophia says.

"Of course, I look forward to another." Merlin says.

Sophia stands on her toes and kisses Merlin's cheek before entering her room with one more smile for Merlin. Merlin sighs at not being able to see her anymore. He has never changed his mind about someone so quickly, he actually loved her after a few hours together. Their wedding would be amazing.

Merlin's eyes widen when he remembered that he told Arthur to cancel the wedding. He whispers, "Damn."

Merlin turns and starts to run but stops when he sees Gwen, Arthur, Elyan, Gwaine, Percival, and Leon peeking from the corner of the wall at the end of the hallway. When Gwaine sees that Merlin sees them he falls, and him being under everyone at the corner of the wall, everyone else falls on top of stares at the pile of his friends with a raised eyebrow. How long had they been watching?

"What are you all doing?" Merlin asks.

Arthur is the first to stand, "As the King of Camelot, I say no one has to answer that."

Arthur helps Gwen up and before he leaves he says, "Have a good wedding Merlin, I never did get around to canceling it."

"Good luck Merlin." Gwaine says and runs off in the direction of Arthur and Gwen.

The rest of the knights follow their king and queen, all wishing Merlin good luck. Merlin is left staring at where his friends were. Eventually Merlin starts laughing and thinks to himself, I have the weirdest friends.