Day 3... again
Arthur walked slowly down to the apple orchard as dawn broke across the sky, though he realised suddenly that the place did not matter. As he strolled through the trees, he saw her standing there in her simple brown servant's robes. She was bringing forth spring blooms from the branches, their colours capturing the pink and yellow pre-dawn glow. It was extraordinarily beautiful.
She turned as she heard his approach.
"You are finally here," she said simply.
"You don't mean my body, do you?" he asked, "you mean here, in my heart."
"I would say mentally or perhaps emotionally, but I have been spending far too much time in the future lately. Too much counselling; not enough joy."
"I should have realised," he said grimly, "the minute Leon thanked Merlin; something a Knight would never do. The second Morgana, who guards her inner feelings with such fierceness, had the courage to admit to feeling alone. When Leon burst in and asked for Merlin's help; when the guards invaded Lancelot's cell even though they had not wished for anything. When Merlin broke from his spell long enough to explain to me why he had proposed the swap. He is rarely so eloquent, well," and he smiled wryly, "unless he is in love of course. It's like you said. This is your story."
"I do not lie, my Prince," she said, "I merely... nudged them to honesty."
"You must have thought me pretty stupid to get Merlin to tell me outright."
She laughed, "believe me, you're one of the smarter ones. There are some who have sat in my story for weeks and have still not learnt. I gave them more obvious clues than you. Some I had to simply explain everything to in the end."
"Are you some sort of God?"
"A God, a demigod, an anthropomorphised fear, a Jungian archetype. In the story, all are real.
"I am the source. I am Anansi, the spider who brought stories to this world. I am Nasreddin who confuses to teach. I am the Puca who plays. I am the raven, the coyote, the Heyoke. I am Loki, I am the leprechaun, I am Hermes and Eshu. I inspired Socrates' questions and mourned his death. I am Prometheus who took power from the powerful and gave it to those who had none before. I am in all times and in all places. I am Harvey, I am Q."
"The trickster," spoke Arthur.
"The Trickster," she agreed.
He closed his eyes for a moment, using the momentary quiet to think.
"It was Merlin, wasn't it? This swap? He told me I was getting isolated; that he wanted me to realise once again that there are people around me with lives."
"A joke to re-order the world; a confused madness to open your mind; a desire not to give you answers but to get you once again asking the questions: yes, it was Merlin who drew me here. His trick was like a beacon on the darkest night. It was well-intentioned but he does not have my skills so I... lent him my support. Not that he will ever know."
"And have I learnt my lesson?" he asked.
"I do not give answers, my Arthur," she replied, "I only help you see the questions. The rest is up to you."
And the world turned briefly and he felt the dizziness again. When he opened his eyes, he stood in the Great Hall, the serving girl who was so much more before him. And he understood why she'd taken this guise.
"So, I can survive without my father, I should spend more time noticing what's happening in the lives of the people around me, I should not underestimate anyone despite their status or gender and, when everything is falling apart around me, Merlin will always be there to help me know what to do. So maybe I should listen to him more."
She smiled and around him, shapes began to form, people in the midst of some sort of celebration; a feast. He saw Merlin take shape on the other side of the room; dressed like a Prince and laughing with his knights. He saw Gwen, tending to him, feigning happiness while inside she seethed. And he saw Morgana, as beautiful and as richly-dressed as ever, blank-faced in the corner surveying it all. Her eyes flicked to Merlin for just a moment but then they flicked back and she did not look again.
"But this is yesterday," he said, "are you telling me that all this never actually happened?"
"Time and space mean nothing to me," she answered him, though Arthur did not understand her words. "This happened and now it has not."
"So they won't remember? Merlin, Gwen, Morgana, poor Tom Treathe, Percival and Lancelot? The angry guards and Leon? They won't remember anything?"
"This was not their lesson. These were not their questions."
"And me? Will I remember? What's the point if I don't?"
"You will not remember here," and she reached out her hand to touch his head, a place he had never associated with thought.
"But you will remember here," and she placed one palm on his chest, covered once again in the clothes of a working peasant. "The knowledge is in you. It will change you."
"Now," she said and smiled sweetly, "wasn't there something you wanted to tell Merlin?"
"Um," Arthur shook his head, temporarily confused. Where was he? Oh, of course, he was at the feast. He'd just been complaining to Bella about the swap but somehow it all seemed unimportant now.
"Merlin?" he asked, still disoriented.
"Yes," said Bella with a giggle. She really was very pretty, if not entirely beautiful. "You just said you had something to say to him."
"Oh, of course," he smiled. "You're right. Excuse me."
He walked over to the table, placing his empty goblet on it as he weaved his way over to Merlin. A feather from his ridiculous hat fell onto his nose and he scuffed it off with annoyance.
"Merlin," he said quietly.
"My liege," instructed Caradoc. Of all the knights, he was the one obviously enjoying this the most. Arthur made a mental note. A few weeks' intensive training seemed fitting. Let's see him laugh after that.
"Merlin," he said forcefully, "can I talk to you for a minute?"
Merlin turned around with an amused expression on his face; an expression that lifted once he saw how serious Arthur was.
"Of course," he said and the two men went through the double door into the hallway. It was thankfully deserted.
"Are you alright, Arthur?" asked Merlin, concerned. "You look... different."
"Maybe I am," he said seriously. "I was just in the hall talking to this serving girl and it suddenly hit me."
"What, what hit you?"
"I understand the point. Of the swap. I was looking around that hall and it was as though I could see everyone from a different perspective, a different point of view. The whole world was looking away and suddenly I saw that all of them feel the same confusion as I do. Locking myself away in anger solves nothing. I am a Prince and I have a greater responsibility to them. I need to spend more time seeing them."
Merlin smiled; one of his gigantic grins lighting up the room.
"Wow!" he exclaimed, speechless, "that's just. Wow. I...I'm... impressed. Wow."
And he reached up and took the hat off Arthur's head and placed it on his own.
Arthur smiled widely, "you look like a complete fool."
"Arthur's fool," said Merlin brightly.
"Arthur's trickster," corrected the Prince.
Merlin gave him a quizzical look. "What do you know about mythology?" he asked.
"I... nothing," said Arthur, a momentarily spark in his mind fading, "nothing at all."
"Well, my Lord, shall we rejoin the feast?"
"Yes, my servant, we shall."
And they threw open the doors, the peasant and the prince. And as the whole room turned and saw their clothing was the same but the hat was now on the wrong head, they stopped for a moment. Just for one moment confused as to which was supposed to be which. Merlin and Arthur smiled and the two men walked into the room. Together.