Merlin peered out the window apprehensively, as the cast-iron gates opened to let the car in. As Arthur drove up the seemingly never-ending driveway to his house, Merlin's mouth fell open. It became clear that Arthur and his family were rich, they were ridiculously rich.

Snow glittered on the grass lining both sides of the long driveway. They passed manicured topiaries in various shapes, and as they approached the house – if that was even the right word for it – they passed a large fountain, frozen over with ice. A marble statue stood in the middle of it, of a beautiful woman with a pot on her shoulder, pouring frozen water into the frozen fountain.

The house was not a house. In all honesty, to Merlin, it looked like a small castle. It had grey and white stone walls, two of which, were rounded and looked like castle turrets. The grey roof and the windowsills were all covered in white snow. The mansion towered in the middle of the pristine lawn, demanding everyone's attention.

An orange glow was visible through one window, and a large shadow passed across it. Merlin leaned back in his seat, hoping somehow to slow Arthur's car down.

It didn't work, and the large, mahogany front door loomed up as Arthur parked his car behind a line of other cars. Arthur's car was not like the other cars, it was beat up and used, the other cars looked like they hadn't been driven in their existence. Merlin wondered why Arthur would choose this car over the Mercedez-Benz parked in front of them.

He looked at the house when Arthur turned off the ignition. White columns lined the marble porch, giving a haughty, uninviting look. Merlin gulped as Morgana pulled off her headphones and got out of the car. Arthur, his hand on the car door handle, looked at Merlin hesitantly.

"Are you..." Arthur paused, "What's wrong, Merlin?"

"What if he doesn't like me?" Merlin asked, ignoring how whiny and childish his voice sounded.

Arthur smiled a small smile, he leant forward, cupping Merlin's cheek, and kissed him. Merlin felt a little better. It couldn't be that bad, could it? It's Arthur's father after all. He had managed to raise two children, neither of which were psychotic murderers, so it couldn't be that bad.

"Merlin." Arthur said softly, brushing his thumb across Merlin's cheekbone, "He will most certainly hate you."

With that, Arthur got out the car and joined Morgana at the front door. Merlin sighed, counted to ten in his head, and chucked his ugly sweater into the backseat. He smoothed down his white shirt and wandered up the porch steps, trying to calm the anxiety in his chest.

Arthur caught a flyaway piece of Merlin's hair and smoothed it down. His hand hovered close to the doorbell and with one final look at Merlin and Morgana, he took a deep breath and pressed it. A hard buzzing sound could be heard through the door, then the sound of footsteps.

The door swung open. The inside of Arthur's house was just as hard and as cold as the outside. Not one piece of carpet or fabric chair could be seen. It was all hard-wood, metal or leather.

Uther was the same. His face was hard, like it was carved in stone. He didn't smile or hug his children and his eyes merely inspected both of them, head to toe, before falling on Merlin. He narrowed his eyes at his messy raven black hair and Merlin was sure he saw Arthur tense.

Uther smiled, but it wasn't a warm smile, and left the way he came. Morgana and Arthur both sighed in a similar fashion. Merlin breathed out too, he hadn't realised he'd been holding his breath.

Before Merlin could ask what had just happened, a small, pale woman walked into the lounge. Her face lit up when she saw Arthur and Morgana. Her hair was the same colour as Arthur's. Merlin couldn't see any resemblance to Morgana except for her pale skin. The woman ran forward and pulled them both into a tight hug.

"I've missed you both so much. It's so good to have you back." She laughed, rubbing her hands across both of their backs.

Eventually they pulled apart. Arthur stepped back towards Merlin and took his hand.

"Mum, this is Merlin." He said, Merlin smiled at how proud Arthur sounded.

"It's so lovely to meet you, Merlin." The woman said.

She walked forward and kissed Merlin on one cheek. Merlin almost gasped when he saw her eyes; they were exactly the same as Arthur's.

"I'm Ygraine, Arthur's mum and Morgana's stepmum." That explained why her and Morgana looked nothing alike.

She turned back to Morgana and began quizzing her about her course, her flatmates, her life at University. Arthur tugged on Merlin's hand, leading him back towards the marble stairs, "Come on."

Ygraine called after them as they left, "Dinner is in an hour, Arthur, make sure you're both ready."


Arthur walked around Merlin inspecting him closely. Arthur was tense and it made Merlin tense.

"Arthur, please can we just go downstairs?" Merlin asked, feeling a little like a display at a museum.

Arthur didn't reply, he ran his hands over Merlin's hair, trying desperately to smooth it down. Merlin didn't stop him even though he knew Arthur's efforts would be for nothing – his hair had a mind of it's own.

He had never seen Arthur like this, so worried and tense. He had acted like he didn't care what Uther thought of Merlin, but clearly it was a big deal. Merlin's stomach was doing flips and it would be a miracle if he could keep anything down at dinner.

Arthur bit his lips and straightened Merlin's tie for the eighth time. Both he and Merlin were wearing suits.

Merlin slapped Arthur's hands away, "Arthur, you said it youself, he's going to hate me. Does it matter how I look when he does?"

Arthur placed a hand on Merlin's neck and ran through the rules of dinner again. Having dinner in the Pendragon household was a delicate matter and required suits and rules to eat. Merlin rolled his eyes (despite the fear building inside him) and followed Arthur into the hallway.

Just then, Morgana walked out of her bedroom wearing an outfit reserved usually for the daughters of priests. A knee length black skirt, black tights and sensible black, shiny shoes. A crisp white blouse underneath a babypink cashmere sweater. Her black hair was immaculate and held back with a headband to match her sweater.

"Morgana, you look-"

"Shut up." She snapped, cutting Merlin off smoothly.

Before either of the boys could reply, she shoved past them and marched down the marble stairs. Merlin and Arthur smirked at each other before hurrying after her.