AN: I don't own Merlin. I am definitely grateful that the writers managed to make such a great and popular series, which I just fell in love with! I only own William! Warning: English is not my mother tongue, so it is entirely possible there are spelling or grammar mistakes in my story. Do not hesitate to point them out to me.
Summary: Next part of the trip. We begin where we left off last chapter :).
The morning remained very uneventful, to the point that William was almost getting bored. Fortunately, Merlin was riding next to him, so there was never a quiet moment. The warlock was telling him about his many hunting trips with Arthur, which always seemed to go wrong somehow. Occasionally, they were interrupted by Arthur, who was riding just in front of them and didn't seem to agree with what Merlin was telling. He proclaimed his friend was exaggerating or inventing some of the more ridiculous situations. When Merlin was telling him how Arthur risked their lives by inventing the trick to disguise their scent with Gaia berries when going through the wilddeoren-cave, he tried to convince William that he was certain it was going to work. The expression on Merlin's face, however, made the prince question his father's words.
After that, the King and his Warlock started bickering. William could hear everything they said, and often had to bite his lip to keep from laughing out loud. The two of them really were amusing to watch. He kept riding behind them, until one of the nobles passed him and requested the King's attention. Merlin was called away by one of the knights shortly after that, which left him riding on his own, still behind his father. Another one of the noble men, Lord Tobian, came to ride beside him after a while. William had never really liked the man, because he was arrogant and rude to him most of the time, even though he made sure not to do it in front of the King.
"You should know better than to listen in on their conversation," the man remarked. William frowned.
"I'm not listening in."
"Yes, you are. I've seen you. Those are state matters they're talking about. It's none of your concern." The man persisted, scowling slightly.
"I'm really not. I can't help it if I overhear something from time to time, can I? And besides, it's not like I would tell anyone." William was becoming upset, but he managed to hide his emotions.
"I knew taking you was a mistake. You're too young, you don't understand what this is about. He should have just left you in Camelot, safely behind the castle walls." The words were getting hurtful.
"You can't speak to me like that!"
"Oh, and what are you going to do about it? Go crying to your daddy? It would only demonstrate how much of a child you still are." William was stunned. He didn't know how to respond, so he stayed quiet. "Oh, the silent treatment. Very mature, little spoiled prince. Now, I would appreciate it very much if you could fall back a little to go bother someone else. Go on!"
William had to bite his lips to keep the tears inside. He realized not everyone could like him, but he had never been insulted like this before. He did what the man practically ordered him to do, despite the fact that the lord had been the one to come up to him. He let a few people pass him, and in the end decided to just ride at the back, just in front of the servants, because he felt no desire to ride next to another lord. And the knights were all busy conversing amongst themselves, so they certainly wouldn't appreciate the company of a seven-year-old. If Percival or Leon had been there, he could have stayed with them, but they had stayed to protect the castle. So he drifted further to the back.He knew the servants wouldn't object to his presence, at least.
A few of the servants did end up trying to pull him into a conversation, mostly the ones who worked often for the royal family. When he stayed quiet, however, they just left him alone. William was still thinking about the hurtful words the lord had thrown at him, so he didn't notice one of the younger servants passing him and going up to Merlin.
The warlock came to ride next to him only a few minutes later. "Something wrong, William?" When William shook his head, he continued. "You are exactly like your father, you know? You don't only look like him, you act the same way too. And I believe you know how well I know him, too, don't you?"
The prince frowned and looked up at Merlin in confusion. "Yeees… Why?"
Merlin threw him a wide smile. "Because, if you know that, you should also know that I won't believe you when you say nothing is wrong while looking like that. Pendragons are rubbish at lying. At least to me. Now, care to tell me what's wrong?"
"It's nothing. I can handle it on my own. I'm not a little child!"
Merlin's eyes narrowed, before widening in comprehension. "What did that old toad Lord Tobian say to you?"
William looked at the man in question. There were quite a lot of others in between. Still, he refuse to tell. "Nothing. Really, uncle Merlin, it was nothing."
"William, it's not nothing, and we both know it. If you don't want to tell me, that's fine, but you're coming with me, riding in the front, and you're going to talk to your father. And don't even think about lying to him, you hear me. I'll make your nose grow every time I even think you're lying." William had no way to escape, so he sighed before steering his horse to follow Merlin to the front.
Once there, Merlin made him ride next to his father, who smiled at him.
"So, did you have fun in the back with the servants?"
William couldn't really lie. "Not really…"
"Oh. I thought you liked them."
"I do."
His short answers notified Arthur that something was wrong. "Alright, tell me what's bothering you."
"Nothing is wrong, dad." Suddenly, William felt a tingling at the top of his nose. He looked back at Merlin with wide eyes. Merlin just lifted his eyebrows. "Alright, something is wrong, but I can deal with it myself!" The tingling stopped.
"If you think so." Arthur would have left it at that, if Merlin hadn't opened his mouth.
"Lord Tobian doesn't like him very much and I saw him riding next to William."
Arthur narrowed his eyes and looked back at William. "Did he say something to you?"
William's shoulders fell. "Yes. But I won't tell you, because it's childish if I do."
"Really now. Did Tobian say that to you? It appears he forgot you are only seven, so still a child. My child."
"Daaa-aad…"
"William, it doesn't matter what he said. The fact remains, he was disrespectful to you and he clearly upset you. Even if you hadn't been my son, I invited you to come, so he should have respected that. I'll speak to him tonight, when we have made camp."
When William looked back at Merlin, to ask him to interfere, the warlock was smiling proudly. Seeing that no help would come from that side, William rolled his eyes and sighed.
AxG
Later that night, when he was getting ready for bed in the tent he would share with his father, he looked up at the man. "Dad?"
Arthur looked up from the papers he was studying."Yes?"
William waited until he was under the blankets to ask what he wanted to know. "When I said I could deal with it myself this afternoon, you said 'If you think so'. Would you have let me do it on my own?"
Arthur stood up and went to sit on the side of Williams makeshift bed. "I would have. Although I may have kept an eye on you, so that I could interfere when I felt things were getting out of hand. I trust you to deal with things on your own, William. But you are still my son, so that means I will do anything in my power to protect you, even if it is from my own lords." After his words, the King pulled the blankets up a little higher and kissed the prince's head.
AN: Hi! So, again a long wait. And I'm still not entirely happy with the chapter. Over the course of two weeks, I've been writing on it, sometimes only a few lines, and then half of it at once. It wouldn't really come to me, but I thought the last part really had to appear, and I needed something to happen to make the two of them have that talk. And I'm sorry for stealing from Pinocchio, but it was one of my favourite stories as a child.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, and next time, you can read all about the visit!
