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: Final part of the trip. We begin again where we left off last chapter :).


The rest of the trip to Caerleon was uneventful. William hadn't heard anything from lord Tobian since his father had a talk with him. Well, lord Tobian hadn't really been talking, mostly just listening with a few stammered answers in between. For the remainder of the journey, he had stayed as far away from William as possible. Now, they were riding through the gates of Annis' castle onto the courtyard where the Queen was already waiting for them, surrounded by quite a few knights, servants and nobles. Arthur was the first to get down from his horse and he immediately stepped closer to Annis.

"Your Highness. It's a pleasure to see you after so long. You look well."

The Queen smiled. "No need to be so formal, Arthur. It's good to see you. And I see you did as I asked and brought your son."

"I did." Arthur turned to where William had just gotten down. "William, come here. I'd like you to meet Queen Annis. She's a very good friend and ally of Camelot."

William stepped forward and bowed in front of the Queen. "Your Highness. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Annis laughed softly. "The pleasure is all mine, young man. You probably don't remember, but we met before. You were only a year old, at the time. You've certainly grown since then. And it seems you take after your father in looks and behavior. Such a charming boy." She looked up at Arthur. "You've been raising him well, I see. Let's go inside, I had my servants prepare a feast for your arrival."

Once in the banquet hall, they are surrounded by people. Fortunately, the atmosphere is relaxed. William can even see a few children running around after each other. When one of the boys who seems to be his age passes them, Annis calls him back.

"Richard, I would like you to meet King Arthur and his son, William. Arthur, William, this is Richard, my oldest grandson."

Arthur was the first to respond. "It's great to meet you, Richard. Your grandmother has written about you in her letters."

"I feel honored to meet you, your highness. And you, prince William."

William smiled widely. "William is fine."

Richard smiled back at him and looked at his grandmother quickly. Before she could say anything else, he grabbed Williams wrist. "Come on, you can come with me. No need to stay around all these boring old people." He dragged William after him before anyone could interfere. Behind them, they heard the Queen call Richard's name in a scandalized tone, followed by Arthur's 'Hey! I'm not old!'

When they were behind a corner, the two of them burst out laughing. Once they calmed down, Richard proposed to sneak some food away from the tables to eat outside. They did as he said. Outside, they met a few of the other kids, who Richard introduced to William. They spent the rest of the evening conversing and playing on the courtyard, until one of the servants called them inside again. The servant showed William to the room he would be occupying for the next few days.

His father was waiting for him there, even though he had his own rooms on the other side of the hallway.

"So, did you have fun?" William smiled widely again. "I take it that's a yes. Did you at least tell Richard that I'm not old and boring?"

"I forgot?" To be honest, William hadn't even thought about it.

Arthur rolled his eyes, even though it wasn't very dignified, but his eyes were sparkling too. "Thanks a lot. Good to know how you think about me…"

"Daa-aaad. You know that's not what I think."

Arthur stepped closer and pulled William into a hug. "I know. At least, I know you don't think like that all the time. Now, get some sleep. We're having breakfast with the Queen and the crown prince, prince Donald, Richard's father."

"Can I spend time with Richard and the others tomorrow? They asked. Well, Richard asked if I would join them for sword practice."

"You made a new friend, I see. If sword practice is after lunch, that's fine. You have a lesson with Merlin before lunch, though."

William looked up at Arthur with a pout. "Practice is in the afternoon. But do I have to go to Merlin for a lesson?"

"Yes, you have to. You promised your mother, remember? And you're the future King, you have to be prepared." Arthur looked very serious.

"Dad, it's writing, what does that have to do with being King?"

"You think a King doesn't need to be able to write? How do you think I write my speeches?"

William smiled slyly. "You don't. Uncle Merlin writes them."

Arthur opened and closed his mouth a few times and then narrowed his eyes. "Alright, bedtime, you smart-arse. And you better make sure I won't hear Merlin complain that you didn't show up, you hear me?" William bit his lip to keep from laughing and pulled away from his father to get ready for bed.

When Arthur left the prince's chambers five minutes later, he was grateful that Merlin hadn't been in the room with them. He was sure he would have never heard the end of it.

AxG

The next few days went by quickly. In the morning, he spent a few hours with Merlin, although not all of the time was spent learning. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were always spent with his father, even though they were joined by quite a few other people. The King would speak to them about borders, protection of the people, harvest and other important topics. Most of these subjects couldn't really hold William's interest, but he would listen anyway, because he knew he could learn from the way his father handled everything. Well, he listened during breakfast and lunch, at least. Dinners were a lot more difficult because he was tired. Oftentimes, he just zoned out. Once or twice, he actually fell asleep at the table. Those were the nights he woke up while being carried to his chambers by his father. The King didn't scold him for it, just smiled understandingly before tucking him in.

The part of the day William looked most forward to, however, was practice with Richard. In Camelot, there weren't a lot of boys his age who were already training with a sword. And if there were boys his age, they weren't at his level yet. Richard had the same problem. Both of them were excited to be able to train with someone who could match them. Practice was overseen by a knight of each kingdom at first, but that changed quickly when both their fathers saw their enthusiasm. The men had walked by during their second practice and they had stopped to observe. Both were experienced fighters, so they quickly agreed to oversee the practice of their sons together from that moment on. Arthur couldn't help but notice that William progressed far quicker now that he had a worthy partner.

At the insistence of the two young princes, Arthur and prince Donald agreed to fight each other on the last day. It would be a friendly duel, but word had spread, so a lot of people came to watch them. Like William expected, his father won the duel, but there were no hard feelings and their last night in Caerleon was spent laughing and feasting again. This time though, Richard and William stayed inside.

AxG

The morning of the departure of the Camelot party, William and Richard were saying goodbye to each other and agreeing to keep in touch. Both of them had enjoyed the company of the other, and most of all, they had enjoyed their practices. William was sad to realize that he would have to go back to fighting with someone else.

"You have to come visit Camelot. We can train some more, then. And the castle and town are beautiful. You should see it!"

"I will. I think I heard my father tell my mother that he was really thinking about it. If he goes, I'm definitely joining him."

"Great! And then I'll visit Caerleon again too. Mom said she was coming next year, so I'll ask to come." They continued planning for a few more minutes.

At the same time, Arthur stood with Annis and Donald. They were observing the two young princes. Annis spoke.

"I fear that the next time I'll see your son, he will have changed a lot. Young boys change a lot at their age."

Arthur smiled. "I wouldn't be so sure. If I know my son, he's already planning to come with Gwen next year. If we allowed it, he'd come visit every month."

"I wouldn't mind. He really is a wonderful boy, Arthur. I'm sure that one day, he will be just as great a King as you are."

"Thank you, Annis. I know he will. He's already strengthening the bonds between our kingdoms, after all." Arthur turned to Donald. "If you are visiting Camelot in a few months, bring Richard. I'm quite sure the two of them will enjoy seeing each other again."

Donald chuckled. "You think my son would agree to stay at home? If I told him he couldn't come, he'd throw a tantrum so loud you'd hear it in Camelot."

"Yes, they do seem to be very much alike in that aspect."

After exchanging a few more words, the Camelot party climbed on their horses and set of for home. They rode faster than the week before. After all, William had a lot to tell his mother, and Arthur just longed to have his wife in his arms again.


AN: Hi! Another long wait. Thank you, all of you for still reading this story. Life really is a lot busier, busier than I expected, at least. And on top of work, I'm taking driving lessons. And I don't even like sitting in a car...

The chapter after this will probably be one that's not part of a longer 'story'.

So, until next time!