Chapter 34
Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin or the BBC. I do however own my knights Sir Richard and Sir Liam, who will be back!
Thank you for all the people who reviewed, pressed favourite, followed and just plain read this.
Hello everyone. Please don't kill me, I know that I haven't updated in a while but my life came along for a bit. First of WOW my trip was brilliant, a few bumps in the trip but that what happens with 5 adults all with different tastes. Of cause it didn't help that the second day in Rome I tripped up and screwed my knee pretty badly. Let's just say walking up the Santorini steps were torture, but that was nothing compared to going up Mt Vesuvius. Not that I could complain about the view once I managed to get up there. I would do it all over again even with the pain. Any way without farther to do here's the next chapter.
Previously.
As soon as Merlin closed the door he let out a shaky breath. His legs felt like they were going to collapse on him. He still couldn't get his mother's voice out of his head. How can I be a Prince! This is so wrong. He snorted when he thought of what to say to Arthur, he could imagine it now. "Shall I scrub your floor and get you your dinner oh by the way I found out that I'm actually a Prince but my evil uncle stole the throne away and is on the hunt to kill me so I can't threaten him." Oh yeah this was going to be difficult. A voice from behind broke him out of his thoughts "Look who we have here, Not so powerful without your knight friends hey runt." It was the one person that he really didn't want to talk to right then. James.
Merlin couldn't help but think that the gods hated him. Otherwise why would they put him in these situations? Like so many times before Merlin wished that he could use magic to either get rid of James or just to teleport far away from him and his aggression. Sighing Merlin turned to face the bully.
"What do you what now James?"
"I just wanted to tell you that now your ' knight friends' are gone you should watch your back runt." James hissed grabbing Merlin's upper arm in a vice like grip.
"Thinking of attacking me are you?" Merlin asked yanking his arm out of James grip.
"No; nothing like that just a little friendly advice. That's all." James sneered.
"You friendly? That will be the day." Merlin shot back.
"Just remember what I said runt." James said and stalked off.
Rubbing his arm where James had held it Merlin continued on his way to get Gwaine and Liam. A few minutes later he knocked on the door before entering; he raised an eye row at the sight in front of him. He should have known that Gwaine would manage to find some alcohol in the village without a pub or tavern. He also must assume that Liam had a hand in getting it as there were two mugs on the table. Merlin did the only thing that he could do; he asked for a drink. It must have shocked the other two as neither of them moved from their seat at the table.
"Merlin mate; are you alright? You look a bit pale there." Gwaine asked concern written all over his face.
"I'm fine but I really could use a drink." Merlin said.
"Are you sure that's wise?" Gwaine asked again.
"I don't care." Merlin said.
"Oh mate you have no how long I have waited to get you to drink but I don't think that right now is the time for you to be drinking." Gwaine told him.
"I don't care." Merlin repeated.
"Whatever your mother told you it couldn't have been that bad I'm sure th….." Gwaine started.
"Oh no it was." Merlin said moved past Gwaine and the silent Liam and grabbing a mug before heading back to the empty seat. Sitting down he handed the mug to Gwaine to fill it but the knight made no such move to do so.
"Gwaine please, just don't ask." Merlin sighed covering his face with his hands.
"Gwaine I think that Merlin here will need that drink." Liam spoke up.
"I still don't think that would be wise." The knight grumbled as he poured a mug for his friend.
"You know don't you?" Merlin's head shot up glaring at Liam.
"You know!" Merlin repeated studying Liam's face.
"Know what?" Gwaine asked watching both Merlin and Liam's face. Merlin looked angry whereas Liam looked like he was switching from remorse and fear.
"I have known about it all before you were born. I know how you are feeling right now but…" Liam sighed.
"You had no right to keep this from me!" Merlin ground out.
"It was for your own protection, we all thought that it was the best cause of action at the time."
"Then why didn't anyone of you tell me when I was growing up, it's bad enough that you kept this from me but the fact that my own mother didn't tell me until now. I would understand if I was younger child but why not tell me before I left for Camelot. I'm sure I was older enough to understand then." Merlin sighed.
"I wasn't that. It was the fact that if you had grown up not knowing that you were royalty then you wouldn't miss what you didn't know. All we thought that it was the best thing at the time. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you sooner but it was not my secret to tell. It was you Mothers." Liam reasoned.
"Royalty?" Gwaine squeaked but neither of the other two were listening as they were still too busy arguing with one another.
"I still had a right to know." Merlin bellowed.
"I still think that it was your mother's secret to tell you not mine." Liam replied.
"Are you telling me that you're Royalty?" Gwaine asked again finally getting a reaction from Merlin.
"Gwaine, I … I don't know what to tell you." Merlin sighed.
"It's alright I heard. So apparently you're a Dragon lord, Warlock and now a King." Gwaine chuckled.
"Technically he is a Prince as his mother is still alive as Queen." Liam pointed out.
"Which I have only found out about." Merlin grumbled.
"Oh this is brilliant. I can't wait for Arthur to find out; oh this is even better then when I kind of punched him in the face. In all honesty I thought that he had harmed you at the time. So you really can't blame me about that." Gwaine said happily grabbing Merlin's mug and filling it up to the top before handing it back to his friend.
"Arthur can't know right now, it's bad enough that he found out about my magic and Aithusa all in that one day I don't think that he would be able to deal with the fact that I am almost his equal. Maybe it's a good thing that he needs to think this all over away from here." Merlin sighed before taking a large gulp of ale.
"Yes that's it, have some more." Gwaine encouraged.
"I'm not that much of a lightweight Gwaine. I'm not going to get drunk off of one mug of ale." Merlin chuckled.
"No but two will do it." Liam said innocently .
"Really? Right drink up there mate; I want to see some drunken magic." Gwaine said grinning from ear to ear.
"I'm not getting drunk for your own amusement Gwaine; I actually came to get you to come back as dinner is ready. Mother must be wondering where we are." Merlin sighed chugging down the rest of the mug before standing up.
The two knights did the same before they exited the house heading back to Merlin's old home. The walk was quick and silent with Merlin not knowing what to say to his mother now that he had calmed down the other two not knowing what to say to the young warlock, so the silence continued right up until the door where in Gwaine knocked before opening the door. Gwaine being Gwaine opened the door and immediately went over to where Hunith was stirring the stew and knelt down, lowering his head in a bow.
"Your majesty." He said.
"None of that sir knight. I haven't been a queen in at least 20 or so years. I'm just Hunith." She told him.
"Then I'm just Gwaine my lady." He replied giving her his toothy smile.
"Are you always this flirty?" Liam asked.
"Hey I'm just being polite." Gwaine shrugged.
"Be 'polite' with someone else." Merlin grumbled.
"I agree." Liam said eyeing the other Knight.
"Alright you three dinner is ready." Hunith said serving up the meal.
The rest of the night past quickly with the four of them discussing the kingdom that Merlin had never known. Before he knew it Merlin had to go back to Camelot to face Arthur and hid decision.
James couldn't believe what his ears were hearing. He had tried to scare the runt away, but it seemed that with his new knight friends the runt had grown some courage. What the shocking thing was that his father seemed to like the runt better than his own son. After 'warning' Merlin he headed back to his house hoping that it was empty with his father of somewhere else. He was not that lucky, sneaking in the back door which lead to his room, James could hear shouting coming from the main room. It sounded like Merlin and his father were having an argument about something. Moving closer to the other door he opened it just enough to hear but not enough to be seen by the people in the other room. Peering out the slight opening James spotted his father, Merlin and one of the knights of Camelot sitting around the table. It seemed to James that his father had more secrets then he had previously thought; secrets involving the runt.
"I still had a right to know." The runt bellowed.
"I still think that it was your mother's secret to tell you not mine." His father replied.
"Are you telling me that you're Royalty?"
'Royalty? The runt was royalty? That's not right, it can't be true!' James thought. 'How can my father hide that from everyone? For all those years he hid that secret, from everyone, from me? no this is all Merlin's fault; if he had never come back here then I wouldn't have found out that my father had all of these secrets. Yes Merlin's fault.
"…a Dragon lord, Warlock and now a King." the knight had chuckled. 'Dragon lord? Warlock? The runt has MAGIC? What the hell is he doing with the king of Camelot; one of the people that despise and seek to destroy magic?' James thought.
James tuned out the rest of the conversation as he backed carefully away from the kitchen door, it would be bad if he got caught listening in on the conversation. Not that that either his father or the runt could harm him but just so that he would be implicated in what he was planning. He had so much to do but too little time to do it in. One thing's for sure he was going to make Merlin pay for everything that he had done.
AN: Guess what today is?... IT's my Birthday! YAY! The 18th was my Nana's so I wish her a happy birthday. It's strange that the 19th happens to be my birthday; I wasn't supposed to be born till mid-January. Any way enough with that; don't forget to review, consider it a birthday present to me. :D
Mushushy.