Chapter 1… Birthday plans!

The white rabbit was oblivious to its observer as it munched on a piece of carrot it had found lying amongst the bushes. Watching, Merlin was lying down with his notebook, a bottle of ink and a quill. The gardens of the castle of Ealdor, was full of animals that had been captured in the wild and brought there for Merlin to practice hunting.

Merlin was not happy of course, one: because of the extent they were going to keep him inside the castle grounds, and two: because he actually didn't enjoy hunting. He'd rather be like this, observing them and studying them. Ironically this had made him the best hunter, not that anyone knew, he had kept his private study private, not even the king and queen knew. The only person who knew was his personal tutor, Nimueh, who had suggested it and ask for reports from Merlin. Merlin liked hiding in the bushes, it was helpful, no one found him there except Nimueh.

"Merlin!" That was his manservant, who probably was looking for him. At the shout, the rabbit ran away, spooked. Merlin sighed, dropping his head onto his notebook. He stayed that way until he was sure that the coast was clear, before he got up and slowly made his way into the castle. The castle was very busy, preparing for the feast that night, the feast for Merlin's 16th birthday. The castle workers always enjoyed his birthday feasts more than Merlin did. Because to make the hall look full his parents would invite them. Even though they would be invited again, some of the court leaders would also be there, seeing Merlin for the first time, so that they would get to know him now that he would be crown prince. One would think this would cheer Merlin up, but Merlin knew that this wouldn't change anything about his life. The reason these people were invited to see Merlin was that they now could have private council meetings with him to update him on their main council meetings. Merlin sighed again, he wasn't looking forward to meeting middle-aged men who would try and talk sweet at him so that they could win his affection.

"There you are Merlin!" That was Freya, coming his way. "Will is looking for you everywhere!" Merlin sighed yet again; it was one of those days!

"Tell him I'm in my chambers if you see him" Merlin told her. She gave him one of her sweet smiles before hurrying along to help out.

Freya was the cooks' daughter, and destined to be a cook also, after her father. She was around Merlin and Will's age, so the three had become fast friends. Merlin used to think he had a thing for her, until he realized she wasn't exactly his type. He could see that Will and Freya would so end up together.

When Merlin reached he's chambers' it was to the sight of his frantic manservant. "There you are!" Will explained. "I have been looking everywhere for you!"

"I'm here now," Merlin said dully. Will frowned, before giving him a sympathetic smile.

"Come on we have to get you ready for the feast." And with that he helped Merlin out of his clothes and into the fancy clothing laid out on his bed. Before long Merlin was dressed and ready. As he was looking in the mirror he had to admit he looked good. He had on twilight tunic and dark black pants, with his Ealdor trademark colour of midnight blue cloak. On the back of the cloak, was the silver symbol of Ealdor, a crouching Dragon from its side. Of course no outfit of Merlins' would be complete without his most famous red neckerchief, perhaps the only thing with a bit of bright colour in the whole outfit.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Will went to answer it. "Merlin," he turned at the sound of his name, there were his parents, the king and queen. Will made some excuse and left, once he was gone, Balinor walked forward and patted Merlin on the back. "You look every part of a handsome prince, son" King Balinor said in his broad voice.

"Yeah, well" Merlin gave a bitter smile, "Only I need to feel like one" his words hade the effect he was going for, his father stopped smiling and his mother's eyes showed with unshed tears. He dropped his head down in shame and guilt. This was not like him at all, he just felt on edge on this day. But before he could apologies for his rude words, his mother cut in.

"You know everything we do is for your protection, Merlin," she said with a shaky voice. "We love you and just want to keep you safe," Merlin seethed at her words.

"I can take care of myself!" He barked losing what little control he had left. "You know that I'm the most powerful man in all of the five kingdoms, I can stop time with just a thought! Why do I have to be stuck here? Why can't I even meet my own people, whom one day I have to rule over? You're crowning me as your heir today father, why can't I be like the prince I'm supposed to be?" He knew he was hurting his parents, but he couldn't help it. All his life he had been cooped up in this castle, and now he was tired of these stonewalls. Sometimes he even hated the castle that had been his prison for the last 16 years. He just wanted to get out, to walk in the open, and breath fresh air. It was getting so bad that he was now terrified of small places.

"Merlin…" His father started again, stopped, then started again. "Merlin we love you, and this is for your own good. Let's just get to the feast and enjoy ourselves." He looked really mad; Merlin knew that his father hardly ever got this angry. Merlin nodded, dropping his head in shame, and his parents left.

When Will got back, Merlin was sat on his bed, staring at the ground looking furious.

"Sire," Will hardly ever called him 'Sire' unless in a serious situation. "Are you ready?"

"No I'm not," Merlin looked up at Will, then an idea came to him. For the past two years, Merlin had been sneaking out of the castle at midnight in peasant clothing (Which Will had brought for him after a lot of convincing on Merlin's part). No one outside of the citadel knew what he looked like, so he would sneak out and into the city. Unfortunately at night there was only one place you could go in a city like Ealdor: The Tavern. At first, Merlin had been satisfied to go and sit in a corner, with a drink, and just watch his people, later he even started joining in with the songs and games. But after some time, it wasn't enough any more. You can't really get what life is like for the people in a tavern! Besides, not everyone went to the inn, what about the women and children? What about the hard working family man? What about the people in the outlying villages? But Now Merlin could leave! No one knew what he looked like; he could go and see for himself before he was officially crowned as heir to the throne.

"Will, where are my peasants clothing?"

"Why do you want to know?" Will asked suspiciously.

"Just…" Merlin didn't know what to say, he just knew that for Will to help him sneak out at night was one thing, but this was completely another matter. "For later," he finally said. "You know after the feast. You know I'll need it after today; you know being at the feast, angry, frustrated and you know, stuff."

When Merlin lied, he got nervous, when he got nervous, he spouted nonsense. For example, he would repeat a single word or phrase a lot. This of course made him a bad liar. He waited with baited breath as to see if Will had bought it, Will looked suspicious, but apparently he couldn't justify that suspicion.

"They are at the back of your cupboard, like always," Will said finally but with a frown, he never did like it when Merlin snuck out. Merlin thanked Will and they both left for the great Hall. Merlin was to wait in a side chamber until his father gave a very long speech and then called him in. When they got there, Will left Merlin to go and join the feast. Once alone, Merlin took off his cape and lay it down on a table that was in the middle of the room. He looked around tensely, petrified at what he was about to do, but it was now or never!

With a flash of gold in his eyes, time slowed down. Merlin walked to the other door that leads into the hall and peaked in. He saw everyone moving so slowly, it was almost like they had frozen, except you could see the miniature movements they made.

Merlin looked at the people he loved, his parents and his friends one last time. Then he shut the door and left the chamber from the first door he had entered it. He quickly made his way to his own chamber, changing his current royalty clothes to that of peasants clothing. He then took a bag from under his bed, and packed away all the rest of his clothing, along with some of his other stuff, such as his notebook (which was magically enchanted to never run out of pages). He also packed his favorite reading book, and a bag of money he had saved up that no one knew about.

Next he made his way to the kitchen, which were empty due to all the staff being at his party. There, he packed away some food and then headed out to his stables.

He looked at his horses and then chose the one at the back. She was pure black but with a spot of white on the front of her head, in the shape of an arrow. She was a young horse, who had recently reached adult hood, and Merlin hade yet to try her out for a run. But now he thought Arrow (as Will had imaginatively thought to name her Arrowstart, and before Merlin could change it, it had stuck, so now he called her Arrow) wouldn't be as recognizable as the others. He quickly saddled her, and led her out of the stable. That was until he realized he still hade the spell of slowing time going and the poor animal couldn't possibly keep up. Releasing the spell, then leading Arrow out of the stables, Merlin realized how much power he had used for the spell. His power and with the ease that he would always use it, sometimes scared Merlin, himself. The young prince got on his horse and rode on, out of the castle and out of the city.

Merlin rode on till he was far away from the Ealdor; with a little help from his magic it took less time than it should have. Once he was sure he was quite far away and is Magic have covered his tracks, Merlin stopped. Only now he realized he had no idea where to go. He couldn't risk staying in Ealdor; His father would have the kingdom searched, top to bottom. His only option was to leave Ealdor, but where would he go? As much as he hated to admit it, he needed help to set up a life as a present. Apart from what happens in a tavern, he knew nothing of what a peasant life entailed.

A thought occurred to him, he knew of two knights from Ealdor. Sir Lancelot and Sir Gwaine! They were Sir Galahad's sons, who had left for Camelot to train with Prince Arthur. Sir Galahad was the first knight of Ealdor and one of Merlin's teachers. Merlin had grown up with his two sons, training together from a young age in till two years ago when the two knights left for Camelot. This was when Merlin had started going out to the tavern, immensely jealous of his two best friends. They were meant to stay with Prince Arthur for 5 years. He also knew Gaius, the court physician of Camelot. Some years ago Merlin had fallen ill. Alice, the court physician of Ealdor, tried all her best to help him. In the end she had told the royal family that they needed to call for Gaius, the best physician in all of the five kingdoms. Gaius of course, was sworn to secrecy on Merlin's true condition, his name, and what he looked like. The kind old physician was nice to Merlin and he was not happy about what they were doing to him.

Gwaine would love to help him but he wasn't sure about Lancelot, as the oldest he felt responsible for the two, and often wouldn't allow them to do the more dangerous stuff. But Merlin had no other choice, using his magic; he turned his horse towards the direction of Camelot and set of.

As Merlin got closer to the border between Ealdor and Camelot, he couldn't help but think of the people he was leaving behind. He wondered if they had noticed he was missing yet, and sad that he would upset them, but he felt like he had no other choice. It wasn't like it was forever, he told himself; he would come back.

End of chapter…

I was incredibly amazed when I looked in my email and saw all of those notices! I never expected this kind of response, so many followers, and people adding me and my story to their favorites! And the lovely reviews!

Just want to thank everyone, and hope that this chapter is also to your liking…

I'm not quite sure yet when we will meet Arthur, but it would either happen in the next chapter or the chapter after that!

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