I do not own Merlin nor any characters belonging to the BBC series.

I'm very late in getting out a new chapter, it's been a bit hectic around here but I'm back and ready to stir up some drama!

Enjoy!

Chapter 6

Merlin was returning to the courtyard from the lower village where he had been most of the morning treating the townspeople. After several weeks of working in Camelot, Gaius now felt comfortable sending Merlin out to treat minor illnesses and take care of routine treatments without any supervision. It felt good to feel needed and free in this place; Camelot was really beginning to feel like home to him at last. Some days he still missed being home to take care of his mother in Ealdor but he knew that she would send for him if she needed him. He was greeted in the courtyard by Guinevere and Princess Isolde who were walking back to the castle from stabling their horses after their morning ride.

"Merlin!" Princess Isolde was launching herself at him, yelling his name as he turned toward her. He caught her in the air and twirled her around before sitting her back on her feet.

"Good morning, your highness." He took a knee in front of her and took one of her hands in his, kissing her fingers in a gentle show of affection. "We better hope your lady governess doesn't put me in the stocks for twirling you around like that." He told her with a mischievous grin and a wink which earned him a giggle from the young princess and a grin from Guinevere who stood behind Isolde.

"Were you in the lower village treating sick people this morning, Merlin?" Isolde asked him.

"I was indeed, milady."

"Did you, you know, umm..." the young princess nervously stumbled over her words.

"Isolde, a princess enunciates her words and does not stammer. Try again and use a proper sentence this time." Guinevere chided her.

"My apologies." Isolde gave Merlin a cheeky grin that he returned. "Did you bring me anything from town, Merlin?" She asked hopefully. This had been a regular routine of theirs on days that Merlin did rounds in town.

"Oh, I might just have. Close your eyes." Isolde excitedly closed her eyes while Merlin dug into his medical satchel slung over his shoulder then hid his hands behind his back. "Ok, open your eyes and pick a hand."

The princess was bouncing with excitement as she deliberated over which hand to pick before tapping on his left shoulder. He grinned at her and handed her a small bouquet of purple flowers. She squealed in delight and threw her arms around his neck in a hug before rushing to show Guinevere. Grinning, Merlin stood and walked over to the ladies. He held out and apple to Guin and kissed her cheek before turning away.

Arthur was on his way up the stairs after training with his knights when he saw his daughter throwing herself into the arms of Merlin in the courtyard and he stopped to watch their interaction through the window, smiling affectionately. It seemed Isolde was quite as taken with Merlin as he was and Merlin was playing it up, kissing her hand and grinning at her. When he presented her with a bouquet of flowers and she hugged him, he couldn't help but think how wonderful it would be to be able to be that affectionate with someone without fear of what other people think. When Merlin stood and presented Guinevere with an apple and a kiss on the cheek, Arthur's eyebrows flew up. He knew that they were close friends but now he found himself wonder how close they were. He was about to continue his trek up to his chambers to wash himself from the morning's sweat when he noticed Merlin sauntering across the courtyard from the ladies, digging in his bag as he went. Arthur felt himself glued to the window needing to know where he was walking to, or better yet who he was walking to. Because people didn't just saunter toward places, it was always towards people and Merlin was definitely sauntering. Merlin's hand emerged from his bag with a large red apple and he looked up with a huge grin on his lips as he walked straight up to... damn it to hell. Gwaine. He walked straight up to Gwaine and offered him the apple. Then with that beautiful grin on his face he leaned in toward Gwaine and touched his cheek with one finger, waiting for Gwaine to kiss his cheek. What the hell did Gwaine think he was doing?! With a cocky smile on his face, Gwaine leaned in and kissed Merlin's cheek. Arthur saw red. Merlin was off limits. Arthur thought this was implied but clearly, he needed to have a talk with his knights about not touching what belongs to him. Arthur had no idea what Merlin called to Gwaine over his shoulder as he walked away but it didn't take a genius to know what was on the knight's mind as he bit his lip and watched him walk away. Arthur stormed upstairs and loudly yelled for his manservant.

"George! Where are you?!" The young man popped out of a corridor to the left.

"Here sire! What can I do for you?" George asked. The man was always so eager to please. Arthur didn't know why this annoyed him so much but it did. The man always had all his chores done perfectly in a very timely manner but he was always kissing his ass and it made the king very agitated sometimes.

"I need you to go around and deliver a message to all my knights hastily. I need you to tell them to meet me on the training field one bell past noon without armor to practice hand to hand combat." Arthur snarled out. Punching someone, especially a specific someone, would make everything feel better. "Then I need you to go to the physician's chambers and request that Gaius send Merlin down to the field with a medical kit prepared to treat any wounds that might occur."

"Yes, sire." George said and bowed before hurrying off.

"Which one of you made him mad?" Sir Leon whisper yelled at his fellow knights as they were all sprawled out on the grass on the side of the training field, drinking water and nursing their wounds.

"Don't look at me!" Percival growled as Merlin cleaned a cut on his bottom lip.

"If I had to wager a guess on one of us making him angry, I'd guess Gwaine. So, what did you do, Gwaine?" Lancelot asked.

"Why does it always have to be me?" Gwaine asked in indignation and the rest of the group laughed.

"Because it always is?" Elyan answered.

"Bugger off. I can't think of anything that I've done to him. Outside of practice, I haven't even seen him today. When we finished morning practice, I went to visit Terrwyn in the stables. I saw Merlin here with Guin and the princess where he gave Guin an apple and a kiss on the cheek." All the knights look at Merlin with their eyebrows raised at that and he smiles and shrugs. "I told him I would give him a kiss on the cheek if he had another apple that I could give to Terrwyn. He did so I did then he went back to work and I went back to my horse. Then George found me at lunch to tell me I was needed back here. See? Nothing to make him pissed at me."

Lancelot looked at Merlin as he came to look at the cut on his eyebrow. "Are you seeing Guinevere, Merlin?" Merlin stopped and looked at him in surprise.

"What? No, never!" Merlin practically shouted and the knights all looked at him, shocked. "I mean, there's nothing wrong with Guin. She's beautiful and kind and my best friend. But no. She's not my type."

"If a beauty like Guinevere isn't your type, I'm curious to know what is. It must take quite the extraordinary woman to catch your eye." Everyone snaps around at the sound of Arthur's voice, surprised that it's him asking the question.

Merlin blushes when they all turn to him awaiting his answer. "Well, um... I can't believe we are talking about this and I really hope you guys don't see me differently when this is all over. I tend to go for blondes. But they aren't women." He answers with tight smile. They all smile in return and Arthur stares at him slack jawed.

"Well done mate, men are a lot of fun in the bedroom. I myself like the company of both men and women." Gwaine lifts his water in a toast and waggles his eyebrows.

"More ladies for us!" Galahad jokes.

"I'm just glad I don't have to compete with you for Guinevere's attention." Lancelot grins with pink cheeks.

"As long as you have good intentions, you have my blessing, Lance." Merlin smiles at him warmly.

They are all rising to their feet when a servant rushes across the field toward them and bows to Arthur when he reaches them. "Pardon the interruption, Sire. An urgent message from Ealdor has arrived for Merlin." Merlin's head snaps up in worry and Arthur hands the message over.

Merlin rips open the parchment and begins reading. All the color drains from his face and he drops to his knees.

"Merlin, what is it?" Percival takes a knee in front of him, placing his hand on his shoulder.

"A rogue band of mercenaries road through town, attacking people. The message is from Will, my...um...friend, and he says that he and my mother were both injured in the attack. My mother didn't survive her injuries. She was the only family I had left and now she'd gone. I should have been there. I could have saved her."

"Oh mate, I'm so sorry." Gwaine tells him and looks around at the rest of the knights, not sure what they should do. Merlin takes that decision away from them when he abruptly stands up.

"I need to go. I'm sorry, Arthur, but I need to leave. I have to go to Ealdor. I need to give her a proper funeral. I'm sorry. I'll be back when I get everything settled. Gwaine, will you please go down and ask the stable boy to get Tegan saddled for me?" He looks at Gwaine pleadingly.

"Of course, Merlin. I'll have her waiting for you in the courtyard." Gwaine answers and takes off toward the stables.

"Goodbye everyone. If I missed treating anyone, Gaius will take care of it." Merlin said and began his trek back to the castle. It hurt them all to watch him go, he looked so broken. The letter was clutched in one hand, held tightly to his chest while the other hand was roughly raking through his raven hair, his bowed head shaking in disbelief and grief. When he got far enough away from them that he could barely be seen any longer, Arthur turned back to his men.

"Who wants to take a trip to Ealdor? Since it's technically in Cenred's kingdom, we cannot go as officials of Camelot riding in our full armor and colors. However, I think we need to support Merlin in his time of need. And I think we need to make sure Ealdor is safe from further attack from these mercenaries. This is a voluntary mission and I don't think I should take but a few men. Who's in?" Arthur asks. "I know Gwaine will be in so I will count him amongst the chosen." Quickly Percival, Lancelot, Elyan and Leon volunteered.

Merlin was looking at his feet as he ran down the stairs leading down to the castle courtyard with his bag slung over his shoulder and didn't notice all the knights standing in the wait for him until he was all but in front of them. He stopped in his tracks, slack jawed. Gwaine stepped forward leading Merlin's horse, Tegan, towards him and handing over the reins before returning to his own mare. "Thank you, Gwaine. I'm confused, what are you all doing here?"

"You didn't think we would let you go alone, did you? Especially not after your attack a few weeks ago. Your village needs us and you need to get there safely. And we need to make sure that you are able to grieve without having to worry. We are your friends, Merlin. We want to be there for you." Arthur explained to him and the men all gave him small smiles.

Merlin wiped away the tears that had begun to run down his face. "Thank you all, this means more to me than you can know. Shall we go then?" And with that, Merlin mounted his mare. He rubbed her neck briefly before spurring her into a trot, the rest of the men following closely behind. Merlin wasn't one to usually share too much about himself with other people in fear they would learn of his magic but he was grateful he wouldn't have to do this alone. He needed a support system and he was glad he now had such a strong one, even if they didn't know the most important thing about who he was.

Gaius watched Merlin ride away from the castle with the king and his most trusted knights before he tied a message to the leg of a raven and released him on his way. News of Hunith's death was a shock and Gaius could feel the grief coming off of Merlin in waves, coming to mingle with his own. Once Merlin had packed his bag and walked out of their chambers, Gaius knew there was another important person who deserved to know of Hunith's passing. While Gaius did not know his exact location, he knew the general area of where he was located and he knew the raven could take it from there. He prayed the message was received by the intended recipient and that Merlin wouldn't be too angry with him when he found out.