Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.

Once Merlynn had given him his potions Arthur left the village in a confused state and sneaked back into his camp. When one of his knights, Sir Leon, also one of his closest friends, enquired about his whereabouts and the sling he wore, he spoke about the battle in Ealdor, about the magic used during the battle and the Princess Merlynn being present and him saving her life. He talked about how the Princess had healed him using magic and the reason he wore a sling. Sir Leon listened to the Prince's tale quietly before chastising him for going into Essetir's borders alone and especially for going into battle in an un-allied country. Arthur listened to his friend with only half an ear, his mind occupied with the Essetir's Princess and her beautiful blue turning gold eyes. By a tacit agreement, both the friends decided not to inform anyone else about the Prince witnessing or being healed by magic.

Arthur was in a continued state of confusion as he tried to assimilate the lessons his father taught him versus the events he witnessed and experienced. His father had taught him that magic was evil and that all those who practiced magic were corrupted and evil, caring about no one except destruction of everything around them. On the other hand, he witnessed the battle. He saw that the knights of Essetir and the Princess Merlynn used magic along with a sword to protect the people and heal the wounded after the battle. If magic corrupted, then why did those knights and the Princess heal others when they should not have cared about any others? Why did the Princess heal him even after he had accused her of trying to kill him. His father said that sorcerers had no morals, but the Princess had helped him even after his accusation. She could have easily done the procedure without numbing his pain, but she did not do so.

Throughout the journey back to Camelot over the next two days, his mind went back and forth in regards to what he would report to the King. As soon as they reached Camelot a couple of days later, Arthur went to report to his father still unsure about informing him about the magic used. Finally his reasoning that his father might start attacking the magic users from Essetir, which might start a war, was what kept him from revealing about the magic he witnessed. Arthur only informed him about how he had gone for a walk during the patrol and how he had come upon a village being attacked by the bandits, which he only later learned was in Essetir and not in Camelot as he had originally thought during the attack.

The Prince informed his father about the battle and instead of saying that he had saved the Essetir's Princess's life, he told that he saved a village girl's life and got a sprained shoulder in the process. Uther initially reprimanded Arthur for being foolish enough to not only go into another country's borders, but also to join in the battle going on. Once Arthur had reassured him about not being recognised by anyone present, Uther grilled him about the fighting style of the Esseterian Knights. When Uther asked if they had used Magic during the battle, Arthur dodged the sword saying that while he was able to observe their fighting style during the battle, he did not see any obvious usage of magic like someone being thrown about or a hurricane appearing suddenly which appeared to satisfy the King. When Arthur probed for more information, the King just dismissed him, ordering him to visit Gaius, the court physician to get his shoulder looked at.

Arthur, thankful to have escaped more interrogation from his father, retired to his rooms and ordered for a bath to be brought. Once he had completed his bath and had changed into clean clothes, he went to the court physician's chambers.

"Gaius, I hope I am not disturbing you." Arthur said entering the physician's chambers.

"Not at all, Sire. Please come in. What seems to be the problem?" Gaius asked.

"Just a sprain in my shoulder while I was out on patrol. Father asked me to get it looked at by you." Arthur said.

Gaius just nodded and bid Arthur to remove his shirt and sit on the cot for him to examine. Gaius's eyebrow rose when he saw a tattoo on the Prince's back.

"I am sure it is not in my place to comment on your activities, Sire, but do you think it is wise for you to get a tattoo of a girl's name, and that too with a dragon? What would happen to the girl when the King gets wind of this?" Gaius reprimanded softly.

"Wh- A tattoo? What are you speaking about, Gaius?" Arthur asked bewildered.

Gaius raised his eyebrow at Arthur. "The dragon tattoo on the middle of your back, with your name and a girl's name. Ah. Merlynn." Gaius read after squinting to get a better look at the names.

Arthur froze. " But I did not get any tattoos. You said Merlynn?" Arthur's mind flashed to the blue eyed beautiful Princess. "How could she have given me a tattoo without me knowing? Was it when she healed me with magic? Is it possible to give someone a tattoo with magic?" Arthur muttered to himself although Gaius caught the end of it.

"What do you mean 'healed you with magic and giving a tattoo with magic?" Gaius asked sharply.

"Er- No- Nothing Gaius. I did not say anything. What are you saying about magic? Magic is outlawed in Camelot, Gaius. " Arthur said, stuttering.

"Prince Arthur, I may be old, but my hearing has been as sharp as ever. Now, tell me what you meant by being healed with magic? Who is this Merlynn?" Gaius said, giving Arthur a stern look.

Arthur sighed, knowing that there was no way out. He relayed most of the story of what had transpired at Ealdor as he had Leon, leaving out a few minor details he believed Gaius did not need to know. Arthur also pleaded with the old physician to not relate the tale to his father, to which the older man agreed readily. Gaius listened attentively with a bittersweet smile.

"Princess Merlynn, you say? Hmmm. This changes things." Gaius said with a small smile.

"Do you know Princess Merlyn? What is she like? Why did she heal me? Is she evil? Is it possible to give someone a tattoo with magic? But, again, why would she?" Arthur rambled on befuddled.

"Why do you think that the Princess was evil, Sire? Did she do anything to harm you?" Gaius asked, startled at the question.

"No, she did not harm me per say." Arthur hesitated.

"Sire, if you are not completely truthful to me, I cannot treat you to the full extent. Will you please tell me what happened to make you think Princess Merlynn was evil?" Gaius queried sternly, raising his eyebrows making Arthur feel like a little boy in trouble.

"Er- That is, An arrow had lodged in my arm. When She offered to heal me, I er- I pulled the arrow out myself, breaking it in the process. So, She just lifted me with her magic and then proceeded to have me subdued by her guards, before removing the lodged piece. She threatened to bind me to the bed if I disobeyed her orders." Arthur finished with a whine.

"I would have done the same to you, Arthur Pendragon. Have I not taught you to not do such foolish things? What if an infection had started? Are you ready to lose your arm?" Gaius reprimanded. Seeing Arthur's horrified face, he continued gently, "I do not know the Princess personally, no. But I knew her parents very well, and from your story as well as her upbringing, I can tell you that she is not evil." Gaius replied absent-mindedly.

"Her parents? King Cendred and the Queen? How did you know them? If she is not evil, why did she learn magic?"

"Ah, no. Not King Cendred." Gaius said not answering Arthur's questions.

"But you said you knew her parents. If you do not know Cendred, then how could she be a Princess if he is not her father?" Arthur questioned.

"Princess Merlynn has three parents. One of whom is King Cendred. I knew her other father, King Consort Balinor and her mother, Queen Hunith, is my niece."

"What? The Queen of Essetir is your niece? King Consort Balinor? Cendred has two spouses? Argh! I am so confused, Gaius. Could you please explain it better?" Arthur pleaded.

"Lord Balinor Ambrosius is a dragonlord. According to legends, dragonlords have destined soulmates. Some have one soul mate, while some who are more powerful have two soulmates to help ground their power. Not all of them find their soul mates, although the children of the soulmate pair are very powerful. In a non-soulmate couple, only their eldest son can become a dragonlord and that too would happen only after the death of the father. Whereas, if a dragonlord has found their soulmate or soulmates if the dragonlord was powerful, any and all children of the union, be it a son or a daughter would be a dragonlord or dragonrider* in the case of females. Lord Balinor found his soulmates in my niece Hunith and King Cendred. A few months after they courted each other, they were married in an equal partnership. Princess Merlynn is the biological daughter of all three of them made possible by the dragonlord soulmate magic." Gaius explained.

"That- I don't know what to say to that. Anyway, how did I come to be with the tattoo on my shoulder with the Princess's name? And Why?"

"My guess would be that, similar to her parents, Princess Merlynn may have also found one of her soulmates in you. According to the design of the tattoo, and a very faded name that cannot be deciphered, I can only conclude that there is another person who would complete your triad."

At Gaius's explanation, Arthur could do nothing but faint. Gaius, on the other hand, just shook his head before rearranging the prince into a comfortable position before studying the tattoo in detail. It had a dragon with its wings open and the tail of the dragon twisted into celtic knots with three distinct loops. The right loop had 'Arthur' etched along the border while the middle loop had 'Merlynn' etched along the border. The left loop had a name that was illegible as it seemed that the third mate of the triad was yet to be found. Gaius sketched the tattoo for Arthur to look at when he woke up and got over his shock.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Princess Merlynn was confronted with all three of her parents' furious and concerned looks as they looked over her to make sure that she was unharmed from the battle. She did not utter a word to them, content to let them get the worry out of their systems.

"Of all the hare-brained ideas! To ride out into battle against forty or so men with only your personal guard of ten men! How could you be so foolish! What were you thinking?" Cendred ranted at his daughter.

"Papa, the villagers were being attacked. I was thinking of our people's safety. I had initially intended to wait for the reinforcements to arrive before confronting the bandits. I had thought that since they had just raided the village, it would satisfy them for a few days. But I was wrong and they bandits were terrorising the villagers for more. I could not wait for reinforcements when the villagers were attacked in front of my eyes." Merlin explained.

"What about what they might have done to you, had they been better fighters? They are outlaws. They don't care about the laws. What would have happened to you if you had been captured? They would not have cared if you were a Princess. They would have tortured you and defiled you." Balinor fretted.

"But Dad, nothing happened to me. I couldn't let the villagers suffer when I could do something. You were the ones who taught me to do the right thing rather than the easy thing. The easy thing would have been to wait for reinforcements to appear and wait aside while those bandits attacked. The right thing was to go into battle, not for the glory, but to save those people depending on us. You have taught me to lead by example. Well, If I could not defend our people with or without reinforcements, then how would our knights and guards respect me as a leader?" Merlynn argued.

"That's enough from the both of you. She was able to handle herself well. I'm sure Merlynn had assessed the men's fighting abilities, before being confident in her own and her men's skills to go into the battle without waiting for reinforcements. Our girl is one of the best fighters of our realm even without magic. She was trained by the two of you. Have some confidence in her. Now, I think she would be tired after a battle and a long journey. Let her have a bath and rest for sometime before you smother her." Hunith interrupted her husbands, when she saw both of them open their mouths to continue arguing with her.

Merlin, taking the excuse her mother gave, made her escape, leaving her mother to deal with the two overprotective fathers. Once in her chambers, she noticed that a bath was readied for her by her handmaiden Willa. Shaking her head thoughtfully at Willa's thoughtful gesture, Merlin disrobed herself and got into the bath. She leaned back and closed her eyes, relaxing at the soothing hot water. She couldn't take her mind off the blue eyed man who had saved her. By his protestations to using magic and his accusation of her trying to kill her, she surmised that he was from Camelot. Hunith slipped into her daughter's chambers and made her way to the side of the bath, sitting down on a nearby stool, informing her daughter about the grumblings from overprotective fathers.

When Merlynn shifted slightly to take the washcloth from the side, Hunith caught a glimpse of black on her daughter's back. She knelt down at the side of the tub and turned her daughter to look closer, when she let out a small squeal of happiness.

"Mama, what is it? Why did you shout?" Merlynn asked her mother.

"Oh, Merlynn. Why did you not inform your fathers and I about meeting one of your soul-mates?" Hunith asked.

"What do you mean, Mama? I have not met my soul-mate. I would have told you if that had occurred." Merlynn said.

"You have met him, dearling. As you already know, you will get a tattoo when you meet your soul-mate, and you do have a tattoo on your back that I know was not there yesterday." Hunith said.

"But- But, how did I not know that I met him?Why did I not feel it like you and Dad did. What is his name Mama?" Merlynn asked, upset with herself for not noticing her own soulmate.

She deduced that she would have met him in Ealdor when she was healing the people. So he must have been injured at the battle. She knew that no villagers had died during the battle, so it would be easy to get in touch with her soulmate if he was in Ealdor.

"Arthur." Hunith said, her voice piercing Merlynn's reverie.

"Huh?" Merlynn asked.

"Your soulmate's name, my dear. It's Arthur." Hunith said.

"What? That arrogant clotpole? He is my soulmate?" Merlynn spluttered, making Hunith raise her eyebrows in surprise at the strong reaction from her daughter.

"I sense a story there. Come on. Tell me what happened." Hunith coaxed her still stunned daughter.

And so, Merlynn related the story on how Arthur had saved her from an arrow by pushing her away. She talked about how the arrow had lodged in his arm and the man refused her help before foolishly pulling out the arrow, breaking it and leaving a piece of it in the process. She told her mother about how she had handled the situation and him accusing her of trying to murder him, her voice hitching at the last bit.

"He would hate me. He would not even know what the tattoo means." Merlynn rambled on to her mother after completing her story.

"Hush, child. He will not hate you. You healed him and did not cause him any unnecessary pain by numbing the wounded area. I am sure he will understand that you did not mean him any harm. Though it might take some time for his pride to accept that fact, due to how you treated and threatened him. True, he would not know the meaning of the tattoo. But in that case, he knows who you are. He could come here and seek answers. Since your tattoo is on your back, his tattoo would be on his back as well. It might take some time for him to be informed about it. So we can wait for him to come to us." Hunith reassured her daughter.

Hunith was already planning to send a guard or two to her old village to see if there were any men named Arthur, around the age of her daughter. She did suspect that her daughter's soul-mate would not be in Ealdor. From his attitude towards magic, she suspected he might have been from Camelot. She truly hoped it was not Arthur Pendragon, but given her daughter's destiny as told by the druids, as well as her description of the young man, with only one Prince named Arthur in the five Kingdoms, she feared her guess might be correct.

A/N: Hope all of you liked this chapter. Read and Review please. The DP of the story shows the design of Merlynn and Arthur's tattoos. Hope you like it.