Family
„How far is it to Camelot right now?" he asks louder so Joseph can hear him.
„See for yourself" comes the answer and after turning the corner Arthur looks upon the well known walls of Camelot.
At first Arthur thought about disguising himself but then he figured even if somebody noticed his resemblance to a certain King nobody would think that it was actually him. In the company of the only three people he knew around here Arthur walks through the gates of Camelot and gets hit by a ton of different feelings. He recognizes his Camelot but a lot has changed since he was gone. It looks...cleaner and the people on the streets are happy. He sees them going over the market, talking and laughing with friends. There are children playing in the streets or looking in awe at a puppeteer who is giving them a show. Everything is colourful and lively. The small group arrives at the centre of the courtyard where the executions used to take place and Arthurs jaw drops when he sees a huge market going from one end of the place to the other. It is so full of people that they have to push through them to find a good location to display the weavers goods. Arthur promises to help them settling everything down before going his own way. He is thankful that they dont ask him what he is going to do after that because he himself is not quite sure about that. I want to meet the royals...but I cant just go into the castle and tell the guards who I am. Nobody would be stupid enough to believe me. But how am I supposed to get to them if I cant get through the guards. Somehow it must be possible...Sooner as he expected they finished unpacking the goods and Arthur found himself thanking Jospeh and his family for all their help without that he never would have found his way home. Even though it does not feel like home anymore...not really. He promised them to later come back to their location at the market since they would be staying there for a couple of days.
A few moments later Arthur finds himself wandering through Camelot not knowing what to do next. He walks past Guineveres old house, which had been rebuilt completely. He finds the tavern The Rising Sun still existing and hears loud laughter through the opened door. The laughter turns into a growl and seconds later a very drunk man gets thrown out by the keeper. Nice to see that some things never change. He smiles to himself but his smile fades away when he looks up against the sky and notices a young blonde girl on the castles walls who is looking straight at him. As she notices him seeing her she quickly ducks down and disappears out of his sight. It was a strange thing to see that girl. She seemed familiar even though Arthur had never seen her before and for a second he thought that she smiled at him. Arthur furrows his brows but keeps going on. He passes the old training spot of his knights and him. Old memories are flooding his mind. From when he was a young boy eager to prove himself until he was King and trained young men to become knights of Camelot. He feels as if he is watched and turns around but nobody is to be seen. Strange. Sooner or later Arthur finds himself on the big market place again and sights. Great. I have accomplished nothing in two and a half hours. But then, in front of the stairs to the castles main entrance he stops abruptly. There is something new there, a statue made of stone stands right next to the stairs that he did not see before because of the masses of people. Walking closer to it he realises what it represents. Thats me! On the base to the feet of the tall standing man in armour is written: „King Arthur, founder of a better world, died in battle protecting Camelot and all his loved ones from evil. He will be remembered as a hero and the mercyful King he was." Arthur needs to take a minute to let that sink in. He lifts his head up and gazes at his lookalike. The resemblance is fascinating! But does my nose really look like that? Without noticing he lifts up a hand and touches his nose.
„Feels weird, huh?" comes a young voice followed by a giggle. Arthur turns around and sees the girl from before sitting on the steps next to the statue.
„What?" he asks feeling dumb being laughed at by a young girl.
„Well, it must feel weird to come home and see a two meters high statue of yourself standing in front of the door" she states standing up and walking down the stairs. Arthur is puzzled.
„Why...how did you..." he stammers feeling dizy. The girl stops in front of him and lifts an arm to shake his hand.
„My name is Dorothea and if I am not completely mistaken I am your great great granddaughter. Nice to meet you." Arthur, perplex as he is, shakes her hand and keeps staring at her, mouth open.
„You must be wondering how I knew it was really you. There are some paintings in the castle and I have heard a lot of stories about you. When I saw you on the market I thought it was just a coincident but I followed you to be sure and I saw you going through the streets and smiling once in a while seemingly remembering something from the past. I dont know if you noticed but you spend like 30 minutes on the training field just staring at nothing." The words just bubble out of the girls mouth while she takes a better look at him.
„You must be hungry. Lets go inside and find you something to eat." With that she takes his hand and drags him across the stairs. Before Arthur knows it he finds himself walking throught the castle with Dorothea next to him. The castle did not change a lot only the people are unknown to Arthur. They walk through the hallways until Arthur notices something.
„Why are we going to the crown room?" his voice trembles with anticipation. This is what he wanted but he still feared the reaction his presence would cause. Will they believe my story? What will happen if they dont? And what if they do? Arthurs face is a plain questionmark.
„It is time for lunch. My father and my mother will be waiting for me there and of course there will be enough food for you too. Come on they must be waiting" Dorothea opens the door of the crown room and drags Arthur inside with her. At one end of the table there is a middle aged man with dark hair and a short beard. Next to him sits a very beautiful woman with long blonde hair. They were talking when the door opened and they stop to look up at their daughter.
„Dorothea, where have you been? We waited for you! Were you running through the streets again?" the man says with a grin not noticing Arthur who stands under the doorway.
„I am sorry father but I met someone at the market and I would like you to meet him" she says making way for Arthur to come closer.
„Cant that wait until after..." in this moment Arthur steps into the light of the rooms windows and the man stops mid sentence. His wife gasps out loud.
„May I present to you: Arthur Pendragon of Camelot" the girl says with all the dignity her young voice can perform. Both people at the table stand up and step closer to the newcomer. Arthur feels slightly intimidated and clears his throat.
„Excuse me for interrupting your lunch, your highness. I would have preferred not to disturb you...but I was more or less dragged in front of you after a certain princess noticed me standing outside the castle" he says smiling at Dorothea who giggles quietly.
„You look exactly as I pictured! I am King Sebolt and this is my wife Idrid. We owe everything to you. How is it possible that you are back?" the King says with a gesture to the table. After everybody sat down Arthur tells them everything that happened since he woke up in that field.
„I do not know the reason why I am back and I came here to see how everything is working out. I hoped that you could tell me more but seeing your reaction upon meeting me it seems like you dont know either" he finishes his story.
„I fear not. There is a rumor about you being the once and future King and that you would come back some day when your help is needed the most. But I see no reason why that would happen right now." Arthur nods slowly disappointed that even now nobody can tell him a reason.
„But maybe Merlin nows more about the matter. You see, its Dorotheas tenth birthday tomorrow and Merlin will be visiting. For the last two weeks there was no other topic for her than his visit and all the stories he could tell her." Dorothea is hopping from one leg to the other in anticipation of the next day.
„I would be very happy to see a known face. Merlin and I have a lot to talk about. Do you know where he went? What is he doing?" Arthur asks hoping to find out more about his friends fait.
„Nobody is sure about that. The people tell stories about him though. Some say he lives in a shack somewhere in the woods. Many believe that he is anywhere and everywhere and that he comes and goes as he likes. There are even stories of him disguising himself as an old woman or even as an animal to calmly go his way without getting disturbed. Some claim to have seen a white dragon deep in the woods that follows his comand..."
„Aithusa is real" the little princess exclaims with sparkling eyes.
„Yes Darling, I believe you of course" the King says grinning at his daughter.
„But I thought he is visiting a couple of times in the year. Does he not say anything about what he is doing?" Arthur asks astonished that even they dont know much about Merlin. He never used to talk much about himself but there were not many occasions where he was silent. It does not seem quite like him.
„Merlin is an open and very kind person but he keeps most of his life to himself. We mostly talk about the development of Camelot and if there are any problems or illnesses he could help with when he is visiting. Dorothea grew rather fond of him and the two of them have spend a lot of time walking through the forests. After his visits she could talk for weeks about the most fantastic stories with dragons, ferries and griffins."
„Uncle Merlin tells the best stories. He even told me stories about your adventures together. Like when you killed that Unicorn and Camelot faced famine and water shortage because of it. He told me how you had to pass some tests to show that you are kindhearted. In the end you were willing to give your live for his and Camelot was saved." The King shook his head to this storie and looked at Arthur.
„I am sorry. Her head is full of these unbelievable stories"
„No its alright. I still feel guilty for killing the unicorn in the first place. When I saw it later in the forest I could not believe that I actually shot something so majestic." The Kings jaw drops once again. Arthurs and Dorotheas eyes meet and they both start giggling. King Sebolt shakes is head not believing what he just heard and upon seeing Arthur and his daughter laughing finds himself smiling in their direction.
„I would like to hear some of theses stories for myself but I guess you must be very tired after your journey here. Why dont you get some rest and in the evening we meet again and you can tell us everything. I think the room next to Dorotheas is empty and you can have it if you would like to stay in the castle" Queen Idrid says smiling.
„Thank you, that is very kind." Arthur says and everybody stands up from the table. Dorothea takes his hand and says
„I will show you your room." The young princess leads him to a big room that is very similar to his old one. Only the furniture is slightly different. Arthur drops down on the bed and would have fallen asleep instantly if he did not feel Dorothea staring at him. He lifts up his head to look at her. For the first time he sees sadness in her eyes.
„Merlin did not only talk about your adventures together, you know. He also told me about how his biggest wish was to finally tell you the truth about him having magic." Arthur sits up and turns his full attention on her.
„He lived in the shadows and could not show his real talents openly or he would have been killed. He did so much for you and many others but never got acknowledged for it. He always wanted to tell you but the right moment never really came and when he finally was able to open your eyes it was too late because you were already mortally wounded. He still thinks that it was his fault and that he should have seen the signes earlier. When he talks about your achievements he looks like the proudest person in the world but then...he remembers what happened so long ago and his eyes turn very sad. I once even saw him rubbing his eyes with his sleeves...Now everybody knows about the Great Warlock but that was never what he wanted. Yes, he is alive after all this time, but at what cost? He lost everybody he ever cared about. His father died in his arms and he could not even crie over his death because nobody could know that he was the last Dragonlord." Arthur is hit hard by this revelation. Balinor was his father! Now it makes more sense that Merlin was crying...Wait...no, no, no, NO! I told him not to cry! I am such an idiot! How could I say something like that? And then when my father died, a man that stood against everything Merlin believed in, he sat in the hallway on the ground the whole night to support me!
„Then he lost you only hours after finally telling you the truth. He lost Gaius and shortly after that he lost his mother too. Everybody grew old and one after one his best friends died. Gwen, Sir Leon, Gwaine, Percival and all the others. The new generation came and Merlin took more and more distance to the people because they were reminding him of their ancestors...his friends. One day he left Camelot completely and only came occasionally. Even then he did not talk much. But I was fascinated by the little he was saying so I followed him into the forest when he left." Arthur raises an eyebrow and Dorothea blushes.
„He noticed me from the beginning but he did not sent me back. Instead he lead me to a beatiful lake that I had never seen before and sat down on the ground saying loudly that I should join him if I did not want to get rashes. I had been standing behind some trees with ivy and I never found out how he could know that I was there. I sat beside him and he started to tell me the most amazing stories I have ever heard. Since then it became a habit of us to go there whenever he was visiting." She smiles again. Arthur is amazed by her strong character at such a young age. No wonder that Merlin liked her. Nobody could say no to this girl.
„Sounds like you are a really good friend to him." Arthur says smiling at her. But soon his smile fades. A better friend than me anyway. I did not even think about all the things Merlin must have gone through over the last years. And even the years when I was King. I have been blind to Merlins powers. There must have been hundreds of occasions where the thought that Merlin could have magic should have crossed my mind. All the fear, all the troubles he must have gone through back then was only because I was too ignorant to see what was at plain sight. And then when he told me...I shut down completely and...the look on his face...
„Dont worry" Dorothea interrupts his train of thoughts taking a very good guess on what he was thinking about.
„You can do it better this time. You were given a second chance to do things right." she says nodding her head in conviction. Arthur smiles at her again.
„You should rest now. My father will probably bombard you with questions in the evening" she says leaving the room. Arthur lies down again but does not quite find the rest he needs. He goes over everything Dorothea just told him in his head and starts to finally understand the weight that must lie on his friends shoulders. It is hard for me to come back and find out that most people I care about are dead...but Merlin was there. He was there when they took their last breath. He buried them. And he saw their children and their childrens children grow up and eventually die again. It must have been lonely and depressing. No wonder he could not stand letting people get close to him. With these thoughts on his mind Arthur falls into an irregular sleep.
In the evening he meets with the King and Queen again and he tells them his whole story. Once in a while they raise an eyebrow or let their jaws drop while Dorothea just grins and nods. But sometimes she interrupts Arthur to add some insight she got from Merlins perspective. Then it is Arthurs turn to look at her, jaw dropped and eyes widened. Then he asks questions like
„Wait, are you telling me that it was Merlin who killed the Griffin?"
„What do you mean, I did not kill the dragon?"
„Why was the trident not important? Wasn´t that the whole point of the quest?"
„Merlin was captured by Morgana? And he tried to kill me!?"
The reaction of Arthur upon hearing that the sword he pulled out of the stone was not put there by his ancestor but actually by Merlin who then invented a legend to spend hope in one of the darkest moments for Camelot was priceless. Dorothea could not stop giggling. But her reaction when she heard about young Merlin being a clumsy servant and getting thrown at with vegetables on the market was comparable.
In the middle of the night Arthur finishes his story ending with his death. King Sebolt thanks him for taking the time to explain everything and tells everybody to get some rest to be fit for the following day.
„I wish I heard all of this earlier. I see everything in a different light now and I would have been even more thankful and understanding regarding Merlin in the past. He deserves our appreciation and respect" Queen Idrid says with a sad smile before leaving the room behind her husband. Arthur and Dorothea go to their rooms and before they part Arthur turns towards the small princess.
„Thank you for opening my eyes. I thought I knew how much Merlin helped me but after today I find that I just now start to realise the extend of sacrifices he actually made for me" he says bowing his head slightly.
„I think it was high time for you to hear about it. Even I dont know all the details and I am sure that there are some things he never mentioned in the first place but luckily for you Merlin will be here by tomorrow and the both of you will have all the time in the world to finally talk." Before disappearing into her room she turns around once again.
„Thank you for telling your story. It could not have been easy to talk about your friends and your wife. You must be missing them a lot." With that she opens the door of her room and goes inside. Arthur goes into his room too and only minutes later he falls into a deep sleep hoping to finally see a familiar face by tomorrow
This was so much fun to write! At the moment I am working at the next chapter which is taking a lot of effort...but I dont want to say too much:D
I hope you enjoyed it...if you did I would be grateful for a review:D
Wish you all the best until then!
