It's been a while..Hope you and yours are all well in these strange times. I've spent 45 days without leaving the house.. I feel it's a lifestyle that could suit me. Though I know many struggle with lockdown. We'll get through this..

Hope you like the next chapter! (Apologies if you find mistakes. Do PM if you do. PM if you don't too!)

Onwards~

He grabbed the travel-bag with a sense of purpose and emptied it of the random items inside. He then turned it inside-out and gave it a shake and a wipe to make sure it's clean; then turned it back and propped it up on the bed, intent on putting important things in it. However looking around the small room, it was so messy, that at first glance he wasn't quite sure what could be important enough to pack.

Gaius signed. It seemed his ward was yet to develop some sense of tidiness.
He was about to make a note to himself to have a word with the boy about it, when he recalled just why is he the one standing in the room and not Merlin.
Not wanting to sink into the gloom of that thought, he looked around with renewed focus on what he was intent to do.

He recalled the book of spells and the few shirts that still lay hidden in a cupboard in the main chamber, where he'd stashed them in near-panic for fear of discovery, during Arthur's last visit.
All he would have had to do is open that book..! Gaius shivered at the thought as he retrieved the items, listening intently for any tell-tale sounds of guards approaching outside while he did so.

Checking that the latch was still secured on the door, he quickly bundled the book in its' cloth, and - with the usual jumpiness that comes with even holding a magical item on Camelot grounds - retreated to Merlin's room with it. He wrapped a shirt around the whole thing for good measure and placed it in the bottom of the bag. He then folded some shirts in a rush, stuffed a neckerchief down the side, and bundled up a pair of trousers and socks that he'd pulled off the rope they have been drying on, and soon those were in the bag as well.

Then he remembered that guards can very much turn the content of someone's bag out if they see fit to do so and could easily find the book; and should that happen it would mean not even getting as far as the outside of the castle. Ever again.
He thought about just leaving the book behind, however it was too precious for such a fate; so he hid the bag under the bed, suddenly deciding that it can stay there until he can figure out the best way out of their predicament.

However within a few minutes he was unpacking it frantically, thinking it would draw unwanted attention as to why it is packed in the first place.
Was he going somewhere? Where was he going? And what was in the bag?

By the afternoon he had exhausted himself having packed and unpacked Merlin's bag several times that day; having hidden it both full and empty in various parts of his quarters. From the barrels of grain and herbs, to behind his books above the doorway; to the broom cupboard; to having it hanging in-between the bundles of herbs dangling from the wooden beams above their heads and even under his bed. For a moment he even gave the leach tank a thought, but then discarded the idea.

His mind played merciless scenarios of random members of the court finding out about his plan and how all that would play out for them - needless to say, not a pleasant way.

Gwen might see it when she comes around and could make a harmless mention of it to the kitchen maid, the kitchen maid would gossip to the cook, the cook could talk to the butcher, the butcher's brother is probably a guard, the guard could tell a knight, the knight would have to speak with Uther.. and soon disaster would be breaking the door off its' hinges and marching into his quarters with armed guards and all the world's fury and they would both end up on a pyre.

By late afternoon he was battling with the notion whether it is against the law to have a travel bag at all, or is it incriminating enough evidence to have someone's head chopped off over it. People have died for less in the past, he grumbled to himself.

This was ridiculous. Gaius sighed as he sat with a cup of tea to calm his nerves, absentmindedly looking at his sleeping ward; who was still oblivious to his guardian's torment. He then recalled he still had rounds to do and got up to prep his medicine bag in a bit more rush than what he preferred for the task.

He knew in his wisdom that all things do work out in the end, but he couldn't help be fidgety about it. That worked-out future and the present moment still seemed too far apart.

This will work. He repeated to himself.
He was getting on, he had to admit. The risks he had taken, the deeds he'd done, and the sneaking around behind Uther's paranoid back; the smuggling of people, children, out of Camelot, had been easier in his youth. It was time to settle now in a village and just be a physician, without having to worry about his or Merlin's life being continuously in peril.
This will work..

When he finished preparations, he took a second glance at his charge and then left to fulfil his duties.

.*.

Gaius came back a few hours later with fresh bread in his arms and it felt like the weight of the loaf had tipped his heart's worries out and in its place was warm contentment. It was still warm under the cloth and promised all the goodness a loaf of freshly baked bread could possibly offer. It meant even more because it wasn't payment for a cure, it was merely in kindness and gratitude.

A few days earlier the baker's wife had a difficult birth and it looked like her four boys will be orphans and her husband a widow, but Gaius managed to save both her and the new-born, and more than that, the babe was a girl.

The baker was overjoyed, as if Gaius had something to do with it. In his words, as much as he loved and felt pride over having boys, he'd really wanted a daughter, that would be kind and meek and not the rascal handfuls that her brothers were. Gaius didn't want to break his spirit, but he was willing to bet, that growing up with four brothers, she would be climbing trees with them before her father knew any better.

Regardless, the warm loaf filled him with hope and it only wore off when he re-entered his quarters and his glance fell on Merlin's bag as he closed the door behind him. - This time empty and left on a peg behind the door.

He regarded it for a long moment before reaching for it, feeling all the worry and gloom seep right back into him, as if waking from a good dream into a bad reality, and knowing there was no waking from that.

The physician made his way towards a seat and sat down with a heavy sigh, hanging onto them both. In one hand with Merlin's bag. The other a warm loaf of bread.

There were good things about living in Camelot. But the small good things didn't cover and couldn't heal the deep wounds beneath it all.
It was time to pack, and it was time to go.

It was also at this time that he looked up and noticed a sitting figure across from him, and his glance met a pair of sunken blue eyes looking at him.

"Who's Balinor.. ?" Merlin asked.

To be continued..