A/N: I am so so sorry that I left this story for so long! I can't believe it's been almost a month since I updated it last. Thank you to everyone that's followed/favorited/reviewed so far, I really do like seeing people's opinions and suggestions. In fact, I've gotten a couple that actually changed the course of the entire story.

I'm also sorry in advance for the next couple months because you guys deserve to get new chapters way more often than I'm going to be able to give them.

You can, however, expect 1 chapter per week from me, at least, but probably not much more, because if I keep a few chapters on my computer, I can have them ready to post every single week.

Enough of my rambling, enjoy Chapter 6!

When Merlin left, alone, he was quickly joined by Gwaine.

"Arthur thought it might help to have someone you knew helping you out for a while."

"Thanks, Gwaine."

"Merlin, I hope you don't take everything Arthur has said to heart. As much as you know I hate to say it," Gwaine said with a laugh, "the princess is capable of being wrong."

Merlin couldn't help but laugh at that. He was pretty sure that Gwaine was one of his only friends capable of lifting his rapidly deteriorating mood. He also was pretty sure that Gwaine had at least a bit of an idea of what had been going on in the random room that he and Arthur had said their goodbyes in.

They walked in silence after that, each of them wrapped in their own thoughts. When they reached the doors that led to the citadel, they were greeted by two of Carlain's knights, who immediately accepted Merlin's decision to bring Gwaine with him. It seemed that the knights might not be the worst people to be interacting with after all. All of the confusion of the last few days had made it nearly impossible for Merlin to get his head around the idea that he would be ruling his own kingdom in less than two days' time.

They took horses, a fact for which Merlin was grateful. He was glad to be in the open, despite the security risks. The knights insisted on surrounding him in a defensive formation, even after he explained to them that no one even knew what he looked like, along with the fact that he wasn't wearing the royal seal of Carlain. He was still wearing his servant's clothes, except for the shirt, which the knights had insisted on replacing for him.

He didn't really mind the servant's clothes, and he didn't exactly look forward to wearing armor, issuing orders, and having a servant. It wasn't right. The fact that he was even in Camelot hadn't been much more than a fluke; he could have just as easily spent his entire life in Ealdor. But due to a second twist of fate, he was going to spend it ruling Carlain. He was sure Gwaine could see the complexity of his thoughts on his face, although he knew that Arthur would know the look better than Gwaine did; he had worn the exact same look several times over the course of the lessons. Lessons that Merlin wasn't entirely sure he would be following.

Especially Camelot's rules regarding magic. He wasn't about follow the rules of Uther's kingdom on that particular subject. Apparently his expression had changed, as Gwaine asked him, "Something wrong?"

"Not exactly. It's just a lot to take in. I've always been more used to following orders than making them."

"I don't blame you. It is a big change, going from servant to royalty, and it may very well be a situation unique to you."

"That's encouraging."

"It wasn't exactly meant to be encouraging. It was meant as something along the lines of sympathy."

"You know, I'm not going to outright reject sympathy. I'm not Arthur."

"That's true. Sometimes I forget that the two of you are separate people."

Merlin wasn't sure what that meant, but laughed anyway. "I've been his servant for years. I just hope his arrogance hasn't rubbed off on me."

"I'm fairly sure it hasn't. Though I'm not entirely sure that it's possible for anyone but Arthur to have Arthur's arrogance."

"It might be possible for you."

"Highly unlikely, your highness."

"Would you stop that?"

Gwaine pretended to think for a moment. "No, I don't think I will, your highness."

The mocking tone that he used made the title that much worse. Merlin sighed. He was never going to get used to this. Maybe it was a mistake...

"Gwaine!"

The knight responded by putting on a false look of complete innocence that Merlin knew would have enraged Arthur. Merlin, however, simply laughed. Gwaine seemed slightly taken back by Merlin's response. "I'm going to go with, no, you are nothing like Arthur."

"I'm going to assume that that's a good thing."

"I think we'll have to wait and see."

Gwaine and Merlin hadn't noticed much about their surroundings over the course of their conversation, but as they came up upon a town, Merlin thought it looked quite familiar.

"Ealdor!" He whispered to Gwaine.

One of the knights said to Merlin, "We're about a day's journey away from the kingdom. We can either ride through the night or make camp here. Your call."

"We shouldn't risk fatigue. We can rest here for a few hours."

"Shouldn't we find somewhere outside the village to make camp?"

"You found me in Camelot, but I originally come from Ealdor," Merlin said, gesturing to the village in front of them. "I'd like to at least say hello to my mother."

"Of course, my lord."

Merlin gave an inward sigh. He didn't like the term "my lord" any more than he liked the term "your highness." Neither of them felt right. Looking at himself as royalty felt foreign and wrong.

Stopping in Ealdor, however, made him feel the most at home he had been since moving to Camelot.

And just a few other times, the voice in his head reminded him.

Alright, just a few other times.

a/n: I know i know, "stop rambling already" but i need to mention this! I'm going to be very busy for the next couple months traveling before school comes back but I also have some top secret fanfiction that I'm working on and maybe I'll decide that you guys need to know about it soon :)