Seeing Ealdor again only reminded Merlin of the day he had left for Camelot.
And the day he met Arthur.
Seeing the familiar people made him want to scream. He could almost hear Arthur's voice, telling him to keep that particular feeling hidden. He could also hear his own voice. He could hear his voice responding to Arthur's. I'm allowed to miss you, and I'll be damned if I have to keep that a secret.
Merlin hated being right, almost as much as he hated having to leave Arthur.
When he finally saw his mother, he sighed in relief. She was the only person that he felt like dealing with at the moment.
"Merlin! What are you doing here?"
It took Merlin nearly an hour to fill his mother in on the events of the last week, and during that time, she didn't say a word. He knew that it would have taken well over an hour if he included the events that had caused him to feel so conflicted, but something told him that Arthur would not appreciate people knowing about them, at least not yet.
When he had finished, his mother seemed to be speechless. She finally wrapped him in her arms and whispered, "You'll make an excellent king."
Could you tell Arthur that?
Merlin had already forgotten half of the court proceedings. Not that he really cared.
When morning arrived in Camelot, Arthur did not want to get up and face the fact that Merlin would not be waiting for him. He wanted to be exasperated when Merlin messed something up, and he wanted to be unable to stay angry at him. He did not want to face the servant that he had only met once after a rude interruption, and to make things worse, his new servant didn't know of anything that was going on. He was clueless, but Arthur had to deal with him, however much he didn't want to.
He sighed and left the confort of his bed. He looked around, and at first, he didn't see anyone. He noticed a plate on the table, but other than that, he didn't see anything else disturbed. For a fraction of a second, he felt pleasant surprise, but it didn't take long for the feeling of dread and longing to return. Merlin wouldn't have done this. That meant that Merlin wasn't there.
Of course Merlin wouldn't have done this. He was royalty, just like Arthur. Arthur couldn't help but laugh at the thought of himself attempting to do Merlin's old job. No wonder he was such a terrible servant.
Arthur wondered how far Merlin and Gwaine had gotten. He didn't want to have to wonder where Merlin was. He wanted him to be back in Camelot.
Of course, that probably would not be happening for quite a while. After all, they both had kingdoms to run. All of these thoughts were just making it harder to leave his chambers.
He knew that he would be forced to leave eventually. He just didn't realize just how soon that would be.
Merlin's arrival in Carlain, of course, was to be celebrated with a feast. It didn't really matter that the king was not in the mood to celebrate. He might have been, if there was one specific person joining the festivities. But, as he was not there, Merlin didn't really feel like doing much. He just wanted to find whichever room was his and fall asleep.
Arthur didn't really feel like answering his father's summons to the Great Hall, but, of course, he didn't have much of a choice. He walked to the Great Hall, the new servant, whose name he had still not bothered to learn, trailing behind him.
When he finally arrived in the Hall, his father delivered some startling news that it took Arthur a moment to work through.
An arranged marriage?
He just nodded, not really registering what his father was saying. He didn't care about the kingdom that the unknown princess came from. He didn't care that he was going to be marrying someone that he didn't know yet. He didn't care about anything; he was too distracted. Arthur still wasn't paying attention when a guard burst through the door and said, "Urgent message from the kingdom of Dwend."
During the celebrations, Merlin was similarly distracted. He couldn't help but feel like the entire atmosphere felt forced, but that might have just been the fact that he was the only one that felt Arthur's absence. Gwaine looked unconfortable, but Merlin didn't exactly blame him. He was a knight of Camelot, sitting at a table with the king of Carlain, in a castle that was nothing like his own. Merlin could relate to the out-of-place feeling that the castle surely gave Gwaine. Having lived in Camelot for years, Merlin was not eager to have to get to know another castle.
More than anything, Merlin wanted to be back in Camelot. He wouldn't have cared if Arthur made him muck out the horses for the next week. It would have been familiar, and Merlin wasn't sure he was ready for a change.
Arthur looked up when the guard announced the message. He regonized the name, and with a slight jolt, realized that it was the kingdom that his new fiancée came from.
Uther was looking at the guard with thinly veiled concern. "What message does Dwend wish to be delivered?" Arthur could tell that Uther was wondering if the king and queen had decided that they wanted to call off the wedding.
"The princess was attacked several hours ago, and it is not likely that she will surivive. The king and queen suspect that magic was involved in their daughter's attack."
"Sorcery?!" Uther's rage was not as easily concealed, and was almost comical.
Arthur, however, was attempting to conceal a feeling of elation mixed with happiness. A girl was dead- he shouldn't be happy. But he was. He was glad that he wasn't going to be forced into a marriage with this princess that he did not know. He knew that there was still a chance for it to happen, but in his experience, murder attempts involving magic had a very high success rate.
Within hours, Arthur, Gaius, and several knights were traveling to the kingdom of Dwend, where the princess would be waiting for them. It was only appropriate for her future husband and his physician to see to it that she had everything she needed, though Arthur was sure that Gaius was going to try to save her; why wouldn't he?
When they finally arrived, Arthur was led to the room where the princess was on the bed, very pale, and seemingly getting paler as Arthur watched. Though he felt exactly nothing for this girl, he took up his place beside her bed. She wasn't the one that arranged their marriage. For all he knew, she had someone else. Regardless, the girl was dying, and Arthur didn't feel right leaving her alone.