The sun was distant in the pale blue sky but its heat clung to the grounds of Camelot where the young prince, his father, a retinue of servants, and the knights stood waiting. The small group of overdressed people were standing, not within the walls of Camelot, but in a nearby hilly field where the livestock usually roamed, not too far from the softwood forest. The livestock were cleared to another field for the day, as Camelot was expecting important visitors that had a particular way of traveling, unfit for the square in front of the castle where Uther usually received his guests.
Arthur was squinting with his head bowed, the sun's rays were bright that day. He felt damp with sweat and very uncomfortable in his royal wear.
Five years since Merlin's birth and Arthur had turned a healthy nine years of age. He had lost most of his soft baby-like features and had grown tall and skinny. His nose had lengthened and, though still round, was beginning to take on his father's stern bridge. His eyes remained dark blue and his bright blonde hair was still golden. He had two large front teeth though, that were noticeably gapped and still refused to fall out despite Arthur's desperate wiggling. They were his last baby teeth and the boy dearly wanted to grow new, adult teeth to take their places.
Arthur was wiggling one of his teeth with his tongue that moment, he was upset and tired of waiting for his supposed new friend on that first day of summer. Uther, beside him, had his bare hand, leather forgone in the intense heat, tightly gripping Arthur's purple-cloaked shoulder. Uther was noticeably more upset than Arthur was, teeth grit and temper snappish. Arthur looked over at the hand on his purple-cloaked shoulder and pushed his tooth forward angrily. Arthur had wanted to wear his red cloak.
"But red is the colour of Camelot!" Arthur proclaimed earlier, while pulling his favorite cloak around his neck. He stood stubbornly in front of his tall, wooden wardrobe as his father strode to him from the door of his room.
"Red is aggressive. We are welcoming friends, not preparing for war. This is why you will wear the purple cloak. It shows our nobility and loyalty to the high crown." Uther made no move to remove Arthur's cloak. He merely stood silently with a look of disapproval written on his face. Arthur felt a twitch of nervousness and his fingers jerked up toward the knot but pride of his kingdom won out.
"Red is the colour of bravery and I want to wear it! It's my best cloak! You can't make me wear the other one! You can't! You can't!"
Standing in the fields, later that morning, with a hand on his sore, red cheek, and the other hand gripping his purple cloak very tightly, Arthur sulked.
"Stand up straight." Uther chided, even though he was squinting as well, his eyes growing tired from the heat. Arthur sighed sullenly and stood up straighter. His father hardly ever hit him, Arthur didn't understand why he was so angry that day. He almost thought about asking when he noticed a distant shape in the sky.
"There it is!" Arthur shouted and pointed toward the sky, his eyes shining with excitement. Noticing his father's grimace, though, he quickly quieted down.
In a matter of minutes, a golden dragon came wheeling down from the sky and landed in the grassy fields, ten horse-lengths away from them. It was as tall as Camelot's highest turret and as thick as the castle's hall. The dragon had a long face that looked between a snake and a horse, somehow the expression it bore made it look wise. It brought in its massive leathery wings and crouched down to let its riders slide off.
Arthur gaped at the size of its talons. Beside the boy, Uther was clenching his hand very hard and willing himself not the clench the one holding Arthur.
"UTHER!" Elrich bellowed from by the dragon, after having helped Hunith down from the saddle. Uther stood awkwardly awaiting his friend to come striding over. Elrich was resplendent in his large, white sleeved shirt and golden tunic. His tall golden crown, adorned with a single sapphire, nearly fell of his head as he embraced Uther.
"You've grown a beard," Uther commented, in lieu of their usual greeting.
"Hardly." Elrich responded, pulling at the short, gray goatee he had chosen to sport. There were a few matching gray strands in Elrich's shoulder-length, loose hair. He grasped Uther's elbows and the two kings greeted each other properly. Uther, again feeling underdressed, in his purple cloak over his deep brown leather jacket and black tunic and his modest ruby circlet (dug out from the bottom of his small crown chest), gave Elrich a smaller smile than he would have initially.
Hunith came walking up next, dressed in a straight dress of pale green, she looked elegant and gentle. Her gown trailed behind her delicately, as if made from thin paper. Her dark hair piled high upon her head. Her eyes were a bit lined but it didn't detract from her sweet, heart-shaped face. She greeted Uther like an old friend despite having never met.
"Your majesty, King Uther. I've been meaning to come see you since I missed you at Merlin's birth party." She laid her hands on his and bent her knees and head slightly.
"I am glad you are able to come today," Uther said, meaning it truthfully. He laid his hands atop hers and bent at the waist to bow to her. After standing up he put his hand on Arthur's shoulder and pushed him forward, "this is my son, Arthur."
Arthur bowed politely. Hunith curtseyed back.
"This is my son, Merlin." Hunith said. She turned around and with two hands, encouraged the hiding prince to come forth. Merlin toddled forward hesitantly. Arthur frowned. Merlin was very small for a boy of five. He had dark and unruly black hair, huge ears, pale skin, big, round cheeks, a tiny button nose and the largest, water-blue eyes Arthur had ever seen. He looks like a baby! Arthur was disgusted. He didn't want to play with a baby. Merlin was wearing a blue cloak over a gold tunic over a white poufy shirt. The material seemed quite thick and it hindered Merlin's ability to waddle faster.
Arthur was glaring at Merlin. Merlin was giving Arthur an equally apprehensive look.
"Merlin, are you cold?" Hunith fussed over him, "it was a bit chilly today, up in the air."
Arthur looked incredulously at Lady Hunith. Merlin remained silent.
"Arthur, you should greet young Prince Emrys." Uther prompted. Arthur scowled but turned to Merlin and bowed none-the-less. "You should greet him as you would another king, Arthur. He will be yours, one day, after all."
Arthur turned aghast to his father.
"Ha! Little kings greeting each other! I like it. Emrys, my boy, do you remember what I showed you? How I greeted King Bayard?" Elrich put his hands on his knees and bent forward to address the little prince. Merlin looked fearfully at Arthur then back to Elrich.
"But he's much shorter than I am!" Arthur exclaimed. Uther's face flashed with anger and Arthur knew he would be scolded when they were alone.
"Bend down and you will be fine." Uther suggested. Elrich gave Merlin a little shove toward Arthur. Uther did the same with Arthur to Merlin. Arthur tried to bend down but ended up kneeling to be of even height. Merlin had barely any elbows so Arthur had to make do by grabbing his upper arms. Arthur paused then kissed Merlin's cheeks as quick as he could. Merlin, eyes wide, looked back at Hunith for help.
"Bow your head, Arthur." Uther added, trying to be helpful. Arthur bowed his head with great reluctance. Merlin turned back to Arthur. He has such big eyes. Like a deer. Arthur thought as he peeked upward to see what was taking so long. Hunith gently guided Merlin forward to kiss Arthur's forehead. It felt wet. When he looked up he noticed a string of saliva stretched out from Merlin's mouth to Athur's forehead.
"Eww!" Arthur jumped away from the other boy and started wiping his forehead. Elrich burst out laughing. Even Uther smiled a little. Then the dragon chuckled and both Uther and Arthur started. Uther's hand flew to his sword, gripped it, and then let go.
"Balinore! You can take off now." Elrich shouted toward the dragon-rider, noticing his friend's discomfort. The dark-haired man nodded and spoke to the dragon, who spread its wings and launched into the air.
"Balinore, the name seems familiar." Uther commented, turned away from the flying beast.
"Ay, the young prince's father." Elrich said.
"Your husband?" Uther asked Hunith.
"No." Hunith answered resignedly. There was a small silence. Arthur broke it.
"Can we go now?"
"…yes. Go show young Prince Emrys our kingdom." Uther smiled tightly. Arthur grabbed Merlin's sleeve and pulled him along for a bit before letting him go and running ahead. Merlin toddled after, nowhere as fast as the older prince. A few servants and knights followed the boys at a leisurely pace.
"Are you sure they will be safe?" Elrich asked.
"They will be fine. I even have my physician, Gaius, tailing them." Uther brushed off the other kings' concerns and gestured for them to follow him up the hill and toward the castle. The princes were running up the hill as well but toward the training grounds rather than the castle itself. Elrich spoke up.
"Gaius! I remember him. Good man, very—"
"ARTHUR PICK UP YOUR CLOAK THIS INSTANT!" Uther bellowed, staring after the belligerent boy, whose purple cloak lay rumpled on the grass far behind him. Merlin, coming upon the cloak, tried vainly to collect the fabric in his arms but kept stepping on it and stumbling. One of the servants, an older man with wispy white hair, kindly took Merlin's bundle from him and gestured the boy onward.
"Like father, like son." Elrich teased, Uther turned with bright red cheeks to his friend.
"If we're sharing stories I'm telling the one about the broken sword." Uther warned.
"More war stories?" Hunith raised an eyebrow.
"Something akin to that." Elrich thumped Uther on the back, "my kingdom for tea, Uther."
"Well if that's what you're offering, I'd better accept." Uther said, Hunith laughed. Uther glanced at her with a small smile then turned back to Elrich. "I would like to visit Isla's grave, next summer…" His expression softened.
"You will be bringing Arthur to our kingdom then? Elrich told me that you were not fond of the idea." Hunith said. They stopped before the wooden gate that lead out of the field and onto the streets before the castle. A servant opened it for them and they passed through.
"I…I wish to pay respect to Isla. Abstaining from her kingdom for the rest of my life would be against the help she gave me…at that time long ago." The king looked grim. "Aside from that, Arthur should get to know Lesser Albion if the two are to ally…m-magic and all."
Elrich looked greatly relieved and put his hand on Uther's back much more gently than before.
"You were very close with Queen Isla, I take it?" Hunith asked, curious. Uther glanced at her.
"Yes, she was Ygraine's sister. They were quite fond of each other and visited often."
"I thought I told you this." Elrich frowned, trying to remember.
"You tell me a lot of things, and in erratic order. It's hard to keep things straight." Hunith laughed lightly. They passed along on the dirt road next to the houses, some neat and some in shambles. Nearly upon the gate, a peasant walked forward to address them then spat at Uther. The knights took out their swords but Uther stopped them from advancing.
"Leave him." Uther had to bite the inside of his cheek to restrain himself from yelling. He normally would not tolerate the peasant's behaviour. The peasant ran off.
"You should have—" Elrich started.
"No. Let them be angry. They have a right to be." Uther scowled.
"That was disrespectful, I would have thrown him in the stocks."
"I have to keep the peace in my kingdom, Elrich."
"Because of—" Hunith stopped.
"Yes." Uther stalked forward, getting inside the gate. The King and Lady Hunith looked to each other worriedly, then followed.
Arthur was beaming when he finally reached the training grounds. He rushed to where he kept his wooden sword, Uther promised that Arthur would use a real sword once he was older, and held it up with gusto. He looked around for the others and saw them, and Merlin, walking over to him from the small gate in the wall twenty feet away from him. Merlin was being carried by Gaius, the wispy haired, high eye-browed old man who took care of Arthur whenever he was sick or injured. Merlin wiggled out of Gaius' arms as soon as he spotted Arthur and came running over, now void of his own cloak and his jacket (which Gaius had given to one of the servants to put in Merlin's room).
"You're," he panted, "fast." His voice was high pitched yet quiet. Arthur didn't like it.
"That's 'cause I'm bigger than you." He said smugly. Arthur looked at Merlin questioningly. "Do you hunt?"
"…no."
"Do you know how to sword fight?"
"…no."
"Do you know how to do anything?" Arthur asked derisively.
"I-I-I can count to five, and, and, I can make a sand castle, and I can do magic!" Merlin proudly spread his fingers and made Arthur's wooden sword float out of his hand. Briefly, Arthur noticed Merlin's eyes turning gold.
"Hey!" Arthur jumped back in surprise. He had never seen magic before. He had only ever heard about it from Gaius. His father had said nothing about it. Arthur waved a hand underneath his floating wooden sword. "W-what else can you do?"
Merlin smiled. It was a tiny smile with almost no teeth but it was the first smile Arthur had seen on Merlin.
"I can move stuff." He moved the sword over to the other side of the grounds, where Gaius, a servant, and two knights were standing, watching. The servant applauded Merlin and Gaius waved.
"What else? Can you lift a horse or a person? Can you turn into an animal? How about a dragon?" Arthur was fascinated.
"I can only move stuff. Uncle Elrich said—"
"Uncle?"
"Mama says to call him that. Since he's not my dad and, and he's helping taking care of me."
"You can only move stuff?"
"Yeah. 'Cause Uncle Elrich said that big stuff is for when I'm big." Merlin scratched his head. "I hope I get big soon."
"Can you move me?" Arthur persisted.
"No. I'm not allowed." Merlin said. Arthur frowned, a little bit envious but also, a little bit disappointed.
"That's boring. Give me my sword back." Arthur crossed his arms. Merlin's eyes turned gold again as he concentrated on moving the toy back to them. Arthur grabbed it, then threw it across the grounds. "Get it again."
Merlin looked at Arthur with furrowed eyebrows but did as he said. Arthur threw the sword yet again. "Come on then, get it."
Merlin frowned but did so. Arthur looked around himself, they were near the fence that separated the training grounds from the grassy yard behind the castle. There was a rock.
"Catch it before it hits the ground." Arthur demanded and hoisted the rock as far as he could. Merlin flailed and tried to catch the rock with his magic but wasn't quick enough. "You're terrible at magic. I bet you're the worst wizard in the whole kingdom of Greater Albion."
Merlin's eyes watered but he didn't speak.
"I bet, you're such a weakling at magic that you can't do big magic because you're too weak not just because you're a small baby." Arthur continued. Merlin started to cry but kept staring at Arthur resiliently. He still said nothing. Arthur felt a little bit bad but didn't care enough to apologise. "Come on, I'll get you a stick and I can teach you how to sword fight." Merlin sniffed then followed Arthur as they climbed under the wooden fence and toward one of the big trees in the yard.
Sword fighting, as it turned out, was not a good idea. A few fights and a few bruises later and Gaius was reprimanding Arthur for making Merlin cry again. Deciding that perhaps they had played enough, Gaius brought the two of them to the kitchens to eat. After lunch they toured the grounds, the wall, the castle, and even the dungeons as Arthur specifically wanted to show Merlin what happened to the scum who dared defy Camelot. When evening fell, Merlin was shown his room and Arthur was brought to Uther's.
"Arthur," Uther's stern voice caused Arthur to be very hesitant while approaching the high-backed, mahogany chair. Uther was sitting next to a small, circular table that carried a silver goblet and a lit candelabra. There was moonlight shining through the blue stained glass windows that lined the walls, tall and skinny. Arthur sat in the chair that was opposite Uther.
"Yes father?"
"Have you behaved today?"
"Yes, father."
"I heard from Gaius that you were not being nice to Prince Emrys this morning." Uther lifted a (much less impressive than Gaius') eyebrow at the boy.
"Sorry, father. I just…he doesn't do much, does he? He's too young."
"All the more reason to be more considerate to him, he's young, and therefore needs someone older to show him new things. I'm sure you will get along better if you actually take time to show him things instead of being angry that he doesn't know these things already. Sir Antor has fun teaching you and he does not bruise you and make you cry."
"He bruises me sometimes."
"Yes but only to teach you a lesson."
"Then I was teaching Emrys a lesson."
"It's Prince Emrys, and no you weren't, you were bullying him. Think about Sir Antor and his ways and perhaps you'll have a better time."
"Why does Lady Hunith call Prince Emrys, Merlin?" Arthur fidgeted in his chair.
"Because that is his name. Prince Emrys is his title. Prince amongst the non-magic, Emrys amongst the magic." Uther explained, leaning on the armrest and looking at the windows.
"Merlin showed me magic today." Arthur admitted, watching his father closely. Uther tensed.
"It's Prince Emrys unless he allows you to call him otherwise. Goodnight Arthur."
"But father—"
"To bed. Now." Uther stared wearily at his confused son then sighed and smoothed his son's golden hair. "It's late."
Arthur slid from his chair and left the room. At the door he turned and looked back.
"Goodnight father."
"Goodnight Arthur."
Arthur closed the door and Uther leaned on his hand and stared at the flickering flames of the candles.