As Morgana, Merlin and the protection officers drove into the Trust Merlin could see the crowds gathered, Gwaine reassured Merlin that if he decided to get out no one would get to close to him and that he would be at his side throughout. Merlin was quite keen as he wanted to see the birds, he had been looking at the books and had seen some types briefly at the Zoo. He also wanted to see the flying display. In so many ways he reminded Gwaine of his nephew who was eleven when he went anywhere new.

Morgana get out of the car and as she did so Merlin could hear the crowds. Several school trips were present so there was quite a bit of noise and union flags waving everywhere.

"Do you want to get out Merlin?" Gwaine asked

Merlin nodded and it was clear he wasn't really sure. "Well let's try you can get back in if you want and we can see if we can sneak you in to see some of the birds"

Merlin got out of the car, he was wearing one of his new made to measure suits and looked very smart. As he got out of the car and was seen by the crowds there was a slight hush before the shouts were louder than before. Merlin shrunk into himself and held onto Aithusa lead. His knuckles white.

"Merlin don't do it if you don't want to" Gwaine told him, but Merlin looked up to see his sister walking towards him. He took her hand and walked out along the taped of path. The security making sure no one got to close. Morgana went to speak to some of the children and was taking gifts and letters and handing them to the lady in waiting who had gone with them. Merlin seeing the children and hearing them shout his name went over towards them, Morgana smiled at them and said "This is my brother Prince Merlin, he is very shy so don't shout to loud"

One of the girls looked at Merlin "I'm shy as well" she said to him and smiled holding out a bunch of flowers for him "Would you like these?"

Merlin reacted to her smile and took the flowers and bent down so she could hear his whisper over the noise "Thank you they are very pretty, what are they called?"

"Flowers" came the reply.

Merlin smiled and looked at Aithusa at his side "Look Aithusa flowers" one of the security men stepped forward to take the flowers from Merlin "No they are mine" he was told and Merlin keep hold of them. The little girl smiled at him. Merlin walked along with Morgana and with both Gwaine and Elyan close by. He looked totally bewildered but as they got closer to the group waiting he saw a barn owl on a man's arm and moved forward. Gwaine took Aithusa's lead when Merlin got close whispering "The birds might not like dogs Sir"

Merlin stood in front of the bird and stared at it. "Oh you're beautiful" he whispered.

The handler smiled and ignoring protocol spoke "Your Royal Highness her name is Alice and she is a barn owl, she is a bit nervous with all the noise but you may stroke her if you are gentle"

Merlin didn't need telling twice he very gently put out his hand and touched the bird's feathers. He turned round when he heard his sister's voice "We need to go inside Merlin" she said smiling at her brother. He hadn't noticed that nearly all the crowd had been looking at him and not her.

Merlin smiled at the barn owl "Bye Alice" then he went towards Morgana and they entered the building. There was a row of dignitaries and Morgana was speaking to then each in turn, Merlin stood at her side and watched his sister. He managed a few very quiet hellos but mostly just stayed close to her. Then they were shown some more of the birds and the work they were doing rearing rare species. Merlin looked at the chicks with interest and was allowed to feed one of them. The Security were asking the reporters to take care with camera flashes and ensuring not to many were used. The film crews were less of a problem.

They were then shown a flying display and introduced to more of the birds. Gwaine discretely spoke to Morgana who asked "Would it be possible for Prince Merlin to hold a bird?"

Merlin was given a glove and allowed to hold a red Kite and then got involved in the fly display having the barn owl land on this arm. Gwaine then took Merlin back to the car before Morgana finished the tour. Morgana gave a speech and opened a new part of the facility. One of the trust officials presented the Princess with a framed photo of a Merlin for the Prince who by now was curled up in the corner of the car, he had had enough kept his eyes closed hugging his dog.

Once they were on their way Morgana hugged her brother and praised him on how well he had done, she was worried that he had found it too much. It was clear to her he would need a lot of time and support to deal with such visits, and it was only the birds that had got him through. Merlin refused to speak on the way back and went to bed as soon as they got back to the Palace. An hour later Aithusa alerted Gwaine, who was sat in Merlin's private anteroom, as was normal practice when Merlin rested in the day, she was barking and as he went to check he found Merlin was having a seizure. The stress of the day had caught up with him.

Gwaine made sure Merlin was safe and let the Prince sleep as soon as the seizure stopped. Aithusa was curled up on the bed with her master. Morgana came in once she had been told. She looked at Gwaine who was sat by the bed "Do you think he will ever be able to deal with visits?"

"I think so Ma'am, and he loved the birds, it was a good idea of yours. Whether he will make the coronation I'm not sure" Gwaine said honestly. "He wants to go"

"I don't want him to have a seizure then, I mean the worlds cameras will be on him, and it would be embarrassing for him." Morgana looked at Gwaine, who by now was almost family "I don't mean I would be ashamed of him"

"I know that Ma'am, but if he wants to go wouldn't it be worth the risk? Perhaps you could get some sort of agreement from the press. Anyway I'm sure the cameras will be all be pointed at the King" Gwaine grinned "After all that's sort of the point"

"Don't you believe it! Merlin has a worldwide fan base, the press office deals with sacks of mail everyday asking about the 'Hidden Prince'. How I hate that title. He wasn't hidden he was a prisoner"

Morgana bent down and kissed her brothers forehead. "I love him so much, I want to protect him, but at the same time I want him to have a normal life"

"That he will never have Ma'am, no more than you do"

"I suppose not, but as normal as he can." She looked at Gwaine "Do you think if Merlin wore normal clothes he could go out incognito to a few places? I have lots of things I want him to experience"

"We could try, if there was enough security around. Perhaps somewhere outside London" Gwaine looked thoughtful.

"I also want him to learn to swim, we have the pool here all I need is a teacher" Morgana looked thoughtful

"That's easy Ma'am I'm a qualified swimming instructor from my army days. Also what about getting him on an army assault course when he's stronger. We could do that without the press"

They continued to discuss various options before Morgana was called away. Arthur turned up just as Merlin woke, he stopped and talked to his brother about the birds and said he would arrange for the picture to be put up on the wall. "You know your mother named you Merlin because she loved the bird so much, it reminded her of her home."

Merlin looked at his brother "I can't remember her much, I tried but I can't" Merlin was upset. "When I look at her pictures I sort of remember, she was nice and cuddled me a lot'"

"She cuddled us all, she was really nice, and as I was a bit older than you so I can remember more. Shall I find out some film of her for you to see?" Arthur asked

"Yes please, she wasn't your mummy was she?" Merlin asked "I've seen pictures of your mummy"

"No Merlin but my mother died when I was born, so your mother was the only one I knew and I loved her very much" Arthur gave his brother a hug "We all cried when she died and you got hurt. It was a horrible time and I still think of her." The king admitted. He was telling the truth Hunith's hugs were the last he could remember, except the ones he had with his sister over the years, but at least he was old enough to remember. Poor Merlin had lost his mother and them so close together.

Arthur turned the subject to something else and they chatted for a couple of hours together.

The police were progressing with the preparations for the trial, but it would still be at least six months before it would take place both Valiant and Cenred still maintained their innocence and Agravaine was keeping to his story so a full trial would be needed. Kilgarrah came to see Merlin about once a month to go over things, it was still hoped he wouldn't have to testify. The trail itself would cause enough fuss due to its subject and the fact that so many of the Royal family were involved. The defendants were claiming they could not be put on trial as they were following instructions of the King. The case would be long and complex. The Director of Public Prosecutions was involved in working out the semantics of the case.