Thank you for waiting. I have now got my computer back and sorted out all the fallout from being hacked so intend to post again.

….

Arthur was determined to spend as much time as he could with Merlin before he flew off on the Monday. So on Saturday morning when Freya arrived at Windsor Arthur and Merlin were both out in the gardens with the dogs. Freya seemed taken aback at the Kings presence but he soon put her at ease. Aithusa clearly remembered her and went up for a stroke before running back to Merlin's side, the dog was extremely loyal to her master. Once they went back inside Arthur ran through with Merlin all the places he was going on the tour so his brother could follow the progress. Freya offered to go through some of the natural history of the area as she had spent quite a bit of time in that part of the world as her uncle lived there. After a while Arthur left them to go and sort out some last minute arrangements. As soon as Arthur had left Freya started to show Merlin some of the photos she had on her tablet of her last trip.

It didn't take long for the two of them to become comfortable with each other, they did have similar temperaments, Freya was sure they would have remained friends had not Merlin been locked away. Merlin and Freya joined Arthur, Morgana, Gaius and Leon for supper. Gaius found he too was happy with Freya becoming a companion and friend to Merlin. It was clear that Morgana and Leon had become a couple. The only one who didn't notice was Merlin who due to his upbringing had no knowledge of relationships to govern his thoughts.

On the Sunday everyone went to Windsor's St Georges Chapel in the morning for the service then after lunch they all went out to the Tower of London. It was temporary shut to visitors for an update of the security systems so it was an excellent time to visit without hordes of visitors. It gave Merlin a chance to see the crown jewels up close as well as the armoury. His coronet he had worn was on display. A new display was being created to show the clothing worn by the King and Morgana from the Coronation. Merlin's own suit was there as well or though plain in compression. Wax work models of Arthur and Morgana had been made Merlin's had been constructed from photos rather than the wax moulds so was slightly less accurate, but he neither less found it fascinating. After the visit Freya left to go back to her parents' promising to visit again.

Arthur and Gaius spent the evening with Merlin leaving Morgana and Leon some time alone.

Arthur did his best to reassure Merlin about the tour "I will phone you every day, so please don't worry. Uncle Gaius will stay here while I am gone and you have Morgana" Merlin still looked upset "I am sorry Merlin but it is part of my duties, one day I will take you with me, but I think it would be too much for you at the moment"

Merlin looked at his brother "I will miss you" he then pouted which made Arthur laugh

"I'll miss you as well squirt" he rubbed his brother's head "But it's not a holiday, I will have to shake thousands of hands and won't get to see that much of the country. I was lucky I went there several years ago on a private tour so at least I have seen some of the areas properly. Do you want a present brought back?"

"Please" Merlin smiled "A koala bear"

"I don't somehow think I can do that, nor a kangaroo, but I will try to find you something" Arthur promised "Morgana wants some opals of course. How about you Uncle?"

"No thank you, I have more than enough things already" Gaius told his nephew with a grin "Wait till you get to my age, you won't want anything else. Mind you, your sister will always want more jewels I suspect."

Later after Merlin had gone to bed Arthur came in to say goodnight, he found it hard not to treat Merlin as much younger than he was, but then as Mithian had explained in many ways Merlin was much younger than his years. It also in some way helped Arthur to cope with what happened and reassured him that his brother really was alive. So much of their time together had been busy with preparations for the coronation and Arthur getting into his new role that he hadn't spent as much time as he wanted to with Merlin. They hugged then Arthur promised Merlin he could go to the airport with him in the morning to see him off. "I will really miss you" Arthur told his brother "Look after our sister won't you"

"I will, although she looks after me really" Merlin whispered back.

"Don't you believe it, I think she would be lost without you now. Goodnight Merlin"

Arthur was up early next morning but at eight he was eating breakfast with Morgana and Merlin. Then they set off for the airport. There were tearful goodbyes before Arthur stepped out to the inevitable press presence. Morgana and Merlin watched the plane take off. Before heading off to Windsor. They weren't going to Buckingham Palace while Arthur was away, other than a couple of short visits by Morgana. With the King out of the country there was no need for them to. One thing it did allow was for the two siblings to spend time together.

When they got back from seeing Arthur off the couple spent the afternoon and early evening playing board games with Gaius and Gwaine. Although Gwaine still didn't understand how he had got roped in. When Morgana told him he was joining them he looked at her in surprise "Ma'am I hardly think that is appropriate use of my time"

"Gwaine if I say it is then it is, you know full well you have flexibility in your duties and we need a fourth player so sit down" Morgana glared at him.

"With respect Ma'am I hope you never become Queen" Gwaine sat down next to Merlin. "Just don't let her win"

"I don't even know what to do Gwaine" Merlin smiled

"You've never played monopoly before?" Gwaine asked in surprise

"I've never played any board games" Merlin admitted.

The afternoon went well with lots of laughs and not surprisingly Morgana won nearly all the games. But Merlin had enjoyed himself and it had taken his mind of his brother's departure.

Gwaine finished with commenting how Morgana had ended up owning all the best properties and he feared she had cheated.

Morgana was pleased with how the afternoon had gone and decided to take Merlin on one of her public duties. After discussing security with Gwaine Morgana decided that as Commander in Chief of the Tank Regiment she was due to go to Bovington for an inspection and that might be a good choice. So she arranged for Merlin to go round the tank museum and also have a ride in a tank across the ranges while she was there. The press were involved but as it was a Military base they could be controlled to smaller numbers.

Merlin loved going on the tank and Gwaine went with him leaving Aithusa with Elyan. Morgana was pleased because it got her out of going, something she had done, before but although she wouldn't say so, she hadn't enjoyed. The day really seemed to bring Merlin out of himself. Morgana took the inspection and Merlin went with her on walk about to see the families. That was something Merlin found stressful but Gwaine and Elyan made sure he wasn't crowded too much.

The following week was full of visits by the police and lawyers as the trail was coming up. Merlin's contact was kept to short bursts but he was finding it difficult and with Arthur away it fell to Morgana to support her brother. But they got even closer in that week as Merlin leaned on her more and more. Freya came at the weekend and spent the time with Merlin taking his mind of the case completely. Morgana was over joyed with how well it was working out. Her brother deserved happiness in his life, she knew there was no romance involved, Merlin was to naïve to think of Freya in that way, but they had become very good friends in a short time. Merlin having company had also allowed Morgana and Leon to go out together. They went horse riding together and their relationship was defiantly growing deeper. When Freya left on the Sunday night Morgana spent the evening with Merlin.

Morgana asked Merlin about his weekend "We went swimming in the pool, I can do a length now" Merlin bragged.

"That's good Merlin, I went horse riding with Leon, would you like to learn to ride?" Morgana asked him

Merlin looked doubtful, he had gone down to see the horses of the Household Cavalry and they were huge. Morgana laughed at his expression "I can find you a smallish horse and a very gentle one? Once Arthur is back from his tours we were planning on going to Sandringham. You could learn then."

"Don't know" Merlin muttered still looking doubtful "I like horses but they are so big"

"Well we can see later, Arthur loves to ride as well then we could all go out together." Morgana gave her brother a hug. "Don't worry Merlin no one will force you"

Morgana had also brought Merlin some paints and canvas's so he could try his hand at painting rather than drawing and had had a room set up as a studio. Morgana like to paint but knew she was nowhere as skilled as her brother, but they spent some time together painting. Leaving the studio one day Morgan took her brother to another room "I have a surprise for you, I knew that Mother used to paint and I have tracked down some of her paintings from storage. When Arthur comes home we will ask him if we can get some hung. But I thought you could have one for your rooms."

As they entered the room Merlin could see about thirty canvas's stacked against a wall. With a footman's help they looked through them. It was the first time Morgana had looked at them as well and she could see where Merlin got his talent. One of the first they found was of the three of them as children. Morgana knew it must have been done not long before her mother was killed. On the back was a photograph that Hunith had used as a guide. The picture showed Merlin sitting on the grass with Morgana and Arthur stood behind. As they went through the paintings they found a great many were of them, there was also some of the family pets at the time. One of the last they looked at was of Uther, clearly painted just after he had married Hunith. Merlin shuddered as he saw it and moved away, so Morgana covered it up immediately. "Is there one you would like Merlin?"

Merlin smiled and went to the very first one they had looked at "That one please"

Morgana beamed "A good choice, we will leave them all here until Arthur has seen them but I see no reason why you can't have it." She went to another one of the three of them, painted when they were even younger "I like this one because it had Titch, mums dog in it and I remember her. But we best let Arthur have a choice as well!"

Turning to some other larger canvases against another wall Morgan nodded to the footman and he removed the sheets covering them. "These were also out away they are of Mum" Morgana squeezed Merlin's waist "Uther had had them out away when she died."

Merlin looked at the paintings and as he did tears came into his eyes, he looked up at his sister to see the same thing mirrored there. Merlin went closer and touched his mother's face "Mummy" the two siblings held onto each other as the emotion's hit them. It was clear that Merlin remembered his mother as did Morgana.

"We will get these hung again, she will not be forgotten" Morgana said forcibly. "Come back to my rooms Merlin I have something else there that they found with these paintings." Morgana took her brothers hand and they went back to the residential area where their chambers were. Going into Morgana's rooms they say down and had a cup of tea before opening a large box. Inside were all sorts of photographs, Dairies and other papers. It was a large box. "We will just look at some of the photos today."

Morgana was sat beside her brother on a couch as she picked up a photo album inside were lots of family photos of them all. Some of the children and a few of Hunith and Uther. After looking through one album they decided to leave the rest of another day, it had been very emotional for them both.