It was the first time Merlin had flown, well that he could remember, he had flown as a toddler a couple of times. He found the whole thing a bit daunting but soon settled in, he was excited at the thought of seeing the African animals in their natural environment. He had his camera and also drawing books and his special tablet to draw on, although he hadn't been getting on with that very well. It wasn't like pencil and paper. It was a long flight but at least with the private plane they had room to move around and even a bed to have rest. Merlin was disappointed not to see more out of the windows he hadn't realised just how high they would be flying. As they travelled he drew Morgana and Leon together and gave then the picture. Morgana promised to frame it.

Arthur and the close protection officers tried to keep Merlin from getting too bored and were teaching Merlin how to play cards. But it seemed Gwaine was far the better player and had all the matchsticks by the end. "I'm fairly certain you are cheating" Arthur told him "No one has that amount of luck. If you are its treason"

"I didn't have you down as a sore loser Sir" Gwaine retorted with a grin. But Arthur noticed a few hours later that Merlin was winning.

"Are you cheating?" Arthur demanded

"Gwaine showed me how to" he said with a big grin. Then Merlin and Gwaine fell into a fit of the giggles

"Tell me Gwaine is it the job of a close protection officer to teach Royalty to cheat at cards?" Arthur asked with a straight face.

"I need to make sure he can look after himself as well Sir" Gwaine said "But I have told him only to cheat if playing the King."

Arthur turned to Percy "Remind me to get him replaced when we get back!" Merlin immediately sprung to Gwaine defence and Arthur had to back track and tell his brother he was joking.

As they got off the plane at the other end the heat wasn't too bad being in the mid-twenties. As it was a private holiday their arrival was low key and they were soon on their way to their accommodation. The lodges were luxurious, the three Royals had their own lodge and their individual protection officers would stay in those lodges. There was plenty of room for everyone to spread out as they had the place totally to themselves. With cooks, maids and guides. They also had armed soldiers but they would stay at a distance. They arranged to all meet in Arthurs Lodge for meals, as his was the largest.

The annual migration route passed near the lodges and they lodges themselves were set into the sloop of a hill to maximise the views. Although the plan was to go out in jeeps to see the animals close up. The first evening as they sat having a drink Merlin was amazed at the sky, with no light pollution he could see thousands of stars and took his first photos. In the end they had to force him to retire, although he was slightly nervous when he heard loins roar in the background.

The next day was to be a lazy one as they got over their journey. They did have a meeting with a select group of the press for photos and Arthur gave a brief interview and thanked the press for agreeing to give the family some privacy. After that they were left alone. A couple of photographers did try to get close enough for some further pictures during the holiday but were spotted and turned back. One their second day they were lucky enough to see the start of the mass migration of wildebeest, zebra and gazelle, not the huge numbers that would come later but enough to give them the taste of things to come. Merlin also managed to photograph several weavers and an eagle in the nearby trees and bushes. Gwaine had his job cut out keeping with him. The first photos weren't good but he was soon producing some reasonable results. He did get sore as he caught the sun despite the sun cream and hat, being inside for so many years he had a very pale skin and very little resistance to burning.

As the days past they went out in the jeeps and they all saw the main animals they wanted to. The giraffe pleased Merlin the most, he loved them. But the crocodiles scared him. What surprised Arthur was his brother interest in the smaller creatures, the butterflies and beetles. Merlin spent hours one day photographing the dung beetles. Causing Gwaine to complain that he was in Africa watching shit. Morgana and Leon spent quite a bit of time alone and it was clear to Arthur that the couple were getting very serious.

This caused the King to start thinking about whether he would find anyone. He had hoped to have been settled before he became King. He was also concerned for his brother. Mithian had already expressed the opinion that she doubted that Merlin would ever be able to forge that kind of relationship. Bringing Freya Gwen and Mithian with them had been a great idea for the group otherwise Morgana would have been the only female, it made the group dynamics better. It also gave both Gwaine and Lance chance to be with Freya and Gwen when they had down time. Although to be honest none of the protection team worked any sort of set hours. In total there were six British officers as well as the soldiers looking after the group. Mithian and Arthur by default did end up spending time together but they both knew it was never going to be that sort of relationship they were just friends with a shared concern for Merlin.

Arthur did spend time with Merlin in the evening with Merlin just talking about their day and making plans for the next day. Merlin went the whole holiday with no seizures which pleased everyone. He was clearly very relaxed and happy. The lack of strangers no doubt contributing to this as the soldiers kept their distance and Merlin soon made friends of all the maid's cooks and guides. His innocence seemed to relax everyone. Everyone was pleased just to relax and no effort was made to go to any towns while they were there. All too soon it was time to head back to the airport where they were seen of by the counties President and it was clear that someone had reported Merlin's love of the giraffe as he was presented with a rather large six foot stuffed toy.

Gwaine was heard to say, out of earshot of their hosts "Thank goodness we aren't on an ordinary flight."

The flight back was spent much the same as the flight back although Arthur had been spent a mountain of paperwork so he could catch up on all that had happened in the previous fortnight. And instead of cards Merlin spent ages looking at his camera and the photos he had taken. While Morgana was already thinking ahead to the families first Christmas together since they were children.