Thanks to Lady Clark-Weasley of Books,Hogaboom,Ikchen,xXStephRheaXx, Glittery-excuse-for-a Fae,lnicol1990,salixshadow, Siany-T and Paula545!

Uther strode down the corridor with the air of someone who couldn't care less if anyone got in his way – he would mow them down. His scarlet cloak billowed out behind him like a huge rippling flag; it just served to increase his kingly appearance. As he turned the corner, his heavy footfalls echoing down the passage, he almost walked into something. This something was cloaked in royal Pendragon Red and had a crown of golden hair that glinted in the sun that shone through the window to his right. It took a second for the King to do a double take. What on earth was his son doing scuttling round on the dirty floor like a mere servant?

"Arthur!" he barked, his dark blue eyes cold. It satisfied him to see the boy jump and his shoulder's tense with apprehension before he rose off his haunches and turned round. There was an unreadable expression gracing his handsome features. "What were you doing on the floor? It looked like you were servant boy cleaning the flag stones!"

"I-" the prince began but then seemed to catch himself, the words returning to the depths of his throat.

"Well? I am waiting for an explanation!"

"Arthur! I've got one! I bashed it on the head!"

Just at that moment a dark haired young man appeared at the other end of the walkway, his face full of triumph. In his grimy hands he held what seemed to be the carcass of a very dead mouse. The animal's paws hung limply, curled as if still mid-scurry. There was a bloody swelling on its furry head. However, the boy froze when he caught sight of Uther.

"Merlin!" The way the King drew out the 'er' made him sound even more ferocious and the young sorcerer found his knees shaking. He made an effort to stop them with a hand, probably not really helping matters. "What is the meaning of this?!"

"I-" the manservant unknowingly echoed his master's earlier response. He floundered like a fish.

"What is the mouse for?"

"We…..we were clearing the castle for mice. There are so many of the little pests everywhere," Arthur regained use of his tongue first and used the first excuse that popped into his head.

"I thought that was what the castle cats were for?" Uther was unconvinced. "Besides, what has that got to do with you? You were not a servant last time I checked, Arthur."

"I-I was just passing and Merlin asked me to help for a moment. I was about to go and practice my swordsmanship in the courtyard."

"Hmm…" the King was still not convinced as he looked from one boy to another; one dark one blonde, both with identical expressions of guilt plastered all over their faces. Uther decided to let it go – just this once. "Well, I hope you get rid of that vermin soon, boy." He gestured to the corpse that still hung from Merlin's fist. "And I hope you will get out into the courtyard. Now."

"Yes, sire!" The boys replied in unison, exchanging a startled look and hurried off in opposite directions. Once alone, Uther smiled to himself, amused, before marching forward.

The bird soared, silhouetted like some dark spirit against the blazing sun. Her wing span was enormous allowing her to float without difficulty on the warm currents of air that rose beneath her. In the light, her large eyes glinted with alertness, scanning the countryside beneath her for any sign of prey. Obviously she spied something as she plummeted suddenly in a vertical dive towards the ground. At the speed she was going she would surely crash head first into the earth and shatter her skull. But then, at the last second, she pulled out of the plunge and rocketed back into the sky, her prize hanging from its hooked beak.

The great bird was a Peregrine Falcon, a relative of the animal that Merlin currently had perched on his hand. Whilst the young man had watched the flight and magnificent dive of the Peregrine with awe the fledgling had been looking the other way, he was far more interested in staring at the beetles that were crawling on the stone beside them rather than his distant relative. Merlin could help but admit he was slightly peeved by the infant merlin's indifference. This was supposed to be his first training session, not meal time again!

"Elsu," Merlin said the bird's name but it ignored him. "Elsu!" The creature turned its small head in his direction and eyed him beadily as if to say 'yeah, what do you want?' The sorcerer lifted the immature animal up on an outstretched arm and then gestured for him to take flight. Elsu didn't move an inch.

"Having fun?" Arthur had joined him. It was several weeks since the mouse hunting incident and his father had allowed him to talk to Merlin once more without being crept up on.

"Heaps," the servant replied, bitterly.

"That bad?" Arthur smiled at his friend, a teasing look in his blue eyes.

"Yes. He won't even try to fly. Look." The boy jerked his arm again and the bird barely shifted, it ruffled its feathers slightly but that was it.

"Maybe he's not ready," the prince suggested.

"It said in the book that it took 29 days for an immature merlin to become flight-worthy."

"Well, maybe he's just a late bloomer, like someone else I know," Arthur said jokingly, clapping his frustrated manservant on the shoulder with a wry smile. He was somewhat surprised at just how bony Merlin was. The boy really needed to each more and gain some muscles.

"Was that a joke?" Merlin asked wearily, "Because it wasn't very funny."

"I thought it was." The older boy grinned at his servant but seeing his disheartenment decided to take drastic action. "Sometimes, Merlin," he began, "You just need to give someone a little push in the right direction." And with that statement the prince reached over the warlock's arm and pushed the preening falcon of his perch. There was a squeak of astonishment and, if it was possible for a bird to look startled, Elsu did as he fell in a very ungainly, inelegant fashion from Merlin's hand. Then he seemed to regain his senses and the merlin flapped his arrow shaped wings thrusting himself into the air.

"There you go 'sink or swim' or in Elsu's case 'fly or fall'." Arthur couldn't help but smirk at Merlin's gobsmacked look and Elsu's somehow disgusted expression - he didn't look like he could quite believe what his human carer had done.

"You could have killed him!"

"Oh, don't over exaggerate, Merlin, even if he hadn't bothered to get his lazy backside into gear he would've fallen a metre, if that."

Merlin looked from his friend and master up to his disgruntled bird in the sky and saw what Arthur meant. It was just a case of making Elsu need to fly rather than seeing if he fancied doing it on a whim. He couldn't be a proper falcon if he couldn't fly, he'd already led a pretty sheltered existence up until now, but flying was an essential he couldn't evade. Merlin couldn't see why he wouldn't want to fly anyway. It looked like such an exhilarating experience to soar through the sky like that Peregrine Falcon. He wished he had hollow bones and feathered wings.

However, Elsu did seem to be getting the hang of it, flapping his slate blue wings with gusto and darting this way and that. He was doing what came naturally to him. Soon the small fledgling had risen high up into the atmosphere, leaving his two humans far down on the earth below. They were specks compared to what he could see sprawled out in front of him like a never ending map. His was a bird's eye view.

The more Merlin wished he could witness exactly what the falcon was observing the more his body began to tingle. It was a strange sensation, like there was a cold hand peppering finger prints up his spine. He felt the hair on the nape of his neck rise. He began to experience of light headedness and weightlessness. And then it happened.

He was seeing exactly what his merlin was seeing through Elsu's own eyes.