A/N: I'm so sorry for the long wait, I have been really busy with school and probably will be that for some time, but don't worry I will try to get the next chapter up sooner than this, it will probably also be sooner since I finished one of my stories. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

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Merlin had been with Robin and his men for more than three weeks now. It has been three amazing weeks, he has healed more people, Gemma had made a full recovery and was now almost jumping around, Robin tried to learn him how to shot with the bow, but he was horrible at it, and he was almost interrogated by Much and Will about Camelot.

But at the same time he couldn't help, but long for home, for his friends. He was wondering if Arthur was okay now since he didn't had Merlin's protection, but he was sure that the others would made sure nothing would happen to their king.

He knew that it wouldn't be long before he was supposed to go home, but he feared for what he knew he had to do, tell Arthur his secret. He was grateful for Robin and the others that they accepted him for who he was, but he was not sure Arthur would think the same. Not that all people of Camelot would hate him for who he was, Gaius already knew and besides that Gwaine had also found out about his secret.

The brunette had apparently seen him protecting Arthur while they were hunting and later that night had confronted the warlock about it. Merlin had been so relieved when the knight had said that it was okay, that he understood why he had held it a secret even when Gwaine was a bit hurt that he didn't trust him enough to tell him he had magic. Somewhere Merlin had always thought that Gwaine was the knight that would most likely accept him, but he was not sure that the others were as open minded as their friend.

He sighed and looked at the fire in front of him, he was currently preparing the soup for their diner while the others were robbing the sheriff again, he never went with them, he just wasn't able to rob people, even when they worked for the sheriff and the prince. So he stayed at their camp and did basic chores and sometimes he went to the villages, looking at the sick and bringing the money and food that Robin had stolen.

With much noise the group returned to their camp, glaring like hungry wolfs at their meal and Merlin gave all of them a bowl.

Merlin looked curious at them, he couldn't help but notice that it didn't seem that they had stolen anything. 'So what happened?'

He heard some of them groan in response, but it was Robin that eventually responded. 'It was just a decoy, the real carriage with the money had already left earlier this morning, we missed it.' Merlin bit his lip, he knew that stealing wasn't good, but he still felt sad that they had no money to give to the villagers, the people really needed it.

At the same time a smile spread over Robin's lips. 'But besides that we have some news, apparently your queen is coming here.' Merlin blinked in confusion at him. 'Marian told me, she will first visit the sheriff before going to Prince John.'

'You mean... the queen of Camelot?'

Robin nodded in response, Merlin smiled, he had missed Gwen, maybe he could even visit her before she would reach the sheriff.

'What do you guys think, should we rob her?' Much asked enthusiastic.

But for Merlin it was total horror, his eyes grew wide, robbing Gwen, the thought alone made him feel sick. 'You're not going to rob her!' He shouted angrily to the man, who looked shocked in response at him.

'Why not?'

'Because she is a good queen and a great woman!'

Little John lifted his eyebrow in response. 'Did you know her?'

'... Yes, she's my friend.' The all looked stunned at him. 'Before she became queen she was just a maid.'

'Your queen was a maid?' Much asked as if Merlin had just told him that the world was about to come to an end.

Merlin nodded. 'She was just an maid and she and the current king married after the previous king died. She is really a good woman.'

The others looked confused at each other. 'If you say so.'

xxx

Five days had past and Merlin was currently repairing his jacket when Robin ran into the camp. The brunette's face in total panic while looking at him.

Merlin threw his jacket aside and hurried to the man. 'What's wrong?'

'Your queen...' Robin said while trying to catch his breath.

Merlin felt panic rise in his heart. 'Gwen, what was wrong with her?!' He feared to ask the other, but he had to know. 'What is it?'

Robin placed his hands on the raven's shoulders. 'I went to Marian... and she said that she overheard the sheriff talking about your queen... they want to capture her.'

It felt as if a cold hand grabbed his heart. 'Why?' He asked in total panic.

Robin sighed. 'It seems that they want war with Camelot.'

Merlin stumbled back, a war with Camelot, he couldn't allow that to happen! 'We... we have to stop him.'

The archer nodded. 'This kingdom can't handle a war with Camelot, not without or king... You said that the queen was your friend, can you convince her to return to Camelot?'

Merlin gave him a quick nod before grabbing his jacket. 'Yeah... let's go.'

xxx

Merlin kneeled down along the road, hiding in the bushes, according to Robin the queen and the few knights she had with her should come along here. He glanced once at brunette, he was grateful for his help, but at the same time he knew the other did it also to protect the people.

It wasn't long before he heard hooves. He smiled gently at Robin before walking towards the middle of the road, looking as the group came into his sight, he saw how Robin walked towards him, stopping just behind him and both stared at the group coming towards them.

A warm gentle smile spread over his face when recognized his best friend. He looked at Gwen while she finally recognized him, she first looked stunned at him, before pure joy was shown on her face.

She stopped her horse and jumped of it before she ran towards him, throwing herself into his arms. 'Merlin! Merlin, I missed you!' She sobbed into his shoulder. He smiled at her and softly rubber her back.

She suddenly stopped and pushed herself away from him, while she glared at the raven. 'What are you doing here? Why didn't you come home sooner?!'

He just smiled at her and it was someone else that responded for him. He saw how Gwaine walked towards them, a relieved smile plastered on his face. 'Come on my lady, he just needed some time for himself.' Gwaine said with a wide grin and he swung his arms around the raven and held on to him tightly. 'We all missed you.'

Merlin gasped while being squeezed by the brunette. Eventually the knight let go of him and looked at him with slightly red cheeks. 'Yeah... yeah I missed you too...' He replied to his friend.

Two other knights now also walked to him, one of them he recognized as Percival and the other one he didn't know, maybe he had seen the man before, but he wasn't sure. He turned back to the familiar knight. 'Hi, Percival.' The tall knight just smiled in response.

Merlin turned around and faced Robin. 'Robin this is queen Guinevere, Gwen this is Robin.'

Robin bowed down to Gwen. 'I'm grateful to finally meet you, my lady.'

Gwen smiled at him before saying. 'You can just call me Gwen.' She turned back to Merlin. 'So what have you been up to since you left Camelot?'

'Ehmm...' Merlin rubbed the back of his head. 'It's a long story, but why I'm really here is because we came to warn you.' She looked confused at them and he sighed. 'You can't go to the sheriff, he wants to imprison you and declare war with Camelot.'

Gwen and her three knights looked stunned at him. 'What!' She shouted and both Gwaine's and Percival's eyes darkened, he even thought that he heard the larger knight growl.

He noticed how Robin took a step back in fear of what the knights could do and he couldn't help, but feel a grin spread over his face. He know how all the knights loved their queen and they would die for her.

'Are you sure of it?'

Merlin glanced back at Robin and he answered. 'Marian told me it and I trust her with my life.'

Gwen nodded in response. 'Than I will trust you.' She let out a sigh. 'Do you have a place to rest for the night, it's not like you can let a lady like me go back home while being so tired.'

Merlin grinned. 'Of course not. Robin?' He asked while turning back to the brunette.

The other laughed at him. 'You want to bring a queen into that group?'

'What other choice do we have.' Merlin just replied and Robin sighed.

The queen looked at both men. 'What are you two talking about?'

The warlock looked nervously at his queen. 'Ehmm... the people of this land are not really happy about their leaders... you can say that Robin is the leader of the resistance.'

the knight that Merlin didn't know behind the queen took a deep angry breath before saying. 'So basically you say that they are outlaws.'

Robin laughed. 'You can say that.'

Gwen locked eyes with Merlin. 'But they are good guys?' Merlin nodded and she just smiled. 'Then it will all be fine, let's go!'

The knight behind her protested. 'But my lady-.'

She glared at him and he immediately stopped his words. Merlin heard the silent knight laugh behind them and he spoke. 'If Merlin trust them, then I will trust them.' The raven felt joy hearing those words. The strange knight looked angry at them, but didn't respond any more.

Robin shrugged. 'Then allow me to guide you there my lady.' He replied while bowing to her again, now les formal.

She just giggled at him and they all followed robin back to the camp. Gwen quickly locked arms with Merlin and they kept walking like that. Merlin could feel the glares that he got from the strange knight in his back and he stiffened, it was rather uncomfortable. It was why he whispered to his queen. 'What is the name of your knight?'

She glanced once back before smiling at her friend. 'Sir Robert, he's one of Arthur's new knights. He's okay I guess, but just so boring, almost like George!' The raven looked amused at her, it was really terrible if she compared someone with George. He noticed how she looked curious at Robin. 'So how long have you been with them?'

'A few weeks.' He grinned. 'They are rather strange, but good guys. Even when they're outlaws... guess you can say that they steal from the rich and give to the poor... I pity these people for not having a king like Arthur.'

Gwen sighed. 'Than we can be glad that we have him as an king... He really misses you.'

Merlin looked away, he also missed Arthur, not that he was going to say that, the same way he knew that Arthur wouldn't. He hated it that he hurt everyone by leaving, but... he had no other choice, he didn't want to live a lie anymore, like had had lived all those years, but he was just scared to tell Arthur what he really was.

Gwen looked at him with a worried look. 'You miss him too... I don't exactly know the reason why you left, but whatever it's you can tell me...' She looked up at the large trees. 'He needs you, he's nothing without you.' She turned back to him. 'And you're nothing without him.'

'Yeah, probably.' He answered while he looked away. 'I will come back, but... I'm just not ready yet.'

'Do you want to talk?'

He didn't answer her, somewhere he wanted her to know, but then again he was to scared.

'How much longer are you planning on staying?'

He bit his lip. 'At first I wanted to return a long time ago, but they need me, the people need me. They don't have many physicians and even less that they can afford, if there are even those they can afford, and none of them are as good as Gaius. I may be not as good as him, but it's better than nothing.'

She sighed. 'I see.'

She didn't get a change to say anymore when Merlin replied with a smile. 'We're there.' He pointed at the merry men sitting around the campfire looking confused at them. Not that he blamed them, they didn't had good experiences with knights, even when these were from another country.

He grabbed her hand and dragged her closer to the fire. 'Let me introduce you all to Guinevere, queen of Camelot.'