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Chapter 3- Surprise Visitors

Merlin was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, Arthur's chambers cleaned at last. The prince himself entered the room at that moment, tossing his jacket on Merlin's head. Merlin scowled, but kept silent. Arthur wasn't in a very good mood. He hadn't much taken a fancy to Princess Lora, but she apparently liked him quite a bit and was unafraid to show it.

"Honestly, that woman drives me mad!" Arthur whined, falling onto his bed. "Every time she sees me, she squeals in delight, then lets loose a torrent of, well… unflattering sounds out of her hindquarters."

Merlin snorted.

Arthur glared at him. "Speaking of unflattering sounds…"

"Do you need anything else, Sire?" Merlin asked, feigning a smile.

Arthur looked around the room distastefully. "No… you're free to go, Merlin. For now."

Merlin left the chambers, his intention to head back to Gaius's. As he rounded the corner, he heard Morganna speaking with the unmistakable voice of Princess Lora. He stood stock- still to listen.

"Soon, you will have your kingdom!" Lora screeched happily before farting.

"Quiet!" Morganna hissed. Merlin heard Lora's door shut and then no more.

Merlin hurried back to his place with Gaius. No one else would believe him if he said Morganna and Lora were conspiring to take down Uther. That was surely what all this meant. This wouldn't be the first time the king's ward had plotted to take over the kingdom. But what did Lora have to do with all of this?

Just as Merlin was about to enter Gaius's apartment, he heard the warning bells sounding through town. Someone had escaped from the dungeon. He briefly thought of those three oddly dressed people the guards had brought in earlier. But he couldn't worry about them now. There were more pressing things going on.

He entered the room, about to call Gaius's name, but instantly stopped in the doorway. The three odd people he had just been thinking of were standing there staring at him. Merlin just stood in the doorway in shock.

"I am the Doctor," one of the two men said, "and you are Merlin. Come in so we can
talk."

Merlin slowly entered, closing the door behind him. "Where is Gaius?" He asked.

"Out doing… physician stuff," the man called the Doctor replied.

"You know my name."

The Doctor smiled. "Yes. That is because while this is the first time you have met me, it is not the first time I have met you, Sorcerer."

Merlin stared at him, not comprehending a bit.

"I'm from the future," the Doctor continued. "I have a machine called a TARDIS that takes me through time and space."

"Magic?" Merlin asked.

"Call it what you want. The point is my friends and I need to get back to the TARDIS and leave Camelot before the king has us all burned to death."

"Look… I would help you, but if I don't think of something quickly, there won't be a Camelot left to escape from."

"What do you mean?" The ginger girl asked.

Merlin decided he had no choice but to trust them. Who knows? Maybe they could help after all.

"The king's ward, Morganna, is plotting with the Princess Lora to take over the kingdom," Merlin explained. "Why? I don't know. She's not a remarkable woman. Farts an awful lot."

The Doctor mumbled something, his eyes lost in a thoughtful reverie.

"Something you want to share with the rest of us?" The woman asked, annoyed.

"I thought I smelled one nearby when we were being brought into the throne room. You can easily smell them when you've been around as many as I have. But I had other things on my mind at the time."

"Smelled what?" The other man asked.

The Doctor looked at his companions, then back at Merlin. "Slitheen."

"Sire?" Merlin called, entering Arthur's chambers.

Arthur turned to him, trying on a new jacket. "Thank goodness you're here, Merlin. I never thought I'd say that, but the situation is dire. The prisoners have escaped, running amuck in Camelot I imagine, and my father decided to push up the banquet for the visiting king and princess tonight. In short, I am beyond stressed!"

Merlin was interested. "Why was the banquet pushed up?"

"Father said it was Morganna's idea. She said she'd made up a cake mistakenly thinking it was tonight, and she was afraid it wouldn't be as good in a day. You know how my father is. Can't say no to the girl."

Merlin's mind was racing. Morganna had made something for the banquet and wanted it to happen as soon as possible. The banquet Princess Lora would be attending.

Morganna and the monster the Doctor had identified as a Slitheen were making their move
tonight.