A/N: Omg sorry it took so long to update. Thanks to everyone that followed/favourited/reviewed. I really appreciate it! Anyways let's proceed to the story
Arthur was surprised he had managed to get to sleep. Merlin had talked to him for a little while, but he'd eventually left claiming he had chores to attend to and he didn't return. Arthur hadn't expected him to, or he didn't know what to expect him to do. The prince went over the day ten or fifteen times in his head and he guessed at some point he'd managed to drift off since the next thing he remembered was being woken up.
"Rise and shine!" Merlin sing-songed loudly as light flooded the room.
Arthur mumbled something incoherently and rolled over, lulled into a false sense of security by the routine wake-up call.
"Come on, you have a lot to do today." Merlin encouraged with fake enthusiasm.
"Like what?" Arthur asked into a pillow, his brain still in the process of waking up.
"Well, you're dad is only giving you two days to readjust, so I'm going to teach you the ins and outs of the twenty first century." Merlin informed, finally giving the spark that led for Arthur to pop up, remembering the situation.
"Two days off of work… what work exactly?" Arthur asked, deciding that if was to be stuck here that it was probably important information what he was expected to do.
"You're the vice president of the antiques business. You go and appraise things and help with some of the auctions…" Merlin continued listing off duties that made little to no sense to Arthur, but he hoped in time he would figure it out.
"Fantastic." Arthur said somberly, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and standing up to stretch.
"So, just take a shower, get dressed, and come downstairs for breakfast, okay?" Merlin asked.
Arthur, not wanting to seem inept, nodded and watched as Merlin left the room to give Arthur some privacy.
Arthur remembered where the clothes were, so he was easily able to locate them, opening the drawer and pulling out a pair of the dark blue slightly rough trousers. He then looked for a shirt, he found quite a few that had some words on them, but eventually he found one that was simple and red, though the sleeves seemed shorter then he was used to. The blonde closed the drawers and looked around the room. There was no screen like he was accustomed to, he searched and found a door, opening it suspiciously he found it led to another room with a mirror and counter and a couple of items he didn't recognize.
Arthur walked into the dark room, the floor feeling cold under his feet, he examined the objects. One looked like a bathtub, only longer and made of some sort of white smooth stone. He hadn't the foggiest where the water would come from and it looked difficult to move the tub. Another item looked like a chamber pot, but it was also made of the same smooth stone as the tub and had water at the bottom. The room just seemed very unfamiliar and the tile floor felt uncomfortable under his feet. He treaded back out into the main room to change into a shirt and the odd feeling pants.
The blonde's hair was still a mess and he wasn't wearing any shoes, but that was Merlin's job to take care of, not his so he made his way downstairs like he'd been told. He followed his nose, thinking that would be the best bet to find Merlin and breakfast. He navigated his way around the large rooms and long hallways to find a room with tall counter space that had stools next to it. It seemed to be the kitchen, but it was much… shinier than what the kitchen in the castle looked like.
"Finally," Merlin said, as he saw Arthur enter the room. "I'd thought you'd gotten lost. Anyways, I've just finished preparing your breakfast." The dark haired boy turned and put a white porcelain plate down with some sort of flat bread, eggs, and sausages in front of one of the stools.
Arthur sits, poking at the food with a fork. Most of it looks familiar, but he doesn't recognize the weird flat bread. He carefully took a bite of it, it was sweet tasting and fluffy in texture, absolutely delicious.
"What is this?" The prince asked, pointing to the flat, fluffy, sweet, bread.
"The pancake?" Merlin answered in a questioning term. "Don't tell me you've forgotten what a pancake is."
"I've told you I've never known of most of these things." Arthur told him for what felt like the millionth time. "When will you get it through that thick skull of yours?"
It seemed then something clicked in Merlin's mind. Arthur had no clue what it was or what brought it on, but suddenly Merlin's eyes widened slightly just for a moment before he returned to normal, working on cleaning dishes. Arthur shook it off and continued to eat his breakfast, clearing the plate rather quickly. He hadn't realized how hungry he was and he couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten.
"Hungry are you?" asked Merlin, that annoying smirk on his face as he takes the now empty plate from in front of Arthur and cleans it off briefly, before putting it somewhere under the counter.
Arthur rolls his eyes, "I haven't eaten in…" He doesn't remember eating since the hunting trip. "1500 years ago."
"Sticking to the whole I'm from the year 498 story?" Merlin asked in a knowing voice.
"You mean reality? Whichever sorcerer did this I'm going to make sure they're executed." Arthur said, his servant still smirking.
After another moment Merlin put his hands together and spoke, "Well, now that you've eaten it's time to show you the town. Grab your shoes."
"And where are those?" Arthur winced slightly as he asked, feeling utterly stupid.
"By the door, come on, I'll show you." Merlin walked down the hallways like it was the back of his hand, but, Arthur guessed, he did know it that well. The large entranceway was where they stopped, Merlin pointing to a couple of shelves that contained quite a few odd looking pieces of footwear. "There are your shoes."
Arthur walked to the shelves and picked up one of the shoes. He didn't see any of his normal boots, most seemed to be flat with laces. The blonde quickly just decided on a pair and put them on, not wanting to seem any more confused than he absolutely had to.
"So what town are we going exactly?" Arthur asked as Merlin led him out the door and down a paved path.
"London, Leon should be around with the car any moment." Merlin said as a long black horseless carriage came down the pathway. There was dark glass at the windows, and one of them started to roll down, revealing a familiar face.
"Leon." Arthur said with a smile, recognizing one of his fellow knights. "What a relief it is to see you." He hoped that his most faithful knight would remember the real situation at hand.
Leon chuckled throatily, "It's only been a few days, Arthur. We're just heading into the city then?" Arthur's face fell as Leon blew off the situation just as everyone else had.
"Yeah, did you get my message about," Merlin made a signal to Leon by crossing his eyes and drawing a couple of circles around his ears.
Leon nodded, laughing again. "I did." Arthur watched as Merlin opened one of the carriages doors for Arthur. The carriage rode low to the ground, so instead of stepping up to it he had to duck down in order to slide into the carriage. The seating was leather, but the flooring was some sort of cloth, Arthur didn't quite recognize it. Merlin shut the door, making Arthur jump slightly at the noise. Arthur continued confusedly looking around the carriage as Merlin went around and got in the other side, competently pulling what looked like the safety strap from a saddle around him.
"What are you doing?" Arthur asked, confused by his servants weird behavior and the strange contraption.
"I'm putting on my seatbelt." Merlin answered, but after seeing Arthur's blank face he added. "A sash of honor to ride into motorized combat."
Arthurs face screwed up in even more confusion as Merlin laughed and reached over to strap Arthur into the carriage. The prince started to bat away Merlin's hands, but he was startled yet again when there was a sound like the roar of a beast and the carriage started to pull forward. He gripped his hands to the seat as the carriage speed up with a strange roaring sound, was he inside some sort of beast?
"What is this?" Arthur asked, entire body tense as the carriage took a left turn onto a road.
"It's a car. I told you that already." Merlin said. "Calm down."
That didn't help Arthur calm down at all. "But how is it moving?"
"An engine… you have no idea what that is, do you?" Merlin asked, finally catching on to Arthur's concern.
"Obviously not." His jaw was clenched, his fists clenched, holding tight to the seat. Arthur looked petrified, more so than Merlin had ever seen him.
"It's normal transportation now a days… erm like horses but it goes faster." Merlin tried his best to describe the idea of a car.
Arthur slightly lightened his grip on the seats of the car as Leon asked, "Is everything okay back there?"
Arthur was about to answer 'No' when Merlin spoke over him and said, "Everything's fine."
As the car continued towards the city Arthur began to relax slightly, looking out the tinted glass windows to watch as the trees rushed past at an amazing speed. He honestly had never gone this fast before and it was breathtaking… and slightly headache inducing. Arthur listened as Merlin and Leon chatted, but he paid little attention to the conversation, many of the words going over his head. The ride stretched on, there were other carria- cars on the road and so there was a lot of stopping and starting, which didn't help the headache. Eventually the headache started to transpire into a sense of nausea, but thankfully Merlin said they'd soon be arriving at London.
About half a minute after Merlin had foreseen their arrival, Leon stopped the car. Merlin got out and ran around the back to get the door for Arthur. Upon stepping out of the car, the blonde was greeted by buildings taller than he had ever seen. He turned around, looking at the odd place, where were they… London, Merlin had said. There were signs that flashed with light and people bustling in and out of stores with bags, many of them dressed in close to no clothes.
"Arthur." Merlin's voice jolted him out of the trance of looking around.
"What? What is all of this?" Arthur asked, turning to face Merlin to notice that the car they had arrived in had disappeared. "And where did the car go?"
"This is London and Leon will be back after he takes your dad to his lunch meeting." Merlin said.
"London…" His voice trailed off as he turned his focus towards the large buildings, bright signs, and bustling streets. This place looked way bigger than the Citadel, way bigger than any city he'd ever seen. If Merlin was planning for them to tour the whole city it would be a long day.
A/N: I know it took forever to update… I'm sorry. A lot of stuff really did come up. I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Katy (you know who you are), feel better!