Here's the end of the Mordred scene. Sorry its late, been busy with other stories. It's kind of short but, I promise to make the next chapter suitably longer. Enojy.
As Merlin went to settle in the Druid, he took a different direction, hoping to catch his mother and father before lunch finished. He was in luck though, for they still sat at the table, talking softly to each other, that lovey dovey look in their eyes.
Normally, he would back out quietly, not wanting to spoil their moment, since they seemed to get so few of them, but right now, he had more pressing matters. Closing it again, quietly, he opened with a bit more force, drawing their attention.
"Ah, Arthur, there you are. We were wondering where you had gotten off to when you and Merlin didn't show up at breakfast. Come sit and eat." She motioned to the chair next to her.
"Actually, there was something I wish to speak to you two about." He said, but still taking a seat and pulling an apple from the fruit bowl.
"What is it?" Uther asked, falling into his role as ruler easily after so many years of practice.
"There was an…incident in the forest earlier." He replied, putting it in mild terms.
"Explain." Uther said, eyes solely focused on him. Nodding, he gave a brief run through of what had happened, from the moment Merlin had dragged him out of his room this morning to their arrival just now.
"I had hoped the reports weren't true." He finally said, face grave. Ygraine turned to look at her husband. "I have been getting reports, in random locations, where they had found the bodies of both Druid and humans, looking as if they had fought each other. This is serious indeed. I will have to start increasing the patrols along our border and hope that will deter any more such attacks."
"What about the boy, this Mordred?" His mother turned concerned eyes to him.
"He appears to have no family and from my stay there in Avlin, I agree with Alicar. Mordred would never be accepted there. Here, he might have a chance to live a relatively normal life."
"I…see no harm if the boy were to stay in Camelot. It will show that we are more willing to accept the Druid people. Make arrangements for his stay." Arthur nodded to his father's command.
"What does he look like?" Ygraine asked.
"A lot like Merlin. It was odd, almost as if he was his younger brother." He joked.
Arthur opened the door to find Merlin seated on his bed, book open on his lap. "You know, I could put you in the stocks for this." He joked, shutting the door behind him.
"Pff, as if Uther would allow it. I am his only way of communicating with the High Council and High Priest. Besides, my bed is taken at the moment."
"How is he?" He asked, shrugging off his jacket and folded it over the back of one of his chairs.
"Sad, but that's to be expected. He fell asleep while we waited for you, so I asked Lance to watch over him while I waited for you here. So?"
"He can stay. We'll have to find a place for him to sleep, preferably near you or Lance just in case." Merlin nodded absently, fiddling with the ribbon book mark as he took this in.
"You okay?" He asked the Druid, sitting down next to him. "You seem preoccupied."
"I'm fine. He just reminded me of myself. He's got no one left."
"You've got me. And Morgana and Gwen would say the same thing. Besides, he's not alone in the world. He's got you and Lance to look after him, to show him what's right. No one is ever truly alone." When Merlin remained silent, he sighed and leaned over, shoving him sideways with his shoulder.
"Hey!" He said indignantly, pushing himself back up off the bed. "Prat." He pushed back, but Arthur was braced for it and only budged a couple of inches. He felt his lips twitch as the smirk grew bigger on Arthur's face.
Huffing, he stopped trying to push him over and instead, fell backwards. He grabbed the back of Arthur's tunic at the last minute and pulled him down next to him, snorting when Arthur turned a halfhearted glare at him.
"Do you think the treaty will be finished any time soon?" He asked, turning to look at Arthur's profile as the blonde thought about it.
"Maybe. Father has been patient and surprisingly willing to meet some of the demands the High Council has made, but…" He trailed off.
"It seems like their leading us somewhere." Merlin finished.
"Yeah, something along those lines. I haven't been able to guess at what they might want to bring the treaty together, but it will be big."
"Maybe they'll want land, to raise some of the larger grazing animals on?" Merlin suggested, an impish grin causing his lips to curve up.
Arthur snorted in laughter. "Oh yes, I can so see some of the council members eating beef. Some of them are such traditionalists, they won't even walk on a street unless people have walked on it for at least a couple of decades." That made them laugh and soon they were clutching their stomachs as their abdomens complained about overuse.
Eventually stopping, they wiped some of the tears form their eyes. They both sat up at a knock on the door, "Enter." Arthur called out.
The door opened and Lance stood in the entryway. "He's awake." Stepping aside, they finally noticed his shadow.
Mordred still looked kind of pale, but he seemed to have calmed down, though his eyes remained guarded. Being surrounded by the people who had killed the only parental figure you had hadn't made him very trusting of humans.
"Mordred, come in." He walked in slowly, Lance just behind him, shutting the door. "The king has allowed you to stay here Mordred. We'll need to find you a place to stay and some lunch afterwards. How does that sound?" Merlin asked, smiling at the pale child. He nodded his head. "Good. Let's get started. I'm hungry since I didn't eat much this morning." He held out a hand, and Mordred slowly took it, following the taller Druid out, the other two bringing up the rear.