A Big thank you to all those readers who reviewed last chapter and subscribed the story to their alert list, it really means a lot so thanks!
This chapter is quite a bit longer than last so hope you enjoy and please review!
Chapter 2; Long Lost Friends.
"Thank you for showing me the way my Lord" she said, grateful for Arthur showing her the way, she would have lost her way if he had not stepped in, the castle was vast and in comparison she felt like a small child, not the young woman of 16 years that she was.
Arthur turned his face to look at her and grinned "No problem, and please, call me Arthur."
"Ok." The two walked across the courtyard side by side, not one for silence and being the curious young man he was Arthur decided to try and find out who this mysterious woman was.
"So how do you know Merlin?"
Almost instantly she replied "Old family friends, our parents were best friends." An instant response was one of two things Arthur remembered his father telling him; a guilty response or a determined response. A response that took time to come was probably a lie. Arthur decided that her's was probably the truth.
"Ah, so he is what brings you to Camelot."
"That and all the stories I have heard."
"Stories?" Now Arthur was intrigued.
"I'm sure you've heard them all ten times over."
Arthur sighed "Probably" Tales and myths were something he had learnt to deal with from a young age; some were good, but they majority were bad. And quite often it was these tales that brought people to Camelot, to see whether the whispers were true.
"Here we are" Arthur announced "Gaius' apartments". He bounded up the small steps and tapped lightly on the door, pushing it open before waiting for a response
"Merlin?" he said, breaking the silence of the room, there was a loud bang, a clatter and then a door opened on the far wall and Merlin appeared. He looked quizzically at the young woman by Arthur's side, another one of his fancies, he supposed, Arthur was such a flirt, and his status as Prince of Camelot seemed to make him think he could have whichever woman he desired. Merlin had grown used to his friends habits, but it did not mean that he approved of them anymore than he had done when he first met him.
"I brought a certain Rose to see you" Arthur said. Arthur watched as a look of realization swept over Merlin's face.
"Rose!" Merlin walked over to the woman and hugged her "I haven't seen you in ages! What brings you to Camelot?"
"My travels, and when I heard you were here it made perfect sense."
He grinned "How long are you intending to stay for?"
"As long as you'll have me" Merlin gave a triumphant smile, Rose wasn't Arthur's 'woman' she was his friend, an old ally, and she was here to see him.
"Well you are welcome here."
"I'll let you two catch up" Arthur said, aware that the conversation was between the two long-lost friends and he was not part of it. He walked off and left the room. Merlin hardly realised he had gone and did not acknowledge his departure, instead continued his conversation with Rose.
"So how are Ruth and John?" Merlin asked, inquiring after Rose's parents.
"They didn't tell you."
"Who?"
"Your parents didn't tell you."
"Didn't tell me what?" Rose almost laughed at Merlin's naivety; his face looked just as innocent as when he was a little boy. But she did not laugh because this was not a comical matter; in fact it was far from it.
"That my parents passed away."
"I had no idea, I've been here for a good two years and post is irregular."
"10 years ago." Rose said completing her unfinished sentence.
"What? Why wasn't I told?"
Rose took a deep breath and tried to prepare herself for the news she was about to break to Merlin "Because they were killed because of their magical powers, because they were classed as a wizard and a witch. Your parents didn't want to frighten you I suppose. They didn't want to tell you what could happen to people like you."
Merlin was quick to respond "What do you mean, people like me? I'm no-one special, just an ordinary boy, there's nothing different about me nothing, really nothing at all, I am as normal as the next man." If Arthur was here it was a quick response that would have put into the guilty category.
Rose tried to speak over his ranting "Merlin…."
"No... No... No really I am completely and utterly normal, nothing strange, nothing different and definitely nothing magical; in fact I'm so unmagical it's actually quite---Ow!"
Rose had decided that the only way of gaining Merlin's attention was to slap him round the face, and it had given her the desired effect; silence in which she could speak.
"I know" she said simply
"Huh?"
"I know about you"
"I know, we are friends of course you know me."
"I know about your gift…your abilities."
Merlin's face dropped.
"How do you know? Who told you? Are you a spy? Is this King Uther using you? Should I be scared? Do --- Ow!"
Again Rose had been reduced to slapping Merlin round the face, not a tactic she liked to use.
"Do you ever stop talking?"
"Yes! So you're not a spy?" Rose shook her head "And you are here just as a friend?"
"Yes"
"But you know about me and my…powers."
"Yes, my parents told me, before they…died."
"Oh…"
Rose felt almost let down, only a few moments ago she had felt that childish feeling – when someone claims to be your friend and suddenly you are all over them, once again Merlin was her friend, and he had seemed interested in her and wanted to know everything, now he seemed subdued and quiet.
"I've been looking for you for years; they said that if I could find you then I would be safe"
"Why me?"
"Because of your powers."
"Oh no… I don't do the whole protecting and saving people…no one is to know about my gift. No one." Merlin said, remembering Gaius's words of advice, Rose was his friend but he couldn't protect her from danger she was in, not using magic.
"No. If you were safe and surviving somewhere with them then I could too."
Suddenly everything fitted together for Merlin, her sentences' hidden meanings came alive and he understood why she was here in front of him, like all the pieces of a jigsaw were pieced together and the picture was complete.
"Wait…you have?" Rose nodded "Well this is great! Finally someone else who knows how I feel! Its odd isn't being able to move things with your eyes and charm things to do weird and wonderful things."
Merlin grinned from ear to ear, finally, he thought, someone who understands me, who knows what it's like to have powers to do all the things that made him abnormal and special. So Rose's next sentence was a bit of a let down.
"No Merlin, my powers are different."
"Oh…well what are they?" he was still curious to see what she could do and she was still a 'witch' she still had a secret to hide, a hidden identity that few people could know about, she wasn't that different from him after all.
"Never you mind!" Rose retorted, she laughed at Merlin's puppy-dog face, teasing him had been second nature to her years ago, and her 'talent' was coming back to her now. "Now where can I put my pack?"
"Oh right through here…" Merlin said directing her over to his room.
"So you can't move things around with your eyes?"
"No…"
"Can you fly?"
"No…"
"Can you…."
Gwen threw a sheet out of the turret window and looked down onto the courtyard below her and her eyes automatically found Merlin who was walking with an unfamiliar woman, the pair laughed and Gwen sighed, feeling left out, almost like she was the punch line to their joke. She left the room and waked down the corridor and stopped.
Morgana was staring out of one of many windows which faced out onto the courtyard, she saw Merlin walking with the woman who had come into Uther's chamber that morning. She looked up as she heard footsteps and was greeted with Gwen's face.
"What do you think they are laughing at?" Morgana asked, Gwen came over to the window Morgana was at and peered out to see Merlin and Rose smiling and laughing together as they climbed the castle stairs.
"I don't know, but I wouldn't let it bother you."
"Oh no" Morgana replied turning her face to look at Gwen "I was just curious, that's all."