MERLIN - CONTACT

AN: Hey everybody! Here is the next chapter. Enjoy! Early apologies for any spelling errors :)

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Previously: Arthur brought his arms to circle her waist and rest his chin on the top of her soft hair. Another hug in such a short space of time? He could get used to this.

The prince thought he heard her saying something, it was muffled but he caught it as "Thank you so much".

He'd finally done something right.

"Oh sorry! Am I interrupting...?"

The two reluctantly broke apart to see who had walked in the door behind them, and were met with an unfamiliar face.

...~~C~~...

The man who now stood in the doorway, was so largely built, that his body blocked nearly any low sunlight seeping through between him and the frame. Light being the obscuring facture, his features blended with his silhouette. It was only after he took a heavy step into the house and shut the door behind him that Merlin and Arthur could see properly who had interrupted them.

He was a tall bloke, having had to dip his head as he entered the room, and it seemed he was more stocky from muscles than fat. His hair was long and slicked back over his shoulders, brilliant black like the raven, with silver streaked through it. And a moustache and big beard to match. Dressed up in layers of old thick leathers and strapping a few bulky backpacks, it was hard to tell if he had come to start trouble, or sell shoddy merchandise.

Said man looked down at them with soft grey eyes. "... Hello."

Merlin was the first to take a small step forward. "Err, Hi! No... no you're not inter-... Leofrick?"

The man nodded and smiled in greeting, then shrugged all his heavy bags off his shoulders onto the earth floor. "And you must be Merlin!" Leofrick held out his arm.

"Yes sir," the girl firmly shook his hand, his grip was gentle yet his skin was rough .

He chuckled. "There's no need for such formal introductions, Merlin, we are to be family after all."

That still sounded strange to her. Family. Family had always been just her and her mother. And Will. But she supposed since she moved to Camelot the size of her family had grown quite a bit. Gaius and Colin, Gwen and Elise... Arthur and the knights. What change could another bring?

"I brought others with me too," Leofrick said. "I hope you don't mind, it's just a few friends from our own village who I invited to the wedding too, they wouldn't miss it."

"No, no that's fine. The more the merrier!" Merlin nudged the prince next to her with her elbow, he still was staring up at the man in awe. "Arthur will help with your bags."

Said man tried to give his servant a look out the corner of his eye, but when he was out-glared, sighed inwardly and proceeded to pick up the lightest-looking backpack. "Certainly."

"Arthur, is it? Well, if you're sure, but there's really no need, we have many hands and quite a lot with us."

Merlin seemed calm, but Arthur frowned. "Us...?"

Leofrick opened the door and yelled out something incoherent. A few moments later, three figures came into the hut one by one. All three were rather tall and lanky but there was some noticeable size difference going down the line. They all had coal black hair, though one had a small beard, another had long sideburns, and the last was clean shaven but had very distinguished cheekbones. They all stood there bouncing slightly on the spot, grinning at their hosts. The middle one gave a small wave.

Leofrick slapped a firm hand on the closest man's shoulder in pride and turned to Merlin and Arthur.

"And these fine lads are my sons."

...~~C~~...

"You didn't tell me about them," Arthur gestured to the men sitting round the hearth with Hunith. They ate while Merlin and Arthur had offered to sort things in the kitchen area.

"I didn't think it important to bring up..." Merlin waved off as she passed the prince another bowl to fill.

"Not important, Merlin, they are going to be your brothers!"

"Step- brothers, Arthur. Mother mentioned them a few times in the letters she wrote to me, so I knew they would come. They are here for their father like I am here for my mother, if the twain meets then that's fine. But we'll be back in Camelot and I probably will hardly see them anyway."

"Don't you think you should make the effort?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you grew up an only child, like me. If I were in this situation, I'd be overjoyed by the fact I was getting brothers-"

"It's a little late for that, don't you think? Siblings are what you wish for when you're a child, not when you're an adult. I already had a brother figure in my life. Now I only feel for my mother, finally home and no longer alone; sons are extra."

Arthur put down the bowl and leaned into Merlin so she had no choice but to stop what she was doing and look at him. "Why are you like this, Merlin. This isn't how I'd expect you to react. I thought you'd be happy and want to know everything about them, and... are you jealous?"

Merlin looked at Arthur shocked. "What? No! What is there for me to be jealous of?" She picked up two bowls of soup and walked away in a huff before Arthur could get any word in.

She passed one bowl to Leofrick, who nodded in thanks, and then hesitantly sat down with her own on the end of the bench, next to one of the sons.

The servant began eating when the man, the one with the sideburns, turned to her. "Hey."

"Err Hello."

"It's good to finally meet you."

"You've heard of me?"

"Of course! When your mother stayed with us, she talked about you all the time."

"Well, then its good to meet you too...err-"

"Oh right sorry. I'm Benedict. Or Ben. This here," He patted the knee of the brother next to him, the one with the cheekbones, "is Bryce."

He pointed to the brother on the end with the beard who was listening in on the conversation between his father and Hunith. "And don't let his beard deceive you, he's the youngest, funnily enough. Name's William."

Merlin's eyes shot to him. Why should she be surprised? It was a popular name, after all. "Will." She whispered to herself.

Benedict heard. "Yea," he chuckled. "He prefers William. But I won't stop ya from calling him what ya like, it annoys him and we love it."

Merlin giggled. She shouldn't have found that funny. She didn't want to, but she could relate. Her Will hated being called William, and she only did it to wind him up. But it wasn't like she was going to start that habit up again for them.

"Hey, that's a nice necklace!" The brother in the middle, Bryce, exclaimed, loud enough for the rest of the people round the fire to hear. He pointed to the pendant Merlin wore around her neck.

"Oh, um, thank you. It was a birthday gift," She held it out so they could see it better.

"From who, dear?" Hunith asked.

"Me," Arthur said, with a mix of pride and nerves. He sat opposite his servant on the other side of the semi-circle. Everyone looked at him with complex expressions.

"Really?" Bryce asked. "That must have cost a pretty penny, who are you then?"

"I'm Arthur."

"Wow, really, the prince of Camelot?"

Arthur was surprised. "Yes?" Thinking about it, they probably knew who he was by reputation, or that Hunith has mentioned him before.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Bryce, this is Benedict and Will...iam", the two chuckled at their brother's face, well, his scowl. Merlin giggled inwardly too, though she couldn't help it.

"It's good to meet you all too, though I have to admit I had absolutely no idea you existed. I would like to know more about you."

"Oh well, what's there to know, really. Father here is a travelling carpenter, and I'm his apprentice. Benedict is a horse rearer and Will's just a nuisance." He ruffled his brother's hair roughly. William shoved him off. "Disappears for half the day, then you know he's back 'cause the whole village would be shouting for him to be put in the stocks."

"I have important things to do, thank you very much, and it's none of your business!"

"Hey, do we ever complain?"

Everyone laughed and split into different conversations after that. William just answered questions in short sentences.

After everyone had finished eating, there was a little time to spare before putting together the last touches to the festival. While waiting for their lunch to get down, Merlin left the circle to wash up. While drying one of the bowls, she noticed that... William, had approached her.

"Hey." He mumbled. "You need help?"

Merlin hummed and passed him a bowl and cloth. "Your father made you come over, didn't he?"

"Yea," He sighed. "How'd you guess?"

"Oh I knew someone who also had to have someone push him into helping," It was meant in good humour, but when she thought about it, and by the man's face, it probably sounded more like she was poking at his character. "I mean, he was helpful anyway, just had to be told to sometim-"

He wasn't reacting.

"My friend also sometimes went off without telling anyone... And got the village wound up often."

Nothing.

It was actually awkward and frustrating. Having to be the only one trying to make conversation.

"Soooo... what do you do back in your village, the things that you 'disappear' to...?"

"I don't tell my family that, what makes you think I'm going to tell you?" He threw down the cloth into the washing bowl and walked off. The girl sighed and continued on washing up. Either that should have annoyed her, or made her suspicious, but at the moment she was too preoccupied to care. At least she had tried, no-one could blame her now.

Merlin looked around the hearth at the people sitting round it. Leofrick looked at her mother with adoring shiny eyes, Arthur laughed and joked with Bryce about their hobbies, Benedict was funny and showing interest in her, and Will-William... at this point just seemed to be a stroppy git.

Things at the moment were going smoothly, and everyone was getting along, and that made Merlin smile. But inside she was still wary that either this was all not real, and that something will go wrong. It always does.

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AN: Hope you liked it. Next chapter is in the making. Please don't forget to review, I do love them to pieces. Thank you and see you later :)